Chapter II
In a forest near Eiyou, the capital of Konan, four other of the Suzaku seishi were in the middle of a fight for their lives. Well, two of them were, as the other two were already dead and now only existed as ghosts. The one seishi with the long purple hair, whose beauty as well as his clothes concealed his true sex, noticed their friend's disappearance first. Nuriko's brown eyes were searching the nearer area for any sign of the loud mouthed bandit who'd usually have had burned down a great deal of the forest by now, trying to destroy the horrible monsters, who had attacked them.
Monsters who seem to have jumped out of a fairytale, with which one often frightened disobedient little children, and who were called trolls. They were two and a half meters tall, green beasts with big, ugly scars covering every inch of their bodies. Their bodies and their with claws were covered with greasy hair which was only covered by the one garment they were wearing, which was a loincloth.
Their bulbous noses and their spike like teeth dominated the faces of the trolls. Above their noses was only one eye, which looked like the eye of a cat, but had the colour of blood. Their ears were more than half lacerated and mostly covered by their loud green hair, with rusty brown strands, which looked like dried blood and Nuriko wasn't sure if they really were or not, in between.
Now he was getting really worried about his friend because after looking for him for quite some time, between flying punches, he still hadn't seen any trace of the other seishi's red hair nor had he heard the curses, which normally accompanied his fighting.
It had also become clear to him that those trolls were really dangerous, hey they were even able to beat the shit out of HIM, and he was a ghost, no human had been able to touch him or the other way round, when he wasn't wearing his holy bracelets, until now.
With a slight hint of desperation he draws the attention of his companions to himself, waving wildly with his arms and yelling that Tasuki had gone missing. He could only see Chichiri, the monk, and Chiriko, their little genius who had died at the early age of 13. Tama, their beloved miko's husband, whom Nuriko saw as a little brother, was nowhere to be seen.
Just when Nuriko was about to start worrying about him, he felt the others life force attack. In one strike, over half of their attackers was pulverized. This proved to the purple haired man that Tamahome, or as he called him Tama, was just as worried about the bandit's disappearance as he was.
The rest was easily defeated by one of Chichiri's spells followed by a few punches, which Nuriko was all to eager to deal out. When all was over the beautiful ghost took an all around look to see what they had brought about. What he saw made him chuckle lowly; yes they certainly hadn't lost their touch. Where he was standing once trees and bushes had reigned, but now the only thing left were a few burnt tree stumps and a large burnt to a cinder piece of land.
As he kept looking around his eyes widened in horror as he became aware of Tama's body covered in his own blood and lifelessly lying on the ground with Chiriko beside him crying and desperately trying to touch and help him, which was, considered that he was a ghost a very useless attempt.
Just when Nuriko was about to call Chichiri for help he saw the monk running towards their friend, falling to his knees beside him he immediately started to treat the other seishi's wounds. With one hop in the air the purple haired seishi landed beside his friends, noting that the earth around them was soaked in blood. Blood of one of the people he loved and had sworn to himself to protect, even after his own death.
Nuriko tried to get Tama to wake up or at least show some sign of LIFE, but soon tears welled up in his eyes as the pain of not being able to help or at least comfort his friend, pierced through his soul.
Tama's upper body had five very deep slashes running down from his collarbone to his navel in parallel lines, cutting his chest open and exposing some of his inner organs. His face was sliced in half by a cut from his left temple, crossing over his nose, splitting is lip to come to an end at his chin. There was also a deep cut in his right thigh, so deep that the white of his bone was visible. Both his arms and legs were covered in deep dark-blue bruises and smaller cuts. From the looks of it, his left shoulder was broken as well as dislocated.
Nuriko, even dead as he was, could feel the initially urge to vomit at this sight. He saw the sweat running down Chichiri's temples as he tried to stop the bleeding. Damn, why wasn't Mitsukake there with them ? He could have healed Tama in no time ! As things were now, Nuriko somehow doubted that he would survive.
"Is there anything you can do for him, Chichiri ?" "I'm afraid not. His wounds exceed my abilities no da. If we don't get him to Taiitsu-kun soon we'll lose him for sure no da." "Well, can't you just call her or transport us to her ?!?" "We can't risk moving him no da. But you're right, I can try to reach Taiitsu-kun with my magic."
With those words the mage abandoned his friend to kneel at a slight distance, starting the complicated spell to contact the tentai, creator, of the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho.
In the meantime Chiriko and Nuriko were practically begging Tamahome to hang on.
"Tama-chan don't even think about giving up and joining our club !!" "Please Tamahome, you got to hang on. Miaka needs you."
After Chichiri finished his spell nothing happened.
"What the hell..?!?"
Before the monk could finish his curse an old hag appeared out of nowhere and he breathed a sight of relief. Taiitsu-kun took one look at the wounded seishi and the turned sad eyes to the mage, who had once been her student.
"I'm sorry, but even I can't heal him. The only one with that power is Suzaku himself and he has gone missing." "What do you mean by he has gone missing ?!" Three voices demanded in unison. "For quite some time now the auras of the four gods have disappeared. I've tried to contact them and after a while I even started to look for them with my powers but I wasn't able to find them."
"How is any of the gods able to just disappear. I mean, they are our guardians and they are connected to this world. Without them the world chaos would break out. Isn't that right Taiitsu-kun ?"
"Yes Chiriko that's quiet right and I don't think they left on their accord." "What do you mean ? No one can just kidnap a god !" Nuriko exclaimed slightly confused. "Of course not ! But as we have seen with Tenkou, there are a few powers who can almost compete with the one of a god. This though can only happen when the god is taken by surprise."
"So you mean we could be dealing with another Tenkou ?" The monk asked worried. "It is possible, yes." "But what becomes of Tamahome ?"
"I can keep him alive for a certain time while you go searching for the four gods." "Where should we start looking ?" "Go to the temple of each god. Maybe you'll find a clue to what has happened."
With that Tamahome was encircle in a pinkish light and he and Taiitsu-kun were gone. Leaving behind three confused and a little desperate seishi. Looking at each other they pondered about how to best approach their new task. In the end it was decided that Chiriko should continue his journey to the royal Palace alone to inform his majesty's ghost and Mitsukake about the recent events, while Chichiri and Nuriko would start their quest for the four gods of the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho universe.
In a forest near Eiyou, the capital of Konan, four other of the Suzaku seishi were in the middle of a fight for their lives. Well, two of them were, as the other two were already dead and now only existed as ghosts. The one seishi with the long purple hair, whose beauty as well as his clothes concealed his true sex, noticed their friend's disappearance first. Nuriko's brown eyes were searching the nearer area for any sign of the loud mouthed bandit who'd usually have had burned down a great deal of the forest by now, trying to destroy the horrible monsters, who had attacked them.
Monsters who seem to have jumped out of a fairytale, with which one often frightened disobedient little children, and who were called trolls. They were two and a half meters tall, green beasts with big, ugly scars covering every inch of their bodies. Their bodies and their with claws were covered with greasy hair which was only covered by the one garment they were wearing, which was a loincloth.
Their bulbous noses and their spike like teeth dominated the faces of the trolls. Above their noses was only one eye, which looked like the eye of a cat, but had the colour of blood. Their ears were more than half lacerated and mostly covered by their loud green hair, with rusty brown strands, which looked like dried blood and Nuriko wasn't sure if they really were or not, in between.
Now he was getting really worried about his friend because after looking for him for quite some time, between flying punches, he still hadn't seen any trace of the other seishi's red hair nor had he heard the curses, which normally accompanied his fighting.
It had also become clear to him that those trolls were really dangerous, hey they were even able to beat the shit out of HIM, and he was a ghost, no human had been able to touch him or the other way round, when he wasn't wearing his holy bracelets, until now.
With a slight hint of desperation he draws the attention of his companions to himself, waving wildly with his arms and yelling that Tasuki had gone missing. He could only see Chichiri, the monk, and Chiriko, their little genius who had died at the early age of 13. Tama, their beloved miko's husband, whom Nuriko saw as a little brother, was nowhere to be seen.
Just when Nuriko was about to start worrying about him, he felt the others life force attack. In one strike, over half of their attackers was pulverized. This proved to the purple haired man that Tamahome, or as he called him Tama, was just as worried about the bandit's disappearance as he was.
The rest was easily defeated by one of Chichiri's spells followed by a few punches, which Nuriko was all to eager to deal out. When all was over the beautiful ghost took an all around look to see what they had brought about. What he saw made him chuckle lowly; yes they certainly hadn't lost their touch. Where he was standing once trees and bushes had reigned, but now the only thing left were a few burnt tree stumps and a large burnt to a cinder piece of land.
As he kept looking around his eyes widened in horror as he became aware of Tama's body covered in his own blood and lifelessly lying on the ground with Chiriko beside him crying and desperately trying to touch and help him, which was, considered that he was a ghost a very useless attempt.
Just when Nuriko was about to call Chichiri for help he saw the monk running towards their friend, falling to his knees beside him he immediately started to treat the other seishi's wounds. With one hop in the air the purple haired seishi landed beside his friends, noting that the earth around them was soaked in blood. Blood of one of the people he loved and had sworn to himself to protect, even after his own death.
Nuriko tried to get Tama to wake up or at least show some sign of LIFE, but soon tears welled up in his eyes as the pain of not being able to help or at least comfort his friend, pierced through his soul.
Tama's upper body had five very deep slashes running down from his collarbone to his navel in parallel lines, cutting his chest open and exposing some of his inner organs. His face was sliced in half by a cut from his left temple, crossing over his nose, splitting is lip to come to an end at his chin. There was also a deep cut in his right thigh, so deep that the white of his bone was visible. Both his arms and legs were covered in deep dark-blue bruises and smaller cuts. From the looks of it, his left shoulder was broken as well as dislocated.
Nuriko, even dead as he was, could feel the initially urge to vomit at this sight. He saw the sweat running down Chichiri's temples as he tried to stop the bleeding. Damn, why wasn't Mitsukake there with them ? He could have healed Tama in no time ! As things were now, Nuriko somehow doubted that he would survive.
"Is there anything you can do for him, Chichiri ?" "I'm afraid not. His wounds exceed my abilities no da. If we don't get him to Taiitsu-kun soon we'll lose him for sure no da." "Well, can't you just call her or transport us to her ?!?" "We can't risk moving him no da. But you're right, I can try to reach Taiitsu-kun with my magic."
With those words the mage abandoned his friend to kneel at a slight distance, starting the complicated spell to contact the tentai, creator, of the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho.
In the meantime Chiriko and Nuriko were practically begging Tamahome to hang on.
"Tama-chan don't even think about giving up and joining our club !!" "Please Tamahome, you got to hang on. Miaka needs you."
After Chichiri finished his spell nothing happened.
"What the hell..?!?"
Before the monk could finish his curse an old hag appeared out of nowhere and he breathed a sight of relief. Taiitsu-kun took one look at the wounded seishi and the turned sad eyes to the mage, who had once been her student.
"I'm sorry, but even I can't heal him. The only one with that power is Suzaku himself and he has gone missing." "What do you mean by he has gone missing ?!" Three voices demanded in unison. "For quite some time now the auras of the four gods have disappeared. I've tried to contact them and after a while I even started to look for them with my powers but I wasn't able to find them."
"How is any of the gods able to just disappear. I mean, they are our guardians and they are connected to this world. Without them the world chaos would break out. Isn't that right Taiitsu-kun ?"
"Yes Chiriko that's quiet right and I don't think they left on their accord." "What do you mean ? No one can just kidnap a god !" Nuriko exclaimed slightly confused. "Of course not ! But as we have seen with Tenkou, there are a few powers who can almost compete with the one of a god. This though can only happen when the god is taken by surprise."
"So you mean we could be dealing with another Tenkou ?" The monk asked worried. "It is possible, yes." "But what becomes of Tamahome ?"
"I can keep him alive for a certain time while you go searching for the four gods." "Where should we start looking ?" "Go to the temple of each god. Maybe you'll find a clue to what has happened."
With that Tamahome was encircle in a pinkish light and he and Taiitsu-kun were gone. Leaving behind three confused and a little desperate seishi. Looking at each other they pondered about how to best approach their new task. In the end it was decided that Chiriko should continue his journey to the royal Palace alone to inform his majesty's ghost and Mitsukake about the recent events, while Chichiri and Nuriko would start their quest for the four gods of the Shi Jin Tenchi Sho universe.