TA: Hah! No more writers block! Weekends are goood for getting rid of writers block. And, yet again, I own nada demo Nikyia, her late family, Arafae, and Jaden.

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Chapter 8 – In The Midst Of Bandits

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When she came to a while later, she was in a room with Miaka, Hotohori, and Nuriko. All three were tied by strong ropes. Miaka and the others were unconscious. Nikyia closed her eyes for a moment and considered burning a hole in the ropes, grabbing the others and getting out of there, but then she remembered she didn't know where "there" was. Simultaneously, Hotohori and Nuriko began to come to.

"Hotohori…" Nikyia hissed. "Nuriko…Snap out of it." They did, fast.

"Nikyia, where are we?"

"I'd shrug but I'm a bit tied up at the moment."

That was when the other two noticed everyone was, literally, tied up. Before anything else could be said, Miaka began to stir as well.

"What's the point of staying here any longer than we have to? C'mon Nikyia, you can get us out of these ropes," Nuriko stated with a remarkable grasp of the obvious.

"True Nuriko, but…we're looking for the next Seishi, right? The mirror said he was around here. The next seishi…"

Before she could say any more, the door to the room burst open, revealing four men, wild grins on their faces.

"Well, not a bad catch for the day, eh guys?" the first one spoke. The other laughed. Nikyia scowled. Nuriko jabbed her lightly, which was still enough to knock her over.

"Don't do anything drastic…" he whispered

"If they so much as touch Miaka they're gonna find their hands on fire…"

"But that would burn Miaka too…"

"Fine then, their rear ends…"

"Better."

"Orders are, pick one fer Eiken, we get the others. Problem is we've got a nice group of pretty ones here."

"They think you're women…" Nikyia whispered to Nuriko and Hotohori.

"Well naturally," Nuriko flashed his feminine smile.

"This one's nice."

Nikyia found herself being lifted to her feet, although they were still tied together.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"You don't know who you're messing with…" Nuriko said, slightly worried about what the demi-goddess would do to those guys, even though they had been captured by them.

"Just a girl."

"What about this one?" A second brought Miaka too her feet.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Miaka's mouth latched onto the man's shirt and pulled.

"Miaka!" The sound of tearing clothing mixed with the shout, and a piece of the man's shirt ended up in Miaka's mouth.

"What's the matter guys? Can't handle a girl?" A new bandit stood in the doorway. Just about everything about this one was dark except for his clothes.

"Hey, Kouji! Which one do you think we should take fer Eiken?"

The bandit, Kouji, looked between the four, then shrugged.

"Hey, I don't really want to serve Eiken. I just happen to be the one who has to. Pick one and we'll see what he thinks."

"I say we take the brunette. She's feisty."

"Fine." Nikyia felt herself being dropped and landed hard on the ground.

"Miaka!" Nikyia and Hotohori shouted.

"No! Wait!" Miaka hopped over to the three. "The mirror said that the next seishi was around here!" she whispered. "I'll bet the next one's a bandit. If I go with them, I can probably find out who."

"Don't get yourself hurt Miaka…We might not be able to get to you this time."

"Don't worry!" Miaka said in her always happy tone and allowed herself to be led out by the bandits.

"So…what's going to happen to us?" Nuriko asked his companions.

"I don't know…"

"Seems like you two are going to have to do a bit of an acting job if we get another batch of bandits in here," Nikyia smirked.

"What do you mean?" Hotohori asked.

"Didn't you hear them? They think you're women."

"If they can't tell now, I doubt they will later!" Nuriko smiled. Hotohori sweatdropped.

"Until one of them tries to do what Miaka did the first time we met…"

"What was that, your highness?" Nuriko inquired.

"Don't even ask…"

Before anything else could be said, the doors opened again to reveal about six more bandits. Nuriko growled as one of them flipped out a knife and approached him. The three fell silent as Nuriko found his bonds being cut. The bandit proceeded to Hotohori, and then Nikyia.

"Alright you three, c'mon. It's time fer dinner and yer up to serve."

" 'Ey, Rikou? Were these ropes…charred…when you picked them out?" the bandit who had cut the ropes asked. The three captives held back snickers as they were led towards the "dining room." Inside, a long table full of bandits waited to be served. Nikyia found a wine pitcher stuck in her hands.

"In father's name…" she sighed and began to pour the drinks as the other two started serving. Hotohori had a bandit attached to him in an instant, and one who approached Nikyia gave everyone entertainment: The bandit with the flaming pants. In between the laughter and coming drunkenness, the three overheard a disturbing conversation.

"So, Eiken's still in his room? He rarely ever leaves these days."

"Yeah, didn't ya know? He got one of the girls from the group of four earlier. Pretty young, probably a virgin."

"Well if she was, Eiken'll take care of that!"

"Nuriko!" Hotohori and Nikyia shouted together.

"As you wish!" The bandits instantly found themselves being piled up against a wall with their own table and chairs. Hotohori dashed over to their pile of belongings and pulled out his sword.

"The two of you…are men?" one bandit forced out.

"Took you long enough, fools…Urk!"

Hotohori looked down to see the same bandit attached to him again.

"I don't care if you are a man! You're still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…"

Nuriko came up behind cracking his knuckled.

"Permission to do as I please, highness?"

"Go right ahead."

Easily, Nuriko detached the man from Hotohori and dragged him off.

"Hey, where's that one bandit? Kouji was it?" Nikyia spoke up.

"He must be coming back from taking Miaka to their boss. We'll catch him right here."

Hotohori stood by the door and Nuriko took a place by the bandit pile. Nikyia sat on the other side, torturing the bandits with threats of setting the table on fire at any sudden movement. The door pulled open and the bandit they were waiting for came in. The first thing he saw was Nuriko sitting by the pile of bandits.

"You…" he gasped. The next thing he saw was Hotohori's sword under his neck.

"One chance and one chance only, where's Miaka?"

Kouji was "more than happy" to lead the three through a maze to a room where Miaka's shouts could be heard inside.

"The door's locked…" Nikyia stated plainly, trying the handle. "Want me to take care of it?"

"No, you might hurt the whole building. Nuriko?"

"Can do, sire." Nuriko aimed a punch right at the wall into the room. The punch left a giant imprint, but didn't break the wall.

"One more!" Nikyia shouted excitedly. All three hoped they weren't too late. The next punch reverberated around the hideout as the wall collapsed around where Nuriko's punch had connected. There sat Miaka, her clothes in a mess, but thankfully on her body. Nikyia sweatdropped with one look at Eiken. The easiest way to describe him was fat and ugly.

"Miaka, did you find out who has the symbol of his body?"

Miaka shook her head and Nuriko sat down and grabbed Eiken's arm.

"Perhaps he needs a bit of pain himself to get him to tell us. May I?"

"Do."

Nuriko twisted his arm, and not in a figurative meaning, in attempt to get a name. It worked.

"It's Tasuki! Tasuki has the symbol on his body now please let me go!!!"

"What?" Nikyia's head shot up. I feel a very strong life force nearby…

Instantly, a strong wind blew in the room, bringing dust with it. When the dust begin to settle, Nikyia looked up slightly.

"Miaka?! Miaka?!" Miaka was no where to be seen.

"Who's that?!" Nuriko pointed. Another hole in the wall revealed a young man holding Miaka over his shoulder. His hair was bright orange and his face held a smirk.

"Well well Eiken. I leave you guys alone for a while and look what happens."

"Genrou…" Eiken hissed.

"Uh oh…" Nuriko whispered. Knowing what he would see, his head turned towards Nikyia. The girl was standing shock still, eyes wide with a mix of memories and astonishment.

"Genrou…" her mouth formed the word silently.

"Nikyia! It's not the time to get sentimental! Miaka's in trouble!"

That did it. Nikyia snapped out of her trance like state.

"I'm not his wife!" she heard Miaka exclaim. Genrou glanced at them, still smirking.

"Well then I'll take her."

"No you won't!" Hotohori shouted, throwing himself at Genrou. In his hand he produced three cards and, with a quick chant, a spell, threw them at the approaching crowd. As the cards flew at them, in front of their eyes they transformed into large wolves with glowing eyes. Behind her, Nikyia sensed someone trying to go somewhere.

"Hold it right there, Kouji!"

The bandit froze in midstep.

"You know where he's taking her, don't you?"

"Um…"

"You'll show me where he's taking her or you'll be food for those wolves too…"

"Right this way!"

Quickly, Kouji led Nikyia out of the hideout and further up the mountain until they reached a small house. Kouji knocked on the door.

"Knock knock who's there Kouji, Kouji who, Genrou's buddy that's who, oh come right in, thank you!" Kouji proceeded to push the door open.

"Well I've never heard anyone do that by themselves before…now I know I've seen everything here…wait, I take that back…"

The two bandits had begun to do a weird sort of dance together in happiness.

"Now I've seen everything….Miaka!"

Nikyia caught sight of the girl sitting on the floor across from the dancing duo.

"Kouji!" Genrou shouted, catching sight of Nikyia as well. "Ya let someone follow ya!"

"Er…" Kouji sweatdropped. "She was gonna feed me to those wolves ya conjured back there if I didn't bring 'er."

"What'sa matter? Can't handle a girl, Kouji?"

"Nikyia!"

After a quick check to make sure Miaka was okay and Genrou hadn't hurt her…

(Nikyia: If you so much as touched her wrong I swear I'll…

Miaka: Relax Nikyia! I'm fine! Really!)

…the four sat down, and Kouji began to speak.

"The boss never stopped talking about you, even to the very last. He woulda been happy with you takin his place, but you were gone and Eiken saw his chance. Nobody wants to argue with him because he has the fan."

"But it's just a fan…" Nikyia spoke up.

"Idiot," Genrou hissed. Nikyia glared. "The fan is made of solid iron, and can throw fire with an incantation."

Miaka was silent for a moment before she stood up.

"Alright then!"

"Alright what?" the other three said together.

"Genrou! Kouji! We'll help you get the job back from Eiken, and you can help us find Tasuki! It'll be fun! Let's go!"

Miaka dashed out of the room in an instant.

"Doesn't she know she's a hostage?"

"I don't think so…Hey! Whoa! What the hell d'ya think you're doing?!"

Nikyia had grabbed his chin and turned his head to face hers. For a moment, there was silence as Nikyia sat, looking into Genrou's eyes. Then she let go, and smiled.

"Sorry about that. I was just looking for a resemblance."

Genrou rubbed his chin.

"Resemblance to who?"

"My brother. You have the same name…"

"So?"

"My brother died two years ago with my family…" her voice whispered. Without waiting for a reply, she jumped to her feet and ran off after Miaka.

"Kouji?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let the guys capture anyone else. They picked too many weirdos…"

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On their way down to the hideout, Nikyia suddenly felt a weight on her head.

Alright young lady, you've got some explaining to do…

"What'd I do?" Nikyia shook her head to try and shake Arafae off. He only clung tighter.

I flew all around this mountain looking for some sign of you or your friends and I come to find you climbing down with two young men from some secret house…

"So your point is…?"

I was ready to wring my feathers with worry of what your father would do to me if I lost you and I see you climbing down a mountain with two young men from a secret house! I'm not even going to ask what you were doing there but wait til peacock bangs hears about this. He leaves you alone for one hour and…

"I didn't know birds could be perverse…" Nikyia muttered. Her hand went up to smack Arafae away. The hawk jumped over it and came to land on a nearby bush.

"Nikyia, come on! We have to go find Hotohori and Nuriko, then we can get the fan for Genrou and Kouji, and they'll help us find Tasuki!" Miaka called.

Fan? Genrou and Kouji?

Nikyia thumbed back at the approaching bandits.

"Miaka was kidnapped by the redhead and I made the other one take me to her. Dumb bird…"

Nikyia continued on while Arafae sat on the bush. Genrou and Kouji eventually reached it.

" 'Ey, Kouji?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it just me or is that bird blushing?"