On the Road Again
Part Five
Megyn and Chichiri rode a blue-gray horse, which Megyn dubbed Marahoop. Marahoop was the blue horse with yellow eyes, mane, tail, and hooves and white wings that her father had made up when he told stories about Musha and Pusha and Tam and Ram. They were fictional twin girls and boys, respectively, who went on adventures and were friends with faeries and elves. He told her and her brother these stories when they were little.
Tamahome rode a chocolate colored horse named Shunsoku. Jamie sat upon a beautiful ginger-colored horse she named Ginger bear. No one knew how she came up with the name. Whenever someone asked she would blush and not answer.
They trotted silently along towards the mountains. Megyn sat in front of Chichiri with eyes clenched. Chichiri had tried for a long time to get her to relax, but failed in every attempt.
They rode for several hours, every so often passing through a small village, but now there was only barren land. In the distance, they saw majestic mountains rise up; they were draped with trees and wrapped with fog.
A growl from Jamie's stomach broke the tranquility. "I'm hungry," she proclaimed. "Can we eat now? Huh?" she asked a little too eagerly. She bounced on her horse, waiting for an answer.
Megyn sighed, exasperated. Chichiri pointed to the beginning of the trees at the base of the mountain ahead. "I think I remember a village a little beyond there, no da?"
The trees looked like they were still forever away. Jamie sighed. "Is it at all possible to get there in less than a century?"
"Of course it is," Tamahome said. "The problem is…" He pointed at Megyn. "…we have that."
"Meggie," Jamie whined. "Can we please go faster than a slug?" The other girl shook her head.
"Come on, Megyn," Tamahome said.
"Megyn," Chichiri said calmly. "I won't let you fall, you know?"
Megyn was comforted by his words and muttered, "Whatever." She took a deep breath and took a firm hold on the saddle. She nodded to signal that she was ready.
Marahoop leaped forward and she gasped. Her muscles tensed and her heart pounded violently in her chest. Her dark hair stung her face as it whipped around her head.
No more than three minutes later, it was over. They slowed to a stop and, behind her, Chichiri got off. His warm hands gripped her waist and carefully set her on the hard ground. Slowly, she opened her right eye then her left: All clear.
A tavern stood in front of them. "Food time!" Jamie squealed. She took a deep breath. Wonderful smells of food filled her nostrils. "Smells yummy!" she exclaimed.
Megyn whiffed the air, a little more energized. "Yep! You're right. Let's eat!" she agreed—really, anything to get away from the horses.
Two men sat drinking at the bar. "Did ya see how much money they had on 'em?" the first said.
The other took a swig of his drink. "You bet I did! And one of 'em was that Suzaku priestess! Let's tell the boss."
"No. If we told the boss, 'e wouldn't let us, but, if we don't, 'e can't stop us."
"You're a genius, man!" He took another swig of his drink.
"Let's get the kid to help us. We'll tell 'im it's an order from the boss." He sipped his drink. "He'll do anythin' the boss says."
Jamie turned onto her left side. Since she insisted on finding the seishi as quickly as possible, they were usually forced to camp for the night. She was getting used to camping out and starting to like it. It was so peaceful and she got to be near Chichiri. She had only recently discovered her feelings for him. She didn't want to tell anyone—the last thing she wanted to do is screw up his relationship with Megyn.
A small movement caught her eye. Tamahome, who looked like he was sleeping on watch, didn't seem to have noticed. She heard faint voices.
"That one?" said a young man's voice.
"Yeah," said an older man with a deep voice.
"What about the watch?" asked the young man.
"You can take 'im out easy."
Jamie lightly kicked Tamahome who sat at her feet. He looked at her without moving his head. She motioned to the voices. He only nodded and pretended to go back to sleep. He must have noticed them before.
There. Another movement. A figure moved towards Tamahome. The only thing that stood between the figure and Tamahome was a huge rock with Megyn comfortably sleeping behind it. Suddenly, the figure lurched forward with lightning fast speed. He leapt over the rock only to step on the sleeping Megyn.
"Out of the way, old man," the figure called back. Megyn instantly awoke from her daze.
"Old man?!" she exclaimed, standing up.
Tamahome whirled around to face the oncoming attacker. The figure was a redheaded youth who seemed inhumanly fast. He swung at Tamahome who was barely able to block it.
Jamie felt arms grab hold of her and begin to pull her away. An arm wrapped around her throat. "Hey!" she choked. Instantly, Chichiri was behind her fending off a heavyset man and Megyn a thin oily one.
Megyn threw the oily man at Tamahome. "That punk is mine, Tama," she called. He's going to get it for calling me an old man she thought maliciously. "Hey, you! Wimp!"
The youth turned to her furiously. "What did you call me, old man?" His temper was as fiery as his hair, short and uncontrollable.
Megyn only ignored him. "You're right about one thing," she told him. "I have to be older than you. You act like a two-year-old." His fury grew rapidly, but he held his tongue. "But…" Megyn tugged gently on the purple cord that held her hair in a bun, letting her dark locks fall freely from atop her head. The youth's face showed utter amazement. He actually believed I was a guy?! Bastard.
The redhead recovered quickly, not missing a beat. "I don't fight with girls," he scoffed, turning away.
Megyn smiled. "Well now. That will make it so much easier, scaredy cat."
"What did you call me?!" he fumed, turning back around.
"You heard me, scaredy cat. You're just afraid of what I could do to you," Megyn teased.
"That does it!" He charged at Megyn with such lightning fast speed that she didn't have time to dodge. He hit her with his full brunt force on her shoulder, which smashed her into a tree. He skidded to a stop and he turned around to smirk at her.
"Now do you see why I don't fight with girls?" the redhead asked her, still smirking.
Megyn had been utterly humiliated. She had had the chance to prove to this pig that she was strong and she blew it. Then an idea popped into her head; it could work. She stood and faced him. "Oh, but that was just a warm-up. Here's where we start the battle." She smirked.
"A warm-up? Oh, I see. You just want another crack at humiliation." He smirked and stood at his ready.
He'll wipe that smirk off when I smash his sorry face into the ground Megyn thought with an inward smile. "Come at me, you damned fool."
The youth smiled and accepted her offer graciously. This time his charge was faster and more determined. She just smiled calmly and concentrated. Slowly, he rose. Just a small amount at first, then several inches.
When Megyn opened her eyes, he was nearly two feet off the ground. She was elated. The most she had been able to lift before was thirty pounds and even that had been a strain. She sweated heavily—lifting over a hundred pounds was no small feat.
"What the hell?!" the bandit boy cursed. He tried to get down and managed only a few inches.
Chichiri noticed how Megyn was struggling to keep him up and offered his assistance. "Do you want me to help?" he asked her, putting his hand on her shoulder gently. Megyn didn't want to accept his help, but she could hardly take the pain anymore. She nodded. Chichiri put his fingers up to his lips. The youth froze, though he could still curse.
Megyn could not bear it any longer. The youth fell to the ground and Tamahome ran to tie him up with some extra rope. Megyn collapsed and lay back against a tree.
"Looks like we got a good haul," Jamie said enthusiastically and motioned to the two other attackers, tied up and unconscious.
"I'm not telling you guys nothing! The boss wouldn't have it!" the young bandit screamed for the thousandth time.
"We only want to know your name!" Jamie and Megyn screamed back, also for the thousandth time.
They had been trying to get the redhead to talk for an hour. He was loyal to his boss, that was for sure. The other two bandits were still tied up, unconscious, against a tree.
Megyn sighed, exasperated. "Look, kid. All we want to know is your name so we can call you something other than 'kid,'" she told him, trying her best to be diplomatic.
"I'm not gonna tell you, old man," he said, sticking his tongue out.
Megyn's patience and diplomacy had reached the breaking point. "I told you to stop calling me 'old man,'" she yelled at him. Despite her exhaustion, she managed to throw him against a tree. He merely grunted. Then, to Megyn and Jamie's utter disappointment, he smirked.
"That was nothin'," he said. "You can't make me talk like that."
That was it for Jamie. She had had more than enough of this creep. Pulling the dagger from its sheath, she ran at the bandit.
Chichiri jumped into her path and Tamahome grabbed her from behind. "We can't kill him yet, stupid," Tamahome said. Reluctantly, Jamie relaxed and walked back to Megyn.
"He pisses me off," she whispered to Megyn. Megyn nodded vivaciously in agreement.
Both girls examined the bandit. His hair was a fiery red-orange and his eyes a golden brown. He looked scrawny in his black and blue jacket. The look was completed with a pair of dangling earrings, two beaded necklaces, and a fanged smirk. Overall, he wasn't horrible looking. However, Megyn and Jamie didn't take his not-horrible-looking-ness into account; they were too pissed.
Chichiri decided to give his diplomacy a try. "Please," he asked politely. "What is your name, no da?"
The bandit smiled. "The name's Genrou."
Jamie and Megyn's mouths fell to the ground. "How…Why…Huh?" they stuttered.
"All ya had to do was ask nicely," Genrou said with his trademark fanged grin.
"Why you little…" Before Tamahome or Chichiri could stop her, Megyn walked up to Genrou and slapped him across the face. "Over an hour of our time was wasted playing 'Cops and Robbers' and other games with you and your buddies. And all because we didn't ask nicely?! How can you call yourself a man? You are nothing but a horrible brat." With that, Megyn stalked away into the forest.
"I don't think she likes you very much," Tamahome stated.
"I wonder why," Jamie said, sarcastically. She glared accusingly at Genrou. "Could such an innocent person like him be disliked? Of course not." She looked towards where Megyn had disappeared. "Tamahome, go get her." She said it so commandingly and accusingly that Tamahome just stared at her for a few seconds before he replied.
"Why me? Genrou did it," he whined. "Make him find her." He pointed dramatically at Genrou.
"I didn't do anything," the young bandit defended. "I'm not doin' it."
Chichiri sighed. "I'll do it, no da." He slowly walked in the direction that Megyn had stalked away in.
Megyn slumped behind a tree, clutching her chest with her left hand. All I want to do is go home, she thought. I didn't ask to come here. I don't really want to be here either. I'm doing it for Jamie, the Priestess of Suzaku, and Hotohori and Chichiri and Tamahome and this country. Damn it! Why us? She had been away from home for so long. Surprisingly enough, she even missed her younger brother. Even her spoiled brats of cousins would have been a welcome sight.
She gasped in pain. She hated this feeling. It had only started when she arrived in Konan.
"Megyn! Where'd you go, no da?" Chichiri's voice.
Megyn willed the pain away and debated only a moment. She stood and walked around the tree. "I'm right here, Chichiri."
Chichiri stood only a few feet away. "It seems that we have progressed with Genrou, you know. Let's get back." He smiled and gestured in the direction of the camp.
Jamie turned her head away from the poor excuse of a bandit, only to see Chichiri emerge from the dense forest with Megyn in tow. "Finally back? We got him to talk more!" she beamed. "He's from Mount Reikaku. Apparently, there's a group of bandits there. Those two," she motioned to the other two bandits, "are from there, as well. So, what do we do?"
"What do you think we do, silly?" Tamahome said. "We go to Mount Reikaku." Jamie scowled at him. "We have to return them, after all." He motioned to the three bandits.
"I've been by there once or twice, no da," Chichiri said. "I can get us there faster. Although, it will be more difficult with all of us, no da."
"I know you can do it, Chichiri," Jamie said, enthusiastically.
Chichiri laid his kesa on the ground and told everyone to get on. He and Tamahome grabbed the bandits and threw them on the kesa, as well. Genrou landed at Megyn's feet.
"Oh, look," he said. "It's the old man." The smirk on his face said everything. He was looking for a fight.
"I'll be rid of you soon, thank God. Can we please make the last bit of time we are forced to spend together, mildly pleasant?"
"Sure, old man." The smirk still remained, but Megyn noted the trace of sincerity in his voice.
Chichiri placed his staff on the kesa. For a moment, it glowed and then all occupants began to sink into it.