Mwahaha!
Starling: What are you laughing about?
My hair's short.
Starling: So?
So? Seventeen inches gone is nothing to sneeze at, thank you! Besides--
Starling: There had to be another reason.
--I've decided to lengthen the chapters. The equivalent of three pages each is a bit too choppy. Now if only I can get more people to review. Got plenty of readers (I think) but I've only had three new people give me input. It's depressing.
Starling: [looks up from a video game] Huh? I'm sorry, did you say something?
T.T I'm just gonna start the chapter now.
Starling: You do that.
Chapter fourteen: New Arrivals.
=========
Rei wakes up to a day that can't seem to decide on cloudy or sunny, to the sounds of shouting beyond the perimeter wall. "I don't care! You've gotten us lost again, you idiot! Now gimme that damn map!"
"And have you lose it, gusts-for-brains?? As if! Now shut up and let me get my bearings!"
"Idiot!"
"Airhead!"
"Clod!"
"Shut up!" Rei snarls, leaning out her window. "Good gods, it's seven thirty in the fardling morning! Don't you two ever stop?!"
"See? I told you I'd find the right building!"
"You did not!"
"I did too!" Rei simply hisses angrily and gestures. Instant silence drops onto the street, apart from the sounds of several neighbors cheering briefly. Two put-out faces pop over the wall, followed by two lithe bodies dressed in grays and browns, respectively. The girl, rather pretty with silvery eyes, glares up at the miffed red-head and holds up a sign.
Yanno, ya really gotta stop with this Silence trick o' yours. A second sign appears beside the first, held by the boy with amber-colored eyes, with several agreeing words on it.
"Fine, then," Rei says loudly enough to reach the two, but not loud enough to disturb the neighbors. "But one more shout out of either of you until a decent hour and you won't be talking for a week." Another gesture and the boy works his jaw, a low, unhappy canine growl leaking from his throat.
"I hate it when you do that," the boy grumbles, taking the opportunity to leap to Rei's windowsill with practiced ease before dropping lightly into her room. "Always makes my throat itch."
"Stop grumbling, Horse. It never does any good against Fox." The girl has followed her companion's lead and perches on the sill in a crouch. "Good morning, Rei. Might I suggest a clearer map next time? Or possibly duplicates, so I can correct this rock-head when needed?"
"Why you--" Horse begins, but hastily silences himself at a glare from both girls. Rei merely shakes her head and sighs.
"We should be having Koi up here in a minute, what with all your noise--"
"I heard shouting," a yawning Kalerian says, taking his cue and wandering through Rei's open bedroom door. "Are Horse and Falcon here?"
"Morning, Koi. Sleep well?"
"Was, until your shouting woke me up. Why'd you always gotta do that?"
"It's Horse's fault."
"Is not." Two glares, one irritably awake and the other sleepily glazed, silence them before another circular argument can begin.
"Geez, Fox and I get along better than this, and we're opposing elements, too."
"She's too flighty."
"He's too slow."
"You've got too much energy." This from Kalerian to Rei.
"You're lazy." Rei to Kalerian. All four glare at each other for a moment longer, then burst out laughing and share a quick round of hugs. Chattering quietly but with enthusiasm, the four friends and one-time healer-students make their way downstairs, where Mrs. Kenobishi is already up and in the middle of making enough breakfast for four hungry teenagers.
"I don't know how you do it, Mrs. K," Horse manages during breakfast with his mouth full of pancakes. "You don't have Rei's fortune-telling trick, but you always manage to feed us without breaking a sweat."
"Mother's intuition, dear," Mrs. Kenobishi replies cheerfully. "And don't talk with your mouth full, Masaya. It's rude." A meek "yes'm."
"Going to school today, Fox?" Falcon questions, and Rei pauses with her fork halfway to her mouth.
"Yeah. Got a presentation I'm supposed to do with a couple of classmates for Lit."
Mr. Kenobishi grins. "And don't think of wheedling her to cut, Kohaku. She's not sick, so she's going." A group 'aww'. "Don't 'aw' me, kids. And Rei, you'd better get moving. You've got class in ten minutes."
"Yeek!" And Rei bolts up the stairs. We hear a door slam, the sounds of rummaging, and the door bursting open and Rei sprinting past in her uniform, grabbing the bento her mother holds out as she dashes by. "ByeeveryoneI'llseeyoulaterdon'tgetintoanytrouble!"
And she's gone. Kohaku (Falcon) turns to Kalerian and sighs, "One of these days she's really going to have to teach me how to move that fast."
====
"Hey, Akane," Rei says breathlessly as she flops down into her desk chair. "Am I late?" The bell goes off, and Rei slumps over her desk table. "Thank you, Higher Ups."
"Did you oversleep again?" the short-haired girl asks sympathetically, and her friend shakes her head.
"Nah. Couple of old friends dropped by this morning, got me sidetracked." The conversation stops when the teacher, Mr. Togashi, walks in.
"All right, kids, get your butts into your chairs and zip those lips!" he says cheerfully, and all the students comply willingly--they like this teacher. "Little late in the school year, I'll admit, but we've got a set of new students! So try not to chew on them too much, okay?" A smattering of laughter, and Rei sits up ramrod straight, narrowing those emerald eyes. This was not in her weavings… "Kids, you want to come in, or are you gonna stand in the hallway all day?"
Laughing, three teenagers troop in. One is a young man with brilliant sea-green hair tied in a messy ponytail to his hips and sky-blue eyes. One is a boy with dark-blond hair cut into a shaggy mop around his shoulders and warm amber eyes. The third is a girl with nearly white hair and silvery eyes, with two black streaks in her hair running from her temples. Rei pins them all with a general glare and they just grin and wink at her.
"Boys and girls, meet Kalerian Sohma (A/N no, not THOSE Sohmas), Masaya Ichigaki, and Kohaku Kudo. Give them a nice welcome, hey?" A merry, if somewhat sleepy cheer rises from the collected students, and Ranma can be seen studying the three newbies with interest. All of them carry themselves like fighters, and the support bandages wrapped in strategic places are a pretty strong hint, too. "Okay, quiet down," Mr. Togashi says laughingly. "Kids, why don't you take seats next to…hm…the red-head glaring at you. Rei, be nice. It's early."
"Yes, Mr. Togashi," Rei sighs, rolling her eyes but throttling her temper. Her three friends simply grin their own 'cat-got-the-canary' smiles and take seats around Rei and Akane, who looks at them in curiosity. "Gonna die, you three," Rei whispers to them as the lecture begins. "Not a damn word to me about this??"
"Sorry," Kalerian whispers back. "Master Yuki made us promise we'd keep our mouths shut."
"The look on your face, though--!" Masaya snickers quietly, and all three jerk to attention at the clearing of the teacher's throat.
"Miss Kenobishi, Misters Sohma and Ichigaki, do you have anything to add to this lecture?"
"No, sir," all three chorus obediently, and the teacher nods.
"Then please, continue your conversation after class."
====
"Run!" Kalerian tells Masaya and Kohaku as the bell rings, and the three take off running with Rei chasing after them, brandishing a slender rod that resembles the cliché witches' wand but without all the interesting-colored sparks flying from it.
"How dare you not tell me one word--!" Akane and Ranma merely watch the three new students flee from the cheerful/angry/playful girl pursuing them with every intent on wreaking bodily harm.
"Scatter!" Kohaku cries as they pass the door; Kalerian goes left, Masaya goes right, and Kohaku goes straight out the open hallway window. Rei simply gestures, and suddenly all three are yanked back, wrapped from shoulder to waist with rope. Sweatdrops hang from any observing students' heads as they watch Rei stroll off, whistling a barely recognizable version of Vampire Hunter 'D's opening theme song, dragging the three behind her, all with anime-style tears running down their faces.
By the time class resumes all four are sitting in their seats, Rei with a smug smile, the others with several bandages and bruises giving them a rather battered look. "I hate you sometimes, you know that, right?" Kalerian whimpers as he uses a bandaged hand to write English verbs down. "You're just so…abusive."
"'S what you get for keeping secrets."
"I don't even want to know why you didn't see this coming."
"Quiet, you two!" the teacher snaps, "Before I make you stand in the hall."
"Yes'm!"
====
All right, this was getting frustrating. In one day, Hiei has gone from knowing one person with absolute shielding, to four whose minds he cannot even poke at. The sub-conscious sting he received the first time from the girl called 'Kohaku' has told him that much, since after all Hiei does not enjoy getting pain as much as he likes dealing it to his enemies.
And then there's the annoying--all right, extremely aggravating--little voice in the back of his head that keeps suggesting 'if the Jagan doesn't work, why not just use your real eyes?'. He's about ready to rip his skull apart just to find that voice and pound it to dust.
"I'm telling you, Fox, you really need to cut down on the violence," a young male voice chides from below. Startled, the koorime finds Rei and her group of three walking directly under his branch. Wait, this wasn't the tree he was in a moment ago. What is going on?
"Sorry, Koi, but you know I don't like most surprises. They tend to be things that bite me from behind." Rei shakes her head firmly, sending that curtain of crimson silk sliding over her shoulders. "Besides, you should be glad I didn't sic Taro on you."
"You wouldn't!" groans Kohaku is dismay, and is rewarded with a chuckle.
"Well, maybe not now. But earlier I might have."
"Must suck to have your guy a continent and an ocean away," Masaya says quietly, and Hiei, wondering why the conversation hasn't faded in the least in his hearing, finds his body moving on its own, with no help from the one who is supposed to be in control.
"Ye-es!" whines Rei, slumping her shoulders and bowing her head. "It seriously bites! And he promised he'd visit soon, too, damn him!"
"Heckuva way to say hello," someone says warmly from behind the group. Rei squeaks and whirls, jumping into the arms of the young man who walks up. The other three youngsters grin as Rei purrs happily and gives the impression of wrapping herself around Taro without actually doing so. Hiei is currently trying with all of his might to get his legs to stop moving!
"Hey, Taro. 'S up?" Masaya reaches out a hand and Taro frees one of his own, clasping the other boy's wrist in a friendly gesture.
"Hey, Horse. Not much. You?"
"Nada. Hey, change of subject, but does anyone get the feeling we ain't exactly by ourselves, if ya know what I mean?"
"There's an unfamiliar ki about ten feet above us," Kohaku replies, pointing. Rei cranes her neck back and spots Hiei, who by now is covered in sweat from the strain of trying vainly to regain control. She blinks.
"Eh? Hiei? What're you doing up there? And what's wrong? You look like someone's been giving you the workout of your life."
Hiei finds that even his jaw no longer obeys him, though his mind and his mental abilities still do. "Something has me in its control. I have no say in where my body goes, and it's following you." A flash of anger brightens Rei's eyes for a moment, before a mask settles over her face. She unwinds herself from Taro and walks until she's standing directly below the koorime, who looks down at her with fear and hope warring in wide wine-colored eyes.
"Can you break free?"
"No."
"Want us to help?"
A blow to his pride, another bead on the irking chain of his stumbles. "Yes."
"You have to trust us utterly, Hiei."
"I trust no one utterly, ningen girl."
"Then trust us in that your body and mind will come to no harm?" There is pleading in those tilted green eyes.
"That I can do." A hand, the one bearing the silver strand of wire, lifts and twists something shining a purple so dark as to be nearly black, and darkness falls over Hiei's consciousness. The last thing he hears as he feels his body tumbling into gentle arms is a warm voice saying only, "Sleep."
====
Rei catches the limp body of Hiei as he falls from his branch, cradling him protectively as she whispers "Sleep" to him, using his Thread as a medium to bypass whatever force has taken control of his body. Taro steps forward, concerned, and Rei shakes her head. "I'm sorry, dearheart, but this is something we four must do alone. Can you meet me at the movie theater in…an hour, you think?" She looks over at the other three, who are regarding the fire apparition in her arms with intense concentration.
"Hour should be plenty of time," Kalerian replies absently. Taro does not look happy about it, but he gives Rei a kiss on the cheek and walks off, radiating displeasure about the whole thing. Rei looks over at Masaya.
"Horse? You're the only one who's got this trick. Mind obliging?"
"If it frees your friend the faster, your wish is my command, Fox," the brown-haired boy replies solemnly, placing his hand over his heart and half-bowing. The group gathers close together, Masaya placing that hand on Rei's shoulder and the other around Falcon's waist, Kalerian placing his own hand on his friend's shoulder. The four look around for any observers, and Kalerian nods. In an eyeblink the four vanish from view.
The camera follows them to where they reappear just outside Rei's room, rather crowded in the somewhat narrow hallway. Rei heaves a silent sigh when there is no indication that her parents heard the slight thump, and carefully transfers Hiei into Kalerian's arms. The green-haired boy is more familiar to the koorime, and if he suddenly somehow awakens, Kalerian would get off the lightest in terms of damage. With silence their watchword, the other three wait for Rei to unseal her workshop, and slip inside.
"I'll take him back, Mizu," Rei murmurs, and cradles Hiei in caring arms as she shoves a previously hidden door open with a foot and walks outside into the sun-drenched meadow.
"Hey, Weaver," Kohaku says suddenly, "think you can manage this? What if it's Meddler?"
"Then Meddler is severely screwed, since he has gone outside the laws dictated by the Higher Ups," Rei says sternly. "He's not allowed to have a mortal body, especially not one he steals. You should know that perfectly well, Feathers."
A lopsided grin. "Yeah, I know. Just testing you." Rei finds the spot she wants and sets Hiei down, the slender male half-disappearing in the lush grasses, his pale skin a surprising contrast to the fresh greens of the plants.
"Brother Chronos, Wave-walker, Master of the Seas and all things water, I ask thy aid in this," Rei says softly in an archaic tongue, suddenly garbed in the full regalia of Fate--the green dress/robe, the crystals, the ornaments. Silvery threads, like the one still wrapped 'round her wrist, twist between her fingers and across the backs of her hands and palms and crisscross up her arms.
Kalerian steps forward, his clothes fogging into a pair of rough open sandals, loose navy blue cotton pants, and a ragged but equally loose pale blue shirt that hangs off one shoulder. He bows to Rei over Hiei's unconscious body, his shirt rippling and revealing that it is not just one single shade of blue, nor are his pants.
"Lady Fate, I give it willingly to thee."
"Brother Spirit, World-walker, Master of the Mountains and all things growing, I ask thy aid in this."
Masaya steps forward, dressed in worn leather boots, and clothing identical to Kalerian's, save that it is green where his friend's is blue, and the shirt hangs off the other shoulder. "Lady Fate, I give it willingly to thee," he echoes, bowing regally. Rei turns to Kohaku, already garbed in her Office's uniform: charcoal ankle-boots nearly hidden by the swirling medium-grey skirt of a light silk dress confined by a sky-blue bodice.
"Sister Life, Queen of all things airborne, I ask thy aid in this."
"Sister Fate, Spinner of Destinies, Queen of all things heat and fire, I give my aid willingly to thee." In perfect synchronization the four gather around the black-clad fire apparition at the cardinal points of the compass, as old pagan witchlore dictated, and place one hand each into the circle's center.
A dark, dark purple Thread, laced with lighter bits of scarlets, paler violets, scraps of blue and a tiny touch of gold, materializes above their hands and binds itself into a loop, beginning to spin while in midair. "Thread of Life your masters heed," the four chant as their auras begin to glow, limning their bodies with their respective colors, "Follow now your maker's creed. All that's wrong within your grip, shake it free--do not rip. All that's right you'll safely keep, within your pathway cutting deep." Those aura colors are taken up in four thin strands by the whirling circle until it burns with that moonlight hue, and then the color explodes outward. A body goes tumbling in the grass, grunting and wincing as stones seem to reach up to bruise.
The chanting ceases, the auras vanish, and the apparition that was possessing Hiei's body looks up to find four very pissed martial-artists giving him the Ultimate Death Glare. "So. Just a piddling little scrap of existence?" Masaya asks Rei, who nods. "Good. So can we kill him now?"
"With pleasure." The meadow echoes for a long moment with a single, long shriek.
Pacing by the designated movie theater, Taro looks up to find Rei prancing towards him in a cute tank top with a chibi fox on it saying 'Mischief is Me!', a pair of cropped jeans shorts, and a pair of white tennis shoes. Grinning in spite of himself, he twirls her in a hug and gives her a quick kiss. "What's got you in such a good mood, eh?"
"You mean besides you being here?" A chuckle. "That's enough, right?" Taro nods, never noticing the drop of blood Rei wipes off on the back of her shorts. "Come on, let's go see a movie!"
========================
[Falls over with streak-tears] Nada? Zip? Zilch? All this work, for a total of four/five different reviewers?
Starling: Be glad for the ones you have, dearie.
[Sniff] Maybe it's the summary? I've already changed it, maybe that'll work. [Mutters in a corner]
Starling: Why don't you go play 'Legends of Mana' for a while? It'll make you feel better.
Whacking the bejeezus out of some bosses? Yeah, that does sound good. Read and Review, thankies!