Okay, here's the next chapter. And MIB 2 was great. Humour was slightly on the hentai side though…

Anyway, I've added the Japanese, Chinese and miscellaneous notes for the previous chapter, gomen gomen that I didn't put them up the last time.

Oh, and have I mentioned?

I'M SUSPENDED FROM THE CEILING NO THANKS TO THESE TWO #%*){###-

Kokie: *tsk tsk* Somebody must have been taking lessons from Tasuki…

Amefuri: Demo, it is your fault that you're suspended from the ceiling.

NANDATO? KISAMA-

Kokie: You throw us into a fight so early on in the series, so you can suspend from the ceiling.

Amefuri: And the longer you suspend, the further away in the future we will have to fight. ^_^.

XYZ###***@@@.

BWAHAHHAHA. They've forgotten I'm a FANFICTION AUTHORESS! I have infinite POWER!!! Muahhahahha. Computer, begin program [Wars Fanfiction].

Kokie: NANI-

*And in a swirl of pretty colours, the new Byakko seishi are sucked back into the fanfiction, leaving only Draconsis and Nyan-chan in Draconsis's limboland, the land between reality and fanfiction.*

HA. Computer, end program [Suspend Draconsis].

MATTE! First begin program [Cushion landing-

((THUD))

Kuso…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"……" Speech

(……) Authors Notes/ Comments

[……] Thoughts

((……)) Sounds

*……* Actions/Emotions

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Fushigi Yuugi Belongs to Watase Yuu]

[I own the idea for the fic though.]

[The super talented Watase Yuu also owns Ayashi No Ceres.]

[All I know about Gundam Wing is that it has five guys in it…or was it four?]

[Don't own Pokemon either.]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Draconsis Presents:

A Draconsis Fanfiction

The Great Wars of The World

~ Flowers of the Sands Arc / Sabure no Hana Enko ~

[Chapter 06 – Sword and Stone]

"Haven't you guys gotten tired of these meaningless battles yet?"
- Chang Wufei
Gundam Wing

Current Time: Year 1596

Sairo Time: Tora 214

Hokkan Time: Nobunaga 10

Konan Time: Asseisha 74

Kuto Time: Year 1596 (Republic since 1480)

Year 1490/ Tora 108, Sairo

The young soldier hesitantly tapped on the wooden door of a small cottage in a remote village of Sairo. Vaguely he wondered why every unpleasant task was to allotted to him, especially this kind. The War had already claimed many lives. He absent-mindedly fiddled with the objects entrusted to him, a final gift from the dead to the living.

The door creaked as it swung open, letting in some of the warm noonday sun. A frail old woman, supporting herself on a walking stick, peered out from the shadows of the interior.

"Yes?" she asked the young soldier, though in her heart she hoped it would not be the one message that all mothers dreaded.

"I'm very sorry, but Captain…" the soldier continued, though old ears did not hear, and old hearts refused to believe.

The old woman's eyes filled with tears as she looked at the two objects the soldier held. The familiar jade green flute, worn with constant use, a present for his twentieth birthday. A faded metal tag, inscribed with the identity of the man it once hung on, now never to return home.

Captain Kaika

54th Regiment

Sairo Imperial Army

"To protect what we hold dear."

-~=*[^]*=~-

It had been half an hour since Genbu no Shichi Seishi Namame had extended his challenge to the two Byakko seishi. Amefuri had started preparing by gearing herself up for battle, and changing into looser clothes. Kokie, on the other hand, had completely freaked out.

"We're going to DIE!" she said as she attempted to strangle a much calmer Amefuri.

"LET –hack- GO!"

Once Amefuri's face colour had returned to normal, she revealed her plan for the upcoming battle to Kokie.

"All we have to do is simple. We only let him see me, so he'll think only one of us came. While I spar with him, you hide in the undergrowth and ambush him. Deplete his energy, blast him with it, and that's the end to the battle."

"That simple?"

"Err, not really…heheh. I only found out I was a seishi yesterday you know… So I have no idea whatsoever on how to control my seishi power."

"I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT! MAJOR HOLE IN THE PLAN!"

"Heheh… It was an idea at least…"

-~=*[^]*=~-

The half moon shone down on the clearing in the bamboo thicket where Namame was waiting. He twirled the bou staff around, faster and faster until it became an invisible swirl. The Genbu seishi then flung it at one of the several large boulders nearby, shattering it into shards of jagged rock, perfect missiles.

"Them Byakko's are late." He announced to thin air. He walked over to the rock debris and retrieved his staff.

A stir in the forest announced the arrival of more life forms. Namame let his ki flow through the forest floor, giving him more information on the two life forms.

"Ah. They're here."

 His eyes traveled to the forest path, the only way for anyone to reach the clearing. Namame was not disappointed. Amefuri appeared, sword unsheathed.

Namame lifted an eyebrow.

"Where's the other un?" he asked, even though he could feel the life force relatively near to him.

"Not here."

Amefuri suddenly lunged towards him, slashing at him with her sword. Namame parried it easily with his staff, careful not to meet the blade head-on, lest should it cut through his weapon.

The battle had begun.

-~=*[^]*=~-

Kokie moved stealthy through the undergrowth surrounding the clearing, keeping an eye on her friend and her enemy.

Amefuri and Namame had continued attacking each other, Amefuri using her single-bladed sword to slash and stab, Namame using his staff, attempting to disarm her. Occasionally he used his staff to hit her, but Amefuri had always managed to move out of the range of fire.

But Amefuri's attacks were working. Namame constantly had to move backwards toward the forest, and Kokie had positioned herself accordingly. Another few steps backwards and she would be able to ambush him…

Amefuri jumped high into the air and landed on a stem of bamboo. The stem bent under her weight, but held steady. Now, her elevated position would give her an advantage over Namame.

But Namame had noticed this. He used his staff as a pole vault, and swung himself over Amefuri's head to land on the stem, in between Amefuri and the root of the branch. He clearly intended to break the stem, which would send Amefuri plummeting back to the earth, five feet below.

But much to his surprise, Amefuri leapt off the stem. Relieved of the weight, the stem snapped backwards, slamming into Namame, and hurtling him against the main stem of the bamboo. He hit it with a resounding thud, and slid to the ground, five feet below.

Kokie had to stop herself from laughing. The stem had hit him head-on, and a rather nasty bruise was developing on his forehead. To make matters funnier, there was a section where the joints in the stem had hit him, and the area was a darker purple than the others…

Amefuri landed gracefully back on the ground.

"Give up?"

Namame picked himself off from the ground. The trick Amefuri had pulled on him hurt like hell, and he knew there would be a few nasty bruises on him. The stem had also smashed into his nose, and it had started bleeding.

[Kuso. Damn her. Damn battle ain't fun no more.]

He let his ki flow to the many rocks he had prepared earlier. They glowed with an eerie green light, before hovering up in the air, ready to fly at the chosen target.

Amefuri, keeping her concentration on Namame, failed to notice the impending danger. Kokie had however, and she called out to Amefuri.

But something choked her voice, clamping over her mouth, so no matter how hard she yelled, no sound came out. A soft rustle in the bushes behind alerted her, and she turned round to see a figure, robed in black with a hood so long that it covered his eyes. Kokie's eyes widened.

-~=*[^]*=~-

Amefuri kept her eyes on Namame, wondering why on earth was he smiling. Suddenly, her seishi power flared up. She was the air, rushing through the forest, swirling in the sky, cut through by rocks…

Amefuri spun around in time, throwing her sword out at the rocks.

"SWORD INTO SHIELD!" she yelled, using her defensive maneuver. The sword shone with her ki, and spun around in mid air, at such a fast speed that the rocks bounced harmlessly off it.

But a particularly large rock slammed onto the sword with a great force, and the blade, brittle from the many poundings it had just received, shattered into numerous pieces.

Now there was nothing between Amefuri and the jagged missiles, and they still continued hurtling towards her.

Amefuri raised her right hand to defend herself against the onslaught, and her seishi power flared up again. The air in front of her consolidated into a shield, and the rocks slowed before stopping completely in the dense, impenetrable air.

Namame cursed again as Amefuri foiled his plans. However, a jab into his consciousness announced the arrival of Urumiya into the battle.

[And now the scale tilts in our favour…ha.]

-~=*[^]*=~-

Kokie was lifted out of the undergrowth by whatever had imprisoned her. When she was out in the clearing under the moonlight, what she saw frightened her even more.

What held her down was a shadow. A moving shadow, free of any solid matter to cast it, and to make matters worse, it was solid enough to restrain her. She tried to absorb its ki, but to no avail.

And as if straight from a horror movie, she saw the black-robed man who had caught her, but he was devoid of any shadow despite standing out in the open, under the bright shining moon.

-~=*[^]*=~-

Amefuri sensed the arrival of some things in the clearing. She spun around to face them. To her horror she saw Kokie, swamped by a translucent black object that looked like a shadow. On Kokie's right stood a Genbu seishi, his symbol on his forehead shining so brightly that the heavy material of his robe did not hinder it.

Namame gave a lopsided grin towards his fellow seishi.

"So, ya found her afta all." He moved closer towards Kokie, closely scrutinizing her.

"Che. She dun look as if she could've taken Hatsui out." He remarked to Urumiya, who, as per normal, did not reply at all. "Anyways, I says we finish 'em off. 'specially this un." He pointed at Amefuri.

Wordlessly, Urumiya let loose his ki, and soon the shadows of a pack of wolves drifted into the clearing, circling Amefuri.

Amefuri couldn't detect them using her wind, so she did the next best thing. She picked up one of Namame's rocks and threw it at a wolf-spectre.

The rock passed through harmlessly.

[Oh crap. Kokie was right. We are doomed.]

The wolves circled closer and closer.

-~=*[^]*=~-

Kuirai didn't know what had drawn her out of the house. Maybe it was the moonlight, or the faint tingle her hands felt. All she knew was that she was making her way towards her favourite spot to paint, a small clearing in the bamboo forest.

She was nearing her destination when a powerful ache arose over her heart. She pressed a hand over the area, and it felt hot, burning hot. But soon the pain subsided, and she continued on her journey.

When she reached the clearing, she gasped.

The travelers that were staying at her Inn were locked in combat with two men. Several shadows swooped around Seigi, who was clearly trapped.

[Seigi? How do I know her name? She never told it to me…]

Kuirai's train of thought was interrupted by a massive white shape lunging out from behind her into the clearing.

-~=*[^]*=~-

Amefuri was shocked when a massive white tiger emerged from the forest, and with a single roar, it sent the wolf-spectres fleeing back to their owners. The tiger then turned its attention towards the two Genbu seishi. It hesitated for a while, as if selecting its prey.

The tiger lunged at Urumiya. The shadow that imprisoned Kokie dissipated immediately, forming a barrier between its owner and the tiger. The tiger changed directions and headed towards Namame.

=RETREAT=

The order that rang out in the Genbu seishi's heads was insistent.

Urumiya's symbol flashed again. Namame's body turned darker and more transparent, and soon he dissolved into the night air. Urumiya's shadow rose up behind its owner, engulfing him, and in a swirl both disappeared.

Amefuri and Kokie both collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

-~=*[^]*=~-

Namame fell roughly onto the carpet of the room in Hokkan, with Urumiya appearing a second later.

"Wha'cha do that fer? We could've WON!" Namame yelled.

Inami shook his head. "You would not have. It was three against two."

-~=*[^]*=~-

Kuirai's head was filled with memories, but most of all she was wondering one thing.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE WE DOING IN AN ANIME?" she yelled at the two semi-comatose seishi.

"YOU REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!! YIPPEE!!!!" Kokie bounced upright and started hopping around Kuirai.

Amefuri bolted upright at another thought. "Where's the tiger?"

Three pairs of eyes turned towards the tiger, now sitting serenely washing itself. As they continued to watch, it shrunk down into a small, white cat with black stripes.

The three sweatdropped.

Just then, Kuirai noticed that the area over her heart was glowing white. The other two had noticed it as well.

"You're a seishi as well?" said Kokie, brushing the dust off herself. "Cool!"

"What do you mean by I'm a seishi?" Kuirai raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"You've got the cool glowy symbol like us!" Kokie continued to prance around the clearing.

Meanwhile, Amefuri's attention had been diverted to the cat.

"It's so cuteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Amefuri cried out as she picked up the squirming feline. "Can we keep it?"

"It's a cat that can turn into a tiger! Are you crazy?" Kuirai yelled at Amefuri, who cowered in the sudden outburst.

By this time, Kokie had managed to calm down enough to answer reasonably. "Shikashi, I don't see why not. It could be useful."

"YAY!" Amefuri cuddled the cat even tighter, while the poor cat only struggled harder to get out.

"I say we name it Alex! Like Alex O. Howell from Ayashi No Ceres!" Kokie said.

"No! Let's name it Ken! Like Kenny G!" Kuirai retorted back.

The feline in question chibied, resulting in many "So cuteeeeeeeeeeeee!"s from the three seishi.

"I say we call it Chibi-neko!" Amefuri finally letting the poor cat go. "Ne, Chibi-neko?"

Chibi-neko's eyes, one blue and one orange, narrowed into slits before it promptly chibied again.

-~=*[^]*=~-

It was well past 3am when the three returned to the Inn. After a few minutes of leaving Kuirai by herself in a locked room to check on her symbol, it was found she was Subaru.

"Demo, how can she be Subaru? We already know what Subaru looks like, and Kui-chan looks nothing like her." Amefuri said as they headed back to their rooms for another few hours of sleep.

"Could it be that the original Byakko Seishi were not reincarnated? Maybe Byakko-seikun selected a few new ones." Kokie replied as they pushed open the door to their room, now in shambles.

The first thing that caught their notice was the large wall painting of the magnificent white tiger. But now, instead of the white tiger relaxing on the rock, the only thing that remained was the background of bamboo and the rock itself. The tiger had just vanished off the canvas. And the rim of the framing brocade still glimmered Byakko –white with ki.

-~=*[  Tsudzuku   ]*=~-

Japanese Guide

Nandato - What the

Kisama – Rude form of saying "You"

Kuso – Short form of "Chikuso". Japanese swearword

Shikashi - However

Story Guide

Time Concept: The standard measure of years that is uniform in all countries is Universal Time, which would make it year 1956 in Universal Time. But each country also has its own measure of years, which is according to the dynasty. For example, the Tora Dynasty has been around for 214 years, so in Sairo time it's Tora 214.

Bamboo: Y'know, bamboo grows everywhere in China. Its made out of many segmented bits. To boot it's also quite bouncy when alive. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon anyone?

Naming of attacks: That's how they remember what each stroke is in each set of skills/maneuvers. Also, giving an attack a really impressive name, then yelling it out when you are using it may scare the enemy. Especially if it's a famous attack.

Fighting Notes

Amefuri's [Sword into Shield]: The sword spins around with the pommel (the bit at the tip of the handle end) as the axis. Sort of like an electric fan…try throwing something at it. Guaranteed to come back at you. Remember to move out of the way.

Length of time for a fight: Fights can last for pretty long. More than an hour sometimes.

Yeah…I think that's all the notes…if you're still unclear on anything, drop me a review. And what I said for the last chapter still stands. Review mine, leave a note telling me to review, and I'll go review your story.

Oh yes, Ice-Goddess, Chinese words have the same pronunciation for different characters, it's not like English where one word only has one pronunciation and a few meanings. But the written forms of the Chinese words are different when written down for each character, so in written Chinese, the meaning will be clearer. And yes, I'll email you the seishi's symbols. But right now I'm still trying to find out the modern versions of them. They're written using a older, more complex version of writing each character…and my Chinese isn't exactly top-noch…^_^;;;…Anyone else want the seishi symbols? Ask for it in your review!

So…Now it's Subaru/Kuirai's turn for free talk!

Subaru: Good! Now, I want to complain!

Nani?

Subaru: Of all people, you stick me with the two mad fangirls!

Why not? They're your friends, right?

(Oh, and speaking of Amefuri and Kokie, they're trapped in Mount Moon in Pokemon Red in Draconsis's Gameboy. They're not getting out anytime soon.)

Subaru: Yes! But you could have stuck me with some other people! Like Mark A1!

Good point. A1 rock. But sorry, no. You're still stuck with the two mad seventeen year olds.

Subaru: Whyyyy not? Or get me away from them and I'll drag another anime guy into here for you to torture…um…interview.

Hontou? Tempting…But that would spoil the storyline! Besides, there will be other people other than those two.

Subaru : Really?

(Long pause)

Subaru: OH NO! YOU MEAN-

Computer, end program [OC free talk].

Ahhhhhh…peace and quiet…

Nyan-chan: Will you please let me out of the blinking CD case?

Shan't.

Nyahhahahhahahaha……

===

Signing off,

Draconsis

===