Disclaimer: Yes, I'm writing this again! I do NOT own FY! If I did, I would be drawing FY, and everyone I hated in it would die! MUAHAHAHAHA!!
As I had expected earlier, the day seemed to grow colder and colder as time proceeded to flow away. Every once in a while, I would stop to give the poor horse a much needed rest, while helping Takiko dismount. I think she finally got used to riding a horse; she didn't seem as tense as before.
I studied her face that was framed by her straight, dark black hair which seemed to highlight her green eyes. Green eyes weren't that usual around here, and that was one more reason to prove why I should be getting a reward from the emperor for bringing everyone's beloved miko to the palace.
"How long more before we arrive at the capital?"
I blinked, breaking out of my train of thought as I looked up to meet her eyes. She carefully sipped the water from the tumbler that I handed to her earlier, not taking her eyes off me as I looked up at the sky. "Maybe about one and a half day's time; more if we get held up by the weather. With any hope, it won't snow before we get to the capital, or else we'll be having some very serious problems."
She was silent again as she too, looked up at the sky. It was growing dark; maybe we should just camp here, I thought as I looked at my surroundings, taking in the trees that were slowly thinning out on our journey. Well, at least it meant that we wouldn't have to worry about bandits.
The mare came up and almost whiningly nuzzled my hand in her nose, as if pleading me to confirm my decision. I threw a look at the thick clumps of grass that were around us, and sighed. We needed to get some rest- we had to wake up early tomorrow if we wanted to arrive early at the capital. Besides, with the tightened security around the city gates after the first Kuto invasion, it would take a little time to confirm our identities to the guards.
Looking at Takiko, I stood up and stretched. "We'll camp here tonight; if we ride anymore, we won't be able to see where we're going," I told her as I searched inside the saddle bags for the blankets that I packed yesterday night. Throwing one towards her, I paused for a minute and gave her another. "Here, you'll need this. I don't want you dying from frostbite before we even get there."
She took it without a word, and I raised an eyebrow at her, noticing for the first time that evening that she hadn't said as much as five words. Was she sick? Gods, if she was, there went the entire schedule. We would be held up yet again for another few days…
"Ne… Chamka. I was wondering…do you really think that after I summon Genbu, I can go back to my world?"
I half turned, wondering if that was what had been bothering her all this while. Her eyes were hidden from view as she looked down, wrapping the blankets around herself even tighter than ever, as if trying to smother herself. Her entire frame was trembling slightly, and I felt a wave of compassion and sympathy wash over me as I looked at her.
Kneeling down in front of her seated position, I smiled, taking one of her cold hands in mine. "Don't worry, Takiko-san, I'm sure you'll be able to return to your world after all this is over. Still, we'll need you if you are the real Genbu no miko, so you'll just have to make yourself stay here until Genbu is summoned."
She nodded, her smile appearing back on her face as she looked up at me, her spirits revived. I suddenly found myself looking down at her lap, where her skirt seemed to have been drawn up by the blanket. I could feel the blood beginning to flow out of my nose again and-
WHACK!
"CHAMKA WA KONO BAKA HENTAI!"
"Itte!" I collapsed on the ground, swirly-eyed as she rubbed her palms together in satisfaction. I hadn't done that on purpose- it had been an accident! All the same, what was the use of telling that to her? She'd probably think that I was just lying and trying to find some reason to cover myself as a hentai (which, to tell the truth, I wasn't sure if I was).
"I pity the girl who's going to marry you," she stuck her tongue out as I sat up, indignant. "She's going to have a damn hard time handling your roving eye, and I certainly hope you get struck down my lightning before that ever happens!"
"Hey!" I protested, rubbing the bump on my head as I frowned at her, not feeling pleased at the blow that she had just dealt to my ego. "I'm not that type of person, you know! I can be nice if I want to be!"
She simply raised an eyebrow at my words and shrugged insolently. "Uh-huh. Nice try."
I folded my arms, and sat cross-legged on the ground, stubbornly refusing to move. How dare that pipsqueak of a girl insult my manhood?!
She shivered, then threw an inquisitive look at me. "Aren't you going to get some firewood? You aren't planning on freezing out here, are you?"
"You wish," I muttered under my breath, still not wanting to budge. If she wanted to act like that, fine! Two could play at her game. Let's just see how long she could last before begging me to go make a fire so that she wouldn't have to die freezing…
"Oh, come on," Takiko snorted, resting her chin on her right palm as she wrinkled her forehead slightly in disbelief. "Don't tell me you actually took me seriously. Sometimes, I just wonder if you're a kid or a full grown adult, Chamka."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded, turning to glare at her as she shrugged. She whistled very innocently and commented about the nice trees or something like that, and I sighed.
"Fine, fine, you win," I surrendered, and she began cracking up, much to my surprise. Her giggles that slowly turned into loud guffaws seemed to tickle her even more, and I watched, with much astonishment as she fell over on her spot and started to roll on the ground, laughing as if there was no tomorrow.
"What's so funny?"
She chortled, trying her best to stifle her laughter, but wasn't very successful as they escaped on by on into snorts of high pitched laughter that rang through the evening. I cocked my head to one side, still not understanding the punch line or whatever the reason she was laughing and pointing at me while rolling around on the ground. What was so funny?
"You!" she managed to sputter out between her gasps for air, and I looked at her skeptically. "You should've seen the look on your face when I said that! You looked as if you'll never see day again!"
Understanding finally dawned to me, and I glared at her as I stood up. "I'm going to get some firewood," I told her with a rather sour tone as I trudged into the woods, hearing her peals of laughter echo through the entire forest. I didn't even want to tell her to be careful; I'd rather she get eaten by some wild animals. What a thing to laugh at!
Still, as I went deeper into the dark shadows, I could feel myself wanting to laugh too. For some odd reason, she was right; I had seemed funny when I was mad. And so, my shoulders slowly began to shake under the force of my laughter and I laughed just like her as I picked up the dry sticks that night.
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There was little to be said as we made ourselves warm after I returned, besides cooking some of the food that I had conveniently brought from home. After all, there were no inns around here, and even if there were, I surely couldn't afford them. She was the first to sleep, falling into a deep slumber as I kept watch for the first half of the night as I kept my blanket around me.
For some weird reason, the night sky seemed clearer than usual, and I could actually see the seen stars that represented the seven Genbu seishi. It was often hard to see the stars back in my village; it was always either raining or cloudy at night, or if we were unlucky, even snowing, and so it was extremely hard to see the seven special stars. Still, I had often wondered how the Genbu shichiseishi looked like, especially the seishi named Tomite, who seemed to have become my most sought-after idol since I was a very small boy.
Saying the names of the seven seishi seemed to be comforting, especially when all I could hear at night was the sound of crickets chirping and the wind blowing. Feeling the warm fire crackle near my feet, I smiled, closing my eyes as I recalled how life had been when my parents had still been alive. Kaasan had often told me that when the seishi came, Hokkan would never have to bow to Kuto, and we could finally be accepted by society. Until now, I still couldn't grasp the meaning of those words, but they still remained in my mind, a nagging reminder that I had to help restore Hokkan to its original peaceful state.
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It was near midnight when I awoke with a long sword millimeters away from the biggest vein in my neck. I immediately stiffened, looking down at the shiny surfaces of my captor's boots, silently noting that they were made of expensive animal leather. I gritted my teeth, feeling blood pump through my veins as I closed my eyes. Boots like those could only be afforded by the wealthy citizens, which I truly doubt our midnight visitors were. The only other people who would get to wear them were…
Bandits.
"That's enough of sleeping for you." I was hauled up roughly by my collar to face the menacing face of my attacker. His breath smelt strongly of sake, or alcohol at least, and I couldn't help but cough at the strong odour that it was emitting.
"Ah…no need to treat you rough, do we?" he rasped again, his voice sounding as if it was laced heavily with sake, just like his breath. "Tell you what. We'll let the girl and you go- but we get the money and the horse. Deal?"
Those useless, lazy men who actually have the decency to call themselves bandits wanted my money and my horse? I smirked and spat on his face, looking up to glare at him. I wasn't going to give this out without a fight! He gave a growl of anger and pulled me even closer to the dangerously sharp blade of his sword. His tone was now dangerously low and threatening, and I knew that he cold kill me at any moment now.
"Trying to act tough, eh, you little useless pipsqueak of a mouse? We'll see how tough you can act after you've felt my sword on your neck!"
"Wha…? Chamka, what's with the noise? It's not even dawn yet…"
Takiko's drowsy voice came from under her blanket and she sat up, only to have her arms grabbed roughly to her back by two other burly looking men. She gave a squeak of surprise and looked at me, not comprehending the situation. I didn't meet her eyes, but instead tried to locate my bow, then finally remembering that I had left it somewhere near my horse, which was being guarded by five other men.
I groaned mentally, wondering what had brought on this round of bad luck this time. We had just started out, and if we lost our supplies now, we would have to wait until we got to the next time to replenish them, which would take a long time, seeing by the fact that we didn't have any money in the first place.
"So, how about it?" came the insolent, gruff voice again, and I silently cursed my lack of weapons. Why, if I had my arrows, these guys would be sitting ducks! The guy was still smirking stupidly, giving me the urge to knock his teeth out with one punch, but I restrained myself, reminding that aggressive thought that Takiko was here. I didn't want to get her in trouble, especially when she still seemed wonderfully blur on what was unfolding right in front of her eyes.
"Chamka…who are these men?"
I snorted, wondering for a split second if she truly thought that this was my idea for a joke. Clenching my fists, feeling as the cold, hard surface of the sword's blade grazed upon the skin on my neck, opening a slight trickle of blood. The trees in front of me seemed to waver and slit into half and quarters, and I shook my head, trying to clear it.
Damn it, of all the times to happen, it HAS to happen now…
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A sudden muttering sound seemed to come from the forest, and I perked up my ears, wondering if someone could be there. Then, my heart fell again, remembering that no one in their right mind would want to meet with bandits, much less rescue them from some guys that were equipped with razor sharp swords.
Suddenly, something shiny seemed to shoot out from the trees, gripping on each of the men's swords and making the men drop them from the drastic increase of weight that was suddenly applied onto each of their weapons. I watched between horror and amazement as the snake-like objects clasped themselves around the bandits' bodies, freezing them in place as they turned into ice. Genbu...exactly what just happened?
I easily elbowed myself away from the previously threatening drunk bandit, then helped Takiko release herself before turning to look at the direction of our mysterious saviour that stood hidden in the shadows. Grabbing my bow and arrows from its place, I quickly took aim and called out warningly, trying to steady my voice despite my sight which seemed to make everything double of themselves. Damn that guy's sword!
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
Then, out of the shadows emerged a tall figure with long, flowing white hair that seemed to have a slight tinge of the silver moonlight reflecting from it. We gasped as he removed the black eye patch that covered his right eye, to reveal a glowing green character. The newcomer's deep voice rang through the night as we stared at him.
"How nice to meet the miko and you, Tomite. I'm Hikitsu."
Author's Notes: Finally ANOTHER seishi arrives! *cries in relief* I've written three chapters, and yes, I still think it's not up to par. . Anyway, Hikitsu's here! \^o^/ I'm pretty sure the other seishi will appear soon, but I've no idea just when they're going to appear, as I haven't planned out who will appear when.
Hmm…let's see, yes, I'm going to put a little WAFF between Tomite and Takiko (no, not between Tomite and Hikitsu- I'm a supporter of shonen-ai, but that pairing goes tooo far o.0;;). Then again, it won't go overboard as poor little Juufan here can't write any sap without throwing up and wondering just HOW in the world she wrote that… ^_^;;
What else? Hmm…I need to really thank Kaze-chan for this chapter especially, because it somehow resembles how Toroki in her fic appears. And so to make up for it, I shall advertise her fic here! Go to read Kaze-chan's "It WAS Just A Normal Day in the Market"! It's sugoi!! (I know, I know, everyone hates advertising, but bear me for a while, okay? ^_~)
Now, for the moment all of you've been waiting for...it's time for the award of the earliest review! Chapter three's first reviewer is...Natsuki! Congrats!! Oh, don't worry, people! I'm not ignoring you, but from now on this award will be given to the first reviewer of my fic, okay?? ^_^
By the way, thanks for the reviews! They're really encouraging! Okay then, until next time, ja ne ~!
(Author's Notes 2: What Really Happened During The Beta-Reading Of This Fic, by Sagara Sanosuke. Mwahaha.)
Sagara:…This needs work. It should be Tomato, not Tomite.
Juufan: No, it's Tomite.
Sagara: See? Tomite is corrected by spellcheck as Tomato. *changes word*
Juufan: *changes word back to Tomite*
Sagara: *changes again*
Juufan: *changes again
Sagara: *changes again*
Juufan: *changes again…etc.*
Sagara: TOMATO!!!
Juufan: TOMITE!!!
Sagara: TOMATO…*cracks up* Bwahahahaha!!
Tomite: -_-;;; Kindly stop butchering my name.
Sagara: *gasp* You used eloquent language!!! *faints*
Tomite: …I always do.
Takiko: Riiiiiiight. *whacks*
Juufan: *sweatdrop*
Sagara: …This is getting longer than the fic. *grins*
*suddenly, Tomite grabs Takiko and gives her a big ki
Juufan: THE END. *glare*
