Okie! Here is chappie 7! Yes, yes sorry for the long wait but my beta reader went out of town for a vacation! Which is a good thing. I also had to decided what Kia was going to say to Chichiri. I hope this is a good chappie!
Chapter 7-Friendship
Kia stood beside a cherry tree, watching Chichiri with his fishing pole. She couldn't tell if he was asleep or just in deep thought. Kia hesitantly walked up behind him. So many questions were running through her mind, how could she get them all answered? She settled for the most important first.
"What do you need, no da?"
Kia jumped a little. She didn't think Chichiri knew she was there, but she was also so nervous and knew the reason why she jumped. Kia forced herself to calm down, sitting by Chichiri she asked a simple question. "Any fish in the pond?"
"Dunno, no da."
Kia sat there for a few minutes, fidgeting with the hem of her kimono, "Chichiri, could you please tell me about the Universe of the Four Gods itself and about the four Gods?" Kia glanced sideways at Chichiri. He stared out at the other side of the lake, thinking of all the information he knew and how to explain it all to Kia so she wouldn't be so overwhelmed.
~*~
"AHHH!"
A piercing scream broke the silence that settled over the palace along with the sound of a snap. The sound of a whip and it's victim.
"Tell me, will you become the priestess now?" a deep male voice asked, Nakago's voice.
Rae hung limply from the chains at her wrists, her back covered with deep gashes in a crisscross pattern from Nakago's whip. She remained stubbornly quiet. Rae screamed out again, arching up when Nakago brought his whip down again. Rae knew he got some sick pleasure out of this but she didn't care. She wouldn't talk to him or tell him anything. She needed to know where Kia was.
"I'll ask one more time, will you change your mind and who is this 'Kia' person?" Nakago's hand wrapped around the whip hand tightly. This girl was stubborn and refused to become the Priestess of Seriyuu, which made Nakago want to kill her.
"I REFUSE YET AGAIN AND KIA IS NO ONE. NOW LET ME GO!!" Rae screamed at him with her last ounce of strength, the black dots in her eyes multiplied rapidly after that. She blinked to get them to go away, she would not lose consciousness in front of him.
Nakago grunted at that reply, he could tell this girl was on the verge of passing out. He was surprised she had remained conscious for so long. A plan slowly formed in Nakago's head.
"Release her."
Rae blinked in surprise, after she had refused to become this 'Priestess of Seriyuu' Nakago had talked the emperor into a nice torture session to get her to say yes. But Rae had stubbornly stuck to her former statement. Rae winced as the two guards grabbed her wrists roughly and undid the handcuffs, letting her fall to the ground in a heap.
Nakago walked over and grabbed the back of Rae's head, pulling her head back so fast Rae thought she'd get whiplash. "Your free if you can walk out of here by yourself."
Rae blinked in surprise, but stubbornly struggled to stand. The black dots jumped in front of her eyes but she ignored them as she walked slowly out of the dungeon. Rae crossed her arms over her stomach to help her torn shirt stay in place, the back was probably all ripped up but she didn't care. All she had to do was walk out the gates of the city, Kutô.
~*~
Kia blinked. Chichiri had been talking for nearly half an hour and she was trying to take in all he was telling her; which was hard because she kept jumping every time he moved, making Chichiri wonder what was wrong. Finally his curiosity got the best of him.
"Kia, why are you scared of me?"
Kia noted the last two words where missing, meaning he was serious. She swallowed but found a lump in her throat, "I'm not. Um…Con-continue please."
"You're lying." Chichiri reached up and pulled off his mask, which made Kia gasp. She had never really thought about why he wore one, but now she knew why. A long jagged scar was etched into the left side of his face. Kia put her hand to her lips to stop another gasp from escaping.
"Do not be afraid of me. Though I don't know what I did to make you scared in the first place but--"
"It's nothing you did! No, this happened awhile back, I'm just still jumpy…Sorry." Kia bowed her head and fidgeted with her kimono hem more.
"Would you like to tell me about it then? I have found that holding something in can only make it grow into something bigger. I'll go first, to show you what I mean…I was seventeen, very much like Tamahome, except I had a shorter temper back then. I was engaged to be married and my best friend stole her away. I was outraged so he and I argued and fought. In the end, I wound killing him. That's how I got this scar." Chichiri looked over at Kia, pointing to the scar. He was startled at what he saw; Kia was crying, but why?
Kia hiccupped, hugging Chichiri, "I'm not afraid of you as a person. Just for what you are."
Chichiri blinked, patting Kia on her head, "What do you mean? Explain."
Kia tensed up, images flooding through her mind as she told Chichiri what happened about a year ago.
~*~
"Good evening."
Kia nodded to the old bus driver, walking quickly past him and to her seat so he couldn't touch her. It was a usual thing, he'd always reach out and touch her or a couple of her friends. Kia didn't like it and often told him to stop; which didn't work. She was afraid to tell her mom because the wounds of her dad's death were still to new and she didn't want to be any more trouble.
Kia watched as the houses went by in a blur, standing when the bus got close to her stop. Kia stood up and gathered her things, walking slowly towards the front of the bus. The grabbing didn't start until recently, but it made Kia feel dirty. She got three seats from the door and stopped.
'He doesn't have his seat belt on…What's going on…?'
Kia hesitantly walked forward until she was right by the door. She waited for him to open the door, but the old driver just sat there.
"Open the door please." Kia demanded, her voice meek.
"You open it." the driver sneered.
Kia blinked, she reached over to hit the 'open' button. The driver grabbed her wrist and jerked her into his lap. Kia screamed, but was cut off by his hand being clamped firmly down on her mouth.
"Shhh…This won't take long…" the driver whispered into Kia's ear while his hand undid her blouse and slipped inside.
Kia tensed while the old man's hand touched her in places she wouldn't normally allow guys to touch. The feel of his hand made Kia want to throw up, then it moved from her blouse to under her skirt. Kia started to struggle more and bit down on the old man's hand.
"AH! Little slut!" The driver held his bleeding hand as Kia hit the 'open' button and bolted out the door.
Once home, she ran upstairs and into the shower, scrubbing over her skin roughly until it was red: it didn't help, she still felt dirty. Kia sank down in the shower and cried.
~*~
Chichiri sat in silence as Kia finished her story. He was stunned, he wouldn't have imagined this girl could have been so violated. That's why she was always tense when she was alone with any of the warriors, because she was afraid it might happen again, even around Tamahome.
Kia waited for Chichiri to say something, anything to ease this eerie silence. She looked at the ground, knowing what he was thinking, knowing he was adding up everything over the past three days.
'True, I have been kind of tense, but I try to keep it at bay by telling myself it won't happen again because I'm ready now. Not so naïve.'
Kia sighed, she had gotten all of the information of the gods and got the basic idea of what the priestess was supposed to do. She had even confessed to Chichiri, but maybe that was because she looked at him as an older brother, always there to protect her.
"Um, I think I should go now…er, thank you for the talk Chichiri. You're right, it does help," Kia said, standing up and dusting off her kimono. She wiped the tears from her face, turning to go.
"Kia, it won't happen again. I promise. As long as us warriors are here to protect you, nothing like that will happen again," Chichiri said, slipping on his mask and turning his attention back to the lake.
Kia stood there for a few more minutes, stunned into silence. She turned and hugged Chichiri again, racing off to find Tamahome and Hotohori to talk about the finding of the remaining three warriors. This mission was hard, Kia knew that from the beginning, but she wasn't going to let them down. No matter what.
~*~
"YOU LET HER GO?" the emperor boomed at Nakago from his throne.
Nakago just looked at the emperor, "Yes. It is all part of a plan that I have thought out. She will lead us to this Kia girl and then we will strike her down before she becomes the priestess or finishes the duties of the priestess."
The emperor fingered his beard as he thought this over, "Yes…I like it. I grant you permission to execute this plan."
Nakago nodded stiffly and walked out of the throne room with a sadistic smirk on his face.
"Soon Kia, we will meet and I will be the last person you see."
~*~
Rae slumped against a tree, it was a miracle she had made it out of the gates, let alone this far down the road. She looked up and down the deserted road, no one within seeing range.
'Maybe…Just a small nap…Won't hurt…So much pain…Blood…Kia, help me…'
Rae winced as she let herself completely slump against the rough bark of the tree, her strength drained. Her fuzzy mind barely registered her beaten body being picked up or being put on a horse. Rae let go to and slipped into the peaceful, inky blackness.
"Hey Genrô, ya sure it's such a good idea at pick up some chick laying on the side of the road?
"Look at her Kôji, she ain't in too good o' shape. What could it hurt?"
Alrightly…Finished chappie 7! After my little break I decided I better finish this chappie. But I don't think anyone really noticed my lack of updating since I haven't gotten any reviews! So, told ya…Kind of scary. I feel for Kia, even though I made it up I still feel bad.. Woooo…Rae is with…Hehe…Anywho, me and Brooke ((My friend from the story 'Kidnapping the Fellowship') Are thinking of writing another story! Wee, it'll just be me and her but it'll be good. Beware of the insanity to come!!!