Rurii peered from behind a pillar and loked around.
"Nobody here," she whispered. "Good.
Rurii had been warned never to leave the palace and she didn't know why. Everyone had been acting so weird after she fell in the river. Were they afraid she might fall in again?
I'm not that stupid, Rurrii thought with a grimace.
Why did conversations come to a sudden hush whenever she entered a room? Why did everyone look at her with pitying glances? And where was her brother? Whatever errand he had to run, he shoud've been back by now. Rurii didn't suspect the worst, though. She knew Chiriko was smart. He may be her own age, but Chiriko was smarter than most adults, even though everyone treated him like a child.
Still, it's a bit creepy. And what was that voice the other day?
Rurii hadn't forgotten the voice. The voice that had told her Chiriko was dead. It chilled her to the bone.
He's not dead, Rurii thought. He can't be.
Once outside the palace gates, Rurii went to the forest. She heard a sound behind her and shrieked. Turning around, she realized it was only Mitsukake's cat.
"Goodness, kitty," she said, "you scared the life out of me!"
Rurii and the
Rurii heard another sound. It sounded like twigs breaking.
"Who's?"
A fist shot out and hit Rurii straight in the stomach. Rurii gave a gasping breath, then collapsed on the ground. The cat yowled and tried to rouse her.
"Perfect," someone said and picked Rurii up.
The cat scratched the intruders lag. The stranger stepped on the cat's tail. The cat yowled and ran off. The stranger grinned and carried Rurii away.
"Mitsukake, what's wrong with your cat?" Nuriko asked.
"I don't know," Mitsukake responded. "He must've seen something that frightened him."
Chichiri entered the room. "Has anyone seen Rurii?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"Where the hell is she?" Tasuki asked. "I haven't seen her since noon."
A loud crash broke the silence. Everyone jumped. A glass window had been shattered.
"What was that?" Tamahome asked.
Hotohori stood up and saw anarrow stuck to the floor. Around it was a piece of paper.
"If you want to see Rurii again, you'll come to the Tatsu Forest. If you don't, she'll suffer the same fate as her brother." Hotohori looked up from the paper with an ashen face.
"She disobeyed us," he said. "She left the palace."
Miaka sank to the floor, sobbing. "Oh, no," she gasped. "Rurii."
Tamahome gathered her in his arms. She shook terribly, her body racked with sobs.
"Don't worry, Miaka," he said. "We'll find her."