Chapter One: Shichi Seishi Tokaki
It was warm, and that gave her comfort.
Oosugi Suzuno wasn't too sure what had happened. She had just gotten home from school, gone to her father's study and found a book... and... now she was lying on a hard warm ground. She clenched her fist and felt grass.
Slowly opening her eyes Suzuno saw before her a meadow. She quickly sat up and looked around her. Nothing but grass and hills for miles and miles. She didn't know what to say, and so for what seemed like an eternity, she just sat there and gaped at the land around her. Where was she? Had that book had anything to do with this?
She thought the scene over in her head. What had the title of the book been anyway? She had read it, but she couldn't remember it, something about Gods. She had never seen it before, that's why she opened it. And when she did... There had been a bright white light, it had surrounded her. It had been warm, comforting. It had blanketed her in its protection and gently place her... her...
Where in the world was she?
"Hello there."
"Ah!" Suzuno yelled and jumped up at the sound of the voice. She quickly turned around and saw before her a young man riding a horse. He had white hair and brown eyes that almost seemed yellow. He wore armour and his horse had many bags on it.
Suzuno had to look him over twice before she was sure he was real. There was a man before her, on a horse, wearing armour that looked to be Chinese. It couldn't be real. She almost wanted to grab a hold of him just to make sure he was actually there and that she hadn't fallen into some sort of a hallucination.
Maybe she was sick.
He whistled. "What a pretty girl this is, but strange clothes. You're not from Xi-Lang* are you?" He looked her over, a pretty girl with long black hair down in braids and dark brown eyes. She looked confused and a little scared, making him wonder if she was hurt or anything.
"I... I ah... My name is Oosugi Suzuno. I live in Morioka Japan. Who are you?"
The man gave her a puzzled look. "Morioka Japan...? I've never heard of that place. What are you doing in the middle of nowhere?"
"I don't know," Suzuno answered meekly, taking another look around the area. Nothing. "I was in my father's study... and then suddenly," she looked back at him and the sceptical look he was giving. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"I might..." He got off the horse and stood beside her, he was much taller than she was. "My name is Hahm Lau'an, I'm a soldier, and might be able to assist you."
Suzuno looked past him at the bags on his horse. "Are you moving somewhere?"
"No..." Lau'an answered, looking away from her with sad eyes. "Those belonged to my family, I'm bringing them to my home in the capital."
"Why-" Suzuno cut herself off, she knew it wasn't her place to ask. "How far is it to the capital then?" If she went there then she could figure out exactly where she was and how she could get home. This whole thing would make sense, she just had to figure it out.
"If we start now, we could be there by sunset."
Lau'an put his hand out and Suzuno took a step back.
"C'mon, you can trust me," Lau'an said with a smile.
"How do I know that? I don't know you, this place, the way things work here. I don't know what to think."
Lau'an paused. He should tell her.
"You're scared. You came from a different world, right?"
"I... I don't know. That's impossible, isn't it?" Suzuno wanted him to agree with her so badly. This was a dream. It had to be a dream.
"One minute your father's study in Moriaka Japan, the next in a meadow in Xi-Lang?"
"Morioka."
"Whatever, whatever, the point is," Lau'an took a step forwards. "I know why you're here, Byakko no Miko*."
"Byakko no Miko?"
--
Lau'an stopped the horse outside the city gates and let Suzuno take in the sight before here.
It was unbelievable, there before her very own eyes was a city, a great city that looked as if it had come right out of a painting of ancient China. How could all of this be happening, it was all so overwhelming.
"You really live here?"
"Yep, I moved here two years ago when I was 17."
Suzuno shook her head. "There's just no way, I can't believe it. This is just some crazy dream Lau'an."
"The only thing that's a dream, is you," Lau'an said, whispering gently into her ear. Suzuno blushed and looked down.
"Shouldn't we go in? It's getting dark."
"I suppose so," Lau'an said, sitting up with a smirk on his face. He felt that things were really starting to turn around in his life. He had found what could only be the Byakko no Miko, and what a hottie she was!
With a gentle kick to the horse, the two began to move in through the gates, Lau'an nodded at his fellow soldiers and they were allowed in without any hassle.
All around them the night life of the city was emerging. Men were going out, lighting fires and lamps, people were all going to bars and theatres. There was singing and laughing coming from all around them. Suzuno wanted so badly to go out there and explore before she woke up. This place was so different from Japan, there was so much happiness and joy surrounding them, she wished that Japan could be like this again, like it was before the depression and the war...
But she felt that first she had better try to figure out how she had come here and what Lau'an was talking about when he called her a Miko. Everything around her was beginning to feel more and more real.
"See that store?" Lau'an asked, getting her attentions and pointing to a small shop, Suzuno saw that it was written in Chines but recognized some of the characters above it. Flower. "My friend works there, Kasara Tsounie, he was the person who first told me about the Byakko no Miko. I'll have to introduce the two of you after we see the Emperor."
"Emperor!?!" Suzuno looked back at Lau'an, shock written over her face.
Lau'an smiled. "Well of course, he has to be the first person we tell that out Miko has finally arrived it."
"An Emperor? Ok, it doesn't matter how real this feels, now I know that this has to be a dream!"
--
Suzuno didn't move, didn't speak, she barely breathed. She looked down at her feet and waited for something to happen. She was in the thrown room, she was trying not to stare at an aging Emperor who had a kind face and a long beard, and she was pretty sure that either she had gone insane or that she was having one of the most wild dreams of her life.
"You are the Byakko no Miko?" He asked in a wispy voice.
"In all honesty you majesty, I don't really know what that means." Suzuno answered in a barely audible whisper.
"Byakko is the beast God who appears in the form of a great white tiger. He is the protector of the West, of Xi-Lang. And as prophesied, a girl from another world shall arrive from and become the Byakko no Miko to unite South and North Byakko to make peace in our land. That Miko is you."
Suzuno looked up at the Emperor confused. "But how?"
"That how I cannot truly tell you. But obviously Byakko has chosen you to be our Miko. And so it is up to you to make peace here."
"And how do I do that?" Suzuno asked, pondering what he meant. The city she had seen had been far more peacefully than were she came from.
"You must collect the seven Byakko Shichi Seishi*. Tatara. Tokaki. Subaru. Kokie. Amefuri. Karasuki. And Toroki."
"Seven... but that's so many. Are they here? Do I have to go far?"
The Emperor smiled. "Tokaki, you did not tell her?"
"No my Emperor, I did not want to flood her with information when she has just arrived."
Suzuno turned around and saw Lau'an bowing and speaking to the Emperor.
"You a Seishi? You?"
Tokaki looked up at her. "Don't look too surprised." Then suddenly he dissapeared.
"I'm not so bad." Tokaki finished, now standing right beside her. The character for Stride was on his left cheek written in white.
"Ah!" Suzuno fell backwards. "How did you do that?"
"The Seishi are given certain powers to aid you, Tokaki has the power of teleportation." The Emperor explained.
"Don't forget my skills as a fighter," Tokaki added with a smug grin.
The Emperor sighed. "Yes, Tokaki has many fine abilities in the martial arts as well."
Tokaki helped Suzuno onto her feet.
"That character..." Suzuno said, looking closely at his cheek.
"All the Byakko no Seishi have these. That's how you know for certain if they are one."
"But still, are these people scattered everywhere? Do we know who they are?"
"Unfortunately, no." The Emperor answered.
"But don't worry, Xi-Lang may be a pretty big place, but I just happen to know where we can find the next Seishi."
"Really?"
Tokaki smiled at her. "Remember my friend?"
--
"This will be your room for the night-"
"Where will you be?" Suzuno asked, not sure if she wanted to be alone is this strange world. She knew Tokaki relatively well, and felt comfortable with him. She felt safe with him.
"Oh, my house isn't too far from the palace," He replied.
"So... you won't actually be staying in the palace then?"
"No, I have some things to take care of," Takaki looked away from her and she could tell something deep was troubling him, but she didn't ask. She wasn't ready to ask and she was sure that he wasn't ready to tell.
"But don't worry," he added, returning to her face with a small smile. "I'll be back bright and early and we can go meet my friend. I'm sure you'll just love him."
"Well if he's going to be with me until I leave here, I hope we all get along."
"We're all the Byakko Shichi Seishi, I don't see how we can't all get along."
Suzuno nodded. "Yes well... I'm going to go the bed now."
"Oh course! You're probably exhausted."
Suzuno gave a little smile. "Yeah, just a bit."
"And don't worry, if you need anything, just remember that you're in a palace. There's always someone around the corner."
Tokaki gave her a short bow and then headed off down the hall, leaving Suzuno alone with her thoughts.
Suzuno took a last look at the stars, the moon, the whole garden around the palace, and then entered into her quiet room.
Her breath was taken away.
The room was lush in furnishing. It had a great bed to one side with silk sheets and lined with silver and gold. Then there were wardrobes and tables and mirrors and carpets and candle stick holders, all the kinds of things that she never thought would be in the same room as her in a million years. They were all gold, or silver or jade. Her and her father could live for years off of these things...
Her father.
She went over to the bed and sat down. Where was her father now? At home? He was probably waiting up for her. She knew the times were different, it was probably already morning there. He must be so worried about her... If only she could go back - just for a second - and tell him that everything was all right.
Using the brushes and water bowls in the room she washed up and put on a silk night gown that had been layed out for her. With her long black hair down, she looked into the mirror and sighed.
"It's all real." She finally admitted to herself. There was simply no question about it anymore. This place was real, those people were real, that reflection was real. Somehow she had ended up in this magical world and she knew that she couldn't leave it until she had summoned Byakko.
--
Tokaki walked into his small house and let the dark silence completely encase him.
He hated it here.
Sure, the actual capital wasn't that bad of a place. But here, in this small building, it was hell. It was nothing like the small farm near Tsu-Sang that he grew up in. There were no open fields, laughing faces, good natured people and a freedom that could never be taken away...
There was just a small room, now cluttered with the belongings of the dead.
He took the bags he had carried from Tsu-Sang and took out the objects inside and began to put them around his house.
Tokaki couldn't believe that everything his family had owned fit into a couple of bags and could easily be stored in such a small house. His father, mother and three brothers had so little... He had tried to give them so much. He had been the eldest, he had gone away to do the one thing he knew well in order to help support his poor small family. Fight.
But there was very little money to give around. Even when he was promoted to an officer - a captain - because of his mark of Byakko, he still made barely enough to give to his family... And now, now there was suddenly so much money because there was no one to give it to.
His job here was to protect the people of Xi-Lang, and he had failed the only people he ever truly cared for.
Tokaki sat on his small bed in the corner of the room, by a small window. He looked up at the stars, not letting the tears come out. He felt like he couldn't protect anyone, he felt like he was simply a failure.
He wasn't too sure how he was going to be able to protect Suzuno, but he knew that he had to. He knew that he wanted to.
*Terms:
Xi-Lang: Sairou
Byakko no Miko: Priestess of Byakko
Shichi Seishi: Celestial Warriors
(Suzuno Oosugi, Kasara Tsounie - Tatara and Lau'an Hahm - Tokaki are not my inventions, creations, characters. The Universe of the Four Gods/Byakko/Xi-Lang/Byakko no Miko/Shichi Seishi/Tsu-Sang also not mine. Everything else here is mine. This story is of course based off of Fushi Yuugi by Watase Yuu, and I think you get the point. I made an outline for this story about a year ago, and recently found it. I decided that I liked the idea and so here I am, sitting down and writing it. Now because it's been so long since I wrote this outline, most of these ideas are completely new to me - as crazy as that sounds - so this should be a fun journey for all of us. I can't imagine there being more than 10 chapters, but don't count on those chapters being short, because there is a lot of stuff to get down here. As far as all the powers, names and places go, I did research on some Byakko pages and by watching the anime, so hopefully this is correct. Ok, please review, I'd love to know your thoughts. And for all those people who I promised that I wouldn't write another FanFic 'till I was done all my other ones... I'm sorry)