Tengu

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Characters from the "Gargoyles" show are the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. All other characters are from The Gargoyles Saga fanfiction series and the story "Yama's Path" by Kimberly Towle. Excerpt from "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë.

Part V:

Steam hissed as huge rolling bubbles writhed over the surface of the hot springs. A series of low rumbles echoed across the mountain range. Ordinarily, Ariana would have been terrified but at the moment she was too occupied. It was warm and safe beneath Kirin's wings. There was something intoxicating about the sensation of skin gliding against skin that made Ariana want to climb Kirin like a tree. She pressed her cheek into his chest as she ran her hands down the long slope of his back and she was rewarded by a purring growl that made her smile simply because she was happy to hear it. Kirin's face was buried in her hair as he held her close. His breath was warm on the back of her neck.

"That tickles," she sighed blissfully as his big hands glided restlessly up the curve of her spars, just barely brushing the erogenous zone between her wings. "I could get to like this."

"It gets better." His voice was ragged. "You smell so good." Kirin drew his ridged nose slowly up to nuzzle her ear. "I won't lie." He smiled against her neck. "I've wanted this."

"Really?" she murmured as she nuzzled him back. "For how long?"

"Does it matter?" Kirin caressed her cheek with his thumb before letting his fingers drift through her hair and down her back. It was like he was memorizing the touch and feel of her; Ariana suspected that it was something that he'd wanted to do for some time but hadn't allowed himself to. All the excuses that he had made to hold her hand or to sit close to her or to touch her hair suddenly made sense.

"I suppose not." His fish-like whiskers were dangling in front of her face. Acting impulsively, Ariana darted forward and caught his barbels in her beak, glancing up mischievously into Kirin's startled eyes. She slowly let them play out as she arched back away from him, sucking on them lightly as they trailed over her tongue like fat spaghetti.

A shudder rippled down Kirin's body to his toes and his hands tightened on her hips. His fur-tipped tail whipped around and ran up the back of her legs in a silky whisper that made her shiver and curl her toes. As she squirmed in his grasp, Ariana discovered that, while Kirin towered over her, his muzzle and her beak easily bridged the difference in their heights. It would be so simple for them to kiss – she could feel his breath on her lips and knew that he was thinking the same thing. Mentally, she urged him to kiss her and closed her eyes slowly in anticipation.

A deep, pulsating rhythm boomed out across the hills, in counter-balance to the rumbling tremors. Kirin pulled away slightly and turned his antlered head to catch the sound. His body tensed in her arms and reluctantly Ariana pulled away and crossed her wings back over her chest.

"What is it?"

"Goro is sounding the drums. Something's wrong at the village." He looked down at her, contrite. "I am sorry, Ari-chan, but duty –"

"—must come first." She hid her disappointment behind a brave face. "It's the first rule of bushido, Kirin-san. What else can we do?"

Unexpectedly, he pulled her back into his arms. "When this is over, we will make our own moment." He gently rubbed his brow ridges against hers. "I promise, Ari-chan, I will make it worth waiting for."

She set her chin firmly. "I'll hold you to that."

Without another word to each other, Ariana and Kirin immediately bolted to get their clothes back on. Her wings snagged on her shirt and as she struggled to get it on over her head, her armband began to buzz angrily. She switched it on and continued to dress.

"Yeah, Graeme… I'm here."

"Sis, are you all right?" her brother asked anxiously. "I'm reading seismic activity over there."

"Earthquake, duh." She started to put on her shorts and changed her mind about putting them on over wet underwear. "And just when it was starting to get really good too."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." She hung her panties on a peg and made a mental note to return for them later. "I'm okay, Graeme, really."

"Look, it's not a natural phenomenon," Graeme insisted. "I finally broke into Wariguri's security files. There's always been a huge silver deposit there but until recently, there's never been anyway to get to it. Ishikiri is there to do deep-mantle probes using a new technology that's never been out of the labs."

Ariana stopped in mid-zip. "They're field-testing? Here?" Another rumble shook the ground and she hastily zipped up her shorts, pushing her way past the overhanging branches that concealed the open-sided hut. A startled grey fox bounded away into the underbrush. "What you're saying is that Ishikiri is causing these tremors."

"Exactly!" Graeme's voice grew more agitated. "Satellite surveillance shows that the Tengu village is right on top of the Hyogo juncture – it's series of fault lines that overlap like a shuffled deck of cards."

Choosing a tall tree, Ariana quickly began to climb to gliding height. "That doesn't sound good," she grunted as she pulled herself through the branches. "What's the worst case scenario?"

"I'm looking at direct feed from the Japan Geographical Survey," Graeme replied. "The juncture is stable now, but if it shifts, the resulting earthquake will be worse than 1995."

"Ari-chan!!" Toe came streaking towards her like a feathered comet. "Is Master Kirin with you? It's terrible!"

"Keep the comlink open, Ari!" Graeme said quickly. "I want to keep on top of this."

"Then you'd better be quiet, bro." Ariana sprang out from the tree and rode the column of heated air rising from the hot springs up to met Toe. "What's happened?"

"The village!" Toe called out. "There's been a rock slide! It's blocked the rookery entrance."

"What?" Kirin came up from the other side of the massive granite boulder. "But the rookery is part of an old silver mine. It's carved out of solid rock." He had made some effort to put his hair back in some semblance of order; however, it was still wet and dripping down his back.

Toe gave both him and Ariana a wide-eyed look and ruffled his crest nervously but wisely kept his comments to the matter at hand. "Takamatsu has called everyone back to the village, sensei! O-tama's hut dropped a wall and Kiyo was badly burned when the kitchen roof fell in." He shifted in the wind. "I'm sure there's more damage than that. Doryo and Mikano were examining all the building supports when I left. Goro had Tancho and Takakura helping him dig out the rookery."

The drums sounded again, this time more urgent. Toe shot a panicked look at Kirin.

"Go on ahead," Kirin snapped. "Ari-chan and I will be right behind you." The younger Tengu pivoted on a wingtip and headed towards the village.

"Kirin, I've been talking to Graeme," Ariana said, not waiting for an opening as they followed in Toe's glide path. "He thinks Ishikiri is doing this."

"Yeah," Graeme chimed in. "I'm looking at the orbital scans now."

"Orbital scans?" Kirin glanced up worriedly. "You can see us?"

"Geophysical data mostly," Graeme answered, "although if you like, I could hack into a military satellite and snap a few pics with their cameras." His words had an audible smirk to them.

Kirin looked over at Ariana who was making a face and smiled ruefully. "No, I don't think that will be necessary, thank you."

 "Hey!" Ariana glanced around and pointed back towards the campgrounds. "The Ishikiri crew is that way!"

"We need to get to the village, Ari-chan," Kirin said firmly as he steered them away. "We need to get into the rookery. If those eggs are damaged, the Tengu may never recover from it."

"But—"

"Go ahead, Ari," Graeme interrupted. "Sohma is on his way there from the Osaka offices. If Ishikiri Geotech is behind these tremors, he'll want evidence to back it up."

Smoke rose from the Tengu village, stinging their eyes as Kirin and Ariana sailed in. The first thing that they saw clearly was Tancho racing across the compound with two logs under each arm. A section of the mountainside had come loose and several large boulders now covered the deep fissure where the Tengu kept their eggs. Goro and several males that Ariana couldn't immediately identify were trying desperately to clear the rubble. Tak had a pry bar and was above the spill trying to lever out one of the bigger rocks while the others applied brute force to it.

Kirin coasted in for a landing, snatched up another iron pry bar from the ground, and jammed it in the narrow crack that was forming as it began to give way. The others didn't waste time acknowledging him; instead they doubled their efforts and with a slow, grinding screech, they pulled the boulder away. Tak jumped free as a fresh cascade of falling rock tumbled down the sheer rock face but at least there was visible progress as a narrow crevice was revealed.

Boar-tusked Goro looked up, breathing heavily as sweat poured off his ruddy hide. "Kirin! That's what we've needed -- your strong back!" He took a stout log from Tancho and rammed it against the opening that they had been able to dig out. "Miza is trapped inside! She was checking the eggs when the first tremors hit."

"No!" Toe stood dazed for a moment. "Not Miza – why didn't you say so earlier?" he demanded, glaring at Goro with his feathered crest raised. "She's my mother -- I should have been here!"

"Not now, Mozu," Kirin said as he took his place besides Goro as he levered another prop in place. "If you want to help Miza, take Tancho's place and fetch more logs. We'll need to keep this rockslide from coming down on top of us so we can dig them out." He glanced at Ariana. "Go check on the others – send anyone that's free to help. Hurry!"

Dropping to all fours, Ariana bolted down the hill towards the huts. The central meeting hall where she had performed the tea ceremony had lost its supports on one side and was listing drunkenly to one side. The small building that served as a kitchen stood smoldering as Bana and two other older females beat out hot spots with wet blankets. One of them brandished a broom at an opportunistic fox that was making off with a roasted bird. Inside her hut, O-tama treated injuries in spite of the damaged wall and her scattered belongings on the ground.

"Jalapeña…!" Ariana drawled out.

"Is it very bad?" Graeme asked in a low voice, still listening in on her armband communicator.

She frowned. "It's bad enough. I think the village can be salvaged but if they lose the eggs in the rookery, it'll be the end of the Tengu. Their last rookery died on them; I don't think that they could handle something like that again."

"Can you get me some footage? I can set up a direct video feed on the main server here."

"I'll try, bro, but I'll have to be sneaky. Technically, my computer is supposed to be locked up." Ariana scanned the area. Everyone seemed to occupied, even quarrelsome Doryo. Carefully, she ducked around a tree and slipped the palmtop computer out of her pocket. It only took a few seconds to get the webcam up and running. Using the tree as cover, she panned around cautiously, not wanting to attract attention to herself.

"Ouch," Graeme commented. "Anyone injured?"

"I'll go check," she commented. "There's several people around O-tama's hut."

"Clip the palmtop onto your belt so I can see what's going on," he suggested. "If you cape your wings, then that ought to keep anyone from seeing it."

"Gotcha." Putting actions to words, Ariana tucked her wings around her shoulders and headed back into the open. She trotted across the compound. "O-tama! Kirin sent me down here – is there anything that I can do?"

Assisted by one of the other older females, the Tengu healer barely gave her a glance as she covered Kiyo's burns with thin layers of green onion skin. Kiyo, who had bore a strong resemblance to Tic with her distorted humanoid features, had been burned over her shoulders. Her left wing was spread awkwardly over a cloth-covered bamboo rack to keep the thin tissue from sticking to itself. "See to the brazier, Ari-chan," she said sharply. "I will need the herbs in the pestle crushed. Can you grind them to a fine powder?"

"Yes, right away," Ariana answered as she put more charcoal into the bottom of the brazier. "We were at the hot springs when it started. I've never seen water boil like that."

"You weren't in the water, were you?" O-tama asked, looking her over quickly. "Are you all right?"

"No, Kirin got us out just in time." The words slipped out before she realized it. She bent her head to her work and concentrated on grinding the herbs.

"Kirin took you to the hot springs, did he?" O-tama said thoughtfully.

"I told Bana that's where they went." Kiyo giggled, sipping from a cup that smelled of medicinal herbs and sake. "That's where he always likes to go the first time."

Ariana shrugged. "We had just finished eating some trout and we smelled like fish," she admitted. "Nothing happened." She banged the mortar noisily the side of the pestle noisily, thinking darkly about Kiyo's comment and making a mental note to ream Kirin about it later.

"Ah." O-tama glanced at her work. "Not quite so hard, dear. Have they cleared the rookery yet?"

"No, they had just managed to pry one of the larger rocks loose when I left," Ariana answered. "Kirin said to send up anyone who was available to help."

"Poor Miza," Kiyo sighed drunkenly while O-tama carefully smeared more salve on her wing. "I should have gone with her but someone had to tend to dinner."

"Here, Ari-chan," O-tama said as she held out a bowl, "that's good enough. Pour the herbs in here. If the water's boiling, add it to the bowl so the tonic can brew." She cast a nervous look back over towards the steep rock face visible over the trees. "Takamatsu will want to help in the rescue. He doesn't have the strength for such things – Ari-chan, do me a favor and keep an eye on him."

"All right."

"Take these supplies with you," O-tama handed her a canvas bag; "Give them to Mozu. He may need them if—" her voice faltered – "when they find Miza." The silver-haired healer gave one last troubled look towards the rookery and went back to Kiyo's burns.

Slinging the bag over her shoulder, Ariana went in search of Takamatsu. She didn't have to go far. The raven-headed leader of the Tengu was leaning heavily on his staff and watching intently as Doryo and a robust older male with heavy curving spikes on his temples and smaller ones along his jawline carefully examined the central building.

"Well?" called Takamatsu querulously. "What do you think, Doryo? Can the damage be repaired?"

Doryo wiped the sweat off his bald head with a dirty sleeve. "We were fortunate that there was solid stone beneath the north side. I think we can salvage the flooring but we'll need to dig out the supports." He shook his head. "The foundation will need to be re-laid. It will take at least a week to do properly."

"Makino?" Takamatsu turned to the other male. "What is your opinion?"

The spiked gargoyle stood up slowly and dusted off his tunic. Ariana guessed him to be the same age as Goro. "I agree," Makino said. "We'll have to re-cut the pillar on the southeast corner. That alone will take several nights."

"Yes," Takamatsu agreed, nodding his head slowly, "and we'll need to bring limestone from the quarry to grind for mortar." He tapped his staff against his sooty black beak.

"It sounds like you'll have your work cut out for you," Ariana commented, coming up behind him.

"Lady Ariana!" Shaken from his thoughts, Takamatsu gave her a startled glance. "Are you all right? The earthquake did not harm you?"

"No, I'm fine, Takamatsu-sama," Ariana quickly reassured him. "I was just helping O-tama. She asked me to bring some things up to Mozu but I thought I'd check in with you first."

The raven-headed Tengu cocked his head curiously as he absorbed the full impact of her words. "That's O-tama's medicine bag," Takamatsu observed. A sharp metallic sound rang out, followed by another. He glanced up the hill. "What has happened?"

Belatedly, Ariana realized that she had said too much. One glance at the silent fury on Doryo confirmed that. "It's all right," she dissembled glibly. "O-tama has her hands full treating Kiyo, that's all. She wants Mozu do take care of any first aid chores."

"Yes," Doryo agreed hastily. "Mozu is a healer apprentice, after all. Let him tend to the bumps and scrapes."

"I suppose so," Takamatsu agreed reluctantly. He continued to stare up the hill. "Still, I should check on the rookery as well." He started to climb the gentle slope but a stone turned beneath his foot and he stumbled. All three gargoyles leapt to support him.

"Please, Takamatsu-sama!" Ariana said earnestly. "There's too many loose rocks here! I'll go up and check for you."

Doryo dismissed her with a toss of his head. "Go!" He took Takamatsu's arm and began to steer him away.

Not waiting for his protest, Ariana dropped to all fours and ran back up to the rookery. The males had managed to move more debris but they'd come to a slab of stone that was blocking the entrance. It looked to Ariana as if part of the mountain had dropped down like an immense door. Goro had produced a pair of hammers and he and Kirin were taking turns driving a steel bar into a fracture in the stone. Toe was standing on Tak's shoulders as he cleared a space above the slab.

"Toe, O-tama sent you some medical supplies." She cocked her head. "What are you doing up there?"

"The stone here is layered – the quake loosened it up," Tancho answered. "Tak's weight caused that big slab to slide down." He nodded his head to the side. "Go over there and check on him, will you? He took a nasty fall."

Following his head movement, Ariana quickly went over to where Tak was lying on the ground. He was covered in dust and trying to wrap his torn sleeve around a nasty scrape on his forearm that had left his ruddy skin raw from elbow to wrist. "Wait, Tak," Ariana said, opening the bag, "That's filthy – you'll only get a nasty infection. At least let me put a clean bandage on it."

"No!" Tak said curtly, pushing her away. "I don't deserve it!"

"Don't be stupid," she said as she grabbed his wrist and began to wind a length of clean linen around it.

"You don't understand," he shot back hotly. "We could hear Miza's voice calling to us. I got in a hurry and didn't wait for the others to put the braces in place." Tak looked away, in an uncharacteristic display of remorse. "Fine leader material I'm turning out to be. She'd be out of there if I only waited a few minutes more."

"You don't know that," Ariana said firmly, splitting the end of the bandage and tying it off. "Sometimes a leader must take risks – that's part of the job. You couldn't know that the rock face was going to be unstable."

"It doesn't matter," Tak said dismissively. "Miza will run out of air long before dawn." He struggled to his feet and began to limp back to the rookery, setting his left foot gingerly on the ground. Ariana started to call him back but the grim look on his face dissuaded her.

"Ari-chan?" Graeme whispered from her armband. "Is he gone?"

"Yeah," she answered softly as she backed away from the work crew. "Everyone's busy."

"Ishikiri is gearing up for the second round of testing." Graeme's voice sounded worried. "You've got to stop them."

"You're sure?"

"I tapped into their intersystems communications net. Wariguri just gave the okay." He paused. "Sohma says he's nearly to your location."

"What?" Ariana exclaimed without realizing that she'd raised her voice. "How's he traveling so fast?"

"Beats me but Owen says that Sohma is one of his most trusted cousins, whatever that means."

"Owen has cousins?" She raised her brow ridges.

"Lying wench!"  Grabbing a handful of her hair, Doryo spun her around. "Deceiver! You agreed to abide by our rules and yet here you are, betraying us to the humans!"

"Hey!" Angrily, Ariana grabbed his hand and jabbed her thumb into certain pressure points to force him to release her. "We don't have time to fight about this! You guys need all the help you can get. You can't hide from the outside world forever!"

"We Tengu fend for ourselves!" Doryo retorted angrily as he rubbed his hand. "Living amongst for a few nights does not give you the right to tell outsiders of our affairs!"

There was a squawk as Graeme boosted the volume on his end. "Dude, it's an earthquake – it's all over the news!" he said hotly. "There's going to be emergency crews all over that area."

Doryo stared at her armband. "Who is that? How does he know I am here?"

"That's my brother," Ariana snapped back, "and he can hear you."

"Yeah, so don't make me come down there, toad-face," Graeme said sarcastically. "Ari, you've got to go. They just started the pre-test countdown."

"What is he talking about?" Doryo demanded. He threw open his arms and blocked her path. "You will do nothing until you explain yourself!"

The sound of their raised voices was suddenly deafeningly loud and as Ariana looked around, she realized why. Kirin and Goro both had stopped hammering at the stone slab and the Three had paused in their tasks as well. Handing his hammer to Tak, Kirin started towards her with a scowl on his face. The last thing Ariana wanted was for him to fight her battles for her and she turned back to Doryo with fire in her eye.

"Look, I know who's causing this. There's a bunch of humans conducting illegal tests not far from here. If we go there now, we can stop them from making things worse." She leaned in. "Gargoyles have rights these days – if you'd bother to join the modern world, you'd know this!"

"No!" Doryo threw his hands out in dismissive gesture. "We will have nothing to do with humans. It is the way it has always been!"

"You Tengu may think you can hide from the world but I've got news for you," Ariana retorted hotly, "the world isn't going to hide from you!"

The disgruntled elder recoiled, screwing his face up into a hideous mask. "How dare you speak with such disrespect? You are not Tengu – get out!"

"Doryo!" They turned to see Takamatsu getting off of Makino's broad back. The Tengu leader had found a way around his infirmity to join the work party. "You may rule the council of elders but I lead this clan!"

An antlered shadow fell over her. Kirin set his hand gently on her right shoulder. "Let Takamatsu handle Doryo," he murmured in her ear. "He will settle this." Just knowing that Kirin was there made Ariana feel more confident in the face of Doryo's anger but the nervous tingle on the back of her neck wouldn't go away.

In the middle of all the commotion, a grey fox with reddish markings and three tails ran into the clearing. It gave three sharp barks and its vulpine form blurred, becoming a slim, well-dressed man with a swatch of dark auburn hair falling rakishly over his eyes. Tossing his hair back carelessly, he gave the angry gargoyles a vaguely amused look like their argument was the most entertaining thing he'd seen all night.

Ariana blinked. "Oh-kay…," she said slowly, "The whole cousin thing makes sense now."

"A kitsune?" Takamatsu said wonderingly. "I have not seen one of the fox spirits since my hatchling days."

"Ichiro Sohma, at your service," the newcomer said with a bow. "It's true, there's not as many of us as there once were but the Council of Nine-Tails likes to keep its paws on the pulse of Japan." He bowed separately to Ariana. "One of my ancestors, Kemuri-Kazan, once tried to interfere with your father's dance, my lady. I am duty-bound to restore the family honor."

(TimeDancer season 3: "Giri)

"See what she has done?" Doryo cried out, spittle flying from his wide toad mouth. "First humans and now Oberon's children – where will it all end?"

Graeme snorted from her armband. "Will somebody PLEASE shut this guy up?"

Takamatsu stepped forward, leaning heavily on his staff. "Peace, Doryo-san," he said firmly, "I will handle this." He drew himself up to face the kitsune. "I hope you will forgive us, Sohma-san. My clan is unaccustomed to humans appearing in our midst, or rather those who appear human."

"Ah, is that all?" Sohma swept his hair back with his fingers and as he did, his modern business suit shifted to a kimono tucked into harama trousers and his face turned a shaded reddish-gray with a fox's pointed muzzle. Crinkling his amber-colored eyes, he smiled at them. "Is this better, honorable Takamatsu-sama?"

"You… know of us?" Takamatsu asked slowly.

"We kitsune are always watching," Sohma twitched his whiskers and winked at Ariana. "You've uncovered an interesting puzzle for us, my lady. The Xanatech auditors are scheduled to arrive at the Wariguri offices in Osaka even as we speak."

"Sohma-san?" Graeme called out over Ariana's armband. "Ishikiri has started a new test sequence. You have to help Ariana stop them!"

"Bide." While Graeme had been speaking, the kitsune's long ears had been quivering. He brushed past the gathering gargoyles and went straight to the huge slab that was blocking the rookery. Putting his head against the narrow crack, Sohma closed his eyes and listened. "Not good," he muttered, "not good at all."

"What is it?" Goro demanded. "What are you saying?"

"Lady Ariana, I can go with you to stop the humans or I can stay and free the unfortunate soul behind this stone – I cannot do both." Sohma turned his bright amber stare on her. "What is your bidding, milady?"

"Miza?" Mozu cast a desperate look over his shoulder. "Ariana, what is he talking about?"

Sohma traced the thin hairline fracture running the length of the stone. "Even now, the air grows thin. Her breath slows." He continued to be fascinated with the crack.

Looking around at the Tengu, the decision was easy to make. "Sohma-san, you free Miza," Ariana said firmly. "I'll go after the Ishikiri crew. Who's coming with me?"

Doryo snorted. "Tengu have nothing to do with humans. We will not help you!"

Ariana appealed to the Tengu leader. "I know what's causing these earthquakes," she said urgently. "Please, Takamatsu-sama! If your clan helps me, I can stop this right now!"

"Ari-chan, it is our oldest law," Takamatsu said slowly, shaking his head as if he didn't quite understand. "If you leave here to confront the humans, you will no longer be welcome amongst us."

"Ari!" Graeme hissed. "You don't have time for this! Go, girl… GO!"

The ground beneath her feet began to tremble.

She was in the air in a heartbeat.

The RV rocked as Ariana landed hard and ripped the small satellite dish off the roof of the recreational vehicle and hurled it off into the surrounding woods. She was riding a wave of adrenaline and anger that she converted it to action. "Damned stupid bakayaros!" she snarled as she went to work. "You couldn't put this off to some OTHER time, could you? I was FINALLY gonna get kissed but no-o-o-o-o-o!" Sparks flew as she tore one antenna after the other from the roof. "You had to make the earth move! You couldn't wait five more minutes, could you?"

She could hear shouting voices and then a volley of bullets ripped through the top of the vehicle. "Dummies!" Ariana muttered as she neatly swooped away into a neighboring tree. "Even Dracon's goons had better aim than that!"

The door slammed open. The lone Caucasian was first, carrying a pistol in a low, efficient grip. He was followed by three Japanese men bearing various weapons. One of them climbed onto the roof while the others covered him.

"Graeme?" Ariana said quietly, keeping her eyes on the humans below. "Are you still there?"

"I don't know," he answered pertly. "Are you going to bite my head off too?"

She growled. "I pulled the dish and the antennas off the RV. Will that be good enough?"

"It might delay them," Graeme answered after a pause. "At best, it'll interfere with their data collection. You need to get up close and personal, oniichan." He snickered. "Sort of like you and Kirin, eh? It sounds to me like you two have been fooling around. What's this about a hot spring?"

"Oh, shut up." Ariana wasn't in the mood to take any of Graeme's teasing. "Are you still tapped into their system?"

"Yeah, the countdown is still going on. You need to get in there. Is the boyfriend there to back you up?"

"He's not my boyfriend, and—" She bit her lip. "—he's not here. I'm on my own." The Japanese man on the roof of the RV held up a piece of metal with her claw marks in it. He tossed it down to the Caucasian who began to scan the treetops. She eased back behind the wide trunk.

"Why, that jerk – if I ever meet him, I'm gonna kick his butt!"

"Lucy and I will have to sell tickets to that." Her hand brushed the palmtop computer that was clipped to her belt. "Graeme," she said thoughtfully, "are you still recording over the webcam?"

"Yeah," he answered, "Owen's been following it in New York. Why?"

"I've got an idea. Can you broadcast me so it picks up on their communications link? It doesn't have to necessarily go global."

"Sneaky," Graeme drawled as his talons tapped audibly on the keyboard. "I like, but it's not your style to bluff."

"Can't be helped," she answered back. "They're armed and I'm not."

"What about your bo staff?"

"Kirin broke it."

"Aww, man… it took me forever to get the balance right on that thing!" The tapping stopped. "All right, I'm feeding it into their comlink now. It's your play, oniichan. Be careful!"

Ariana held out her palmtop and panned it in an arc before her. "Let's just see what happens, hmm?" she commented.

The RV shook and the door crashed open. Red jacket was looking around frantically. "Someone is here! They're showing us on the internet!" The men went into an excited huddle and Ariana saw her chance. She went up into the tree tops for a noiseless glide to the ground.

"Smile for the camera, boys," Ariana said boldly, "because you're on live webcast. You're guilty of violating international law by invading gargoyle territory and endangering our breeding sites."

"Don't you believe a word of it," came a voice from behind her. There was the sliding click of a gun being cocked. "Suit up, Atari. I'll need the muscle." One of men ran around the RV where Ariana couldn't see him.

"It is true!" one of the other men stammered. "We saw ourselves on the screen!"

"Is that so?" The gunman's voice grew cold. "She's just playing tricks with you. Drop the computer, gargoyle, right now or I'll shoot it out of your hand."

Wincing at making such an amateur mistake, Ariana complied and winced at the sharp impact as the palmtop hit the ground. She kept her eyes on the group of Japanese and continued. "Ishikiri Geotech is engaged in an illegal field test. This new technology you've designed for deep mantle probes is shifting the fault lines. If you don't stop, you'll hurt a lot of innocent people."

"People?" The lone Caucasian snorted as he began to edge into her peripheral vision. He was unremarkable looking – ash-blond hair, brown eyes – exactly the sort of generic goon that Xanatos hired for his security force. "The only things up here are animals."

"Wrong!" she retorted hotly. "There's been an established gargoyle colony here since after World War II."

"Like I said, animals," he sneered back. "You gargoyles think you're our equals but I know better. It was your kind that ruined the careers of my father and his partner Jacob Feldman."

"That sounds familiar – " Graeme said in a low voice only Ariana could hear, "keep him talking."

"Please," Ariana scoffed, continuing as if Graeme hadn't spoken. "Humans are perfectly capable of ruining their lives with or without us. Go look in the mirror if you're going to point fingers, who ever you are."

"The name's Ratcliffe," he snapped, "Jeremy Ratcliffe. We had it all when I was a kid – fancy house, top schools, all the perks – but that all ended when my father got involved with you gargoyles." He was circling around but keeping well out of range of her wings and tail. Ariana frowned; that alone told her more than he was saying.

"Damn," Graeme murmured. "Ratcliffe and Feldman – the London clan had trouble with them. We've got a loose cannon here…"

"Sounds like bad karma to me," Ariana commented. "That doesn't change the fact that Ishikiri and Wariguri are up to no good here. The Japanese government wouldn't approve your testing request, would they? This whole area is unstable. Your probes are making it worse."

The Japanese began to look uneasily amongst themselves. Ratcliffe laughed harshly. "She knows nothing. Gargoyles are nothing more than flying monkeys!"

Shrugging, Ariana merely replied, "Not according to the United Nations committee on sapient beings."

"Which has NOT been passed," Ratcliffe retorted hotly, "and it won't be as long as the right people are running things."

The superior way he said that made the hackles rise on the back of Ariana's neck. "I see," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "What honor is there in running things from the shadows?"

"You'd be surprised, gargoyle."

"I'm sure I'd find it most illuminating."

They locked stares with each other. The eager gleam in Ratcliffe's eye worried Ariana. The Illuminati had been lying low for many years but it was a secret society that had existed for centuries, passing knowledge of its existence from father to son for generations. Her clan in Manhattan had known of its existence all too well through their association with Xanatos. Different sects of the Illuminati had different objectives. Ariana wondered just which one Ratcliffe belonged to and she decided to find out.

Looking back at the Japanese men, she called out, "This gajin has been deceiving you. I do not know what Ishikiri or Wariguri originally intended to do with these probes, but he is only using you to achieve his own goals. He has no honor!"

"What do we need with honor?" Red Jacket answered back. "Ratcliffe-san brings us money – you can't buy anything with honor!"

 "My clan follows the way of bushido," Ariana replied. "Honor has its own reward. If you follow this man, he will lead you to ruin."

"Atari, get over here," Ratcliffe ordered, his pistol still aimed at her. "That's problem with you gargoyles – you're so hung up on the past. This is the new Japan, baby. Money talks – no one follows that bushido crap anymore."

Ariana decided to up the stakes. "Then why don't you shoot me if you hate me so much?"

Ratcliffe smiled coldly. "Because bringing in a live female gargoyle will buy my way into the Inner Circle of the Illuminati. That's worth more to me that any profit I'll get from this Ishikiri gig." His taunts finally took him a step too close.

Quick as a whip, Ariana dropped and kicked his legs out from under him, while slapping his gun out of his hand with her wing tip. Ratcliffe yelped in surprise and recovered quickly, bouncing back to his feet and scrambling for the gun in the dirt. She sent him flying with a heel strike to the chin. Before she or Ratcliffe or the Ishikiri crew could move, the ground rolled beneath them with the onset of another tremor.

Ariana fought to keep on her feet, spreading her wings for balance. "Stop the probes!"  she shouted at the terrified Ishikiri crew. "Stop them now!"

The men looked at her, then at each other in indecision.

"You have to stop the probes, or you'll start another earthquake," she screamed at the top of her voice. "Just like the Kobe Disaster of 'ninety-five!" When the men didn't move, she started towards the RV to take action herself.

Red Jacket moved to intercept her. "Stop her!" he shouted. He charged across the still-shaking earth towards her, coming in low to tackle her around her legs.

"Idiot!" Ariana grunted, shoving him back before smashing him in the chest with her knee. As he tried to force air back into his lungs, she snagged him by the front of his jacket and flipped him like a rag doll into a neighboring picnic table. "We don't have time-!"

She started to lunge towards the vehicle only to have the wind knocked out of her by a hard blow to the mid-section. Fighting for breath, she found her left arm and wing pinned to her side by a massive metal clamp. Ariana was lifted high into the air and turned upside down.

"Shards!" she cursed, shaking her hair out of her face to get a good look at what was holding her captive – and wished that she hadn't.

"Shards! A exo-suit!" She knew the design of this robotic suit all too well – it was a Xanatch XFR-2004. Xanatos kept several of them in the castle hangar for moving heavy loads. This one was an older model – it was more angular and clunky than the streamlined versions that they used in Manhattan. The enhanced strength of a human wearing an exo-suit would be more than a match for a gargoyle of her size. She took a swipe at it with her free arm, hoping to snag a hydraulic cable but her talons merely scraped three deep scratches on the armor plating.

"Good work," Ratcliffe told the driver. "Don't lose your grip on her!" He grinned down at Ariana. "I see you don't care for our little 'toy'... Corporate sponsoring has its perks, doesn't it?"

Ariana grunted, trying to pry open the metal claw trapping her.

"You'd have an easier time trying to snap tin-foil in two, beast!" Ratcliffe huffed. He aimed a kick at her, only to get his ankle nearly snapped into two when Ariana savagely bit him. Yelping as he danced away from her head, he snapped, "You filthy bitch! Atari, secure her!"

The exo-suit driver neatly snared her legs and pulled her taut between the two loading clamps. The blood rushing to her head was beginning to make her dizzy. Ariana could see Ratcliffe's foot going back for a second kick and tried to brace for it when a deafening roar split the night.

"Kirin?" Ariana cried as a pair of familiar fur-covered green shins suddenly planted themselves between her and Ratcliffe. The exo-suit tottered backwards slightly, giving her a glimpse of Kirin's face as he bellowed at a shocked Ratcliffe; the male gargoyle's features were so contorted by rage, she hardly recognized him.

Recovering his wits, Ratcliffe lunged forward to throw a punch. Kirin wrapped his larger hand around Ratcliffe's arm and hurled him to one side, where the human slammed into a pair of open equipment cases on the ground. Tumbling to his knees, Ratcliffe wrapped his hands around a long metal pipe that had been inside one of the cases, and lifted it menacingly.

Kirin answered by drawing his tachi, a growl rumbling deep in his chest as his eyes flared like white hot stars. Stalking towards Ratcliffe like a cat hunting a mouse, he swept the blade out to the side, making it glint like a slice of moonlight in the darkness.

The exo-suit swayed crazily and Ariana looked up to see Tak perched on the top of it. He grabbed a handful of the operator's shirt and popped him in the face. "Let her go!" Tak demanded, accenting his words with punches. "Let her go right now!"

"Control box!" Ariana yelled up at him. "There should be a master control box over his chest. Smash it!"

"Here!" Tic's voice rang out, just before the butt of a bo staff slammed into the exo-suit chestplate. A shower of shattered plastic, sparks and metal fragments preceded the sudden whine of disrupted systems and the grinding of smashed components.

Covering her face from sparks and falling plastic, Ariana got a close-up view of Tic's enormous foot as he lunged in again for another strike. The machine gave a harsh, grating whine before it shuddered to a stop, dumping Ariana in an unceremonious heap on the ground.

Tak punched the operator one more time and leapt off in pursuit of other prey but Tic reached down to help her up. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she gasped. "What kept you guys?"

The tall Tengu youth grinned. "We waited until that kitsune freed Miza. He made a vine grow out of that crack and it shattered the slab blocking the rookery."

"Is she all right? What about the eggs?"

"Miza was a little off-color but she and the eggs were fine. We headed here as soon as we knew she was safe." Tic handed her the bo staff. "Here – we thought of you."

Ariana grinned back. "Sweet!" She glanced around to assess the situation. Tak was fighting Red Jacket while the others were piling back into the RV. The engine turned over and the rear lights came on. "Stop them! We need their equipment for evidence!"

"Evidence for what?" Tic asked as he pulled an iron pry bar out of his belt.

"Just stop them!" Ariana turned and went in the direction of metal crashing against metal coming from the forest. She'd had a taste of his hot temper when Tak had been flirting with her and she didn't know what Kirin might do when he was really angry. A bent length of pipe went whizzing past her head. "Kirin! KIRIN!!"

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" Ratcliffe hadn't made it very far. He was back up against a gnarled oak, the whites of his eyes showing clearly around his pupils. Kirin raised his sword and lashed out in a windmill of sword strikes.

"Kirin, NO!!" Ariana reached them and gaped at Ratcliffe. His clothes were shredded in a classic happo giri cut that was traditionally used for dismembering the corpses of criminals. Fresh blood swelled up but the wounds seemed to be mostly superficial.

"That is but a taste, gaijin," Kirin growled frostily. "Prepare yourself – you go to join your ancestors!" He shifted his tachi for an overhead strike.

Ariana stepped between them, her bo poised to block. "Kirin, he's not worth it!"

His eyes flicked to hers. "But you are worth it."

"Not like that," Ariana said firmly. "I don't want his life. I want justice. That won't happen if you kill him."

"Ha!" Ratcliffe snorted derisively. "Fat lot you know—"

Without warning, Ariana turned and bounced her bo off Ratcliff's head. "Shut… UP!" She rolled her eyes as the second-generation Illuminatus slid down the tree trunk. "Some guys do not know what's good for them." Glancing back at Kirin, she scowled and asked, "What?"

Hiding an awkward smile, Kirin merely shook his head. "To think I was half-sick with worry over you." He lowered his sword and started to reach out for her but before they could touch, there was a loud crash from the campground that shook the ground.

"Bring him with you!" Ariana ordered and bolted back towards the Ishikiri camp. As she ran, she caught glimpses of an animal running alongside her in the underbrush. The RV was lying on its side with Tak perched on top of it, prodding the contents with a long stick. Toe had joined them and was tying the men up against a tree. Tic was watching them as he flipped the iron pry bar in his hand. He spied Ariana and Kirin approaching and called out cheerfully, "Ah, there you are, Ari-chan! Did you know if you pry the tires off one side of these things, they fall over?"

"Yeah," Tak commented, "and then it's like picking snails out of their shells."

A grey fox bounded out of the woods and leapt onto the RV next to Tak and shimmered into the human form of Ichiro Sohma. "Ah," he said mildly, "I see you've taken care of things here." He pulled a phone from his jacket pocket. "It might be best if I deal with the authorities. The humans here aren't quite as comfortable with gargoyles as they are in Ishimura."

"Sohma-san," Ariana said as Kirin dropped Ratcliffe on the ground near the other captives, "this one will need Owen's personal attention."

Sohma blinked. "Oh?"

"Tell Owen that I'm sending him someone who needs to be kept under a watchful eye. He'll know what I mean."

"Is that so?" Sohma raised both eyebrows. "I can see I'll be having a very interesting conversation with him later."

Drumbeats echoed over the foothills. All three of the younger Tengu looked sharply at Kirin. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. "You know your duty," he said flatly. "Go on."

The Three looked at him and then at each other. The expressions on their faces puzzled Ariana; they seemed reluctant and unhappy for some reason. In unspoken agreement, they came over to her.

"Here," Tic said as he hastily pulled off one set of prayer beads from around his neck and looped them three times loosely around her wrist. "Take these to remember us by, Ari-chan."

Tak nodded and took her other hand. "No matter what the elders say, we are still your friends."

Toe stood there for a moment, raising and lowering his feathered crest nervously before throwing his arms around her and gathering her in for an abrupt hug. It was like being mugged by a feather pillow but Ariana gamely patted his back and murmured, "Aw, thanks."

"Why didn't we think of that?" Tak asked disgustedly.

Tic snorted. "Because he's the smart one."

"Farewell, Ari-chan," Toe said softly as he released her. He and his brothers trotted off into the trees and disappeared.

"Bye, guys!" Ariana waved after them. "I wonder what all that was about?" She turned back to Kirin but to her surprise, he wasn't there. "Hey! Where'd he go?"

"I don't know," Sohma answered, holding his hand over the receiver of the phone. "Perhaps they were called away by those drums. I know that the other Tengu were very busy in the village when I left to come here."

Frowning, Ariana replied, "I suppose so. I should probably go too." She had the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something.

"Please stay a moment, if you can," Sohma asked politely. "I have a Xanacorp security detail en route. The local police are tied up with earthquake damage."

"All right," Ariana agreed and sat down on a table that was part of the campsite. She toyed with the ceramic beads that Tic had put around her wrist. They were sea green with swirls of copper and terra cotta red that matched her skin. She was missing something; Ariana just knew it, but what?

Putting away his phone, Sohma strolled over with his hands in his pockets. He paused and picked up her palmtop, which had been lying on the ground. "Hmm, this has seen better days. Would you mind if I take this with me? Graeme tells me you downloaded Ishikiri's files on it."

"Sure, no problem."

He tossed his head back to clear the hair from his eyes. "Have you given any thought about how you're going to get back to Ishimura? I'm sure I can arrange for the security chief to deliver you safely to our offices there."

"Hmm?" It took a few moments for his words to sink in. "Oh, I don't have to go back for a few more days, thanks. It's okay."

"Are you sure?" Sohma put his hands behind his back and regarded her solemnly. "I thought Takamatsu's last words to you were very clear."

Staring at him, the events of the night replayed in her head.

"If you leave here to confront the humans, you will no longer be welcome amongst us."

Clouds of dust billowed around her as Ariana landed hard, her talons plowing the ground in the center of the Tengu village. "Kirin! O-tama! Where is everyone?"

No one answered. The damaged buildings sagged forlorn and abandoned. Smoke still clung to the burnt roof of the kitchen and the tattered remnants of O-tama's paper-covered walls rustled in the breeze. Ariana turned slowly, her heart sinking as she strained to detect any signs of the gargoyles that she'd lived with over the past week.

"Oh, no…" She pressed the knuckles of one hand against her mouth. "They left… all because of me." There was a sinking feeling in her stomach. "What was I thinking?" Shaking her head, she admitted. "I wasn't – I just went off on impulse like I always do! Stupid, stupid bakachan!"

Slowly she went around the village, looking for any trace that they might be coming back. There were a few tatami mats and a few assorted pots but it was as if no one had ever lived there. Her backpack turned up on the porch of the healer's hut. Someone had neatly folded her yukata and placed it on top of it. Ariana placed it inside of her bag and slowly zipped it up.

Walking into the center of the village, she called out, "I didn't mean to break your rules. I'm very sorry if I have offended you." She looked around, even though she didn't expect a response. "I just wanted to help – that's all. I did what I thought was right."

Crickets answered her.

Ariana bowed politely to the four corners of the compass since she lacked an actual person. "Please accept my humble apologies, honorable Takamatsu, and my thanks for the hospitality of your clan. I will not trouble you again." She drew herself up like she was an actress on a stage and walked away into the night.

She was nearly to Osaka when Graeme worked up the nerve to talk to her. "Oniichan," he started cautiously, "I—"

"Not now, Graeme," Ariana said curtly and switched off her comlink. She knew her brother was only being his usual, overprotective worrywart self but this was one time that she just didn't feel like talking. She'd stopped Ishikiri from causing any more tremors and she had no doubt that Sohma and Owen would get down to the bottom of the Wariguri double-dealings but she felt totally drained and empty.

"If you're going to the train station," a deep voice said above her, "you're going the wrong direction."

"Kirin?" Ariana gasped. "You're still talking to me?"

"Of course," he said as he glided down to her level. "O-tama pointed out that we were still responsible for seeing you safely home." He was looking down at the city intently. "I am ordered to make that happen." He turned north slightly. "This way."

 Numbly, she followed. "Are you angry?"

"Yes," he answered, "but not with you."

"But—"

"Please, Ari-chan. No more talking."

His words were said gently enough but they made Ariana feel worse than if he'd yelled at her. Silently, they sailed through the night sky over Osaka side-by-side but never touching.

Kirin frowned as he looked over the train schedules posted on the big board at the railyard. Since there was no way to mail her back to Sendai City, Ariana was going to take a slower-moving train back to Ishimura. They had been perched on a warehouse roof for nearly an hour waiting for an east-bound train. The easy camaraderie that she and Kirin once had was replaced by an awkward uneasiness. Neither of them really seemed to know what to say.

"Well?" she asked. "It's on the eastbound track."

He sighed. "It's the Ginga night train going to Tokyo but you won't get there before dawn. You'll have to get off well before then and find a place to roost." He glanced at her beneath his bristling eyebrows. "Are you sure you don't want to take up Sohma's offer? I'm sure he will be sure to get you to Ishimura safely."

"No, I got here on my own, I'll go back on my own. Otherwise, what's the point?" Ariana managed a fragile smile. "If you're really worried, you could always come with me. It could be fun."

"With the chaos and mayhem that follows you wherever you go?" The corner of his mouth turned up but it was unconvincing. "I'm not sure the ulcer you've given me can stand the excitement."

"I'll give you Poc-ky...!" she teased in a sing-song voice.

"You need it more than I do." Kirin turned his head away sharply and looked back down at the trains. "When you get to Tokyo, get on a train called the Hokutosei. It'll take you up the coast to Sendai City. You ought know your way to Ishimura from there, neh?"

He was deliberately keeping his distance. Ariana had reached out to touch him more than once only to have him flinch away. She sighed and twisted her fingers together. "Yes," she said simply. "I'll be fine."

"The engineer's finished his inspection. It'll be leaving soon."

"Well, then…" She frowned. "Will you tell them that I'm sorry? For all the trouble I caused?"

"You weren't that much trouble." He blew out his upper lip noisily. "You caused some excitement but you meant well."

A piercing metallic screech interrupted any further conversation. Ariana climbed onto the edge of the building. "I've got to go," she called back. "I'll – I'll miss you."

"Not another word – just go." The train gave a lurch and began to move. He waved her away without looking and shouted, "Go!"

Throwing herself off into the air, Ariana chased after the train. She landed lightly on the second car from the end and anchored herself with her talons. "Don't look back, Ari," she told herself. "Don't look." She fought the urge for a full minute before turning her head. There was the bold outline of a horned head against a neon sign and then he was gone.

"Oh, shards!" She punched the roof of the train, leaving a dent. The pain in her knuckles was nothing compared to the unbearable feeling of emptiness washing over her. "I'm not gonna cry," Ariana told herself firmly. "He's probably glad I'm gone."

She thought briefly of calling Graeme and letting him know she was on her way but she really didn't feel like talking to anyone. The hurt was still too fresh – rationally, she knew she'd broke the rules in confronting the survey crew but it had to be done. The Tengu were only reacting the way that they had for centuries. She was sure that it was only Doryo and the more close-minded elders that hated her. O-Tama and Takamatsu and all the rest would understand – or at least, she hoped they would.

The tracks turned northeast as they cleared the coastal mountains and began to go inland. Lulled by the train's motion, Ariana finally gave into her own emotional and physical exhaustion and slept fitfully for a few hours with her wing talons and tail securely lashed to the roof. Her internal clock woke her as the train was going up a steep incline. Mt. Fuji was just behind them in the distance, its snowy peak beginning to turn pink in the pre-dawn light.

"Uh-oh," Ariana commented as she grabbed her backpack and soared off the train. "I nearly overslept!" There was a temple facility just up the hill from the tracks. She made it there just in time to land near a collection of ornamental boulders. Folding her wings over her head and tucking in her tail, Ariana became a new addition to the monks' Zen garden.

The hollow bong of temple bells was fading with the last rays of the sunset when Ariana awoke the next night. Luckily, they were still loud enough to cover the sound of her subdued roar. Ariana felt terrible -- a sure sign that she needed to eat. The rocky shadows provided just enough cover for her to sneak past the monks that were leaving the temple. Several of them were headed down towards the tracks as if a train was due to arrive soon which cheered her up a bit.

Finding a spot higher up on the hill, Ariana decided to have a snack while she was waiting. "Let's see," she commented as she thrust her arm deep in her back pack. "What's this?" she asked as she pulled out a battered paperback. She bit her lip when she realized that it was the copy of Jane Eyre that she had been reading all week. "Oh, Kirin… you gave me your book." Holding it to her nose, she could smell the cedars that surrounded the schoolroom. "I guess he thought I might like to have it for the trip." She smiled gamely, even though she didn't feel like it. "That was sweet of him."

She found the leaf that she had been using as a bookmark but frowned after she had only read a few sentences. "This isn't where I stopped," she commented. "This is much farther into the story!" Frowning, she noticed that someone had taken a ballpoint pen and underlined several words in the text. Curious, she read the passage.

"Never," said he, as he ground his teeth, "never was anything at once so frail and so indomitable. A mere reed she feels in my hand!" (And he shook me with the force of his hold.) "I could bend her with my finger and thumb: and what good would it do if I bent, if I upturn, if I crushed her? Consider that eye: consider the resolute, wild, free thing looking out of it, defying me, with more than courage--with a stern triumph. Whatever I do with its cage, I cannot get at it--the savage, beautiful creature! If I tear, if I rend the slight prison, my outrage will only let the captive loose. Conqueror I might be of the house; but the inmate would escape to heaven before I could call myself possessor of its clay dwelling- place. And it is you, spirit--with will and energy, and virtue and purity--that I want: not alone your brittle frame. Of yourself you could come with soft flight and nestle against my heart, if you would: seized against your will, you will elude the grasp like an essence--you will vanish ere I inhale your fragrance. Oh! come, Jane, come!"

As he said this, he released me from his clutch, and only looked at me. The look was far worse to resist than the frantic strain: only an idiot, however, would have succumbed now. I had dared and baffled his fury; I must elude his sorrow: I retired to the door.

"You are going, Jane?"

"I am going, sir."

"You are leaving me?"

"Yes."

"You will not come? You will not be my comforter, my rescuer? My deep love, my wild woe, my frantic prayer -- are all nothing to you?"

What unutterable pathos was in his voice! How hard it was to reiterate firmly, "I am going."

"Jane!"

"Mr. Rochester!"

"Withdraw, then,--I consent; but remember, you leave me here in anguish. Go up to your own room; think over all I have said, and, Jane, cast a glance on my sufferings--think of me."

He turned away; he threw himself on his face on the sofa. "Oh, Jane! my hope--my love--my life!" broke in anguish from his lips. Then came a deep, strong sob.

A tear splattered on the page before Ariana realized that she was crying. After what he had told her about his past, it was no wonder that Kirin identified so much with Rochester here in this passage where he was trying convince Jane not to leave him. She re-read the underlined phrases and remembered what Kirin had said about the book: 'Rochester was afraid of wanting something that he couldn't have so he kept trying to push her away.'

"Oh, Ari, you bakachan!" she told herself. She remembered the way she would catch him looking at her – the questioning crease of his forehead, the wistful gleam in his eyes, and the way he would almost smile and then hide it behind a gruff mannerism. "Kirin was trying not to fall in love with me," she said numbly. "He wanted me but he knew he couldn't have me." She looked at the book again and re-read the underlined words out loud as the message that they were meant to be: 

"'Savage, beautiful creature…  It is you, spirit--with will and energy, and virtue and purity--that I want.  Come with soft flight and nestle against my heart. However, you are leaving me -- you will not be my comforter, my rescuer? My deep love, my wild woe, my frantic prayer -- are all nothing to you? You leave me here in anguish… think of me...my hope--my love--my life!'"

"Why didn't I realize this?" Ariana felt numb, cold in spite of the warm summer breeze washing over her. "I can never go back – the Tengu will only hide from me." There was motion up the train tracks and she began to gather her things on auto-pilot. "He'll never know how I feel! I can never—" Her voice caught in a raw sob. "—I can never tell him that I love him!"

It was only by luck that she managed to get onto the train at all, much less catch the Hokutosei night train in Tokyo that went up the east coast of Japan. Ariana kept replaying the events of the past few nights spent with the Tengu and cursing herself for not being more aware. Every time she thought of Kirin, alone in the schoolroom as he underlined those words, letting the book say what he could not – she wanted to cry but she would not, could not do it! Instead she let her misery cover her like a grey blanket as the miles passed by.

She left the train on the outskirts of Sendai City and cut cross-country towards Mt. Zao in the distance. It was a little out-of-way but Ariana wanted some time to compose herself. She was a mess; her clothes and hair were smudged and windblown from two nights spent riding on top of trains. There was nothing to be done about that but she was determined to not to let her inner anguish show.

"All right, Ari," she said as the gates of the Ishimura compound came into view and she began to slow down for a landing, "you can do this. Think Lara Croft. Cool, calm, coming home from a successful mission – that's the ticket." She touched down behind a low-spreading zelkova tree and stepped out onto the road with a confident step.

One of the hatchlings that were playing an elaborate game beneath the ornate gate saw her first. She scampered inside to find a grown-up and within minutes, a crowd began to gather. Graeme and Toshi fought their way to her as assorted gargoyles began to yammer excitedly and call out questions.

"Oniichan!!" Graeme grabbed her and hugged her so hard that blue spots danced before her eyes. "You scared the crap out of me! What do you mean, turning off your comlink?"

"Sorry," she answered breathlessly. "I just wanted some time to myself, oniisan. You didn't need to worry."

Midori plowed through and seized her from the other side. "Ari-chan! I couldn't believe it! You were so brave to go off on your own – did you find them? Did you find the Tengu?"

"Yes, I—" Anything else she might have said was lost in the rush of raised voices crashing over her like a massive wave. Someone, possibly Graeme, took her backpack. Everyone's voices sounded muted and distorted as if they were speaking underwater. Midori was standing to her right in her red-and-white miko costume, guiding her through the crowd and issuing orders in rapidfire Japanese.

"Ariana!" her mother called out joyfully as gargoyles hurried out of her way. "Ari-chan, you're back! We were not expecting you back for two more days!" Sata embraced her decorously and while doing so, lowered her voice in a sharper tone. "When you are fed and rested, young warrior, we will be having a long talk about these impulses of yours! Sometimes I think you are a bigger thrillseeker than your father."

Numbly, she nodded in all the right places and Sata seemed happy enough with her responses. She stared at Graeme's back as he broke a trail for them through the crowd. Her twin kept glancing back at her with an increasingly concerned look on his face; even though they were fraternal twins, they'd always been able to tell how the other felt.

Kai's voice boomed out. "Ah, Brooklyn-san! There she is! Come now, give the Ancestress and her family some privacy!"

As the Ishimurans began to disperse, Brooklyn hurried towards her. "Hey," he called out in his husky voice, "there's my girl. Graeme says you found the Tengu – I always knew you could do it." He paused and narrowed his eyes. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

The words simply would not come. Ariana felt her fragile composure slipping away; her father might appear easy-going but he'd always been more intuitive than Sata. The concerned crease of his brow alone told her that he knew that she was putting on an act. Tears swelled up in her eyes as she stood there and began to tremble, unable to stop. Brooklyn did the only thing he could do – he gave her a crooked smile and held out his arms. Ariana fled into the comfort of his embrace and let his wings shield her from the world.

To be continued in "Tengu", Epilogue….