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 11: Goings and Comings

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

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"Suboshi…may I speak with you?" Nakago interrupted the twin seishi while they were talking.

"Ummm…sure." Suboshi got up and followed Nakago out of the room.

Momo caught a glimpse of them leaving as she entered. "Hey, where are they going?"

"Nakago wanted to talk to Suboshi." Amiboshi looked nervously at the door.

"What do you think it's about?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not gonna like it though."

Momo just watched the door. She felt a little uneasy. 'Hey girl, just calm down…must be seishi business or something…no big deal…'

"Umm, Lady Momo?"

"Yeah?"

"You…um…look a little jealous…"

"Jealous? Of what?"

"I dunno. Nakago spending time with my brother? You just look kinda mad."

"Well…I'm not." She crossed her arms.

"You like him?"

"Who? Suboshi?"

"Yeah."

"No. Why would I?" She snapped.

"I know you weren't getting along back at the house but now…"

"Now what?"

"You two seem to be getting along better…"

"Well, if we're gonna be stuck in the same place might as well try not to get on each others nerves…" She blushed.

"My mistake then…" Amiboshi smiled.

"Shut up!" Momo muttered and left the room.

Amiboshi couldn't help but laugh. He quickly sobered when Nakago and Suboshi came back in the room. Suboshi looked very uneasy. Nakago left through the same door she came through originally without saying anything.

"Hey…what's wrong?"

"Where's Momo?"

"She just came by. My guess is she went back to her room. Why?"

"I umm…have to tell her something…"

"What?"

"Good bye…"

"What?!" Amiboshi grabbed his brother's arm.

"I have to go…" He twisted his arm out of his brother's grip.

"Suboshi…"

Suboshi left room and headed to Momo's room. "Momo?" He softly knocked.

"Yeah?"

"I umm…I came to say good bye…"

"Wha…what?" She got up quickly.

"Nakago is sending me to Konan…"

"What ?! Why?! No! She can't do that!" Momo shook her head.

"I'm supposed to pretend to be one of the Suzaku seishi…"

"You can't go! You could get hurt! Or killed!" She clung to him.

"Same thing here…" He shrugged.

"Suboshi…I…I don't want to be here if…" She lost her voice for a moment.

"If what?"

"If you're not here…" She looked up at him.

"I'm not that big a deal, am I?" Suboshi knew he was blushing.

Momo felt her cheeks get warm. She grabbed his head and kissed him hard. His eyes widened before he kissed back. "Please don't go."

Suboshi nuzzled her neck. "I wish I had a choice. I don't think I can say no to Nakago."

"Dammit…" She held onto him tighter.

"I should get some stuff together and go…"

"Come back, okay?"

"I'll do my best…" Suboshi started to walk away.

"Suboshi wait!"

"What?"

She pulled him back. "When you see Kohana, just tell her the truth…"

"What? Why?"

"She…she can help…"

"What makes you think that?"

"Kohana knows this world…she I dunno…understands this place. I'm begging you to tell her. And besides, she already knows who you are."

"You're right. She does…" Suboshi stroked her hair.

"I'm gonna miss you." Momo hugged him tightly.

"I'll miss you too." He blushed. Somewhere in his mind, he lost track of how he and Momo got so close. Yes, there had been the incident with Naraku, but ever since they left the twins' home, things hadn't been so rough between them. "But I do have to go."

"I know…" She reluctantly let go of the seishi and let him go.

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

Tasuki gritted her teeth as she pulled off an old bandage. "Gross…" She muttered and balled up the bloody cloth.

"Is it looking any better?" Piao helped her wash the burn.

"Not much. And it still stings like a bitch." She frowned.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Piao tugged a bandage around the older girl's leg.

"Ow! That's tight!"

"Gotta keep the dirt out, right?"

"Didn't think a maid was that strong."

"I've grown used to bandaging all of Shen's wounds. He fought a lot as a kid."

"Oh, so you're childhood sweethearts."

"Yeah…" She smiled and blushed.

"Cute." Tasuki laughed.

"Shut up." She got up. "Can you get up?"

"Yeah…" She pushed herself up off the ground.

"Well, I hope we find that doctor soon."

"Yeah." Tasuki went back to her horse.

The group rode on rather quietly. Chichiri did her best to keep some peace between Tasuki and Tamahome. Piao nodded off in front of Shen. Kohana talked quietly with Hotohori.

Few people passed them on the road. Everyone mostly kept to themselves. A few hours later, the group stopped to rest again. Kohana excused herself to go spend some time alone. She sat in the shade of a very tall tree. Her eyes began to close as she nodded off when a twig snapping brought her back to attention.

"Who's there?!" She quickly got up.

"It's just me."

Kohana relaxed when she saw Tamahome. But she was still a little annoyed. "What are you doing over here? I wanted to be alone for a little while."

"I ummm…kinda wanted to talk."

"Oh…what about?"

"I ummm…I need to say something."

"Well…I'm listening." Kohana stood up.

He sighed slightly. 'Might as well get this over with…' "Kohana…I…"

"Come on. You can talk to me. I'm not gonna be nasty or anything."

Tamahome suddenly went down on one knee and took Kohana's hand. "Kohana, I love you, I have since we first met!"

Kohana's eyes widened. She backed up and stumbled over a fallen tree. "You…you what?!?"

"I love you." He took her hand again and tried to kiss her.

She pushed back the seishi. "Stop it Tamahome!  You know I love Hotohori!"

He looked taken aback. "You can't! I love you! You aren't supposed to love him!"

"Says who?!" She got up angrily and glared at him.

"Says me! I'm the first person you met in Konan, Kohana! I have the right!"

"You're not making any sense! I'll love whoever I damn well please!"

He was getting angry. "The priestess is supposed to fall in love with me! It's what happened before!"

"I don't care what happened before! I'm not whoever the last priestess was! I can't help it if I love Hotohori!"

The faint sound of a tree branch breaking could be heard overhead, but it went unnoticed by the two on the ground.

"I will have you if it's the last thing I do. You'll see your mistake someday. I promise you that." He began to walk off.

She grabbed his arm and dug her nails into his arm. "Are you threatening me Tamahome?"

"I would never do that to you Kohana." He smiled sweetly and tried to kiss her again.

Kohana was ready to smack Tamahome when the tree snapping became a lot louder. The both heard some one yell "Oh shit!" and a man with rust colored hair fell out of the tree and on top of Tamahome. Both swore a few times. Kohana gaped in shock. The man couldn't have come at a better time, whoever he was. He closed his hazel eyes and groaned.

"Are you okay?" Kohana crouched next to him.

The man looked around. "Where's that other guy?"

"You…you're on him…" Kohana stifled a giggle.

"Why…so I am…" He quickly got up.

"Ummm…what were you doing up there?"

"I was looking for a special flower."

"Are you a doctor?" She looked hopeful.

"OW!" Tamahome stood up and brushed himself off. "Hey you! You just interrupted something very important."

The man cleared his throat. "Really? I never would have guessed."

"So are you a doctor or what?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't help you now. I have to help someone else."

"Well, are you gonna tell me if you're a doctor or not? I'd be happy with that."

Tamahome snorted. "We know one thing, he picks daisies."

"I am a doctor. My name in Jin Shing."

"I'm Kohana. Maybe when you're not to busy you could look at my friend's leg. She's hurt pretty badly."

"I'd be happy to later, but this can't wait. I have to find those flowers." He looked up at the tree. "Seems like climbing wasn't the way to go…" He rubbed his back.

"The ones in the tree? I bet I could reach 'em."

"Well yes, but I don't think that's a good idea…"

"I'm not going up there." Tamahome muttered.

"I'm a gymnast. I could get up there, no sweat." Kohana cracked her knuckles and easily bounded up the tree.

Jin Shing watched in amazement. "The flowers are growing at the top! The small blue ones!"

"Okay! How many you need?"

He counted quickly. "About ten!"

Kohana came down as quickly as she went up. She handed him the mass of flowers. "Here. I just grabbed a bunch. They smell pretty."

"Thank you very much miss! Would you like to come with me?"

Tamahome looked at Kohana. "Don't for get what I said, okay?"

"Whatever." Kohana rolled her eyes. "I'd love to come. But I should tell my other friends first. I don't want them to worry."

"They aren't far are they?"

"No, I'll be back in a flash." Kohana ran back to the others.

Jin Shing looked at Tamahome. "You seem to be the jealous type."

"You heard what I said to her then?"

"Pretty hard to miss." He put the bunch of flowers into his shoulder bag. "You can't force her into anything."

"It's the way things should be."

"Things don't have to be any specific way. I know the stories about what happened between the priestess and her seishi 50 years ago and that's what you base your argument on. Things happened to be that way at that time. They won't happen like that every time."

"I should be the one to have Kohana." Tamahome glared at the man.

"Do you need me to fall on your head again? I'd be happy to." Jin Shing met Tamahome's glare easily.

Tamahome opened his mouth to retort when Kohana appeared with the other seishi. "I'm back!"

"Well then…" Jin backed away from Tamahome and smiled. "Let's go back. I have work to do."

Kohana walked close to Hotohori while they followed Jin. He and Chichiri talked about Tasuki's wound. Hotohori looked down at Kohana. "Are you alright?"

"I'll tell you later." She looped her arm into his and held tight.

Hotohori took her hand. "Did Tamahome say something while you were off?" He looked concerned.

"I said I'd tell you later." She insisted and pulled him along.

The walk back was short. Jin's village was small, but nice. He led them to what looked like the biggest house in it. There were many beds along the wall and cabinets lined with hundreds of jars. In a separate room, a young boy lay on a bed. He was pale and in the middle of a coughing fit. The boy's mother got up immediately when she heard someone come in.

"Jin! You're back! Thank the gods! He's getting worse. What took so long?" She was obviously panicked.

"Ma'am, I told you, the flowers for the medicine were difficult to get. I do have them though. If you'll give me a moment, I'll prepare Bo's medicine." He smiled gently and got her to sit down while he gathered a few jars.

Kohana watched him, intrigued by how advanced his practice of medicine was. He reminded her of the doctor her sister used to take her too. He mixed up something in a bowl and took it to the boy.

"Bo, can you wake up for a minute?" He sat on the edge of the boy's bed.

"Hi Jin…" The boy smiled weakly.

"Hey kid. How're you holding up?" He handed the bowl to him. "Drink up."

He sat up. "I'm fine. Ma thinks I'm getting sicker…" Bo drank the contents of the bowl. He made a face. "Tastes gross." He stuck out his tongue.

"Best medicine always does." Jin smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. Color was already starting to come back to his face.

"Can I got out and play?"

"Let the medicine work will you?" Jin chuckled. "You can play as much as you want tomorrow."

"Thanks Jin!" Bo smiled.

"Sure, Bo. Now, I got someone else to check. Will you and your mother be okay?"

"Uh huh!"

Jin nodded and went back out into the main room. While he washed his hands he looked over his shoulder. An Hua wandered into the other room. She decided she was going to keep Bo company. "So which one of you is the injured one?"

"That would be me." Tasuki was sitting on one of the beds.

Jin walked over to her and pulled the bandage off. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the burn. "What the hell have you been doing?"

"Playing with fire?" Tasuki grinned.

"Fantastic." Jin rolled his eyes. "I don't understand how you got a burn that bad, but I'll make something up for it." He got up and went to his wall of jars. He picked up a few. Jin tossed one of them to her. "Drink this while I mix something up."

Tasuki opened the bottle and sniffed it. "It smells like booze."

"It is." Jin leaned against the wall while he mixed up what was looking like a thick paste.

"Why?" She drank the contents of the jar. "Woah…that's some powerful shit."

Jin smeared the paste on a bandage. "Because this is really gonna hurt." Indeed, she hissed in pain when he put the bandage on. "Sorry it's so painful, but it will help heal it faster."

"Thanks…I think…" Tasuki cringed. "Ow…" Jin smirked.

"Jin! Get out here! The boar's back!" A young woman screamed as she nearly fell through the door.

The smirk disappeared from his face as if it had never been there. "What?!"

"It's back in the village! You've gotta help them!" She fell to the floor and cried.

Jin wasted no time in disappearing from the house.

"What's going on?" Shen helped the young woman onto a bed.

She ran her fingers through her hair. "For a few weeks now…a large wild boar has been breaking into the village and causing chaos. It's wounded most of our strongest men. It's strength is…unnatural…demonic…" She shook her head. "Jin does what he can…but his powers can't hold out that long…."

"Powers?"

"Jin's not just a doctor. He's a healer." She murmured quietly.

Everyone looked at each other in a moment of silence. The men nodded and they along with Chichiri ran out the door. Tasuki groaned and flopped back on the bed. "Dammit! A good fight and I'm out of it!"

"A…are you insane?! And where did your friends go?"

"To help. Nuriko and Tamahome are really strong. Chichiri's a really powerful mage." Piao smiled. "Tasuki could fight, but she's out of it."

"Shut up!" The blue hair seishi pouted.

"Nuriko…Tamahome…Chichiri and Tasuki?" She looked them over. "Who are you people?"

"Five of us are seishi, two are palace employees and one is the priestess." Kohana smiled.

"Then…you came here looking for Mitsukake." She looked thoughtful.

"He's here?"

"Yeah. Jin is him."

"Cool! Then just one more!" Tasuki laughed, a little drunk. The other girls stared at her as Tasuki continued to laugh for no apparent reason. An Hua and Bo poked their heads out of the room they were in.

"Is she gonna be okay?"

Hime meowed.

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"You people! Always getting into my business!" Naraku stood next to the demonic wild boar. Its eyes glowed red as it got ready to attack again. There was a long bloody gash down its left side courtesy of Hotohori's sword. "Leave my pet alone and let it have some fun!"

It charged at two of the villages. "Like hell, demon!" Nuriko and Tamahome intercepted the beast and wrestled it to the ground. They heard a definite snap, no doubt one of the demon boar's legs. It let out an unearthly cry of some kind. Everyone cringed. It ran away from them as best it could.

"Always the do-gooder, aren't you boys?" Naraku flung a ball of black energy at them.

Chichiri jumped in front of them holding up a shield. It exploded, but didn't harm the three within the reddish bubble. "Was that it, demon bitch?"

"I'll just let my pet deal with you." Naraku fumed and disappeared.

Jin watched them fight. 'Dammit…just who are these people?' He was crouched over one of the already injured. He told two nearby people to take the injured man back to his house and get him into bed.

Shen dove away from the oncoming beast. 'It's now or never…' He felt a tingle in his sword arm as he flung the blade into the creature's side. It went up onto its back legs and trashed around a little before crashing to the ground. He wasn't sure if anyone else could see it, but Shen was sure he saw the blade of his sword softly glowing. 'I…I just cast a spell…didn't I?'

Jin watched the boar twitch a few times, then cease to move. He was now bent over a man that had been gored in the side. He held out his left hand. A symbol began to glow as the man's fatal wounds closed up.

"You…you're Mitsukake aren't you?" Hotohori wiped his sword clean and sheathed it.

"Yeah. What of it?" He helped the man up.

"We're looking for the Suzaku seishi."

"Who are you?"

"The most of the other seishi. Tasuki's back at your house with the priestess."

"Who's the priestess?"

"Kohana."

"Oh…you know…there's a few more wounded people I have to bandage. Why don't we go back to my house and we'll talk?"

Back at the house, the young woman from before already bandaged up the men that had come in.

"You didn't waste much time, did you Lien?" Mitsukake smiled.

"Well, I wasn't sure when you were coming back. Is the boar gone?"

"Dead. They killed it. Turned out to be some demon creature."

"Wow. So…will you be heading out with them?" She smiled when he looked a little surprised. "What? We carried on some conversation here."

"I'm not sure I should leave the village though…"

"Jin, go. You have to. I'm a good enough doctor to care for these people and now that we don't have to worry about the boar, we don't need a healer at all times." She smiled at him. "Everyone knew this day was coming. Just come back soon."

"Well…I suppose I should go…" He sighed.

"I'll help you pack." Lien smiled and walked with Mitsukake.

Kohana leaned against the window and idly stared, half thinking about what Tamahome said, half trying to forget it.

"Kohana?" Hotohori put his hand on her shoulder.

She jerked a little. "Oh! Hotohori…it's you."

"Are you alright?"

"I dunno."

"What happened with Tamahome?"

She looked around to see if he was around. Luckily, most of the men had gone to help rebuild what the boar had destroyed during its most recent attack. "He…he told me he loved me and tried to kiss me…" She looked up at him. "When I pushed him away and told him I love you, he well…he freaked out."

"Did he try to hurt you?"

"No…but I think he threatened me. He said he'd have me someday and that I'd see my mistake. He said because he met me first, he has some right to have me."

Hotohori frowned. "I didn't think Tamahome was like that…"

"What, insane? Me either." Kohana muttered. "He tried to kiss me again and that was when Mitsukake fell out of the tree on top of him. I know it was an accident, but it couldn't have come at a better time." She leaned on Hotohori.

He wrapped his arm around her. "I won't let him hurt you."

"It's not me I'm worried about. I'm worried he'll go after you." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'd kill him myself if he tried to hurt you…"

"Kohana…" He held her close. "I pray that that day never comes. Everything will be alright." He kissed her softly. She returned his kiss.

Tamahome watched the couple with growing jealousy. 'That should be me…'

"Tamahome…let it go…" Nuriko spoke harshly as he replaced a support beam for a house.

"But I should be…"

"If things were the way they were 50 year ago, you wouldn't even be here." Shen cut him off. "You'd be brainwashed in the Kutou palace, serving the priestess of Seiryuu. Why do you seem to think things will go like they did before?"

"If you love her like you seem to think you do, let her be with Hotohori." Up until now, Nuriko and Tamahome had been good friends, but he was even closer to Kohana and Hotohori. He wasn't going to let Tamahome ruin everything between them.

Tamahome said nothing and left to go work on a different part of town. Nuriko and Shen looked at each other. Neither one liked the way Tamahome was acting and wondered if he would act on his growing rage.

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Tamahome's a bastard! Told ya it wouldn't be Tama-friendly. You were warned.

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~