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

Red Wings of Fate

Chapter 10: Echoes at Sea

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Umi sat on top of a stack of boxes and barrels, checking the situation on the boat. A few people had watch, but no one to worry about according to him. He jumped back down to the docks. "Come on. Let's go."

"Where to?" Hotohori scrutinized the pirate.

"To find your goofy little friends. Where else?" Shen glared at the other man. "Okay…never mind the goofy…sorry." He rolled his eyes and walked down the dock.

"I don't really like trusting a pirate you know…" Shen muttered.

"Blah, blah, blah." He waved his hand around. "Don't care."

Shen rolled his eyes.

"So what, if anything do we have to look out for?" Nuriko was hoping for some kind of fight.

"Most of the Lake Fushicho pirates aren't that bad…most of them won't fight me. They know better. I doubt you'll even have to fight." He walked to the end of the ship. Nuriko saw him pull down the scarf, but couldn't see anything else. Umi licked his lips and let out a long, low whistle. The other men were quiet. After a moment, a dark outline appeared at the edge, kicked down a rope ladder and disappeared again.

"Who was that?"

"Ryuuji…my second in command." Umi quickly jumped to the ladder. "Come on, let's go." He began to climb.

"And if we fall?" Tamahome asked.

"Then you get wet. It's generally what happens when you fall in the water."

"Hey! That's not…"

"Enough. We have to worry about Kohana and Piaoliang." Nuriko stopped Tamahome from saying anything else.

"Kohana?" Umi's eyes flashed with interest. "Isn't that the priestess of Suzaku's name?"

"You've heard of her?" Shen was next up the ladder.

"Has anyone not?"

"Good point."

Once on deck, Umi pulled up the ladder and they sat among more crates and barrels. "What now?"

"We wait. Ryuuji will be here soon. He'll tell us what's going on."

Nuriko studied Umi carefully in the dark. He contemplated the idea of Umi being the seishi they were looking for, but didn't say anything about it. "Hey Umi?"

"Yeah?"

"You ever take off that scarf of yours?"

"Rarely."

"What? Are you hideously ugly or something?" Tamahome smirked.

Umi felt his eye twitch. Without a second thought, he grabbed Tamahome by the collar and flung him over the nearest rail. When the other men moved to protest, Umi held up one hand. "One, no one insults me. Two, more people will only make it more difficult to find your friend easily." Umi shifted uneasily. He could feel the ship steadily leaving the port. Someone had apparently ordered the departure. They'd soon be trapped out in the middle of the lake.

"Fine." Hotohori didn't really care.

"Are you all done getting rid of each other?" A pair of gold eyes flashed in the dark. "One of your friends is below deck with some of the other pirates. Kanaye has the other one…"

"What!" Umi grabbed the man. "How! Why didn't you stop him?"

"I couldn't! Not while he had the tessen." Ryuuji snapped back at his captain.

"Tessen? Isn't that one of the treasures of the Mt. Reikaku bandits?" Nuriko asked.

"Not anymore. The bandits gave it to us when we joined forces with them 30 something years ago. The leader of the Lake Fushicho pirates is supposed to carry it." Umi frowned beneath his scarf. "Damn…now it is gonna be harder to help them…Ryuuji, take them and find the girl below deck. I'll take care of Kanaye."

"Are you sure?" Ryuuji grabbed his arm as he began to walk away.

"Yeah. I knew this was coming." He twisted his arm from his friend's grip and walked off. Ryuuji frowned, but followed his orders. He beckoned for the other men to follow and went below deck.

Piaoliang tapped her foot against the floor. Most of the pirates were ignoring her. Occasionally one of them would call her over to fill up a cup, but that was about it. At first, she was terrified that they were going to kill her, but now she was just annoyed. But on the other hand she was also relieved. They weren't a bad bunch, just horrendously drunk. At first she contemplated trying to use magic, but she knew she could very well blow up the ship without knowing it since she didn't have any practice. Really, the safest thing to do was stay quiet and unnoticed.

Ryuuji was the first of the men to come down. He kicked the chair of one of the less drunk men. "You done with her?"

"Can't we keep her a little longer?" He asked, slightly slurred.

"Captain wants her now." Piao cringed.

"Who cares what that asshole wants! Kanaye's not even the real captain! You know that!" A bunch of men snapped back.

"What are we supposed to do as long as he has the tessen?" Ryuuji frowned.

"You've got a point…take her…" The man waved it off.

Ryuuji walked over to Piaoliang. "Come on."

She backed away. "No."

"Don't argue with me." He reached for her arm.

"I'm not going with you! You can't make me!" She slapped his hand away. "I'm not going near that creepy guy!"

He grabbed her again and pulled her closer. "Don't argue." He hissed. "Your friends are waiting for you."

"What?" She asked, wide eyed. "Where?"

"Come with me. And keep pretending to fight. The men are only gonna give you up if they think you're going to the fake captain."

"Fine…" She whispered back and let Ryuuji drag her away.

He pulled her from the room and down some dark hallways. She saw concern in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He let her arm go and let her walk on her own.

"You look worried."

"I was thinking about Umi."

"The captain?"

"Sh…He's going to fight Kanaye for that other friend of yours."

"Did you say she?"

"No." He answered her with a time that told her not to say anything else. "Your friends are close by…"

Umi kicked open the door to the room Kanaye was holding Kohana in. He could tell by the shouting and screaming. Kohana was throwing things at the pirate, trying to make him keep away. Kanaye had a knife drawn and now seemed more intent on killing her than his original plan for her.

"KANAYE! Get away from her!" Umi yelled and tackled him.

"Umi!" Kohana and Kanaye were both shocked.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Umi punched him in the face.

"This ship should be mine!" He yelled, brandishing the tessen. "Everyone knows why the late captain favored you! I am the rightful captain!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Umi snapped back. "You, girl, get out. Your friends are probably on deck with Ryuuji."

"But…"

"Go! This doesn't concern you anymore!" His eyes flashed with determination. Kohana stared at the pirates. She couldn't move. "Why aren't you going!"

Kanaye smirked. "Scared little girl…sound familiar?" Before Umi could lash out, Kanaye grabbed Kohana and ran from the room.

Umi cursed. He picked up a knife from the floor and ran, following Kohana's screams. "Figures…" He picked up his speed and blew past everyone in his way.

Kohana pounded on Kanaye's back as hard as she could. "PUT ME DOWN YOU BASTARD! PUT ME DOWN!"

Kanaye laughed. "Yeah right girl." He shifted her just right so that her head slammed into a wooden doorway as he ran. Bright white light exploded in her eyes and she passed out. "That outta keep you quiet…"

Umi found Kanaye on the upper deck of the ship. Kohana lay in a heap at his feet. Even in the dark, his eyes were sharp enough to see a small trickle of blood running down the side of her face. "You bastard! What did you do?"

"She was being annoying." He shrugged.

"You were gonna kill her, weren't you?" Umi started walking towards him. "You were gonna kill the priestess!"

"I had my orders."

"From who?" By now Ryuuji had brought the other seishi back to the upper deck.

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Then I'll beat it outta you!" Umi lunged at him, weapon drawn.

Kanaye countered by using the tessen as a shield. "I'll get rid of you, then her."

"Never!" Umi spat in his face when he was close ehough.

"You bitch!" Kanaye backhanded him, sending him crashing to the deck.

'Bitch?' Nuriko thought to himself and he and Hotohori ran to check on Kohana. 'Even if I was mad…I'd never call another guy a bitch…unless…' Something occurred to him when they first walked out of the inn. Umi didn't move very, well, manly. He was very light on his feet. There was just something about the way he carried himself.

Umi smirked beneath the scarf. "That all you got?" He stood up. "You take my ship, my pirates, my weapons…and all you can do is call me a bitch? I expected more of someone that could get the tessen out of my possession."

"I'll show you!" Kanaye raised the tessen high above his head.

"Shit!" Umi barely had time to move before Kanaye let loose a burst of flames. Pulling himself up, he felt a burning sensation in his left leg. He looked down and saw his pant leg burned and most of his leg burned as well. He cursed and pulled his scarf off to wrap it up.

Kohana was beginning to wake up. Nuriko and Hotohori leaned over, concerned. She blinked a few times as her vision cleared. "Oh…my head…"

"Kohana! Are you alright?" Hotohori wrapped his arm around her.

"Yeah…I'm fine. I gotta a killer headache though…" She looked back at Kanaye and Umi. "Who's that?"

"Who's who?"

"That woman."

"What woman?"

"Her." Kohana pointed to a woman fighting Kanaye on deck. Wavy sea green hair whipped past her blue eyes. She moved quickly and gracefully despite her hurt leg.

"Umi…Umi's a woman." Nuriko wasn't completely surprised. It should have been completely obvious before from the way she walked, talked and acted.

"A woman…hardly a capable leader." Kanaye scoffed and readied the tessen for another blow.

Umi snarled and lunged at Kanaye. "The old captain picked me to lead this group. That's exactly what I've done you greedy bastard!" She slashed up, intending to cut his throat, but he moved out of the way. Instead, her knife caught a chain on his neck. "What the…" She stared at the chain. A pitch black stone of some kind gleamed in the center.

She felt a chill run through her hand. Umi quickly yanked her hand back, cutting through the chain and letting it fall to the floor.

"No!" Kanaye watching in horror as the chain fell and the stone smashed into millions of tiny pieces.

Everything was still. Someone clicked their tongue in disappointment. "Kanaye…didn't I tell you not to lose that?"

"I…I didn't mean to!" He turned in fear to the disembodied voice. "She…"

"And here I thought I could count on you to kill those girls." A figure faded into view on the railing of the ship.

"Naraku!" Piaoliang clenched a fist.

"You…you're that little brat that destroyed my pet." Naraku frowned. "I'll deal with you in a minute." She turned back to Kanaye. "I told you I'd give you the ship if you killed the priestess of Suzaku. I suppose I shouldn't have sent a man to do the job. I'll do it myself."

"Wait! No! I can do it! I swear!" Kanaye went on his knees and begged for his life.

"Whatever." With a flick of her wrist, a black void appeared and sucked Kanaye in. "He'll make a nice snack for my pets." The tessen clattered to the deck.

"Hey! Kanaye was a bastard but you didn't have to kill him!" Umi leaned on Ryuuji.

"I'll do whatever I want. And believe me, you'll be next."

"Shut up and pick on someone your own size!" Piaoliang snapped angrily.

"You're really intent on dying aren't you?" Naraku smirked and shot a beam of magic at her.

Piaoliang crossed her arms over her head, creating some kind of shield. When Naraku saw it, she screamed furiously. "You! How could you know that spell! My sister was the only on that could do that! Tell me now!" Her eyes flashed with a deadly light. Piao said nothing. She only stared at the spirit. Shen stood nearby. Naraku became painfully aware of something. "No…it couldn't be…but it is." She hissed. "You're related to that wretch, aren't you! You're related to me! And you!" She glared at Shen. "You're the mirror image of that bastard! Now I see it." She suddenly smiled. "How amusing…but understand this: you will never be as powerful as the people who killed me the first time and I've grown stronger since then. You can't beat me." She placed one hand over her pendant and faded into the night.

"What the hell was that!" Umi stared in disbelief.

"We're not completely sure yet…" Kohana rubbed her head. She glanced at Umi. "So you're a girl?"

"Yeah, so what?" She let go of Ryuuji and limped across the deck where many of the pirates were coming to see what all the noise was.

"Nothing." Kohana noticed a faint red light coming out from her sleeve. "Hey Umi, what's that?"

"Huh?" She turned away from the happy crew.

"On your arm."

"Oh that." She rolled up her sleeve. "You guys are lookin' for this right?" She held up her arm to display a glowing red symbol.

"You…you're Tasuki?" The guys asked in slight disbelief.

"What? Can't handle another woman?" Chichiri suddenly appeared with An Hua. "I see everyone's relatively okay."

Tasuki looked thoughtful for a moment. She walked to the edge of the ship and kicked down the rope ladder used earlier. After another moment, Tamahome appeared at the railing.

"Welcome back." Nuriko snickered. The other seishi was soaked and pissed off.

"Shut up. Where's that bastard Umi? Sissy name for a guy if you ask me…" He muttered. Then he noticed Chichiri who was looking at Tasuki's leg. "Hello, I don't believe we've met."

"Then you believe wrong." She smirked.

"I'd think I'd remember a woman like you."

"Maybe if I toss you over the side again, it'll refresh your memory."

"Toss me…again?" His upper lip twitched. "Umi?" He asked, unsure.

"Yes?" She answered sweetly.

"Shit!" Tamahome almost let lose a string of swears when Nuriko put him into a head lock.

"Don't even think about swearing around my little sister. The last thing I need is her picking up something like that. If she get any of it I'll know where she got it from."

"Ummm…right." He tugged at Nuriko's arm. "Can't breathe here. Would you let go?" Nuriko dropped him. "Ow…thanks."

"Hi!" An Hua happily ran to join Tasuki on the crate she was sitting on. "You're Umi, right?"

"Yep." She smiled.

"What's that?" She poked the glowing spot on Tasuki's arm.

"It's my seishi symbol. I'm Tasuki."

"Like ni-chan?"

"Sorta, yeah."

"Then you're gonna come back to the capital with us?" She looked hopeful.

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Yay!" An Hua hugged the older woman.

Chichiri finished bandaging her leg. "It's okay for now, but that's a pretty bad burn. I don't know how well it'll heal."

"Man…I never wanna be on the receiving end of my own weapon again…" She ran her fingers through her hair.

"That thing can really do some damage." Kohana nodded, wondering what her big brother had done with it when it was in his possession.

"How well will it heal?" Hotohori asked.

"Depends on how well it's taken care of." Chichiri stood up. "I'm not much of a doctor so it's not like I can do a whole lot, but I can make sure it doesn't get any worse."

"Hey ummm, Captain?" A few of the crewmembers approached her.

"Yeah?"

"This is just a rumor or whatever but…supposedly there's some amazing doctor up north that can cure anything. Maybe if you went up there you could get your leg looked at."

"Amazing doctor huh? Where'd you hear about it?"

"Last time we sailed up that way, the whole town was talking about some doctor saved some guy that was pretty much dead from some sickness. Don't know much more than that."

"One of the seishi is usually a healer." Shen noted.

"So we're going north then?" Nuriko leaned on the rail as the ship came back to port.

"I think one more night here so Tasuki can rest her leg, then yes. North sounds like the place to go." Chichiri nodded.

"You all can stay on the ship. Probably safer than the inn…" Tasuki limped towards the stairs to go to the lower deck. "Better check if Kanaye messed up my room…"

After Tasuki got to her room below deck, she closed her eyes and tried to will away the pain in her leg.

"Umi?" There was a soft knock at the door.

"Who's there?" She asked, tired.

Ryuuji opened the door and stepped in. "So…you're really going?"

"I have to." She sighed.

"I know…"

"Hey, I'm going away for a little while, not dying. I'll be back."

"You're not gonna forget us are you?"

"How could I? Especially you." She asked with a smile. "You were the only one that believed in me when I became the captain of this ship."

"I knew you were more capable than anyone else."

"Thank you Ryuuji. You're in charge while I'm gone." She kissed him on the cheek. "Now get out of my room you damn pirate."

He simply smirked and left her alone. Tasuki smiled and let herself drift off to sleep.

Momo growled at the scroll in front of her. What little she understood wasn't helpful and she couldn't read the rest. Suboshi and Amiboshi had gone to town and she wasn't about to ask anyone else, not wanting to explain why she was looking at all this. She swept the scroll away and started to unroll another on.

She was so engrossed in her scroll study that she failed to notice the faint sound of nails on the wooden floor. She did feel someone watching her. She looked up and came face to face with a large nose and blue eyes. She almost tumbled out of her chair. "Ashitare! Why do you like to scare me?" She repressed the urge to whack him in the nose.

Ashitare suddenly grabbed one of the scrolls from the table and held in triumphantly in his jaw.

"Hey you! Gimme that back!" She scrambled after the wolf. "Damn you and your four legs!" She was quickly losing the battle to him.

Ashitare, just to taunt her, would stop every so often and let her catch up, only to run off when she was within arms reach.

"Come on you!" She pleaded with him.

As Ashitare ran he turned back into his human form and took the scroll out of his mouth. "I hate the taste of paper…" He made a face.

"Give it back Ashitare! I was using that!" Momo dove at the scroll.

"What? Can't take a little joke? Let's see what the priestess has been reading up on." Holding the scroll out of her reach, he scanned it. "Care to tell me why you're looking at things about spirits who haven't been around for hundreds of years?"

Momo sighed. "Because Naraku's back…she's…she's up and around…"

Confusion and concern crossed Ashitare's face. "How would you know?"

"She's attacked me before…"

"What? And you haven't told anyone?"

"Suboshi knows…"

"Yeah and your little sweetheart is the best protection from someone like Naraku."

He almost continued when Momo cut him off. "What did you just call him!" Ashitare smirked and turned back into a wolf. He ran off leaving the scroll with her. "He's impossible!" She picked up the drool-covered scroll and grimaced. "Fantastic…" She walked back to her studying room.

'What's wrong with him? Suboshi isn't my sweetheart or some crap like that! Well…there were those kisses…but no one has to know about those…' She tried to shake off the feeling she got whenever she thought about him. 'Shoot…so not cool…why am I falling in love?'

Shen slowly woke up when he felt the gentle rocking of the ship. He blinked a few times and rolled over. His eyes widened when he came face to face with Piaoliang's sleeping form. She was dressed in a pair of Kohana's pajamas. He soon remembered she came in his room asking if she could sleep with him. The moving on the water didn't agree with her.

Shen smiled and smoothed down her hair. She opened up one eye. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing…" He smiled. "You were impressive yesterday."

"I didn't have much of an idea of what I was doing…"

"Still. You stood up to her."

"I was really scared."

He kissed her forehead. "You're braver than you give yourself credit for."

"I'll be glad when this is over…"

"We all will be…"

Piao nodded and crawled into his arms. He embraced her.

A few hours later, they were ready to head north. Kohana was with Hotohori, Piao with Shen, An Hua with Nuriko and Tamahome, Tasuki and Chichiri by themselves. After saying good-bye to the pirates, the group began riding north.

Plot question! Miboshi, Tomo, Mitsukake and Chiriko: guys or girls? I can't decide.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Shadow Hawk