Yay! I actually got the laziness gone long enough to bother writing chapter four! The next… a lot of chapters, though (following volume 4 of the manga), are all written, so you won't have to worry about this Kami-awful wait again. Ew, I've been watching DBZ. Can you tell? Stupid show… *pouts*
Anyway, I am so sorry I haven't updated in ages!!! I've been so busy with school (I sure hope I pass Physics with an A… I'm so close to not doing it, and I need a Freakin' 87 on the final… Kami…) and my extra curricular activities that I haven't even had time to copy words from a book! I'm so sorry!!!!!
Well, now that I'm done rambling, on with the story:
Chapter Four: Changing Minds
"Yep. I can show ya if ya want..." Genrou gave the follow-me sign and the five followed him to a small room just outside.
"Genrou, I bet ya wanted to pay yer respects," Kouji stated. Genrou nodded and entered first. After a few moments, he opened the door for all.
"It can't be..." Miaka whispered as she saw the small coffin. Kori winced as the dead smell stung her eyes and nose, but dared not say anything for the man that her two bandit friends so obviously admired.
"Boss, I heard this rumor..." Osui stated meekly in the door.
"Whaddaya want!?" Genrou called irritantly to him.
"They're supposed to have a magician who can cure people and bring 'em back from the dead up north in th' town of Choko."
"Are you serious!?" Miaka took Osui by the collar and got in his face.
"A-As serious y'can be fer a rumor," he replied quickly.
"That means we're going to Choko to find out!!" Miaka smiled.
"Miaka!!" both Hotohori and Nuriko shouted.
"Even if the odds are 100-to-1, we need to try! Let's take the chance!" Miaka retorted, turning to them. "But, first! Some rice, my good man!"
Kori couldn't help but laugh at Miaka. Genrou grumbled something and hit her on the back of the head, but before she could say anything, he had left and was heading towards the dining room.
"Genrou, Kouji, Kori!" Miaka called as she, Hotohori, and Nuriko began to depart, "Thanks for the meal!"
"Take care, you guys!" Nuriko added, turning his horse away.
"We will!" Kori called, turning away. Kouji and Genrou remained silent. Kouji glanced at Genrou, who was deep in thought.
"How gullible can y'get!?" Hataku was saying to Yusi. "No way a magician like that exists!"
"Is she that simple, or just plain stupid!?" Yusi added. Kori stopped and turned back to where Miaka, Hotohori, and Nuriko were slowly disappearing.
"We let 'em go free!? An' we call ourselves bandits!? They even got a meal on th'house!" Aoi laughed.
"Calm down!" Tessou stated. "We're okay now that Genrou's our leader!"
Kori looked at Genrou, who was still staring at Miaka and her party. She noticed Kouji was looking at Genrou, too.
"The Priestess of Suzaku... Ya wanted t'go with 'em, didn't ya, Genrou?" Kouji asked. Genrou sighed.
"Don't gimme yer crap! I gotta be th'new boss and look after you guys!" Genrou forced a smile and ruffled Kori's hair, since she was the closest.
"But... you're sure it's better this way?" Kouji looked at the receding forms. He sighed and continued back inside with everybody else. Genrou remained outside, still watching where the small party had now disappeared.
"I hate to admit it, but I think Kouji's right, Tasuki," Kori whispered before following the other bandits. Genrou whirled around, but Kori was already gone.
"Kori...?" he asked cautiously, wondering how "he" knew his real name. He turned back around, looked at the old path, then stood up and ran into the bandit hall. "Where's Kouji!?" Genrou asked quickly, grabbing the nearest bandit by the shoulders. He pointed to a nearby room and Genrou rushed in.
"Genrou," Kouji bowed. Kori stood and bowed, too. She and Kouji were discussing their new leader.
"Kouji, I think I'm going," Genrou stated. Kouji smiled knowingly.
"I figgered ya would," Kouji replied. He walked over and took Genrou's hand. Kori stood and smiled, too.
"Can I go?" she asked. Kouji laughed.
"What? We're gonna lose our leader an' our best archer in one night?"
"He can't come," Genrou stated. Kori frowned.
"Why not?" Kori asked, taking his arm.
"'Cause I said so. How'd you know my name's Tasuki, by the way? Kouji toldya, didn't he?" Genrou turned to Kouji.
"I didn't say a word, Genrou..." Kouji stated.
"I've seen your symbol, Genrou," Kori lied, pulling back the coat sleeve and the slip of cloth to reveal Tasuki's symbol. He frowned.
"I toldya, Genrou," Kouji smirked.
"Tasuki, please. Let me come," Kori pleaded again.
"Fine," Tasuki crossed his arms. "Kouji," he said with a grin. "Couldya come with me fer a sec?" Kouji nodded and the two left the room. Kori squealed with excitement and followed the men. "Guys!" Tasuki called, getting everybody's attention. "I gotta go on another trip, an' I'm takin' Kori with me this time, but I'm leaving Kouji here in charge, so nothin' can go wrong," Tasuki smiled at Kouji's shocked face. "Should anythin' happen ta him, and I know it won't, Tessou over there'll lead," Tasuki smiled again and fingered the tessen on his back. He grabbed Kori's elbow and pulled her with him.
"We should hurry…!" Kori called to Tasuki as he ran, probably five feet, in front of her.
"Nah… They should b'fine, fer now," Tasuki called back, still not slowing down and letting Kori fall even further behind. She followed—be it ten feet or fifty feet—behind Tasuki the best she could, until she approached the stables of the Reikakuzan Mountains (gotta love my spelling capabilities… oops, sorry, no more of these!).
"You're sure we shouldn't catch up before they reach the town?" she double-checked before leaning over to catch her breath.
"Positive… Fer cryin' out loud! Th'girl's got a freakin' Emperor with'er. That an' a… man.. woman… thing. (Sorry! I just couldn't remember if Tasuki knew or not… so here he does, because I'm too lazy to look it up) So just chill!" Tasuki grinned as Kori hopped onto the horse he had pulled out next to him. "Yah!" he cried out, and the horse began to gallop-trot quickly (not quite a gallop) in the direction that the trio had left towards earlier. Kori sighed and ushered her own horse to follow his. As she idly followed behind the proud bandit—who had managed to currently get on the subject of his own accomplishments—she drifted off into her own thoughts.
Three—or was it four?—months had passed since Kori had been thrown into The Universe of the Four Gods. She had begun lost, confused, and… well, basically just like Miaka and Yui the first time around. But three months, just three months had transformed her into a street-smart, clever bandit… male. Kori almost laughed to herself as she realized that it really had been a while, and still nobody knew of her true identity or even that she did have the things the bandits seemed to crave most—breasts. Kori recalled especially the original problems she had with keeping her secrets: changing clothes, bathing, and even hand-to-hand combat seemed to reveal her curves more than she desired. But fortunately, the bandits—even Kouji—had merely seen her a rather feminine bandit who was just a little self-conscious.
"Hey!" She snapped back to reality as the redhead in front of her gave her an irritated glance.
"What?" Kori replied aimlessly, mentally shaking herself clear of all of her thoughts.
"Ya brought yer bow 'n' arrows, right?" Kori nodded. "Good. We're just about at the town."
Kori's confused face seemed irritating to Tasuki, but he proceeded anyway. "I sense… sumthin weird in th'air," he whispered, his bright amber eyes searching the woods and nearby clearing cautiously. Kori perked her ears to see if she heard anything suspicious before she noticed that there was something weird about… just the general aura of the area. Her own pools glanced around quickly for any danger, but neither she nor the bandit next to her could seem to find any. There was, however, a faint odor that Kori just couldn't place.
"Oops! I'm so sorry!"
Kori and Tasuki both instinctively turned towards the sound. It had to be Miaka.
"I guess that's where we're headed," Kori stated, grinning at her fellow traveler. He nodded enthusiastically and began his horse in a trot towards the sound. They were to the town within minutes, and entered cautiously. By now the scent that Kori had smelled back at the clearing was so strong she felt like puking. She knew it now, too. It was the same smell that she had suffered during the trip to the old bandit boss's grave: death. Though she knew not why, Kori was sure she didn't like that the smell lingered so strongly here.
***
Okay, so an unintended break in story. I am so sorry that this ended here… I promise I'll have the rest of the chapter up by the Sunday!! But school is SO freaking (I Love that word) busy that I'm loaded and have to stop here. Anyway, review anyway and lookout for chapter and update in the SUMMARY, because I'll just replace this with the added bit. Thanx! R&R!!!!
~Taryn Eithne
***
Okies, here's the rest of the chapter, and I fixed up the first half. I'm so lazy… and I should be making a Powerpoint for History right about nw, too… oh well! FY is ten times better, and more entertaining, too!
~Taryn Eithne
So on with the story:
Chapter Four Continued: Changing More Minds
"Genrou, I've got a funny feeling about this place…" Kori whispered, subconsciously drawing her horse closer to her only means of close-range protection. He nodded in agreement and fingered the tessen on his back.
"Jes stick close ta me, an' we should b'fine…" he replied quickly, though Kori could sense the tenseness in his voice.
"So… w-where do you think we can find Miaka and the others?"
Kori's question was immediately answered as Miaka came storming out a nearby door with, "Miaka! Wait!" following her. Hotohori and Nuriko soon followed, grabbing the horses strapped nearby—horses that Kori and Tasuki both recognized as Reikakuzan horses—and dashing after Miaka.
"Well, there's yer answer!" he called as the adrenaline rushed through him and he took off after the group, Kori following close behind.
A good five minutes passed as the group of three (and the two following them) kept their horses at full speed. The two bandits, Kori noticed however, were growing steadily behind Miaka and her crew, so Kori made this known.
"Tasuki! We're losing them!" she shouted loudly to the man in front of her, whose eyes were narrowed in the direction that they were headed. He halted his horse, causing Kori's to run before him. She stopped hers as soon as possible and turned back to him.
"Nah…" he stated after a moment of thinking. "They went in there." Tasuki made a quick gesture at a rather forlorn looking plot of land, covered in row after row of dead trees, shrubs, and grass. "Les leave th'horses here. We c'n up to 'em on foot."
"Yeah." The two bandits hopped off their horses and began to jog in the general direction of their horse-bearing travelers.
"Tasuki…" Kori whispered after a few moments of traveling. He turned to her slowly. "That smell… it's getting stronger… That can't be—"
"What the—!?" Kori was cut off as Tasuki pointed to a spot near her foot. She turned towards it to see the ground moving quickly. Slowly, a few fingers slowly rose out of the moving pile of dirt.
"Oh my God…" Kori nearly screamed as the fingers grew to become a hand. She stepped away from the fingers as quickly as she could, bumping into Tasuki, who was also backing away. Neither of them noticed, though, because both were too preoccupied with the spot on the ground.
They were freed from their thoughts… and observations when a loud horse whinny and a few familiar screams echoed through the air.
"Tha's th'others!" Tasuki shouted, turning towards the direction of the screams. Kori nodded and the two began running away from the emerging hand and towards the calls. As they ran, both prepared their weapons to attack.
"There!" Kori called, finally spotting the group of three. Tasuki nodded and examined the situation. (And Tasuki's rating of the day is… not good. ^^)
"Miaka! Get away, Miaka!" Hotohori was calling helplessly, trying desperately to fight a large group of zombies that were surrounding him while trying to reach Miaka at the same time. Both Kori and Tasuki noted that most of the zombies were heading towards Miaka (hey, survival of the fittest, ya?). Kori quickly took the arrow she had in her hand and aimed it at the zombie nearest Miaka. She aimed and fired the arrow, praying the attack would at least be enough to distract the determined zombie. She was correct, and both Nuriko and Hotohori stared in confusion as the arrow ripped through the zombie's head, causing it to collapse just a foot or so from Miaka's head.
"Rekka…" Tasuki began, aiming his tessen at the group of zombies between Hotohori and Nuriko. "Shin'en!" he finished, and a huge gust of fire shot towards the two seishis and their deceased foes. Immediately, the zombies were all burnt to a crisp and disappeared, merely a small pile of ashes that were swept off and around the two (now confused) seishis.
Meanwhile, Kori was quickly finishing off the zombies that surrounded Miaka with one arrow right after the other. They were almost gone when Tasuki let out another flame and destroyed the remaining ones.
"I had them!" Kori shouted indignantly while Hotohori and Nuriko both stood. Tasuki tsked and began to head towards the two seishies.
"I figgered!" he stated smuggly, "Letcha alone fer a second!" The tessen quickly found its home on Tasuki's shoulder. Kori sighed and walked very slowly behding Tasuki.
"Genrou!? Kori!?" Hotohori and Nuriko gasped with surprise, watching the two bandits approach.
"Gen… Gen…?" Miaka whispered hoarsely, trying to look where the two bandits were standing.
"He didn't want to come," Kori stated, pointing at Tasuki quickly.
"But I knew if I letcha alone, you'd be in too deep," he added quickly, glaring at Kori before continuing. "And I was right! Anyway, Kouji 'n' I figgered it out. He's gonna be boss fer now. Th'old boss'd understand." While he was talking, Tasuki began to remove the strip of cloth that covered his right arm.
Kori grinned at the confusion on the faces of the Priestess and warriors of Suzaku.
"Understand what?" Miaka finally asked. Tasuki sighed and sweat-dropped.
"Dummy! Yer so thick!" He grinned as he finally finished unravelling the cloth. He held up his forearm for all to see. "I'm Tasuki! Genrou's just a nickname. Sorry I tricked ya."
"What!?" All three jumped up, Nuriko especially. "Why didn't you tell us sooner!?" He cried, "Your actions were unforgivable!"
"Don't say that! I was th'new boss!" Tasuki retorted loudly, taking back the arm he had been holding out so proudly.
"Yeah!" Kori agreed, "He had to take care of the bandits!" she continued, stepping forward. Tasuki held her back.
"But Kouji and this little twerp pushed me t'join up with you!" He ruffled Kori's hair quickly and Miaka leaned towards them.
"Really? Thank you so much!" A broad grin appeared on Miaka's face and Kori couldn't help but mimic it. "So where is this character of yours?"
All faces dropped at such a ridiculous yet genuine question. Tasuki confusedly waved him arm in front of Miaka's face, but she kept her happy gaze on his face.
"What are you talking about?" Kori asked cautiously while Tasuki continued waving his arm.
"It's right in fron of yer stupid eyes!" he cried trying to emphasize his arm.
"Really?" Miaka sat back. "That's odd. Your shadows there but that's all I can make out."
"What the…" Hotohori stepped back as though he were hearing words that no others could hear. Miaka gasped as realization hit her as well.
"I'm BLIND!?"
***
Dear Kami save us all! Taryn's on an update splurge!!! Anyway, expect TONS of chapters from now until… well, I run out of chapters! I can actually get motivated! Whoohoo! Oh, and if you find any HUGE mistakes in the story, please let me know! Don't hesitate to say, "Hey, maybe you should ACTUALLY RUN SPELL CHECK on chapter blahblahblah!!" b/c I always forget to and I WILL fix it!
Oh my gosh. I was just looking at the manga (volume four, English, page 37) at the shadows of the bandits… there's a guy with bows and arrows! And the weirdest part is that to me he seems to be standing a little… fruity for a guy. Then again, it's probably just me.
Reviews welcome, but remember to redirect your flames and SHOVE THEM UP YOUR [insert word of choice here]! Whoohoo! The innocence escapes! Oh yeah… on cursing role tonight…!
Sorrie… I'm running on about five pieces of chocolate pie right now… I really like chocolate pie…
~Taryn Eithne
P.S. Here's the teaser line for the next chapter:
"Dammit! And I always thought I was pale!"