Disclaimer: Please see the Prologue of Suzaku's Oracle for a blanket disclaimer.
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Warnings: Rated PG-13 or Fiction T. Language (Tasuki's a main character, what do you expect?) and adult situations.
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Notes: 7-4-14 Back to Mt. Leikaku! In chapter three, Tasuki mentioned a mutiny that had occurred a few months before this story began. This is why Tasuki and Kouji have the men out on a pointless foray in chapter one (in case you were wondering). This is also why it cuts so deep when Kouji finds out in chapter nine that the bandit named Shigeru betrayed them. Life went on after Miaka's last visit to the Universe of the Four Gods, and not all of it was pleasant. ~Sapphire
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Oracles of the Four Gods
"Suzaku's Oracle"
By: Sapphire
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Part Eighteen ~ Burdened Bandit
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Danno spotted five of them, holding up a richly appointed carriage. All five of them were well armed, and they had the occupant of the carriage securely bound to a tree and his entourage lying on the ground. At first Danno thought they were dead, but then one of the bandits called out.
"Oi! Katsuro! One of 'em's wakin' up!" Sure enough, one of the men on the ground was stirring. A bandit, presumably Katsuro, walked over and rapped him on the head with the handle of a heavy-looking dagger. The man was down again.
Maybe they hadn't murdered anyone today, but they were clearly stealing the small fortune the carriage had been carrying. They were efficiently loading small sacks of coin onto their horses. The sacks had to be small, because those coins were gold, he could see, and gold was heavy. Small sacks would make distributing the weight easier.
Except they weren't going to get away with the gold. Danno could feel the character mark for 'heart' burn on his forehead, and he could see the blue light it cast about him. His intention was to scare the bandits off. Instead, a feeling of cold calculation came over him, and his head filled with the desire to punish the thieves. Danno shook it off, refocusing, then acted.
"You there!" he called out with authority. "Stop what you're doing!" He showed himself, stepping out of the woods to stand on the side of the road, uphill from the carriage and the bandits. The five bandits froze and turned as one to stare up at him. "Good," Danno thought. "Let them fear me."
"Look at 'is forehead!" one of them shouted.
"Shit!" another called out.
"Move!" a third yelled. This was a command. The other four leapt into action, taking only what they'd managed to load and what was in their hands and ran for their horses. Danno decided they could use a little encouragement to move faster, and prepared to strike with a weak life force blast. They wouldn't know any better, and if he came across them again, they'd be wary of him.
"They are scum. They deserve to die," the thought echoed through Danno's head. He was startled. He didn't want to kill anyone. Then, completely independent of his control, his life-force pooled in his hands with enough power to kill them all.
"No!" Danno gasped, trying desperately to regain control of himself. At the last second he was able to pull his arm to the side, but he couldn't stop the blast of life energy. To his immense relief, it hit a rocky outcrop just within the trees on the side of the road. Dirt and rock flew as his life-force made impact, and a tree fell, toppling down with an ear-splitting crack and then a crash that took out two smaller trees with it.
"Fuck!" one of the bandits shouted.
"Move! Move!" another yelled. Danno watched with relief as all five disappeared into the forest. None of them had been harmed.
"You missed, stupid!" Danno spun to face the man tied to the tree. The old man was glaring at him, and Danno was taken aback.
"I just saved you, and kept you from being robbed of everything you had," Danno said pointedly. The old man just laughed.
"They won't kill me," he said smugly. "If they did, where would the money come from next year?" He laughed, but it was hollow, empty of all emotion except hate.
"Those men have robbed you before?" Danno asked, wondering just what he'd interrupted. The man laughed again.
"Oh yes," he said, his voice full of malice. "Those Leikaku scum rob me every year, and they get a damn fortune. Luckily this is only a small portion of my wealth. The raw materials I import from Kuto are worth far, far more, and those damned Leikaku bandits never take that. Nor do any of the others that accost me from time to time."
"If the money they steal is of such little consequence," Danno said, approaching the man so he could free him from the tree, "then why do you hate them?"
"They stole something much more valuable to me than that, once," the old man said.
"What was it?" Danno asked, curious, despite himself.
"My bride-to-be," the old man said.
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The hideout was starting to take on it's old look again. Kouji surveyed the place with a certain amount of satisfaction. They'd managed to rebuild the destroyed sections of the outer wall, and were currently reinforcing the entire thing with trussed up beams. A new gate was nearly finished, and would soon be ready to put up at the compound entrance. Tohru had just returned with his men and enough food and supplies to last them a good while. A semi-permanent camp had been established, and the men were starting to feel at home in it. An outbuilding with a fireplace that had survived the earthquake had been converted into a camp kitchen, and all the new food supplies were put into storage there. The men they'd lost were properly buried, and those that had been injured were recovering. All in all things were beginning to fall into place again.
"Horses down in the pass," the lookout called suddenly from atop the wall above the missing gate. Kouji made his way over to take a look for himself.
"Full report," he demanded as he climbed up the ladder to the catwalk along the wall.
"Six horses, five men. Could be ours," the bandit reported.
"Looks like it," Kouji agreed, looking down the mountainside at the figures making their way up from the pass. "No chances, though." He turned toward the camp. "I want everyone armed and ready fer a fight in one minute!" he shouted. "We're on alert." Those working below scrambled. Kouji was impressed how quickly they were able to accomplish his orders and take up positions of necessary defense. Genrou would be pleased with the measures he'd been taking. They were a far cry from an army, but they could work like one to defend their own ground.
"The Phantom Wolf leads the pack!" came the secret call from the path. Kouji relaxed. It was the returning raiding party. Kouji slipped through the gateless entrance and into the forested hills that lined the narrow trail. He slipped silently along the needle-carpeted ground as he made his way toward the approaching men. He hadn't been kidding when he said they would take no chances. Spying the horses and men through the trees, he saw there was nothing amiss.
"Kaneto!" Kouji scrambled out of the woods. "How'd it go?" Kaneto started, nearly falling from the back of his horse.
"Shit! Where'd you fuckin' come from?" he demanded gruffly. Kouji grinned. He loved it when he caught the kid off guard.
"From the damn woods," Kouji replied. "So, how'd it go?"
"We got a good haul," Kaneto replied, a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. "Didn't go so smooth, but we got what we was after."
"Whaddaya mean by that?" Kouji demanded.
"Ask me again sometime, huh?" Kaneto gave him a pointed look. "Later, ya know?"
"Oh," Kouji said, understanding. They'd discuss it with Tohru. "Right." Kouji swung up on the sixth horse, the one that carried the loot, and they hurried on to the hideout compound.
"The wall's almost done," Kaneto commented appreciatively as they rode through the gateless entrance. "You been busy."
"The gate'll be ready tomorrow," Kouji informed him as his eyes scanned the crowd of men arround them. "Tohru," he called out, eyeing the cook. "We got loot ta split up." The cook nodded and joined him and Kaneto at a makeshift table where they dumped the sacks of coin. This task was often performed in plain view of everyone so none could claim being cheated. This time was no exception. All the coins were removed from the sacks and laid out on the table to be divided. Typically, half would go toward what they called 'bandit money' which was used to keep the place running. The rest would be divided out among the men, amounts varying depending on a man's rank within the group. There were a lot of glittering eyes on this bounty.
"That's some loot," one of the men called out.
"And yer not gettin' any of it," Kouji remarked, "if ya want a roof over yer heads come winter. We need all this an' more." He scanned the men gathered around. "If ya don't like it, leave the Leikaku Bandits." No one moved. "All right. Let's get back ta work."
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Kaneto and Tohru were waiting in the mausoleum for Kouji. The second in command of the Leikaku bandits slipped inside just a few moments after the sun had set.
"Kaneto, what'd ya mean earlier that the raid didn't go smooth?" Kouji demanded.
"Lord Shou sure made a nice profit over in Kutou," Kaneto began. "Bags a money."
"So?" Kouji demanded.
"We didn't get it all."
"Why not?" Tohru demanded. "Ya know we could a used it."
"Couldn't. This weird guy showed up," Kaneto explained.
"Chichiri-?" Kouji wondered. "That damn monk, always interfereing..."
"The Suzaku Warriror? Nah," Kaneto shook his head. "Wasn't him. Some other guy, with blue-green hair. I swear I saw a blue mark glowin' on his forehead."
"Nakago!" Kouji nearly fell over in surprise. "But Nakago's dead!"
"He wasn't Nakago," Kaneto said. "Nakago had yellow hair, right?" Kouji nodded slowly, recovering. "Don't know who this guy was, but he threw some kind a blue light at us. We were lucky it missed. You should a seen what it did ta the rock and tree…" Kaneto shivered. "We took what we had an' got out a there."
"Shit," Kouji cursed. "Genrou ought ta know 'bout that. An he's in Eiyou..."
"That ain't all," Kaneto added. Kouji started. Did the surprises never end? He hoped this wasn't more bad news. "Before we caught up with old Lord Shou, we saw them mercs down in the valley. The ones who wrecked the hideout an' all."
"Fuck," Kouji and Tohru both said.
"Think they're on their way up here?" Tohru asked. Kaneto shook his head.
"Nope. Didn't look like it, anyway," he said. "They was all spread out in camp. Looked like an army down there."
"This ain't good," Kouji muttered. "Even if they ain't headed up the mountain, this ain't good."
"What 're we gonna do?" Tohru asked.
"We're gonna get that damned gate up first, that's what we're gonna do," Kouji said. "Extra men on watch, 'specially at night." He stared at the floor, wishing Genrou was there. Genrou was better at making these kinds of quick decisions. That's why Genrou was boss, and he was second in command. "Gone for fucking months," Kouji's thoughts practically hissed in disgust. As far as he was concerned, if Genrou wanted to keep the bandits, he'd better get back, and soon. "I think we should send out a spy, while we're at it." Kaneto and Tohru nodded. "Let's get Satoshi."
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Danno sat perched on a huge rock, his elbows on his knees and his chin cupped in his hands. The vista before him, the low mountain range separating Kuto from Konan, was beautiful, but he paid it no heed. He was confused. What had come over him when he'd stopped those bandits? Where had those vindictive, vengeful thoughts come from? If Danno didn't know better, he'd think he'd been possessed. He'd almost killed those bandits! That just wasn't like him.
When Taiitsukun had allowed himself, Kaori, and Wataru to leave Mt. Daikyouku, she'd sent them to their respective countries to work with the people there. The ancient one had said that would be the most appropriate use of their time until all four of the oracles could gather on Mt. Daikyouku together. She had not said to exterminate criminals as though they were vermin.
Danno just didn't know what was wrong with him. He wished Aneko were here. He could talk to her about this. She'd listen and take him seriously, as crazy as being possessed sounded.
He looked longingly to the west. The land was beautiful, with the mountains, hills, lakes, rivers, and streams. Somewhere out there, farther than he could see, was Eiyou, the capital of Konan. That's where Aneko was. He wished he could go see her, but this was as close as he could get to her for now.
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To be continued…
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End Note: The Mt. Leikaku Bandits encounter the Oracle of Seiryu! In the original version of this chapter, the encounter was alluded to, but only in passing. Going over the story again with a mind to better develop Danno's character, I realized this would make a great scene! For years Danno has been an elusive character to me. I never was sure who he was. I think that sent mixed signals about him. Was he good? Was he bad? I didn't really know, so no one else did, either. I had to really read through the manuscript with a critical eye to figure him out. It turned out, it was all there already, hidden in tiny clues throughout the narrative. Hopefully the scenes I've rewritten and the scenes I've added have shed some light on Danno Toya, Seiryu no Orakuru. ~Sapphire
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