"The sun had set, and the moon cast a harsh glow on the trees. Nuriko reckoned they had passed into Konan some time ago, but the palace was not nearly close enough. He didn't notice the light change; he was so upset he could only stare over Hotohori's head at the dark forest ahead, an area framed by the horse's pricked ears. He didn't notice the faint red glow suffusing the Emperor's damp, blood-soaked clothing. All he felt was the Emperor leaned against him, shaking from blood loss, caught in a dream. The Emperor was close to death." Keisuke closed the book and covered his eyes. "Oh, Emperor, please don't die. The Celestial Warriors, your country, they need you." He wiped his eyes and thought, "Miaka would have wanted you to live. I know it would have been one of her wishes, if she could have summoned Suzaku."
Keisuke wiped his eyes again and picked up the book. "The terrain had changed into mountainous country; a dog howled and crows shrieked. A mist formed after the hot day gave way to cool night in the higher lands, making the grasses slick and obscuring Nuriko's sense of direction. He didn't know if there were any settlements nearby, but he hoped so. The sway of the horse's back, the Emperor's shallow gasping, and the wetness seeping into Nuriko's shirt was becoming too much for Nuriko to take. He wanted to be someplace secure, where there was a bed and water. Someplace where Hotohori would be taken care of.
"Suddenly, a branch snapped and a voice boomed out of the darkness."
"Stop! You have crossed into the territory of the Great Mountain Bandits! Dismount! Give us your possessions and we may let you live."
Nuriko felt relief sweep through him. "The Mountain Bandits? Great! We need you. We need your help!"
"Our help?!?" The bandit was incredulous. He almost laughed at Nuriko's voice; it sounded like a girl's! "Excuse me? Hey, Baby. We are not here to help you. We're gonna rob you."
"No, you can't! We are friends of Genro! Your Boss! He'll have your hide if you touch us. You must take us to him! And don't call me 'Baby!'"
"Friends of Genro? How can that be?" The tiny group of bandits approached, brandishing a variety of weapons. "Hey! Don't lie to us. Just hand over what you have! And get off that horse! We'll take it, too." The leader shoved his spear point at the riders, then looked closely at Hotohori, who moved slightly. He was still in the dream. "Or I'll finish off what's left of your friend here."
But Nuriko had had enough. With the knowledge of whom his attackers were, remembrance of the landscape came to him. He knew exactly how to get to the bandits' hideout. And he didn't need an escort. Shoving the spear aside, he clapped his heels to the horse's side. "Get out of my way! I don't have time to waste with you!" The horse galloped up the hill, leaving the bandits shouting at him, a disorganized band.
The horse plowed past a few small huts, then its hooves clattered across cobblestones. Nuriko hauled back on the reins and the horse skidded to a stop near the square's center. "Genro! Genro! It's Nuriko! Hotohori is injured! We need you!"
The area was dimly lit by burning torches, and the few bandits who had been milling about the square advanced to form a menacing ring around the horse. One of them grabbed the horse's bridle, another turned and dashed into a house; Nuriko thought that one looked like Koji. There was a pause, then Tasuki came shuffling out, yawning and pulling on this coat.
In his typically belligerent tone, Tasuki demanded to know what was happening. "What's all the freakin' noise out here? Koji's telling me there are trespassers here. Ha! Female trespassers, at that." The ring of bandits parted to let Tasuki walk up to the figures on the horse. "Oh, there really are, huh? Well, you'd better identify yourselves . . . And how the hell did you get past our patrol?!?" Then he recognized them. "Nuriko! Emperor!" The arrow fletches were silhouetted against the torch light, and Tasuki saw the blood on Hotohori's face as he woke and looked down from the horse. "You're hurt!" Hotohori's hand moved to cover the arrow's point. "Assist us," he whispered.
Suddenly voices chorused around them. "Hotohori . . . The Emperor of Konan . . . The Celestial Warriors of Suzaku . . ."
Tasuki rounded on them. "Shut up! Get back to your work or back into bed! You never saw this, and if I hear one word about this or about trespassers being here tonight or anything by anybody, you'll be doing mess duty the rest of your life! Got it?" The group dissolved like magic. "Koji, get over here and give me a hand." They caught Hotohori as he slid off the horse. Koji half carried the Emperor into the small house.
Tasuki stared up at Nuriko, whose shirt was covered in blood. "Geez! How'd that happen?"
Nuriko glanced down, then quickly back to Tasuki. "Hotohori's. I'm not injured. We don't have time to talk about it now, Tasuki. Take care of the Emperor! I'm going to ride on to Konan to find Mitsukake!" He wheeled the horse around.
"Stop! Don't go to the palace, Nuriko. Mitsukake's not there. He left when I did. You should look down by Shoka's village. See if anybody there knows where he is. And use this as ID if anybody bothers you." Tasuki tossed a small medal to Nuriko.
Nuriko caught the medal and frowned. "Shoka's village? Choko's nearly as far as the palace! The Emperor won't last that long." He groaned in frustration. "Tasuki, please do what you can for him; we need him."
"Hey, don't worry about it. We're the Great Mountain Bandits." Tasuki flashed his wolfish smile. "We get beat up all the time."
"What?"
Tasuki deformed. "I mean we beat people up all the time." Then he pointed angrily at Nuriko. "We know how to take care of an injury, OK?!? Now get going!" The horse charged into the darkness. Tasuki sweat-dropped as he headed into the house.
Koji had lashed the Emperor, leaned back, eyes closed, around the waist to a low-armed chair. The heat of the day remained in the room, but the bandit had lit a fire in the small brazier anyway, to help light the dark room. There was a pan of simmering water on the flame and some rags bundled on the floor. Koji was gone when Tasuki came in, walking quietly and thinking about what to do. He removed his coat and was rolling up his shirt sleeves when Koji returned and knocked on the door with his boot.
"Knock, knock. 'Who's there?' Koji. 'Koji who?' Me, Koji, that's who. I've got a tray of supplies: bandages, medicines, and knives. 'Oh, great. Koji. Come on in.'" He toed the door open, then kicked it closed behind him. He put the tray down, kneeled on the floor at Hotohori's side, and handed a knife up to Tasuki.
"Any time you're ready, Boss."
Tasuki looked at the Emperor, considering. The long, dark hair draped over Hotohori's shoulder shivered to the pulse of his uneven gasps. Normally shiny, well cared for hair, that right now was going to be in the way. Tasuki gathered up the strands and looped them into a messy, bloody bun, which he unceremoniously pinned to the top of Hotohori's head with a chopstick.
The bandit leader squared his shoulders and cleared his throat. "There'd better not be any talking about this tomorrow." Koji waited patiently. Finally Tasuki took the knife Koji held up and began to cut the layered collars of Hotohori's robes and shirts, down to the arrow, the abdomen in the front, the shoulder in back. He handed the knife back to Koji and began to remove the material. A string caught and pulled the arrow. Hotohori flinched, his head dropped forward to his chest. Tasuki froze.
Koji looked up and saw Tasuki's pale face. He started to get up. "I'll get somebody else to do this."
Tasuki copped a heroic pose. "No way. He's my friend. I'll do it." He blew out the air, deflating his ego. "But I'll need your help removing the arrow."
"'Course, Boss."
Tasuki took the knife back from Koji and cut the string. When he pulled what was left of the robes and shirts over Hotohori's shoulders and down to the waist, he gasped. Hotohori's torso was smeared with blood; the arrow had penetrated straight through the bones, ripping up skin and tearing through muscle. There was so much damage. Tasuki couldn't figure out why the Emperor wasn't already dead. Then Tasuki felt a warmth on his arm in a certain spot. The symbol on his arm was reacting. A flicker of red and blue swirled over the arrow. He blinked. Suzaku?
"What?" Koji's stare was completely blank.
Tasuki realized Koji hadn't seen it. "Forget it. Nerves I guess." Koji raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. He was just here to help.
Tasuki stood undecided for a moment, then grabbed a rag and dipped it in a bowl Koji had filled with medicines. He began to rub the blood off Hotohori's forehead. The cut had ceased to bleed a while ago, but hairs and dirt clung tenaciously. Much to Tasuki's surprise, Hotohori moved restlessly at the touch. The bandit hoped the Emperor wouldn't wake up again while they were taking the arrow out.
In truth, though, he really didn't think Hotohori would wake up at all. He was too pale; his breathing too erratic. Tasuki caught the Emperor's face and applied more medicine to the bruised cut. The Emperor's lips held a touch of grey. Tasuki kept working.
When the head wound was bandaged, Koji handed Tasuki a fresh rag. He began to clean the skin on Hotohori's shoulders and considered how best to pull out the arrow. Likely, it would work if he broke off the feathers and nock then pulled the arrow out from the front. Wrap the tip so it won't cut anybody, and don't break the arrow internally. All right. A good plan. But the bleeding would be bad news. Tasuki knew the arrow hadn't bypassed the major organs. Leave it or take it out. No matter what, Tasuki had a feeling the Emperor was about to die by his hand. He had to decide. The symbol on his arm burned brighter.
Suzaku was urging him to take the arrow out.
Tasuki sighed.
"OK, Koji. I'm going to break off the nock and pull it though. You stand back here and press that bandage to the shoulder wound the moment the arrow's out. Hard as you can. Got it?" His voice sounded brave as brass, but the hand on the arrow shook slightly.
"I'm ready, Boss." Hotohori's eyelids flickered. "Are you sure he's really out?"
"'Course I am! You think I didn't check first?"
"No. It's just that when I brought him in, I thought he was blacked out, but then he said some garbled thing about a General Somebody. I'm not sure he's really unconscious."
"Fine. I'll check again." Tasuki pried open one of Hotohori's eyes, but the pupil didn't react at all. "See? He's out cold; won't feel a thing."
"Whatever you say, Boss." But Koji had a feeling that Hotohori was not as far gone as he appeared. While Tasuki gritted his teeth and tried to break the arrow, Koji poured a bit of sleeping potion into a rag. When he looked up, he saw a red-faced Tasuki still straining to break the arrow. He put the rag back on the tray.
"Uh, Boss? That rag has sleeping salts in it. Umm, why don't you just remove the feathers? The nock's not any wider than the arrow, so it ought to just pull through, right?"
Tasuki pouted and threw a super-deformed tantrum. "It's the principle! I can break this arrow! I can, I can, I can!" He crossly yanked the arrow. This time Hotohori gasped loudly.
Tasuki froze, then removed his hands with exaggerated care. "Hmm. I think I could strip the feathers off." A light clicked on above his head. "Yeah. The nock's not any wider than the arrow, so it ought to pull straight through, right? Of course. What a great idea! I'm so glad I came up with it!"
"Yeah, great idea, Genro." Koji plopped himself on Tasuki's bed and ate the rice that had been set out for Tasuki's supper, watching the red-haired bandit leader scratch the feathers off the arrow with the knife.
Tasuki wrapped the tip in a rag and tied it up with string. He looked up at Koji. "OK. Looks like we're ready. Hold his shoulders while I do this." Koji moved around behind Hotohori, while Tasuki stayed on the floor. He put both hands around the padded tip and tried to pull the arrow out. Blood ran down the wooden arrow's shaft, and the padding began to slide. "Ugh!" Tasuki shifted his grip, one hand still on the arrow, the other braced around the exit wound and pulled again. This time the arrow moved, but so did Hotohori. The Emperor collapsed forward, squeezing both arms around the wound. His eyes flew open, and he shouted in harsh voice: "Tamahome! You cannot kill the Priestess!" Koji jumped back, but Tasuki flung his left arm across Hotohori's shoulders and shoved him back into the seat. The Emperor's hair came loose; the chopstick fell to the floor.
There was a sharp crack. Hotohori screamed and arched back into the chair as hard as he could. Tasuki grabbed the damp rag off the tray with his right hand, and still holding Hotohori down with his left, he jammed the rag over the Emperor's mouth and nose. Hotohori reacted by digging all ten fingernails into the back of the hand over his mouth. Tasuki ripped his hand away and dropped the rag in shock.
The character on Hotohori's neck began to glow. He shouted, "Priestess! Tamahome! No! I ki . . ."
Koji grabbed the rag and forced it over the Emperor's mouth. He held Hotohori's head in a viselike grip, until the Emperor stopped struggling; his hands dropped and his body went limp. Koji waited a moment longer then picked up the chopstick. He twisted the Emperor's hair back into a bun.