Chapter 6:

"Where's your character?" Tamahome demanded, grabbing Mitsukake's hand and searching the unmarked skin roughly.

He shook his head uncertainly. "I don't know. I tried to use my powers to heal Chiaki, but nothing happened. My character never even flickered."

"It didn't show up?" Hotohori studied him with concern. "But is that possible?"

"I didn't think so, but... it's happened." He withdrew his hand from Tamahome's, rubbing his palm absently.

"Well, at least the rest of us still have our powers," Nuriko commented lightly, stretching his arms high above his head with a lazy yawn.

The others exchanged wary glances, and suddenly the clearing was filled with silence, except for Nuriko, who was watching and chuckling in amusement, as the others attempted to call upon their character's powers. He laughed until not one glowing mark appeared. Then he furrowed his brow with worry. "You don't think we actually lost our powers, do you? We would have felt something... right, Chichiri?" He glanced at the monk, whose mask was removed, and his scarred face was pursed with a concerned frown.

"I don't know. Probably." He looked at all of them. "This is very serious."

"No shit, Chichiri!" Tasuki snapped, folding his arms over his chest.

After a few thoughtful moments, Chiriko spoke up. "Perhaps something in the area is affecting us...? I think we should leave as soon as possible."

"But Chiaki's still sick," Nuriko pointed out.

"It might not be safe for us here," the boy persisted.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Chiriko on this one, Nuriko," Hotohori began, holding his chin in his hand, studying the ground absently. "We cannot risk ourselves, particularly if this area has potential danger... though I've never heard of such thing before..." He shook his head, and continued. "And, we cannot allow the shinzaho to fall into the hands of Kutou. If they received a new priestess... or, a potential one," he corrected himself for Chiaki's benefit, though the girl still remained in her tent, "and if they summon Seiryuu first, Konan will be destroyed. We will all be destroyed."

A moment of silence came and went as the seishi dwelled on their emperor's words. He was right. Seiryuu's summoning would be the end of them all. On the cue of a vicious swear from Tasuki, the campsite burst into a flurry of activity. They packed the horses with rapid speed and, after Mitsukake gathered the ill Chiaki in his arms, who amazingly offered little protest, they mounted their horses and left the chilly forest clearing as quickly as they could. Nuriko, and on occasion, Chichiri, rode next to the healer, trying to keep a close eye on the girl. The healer could only shake his head and smile.

* * *

"Nuriko, she will be fine," Mitsukake assured the seishi, as he peeked into the tent to check on Chiaki for the fifth time that evening at the party's new campsite.

"No, I was just wondering if you could spare a lovely seishi such as myself an extra blanket. I'm freezing!"

He laughed and shook his head. "What am I going to do with you? Go back to sleep."

Nuriko stepped further into the tent and peered over the healer's shoulder. "What are you making?" He took the bowl from the man and sniffed it. With a strangled gasp he quickly handed it back to him, coughing. "Gods, what is that?!"

"It's an herbal remedy. I'm going to see if it will help her get well," he explained, crinkling a few more various herbs into the thick liquid and crushing it with a pestle.

Nuriko made a face. "What are you trying to do, scare the illness out of her with that stench?"

The healer gave him a pointed look and explained the effects of the medicine. Finally Nuriko was ushered out of the tent, looking thoroughly unconvinced. Mitsukake turned with a quiet smile and then gently coaxed Chiaki awake. "Take this, it should bring down your fever."

"Where am I?" she inquired hoarsely, taking the small dish.

"We are just outside the Hokkan region," he explained, watching her closely.

She paused to swallow a mouthful of the elixir and immediately began gagging. She flung the dish aside, trying to force down the bile that was rushing up her throat. "What was in that?!" she managed to gasp after a few precarious minutes.

He glanced hopelessly at the puddle seeping into the grass. Her reaction was better than most of his patients... but not by much. At least she got a little of the concoction into her system. "That was supposed to help you get better, but now I think the grass will reap its benefits," he teased gently.

"Sorry..." she murmured, the corner of her mouth curling downward slightly.

Mitsukake shook his head, carefully pushing her back down. "You need rest. We'll be heading out early tomorrow morning."

She nodded, burrowing deeper beneath the warm blanket. "Have you been in here the whole time?"

"Yes. Mostly to keep Nuriko out. He's getting a little carried away, in my opinion."

Chiaki smiled sleepily. "That's Nuri-chan for you.... Mitsukake?" He looked up and acknowledged her. She smiled again. "Thank you." Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep again.

He looked on, smiling.

"How is she?"

Glancing up, he saw a head of violet hair poked through the tent flaps. "Nuriko..." he began, with a slight hint of warning in his tone.

"Hey, I was just asking!" he protested, backing out respectfully.

Again, Mitsukake smiled, continuing his watch over the girl.

* * *

Chiaki was happy. She felt better, she had slept in a real bed under a real roof at an inn in Touran, and they weren't traveling on horses as they explored the area! So, she sang gleefully to herself. "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts, deedle dee dee dee, there they are a-standing in a row, bumpa bumpa bump. Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head-"

"Ko...koka-whats?" Nuriko walked beside her, with his arms folded behind his head, taking in the sights. Tasuki trailed not to far behind them.

"Coconuts... um... well... they're—they're big, round... things... They're kind of ... hairy? And they're hard—"

"Like Tasuki's head!" Nuriko crowed with a huge smile, giving the flame-haired seishi a firm slap on the back that sent him crashing into a nearby fruit stand. Grabbing Chiaki's hand, he took off running, with the two of them giggling hysterically.

"I'm gonna f---in' roast you, man-lover!" Tasuki yelled, running after them. "I still have my f---in' tessen workin', ya know!"

Meanwhile, back at the inn, Hotohori and Chichiri were deeply involved in intense conversation.

"It has been two weeks, and yet we've heard nothing from Taitsukun about Miaka, nor Chiaki's reason for being here." He threw a restless glance towards the blue-haired monk sitting at the room's small table, with his chin resting in the palm of his hand. Back and forth, the young emperor paced, his long, dark ponytail flowing behind him. "Do you think it's a possibility that we haven't heard from her because something happened to our powers?" he posed.

He shook his head. "No, it wouldn't no da. She would send the Nyan Nyans, or something no da..." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "Which means... no da... that she has yet to find anything out."

Hotohori paced across the boarded floor, trying to vent at least some of his frustrations into the woodwork. "Where are Nuriko, Chiaki, and Tasuki? And Mitsukake, for that matter... And why isn't Tamahome back yet? Don't they realize we have my country's lives at stake?"

Chichiri listened quietly, letting part of his mind focus on the unsettling feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. Two hysterical shrieks knocked him out of concentration and caused Hotohori to pause mid- stride as the door burst open. Nuriko and Chiaki tumbled inside the room. Quickly vaulting herself over the fallen Nuriko, Chiaki collided with Hotohori, sending the two crashing, in a whirl of fabric and startled cries, to the floor. Tasuki followed moments later, brandishing his tessen like a sword and swearing up a storm.

"Sorry Hotohori-sama," she managed to gasp, flushed with laughter and embarrassment. She crawled aside as the emperor rose to a stand, uncertain how to react. He found the event both humorous and a bit annoying at the same time.

With a brief smile, he nodded, casting a weary glance at Tasuki, who was attempting to pummel Nuriko with his tessen. Tamahome burst into the room moments later, a symbol on his forehead glowing fiery red.

"Tamahome- your character!" Nuriko began, staring at the mark, wide- eyed.

"Forget that! They're here! Mitsukake and I saw them!" he yelled.

"Who?" Hotohori demanded.

"Nakago and the other Seiryuu Seishi!"

* * *

The moonlight was bright and crisp, causing the snow in the village to almost glow white. The seven men and Chiaki left the inn, bundled up warmly.

"We must get to Mt. Black as quickly and silently as possible," Hotohori informed them as stable hands brought the horses around.

Chiaki groaned pitifully, watching the massive beasts approach. "Can't we do this some other way? Walking? Driv—I mean... some other way? Why does it always have to be horses?!"

Nuriko was the first to mount, and reined his horse towards her. "You're going to have to get used to it, Chiaki-chan. It's the way we get around."

She stepped back warily, remembering the unpleasant rush she had experienced when he quite literally swept her off her feet when they had left for this place. "I do not have to get used to it because... because I'm not going!" Planting her hands defiantly on her hips, she added, "Anyway, you don't need me to go... right?"

"We're not leaving you behind, Chiaki," the emperor said firmly.

"Well, I can't... those beasts are freaking scary! I-" Her ranting was cut short when she was roughly scooped up and flung over someone's shoulder like a sack of grain. She let out a terrified shriek, staring at the hind side of a horse, and the ground below. "Nuriko!" she howled. A flash of red hair, and the sight that Nuriko was across the green, revealed that it was not he who held her captive. "Tasuki!" she screamed, beating his back with her fists. "Put me down! Put me down this instant!"

"Are ya sure?"

"Put me down NOW!"

"All right," he consented with a singsong tone. Leaning to the side, he dropped the arm that held her over his shoulder and she began to slide.

She shrieked, clinging to him tightly. "You let me fall and I'll kill you!" He made no move to help her keep her balance as he let his horse trot merrily around the inn. Grabbing a fistful of fiery hair, Chiaki pulled down. Hard.

Tasuki yelped in surprise, lurching so violently that he almost threw her from the horse. "Dammit! What'd ya do that for?!"

"Put me down, nicely."

He clamped his arm around the backs of her knees and adamantly refused. "Not after that! Damn, that f---in' hurt!"

"Put me down!"

The others watched the scene, amused. Hotohori shook his head. "So much for leaving quietly..."

Nuriko giggled and trotted after the two, who were already heading for the mountain, and one by one the others quickly followed.

At the peak of Mt. Black, the night was cold, crisp, and ominously silent. The seven seishi each pitted a sense of unease. Their silence made Chiaki uncomfortable. 'Or maybe it's just Tasuki's frickin' sharp shoulder cramming into my gut,' she thought blandly, discomfort magnified from her place thrown over the redhead's shoulder. He had carried her that way through the entire trip. "Can you put me down now?" she gasped, squirming uncomfortably. "We're here, aren't we?"

"Shh," Chiriko shushed, riding up next to them. "Something's amiss..."

The girl cocked an eyebrow—'Since when did little kids use the word amiss?'—but she fell silent as told. Quietly, everyone dismounted and Tasuki set Chiaki to her feet before gathering with the other seishi.

"Well, everything appears to be okay," Tamahome reasoned, glancing around the glowing, pristine whiteness.

"All right, we have a shinzaho to obtain!" In a group, pulling Chiaki along with them, the men conquered the final ascent to the cave where the desired item was held. The closer they approached, the quieter they became. Chiriko had been right. Something didn't feel right.

Chiaki hugged her arms to her chest, glancing around nervously. Standing on the balls of her feet, she whispered to Nuriko, "Is it always this quiet?"

Silently, distractedly, he shrugged. His eyes, as well as those of all the others, were fixed on the cave a handful of yards above, the last climb in their trek. She let her eyes follow their gazes, to the rocky, black, uninviting maw of the cave, and swallowed hard.

"What are we waiting for?" she murmured, trying not to let her fear leak through her tonality. She failed miserably.

"Seiryuu's already has it," Mitsukake replied in a tight voice, staring at the gaping hole. "They must."

She glanced at him. "How do you know?"

"Because we do."

Chiaki froze. The voice was a familiar one, though she couldn't readily place it, but caused shudders to course through her. Slowly, she turned with the others, and they saw a silhouette standing behind them, tall and muscular, snarling viscously, surrounded by five smaller shadows.

"So Priestess. We meet again."