Chapter Seven: Shichi Seishi Toroki
Suzuno watched in wonder and excitement as Shiroishi - no, Amefuri tore through the bandits, saving them all... but she wasn't happy. As she knelt by the dead body of Kousa, she was reminded that people were dying, and they were dying because she was here.
If she had never been looking around in her father's study, had she just ignored that book, had that book, that curse not been made, these people would still be alive. Hot tears stung her face as she watched them fight. She looked down at Kousa, her vision blurry, he was just a mass of blood. Once he had lived, had felt. She wanted to know him then, she wanted to know what had happened to him in the past... She wanted to know why he was now dead.
"MIKO!" Suzuno looked up at saw Amefuri looking at her. "Watch out!"
To her left she then saw Jian running towards her, her spear aimed right for her chest. Her mind screamed at her to run, but her shock and fear kept her glued to the ground and then in the blink of an eye a body came and smashed into Jian, throwing her into the wall.
"Fucking bitch," Subaru muttered, staring down at the unconscious body, then she turned to Suzuno with a smile on her face. "Keeping out of trouble...?" Her voice trailed off as she saw Kousa's body lying crumpled to the ground. She took a step forward, not sure if what she was seeing was real.
"He's dead," Suzuno whispered, more tears coming to her face.
Subaru took another step forward, and then Jian's leg swung out and tripped her. Jian screamed in range as she leaped onto her feet, her eyes scanning for her dropped spear. She saw it a few feet away from her, and then suddenly Subaru tackled her again and the two fell to the floor.
"YOU KILLED HIM!!! YOU ALL KILLED HIM!!!" Subaru screamed, her anger so intense that she couldn't even think about using her powers, but her blows were doing a good enough job, each found their mark onto Jian's face and sent shockwaves of pain through her body, blood running down her face. "YOU FUCKING BITCH!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
Suzuno could only watch in fear, Subaru had transformed so suddenly in front of her eyes. One moment she had been the kind and playful Subaru that she had known... and now, now she was possessed by anger. And it was because of her, it was all because of her.
--
Tatara was on the other side of the room, and felt a surge of anger rush through him as the bandits kept circling him. He found himself losing patience, he found himself becoming more violent. Roots now reached down through the ceiling and when they ensnared a bandit, they would crush him. They would barely have a time to scream before their body parts were snapped apart and a river of blood splattered onto those nearby.
Blood covered the entire cave, the Seishi and bandits found themselves were all bleeding from one or more wounds. The death toll was constantly growing. Tatara was coming to realise that they might have to kill every single bandit in this cave. It was a gruesome thought, but it did not slow Tatara down.
Chi surveyed the cave and her heart quailed at the sight. It was turning into a slaughter. Her right-hand woman had run off to fight, and now she looked around alone. What would her father say when he saw this? He had only ever given her this one chance.
"Find me the Byakko no Miko. Prove your love and loyalty to me... daughter." Those were the words that rung through her head, the words her father had told her the last time they had ever spoken, saying the word 'daughter' as if it were poison. He had given her a chance, and she had ruined it all.
Her fear and sadness quickly turned to anger as she spotted Tokaki fighting a bandit. She marvelled at how he could teleport, but it made no difference. If he didn't see her coming, she could easily kill him.
She took off running, not muttering a sound and she came upon the despicable Seishi, raising her sword, ready to strike.
Tokaki's elbow flew backwards, his combat training not failing to sense Chi creeping up on him, hitting Chi in the gut. She felt the wind get knocked out of her and quickly took a few steps back, trying to catch her breath.
"How?" She breathed out.
Tokaki turned around and smiled egotistically. "Because I'm the best," he said, breathing hard, and kicked her in the stomach, sending her backwards, but Chi recovered much quicker than Tokaki had expected and soon she was attacking him once more.
"Move faster," Tokaki said playfully, having teleported behind her, he punched her in the shoulder blade and Chi quickly turned around, the sword swinging through the air. Tokaki teleported away, but when he reappeared she heard him yell.
Chi quickly swung her head around and saw him holding his right arm. She had managed to cut him, and that made her smile as she charged him once more.
Tokaki was tired, and he knew it, and he was trying to best to hide it, but the more he teleported, the worse he felt. He couldn't fight her, and he knew that too, but he thought he might stand a chance if she didn't realise that fact. He had to keep moving, he had to kill her before he collapsed from exhaustion. His breathing was ragged, his limbs hurt, and still he fought on, landing kick and punch after kick and punch.
Chai's blade seemed to be moving faster, almost taking his head off at every turn. No matter where Tokaki teleported to, she seemed to have her sword ready. She was beginning to learn his every move, to learn where he would be before Tokaki had even made up his mind to move there. She was an incredible fighter, and Tokaki couldn't help but notice that if she wasn't evil, she'd be amazingly sexy.
"Why are you doing this!?!" Tokaki yelled, trying to throw her off with words rather than force. His eyes were blurring, he could barely keep up with her. It was a losing battle.
"Because the Miko is evil!" Chi lunged, but not fast enough, and she suddenly felt a blow to her side.
"She's here to save us!"
"IT'S A LIE!!!" She screamed, and to Tokaki's horror, her blade pierced his shoulder. Tokaki screamed and fell to his knees. That blow had done it, he was finished.
Chi raised her sword over her head, knowing that she had won. "We are the summoners of a great evil," she sneered and her sword started to fall. To Tokaki, everything seemed to go still. The world was moving in slow motion, and as his entire life started to flash before his eyes, and the good times and bad times all ran together, one thing shone out from them all. One thing... One person... Subaru...
He teleport away, the sword went into the ground. Tokaki fell to the ground beyond exhausted, Subaru's smiling face still in his mind. Why? Why was she there?
"Stay in place won't you!?!" Chi grabbed Tokaki's hair, his eyes were rolled into the back of his head. "You are going to die!!!"
Tokaki looked at her in confusion. "Why did you say 'we'?" He asked softly. Chi's eyes went wide with shock. She'd said too much, but that didn't matter. She brought her sword up to his neck and was about to slit it, and then she suddenly flew off of him.
Tokaki's head fell hard on the ground as Amefuri swept passed him and began to fight with Chi. Chi's words bounced around in his head. We are the summoners of a great evil. We the bandits? No, Tokaki told himself. He knew what she meant, but couldn't understand how or why. She meant we the Seishi. Chi was a Shichi Seishi. That's why she was such an amazing fighter.
Amefuri was having no trouble fighting her, Tokaki had succeeded in tiring her out at least. He wanted to stay lying there, barely able to move and let her die... but he couldn't do that... They needed her.
"Don't kill her!!!" He yelled, Amefuri's head turned around in confusion. He had Chi on the floor, he was about to kill her. They didn't need her.
With everything left in him, Tokaki got to his feet. "She's one of us... she's a Seishi..." he fell back down.
"NO! I'M NOT!!! JUST KILL ME!!!" Chi yelled, punching Amefuri in the gut. "OR GET OFF!!!"
Amefuri grabbed her wrists and looked deep into her eyes, then he looked up at her bandana and in one swift movement, took it off of her head and there was the character for turtle snout, just barely shining through. This was Toroki.
Suddenly the character flared to life and Chi threw Amefuri off. Her want to suppress her powers no longer needed, because they knew. Whatever her anger had been before, had doubled.
Tatara saw her character get unveiled, and thought for one fleeting second that the fight was over, that there was no more worry, but the fight was not over. They had found a Seishi, but she was still their enemy.
He ran forward, joining the fight to restrain Chi by Amefuri's side, trusting him enough that he was sure they could fight together. Their movement were like liquid, they seemed to know each other, their powers were used together seamlessly, like they had always known each other. But it was the same with Chi. She was one step ahead of them. Tatara knew that they were equally matched.
The remaining bandits had stopped trying to attack the Seishi, enthralled in this battle. Was their leader really one of them? Or was this just some trick? They didn't know what to believe, and so watched on in complete disbelief, waiting for a victor to come out of the fray.
"Listen to us! We need to summon Byakko to save Xi-Lang! To save each other!!!" Tatara tried reasoning with her.
"LIARS!!! My father told me of His evil! Of our evil! Byakko cannot be summoned!!!"
"Your father is wrong, misled like you were!" Amefuri tried, but she kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying.
--
Subaru was relentless in her attack, but Jian had been fighting her entire life, and although that was short, she had learned many things in it. She managed to punch Subaru just under her neck, and Subaru flew off of her. Then both were standing and the real fight began.
Jian's face was covered in blood, but she wiped it away from her eyes and barely noticed. She was going to kill this seishi, for Chi.
"You know I'll win," Jian said as they faced off.
"I don't care if you kill me, what matters is that I take you with me!" Subaru yelled and lunged. Jian moved out of the way, kicking Subaru in the shin.
She didn't feel the pain and quickly turned, punching Jian in the face, and Jian didn't seem to feel the pain either. They kept fighting like that, their senses numbed, but they both had such a powerful mission in their mind, that they didn't care. They might have gone of fighting like that for all eternity, but then both were blown against the cave wall.
The blow had come from Chi, her aura exploding and it was powerful that everyone in the cave had been knocked down. She had almost gone completely mad with rage and power. All her life had been leading up to this, and now that it had come she would not fail her father. She would kill all the seishi, even herself if she had to.
"Chi!" Jian was on her feet, worry in her eyes. They knew, everyone knew.
Subaru looked at Jian, forgetting her anger for a moment. "She's a Seishi?" She asked harshly.
Jian sneered at Subaru. "Yes," she spat. "But she won't be dragged into your sinister plans!"
"What sinister plans!?! A week ago I didn't know I was a Seishi, I was working in a bar!"
"So why summon Byakko!?!"
"Because of you!!! Because all this death must be stopped! Xi-Lang needs to be saved!"
To Subaru, it looked liked she had almost gotten through to Jian. Like she wasn't so sure of anything anymore, but the look faded.
"You're walking into this, and you don't even know what you're doing! You've been lied to! All of you have been fooled! Byakko will destroy us all!!!" Suddenly Jian went still, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell to the floor.
Subaru looked up and there was Suzuno standing behind her, a rock in her hand, tears streaming down her face. She had hit Jian in the head.
Suzuno fell against the wall and slid down to the floor, the rock falling from her hands. Subaru knelt down, wrapping her arms around the younger girl, her eyes glued to the body of Kousa. "It's going to be all right," she reassured her softly. "Everything will be fine," but nothing seemed fine to her as she saw her best friend lying dead, Jian's words having planted seeds of doubt in her own mind. She had known nothing about any of this, she still didn't and now Kousa was dead and she felt so alone...
--
"CHI!!! You must listen to us!!! We meant none of you harm!!!" Tatara yelled, wondering if they would ever be able to calm Chi down. "We have to talk!!!"
"There's nothing to talk about!!!" Chi screamed, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Her father's image racing through her mind. He had let her live, even though she was an abomination. He had let her do this, even though she was a failure. She could not give up, she could not... but with every blow she wanted to more and more. "You people know nothing!!! Byakko is evil!!! EVIL!!!" She gave Amefuri a powerful punch, and he flew back to the wall, falling unconscious.
Tatara could have taken the opportunity to ensnare Chi, but he couldn't, he knew that he had to find another way to end this. He needed Chi to trust him. He needed Chi to realise that they were fighting for the sake of good.
"We only want peace for Xi-Lang!" Tatara cried.
"But you're being lied to!" Chi protested, her anger waning. "It's all a trap!"
"And how do you know that? Because your father told you! Think for a moment, none of us know anything for sure! Maybe Byakko will destroy us, and then we'll have no more worries - But what if he saves us?! We have to try! We have to believe!" He was winning her over.
Chi shook her heard, tears falling down her cheeks. "But my father-"
"It's not his decision! It's yours! Only you can decide the fate of Xi-Lang right now! You!"
Chi fell to her knees, looking up at Tatara in desperation. "I want to help... but how can I... How can I?"
Tatara went on his knees, wrapping his arms around her in an embrace. "It's all right, we're here for you, all of the seishi are here for you."
She wrapped her arms around him. "I don't want to fight anymore..."
"You don't have to, we're here for you."
The bandits couldn't believe the turn of events. They stood even more dumbstruck than before, and then they realised that they were leaderless and at the mercy of the Seishi. They all realised it at once and began making their way to the door. They needed to find their head boss... Chi's father. And suddenly the bandit's were all gone.
--
Tokaki dragged himself to his feet and looked around the quiet cave. Dead bodies littered the floor, and suddenly a fear gripped him. He hadn't seen Subaru of Suzuno since the beginning of the fight. His eyes swept around the room, and then he saw them walking towards him, arms wrapped about each other in comfort.
He breathed a sigh of relief and ran over to them. He gently took Suzuno's arms, looking her over for any wounds.
"Are you all right?" He asked kindly, leaning down. Suzuno nodded, but said nothing. Then Tokaki's head turned to Subaru and he felt his heart melt. He had been so worried about her, and he hadn't even realised it until now. He let go of Suzuno who started towards Tatara and went towards Subaru.
"We're all-" Subaru couldn't finish her sentence as Tokaki suddenly wrapped his arms around her. She felt her heart flutter and slowly put her arms around him, letting herself fall into his embrace, and then he slowly pulled away.
"I'm glad you're ok."
Subaru suddenly got choked up, her eyes filling with tears. "Kousa's dead," she said silently, falling back into his embrace. "He's dead..."
All Tokaki could do, was hold Subaru, trying to soothe her, his eyes looked around the cave and there he found Kousa's body lying in darkness, and suddenly felt a tinge of pain. He would be missed.
(Oh man, that was a terribly hard chapter to write. I sat myself down and said: 'Ok. I shall write it all in one sitting'. The only outline I had was: 'Chi is a seishi'. I had to let Subaru deal with Kousa's death while not forgetting about the fight. I also had to keep track of everyone, and I'd keep forgetting people and have to go back and write stuff. The hardest was writing Chi's mind changing, it was a little easier because she had doubt in her mind from before, but she's still trying to fight it and at around page five I thought my brain would pop. This chapter was fun to write though. I liked giving Jian (Jian Rian) something to do and so her character developed quite nicely in the course of a few pages. I also wanted to explore Tokaki and Subaru's relationship here. Please tell me if you think I should re-write some of this. Was it too fast? Was there too much going on? Do you miss Kousa? I miss writing his accent... no wait, actually that's the one thing I don't miss. Well this is my update, hope you liked it, and I'm on a roll so more may come soon. P.S. Please forgive my lack of editing, after next chapter I will do a major edit)
Review:
azn: Well tickle me pink... You are the only one! And hey, cliffhanger's are good for the soul... so I hear...