Clashes Between Fire and Lightning

 The forest floor was covered in leaves, branches, and twigs, many still falling from the canopy above. Little forest animals scampered frantically away. Not too far away, the sounds of a faint humming together with the crashing and breaking of tree branches, followed by anguish cries could be heard.

             Chichiri trudged on quickly. He knew just by the sounds what was going on. Shunkaku was venting his anger and grief by destroying the calm serenity of the forest using his new ryuuseisui. At least the boy was destroying the forest instead of the entire village or himself, by keeping his emotions bottled up inside him. Letting out your feelings is usually the first step to recovery.

             He stopped behind a great tree and found Shunkaku, unaware of his arrival, lashing out furiously at the vegetation around him. He let him continue: the boy needed some time to himself. Chichiri stayed behind the relative safety of the tree and watched the younger twin silently, and couldn't help feeling a wave of sympathy for the twins and a rush of anger at Nakago wash over him. Nobody had done anything to deserve this, much less the twin brothers who've already been through so much in their young lives.  

 About half an hour later, the seemingly innocent weapon fell to the ground with a thud, its owner sobbing silently nearby.

 Chichiri ventured out of his hiding spot and went towards Shunkaku. He laid a comforting hand on the boy's trembling shoulders.

             "Shunkaku-chan…"

             Before he could even react, Shunkaku turned around and clung to him not unlike a drowning kitten. Chichiri felt his clothes begin to soak in fresh tears as Shunkaku, so carefree only a couple of hours before, quivered in his arms. Unsure of what to do, he patted Shunkaku on the back, and allowed him to keep his position.

             Poor Shunkaku. He needs a parental figure to look up to so badly, and twice, Nakago had taken it away from him, just like that. The emotional strain had already taken its toll on the twins, and now the shogun's ripping apart their old wounds on purpose.

            After a moment, the crying stopped and Shunkaku pulled away from the monk. As if just realizing what he just did, Shunkaku started stammering.

            "I… gomen… Chichiri-san… I…I shouldn't have…"

            Chichiri gave the boy a smile as he took off his ever-grinning mask.

             "It's okay, Shunkaku-chan. Don't worry about it."

             "… Thanks."

            A moment of silence passed, and Chichiri was the first to speak.

            "How do you feel now?"

            "Slightly better… I've sworn to myself that I would kill that Nakago one day to avenge my parents and foster parents. How dare he just waltz into our lives, destroying everything, putting me and aniki through all this…Dammit!" There was heavy spite in his tone, before he added softly, "…how is aniki?"

            "He feels the same as you do. You should know. You know him just as much as you know yourself. Maybe better."

            Shunkaku nodded, tears once again threatening to fall.

            "Listen, Shunkaku." Chichiri said, making sure he had the young seiryuu seishi's full attention. "You have to be strong and pull yourself together, for your own sake and for your brother as well. The past is the past, and it's best not to dwell in it too much. What we should do now, is to stop Nakago and whatever his future plans may be. One way to achieve that is to get those shinzahos and summon Suzaku. And don't forget we still have to rescue your foster mother as well. Do you understand that, Bu Shunkaku?"

            Shunkaku didn't reply, merely staring into the forest, considering the words of the scar-faced monk.

            Then, he wiped the tear stains off his face and stood up. He gave Chichiri a small, albeit rather forced smile as he willed his trusty ryuuseisui back into his hands.

            "Let's go back now, Chichiri-san. Aniki and everybody else is waiting for us."

            Chichiri was about to put his mask back on when Shunkaku spoke again.

            "Thanks, Chichiri-san."

            It was Chichiri's turn to smile as they made their way back to the others, the tranquility returning to the woods. 

***

            "Shun, are… are you okay now?" Amiboshi asked his twin quietly. Suboshi had just returned from the woods with Chichiri, composed, but unusually quiet. Even though Chichiri indicated that all was well now, he had to ask his brother himself.

             "I've been better, aniki, but I've been worse as well. Thanks to Chichiri-san, I now have a goal in life, that is, to stop Nakago and avenge both our sets of parents." Seeing the uncertain look in his brother's face, Suboshi added. " It's okay, aniki. Don't blame yourself for anything, and don't blame anyone here as well. The only one to blame is Nakago, you know that? And don't you dare be stubborn with me."

             "Shun… you are…"

            "Growing up?" A spark of familiar mischievousness crossed Suboshi's eyes.

             Amiboshi cracked a grin as he ruffled his twin's hair. "Well, don't grow up too fast. I might have to catch up with you one day. Come on, let's go see the others. They seem very worried about us."

 "Aniki, as long as I still have you, I'll be fine."

 Amiboshi squeezed his brother's arm comfortingly.

 "Let's go."

***

             Everybody, except Hotohori who couldn't leave his duties as an emperor, was onboard the ship heading straight for Hokkan, the snowy lands of the north. Hokkan: region of the beast-god Genbu, where the first Shinzaho was supposed to be.

 Before they left, Miaka had insisted all of them take a photo with a camera she had brought from her world, and Hotohori had later given Miaka his chi-infused deity sword for protection. They set sail soon after managing to get the resident water-fearing mountain bandit onto the boat itself.

 Half a day had already gone by on the ship, and it was rather peaceful. Suboshi and Amiboshi were still quiet compared to their usual selves, but they were well on the healing road nonetheless. Tasuki suffered from seasickness but Mitsukake refused to cure him with his powers, saying that he might need his powers later for more serious emergencies, and gave him a bottled concoction of a greenish substance instead.

            "This is how normal people relieve seasickness."

            "How? Do I rub it on my head?" Tasuki sniffed at the goo, and a second later almost threw the bottle away, no thanks to the offending stench.

            "No. You pour some into your mouth and swallow it. And try not to regurgitate."

             "EEEEEEEW! No way I'm putting this into my mouth…"

            "For Suzaku's sake, this is only made of herbs! Look, do you want to get rid of that seasickness of yours or not?"

            "Yes, but can you make this taste a little better before I take it?"

            An exasperated Mitsukake rolled his eyes. So, I'm a doctor and a cook as well?

***

             A flock of crows flew by, cawing, the black birds indicating bad omen.

             This isn't good. Chichiri thought as he scanned the horizon.

             True enough, dark clouds formed quickly above them, blocking the clear sky they had enjoyed since they started their journey. Maybe a bit too quickly, as it immediately struck Chichiri as odd. He had been watching the sky all day, and nothing had forecasted the incoming storm.

 He sensed an unfamiliar chi. 

            Seiryuu seishi…

***

            Amiboshi stiffened, as so Suboshi. Both of them had sensed the life force of their former "comrade".

            "Shun. We'd better warn the others."

            Suboshi nodded and gulped silently.

            "Soi."

***

             Peals after peals of thunder could be heard, the dim sky flashed with lightning as the ship of the Suzaku seishi neared a lone figure standing on a rock in the sea. From the silhouette, it could be seen that it was a female. She was slightly inappropriately dressed, but the weather did not affect her the slightest bit. She seemed perfectly at home with the raging sky and sea.

  Amiboshi went up to Chichiri, his face a shade paler.

             "Chichiri, this is Soi. She controls thunder and lightning."

             Chichiri put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

             "Thanks… Leave it to us. Stay out of trouble and help protect the maiden. Shunkaku, you too."

             He then turned to face their opponent, together with the rest of the Suzaku shichiseishi after they anchored the ship a distance away from the Seiryuu seishi, eyes ablaze as he silently cast a protective chi barrier over the entire ship.

***

             "You have come far enough. You shall advance no further!"

             The voice of Soi rang out loud and clear amidst the storm, her reddish locks and cloak flapping in the wind. Her eyes were steeled, as was her determination.

             Soi wasn't sure what Nakago's motives were: He wouldn't speak of it, and to ask him would merely incur his wrath. But to her, that did not matter. Ever since Nakago saved her from prostitution when she was still a girl, she had already decided to love and to obey Nakago-sama regardless of the situation. She would fight for him, die for him. To her, this was already meant to be.

  She did not like the guilt that came with her decision, however. How many times had she killed, plundered, and abused the powers bestowed upon her just to please lord Nakago? Inwardly, she hated the pleading look of terror of her victims' eyes. She soon learnt to kill from afar: at least then she wouldn't be able to see her victims' expression. She suppressed her guilt by telling herself that this was for her lord Nakago. Hadn't he killed those men who were forcing her into that despicable job to save her so many years ago?  

  She eyed the group of people aboard the ship. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the two Seiryuu seishi among them.

  Those wretched twins. How dare they betray lord Nakago and their god?!

            But she envied them. Of all the Seiryuu seishi, only the two youngest ones still felt human. The rest of them, they were all detached from their emotions, or so well trained that they wouldn't show.

  Soi hoped that the Suzaku bastards would put up a decent fight. At least then she wouldn't feel like she was just doing some merciless slaughter.

***

            Chichiri observed the situation. The fight, he knew, was inevitable. They had strength in quantity, but Soi still had the upper hand. After all, they were all on a boat at the mercy of the weather. A quick look at strategy, they had to depend on range skills. Hand to hand combat would prove more effective against the weather-controlling vixen, but to get anywhere near her would mean risking the ship to the jagged rocks beneath the waves. Which meant that only he and Tasuki had any chance in defeating Soi. He knew that the twins were capable as well, but he would not endanger them if possible.

  But we may need their help. Tasuki and I would hardly be enough to defend and attack at the same time.

             He saw Soi lifting a slender arm skywards, and a single thunderbolt came crashing down at the ship. The barrier he made earlier thankfully blocked the bolt, which would have split the ship in two.

             Chichiri winced as he felt the barrier weaken. They had to hurry. This lady was strong, and he could not hold up his barrier forever.

             "Tasuki!"

             "Wakkat-teru!"

            Tasuki's diamond tessen was already out.

            "REKKA-SHIEN!"

             A burst of flames erupted from the tessen, and spiraled towards Soi, only to be put out by the crackling electric barrier around her.

             "Nani?! Bakayarou!!" Disbelieving, Tasuki tried again, with a different technique.

            "REKKA-SHIEN"

             This time, the flames formed a ring around Soi. But the barrier of Soi was still resistant.

             Soi…smiled. At the sight of the cold, emotionless expression, Chichiri shuddered.

 A rain of lightning came crashing down at the ship, which was now rocking dangerously, as Chichiri struggled to hold his stand.

 This isn't good.

***

             Suboshi watched as the battle continued. Things weren't looking up for them. Chichiri had his hands tied in preventing any of the bolts hitting the ship. Tasuki's flames weren't doing much as the rest of the elements were in Soi's control. Worried, he turned to his brother, who was comforting Miaka.

             "Aniki…"

             "I know Shun. We should do something. We must. Chichiri-san's barrier isn't going to hold up much longer."

            That said, Amiboshi went up to Tasuki and Chichiri.

             "Chichiri-san, we'll help. We can't just sit there knowing we can do something to help as you and Tasuki fight to your limits."

            Suboshi got up to join his brother.

***

            Chichiri looked at the two boys. He didn't want to involve them in the battle with their ex-comrade, but what they said was true. Their weapons weren't elemental, unlike Tasuki's. Reluctantly, he consented.

            "Ganbatte…and don't get yourself into danger, okay?"

            He got two identical reassuring nods.

***

             The twins joined the battle formation at once.

             "Hai, aniki!" came the reply, as Suboshi's ryuuseisui shot up, spinning menacingly.

 The older twin put his flute to his mouth and started playing. A haunting melody filled the air, shrill and screechy.

***

            Soi winced at the devil's song. She struggled to keep her sanity in the tremulous headache, doing so; she was forced to reduce the amount of energy concentrated in her defense. Just when she could think clearly again, a searing pain shot up her right arm.

            A neat gash was made by the ryuuseisui, drawing blood immediately. The wound stung further with the salty winds of sea.

Something whizzed past her calf, and she felt as if someone had lashed at her with a whip. A similar wound was made again.

            Before she could attack, Soi found herself engulfed in flames once more. This time however, she could feel the burning heat from it as it edged closer and closer.

            Unwillingly, Soi began to feel a sense of fear and panic.

***

            The table is turning. Chichiri thought as he readied a chi blast. As Amiboshi's music reached its peak, he released it, the minimal shield Soi had left no longer serving its purpose. He was rewarded with the sight of Soi being blasted into oblivion.

            The battle was over, and they were victorious.

***

-- Sorry for not updating in…um…since goodness knows how long ago. You have to thank flamingknight673 for this update, BloodyCrystal had this sudden burst of inspiration after receiving the e-mail.

--We know it's short, we know it's filler, but fillers are also essential, so just read, enjoy, and drop in a few kind reviews. (Oh gods, this is getting so old.)