Disclaimer: Kohana, Momo, Piaoliang Feng, Shen Yuan, Naraku, An Hua, Ayame and Ruri are my characters. The personalities and looks of the new seishi are mine.

Red Wings of Fate

Chapter 17: Into the Unknown

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Conversations between twins

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Wind blew softly through the trees. A few birds sat on the branches and made noise. Suddenly everything stopped. The birds went silent and the wind stopped.

Naraku walked into the clearing, mirror in hand. She looked around. "Almost a shame I'll destroy this place…almost…" She put her mirror on the ground and sat down with it. "For now we'll check on the little priestesses…" She waved her hand over the surface. "Pitiful fools…"

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Kohana sighed. She felt like she's just walked around this strange mirror world for the thousandth time. The only hope she still clung to was her memories of Hotohori, though they were getting more distant.

Momo stood a few meters away, staring off into space. Kohana stared at her. "Momo, what are you doing?"

Momo didn't say anything. She just kept staring. "Momo! Momo, answer me!" Kohana ran over to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Momo!" She gasped. "Momo, what's wrong with you?"

Momo's eyes were very dark, nearly black. "Who are you? For that matter, who am I?"

Fear flashed across Kohana's eyes. "Momo! It's me, Kohana!"

"Ko…hana?" Momo cocked her head to one side. "I don't…remember…"

"What? No! Momo, don't say that!"

"Why are we here? Why don't I really feel like myself? …Not that I really remember who I am…"

"You're Momo Tanazaki! The priestess of Seiryuu! You've got all your seishi. You love Suboshi, remember? One of you seishi."

"Suboshi…I…I can almost see him…"

"You said he was really annoying when you met him, but he was really cute. Brown hair and sea blue eyes…Nakago sent him to masquerade as one of my seishi just to separate you two! He loves you as much as you love him…dammit Momo, remember! Don't make me be the strong one! That's your job!" She felt her eyes sting with tears.

"Oh Kohana, I don't know what's wrong with me! How come you can remember and not me?" Momo burst into tears. "I can't see him!"

"Don't you dare say can't." Kohana was ready to slap her. "You've got to remember."

"It's too hard…"

"No…don't let Naraku win…the seishi are going to save us…"

"Naraku?" Her eyes flashed green. "Naraku…" She said the name again angrily, remembering what was happening.

As if on cue, a loud, malevolent laughter echoed through the dark space. "You twits! Do you really think they'll help you? They'll be joining you soon enough!"

Kohana felt a wave of rage run through her. "No! Piao and Shen are going to stop you! Their ancestors did and so will they!"

Momo smiled. "It's only a matter of time before they get us out!"

"Please! Those two are pitiful sorcerers!"

"They've beaten your creatures before!" Kohana spat. No one answered. She rolled her eyes. "Of course she left because she knows we're right."

"On that bright side, that evil bitch got me to remember, at least somewhat." Momo rubbed her head. "I hope they hurry…"

"Me too…" Kohana sighed and looked up. "Me too."

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Suboshi had nodded off next to Momo's bed.

Hotohori stood in the doorway. "Suboshi?"

Suboshi's head jerked up. "Huh?"

"How long have you been here?"

"Oh I don't know…" He sighed. "A while maybe…"

"We'll free them…"

"I know…" Suboshi touched Momo's face. "I just feel like she's slipping away. We have to hurry."

"Well, can't rescue people on an empty stomach. Dinner's ready. Come on."

"Of course." Hotohori kissed Kohana's forehead and got up. He followed Shen out the door.

Down in the dining room, all the seishi were sitting among each other, no longer Suzaku seishi on one side and Seiryuu on the other. They were all talking happily except for Chiriko and Tomo who were sitting as far away from each other as possible and just glared. Hotohori found a seat next to Amiboshi. "Lovers' quarrel?" He looked back and forth between them.

He shrugged. "They're arguing about something. Like always."

"Always fun." Hotohori smiled and shook his head.

"Ain't it just?" Tasuki leaned in on the conversation. "It's only a matter or time before they A) kill each other or B) end up sleeping together."

"That's incredibly crude Tasuki." Hotohori rolled his eyes.

"And your point?" She smirked.

Amiboshi smiled. "Anyway, Tomo and Chiriko have been the subject of tonight for long enough. Tasuki, how much longer till we get to that island?"

"If all goes well, probably early tomorrow afternoon."

"What do we do when we get there? It's not exactly a small island. We can't afford to wander around for long." Soi nodded to the map of the island at the center of the table.

Everyone stared at the map. Soi was right. The island wasn't the largest in the world, but it would certainly take weeks to explore the island on foot looking for Naraku's original village.

"We split up." Chiriko stood up. "One heading east and the other west. Piao and Shen will be in separate groups in case Naraku appears. The twins will be separate too so we can keep in touch. The rest of us can draw lots for groups."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, thinking about the plan. Nakago looked back and forth at everyone at the table. "Sounds like a good idea. Anyone want to argue?"

At first no one made a move to speak. Tomo looked as if he might have had something to say but Ashitare gave him a sharp kick under the table. "You just want to argue for the sake of arguing so just don't start." He hissed.

Tomo winced and made a face. Mitsukake rolled his eyes. Nakago tried not to notice. Chiriko hid a smirk.

"Well then, we'll draw for groups in the morning." Hotohori nodded. "We'll just finish dinner for now."

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Chiriko quickly wrote 1's and 2's on some scraps of paper and tossed them into a little bag. "Okay, let's get this over with."

Everyone took turns and pulled for their group. Chiriko watched Tomo take the 2nd to last piece of paper.

"What did you get?" She watched him unfold the paper.

"One." He crumpled the paper and put it in his pocket.

"Suzaku help me if I have to travel with you…" She glared at him before she pulled out the last paper.

"Seiryuu save me if I have to spend one more day with you." He stalked off.

She unfolded the paper and felt the color drain from her face. "Oh shit…"

"What's wrong Chiriko?" Miboshi walked up beside her.

"Everything…" She muttered.

"I'd say she just found out she's gotta travel with Tomo." Nakago smirked. "Shame we're gonna have to miss that show, eh Tasuki?"

Tasuki laughed. "I'll say! You three wanna keep us informed on them?" She looked at Piao, Miboshi and Chichiri.

Chichiri laughed. "Of course. This is too good to keep anyone out of the loop."

"Why are you people having so much fun at my expense?!" Chiriko growled.

"Sorry, but it is kinda easy." Piao smiled and shrugged.

"Oh somebody save me…" Chiriko buried her face in her hands. "This is gonna be a disaster…"

"It was your idea…" Miboshi smirked.

"I'll be in my room." Chiriko growled and stalked off.

The other women stood by and laughed.

On the other side of the boat, Nuriko and Ashitare were dealing with An Hua.

"But I wanna come with! The boat's gonna be boring if no one's around!" She looked like she was going to cry.

"An, it's one thing to come on the boat with us, but we're going to have to fight that demon woman. You could be hurt." Nuriko picked up his little sister.

An stuck her bottom lip out. "I'm not afraid of the freaky lady. She should be afraid of me!"

"An, she stronger than you think."

"I'll still beat her."

"Which is why we need you to stay here and protect the girls." Ashitare offered.

Nuriko nodded. "That's right. Momo and Kohana-ne-chan need you to watch after them."

Ah Hua stuck out her bottom lip. "Really?" The two men nodded. "Fine…I'll stay…but you two both have to bring me somethin' back."

"An, we're going out to rescue the priestesses…" Nuriko looked annoyed.

"I know that, ni-chan. You two have to bring Kohana and Momo-ne-chan back."

Ashitare laughed. "Okay An. They'll be back before you know it."

"Okay Ashi-kun!" An smiled widely, hugged them both and ran off to the priestesses' room with Hime running at her heels.

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As the ship pulled into port, Tasuki saw a rather angry dock master glaring at the sail. "Fantastic…I don't think we're gonna be able to dock here."

"Dock anyway. I'll take care of it." Nakago looked over the side of the boat at the dock master.

"What are you gonna do? Blow him up?" Tamahome muttered.

Nakago rolled her eyes. "No, but if you don't back off you'll find out what it's like to be a woman." She threatened, pointing a glowing finger at Tamahome's crotch.

Tasuki laughed after Tamahome ran off. "Well, better do whatever you're gonna do now." She kicked down the boarding ramp and started to walk down it.

As she and Nakago walked down the ramp the dock master started yelling at them. "You there! Woman! That's the Blue Phoenix, ain't it? We ain't gonna dock no bird boats here!" He growled angrily.

"Keep your pants on old man. We're staying here." Nakago stepped up next to Tasuki.

"And who the hell are you? You'd have to Seiryuu hisself let me dock a bird boat here."

"Close enough." Nakago growled back. Her symbol flashed and she launched a blast just above his head. "We're docking here."

The dock master stumbled backwards and fell over. "L…Lady Nakago! I didn't know it was you…I'm sorry milady…but what are you doin' wit' them?" He looked at Tasuki.

"Are you familiar with a spirit named Naraku?" The man nodded nervously. "We're working together to stop her from destroying the world. Is that a good enough reason for them to be here?" She loomed threateningly over the short man.

The man only managed a small nod and ran off, too afraid to hang around. Tasuki smirked and applauded. "Very impressive Nakago."

Nakago gave an exaggerated bow. "I try."

Tasuki went back up on deck to get the others. After looking at a better map of the island, Piao, Chichiri, Chiriko, Nuriko, Miboshi, Tomo, Ashitare and Amiboshi would start going east in the morning while Shen, Mitsukake, Hotohori, Tamahome, Tasuki, Suboshi, Nakago and Soi were going west.

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Chiriko hung near the back of the group while Tomo was near the front. After a time, Miboshi dropped back with her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Did Tomo do something?"

"Yeah. He was born."

"Chiriko…" Miboshi sighed.

"Well, I mean…I never did anything to him and from the moment you guys came he's been bugging me."

"I still think he likes you."

"Shut up. That's disgusting." Chiriko sneered. "Tomo is the rudest human being I've ever met!" She growled loudly.

"Yeah, you're a real piece a work yourself, smart ass!" Tomo turned around and yelled back at her.

"My name is Chiriko, you ass! C-H-I-R-I-K-O!! Get it right!" Miboshi backed away from the other female seishi, worried she was about to explode.

"Tell someone who cares!"

Chichiri and Amiboshi quietly walked off to the side. "And here I was hoping they'd work together for the sake of the world…" Chichiri rolled her eyes.

"I dunno if anything will get them to be nice to each other."

Ashitare and Nuriko joined Chichiri and Amiboshi on the side. "Just wait till one of them's in trouble. The other will come running." Ashitare muttered.

"You really think so?" Amiboshi asked.

"You think Chiriko would let anyone kill him but her?" Ashitare laughed.

Nuriko rolled his eyes. "Dear gods…this is going to be such a long trip."

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Tasuki put another log on the fire as it began to die. "Anyone seen Tama-baka?" She asked as she looked around and noticed he wasn't around.

"Probably off in the forest, breaking things." Nakago muttered as she took a drink of water.

Hotohori said nothing. He just stared into the fire. He had too much on his mind to join in the conversation.

"Of all the people to travel together…it had to be those two…" Mitsukake muttered softly while going through some medical supplies in his bag.

"What is going on amongst you people?" Soi asked as he picked up a stray package of bandages and handed them to Mitsukake.

"Thank you." He put them away. "A typical teenage love triangle. Hotohori loves Kohana more than anything, she loves him the same way and Tamahome just wants to mess it all up…"

"And I thought the Suzaku seishi didn't have fights like this."

"If only…it'll be a miracle if they both make it through this in one piece…"

"You think they'd attack each other?"

"Hotohori would never attack Tamahome…but I wouldn't put it past Tamahome. Not after the things he's said to Kohana…" Mitsukake frowned at the memories of the day he met Kohana and Tamahome.

"What a wonderfully loyal seishi…"

"No kidding…"

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Tomo was walking fairly far ahead of Chiriko. "Hey, you wanna hurry it up there, Miss Brain?"

She glared at the back of his head. "Wanna shut up there dumb ass…"

He looked back angrily. "What'd you say?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing oh wise and mighty leader."

" I never said I was the leader."

"Do you even know where we're going?"

"I said, 'I never said I was the leader'!"

Chichiri and Amiboshi just looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Well, do you? You never answered the question."

"Do any of us know where we're going?" Tomo stopped and glared at her.

Chiriko glared back. "Well of course I know where we're go---oh shit!" Chiriko suddenly tripped on a rock and went flying down the slope at the side of the trail.

Tomo burst out laughing as she went tumbling. "Smooth move!"

Chiriko screamed as she rolled until a well-placed tree stopped her. She hit it with an incredible force and dropped to the ground. "Ow…" She groaned in pain.

Tomo laughed even harder as he jogged down the hill to help. "You know, Mitsukake is in the OTHER group. Maybe you shouldn't do stuff like that."

"I'll do whatever the hell I want!" She fumed as she wiped some dirt off her pants.

Amiboshi was about to run down to help when Chichiri held his shoulder. "Let's just leave them."

"Are you sure they won't kill each other?"

"If they do, we'll blame it on a squirrel."

Amiboshi blinked a few times. "You guys are really weird.

"You could use a comb. Tomo pulled a twig out of her hair and continued to snicker.

She blushed and swatted his hand away. "St-stop it! I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

He rolled his eyes "'Cause you did such a great job when you fell."

"Why I oughta...." She looked ready to punch him in the face. "Whatever." She muttered and walked away.

"What, no retort?" He mocked but as she turned around, he looked a little concerned. 'Have I been pushing her too much?'

"Why would I want to waste the good ones on you?" She continued walking, not paying attention to where she was inadvertently leading them. After about 15 minutes of walking, she finally looked around. "Is it getting darker or are we in a cave?"

Tomo looked around for the first time and saw a spider run up the wall. He made a face. "Now you've done it. You've led us straight into a cave. As he walked, reprimanding her, he tripped on a rock and fell over. "Ow…damn floor."

Chiriko laughed and offered him a hand. "Now who's the graceful one?"

He grudgingly took her hand and pulled himself up. "Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah." She wiped her hand on her pant leg and looked back. "Think we can find our way back?"

"I dunno…we've been walking for a while…" He stared at the floor. "And I'm worried if we walk any further, the floor's gonna break and we're going to fall to miserable deaths."

"Highly unlikely." She said very matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"Falling down a sudden hole. From what I've seen of this cave, the way it's constructed it's highly unlikely that the floor would…Hey! Stop that you jackass!" She gave him a solid punch in the shoulder when she caught him making faces at her while she talked.

"Ow!" He rubbed his shoulder. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes. You're being stupid again."

"Well, you don't need to go Super Brain on me here. You could have just said, 'The floor's not gonna drop out, dumb ass'" He mimicked her voice and crossed his arms.

She punched him again. "I do not talk like that!"

"You can't prove that!" He growled.

"Would you quit being a jerk for once in your stupid life?!" She gave him a hard glare.

Tomo was about to scream back when he realized there were tears in her eyes. His glared softened. "Sorry Chiriko…I didn't mean to…"

"Leave me alone!" She screamed at him. "I'll find my own way out!" She stomped off angrily.

"Chiriko wait! I'm sorry!" He went after her.

"Leave me a---OW!" She tripped on a large rock and hit the floor. Before she could get up, the floor cracked and she fell through. Her scream echoed as she fell.

"Chiriko!!!" He just managed to see her disappear down the dark shoot. "So much for her cave explanation…" And with out another thought, he jumped down after her.

Chiriko hit the ground with an incredibly loud thud. Something also cracked underneath her. She groaned in pain and tried to push herself up. "Damn…my leg…"

A few seconds later, Tomo came shooting into the room. The floor made the same unnerving crackling noise.

"Fancy seeing you down here." He grinned.

She rolled her eyes but smiled. "Did you come all the way down here just to see me?" But her smile quickly faded when her hand rested on something hard and a little wet.

"What th…GROSS!" She jumped up as best she could. She felt something slither over her foot. "B-b-bones and snakes!"

Tomo jumped up, his back to Chiriko's. "Oh Seiryuu…I hate snakes…"

"I'm more worried about what made the bones…" She groped around for his hand. Once she found it, she gripped it tightly. He said nothing, just held on as tightly as she did. "I wanna go home now…"

Tomo was quiet for a moment. Suddenly he saw 4 glowing red eyes, "Ummmm…Chiriko?"

"Yeah?" She nervously turned in the direction he was looking.

His lip twitched a bit. "I don't suppose you know that that is…do you?" He pointed at the eyes.

She shook her head. Tomo was too terrified to move. Neither made a sound, but they were both sure the creature in the shadows could hear them anyway. Tomo felt his heart in his throat and tried to swallow it.

"Uh…This might be a bad time but I'm pretty much useless in battles…I'm really just the smart one…" As she tried to move as slowly as possible, she stepped on a particularly weak bone and broke it with a deafening crack.

The monster came flying at them out of the shadows. It looked like a strange cross between a bear and a spider. It was about 3 meters tall and had at least 4 arms, possibly more. The roar it made was unlike anything they'd ever heard before. It lunged at Chiriko.

She screamed and tried to run as best she could on a bad leg but she didn't make it that far before her leg gave out and she fell.

The monster was about to kill her when Tomo grabbed the closest bone and whipped it at the things head. "Come on, ugly! Over here!"

"Tomo! What the hell are you doing?! You're gonna get killed!" Chiriko pulled herself up and started after him.

"Chiriko, just go! Find a way out!" Tomo jumped from place to place, desperately trying to distract it.

"I don't know if there is a way out!" She frantically looked around the cavern but couldn't see anything.

"Fine. We'll let this thing lead up out. Get up against the wall." She didn't know what he was planning, but complied. He cast illusions of the wall over the two of them and made them seem invisible. The creature growled and looked around, confused that its dinner and dessert had suddenly gone missing. It ran out of the cavern, thinking they had escaped.

Once the thing was gone, Tomo dropped the illusions. "Come on, let's go." He began to walk in the direction the creature had gone.

Chiriko was silent for a moment. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" A panicked expression appeared on his face.

"I can't walk. That fall really messed up my ankle." She whispered, on the verge of tears.

Tomo walked over to her. "Is it broken?"

"I think so." Tomo sighed and picked her up. "Wh-what are you doing?" She squeaked.

"Either we both get out or neither of us do. I can't leave without you." He began walking, careful to avoid any more bones on the floor.

Chiriko blushed a deep shade of red. "I'm just going to slow you down…"

"We're supposed to be working together. Friends don't leave friends behind."

Chiriko looked up at his face. He wasn't looking at her. He just looked very determined to get them both out safely. She just curled up in his arms and stayed silent.

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Ummm…hi…I'm back. Jeez…it's been like two months I know…but my teachers always get really stupid at the end of the year. Suddenly the light bulb comes on and they realize we have 2 weeks of school left and 13 chapters in the book to get through. So yeah…I was really swamped and that brought on the worst case of writers' block ever. I wouldn't blame you guys for being mad if you are. But summer's here now and I can get back to work if you guys want me to.

Shadow Hawk