Chapter 11

Soon enough they were starting out again to look for the 6th and 7th seishi. Since there were only 7 horses, and one dying mule with cirrhosis, Tasuki had to pair up with someone like Clare had. Of course, he chose to ride with Molly. (I guess Tasuki finally found a girl he could stand for more than 12 hours) After a couple of hours, they arrived in another small village, except this one wasn't abandoned.By that time, Clare and Liana weren't feeling so well, and so Hotohori stopped the horses to ask if there was a doctor in. A poor man pointed them towards a small home just outside of town, with a light smoke rising out of it's chimney. There they would find a young woman, with amazing powers of healing, and even reviving people from the dead. Hotohori said his thanks, and they rode on to the house. Just like the man had said, when the door opened, there was a pretty young woman standing in front of it.
"Hello?" she asked, "May I help you?" Clare and Liana, who both were about to puke, were moved to the front of the line.
"These two girls," said Hotohori, "Are getting very sick. Is there anything you could do to help? I heard that you are famed in the arts of healing, so I would very much appre-"
"Yeah yeah cut the small talk," the woman said, holding the door open wider, "Bring 'em in. What's two more when you've got a town of 300 to cure?" Chichiri and Tamahome helped Clare and Liana to the two cots against the wall.
"T-town of 300? Surely not all those people are sick," said Nuriko, amazed.
"There's been some sort of disease going around lately," the woman said, "It first starts with a bought of coughing..." Clare and Liana both started hacking from where they were laying.
".....followed by an itchy rash all over the body...." Clare and Liana both started scratching arms and legs and anything they could reach.
"...followed by a tad of craziness...." "Scritchy scratchy on my backy!!" squealed Liana.
".....followed by sudden blindness....." Everyone watched as Clare ran into a wall. "What the &*%@?? Who turned out the lights???" she asked.
".....which is usually ended by a death within the next four hours." ended the woman.Tasuki's eyes grew wide.
"Well, is there anythin' you can do to help tem?? You explained it in detail....ah....rather well....so, can you get the curin' done??" he asked.
"I would if I could," the woman said, "But I'm all out of the mystical herb clorettes. I used the last bit of it this morning, curing a packhorse."
"A PACKHORSE?!!" yelled Ginni, "I THOUGHT YOU WERE HELPING PEOPLE!!"
"Well packhorses have feelings too, you know," said the woman coldly. Clare ran over to them, hands out.
"Haaaaalloooooooo....is there anyone thereeereeeee?" she asked. She grabbed onto Chichiri's bangs, and tugged them.
"What the heck is this??? Feels like some sort of moss or.........fungus or something. Am I outside?" she asked herself.
"That's my HEAD no da," said Chichiri angrily. Clare pulled her hand away.
"Well I wouldn't want to be turned into a JAPANESE BEETLE AGAIN, right?!" she said, running into Nuriko and falling down.
"If you could be so kind," continued the woman, "And find clorettes for me? Then I could cure your friends in no time. It's usually found in the back of my home." The seishi and 3 priestesses nodded, and marched off. The woman shut the door, and grinned.
"I need energy," she said greedily, "And you two have an abundance of it!! MWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!!"
"Did you just hear something?" asked Liana.
"I'm not a healer," the woman said, "I'm a KILLER!"
"Well that doesn't sound good," said Clare. The woman advanced on them, drawing a dagger from a belt on her hip.
"Fresh mortal blood....is what I crave..." she said, walking slowly. Clare fell down onto the cot, and inched towards the wall. Liana was scrambling towards a corner.
"M-mortal?? I'm not a mortal!!" said Liana, unconvincingly. The woman made to stab Liana in the arm, but Liana evaded it. She actually evaded every stab, even though she was blind. It was the same with Clare.
"If you're not going to go easily," the woman yelled, "Then I'll use brute strength!!" There was the sound of ripping skin, and suddenly a huge slimy demon erupted from the woman's back, fangs bared and growling. (CANCER!!)
"That doesn't sound too pleasent," said Clare. Suddenly, the door flew open, and the crew was back, along with a tall man who Clare and Liana obviously couldn't see.
"Shoka!!" the man cried, "Shoka what happened to you?!" The demon turned, and so did the woman. The woman spoke first.
"I'm terribly sorry Mitsukake......this demon has been living inside of me for some time....and I haven't found a way to get rid of it. I don't cure, I kill....and the source of that comes from this demon. Help Mistukake!! I can't stop it!! Run before it get's you all, too!!" she cried.
"No, I can't leave you with this.....thing sticking out of your BACK!!" he yelled, "There must be some way to stop it!!" Shoka looked down at the floor, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
"There is one way...but, you have to kill me, Mitsukake.." she said quietly. Mitsukake's eyes grew wide.
"K-kill you??" he asked.

!!!!! End of Chapter 11 As you can see, I did change around Mitsukake's scenario a little bit. I do have a reason, however. When I wrote this, I was still waiting for my DVDs to arrive in the mail. I did read books 1-8, so I had a good idea of what happened, however I hadn't read Mitsukake's for some time. I did actually think that he stabbed her, but now that I know that he didn't, I'll just have to leave the story to it's own devices. (I can't change it now!) Next up.What will happen to Shoka?!?! .Until next time *runs off to get some sleep*