Title: Silver and Cold
Chapter: 9/?
Chapter Title: Irrelevant Antiques
Current Rating: PG-13
Author: Kage Kashu
Archive: FF, Dragon's Lair, AFF
Chapter Summary: Sano has a visitor, and we find out who the stalker is. Tasuki deals with his son's... problem. And Yahiko searches for Ashitare.
Disclaimer: No own. Sorry. So stop asking for me to give it up! I can't give what I don't have.
Author's notes: First person to figure out who one eye is (per place I post) gets a special cameo appearance. They get to slap the Sakurazukamori's ass without getting retaliated upon... and then, get to walk away, cackling maniacally. ^^
Current guesses that have been made, and were unfortunately wrong: Subaru (Tokyo Babylon/X1999).
Warnings: For this chapter? Uhm... I don't know, really.
Crossover Shows: Rorouni Kenshin, Gundam Wing (minor mention of a character), Fushigi Yuugi, Yugioh, and Ranma 1/2.
Timeline: AUish, after Noa Arc. Some years later.
~*~*~*~*~*~
~This one world vision
Turns us in to compromise
What good's religion
When it's each other we despise
Damn the government
Damn the killing
Damn the lies~
~~Sleeping With Ghosts
The rusted sign creaked outside the window. Other than that, Sagara's Antiques was nearly silent. It was late, and Sano didn't figure that many humans would be running around outside of town at this time. So, it was about time to send out another search for Ashitare. "Yahiko?" he asked, around the fishbone in his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I can handle it just fine, as long as I've got Hibiki with me. We make a good team," the younger were shrugged. Sano only had a few years on him, and the height difference was almost null now, after all this time. "Although, we could do a lot if we still had Kenshin..."
"Yeah, if Hibiki doesn't get lost first," grumbled Sano, glaring out the window. "Better have Missy for backup, just in case."
"I can manage without that ugly bitch," Yahiko growled.
Sano backhanded him into the wall. "Missy Kaoru has a higher position in the pack than you, Yahiko. She's still my second. Remember that."
Yahiko groaned. "I don't see why you still get mad about that." He rubbed the back of his head, glaring at his pack leader. "She's still..."
Sano raised his hand, and Yahiko's mouth snapped shut. "You should respect her rank, if nothing else. I know you never did, but if you dare show dissention in front of anyone else..." he left the threat hanging. Really, Yahiko should know better.
Yahiko's head bobbed slightly. "Fine, Kaoru and Hibiki. Altogether, we can probably handle anything." He sighed. "Don't worry about me losing Hibiki, though. I attached a locator to his bandana, last time."
Sano blinked. "What about the piglet thing?"
"I'll still be able to find him." Yahiko rolled his shoulders, standing up. "He always has the bandana, you know."
"Take care, and tell Missy that I asked for her to go with you two." The fishbone hung from his mouth at an angle as his eyes followed the younger wolf out the door. "See ya."
Sano stared at the creaking sign outside of the window for a long time after Yahiko left. The creaking was really annoying, especially in the almost oppressive silence of his shop. "I'm really gonna have to do something about that sign."
He chewed on the head of the fishbone for a moment longer, still staring out the window. He needed something to do. He really needed something to do. His eyes darted across the eclectic clutter of the shop, to the wall, where the zanboto hung upon it. The nine foot (1) blade was too heavy for the hooks it rested on, and he was going to have to replace the hooks with something stronger, as they were bending under it's weight.
He shuffled around the clutter until he reached it, taking it down as easily as if it had been made of styrofoam. Even before he had been turned to a werewolf, he had been strong enough to lift it with an inhuman ease. He remembered something Kenshin had said to him, in private. "Don't overbalance yourself, de gozaru. Try some meditation, then go back to training. Strength of body needs to be balanced by strength of spirit, de gozaru yo."
He had laughed at the time, but after his trip to China, and the fateful accident that had turned him into a werewolf, he had found himself in need of time... to just sit and think. Occasionally, even now, such a mood would strike him, and he would take down the zanboto... and polish it. He had tried meditation, but he couldn't really sit still that long anyway, so had moved on to doing something so mundane that it left the mind completely free to do whatever an insanely bored mind does when there's nothing else to do. In other words... think.
Polishing the zanboto took a very long time, considering it's size; so he was left with plenty of time to do just that. He'd been polishing it for about five minutes when a slightly out of place sound (no, not that infernal creaking) caused him to look up. The shop appeared to be empty. Knowing that it wasn't empty was what caused his eyes to narrow, intently searching the entire shop. He sniffed abruptly, then relaxed, recognizing the scent of the one who was visiting him.
"Didn't Himura break that?" murmured a deep, gravely voice, right next to his ear.
"Yeah, and vamps aren't supposed to be out in the day, cricket man," Sano retorted, sourly. "Put out the cigarette, or get out."
A flat grin answered him. "Nice thing about sunscreen. And no."
"Before I shove it down your throat." He paused thoughtfully. "So that's why I keep thinking that you must be eating surfers."
Saitoh was silent for a moment. No, he hadn't been eating surfers, but it was an amusing thought.
"Now, put that thing out, before I take the gasoline blowtorch to you." Sano lifted said torch threateningly.
Saitoh frowned slightly, putting the cigarette out on the zanboto, since it _was_ right in front of him. The frown deepened when the blowtorch was waved in his face. "Put that little toy of yours down, Ahou. I've come bearing news."
"Whatcha got, cricket man?"
Saitoh eyed the swords on the wall disinterestedly. There was one... "Kenshin's," he muttered to himself. "Kushrenada's gone insane." This time, the words were directed at Sano.
"The Ancient?" Sano winced. That was bad. Not just bad, but terrifically so. Few Ancients have gone insane, but when they did... Cataclysms had a tendency to happen when an Ancient went insane. "What caused it?"
"Someone had his consort killed. It's still uncertain who, but as you can see..."
"No kidding," Sano made a soft clucking noise in the back of his throat. "Is that all you've come for? Or was there more to it?"
Saitoh nodded slowly. "It may have some effect here, and that thing," here he pointed at the zanboto that Sano was still polishing almost convulsively, "may be needed." He stared out the window for a moment. "You need to replace that sign. The creaking is annoying."
"No worse than your chirping, Jiminy (2)."
"..." That... was off the wall. Even for Sano. "Watching Disney?"
Sano stared at him for a moment, bug-eyed. "What... the... No. I don't want to know why you know that. I really, really, really don't." He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the mental image of an entranced Saitoh, watching the Little Mermaid, or Bambi, with tears in his eyes. "I, at least, have the excuse of having little kids hanging out in here sometimes..." He shuddered.
Saitoh blinked. Oops. Actually, it was all about getting accosted by a lonely child one night, and dragged into their house. The parents had been gone, and the child saw his uniform as he was walking past the door, and grabbed him. He had left once the kid fell asleep, but not before being tortured for some hours by Pinocchio, Bambi, Snow White, Lion King and Cinderella. The gaki's babysitter had apparently left on a date. "I was forced," he admitted.
"Forced? How could _you_ be forced?"
"I didn't want to hurt a child... and the brat had been left alone..." Really, there was no more he could say. Those movies had disturbed his sensibilities. He had been... traumatized. It had been worse when the kid turned on Barney. He barely kept himself from shuddering. He decided that it would probably be better to get back on topic, it was less disturbing. "Back to Kushrenada."
"Yeah. Please."
"It seems that he turned someone in this area, but the Court hasn't been able to find them," Saitoh shrugged slightly. "And, by way of proxy, caused that young man who was visiting you the other day to be attacked by Ashitare."
Sano blinked. "By way of proxy?" he asked, sucking lightly on the previously forgotten fishbone that was still hanging from his mouth.
"Turned someone, who bit the boy, who wandered off the next day, only to get lost and attacked by Ashitare."
"Uhm..." Sano bit down a bit harder on the fishbone. "Uhm... That's a rather roundabout way of accusing someone of something."
Saitoh shrugged. "The Court doesn't know this, but the one Kushrenada turned was Kaiba Seto. The rich and famous, Kaiba Seto. Who, if I'm correct, as I'm rarely not, burnt Kushrenada to a cinder... and let him come back. But Kaiba's currently running around without a Master."
"Which is a bad thing, of course," Sano mused. "Since he ain't got a Master or a sensei, how is it that the media hasn't noticed anything?"
"He has a 'sensei'. That young man who visited you seems to be very knowledgeable on these things."
"And... he's walking during the day?" he asked.
"Kaiba? Yes. I'm still unsure of that one." Saitoh placed his cigarette back to his lips. "And Kushrenada seems to be stalking that young man."
"Wha?" He leaned forward. "That's... Why is he stalking Jounouchi?"
Saitoh shrugged. "He's insane, and you expect me to know why he's doing something? He's obviously obsessed with both Kaiba and Jounouchi. Why, I can't say. Baka ahou."
"Ch'. Whatever you say, cricket man." Sano pet the zanboto slightly. "So, I may be needed?"
Saitoh shrugged again. "I have some doubts as to that, but it is possible. If we're lucky, we won't have to do anything about him at all."
"Why's that?"
"Jounouchi's father... is known."
Sano frowned. "Known?"
Saitoh nodded. "Yes." He fiddled with a lighter, wanting to relight his cigarette, but unsure if Sano had really meant his earlier threat. "He's the one who killed that Illusionist Ancient. Ch'. With 'holy' gasoline and fire."
Blink. Blink. "What the... No, wait. Once again, I really don't want to know." He really wanted to ask about this so called 'holy' gasoline, but couldn't bring himself to. "So, as for what to do... What's your suggestion?"
"We should wait."
~*~
Kouji's hands tightened over his ears as he watched Tasuki give Katsuya holy water. He had put some on a cloth, which he had placed on the bite mark on the boy's neck, having used one of his ties to keep it in place. Katsuya fought back, of course, as the holy water hurt like hell to have against the bite, and fought even more when Tasuki had him drink it.
Of that entire bottle, only half of it actually made it down Katsuya's throat, but that was enough to cause the boy to scream. Kouji winced. He, himself, had never even seen a vampire, but it was kind of obvious that that was what the bite was from. And there had been a little blood around the younger Jounouchi's mouth too.
So the vampire had tried to turn him. 'Hell with that,' Tasuki had said. 'Not happenin' to my son.' Thus, the holy water. And it had taken nearly an hour to get Katsuya to drink that much... as well as having a lot of said water flung everywhere.
After another hour, Katsuya had quieted down to whimpers, and Tasuki no longer had to hold him down (which was really trying, considering that the boy was turning to a werewolf already). Another hour, and he was silently unconscious.
Tasuki sighed, eying Kouji, who was still silent. "Do you think it worked?"
Kouji shook his head. "I don't know. I hope it worked..."
Tasuki nodded, rubbing his jaw. Katsuya had managed to smack him around quite a bit, while thrashing to get away. "Should we ask Book-sama?"
Kouji shrugged. "Probably."
Silence.
"Should we call Chiriko?"
"Probably," answered Tasuki.
More silence.
Tasuki stretched slightly. "I'll ask Book-sama, and you call Chiriko."
~*~
"This..." growled a soft voice, "is getting... annoying." The teen dropped the boulder he had been looking under. "Yahiko-san. This isn't working."
"I know, I know," Yahiko grumbled back. "But we have to keep looking."
"No kidding," added on Kaoru, whacking some bushes with a stick. "Who knows what'll happen next full moon, if he's still alive."
Hibiki Ryouga sighed. They were right, of course. But he couldn't help but feel... Something big was happening. And since they were out here, he wasn't going to know until tomorrow. And if there was one thing that annoyed the seventeen year old, it was getting left out of the loop.
He walked over to another boulder, gripping the sides and lifting it from the ground with astonishing ease. Especially so, considering that it was nearly as big as a car. He lifted it over his head, eyes searching the area that had been under and around the boulder. Nothing. "This is so boring." He wished Ranma was here. He dropped the boulder at that thought. He did _not_ just think that. Well, it wasn't like it really mattered anyway. At least if Ranma was here, there would be something to do other than look under big rocks. "Ch'." He blew his hair out of his eyes. "We aren't going to find him, you know."
"You're probably right," Yahiko grumbled.
Kaoru scowled at them. "Well, if you think _that_ way, we're never going to get anywhere!"
Ryouga scowled back. "Maybe Saotome would be able to find him, but I'd probably end up on the other side of the country if it weren't for this thing." He pointed at his bandana. "Ch'. I'm... going back to town. We're getting nowhere fast." He turned, just as a loud crackle sounded out overhead.
Suddenly, ice cold sleet sluiced down from the heavens, coating him, and activating a really annoying curse. Hibiki Ryouga was no longer a boy, but a beast. Not just any beast either, but a one foot long beast with black fur and... Well, he was little. Not just little, but as far as wolves were concerned, about the right size to snack on. And probably would taste good roasted on an open fire. Where the boy had stood... was a little black piglet, bandana around his neck, and clothes pooled on the ground around him.
And all Yahiko could do on the way back, carrying the little thing, was laugh.
~*~*~*~*~*~
(1) Nine foot? With a three or four foot long handle/hilt/shaft? Correct me if I'm wrong.
(2) Jiminy. Jiminy Cricket. The cricket that acts as Pinocchio's conscience.
~*~
FFN Reviews:
Danyella Skyler Silverfire: Yeah, ain't he?
Molly-chan the Anime/Game fan: Nopers. I had someone on AFF say the same. ^^ Actually, Subaru had green eyes, and he lost that eye in 1999... Which comes after this ficcy, actually. Or else I wouldn't be able to bring in Seishirou-san... 'cause then he'd be dead. ^^'
the Ghost of Jonouchi: Nice suspense, ne? ^^
Sorrow/Dark Star Goddess: ^^ Tasuki is a really brash sort. ^^ Loud, likes to drink, and that kind of thing. In Fushigi Yuugi, he was about... 16, looked a bit older than that; Kouji was close to the same, with a thin scar over one cheek; Chiriko was 13, but looked 6. ^^ It was adorable. I'm glad that things are starting to make sense... (If you ever watch Fushigi Yuugi... don't watch the dub!! They ruined Tasuki's voice... and changed Chichiri's "na no da"s to "yanno"s.) Yes, poor Jou... ^^. Don't worry too much about him though. And the dream... I dunno. I thought that would be kinda freaky, but I might give it a purpose.
Chapter: 9/?
Chapter Title: Irrelevant Antiques
Current Rating: PG-13
Author: Kage Kashu
Archive: FF, Dragon's Lair, AFF
Chapter Summary: Sano has a visitor, and we find out who the stalker is. Tasuki deals with his son's... problem. And Yahiko searches for Ashitare.
Disclaimer: No own. Sorry. So stop asking for me to give it up! I can't give what I don't have.
Author's notes: First person to figure out who one eye is (per place I post) gets a special cameo appearance. They get to slap the Sakurazukamori's ass without getting retaliated upon... and then, get to walk away, cackling maniacally. ^^
Current guesses that have been made, and were unfortunately wrong: Subaru (Tokyo Babylon/X1999).
Warnings: For this chapter? Uhm... I don't know, really.
Crossover Shows: Rorouni Kenshin, Gundam Wing (minor mention of a character), Fushigi Yuugi, Yugioh, and Ranma 1/2.
Timeline: AUish, after Noa Arc. Some years later.
~*~*~*~*~*~
~This one world vision
Turns us in to compromise
What good's religion
When it's each other we despise
Damn the government
Damn the killing
Damn the lies~
~~Sleeping With Ghosts
The rusted sign creaked outside the window. Other than that, Sagara's Antiques was nearly silent. It was late, and Sano didn't figure that many humans would be running around outside of town at this time. So, it was about time to send out another search for Ashitare. "Yahiko?" he asked, around the fishbone in his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. I can handle it just fine, as long as I've got Hibiki with me. We make a good team," the younger were shrugged. Sano only had a few years on him, and the height difference was almost null now, after all this time. "Although, we could do a lot if we still had Kenshin..."
"Yeah, if Hibiki doesn't get lost first," grumbled Sano, glaring out the window. "Better have Missy for backup, just in case."
"I can manage without that ugly bitch," Yahiko growled.
Sano backhanded him into the wall. "Missy Kaoru has a higher position in the pack than you, Yahiko. She's still my second. Remember that."
Yahiko groaned. "I don't see why you still get mad about that." He rubbed the back of his head, glaring at his pack leader. "She's still..."
Sano raised his hand, and Yahiko's mouth snapped shut. "You should respect her rank, if nothing else. I know you never did, but if you dare show dissention in front of anyone else..." he left the threat hanging. Really, Yahiko should know better.
Yahiko's head bobbed slightly. "Fine, Kaoru and Hibiki. Altogether, we can probably handle anything." He sighed. "Don't worry about me losing Hibiki, though. I attached a locator to his bandana, last time."
Sano blinked. "What about the piglet thing?"
"I'll still be able to find him." Yahiko rolled his shoulders, standing up. "He always has the bandana, you know."
"Take care, and tell Missy that I asked for her to go with you two." The fishbone hung from his mouth at an angle as his eyes followed the younger wolf out the door. "See ya."
Sano stared at the creaking sign outside of the window for a long time after Yahiko left. The creaking was really annoying, especially in the almost oppressive silence of his shop. "I'm really gonna have to do something about that sign."
He chewed on the head of the fishbone for a moment longer, still staring out the window. He needed something to do. He really needed something to do. His eyes darted across the eclectic clutter of the shop, to the wall, where the zanboto hung upon it. The nine foot (1) blade was too heavy for the hooks it rested on, and he was going to have to replace the hooks with something stronger, as they were bending under it's weight.
He shuffled around the clutter until he reached it, taking it down as easily as if it had been made of styrofoam. Even before he had been turned to a werewolf, he had been strong enough to lift it with an inhuman ease. He remembered something Kenshin had said to him, in private. "Don't overbalance yourself, de gozaru. Try some meditation, then go back to training. Strength of body needs to be balanced by strength of spirit, de gozaru yo."
He had laughed at the time, but after his trip to China, and the fateful accident that had turned him into a werewolf, he had found himself in need of time... to just sit and think. Occasionally, even now, such a mood would strike him, and he would take down the zanboto... and polish it. He had tried meditation, but he couldn't really sit still that long anyway, so had moved on to doing something so mundane that it left the mind completely free to do whatever an insanely bored mind does when there's nothing else to do. In other words... think.
Polishing the zanboto took a very long time, considering it's size; so he was left with plenty of time to do just that. He'd been polishing it for about five minutes when a slightly out of place sound (no, not that infernal creaking) caused him to look up. The shop appeared to be empty. Knowing that it wasn't empty was what caused his eyes to narrow, intently searching the entire shop. He sniffed abruptly, then relaxed, recognizing the scent of the one who was visiting him.
"Didn't Himura break that?" murmured a deep, gravely voice, right next to his ear.
"Yeah, and vamps aren't supposed to be out in the day, cricket man," Sano retorted, sourly. "Put out the cigarette, or get out."
A flat grin answered him. "Nice thing about sunscreen. And no."
"Before I shove it down your throat." He paused thoughtfully. "So that's why I keep thinking that you must be eating surfers."
Saitoh was silent for a moment. No, he hadn't been eating surfers, but it was an amusing thought.
"Now, put that thing out, before I take the gasoline blowtorch to you." Sano lifted said torch threateningly.
Saitoh frowned slightly, putting the cigarette out on the zanboto, since it _was_ right in front of him. The frown deepened when the blowtorch was waved in his face. "Put that little toy of yours down, Ahou. I've come bearing news."
"Whatcha got, cricket man?"
Saitoh eyed the swords on the wall disinterestedly. There was one... "Kenshin's," he muttered to himself. "Kushrenada's gone insane." This time, the words were directed at Sano.
"The Ancient?" Sano winced. That was bad. Not just bad, but terrifically so. Few Ancients have gone insane, but when they did... Cataclysms had a tendency to happen when an Ancient went insane. "What caused it?"
"Someone had his consort killed. It's still uncertain who, but as you can see..."
"No kidding," Sano made a soft clucking noise in the back of his throat. "Is that all you've come for? Or was there more to it?"
Saitoh nodded slowly. "It may have some effect here, and that thing," here he pointed at the zanboto that Sano was still polishing almost convulsively, "may be needed." He stared out the window for a moment. "You need to replace that sign. The creaking is annoying."
"No worse than your chirping, Jiminy (2)."
"..." That... was off the wall. Even for Sano. "Watching Disney?"
Sano stared at him for a moment, bug-eyed. "What... the... No. I don't want to know why you know that. I really, really, really don't." He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the mental image of an entranced Saitoh, watching the Little Mermaid, or Bambi, with tears in his eyes. "I, at least, have the excuse of having little kids hanging out in here sometimes..." He shuddered.
Saitoh blinked. Oops. Actually, it was all about getting accosted by a lonely child one night, and dragged into their house. The parents had been gone, and the child saw his uniform as he was walking past the door, and grabbed him. He had left once the kid fell asleep, but not before being tortured for some hours by Pinocchio, Bambi, Snow White, Lion King and Cinderella. The gaki's babysitter had apparently left on a date. "I was forced," he admitted.
"Forced? How could _you_ be forced?"
"I didn't want to hurt a child... and the brat had been left alone..." Really, there was no more he could say. Those movies had disturbed his sensibilities. He had been... traumatized. It had been worse when the kid turned on Barney. He barely kept himself from shuddering. He decided that it would probably be better to get back on topic, it was less disturbing. "Back to Kushrenada."
"Yeah. Please."
"It seems that he turned someone in this area, but the Court hasn't been able to find them," Saitoh shrugged slightly. "And, by way of proxy, caused that young man who was visiting you the other day to be attacked by Ashitare."
Sano blinked. "By way of proxy?" he asked, sucking lightly on the previously forgotten fishbone that was still hanging from his mouth.
"Turned someone, who bit the boy, who wandered off the next day, only to get lost and attacked by Ashitare."
"Uhm..." Sano bit down a bit harder on the fishbone. "Uhm... That's a rather roundabout way of accusing someone of something."
Saitoh shrugged. "The Court doesn't know this, but the one Kushrenada turned was Kaiba Seto. The rich and famous, Kaiba Seto. Who, if I'm correct, as I'm rarely not, burnt Kushrenada to a cinder... and let him come back. But Kaiba's currently running around without a Master."
"Which is a bad thing, of course," Sano mused. "Since he ain't got a Master or a sensei, how is it that the media hasn't noticed anything?"
"He has a 'sensei'. That young man who visited you seems to be very knowledgeable on these things."
"And... he's walking during the day?" he asked.
"Kaiba? Yes. I'm still unsure of that one." Saitoh placed his cigarette back to his lips. "And Kushrenada seems to be stalking that young man."
"Wha?" He leaned forward. "That's... Why is he stalking Jounouchi?"
Saitoh shrugged. "He's insane, and you expect me to know why he's doing something? He's obviously obsessed with both Kaiba and Jounouchi. Why, I can't say. Baka ahou."
"Ch'. Whatever you say, cricket man." Sano pet the zanboto slightly. "So, I may be needed?"
Saitoh shrugged again. "I have some doubts as to that, but it is possible. If we're lucky, we won't have to do anything about him at all."
"Why's that?"
"Jounouchi's father... is known."
Sano frowned. "Known?"
Saitoh nodded. "Yes." He fiddled with a lighter, wanting to relight his cigarette, but unsure if Sano had really meant his earlier threat. "He's the one who killed that Illusionist Ancient. Ch'. With 'holy' gasoline and fire."
Blink. Blink. "What the... No, wait. Once again, I really don't want to know." He really wanted to ask about this so called 'holy' gasoline, but couldn't bring himself to. "So, as for what to do... What's your suggestion?"
"We should wait."
~*~
Kouji's hands tightened over his ears as he watched Tasuki give Katsuya holy water. He had put some on a cloth, which he had placed on the bite mark on the boy's neck, having used one of his ties to keep it in place. Katsuya fought back, of course, as the holy water hurt like hell to have against the bite, and fought even more when Tasuki had him drink it.
Of that entire bottle, only half of it actually made it down Katsuya's throat, but that was enough to cause the boy to scream. Kouji winced. He, himself, had never even seen a vampire, but it was kind of obvious that that was what the bite was from. And there had been a little blood around the younger Jounouchi's mouth too.
So the vampire had tried to turn him. 'Hell with that,' Tasuki had said. 'Not happenin' to my son.' Thus, the holy water. And it had taken nearly an hour to get Katsuya to drink that much... as well as having a lot of said water flung everywhere.
After another hour, Katsuya had quieted down to whimpers, and Tasuki no longer had to hold him down (which was really trying, considering that the boy was turning to a werewolf already). Another hour, and he was silently unconscious.
Tasuki sighed, eying Kouji, who was still silent. "Do you think it worked?"
Kouji shook his head. "I don't know. I hope it worked..."
Tasuki nodded, rubbing his jaw. Katsuya had managed to smack him around quite a bit, while thrashing to get away. "Should we ask Book-sama?"
Kouji shrugged. "Probably."
Silence.
"Should we call Chiriko?"
"Probably," answered Tasuki.
More silence.
Tasuki stretched slightly. "I'll ask Book-sama, and you call Chiriko."
~*~
"This..." growled a soft voice, "is getting... annoying." The teen dropped the boulder he had been looking under. "Yahiko-san. This isn't working."
"I know, I know," Yahiko grumbled back. "But we have to keep looking."
"No kidding," added on Kaoru, whacking some bushes with a stick. "Who knows what'll happen next full moon, if he's still alive."
Hibiki Ryouga sighed. They were right, of course. But he couldn't help but feel... Something big was happening. And since they were out here, he wasn't going to know until tomorrow. And if there was one thing that annoyed the seventeen year old, it was getting left out of the loop.
He walked over to another boulder, gripping the sides and lifting it from the ground with astonishing ease. Especially so, considering that it was nearly as big as a car. He lifted it over his head, eyes searching the area that had been under and around the boulder. Nothing. "This is so boring." He wished Ranma was here. He dropped the boulder at that thought. He did _not_ just think that. Well, it wasn't like it really mattered anyway. At least if Ranma was here, there would be something to do other than look under big rocks. "Ch'." He blew his hair out of his eyes. "We aren't going to find him, you know."
"You're probably right," Yahiko grumbled.
Kaoru scowled at them. "Well, if you think _that_ way, we're never going to get anywhere!"
Ryouga scowled back. "Maybe Saotome would be able to find him, but I'd probably end up on the other side of the country if it weren't for this thing." He pointed at his bandana. "Ch'. I'm... going back to town. We're getting nowhere fast." He turned, just as a loud crackle sounded out overhead.
Suddenly, ice cold sleet sluiced down from the heavens, coating him, and activating a really annoying curse. Hibiki Ryouga was no longer a boy, but a beast. Not just any beast either, but a one foot long beast with black fur and... Well, he was little. Not just little, but as far as wolves were concerned, about the right size to snack on. And probably would taste good roasted on an open fire. Where the boy had stood... was a little black piglet, bandana around his neck, and clothes pooled on the ground around him.
And all Yahiko could do on the way back, carrying the little thing, was laugh.
~*~*~*~*~*~
(1) Nine foot? With a three or four foot long handle/hilt/shaft? Correct me if I'm wrong.
(2) Jiminy. Jiminy Cricket. The cricket that acts as Pinocchio's conscience.
~*~
FFN Reviews:
Danyella Skyler Silverfire: Yeah, ain't he?
Molly-chan the Anime/Game fan: Nopers. I had someone on AFF say the same. ^^ Actually, Subaru had green eyes, and he lost that eye in 1999... Which comes after this ficcy, actually. Or else I wouldn't be able to bring in Seishirou-san... 'cause then he'd be dead. ^^'
the Ghost of Jonouchi: Nice suspense, ne? ^^
Sorrow/Dark Star Goddess: ^^ Tasuki is a really brash sort. ^^ Loud, likes to drink, and that kind of thing. In Fushigi Yuugi, he was about... 16, looked a bit older than that; Kouji was close to the same, with a thin scar over one cheek; Chiriko was 13, but looked 6. ^^ It was adorable. I'm glad that things are starting to make sense... (If you ever watch Fushigi Yuugi... don't watch the dub!! They ruined Tasuki's voice... and changed Chichiri's "na no da"s to "yanno"s.) Yes, poor Jou... ^^. Don't worry too much about him though. And the dream... I dunno. I thought that would be kinda freaky, but I might give it a purpose.
