Disclaimer: The characters from Fushigi Yuugi are the creations and property of Yuu Watase and related enterprises. The characters from Doctor Who are the property of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). I do not own them and do not make any profit from this fiction except for my own enjoyment in spending time with them.

However, all original characters in this story do belong to me and may not be used elsewhere without my permission.

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Chapter 11. The Price of a Life

"Yeah, well, if yer not a low-life perv, then where the fuck are my clothes?"

"Soaking wet in a bundle over there, you little punk! We undressed you to try to get you warmed up!"

"Hah! Yer pro'bly a buncha goddamn slavers takin' a look at the goods--"

"Goods? There isn't enough to you to make selling you worth the trouble! If we were slavers, which we're not, it would be stupid for us to try to make any money off a scrawny little shit like you."

"Hey, I never said that ya looked smart, did I? 'Specially those two yokels over there, wastin' their time on an old maid like you!"

"That's it!"

Joss lunged at the taunting boy across the campfire. He evaded her with an unexpected flash of speed, dancing easily out of her reach while holding the blanket around him. He laughed at the three adults, revealing small pointed fangs in his mocking grin.

"Hah! Yer all a buncha losers! You'll never touch me, 'specially since yer too old and too slow! No one can ever catch me, 'cause I'm th' fastest--Yipe!" The boy shrieked in surprise as a hand came down heavily on his bare shoulder.

The Doctor looked serenely down at his captive, now struggling within his firm grasp. "Now that you've succeeded in insulting every last one of us who played a part in saving your life, perhaps you would be willing to answer a few questions. Your name, for one--and the location of your home, so that we may return you to the bosom of your loving family."

The boy stopped struggling as he realized the futility of trying to break free from the iron grip of the deceptively slight-looking man. His amber eyes turned away shiftily. "Maybe I don't feel like tellin' ya. Maybe I don't feel like goin' back to a place where there's too goddamn many bosoms, if ya ask me!"

Joss rolled her eyes in aggravation. "So what do you think you're going to do: stay out here in the woods by yourself? It's not safe for a little kid like you!"

"I ain't no little kid! I'm a man full-grown--went through the rites of manhood just over a month ago!"

Joss' complexion took on a greenish hue. She looked helplessly at her two companions. "He can't possibly mean--!"

"No, no, no, no, no," the Doctor sought to reassure her. "I'm sure he's referring to some ceremonial acknowledgment of his age, right, Houjun?" Now that the boy had stopped fighting, the Doctor released him and rejoined his companions.

"That's the most likely explanation--although there are some rather backward villages where they feel the need of a more, er, physical rite of passage."

"Oh, God!" Joss was gagging.

The boy was confused. "What's with her?"

"Nothing." Houjun smiled reassuringly at the boy. "Something she ate earlier, perhaps."

The boy squinted at Joss. "Yeah; she don't look like she's too picky 'bout what she eats."

"Listen, you smartass little punk, I'll show you--mmph!" The Doctor placed a hand over Joss' mouth, nodding at Houjun to continue his conversation with the boy. For some reason, the fiery child seemed to trust Houjun, meeting his gaze directly instead of glancing away.

Houjun rubbed his temple briefly, feeling the hostile energy sparking between Joss and the boy. There was something about each combatant that seemed to feed the antagonistic tendencies of the other--oh. There it was. He covered a sudden snort of laughter with a cough. He could read it in their ki: an uncanny resemblance to one another in personality and attitude. Of course, Joss was more refined in her pronouncements, but then again, he could only imagine what she'd been like at age thirteen.

Ah. Thirteen.

He cleared his throat and smiled at the boy. "So, since you're a man already, you must be at least thirteen years old, right?"

"Uh-huh. But a lotta the time, people think I'm fifteen or sixteen." The boy puffed out his tiny, concave chest.

"Oh yeah," muttered Joss, released from the Doctor's restraint. "Blind people, deranged people--" The Doctor shot a warning glance in her direction.

Houjun continued with his subtle flattery. "You're obviously very quick. I would guess that you win a lot of races in your home village."

The boy grinned. "Yep! In fact, that's what pissed off Taro and his asshole friends so bad: I always beat them at both th' harvest and spring planting festivals. They're too fuckin' slow!" His expression darkened. "They never woulda caught me if I hadn't been tricked by that Kazue. She said that she had somethin' ta show me, an' the next thing I know, boom! Assholes everywhere!"

"Something to show him, huh? Maybe he really is near puberty, the little perv," murmured Joss to herself. She raised her voice. "So what did she say she'd show you, Red?"

The boy scowled at Joss, unexpectedly picking up her meaning. "I ain't interested in girl shit, if that's what yer smirkin' 'bout. Been livin' with too fuckin' many girls all my life, an' there ain't nothin' I ain't seen already--and wish I hadn't!" he finished fervently. "But if ya gotta know, Kazue said that she found a big dead snake: the biggest one she ever seen, but she was scared ta touch it, 'cause it smelled so bad. So I figured I'd take a look. Shoulda known she was talkin' 'bout her brother!"

"Ah, yes," murmured the Doctor. "Decomposing reptilian life-forms. Of eternal fascination to boys across the galaxy, except those from reptilian ancestry, in which case they prefer decomposing mammals."

The boy leaned in towards Houjun, indicating the Doctor with a jerk of his chin. "Where'd ya pick up the weirdo?"

Houjun suppressed a smile, equally befuddled by the Doctor's cryptic statements. "As a matter of fact, the Doctor picked us up, and we've been traveling together, all the way from the Imperial City of Eiyou to your village of--"

"Tai… wait a minute! You ain't foolin' me inta tellin' you where I live!" The boy's jaw jutted out belligerently.

Joss lost what little patience she had. "So I asked you this before: what do you think you're going to do if you don't go home? Just stay out here in the woods by yourself? What if you run into some real slavers? They'll snatch you up right away, thinking that you're some little girl or something!"

"QUIT CALLIN' ME A GIRL!" The boy exploded in rage, startling them with his furious reaction. His high-pitched shrieks could have shattered glass. "I toldja before--I ain't no FUCKIN' GIRL! SEE?" In a gesture of unbridled fury, he flung off the blanket.

There was a moment of complete silence, broken by a strangled sound coming from Joss' throat. Houjun moved a few steps until he was even with her. "Don't laugh," he muttered very softly between gritted teeth. "If you laugh, you will scar him for life, so Don't. Laugh."

"I know that!" hissed Joss in an undertone. "I was only going to remark that the Puberty Train obviously hasn't pulled into his station yet. At least, let's hope it hasn't!"

The Doctor took control of the situation, his calm authoritarian tones dispelling the tension. "Young man, you will pick up that blanket and cover yourself immediately. You should know that no gentleman exposes himself before a lady."

"I ain't pretendin' ta be no gentleman," grumbled the boy, but he obeyed the Doctor swiftly, his face scarlet with embarrassment now that his fit of rage had passed. "An' I don't see no ladies here, either," he muttered defensively.

Joss began to bristle again, but the Doctor maintained control with a warning glance at her. "Young man, let me introduce you to Lady Josselin of the Imperial Court of Konan, favored personal friend of Emperor Saihitei Seishuku. I will caution you that the Emperor will not be pleased with anyone who chooses to insult the Lady Joss."

The boy went from scarlet to white. "I di'nt mean ta insult no one," he sulked. "Jus' don't like girls, that's all. They lie and cheat and don't play fair, jus' like Kazue and my sisters and every other girl I ever met!"

"Then you will be pleasantly surprised by the Lady Joss." Houjun's voice was calm and soothing. "She is one of the most honest, straightforward people that it has ever been my pleasure to meet."

Joss blushed at Houjun's praise, while the boy looked at her again with an appraising glance, once more mysteriously trusting the young magician. "All right, guess I can put up with her, if she's really like you say. Figured that I hadda, anyway, once we leave in th' morning."

Joss choked. "What makes you think that you're coming with us, you little shit?"

"Can't leave me alone in th' woods, ya said so yourself! And ya can't stop me from followin' ya, 'cause I'm the fastest--"

"I can stop you if I tie your scrawny little ass to a tree!"

"Yeah, go ahead and do that. The wolves'd like that a lot. If ya wanted ta kill me, ya shoulda jus' let me drown!"

"Damn it!" snarled Joss, stymied by the boy's logic.

The Doctor stroked his lip thoughtfully. "You're taking a rather large risk by joining up with us. How do you know where we're going, or whether you'll find what you want there--or even if we're trustworthy? Before I allow you to accompany us, you'll have to provide me with some explanation for your motivation." The blue eyes took on a greenish tint as the Doctor stared at their young guest. "No lies, of course," he warned softly.

The boy stared boldly back. "I don' hafta lie. Th' reason I wanna go with ya is simple. I don' want Taro and his asshole friends tryin' ta drown me again. This is th' way I figure it: since Kazue nor Taro nor anybody in my family ain't standin' here, I'm guessin' those chickenshits ran off before you guys saved me, right?" He continued at the Doctor's brief nod. "So as far as those assholes know, I'm dead. Now, I know that dimwit Kazue can't keep a secret ta save her own skin, so she prob'ly started wailin' an' cryin' 'bout what happened soon as my sisters started lookin' for me. Right now, I figure Taro and his asshole friends are in serious shit, which is where I want them ta stay for awhile! If I come strollin' back inta th' village tomorrow mornin,' Taro gets off the hook, but he's jus' big and dumb enough ta try it again, 'specially since he'll be pissed now. But if I disappear for a good, long time, that asshole will get what's comin' ta him, an' maybe it'll sink inta his thick skull that gettin' a rep as a murderous son-of-a-bitch ain't th' best thing ta have. So when I finally do return, he'll be ready ta kiss my ass in gratitude--an' believe me, I'm gonna make him pay!" The amber eyes suddenly glowed with a cold, vengeful light.

Joss repressed an unexpected shiver. As comical as it seemed on the surface to listen to this little boy promise vengeance, she suddenly had the feeling it wasn't wise to provoke his wrath. There seemed to be a lot more to him than met the eye. For one thing, his reasoning was flawless, showing a quicker mind than his hot temper and unrefined language initially indicated.

The Doctor seemed equally impressed with the boy's logic, but it was Houjun who spoke first. "But what about your family and the pain they'll suffer if they think you've died? Doesn't that matter to you?"

The boy snorted in contempt. "They ain't gonna care! All they'll be mad about is that they're missin' another pair of hands ta work th' fields. 'Course, that's enough for my sister ta get a case of the red-ass, an' I'm hopin' she'll take it out on that asshole Taro, since for once she can't take it out on me!"

The Doctor sighed. "Since your mind is obviously set on accompanying us, and we can't abandon you without endangering you, we may as well settle in for the night. I want to get an early start tomorrow before dawn; we're behind schedule as it is. Joss, would you mind looking through your things and picking out some, er, unisex clothes that you can loan young, er..."

The boy and Joss started protesting, but the Doctor silenced them both with a hard look. "Joss, you're the nearest one to him in both height and weight, so your clothes will require the least adjustment to fit him. Young man--first of all, I've grown weary of calling you that. Your given name, please."

The boy opened his mouth as if to make an insolent retort, registered the look in the Doctor's eyes, and decided to comply. "Shun'u," he muttered sullenly.

"And your family name?"

"Uh-uh. You don' need ta know that. Ya think I'm stupid or somethin'? Tellin' you my family name is as good as tellin' you where I live. Forget it!"

"Master Shun'u, we obviously need to correct severe deficiencies in your style of address to your elders, most glaringly in the area of respect--"

As the Doctor and Shun'u continued to argue, Joss quietly walked away to the tent. She returned shortly with a bundle of clothes and set it down by the fire, then turned and disappeared into the woods. A pair of mystical light-brown eyes anxiously followed her form as it faded into the darkness.

****

Joss stomped through the woods, muttering to herself and occasionally tripping over random tree roots. She hoped that her developing proficiency in navigating through natural landscapes in little or no light would lead her back to the tiny spring from which she had drawn fresh water after she and the Doctor had set up camp around their unconscious charges.

Her luck was definitely out. She became disoriented, tried to backtrack, and ended up falling over a particularly large and gnarled root. She cursed as fluently as their new young charge, pausing only for breath and to suck on scraped knuckles.

Strong hands came out of the darkness and lifted her firmly but gently to her feet. "What happened, Joss? Why are you out here in the darkness all alone?" His gentle tones soothed her, making her suddenly ashamed at her bad temper.

"Ah, I'm just looking for a spring I used earlier, hoping to clean up for bed."

"This spring?"

In the dim moonlight, Joss followed Houjun's pointing hand to see the shimmer of water not five feet from where she had fallen. She was glad that the dim light hid her blush. "Yeah, that'd be it. That's me, Josselin, the Intrepid Explorer: can find anything once she actually falls into it!"

Houjun laughed, his teeth gleaming in the dim light. "Well, I'm grateful for your expertise, Madam Explorer! I was hoping to rinse this brackish lake water out of my hair. May I borrow your cup?"

He removed his shirt and they bent over the spring, passing the cup back and forth as they tended to their ablutions. Joss savored the feeling of easy intimacy between them. 'Better enjoy this for the last time,' she mused glumly.

Finally Houjun cleared his throat, squeezing the water from his hair as he watched Joss struggle to find her toothbrush in her small pack. "You're very quiet this evening. Won't you tell me what's troubling you?"

Joss considered a light and evasive reply, but her essential honesty coupled with a sense of aggravation won out. "It's this kid, this little brat! Why do we have to take him with us, anyway? Everything was so perfect, and now--"

"Perfect?"

"Yes! It was just you and me…" Joss flushed, realizing what she was saying, "…and the Doctor!" she stammered, trying to cover her blunder. "We all got along so well, and things were just getting even better, and--" She stopped as Houjun startled her by laughing out loud. "Guess I sound pretty stupid, huh?"

"No, I wasn't laughing at you…well, not exactly. I was laughing because you sounded just like I did when the Doctor asked you to join us. I, too, didn't want to disturb the dynamics of a relationship that I was just getting accustomed to."

"Oh." Joss' voice was very small. "I guess I never realized that you resented me."

"Resented, Joss: the past tense is very important. I was unsure of the strength of my friendship with the Doctor, and I didn't want anyone coming between us. I was jealous; it's as simple as that. But I decided to try to rise above that jealousy, and now…now I've found a friend who is every bit as important to me as the Doctor is." Houjun's voice trailed off in the sudden pregnant silence.

Joss leaned towards Houjun, trying to catch his gaze in the dimness of the moonlight. He, too, leaned forward, and she held her breath, waiting…hoping…

Suddenly a branch creaked loudly nearby, and they jumped apart, laughing self-consciously at their startlement. All the same, Joss repressed a sigh, feeling another moment lost. Her sense of affliction returned, and she resumed rummaging for her toothbrush to try to hide her disappointment. "The thing that gets me is that I've got a really strong feeling that little Shun'u is gonna be a bunch of trouble. I mean, just listen to the mouth on him! I'm not saying it's right, but I'm beginning to understand the motivation of the kids that wanted to drown him. I wouldn't be surprised if half his village was lined up to have a crack at him!"

There was a choked sound nearby. Houjun leapt forward and grabbed at the darkness. He dragged Shun'u out into the open, now clad in a set of Joss's tunic and trousers that hung baggily on his thin form. Shun'u pulled back, but his struggles were fruitless.

Joss was thoroughly pissed off. "What did you think you were you doing spying on us, you little shit? And how did you get here so quickly?"

The boy wiped at his eyes defensively, his usually high-pitched tones low with resentment. "I wasn't spyin' on you. The Doctor sent me here to get cleaned up and to give this to you." He held out a tube of toothpaste, his head bowed so that his bangs hid his eyes. But Joss and Houjun both saw a sparkling drop fall to the moonlit ground.

Joss felt her heart drop. She cringed internally as she recalled her words about Shun'u--words that the boy had obviously overheard. Damn her quick temper! The boy had been through so much today and, if his words were true, for most of his young life. So what did the Great and Compassionate Josselin do? Just added to the grief the poor kid had to deal with.

Houjun began to speak. "Shun'u, I'm sorry--"

Joss interrupted. "No, I'm the one that needs to apologize. Shun'u, I'm really sorry. I had no right to say that shit about you." Her honesty came to the fore once again. "I guess I was just mad at you for all the things you said about me that hurt my feelings--and I was also jealous, because I didn't want to share Houjun's or the Doctor's attention with anyone new. But I'm not making excuses for myself. It was still wrong for me to say the things I said, and I'm sorry I made you cry."

The boy pulled away from Houjun's compassionate grip. "I ain't fuckin' cryin'!" he protested in a choked voice as he scrubbed at his eyes. "Just got hit in the face with a branch, that's all. No baka girl is ever gonna make me cry!"

Houjun opened his mouth to avert the impending argument, but Joss beat him to the punch. He listened in amazement to her soft and compassionate tones.

"No, of course you're not crying. My mistake; I guess I got confused in the darkness. So, since I didn't hurt your feelings after all, do you suppose we could start over and try to be friends? After all, we are going to be travel companions and tentmates."

The amber eyes, glowing strangely in the dim moonlight, narrowed for a moment as Shun'u considered her offer. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders in an abrupt motion and kicked at the ground. "All right," he mumbled grudgingly. "Never knew a girl who didn't doublecross or backstab me, but I guess I'll letcha have a chance." His mood seemed to brighten. "Besides, ya ain't 'xactly a girl anymore, anyway."

Joss drew in a controlled breath and forced a smile through gritted teeth. "I'll just take that as a compliment to my essential womanliness and leave it at that. So let's shake on it, okay?"

Shun'u stared in confusion at her proffered hand, then glanced at Houjun. Houjun pantomimed a handshake and nodded at the boy. Shun'u shrugged again, sniffled and dragged a hand across his runny nose, then took Joss' hand in a firm grip. Joss' smile remained fixed around clenched teeth as she tried to separate her hand from the damp and gummy grip of the boy.

"Okay…um, now that this is settled, why don't we all just wash our hands and faces once again?"

****

The morning sun still hovered beneath the line of the trees when the figure of a young woman left the shelter of the woods to stand beside the mountain lake. She looked to be in her late teens; her refined features, slender figure and luxuriant deep red hair were arresting enough to have her judged as beautiful by the most discriminatory of men…until one approached closer and looked into her moody brown eyes. Dissatisfaction and frustration hardened the line of her curved lips, stealing the luster of her youth and leaving in its place a vaguely forbidding air more suitable to an embittered old woman than to one in the full blush of young womanhood.

She looked around with a distracted air, clutching a bouquet of wildflowers to her breast as she stared uncomprehendingly at the signs of some past disturbance on the banks of the lake: dirt churned up, footprints and hoofprints leading off towards the other side of the mountain. Standing attentively, she heard only the trill of birdsong and the rustle of small animals in the brush. Satisfied that she was completely alone, she relaxed her tense expression, letting her melancholy and grief reveal themselves in the slump of her shoulders and the trembling of her lips.

She stared out at the murky green waters of the lake, watching the morning mists rise and twist into indistinct shapes in the gentle breeze. They taunted her, swirling into little sprite-like figures that seemed to dance mockingly before her eyes before dissipating in the next waft of cool morning air. Tears filled her eyes, and she stumbled closer to the water's edge, staring down into the green-brown depths. She threw one flower into the water--then another, and another, faster and faster, her breaths increasing in tempo and intensity until she was sobbing harshly. Finally she tore the bouquet apart and pitched the remainder into the water, the flowers separating as they disappeared into the mist. One last flower remained floating on the water's surface, its pale amber petals spinning lazily in a tiny swirl of current. Finally, the lake claimed that last blossom as well, pulling it to swirl beneath the surface until it was lost in the cloudy depths.

The girl caught her breath and clutched at her heart, sinking to her knees in the grass and mud. "Shun'u!" she wept, heedless of the ruin of her fine linen dress. "Otouto…" The familial hot temper rose, mixing anger in with her grief. "Damn you, Shun'u! Damn you--and damn me, too!" At that, she collapsed completely, wrapping her arms around herself and weeping bitterly.

****

Twenty-four hours later, another young woman employed the same curse in a slightly different way. "Damn you, Shun'u," muttered Joss under her breath, watching the boy chat animatedly with Houjun after usurping her usual place mounted behind him. It wasn't this last action that had her so put out; after all, he'd done considerably more aggravating things in the two days they'd been traveling together. It was the fact that, true to her fears, the whole dynamic of the little band of travelers had shifted upon Shun'u's entry into the group.

It was similar to the life change that occurred when a happily married couple suddenly produced a child. Life became divided into "Before Baby" and "After Baby." Joss thought wistfully of life "Before Shun'u": quiet chats around the fire, cozy snuggling next to Houjun each night, the Doctor's benevolent and discreet chaperonage giving her the chance to get a little closer to Houjun each passing day. Now life centered around a noisy child who demanded information and reasons for their every move, whose every spoken word was more often shouted than not, who sprawled happily between Joss and Houjun every night, shoving a foot into the small of Joss' back each morning while snoring contentedly--Yeah, Life Before Shun'u had acquired the rosy glow of retrospective nirvana.

Joss propped her chin against the Doctor's velvet clad shoulder and sighed. "How do you do it, Doctor? How do you maintain your temper and your patience when that little shit spends half an hour questioning you about something, then blows you off with a 'Nah, I don't think that's the way it works!'"

She couldn't see the Doctor's expression, only the golden brown curls of his soft and strangely-scented hair as he swayed in the saddle before her, but she could sense waves of amusement wafting from him.

"I survived Ace; I can survive Shun'u," he replied cryptically.

"That's the second time I've heard you mention Ace. I take it that she was a memorable companion; was she a Shun'u type?" Joss pursued the line of questioning to distract her from her growing annoyance with Houjun's apparent preference for Shun'u's company over hers.

"Oh, yes; in truth, she could teach Shun'u about three dozen tricks we will never want him to learn. When we'd first encountered one another, she was a rebellious teenager from London, caught up in a time wind and blown to a far-distant ice planet. Ace wasn't terribly traumatized by that bizarre event; in fact, she had adjusted quite well to her new world. She was full of bravado and precociously talented in chemistry, specifically in the manufacture of a homemade explosive she called nitro-nine. It was highly volatile, yet she liked to carry it around in her pack, stowed in shaving cream cans." The Doctor frowned at Shun'u, now kneeling on the saddle behind Houjun and gesturing excitedly at something in the trees. "I shudder to think of Shun'u with an incendiary device in his hands."

"What happened to her? Did she blow herself up?"

"Oh, no, thank goodness, it never came to that. We were companions on and off for many years, sometimes close, sometimes…not. But it turned out all right in the end. She's somewhere out there right now, fighting injustice on some far distant planet, probably riding a motorcycle while clad in an eighteenth-century ballgown and Doc Martens."

Joss whistled in admiration. "She sounds like one hell of a woman, the sort you'd like to have by your side in a fight. She sounds fun to talk to, as well."

"Yes, she definitely was adept in covering my back. In fact, you remind me of her, Joss; she's also honest, with a keen sense of honor."

Joss blushed in pleasure. "Boy, that's the second compliment I've gotten in the last few days from one of my men. You two are gonna make my head swell up till I become a danger to myself! Now if I can only get the newest member of my harem to stop insulting me, I'll be living a life of complacent narcissism."

The Doctor laughed. "Number One, the compliment is fairly earned; Number Two, if you consider Shun'u a member of your harem, you have deeper problems than even I can help you with; and Number Three, I am not one of your men!"

"Oh yes, you are." Joss was suddenly filled with affection for the Doctor, and she leaned her cheek against his back while tightening her arms around his waist. "Now that we're close friends, I'm going to fuss at you and flirt with you and worry about you just like you belonged to me, because I'm a possessive little wench and as far as I'm concerned, you do--and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!"

She was rewarded with another burst of laughter from the Doctor. "To be completely truthful, I tend to regard my companions in the same way, minus the flirting, of course."

"Aw, c'mon, that's the fun part! Now I know that you're not really from England--or Konan or Earth for that matter--so why bother to keep the stiff upper lip?"

"Oh, Joss, you have no idea what my fellow Gallifreyans are like. They make the British royals--and I'm referring to the real royals, not those they married--look like a bunch of lampshade-wearing table dancers."

"Gallifrey, eh?" Joss was openly sympathetic. "So they've got yardsticks shoved so far up their asses that they're pickin' splinters outta their back teeth, huh?"

"Crudely yet accurately put. Although to be fair, I should specify not all Gallifreyans are like that, but your description fits the time lords in general and the High Council in particular."

"So how did such a cuckoo like you hatch from their nest?"

"That's a question I'm certain is debated in the cloistered chambers of the High Council to this day. Although as far as renegades go, I'm neither the first nor the worst, not in my humble opinion, anyway. The more restrictive the society, the more inevitable it is that at least a few members will rebel against those tenets."

"Thank God for the galaxy that you've chosen the black sheep role; where would we be without your yardstick-free ways?"

"What do you know about my 'black sheep' activities?"

"Only what I read about in your conversation with Suzaku. He seemed to think that you were a pretty hotshot troubleshooter with a galaxy-wide reputation."

"Ah yes; I forgot that you were eavesdropping."

"Eaves-reading, maybe--and can you blame me for picking up a book that I just saw a perfectly gorgeous man disappear into?" Joss happily squeezed the Doctor again.

"Speaking of eavesdropping, our young magician friend is practically falling out of his saddle trying to overhear what I could possibly be saying that is earning me so many warm gestures of affection from you. Now that you've succeeded in rousing his jealousy, do you think that you can curtail the compression of my ribs?"

"Ah, quit grumbling, you know you love it! Besides, getting Houjun's attention is just a pleasant side-effect. I hug you because you are essentially a squeezable time lord!"

"I must say, Joss, you have a unique way of referring to people. I've been called many things over the years, but never before 'squeezable.' Not to my knowledge, that is."

Joss' laughter was interrupted by an alarmed shout from Houjun. Shun'u had leapt up from the saddle and was now rapidly climbing a fifty-foot tree, pointing emphatically at a large nest situated in the upper branches. The Doctor turned his horse around and cantered rapidly back to Houjun's side. Houjun shouted at Shun'u to stop, then turned to the Doctor and Joss in frustration.

"He won't listen to me! All I did was mention that Joss liked the sweet egg cakes we would sometimes make for breakfast, and suddenly he took off after an eagle's nest!"

Joss joined Houjun in shouting at Shun'u to come down, while the Doctor scanned the tree with narrowed eyes. He drew in his breath in an anxious hiss. "That tree is diseased! Its branches may be brittle…SHUN'U!" he roared, his voice suddenly resounding with a force and volume that echoed off the trees. "Come down! AT ONCE!"

The boy was near the top and reaching for the nest, but the Doctor's authoritative bellow caused him to pause and look down. At that moment, a huge Imperial eagle swept through the forest canopy, its seven-foot wing span nearly brushing against adjacent trees. The eagle struck viciously at Shun'u's head, but the boy ducked nimbly out of the way, only to have the branch give way beneath him with a sharp crack. He fell, but grabbed onto the next branch, which also gave way after a brief pause. He began to fall faster through the branches, each one giving way quicker and more easily under the increased force of his acceleration. Joss screamed, horrified at the slow-motion fall, while Houjun searched his memory desperately for some spell to stop the disastrous plunge. He breathed "Fusege!" and "Yurumere!" but the boy continued to fall. Before he could tell if the spells were helping at all, the last branch broke, and Shun'u free-fell the last fifteen feet, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

They raced up to the small crumpled form, the Doctor kneeling beside the boy and gently feeling around his head and neck. The amber eyes opened and gazed foggily at Joss, her distraught features hovering in his line of sight. "Almost got 'em, Nee-san…" he rasped--then the amber eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

The Doctor looked grimly into Houjun's frantic eyes as he carefully supported Shun'u's head on his long fingers. "Fractured skull; we need help right away! Houjun, do you have a spell that will hold him in stasis for awhile?"

Houjun frowned in concentration, trying to control his panic so that he could find a suitable spell. He could hear Joss suppressing her horrified sobs so as to keep from distracting him, but his thoughts remained entangled in a swirl of fear, grief and self-recrimination. Finally he looked helplessly at the Doctor--and was caught up in the mystical blue-green gaze. You can do it, the eyes seemed to say to him from some unfathomable distance. Just focus, and you will find the way. Houjun felt his rapid heartbeats slowing, his mind clearing. He focused on the eyes that seemed to gaze at him between swirls of stars in the limitless depths of space. Lifting one hand to his face, he breathed out one chant after another, not hearing or understanding the words, yet somehow knowing that they were the phrases he required. The chants tapered off almost of their own accord, and he drew in a deep, trembling breath. He came back to himself, finally focusing on Joss' warm brown eyes, brimming with tears but shining with admiration.

"You've done it again; you've saved him," she breathed.

"He's bought us some time." The Doctor's tones were uncharacteristically terse. "Good work, Houjun, but if my conjecture is correct, you can keep him in this state only as long as you can hold your concentration, right?"

He was answered with a brief nod, Houjun keeping his eyes narrowed and focused on Shun'u's pale features.

"Then we have no choice. We must find help within the next several hours, or we're going to lose him."

****

The small party moved rapidly through the shadowed woods in grim silence, sparing little breath for even the briefest of exchanges. Although it was only early evening, the sun had already dropped behind the mountain peak, immersing the woods on the lee slope in premature twilight. Houjun kept his mount close to the shaggy mountain pony, his face pale and beaded with sweat as he struggled to maintain the spell he had been holding for several hours straight. The small, still form of Shun'u swayed gently in an ingenious hammock-like sling that the Doctor had rigged on the pony's back to minimize the unavoidable jostling of transport by horse. Instead of being jounced up and down, Shun'u merely swung gently side to side, even over the steepest paths on this forbidding mountain. His head was wrapped securely in strips of cloth and bound to a stiff support, holding both his head and neck immobilized.

Joss glanced anxiously over at the boy's white features from her seat on the Doctor's horse. Despite Houjun's best efforts, some of the injuries were gradually manifesting their effects, resulting in slow hemorrhaging from the skull fracture. Shun'u's eyes were slowly blackening, giving him his face a sunken appearance. Joss bit her lip, refusing to give in to helpless tears. What she wouldn't give right now to hear one of his cocky insults! Instead, her mind just kept replaying his last words to her…Damn it! If she started wailing and crying, all she would accomplish would be to make Houjun's task even harder, not to mention the possible effect on the Doctor.

She felt the tension in the Doctor's body as she held on to him lightly; yes, he was still simmering with barely suppressed rage, as he had been since shortly before they began their desperate journey in search of a healer. Houjun could not leave Shun'u's side, so the Doctor had walked only a short way into the woods to consult his magic mirror, believing himself to be alone. However, Joss had crept after him.

She'd spied him in a small clearing, twisting and turning the mirror in agitation. He had closed his eyes and thrown his head back, as if he were sending a silent message to someone, or receiving one in return. Even as he tried to concentrate, his face broke into a furious scowl, and finally he burst into verbal speech. "Why not? If you can't intervene yourself, at least give us the flying carpet for speed!" Another brief pause, then the Doctor began shouting again. "Damn your rules! This is no game we're playing here; the life of a young boy is at stake! A young boy who, I might remind you…" The Doctor had fallen silent again as if interrupted. He waited another half-minute, then spoke aloud again. "Very well; you leave me no choice. Withhold whatever you want. I don't believe in fate. Just because it goes against your accursed celestial games to intervene directly, don't think for a moment that I'm going to play along with you. I refuse to toss him aside like some playing piece that has become damaged and must be removed from the board! If you won't help him, I'll save him myself!" The Doctor had whirled around and stomped back towards their makeshift ER, leaving Joss barely enough time to duck behind a tree before he overran her.

And now…now he rode in the saddle before her, grimly cautious as he carefully chose one path after another, all the while consulting the glowing mirror. Joss felt their agitation and desperation increase as the sun sank further behind the mountain. She had the sudden sick conviction that Shun'u wasn't going to live through the night, not unless they found a skilled healer soon.

The Doctor finally broke the strained silence. "The mirror seems to be growing brighter; hopefully it means we should be able to find a healer soon. Maybe within two hours or so."

Joss asked the question that had nagged at her for the past few hours. "Doctor…um, what about you? Do you know anything about medical doctoring, or is your doctorate in another field?"

"Yes…and yes. Over the years, I've picked up a fair bit of knowledge about human anatomy and physiology. The problem is in the nature of Shun'u's injury. I would have no trouble treating him in the surgical unit of even a modest hospital in your world, Joss. But out here in the middle of nowhere, I'm unable to treat him without the benefit of IV's, x-rays, sterile syringes to tap some spinal fluid and relieve the pressure caused by the swelling of his brain, not to mention that not even state-of-the-art medical equipment can guarantee a good outcome in this case. What we're looking for--what we need here--is a miracle."

Joss moved closer and dropped her voice. Although Houjun was in a half-trance state, trying to maintain the spell, she wanted to make sure that he couldn't overhear her. "And Suzaku?"

"Minimum help." The Doctor's expression was stormy. "All he will offer is a clue, through the mirror, of where to find someone to help us. Nothing more."

For once, Joss held her tongue and her temper in check. Bursting into a barrage of curses would only aggravate the Doctor and distract and confuse Houjun. She blinked back tears once again, tilting her chin up towards the forest canopy. Suddenly she drew in her breath. Did she just see movement in the trees?

Right at that moment, three human figures flew out of the treetops, sailing through the air and touching down as effortlessly as spiders, surrounding them. Joss gaped in astonishment until she noticed the men releasing ropes from harnesses fixed around their chests. Just then, a fourth figure, heavy and bulky, came crashing through the underbrush.

"Gotcha!" he sneered in a voice thick with satisfaction as he pointed a short sword at the Doctor. Joss glared at him, noting the small piggy eyes set in a wide, shapeless face, thick lips parted in a mindless leer. "Now listen ta me, my fine rich friends: hand over all th' goods an' th' horses, an' mebbe we'll letcha live!"

"Fuckin' hell!" Joss cursed, noting the ragbag wardrobe each man sported, obviously stolen from victims with better taste. "Just what we need--bandits!"

"Watcher mouth, little boy!" the thickset man chortled gleefully. "We ain't just any bandits; we're the Mount Reikaku bandits!"

"Er, Eiken," interrupted one bandit wearing a gaudy headscarf. "I think that's a woman there…"

The pumpkin grin grew wider until Joss thought that Eiken's ugly face might split in half. "A woman, eh?" He moved forward and leered up at Joss. "Not much ta look at, but it's what's between th' legs that counts!" He roared with laughter at his own joke, while the other three men looked uncomfortable.

"Uh, Eiken, th' boss said you weren't s'posed ta--"

"Fuck th' boss!" snarled Eiken. "He ain't here, I am! So shut th' fuck up and lissen ta me! We're takin' everythin' they got--after I get a shot at th' woman!" He placed a hand possessively on Joss' leg.

Joss looked down at the clumsy hand groping her leg, then up at Eiken's face…and then, with a kung-fu kick almost too fast to be seen, landed a hit squarely on Eiken's jaw, sending him sprawling backwards into the dirt.

The other three bandits roared with laughter--until Eiken got to his feet, snorting like a bull and twice as angry. The Doctor turned his horse so that he was between Joss and the bandit, while Houjun, further back by Shun'u, clenched his teeth in frustration. His focus wavered for a moment, and Shun'u gave a low moaning cry. Cursing under his breath, Houjun was forced to turn his concentration back to the spell.

"Listen, my friends." The Doctor's tones were smooth and persuasive. "We don't wish for any violence. I will be happy to give you any money or articles you may want. I ask only that you let us pass and keep our horses. We have a gravely injured child that we must get to a healer as soon as possible. I believe that you will be pleased with the quality of some of the goods that I can offer you."

The three other bandits looked concerned again, one of them stepping around to peer into Shun'u's sling. "He's tellin' th' truth! Got a little one here in bad shape! Listen, we better jus' let 'em go. Th' boss said--"

"An' I said, FUCK TH' BOSS!" roared Eiken. "I'm takin' everythin,' an' you pussies better back me up or I'll make ya regret it! Or dontcha remember th' bandit code?"

The three other bandits sighed and pulled their swords, pointing them at the Doctor, Joss and Houjun. Houjun bit his lip, suddenly deciding to cast his holding spell, but at that moment, a trickle of blood ran from Shun'u's swollen nose. Houjun, stay with Shun'u! a voice urged in his head. He looked over to see the Doctor's blue-green gaze fixed on him, and turned back obediently to stabilizing the boy, although his mind cried out in protest.

One of the bandits drew near to the Doctor, still pointing his sword threateningly. He spoke very softly so that only the Doctor and Joss could hear him. "Don't worry," he murmured. "Jus' come back to th' stronghold with us, an' th' boss'll sort it out. Eiken kin be a real asshole sometimes, but he holds rank over us, so we gotta follow his orders, at least till somebody higher-rankin' comes along."

"We can't!" hissed the Doctor. "If we don't get down the mountain in the next couple of hours, the boy will die! You must make him release us!"

"Sorry, can't do that. Best we kin do is getcha ta th' boss--"

"WHAT'S TAKIN' YOU SO FUCKIN' LONG?" Eiken let out another aggrieved roar. "Jus' get th' horses and th' stuff, an' let's GO!"

The kind-hearted bandit sighed again and motioned with his sword for the Doctor to dismount. Before the Doctor could move, however, Joss slid out of the saddle and strode up to Eiken. She placed her hands gently on his chest and stroked the rough material of his tunic.

"Take the supplies, but leave the horses and let the men and boy go."

Eiken sneered at her request. "Why should I do that, ya smartass bitch? Why shouldn't I jus' take everythin' I want?"

"Because if you let them go…I'll give you me."

****

****

Glossary of Japanese terms:

Fusege! - "Stop!" or "Hold!"

Yurumere! - "Slow down!"

*

Author's note: (6-3-03) Well, I could start out with a lot of excuses as to where I've been for so long, but you've heard them all before. I'll just say that my job is at stake and leave it at that, okay?

First of all, I need to thank all my readers and reviewers; you've been very kind during my long (5 week!) absence. Next, I've been terribly neglectful in reading and reviewing many of your works: see the above "non-excuse." I hope to remedy that someday soon…someday. Finally, if any of you have e-mailed me and received only rude silence as a reply: once again, my abject apologies. Please e-mail me again, and I will do my level best to get back to you in a timely manner.

Anyway, back to this fic. Yes, I've been gone a long time, but I can't abandon this story until it's completely done. There is a reason that I've been slogging away at this chapter every single spare minute I can get (and that's all the spare time I get each day now, about one minute.) It's the same reason on the AN for "Hidden Paths" - that story cannot progress until this story is finished. "Hidden Paths" is, plotwise, much more the sequel to "Bridge" than it is to "White Stones."

So I do not intend to leave you "Bridge" fans with this cliffhanger for long; I'm already hard at work on "Bridge 12." I need to kick out as many chapters of Bridge as is Roku-ly possible, so that Hidden Paths can get back on track. I still have a couple of chapters of HP that I could write before I have to explain what happened to Chichiri, but the time is fast approaching when nothing more can be written on HP until Bridge is complete. And that day--the completion of "Bridge"--is coming soon. I promise.

Now onto more fun stuff. For those of you confused by the interlude with the young woman who mourns Shun'u: be patient. Her identity will be clearly explained a few chapters from now. She will also play a pivotal role in Hidden Paths.

Also, a quick interlude with the Mount Reikaku bandits, pre-Genrou and Kouji. And for the Doctor Who fans (and those just a little curious about his history), a brief story of Ace. She, Shun'u, and Joss would make an explosive team!

Enough of all this--what about "Casting Stones?" you wail. Yes, I'm still working on that chapter; the trouble is that my recent moods have been more grim than giddy, as evidenced by the mood shift in this chapter of Bridge. But I will get back to it; at some point, I'm going to have to blow off steam!

See you next time!

Ja ne!

Roku