Disclaimer: Kohana, Piaoliang Feng, Shen Yuan, Nanase, An Hua, Ayame and Ruri are my characters. I suppose that's it.

Red Wings of Fate

Chapter 5: A Mysterious Girl

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So are you ready or what?" The blonde woman smiled at her assailants.

They all looked at each other, mostly unsure of what to do.

Kohana and Piaoliang stared blankly at each other. The other boys gave each other nervous glances. They were wondering if they should get out of the inn before something ended up blowing up. No one else in the room seemed affected by the fight about to break out.

"Come on. You're boring me…are you gonna try and fight me or what?"

"Do you ever shut up?!" The tallest of the men growled and lunged at her.

"Honestly? No." Her hand suddenly flashed in a strange pattern. The man froze and in the blink of an eye, shot up towards the rafters of the building. She giggled. "I always loved doing that."

The other men blinked in surprise. They couldn't believe it. They looked up at their friend hanging from the rafters then back at the woman. She waited patiently for one of them to move.

And move they did. Abandoning their airborne friend, the other 4 ran from the room as quickly as possible. The 5th one feebly called for help from the rafters.

The woman chuckled. "That was fun." She turned to the rest of the people in the restaurant. "Sorry about that everyone. Hope I didn't bother anyone." She looked over at Kohana's table, nodded and headed for the door.

"Be right back." Kohana suddenly stood up and ran after the girl.

"Kohana!" Hotohori got up and ran after her.

Everyone else stared at the man stuck to the ceiling. The female waiter took a few dishes off. "I told ya that girl doesn't need help."

"Is someone like…gonna help him down?" Piaoliang cocked her head to one side.

"He'll be down soon enough." Once Hotohori and Kohana disappeared out the door, as if on cue, the man came crashing to the floor. He let out a loud moan of pain.

"Well, that was different." Nuriko absently drank from his cup.

Hotohori chased Kohana around a few houses before he caught her. "Kohana, what are you doing?"

"That woman. I saw something on her leg, something red."

"What kind of thing?"

"I don't know…I was going to try and find out."

"You could have said so. You didn't have to just run off."

"I was in a hurry. It's not like I think clearly when I'm in a hurry."

"Well…we'll try to find her…"

Kohana and Hotohori weaved in and out of a few streets until they ended up somewhere near the town gates. Hotohori noticed a woman leaning on one of the gateposts. He nudged Kohana and went over to see if it was the woman from the inn.

The woman looked up when the two approached her. She chuckled and examined her nails. "I was wondering if you were coming…"

Hotohori looked suspiciously at her. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think I meant, your highness?" She turned to face them. A hole in the right leg of her pants revealed a glowing red mark on her knee.

"Hey! You're a seishi aren't you?" Kohana looked up at her.

She bowed. "Chichiri. At your service." She then looked over Kohana. "So you're the priestess…coulda fooled me…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kohana snapped at her newfound seishi.

"I just figured the priestess would be you know…more…subdued I suppose…my training hasn't taught me about how to deal with a ball of energy like you."

"How did you find out she was here?" Hotohori asked, still suspicious.

"Rumors spread like wild fire, sire. I came to check it out myself."

"And how do you know he's the emperor?" Kohana pointed at Hotohori.

"I've trained with the Oracle Tai Itsukun for most of my life. She makes sure I know these things."

"Will you be traveling with us?"

"I've got a few loose ends to tie up here and there, but I'll tag along soon enough." She smiled. "I'll be around if you need me."

"But how will you know if…"

"If you need help?" She cast another spell that changed her appearance back to that of a small child. "Please don't underestimate me, sir." And with that, she disappeared into the same hat she pulled the staff from earlier.

Kohana looked up at Hotohori. "Are they all gonna be like that?" She picked up the hat.

"I don't know but I hope not…" He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Let's find the others."

Kohana slipped the hat over her head and went with him. Piaoliang ran to Kohana. "Hey! Where have you been? Did you find that lady?"

"Yeah…her name's Chichiri."

"Chichiri? As in seishi Chichiri?" Tamahome asked.

Hotohori nodded.

"Where is she now?" Nuriko looked a little confused.

"In the hat I think." Kohana pointed to it. Shen Yuan raised an eye brow in disbelief. "Don't ask me. I don't get it." She shrugged. "But anyway, we've got a while to go yet right? Let's go."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Momo stared out at the rain from her window. She had a great view of the city, or according to Nakago, her city, from her room. Lightning danced across the sky in long complicated patterns. She stuck her hand out the open window and let the water fall onto her palm.

It had been raining most of the day. She didn't mind though. She'd always liked the rain.

"Momo?" There was a knock at her door.

"What?" She shook the water off her hand and wiped it on her jeans.

Suboshi came into her room. "Nakago wants to see you."

"She can't come and tell me herself?"

"She's waiting for someone."

"Oh." Momo got off her chair and followed him out the door. "Who is it?"

"Dunno. Some guy I think…" He couldn't have sounded more disinterested.

"Suboshi?

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind being a seishi?"

"What?" He stared at her.

"Do you mind being a seishi? I mean…you'd still be at home if I hadn't dropped in…"

"I don't care…it's just something I accept." He opened a door for her.

"Oh…" She ran her fingers through her fiery hair. Nakago and Amiboshi were in the next room. Amiboshi looked relived someone else was finally in the room.

"Lady Momo." Nakago nodded as she came in.

"What's up?" Momo looked up at the blue haired woman.

"I'd like to introduce you to someone. He should be here any time now."

After a moment of silence, a bright flash of lightning and loud thunder crash made Momo cling to the closest person in fear. That person happened to be Suboshi. He looked a little surprised, but didn't push her away.

Nakago smiled. "Here he is now."

A large door at the other end of the room slowly swung open. A shadowed figured entered the room.

Momo leaned closer to Suboshi. "That's a he?"

He shrugged.

The cloaked figured came within a few feet of the 4 of them.

"Lady Momo, your 4th seishi. Soi." Nakago gestured to the person.

A hand came out from underneath the rain soaked cloak and pushed back the hood. His brown hair wasn't that long. He pushed a few of the strands back from his amber eyes. Soi looked at Momo. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady."

"Same to you." She looked at Nakago. "Any idea how well Kohana's seishi collection is?"

"I'm told she has just found her fourth."

Momo nodded. "Alright…I'll be in my room then…" She left the room. The twins soon followed. Soi had taken off his cloak and a servant took it and disappeared almost with out a sound.

Nakago looked at Soi. "Your room is on the east side."

"Thank you." He watched her head towards the door. "You've had a hard life…"

"Excuse me?" She turned to him with a cold look in her eyes.

"I can tell."

She snorted. "Don't tell me that's some seishi power of yours."

"No…" He approached her. "It's easy to see. The way you talk. The way you carry yourself."

Her eyes were still cold. "Don't you dare try and talk to me about my life."

He held his hand up. "I mean no harm. I'm only saying there are some people who could understand what you've been through…"

"And I suppose you're one of them?" She spat.

Soi didn't answer her though. He just turned and headed for his room. She stood still for a moment, trying to calm her anger. 'Idiot…what on Earth would he know about having a hard life?' She left the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kohana watched Nuriko and Tamahome tie up the horses while Shen and Hotohori set up camp. Piaoliang was starting to cook something. She joined Piaoliang by the fire. "So how much farther is it to your village?"

"Not too far. Maybe half a day if we keep up a good pace."

"Enjoying the time with Shen?"

Piao looked up from the fire. "You never stop, do you?"

"Should I?"

"Couldn't hurt."

"Well, I won't stop till you and Shen are together."

"Great…" She sighed.

The boys joined the girls around the campfire. Kohana almost started laughing when Shen sat next to Piaoliang. Piao gave her a warning glare before anything came out.

After dinner, everyone headed into the tents to sleep. They wanted to get into the village as early as possible.

Within a few minuets, Piaoliang was sound asleep. Kohana was having trouble sleeping. Bugs and various animals kept her up. Annoyed she kicked back the sleeping bag and crept out of the tent.

The crisp night air made her completely awake. 'So much for ever going to sleep…' She sighed and inhaled deeply. "At least it's a nice night…" She walked around a little.

"Do you always have trouble sleeping?" Hotohori chuckled in the night.

"I'm not used to this, okay?" She approached the area when she heard his voice from.

"It's alright."

She saw him sprawled out in the grass. His hair carelessly spread out around his head. "Not very emperor like, don't cha think?"

"Don't care. I don't get to relax very often."

"I think it's cute." She sat down with him in the grass.

"You know something?"

"What?"

"I'm starting to like the fact that you seem to have insomnia."

She gave him a mock glare but couldn't help but giggle.

She enjoyed his company. He enjoyed hers. The night was so peaceful. A gentle breeze rustled the trees. The moon and stars shown brightly. He sat up and started to lean in to kiss her.

A sudden pop from a branch snapping and a scream startled them both. A figure tumbled out of the darkness into the clearing.

It was a young girl, probably not much older than Kohana if at all.

"Someone help me! Please!" She scrambled to Kohana and Hotohori. Frigid hands grasped Kohana's wrists. Kohana felt a chill run down her spine.

"What's wrong?" Hotohori stared at the panicked girl. Twigs and leaves her tangled in her long white hair. Her pale features were twisted with fear. Tears threatened to fall from her dark eyes.

"A…a thief is after me. He wants my necklace. It's very valuable…" She whimpered and clung to Kohana.

"Kohana, stay here with her. I'll find the thief."

Kohana looked down at the girl who burst into tears. "Thank Suzaku I found someone to help me!"

"Hey…it's okay…you don't have to cry Miss…ummm…who are you?"

"My name is Nar…Nanase…" Her voice faltered.

"I'm Kohana. And Hotohori will take care of whoever's following you…" Kohana didn't like the pale girl. It wasn't just because Hotohori forwent kissing her to help this girl, there was something about her that set off millions of silent alarms in her head.

A few minutes passed and Hotohori came out of the forest. "I couldn't find anyone…must have run off."

"Thank you for looking." Nanase stood up and flung herself into Hotohori's arms. "I was so worried he'd get my necklace. It's been in my family for hundreds of years."

Kohana tried not to snap at Nanase for throwing herself at Hotohori. Panicked people did things like that. "Well, I guess everything's alright…can I see the necklace he was after, Nanase?"

"Never!" Nanase suddenly hissed at Kohana. Her dark eyes flashed menacingly. "For all I know, you're another filthy thief!" Kohana stepped back in shock.

Hotohori frowned deeply. "Watch your tongue, Nanase. Don't speak to the priestess of Suzaku that way."

"The…the priestess of Suzaku?" Nanase dropped to her knees and bowed to Kohana. "Please forgive my rudeness. I did not realize who you were…"

"It's alright…not like I look a priestess or anything…"

"I…I should go. My family will be worried if I don't come back with the necklace soon." She got back to her feet and began to walk away.

"Wait. The thief might still be around. You should spend the night at our camp and head back in the morning." Hotohori offered.

"Really?" She asked hopefully.

"Sure. Why not?" Kohana shrugged. Her mind screamed 'no' though.

"Thank you so much! Who would have thought I'd meet such kind people?"

"Yeah…whatever…" Kohana bit her lower lip as they went back to camp.

Hotohori said good night and headed to his tent. Kohana opened the girls' tent flap for Nanase.

"Good night Nanase. See you in the morning." Kohana curled up in her sleeping bag and went right to sleep.

"I'm sure." Nanase whispered and rubbed the stone in her necklace.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

'Damn rain…' Nakago growled as she began to wake up and her brain registered the constant tapping of the rain. It had been raining constantly for almost 3 days. It hadn't been so bad when the rain started, but now it was just annoying.

Nakago flung her sleeping robe to the floor and went to find some clothes. On her way to her wardrobe she caught a glance of herself in the mirror.

The cloth strips that bound her chest obscured most of her upper body, but all across her arms, shoulders and neck area, scars marred the skin that looked so perfect when she was fully clothed.

20 years of the Kutou army would do that to anyone. But she didn't care. It had turned her into the invincible solider she was today. Sacrifices had to be made to gain power. To most, she was the embodiment of power.

She pulled a pair of black pants and a dark blue shirt out and put them on. She tied her sword to her left side. Her whip hung at her right. She pulled her hair loosely back.

She headed out to face the day. On her way around the palace she passed by Soi's door. It was carelessly left open. She scowled. 'How irresponsible…' Nakago reached for the door to close it when she saw Soi was still in his room.

He was sitting on the bed with his back to the door, no shirt on. He had a very powerful build. That didn't surprise her though. From what she understood, he'd been on his own a lot. What she didn't understand were all the scars on his back. For a moment she pondered what could have been the cause of them.

"See something interesting, my lady?" While she'd been thinking, Soi had felt another presence and turned to see whom it was.

She frowned. "You shouldn't leave your door open."

As she closed the door, he turned back to the wall. "They're from my parents."

"What?" She stopped.

"The scars. They're what you were looking at, am I right?"

"Your parents beat you?"

"They didn't understand what I am." Soi stood up and strode to the window. He leaned on the wall. "When my seishi powers manifested, they thought I was a demon. Ignorant fools…" His voice held no emotion. "The whole town thought I was some demon. They all tried to beat it out of me. I ran away when I was 12."

She looked him over for a moment. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"So they say." He nodded and slipped on a shirt.

Without another word, Nakago left him alone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Morning sleepy! Are you ever going to get up?" Piaoliang shook Kohana awake.

"Who with the what now?" Kohana shook herself awake. "Oh…good morning Piao." She looked around the tent. "Where's Nanase?"

"Who?"

"Nanase…the girl that was here last night…"

Piaoliang stared at her as if she lost her mind. "No one but us has been in here. Did you dream too much last night?"

"N…no…Hotohori and I met her last night…I'm sure of it…"

Piaoliang raised an eyebrow. "You were out with his highness last night?"

"Don't get any ideas!" Kohana chucked a pillow at her.

"Breakfast is almost ready. Get dressed."

"Yes, ma'am!" Kohana gave her a mock salute. Piaoliang smiled and chucked the pillow back at her.

After getting dressed, Kohana and Piaoliang came out of the tent. Kohana sat next to Hotohori and started eating.

"How's Nanase?"

"I don't know…she's gone…she wasn't there when I woke up and Piao looked at me like I was completely nuts when I asked her where Nanase went…"

Hotohori looked at the ground. "That's odd…"

"I didn't like her anyway. She was creepy…"

"What do you mean?"

"Something about her was just…wrong. She was absolutely frigid. Her eyes flashed when she hissed at me. And right before I went to sleep she said something that sure as hell didn't sound like 'good night'…"

"I didn't notice…"

"Well…she was creepy…"

"Talking about the mystery girl again? Ever think you were both dreaming?" Shen Yuan rolled his eyes.

Hotohori and Kohana looked at each other and shrugged.

"Does it really matter whether or not there was girl?" Nuriko said in between bites of food. "We really have to worry about getting Kohana home right?"

The others nodded. Kohana smiled. "Thanks…"

"So which way are we headed now?" Nuriko asked as he packed up one of the tents.

"The village isn't that much further. We'll probably be there by noon." Shen answered as he tossed Piaoliang's travel bag onto the horse.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The trip was fast. Kohana kept everyone entertained with stories about her world. Soon, the village gates came into view.

As soon as they entered, many people recognized Piaoliang and Shen Yuan. Piaoliang jumped off the horse and ran to greet some friends she hadn't seen since the day she left. They immediately started to talk and laugh. It was almost as if they had only seen each other yesterday.

Shen smiled when he watched her. Kohana couldn't help but notice. As she walked passed him, she knocked him with her shoulder. "Tell her you love her." She said it quickly and quietly.

"What?" He jerked around to face her, but his attention was caught by some of his old friends.

Hotohori gave her a look as he handed the reins to a man who worked at a stable in the village.

"What?! I'm not meddling!" She pouted.

"Kohana! Come here!" Piaoliang waved her over.

Kohana ran over to the other girls before Hotohori could hay anything else.

"Told ya I know the priestess." Piao smiled smugly at her friends.

"Oh wow…sorry we didn't believe you Piao…" The girls stared in awe at Kohana. She was so different from them.

"Ummm…hiya." Kohana wasn't too sure of what to do. She wasn't exactly enjoying being looked at like some bizarre creature.

"I'm gonna go say hi to my parents. I'll be back later." Piaoliang hurried off down the street.

One of the girls bit her lip. "Damn…"

"What's wrong?" Kohana cocked her head to the side.

"We were hoping she wouldn't run home so soon…there was something we needed to tell her…"

"Is something wrong?"

"Well…sorta…" One of the other girls leaned closer to Kohana and whispered something to her.

Kohana's eyes widened. "No!"

"Yes."

"But what about…"

"They kinda forgot that…"

"That's horrible!"

"We know! We were really hoping…"

"Hoping what?" Shen Yuan asked, finally breaking away from his old friends.

"Nothing!" All the girls smiled and stood still.

He looked at all of them funny. "Okay then…" He started to walk in the direction that Piaoliang had gone.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Kohana hissed.

"He's gonna find out anyway. And what good would it do?"

"You could be a little more positive."

"It wouldn't really help…"

Shen Yuan headed down the street to Piaoliang's house. His home wasn't far from hers, but he figured he'd check in on Piaoliang's parents first.

As he walked, he saw someone running towards him, head down. He was almost sure it was Piaoliang. She crashed into him and mumbled and apology.

"Piao? Wh…what's wrong?" He saw tears in her eyes.

Again, she mumbled something and ran away from him. Confused, he headed towards her house again, intent on seeing what made her so upset.

"Hey Shen! Good to see you again!" A man of about Shen's age laughed when he saw the soldier.

"Hey Li! What's up?" His thoughts of Piaoliang were set aside for a moment.

He grinned. "You should congratulate me. By this time next month, I'll be a married man."

"Really? Who's the lucky lady?" Shen slung his arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Piaoliang Feng."

He froze for a moment. "Who did you say?"

"Piaoliang Feng. That girl you used to hang out with when we were kids."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well…that can't be good.

Artwork update:

Aiko's drawn some pictures for me for this story. There now are 2 black and white pictures of 16 year old Kohana. If you'd like to see them, like always, e-mail me. And there's also a color picture of Kohana for the story before this if anyone hasn't already seen it.

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~