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 20: Shattered Prison
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
-Conversations between twins-
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"Well, well…imagine that…Seiryuu and Suzaku seishi working together…" The elder mused after hearing the seishis' tale. "Never thought I'd see the day…" She was mixing something in a bowl. "And fighting amongst the Suzaku seishi…"
Mitsukake was wrapping up the still unconscious Tamahome's arm. "Well, can you help us? We can't fight Naraku as long as Tamahome keeps trying to kill Hotohori."
"What do you think I'm mixing here?" She pulled some powder off a shelf and mixed it into the bowl. "Memory drugs. It won't last forever through. Eventually he will remember who he hates."
"Whatever you can do is enough." Hotohori spoke calmly. "What can you tell us about Naraku?"
"You're looking for a way to free your priestesses from her mirror, yes?" They nodded. "The spell needed for that is in one of the ancient spell books left by Naraku's sister. Supposedly those books were lost a century or so ago, but there are those who say the books still exist, kept safely hidden in her village." The elder took out a map and drew a circle. "This is the general area she lived in. Those books are somewhere around here…so legends say that is."
"Do we really want to work off a legend?" Soi raised an eyebrow.
"What other choice do we have?" Tasuki muttered. "Wander around this damn island or at least start with a basis."
"Suboshi." Nakago looked at the younger twin. "Get a hold of your brother and find out where they are. They're closer to that area than we are…and tell them what happened here…" She then looked over at Tamahome.
Suboshi nodded. "Okay…"
"And find out if Chiriko's been careful about where she falls." Mitsukake added. Earlier that week he couldn't believe it when Chichiri brought her to him and he found out she had managed to break her ankle so soon.
"Uh huh."
Tamahome then started to stir. Everyone fell silent. He groaned in pain when he tried to move his arm. "Wh-where am I?" As his vision cleared he saw a number of only vaguely familiar faces. "What's going on?"
"You had a run in with one of Naraku's demons, Tamahome." The elder stepped forward. "You're lucky your friends were around to help."
He closed his eyes, trying to remember what happened. His mind pieced together the image of Hotohori, Shen, Tasuki and him fighting a fire-breathing demon. "Right…I remember now…what happened to the demon?"
"Naraku called it off before we could kill it. But you and Hotohori weren't in any shape to fight anyway." Tasuki put his hand on his shoulder. "Mitsukake will fix you up in the morning."
He looked over at Nakago, Soi and Suboshi. "Why are they…?"
"Naraku has their priestess too, remember?" Hotohori said. "We'll be working together until we're rid of Naraku."
"Okay…I think I remember that part too…" He nodded. "So where are we going now?"
"We're headed northeast. Legends say that's where Naraku lived and died." Hotohori answered.
"Alright. Sounds good. Let's go." He sat up.
"You sure you don't want to wait until Mitsukake's powers are back?" Tasuki asked.
"It's my arm that's hurt. Not my legs. I can make it."
Tasuki shrugged. Suboshi looked up from his arm. "Amiboshi says they haven't found anything where they were so they'll just head straight for that northeast area…and Chiriko says you're being a jerk, Mitsukake." Suboshi rolled his eyes and held up his hand with Chiriko's message on it.
Mitsukake chuckled. "Had a feeling she would. Should we leave here then?"
"The less time wasted the better." Nakago was already headed for the door.
"Well, I wish all of you the best of luck. To be rid of Naraku would be a dream come true for this island." She looked over at Nakago. "Lady Nakago?"
"What?" She stopped for a brief moment.
"Take care of yourself."
Everyone stared at either Nakago or the elder. Nakago's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing ma'am. You can never be too careful around here." The elder smiled.
"Whatever." Nakago spun around and left the house.
Everyone stared at each other in confusion. Soi was the next one to leave the house. He followed Nakago. "Nakago?"
"What?"
"Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine. Don't worry about it."
"Tasuki said you were acting funny awhile ago…"
"Funny?" Nakago tensed. "Funny how?"
"She didn't say. She seemed a little worried about you."
"Well, nothing's wrong. She's worried about nothing."
"You're sure?"
"I'm sure."
"If you say so…" By now everyone else had come out of the house. Soi let it go.
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Ashitare was half sleep. Everyone else was sitting around the fire.
Miboshi leaned her head back on the log she was sitting against and sighed.
"Tired?" Nuriko sat down next to her.
"Bored." She looked up at him. "Ever since Chiriko's fall, nothing particularly interesting has happened."
"I'm not too upset nothing's happened. I figure everything's really gonna heat up once we find those spell books."
"I guess so." She swirled her finger in the dirt. "But even a little excitement wouldn't hurt."
"You sound like you prefer war to peace."
"War means I'm needed." She shrugged.
"Come on now. Don't be so depressing."
"I have a young woman without a family. Being a seishi is the only thing that saves me from living on the street, you know?" She brushed a short strand of hair behind her ear.
"Miboshi…" Nuriko wanted to say more, but he also knew she was right.
"Hey, I've learned to deal with it. Don't worry about it…"
"Tomo! Get yer ass outta my seat!" Chiriko shoved him to the side.
"I was not sitting in your seat!" He shoved back.
"Yes you were!" She growled at him. "Why'd you have to sit over here anyway?"
"There was no more room!" He snapped back.
Ashitare growled as he woke up. "You know, some of us are sick of your arguing. And it's late. Do you mind?"
"Shut up Ashitare. No one was talking to you." Tomo muttered.
Ashitare rolled his eyes. "I'm going to sleep now. If I wake up because of you two, you'll be lucky if you make it to those villages in one piece." He got up to go to the sleeping bags.
Suddenly Tomo wrapped his arm around Chiriko and pulled her close. Chiriko turned bright red. "TOMO! What the hell are you doing! Let go of me!"
All eyes turned to the couple. "I…I can't!" He squeaked out, embarrassed.
"What do you mean you can't?" She tried to shove him off but he held fast. Ashitare, Chichiri and Amiboshi couldn't help but laugh.
Nuriko looked over at Miboshi. She had a small smirk on her face. "Miboshi, what are you…?"
Tomo turned over to Miboshi. "Miboshi! You're doing this aren't you?" He glared at the mind controller
"But you two look so cute together. I thought I'd help out." She giggled.
"Miboshi! Make him let me go!" Chiriko's face was bright red.
Ashitare came back over to the fire. "You two don't look all that uncomfortable…"
"Didn't I say shut up?" Tomo hissed. "Miboshi, if you don't give me control of my body back I swear I'll…"
"You'll do what? You're stuck right now." She laughed.
"Please Miboshi! This is really embarrassing!" Chiriko tried to squirm away.
"Seems too cute to let it stop." Chichiri laughed.
Miboshi yawned. "Well, I'm getting too tired to keep this up so I guess I'll let you go." She waved her hand and Tomo pulled his arm away from Chiriko.
Chiriko scrambled to her feet and ran back to the sleeping bags. Tomo left almost as quickly. Amiboshi left next. "See you guys in the morning."
Ashitare, Piao and Chichiri went off to bed a few minutes later. Nuriko picked up a bucket and put the fire out. Miboshi stood up and started to walk away. "Good night Nuriko."
"Hey Miboshi?" He put the bucket down and followed her.
"Yeah?"
"How long exactly were you making Tomo hold onto Chiriko?"
She shrugged. "I dunno…a couple seconds maybe. He did most of it on his own."
Nuriko smiled. "Thought so."
She smiled. "We needed a little excitement."
He chuckled. "It was pretty funny." He climbed into his sleeping bag. "Night Miboshi."
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It took a week for Chichiri's group to reach the group of villages so that they could regroup. Within the next week they went through about half the villages in the area. Upon reaching what seemed like the smallest village in the area, they were immediately greeted by the village elder and his attendants.
"Welcome everyone. We've been waiting for you, children." He was looking at Piao and Shen.
"You have?" Shen raised an eyebrow.
"Yes we have. Come in and we'll give you what you came here for." The elder turned around and walked into town.
Everyone looked at each other, confused as to how the elder could have known they were coming. They stood there for a moment. Piao was the first one to start walking.
Miboshi grabbed her arm. "Are you sure it's okay?"
She nodded. "It feels okay…"
"It…feels okay?" Chiriko looked to where the elder disappeared.
Piao nodded again. "If I could describe it, I would. But I can't really…"
Miboshi let go of her arm and let her walk. Shen walked next to her and everyone else walked behind them.
The elder's home was dimly lit. Wisps of smoke from incense seemed to loop around everything. In one corner of the house was a locked wooden chest. A bow and quiver of arrows leaned against the chest. The elder invited them to sit on mats around the room. They quietly arranged themselves in the large room.
"You've come for the spell books to fight Naraku, yes?" It wasn't really a question.
Shen nodded. "Are they really here?"
He looked to the wooden chest in the corner. "They're in that chest. The keys are gone but I'm sure one of you could open it up anyway."
"Is it…magically guarded?" Tamahome looked cautiously at the box.
"No…doesn't seem to be anyway."
Nuriko rolled his eyes. "Comforting." He got up and knelt next to the chest. "Here's hoping this doesn't blow up in my face." First he moved the bow and arrows. Then he held one hand on the front of the chest and yanked the lid up with the other. The lock cracked rather loudly. He held his breath for a moment, waiting to see if anything would backfire on him. When all remained silent, he fully opened the chest.
He stared at the books in the chest. Both were large black books imprinted with intricate patterns. Nuriko looked over at Piao and Shen. "Well, guess it's up to you two now."
As soon as Piao and Shen picked up the books an explosion rocked through the village. Everyone rushed to the windows and doors. Outside Naraku floated ominously above the town, with a small troupe of demons at her calling. People ran screaming from the area. As a young man ran passed the seishi, Naraku flung a fireball at him, reducing the boy to a pile of ashes. Her laughter echoed through the entire town.
"You know, I hate to be a downer, but how the hell are we supposed to beat her?" Ashitare moved away from the window. "Spells or no, that's one tough bitch…"
"Well, we can't just stand by while she destroys everything here." Hotohori's words were nearly lost in another explosion. He cringed. "Piao, Shen, see what you can do with those books. We'll keep her occupied."
Piao and Shen began looking through the books as the seishi left. Chiriko hung back slightly, unsure of what she should do.
"Hey, you coming or what?" Tomo looked over his shoulder, ready to yell at her.
She stared out the window. "Why bother? I'm pretty useless here. I can't fight her or her demons…"
Tomo wasn't sure what to do now either. He knew he couldn't really refute what she said even though he wanted to.
"Wait Chiriko." Piao touched her shoulder.
"What?"
"I think you can fight her. You told me one time that you used to practice archery when your parents weren't around. Do you still know how to fire a bow and arrow?"
She shrugged. "Yeah…you never forget really. But what's that got to do with this?"
"I have a plan. Listen up. Tomo, you come here too." Piao pulled the two seishi over and began to speak.
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Nuriko, Ashitare and Amiboshi were backed into a small corner by one of Naraku's giant wolf demons. Amiboshi stared in dismay at his flute, accidentally left somewhere behind the wolf creature. Ashitare no longer had the energy to turn into a wolf to fight back. Nuriko's left arm was dislocated and he was just tired in general. They stared at the demon's gaping maw wondering which one of them it would eat first.
As its giant teeth went for Nuriko's head, he got ready to attack one last time. But it stopped in front of him. Ashitare and Amiboshi stared at the still creature. "What the…?"
"Would you three move it!" Miboshi suddenly snapped at them. "I can't hold this thing forever!" She held one hand against her head and the other pointed at the wolf.
"Miboshi, what are you doing?" Amiboshi asked as the three boys ran from the corner.
"It's got just enough of a mind to control. But Naraku is a lot better at controlling…" Her words were cut off by a loud cry. She nearly passed out from pain when her control of the creature snapped and it turned on her.
"Stay out of my pet's mind, girl!" Naraku hissed at Miboshi. "Get her!" She ordered the wolf demon on the half unconscious girl.
"Miboshi!" Nuriko watched in horror as the wolf charged at her, head down, full speed. He heard her grunt in pain as she bounced off its head and went skidding into a fallen out building.
Forgetting his own injuries, Nuriko went after the wolf while Ashitare went to find Miboshi. Amiboshi ran to collect his flute and help Chichiri and Tasuki with more wolf demons.
"Miboshi? Can you hear me?" Ashitare lifted up part of a fallen overhang.
"Ugh…" Miboshi brushed a strand of blood soaked green hair out of her face.
Ashitare pulled her out of the rubble. "You still alive there?"
"Barely." She leaned against him. "Where's the thing?" She looked around for the demon.
Before Ashitare could answer, a bright flash of red caught his eye as Nuriko hurled the wolf demon into the one that Chichiri, Tasuki and Amiboshi were fighting. "I think that was it…"
Miboshi stared at Nuriko in shock. "But he's so hurt…"
"He got really mad when you got hit."
"He did?" She tried to look up at him but winced in pain when she did.
"Yeah. Come on. We better move from here. We're sitting ducks." He picked her up and ran from the fallen building just as another energy blast landed in the rubble.
Nakago contended with one on her own. It was practically on top of her. She couldn't get a hand free to blast it. A flash of silver was all she caught before the wolf reared back and howled in pain. She quickly rolled away before it came back down on top of her.
She shook away the dizziness that had led her to be caught under the demon and saw why it had suddenly let her up. There was a bloody gash down the creature's left side. Hotohori stood behind the creature with his bloody sword in hand.
"I suppose I owe you now, don't I?"
"I didn't do it to get a favor from you later. I saw you stumble and thought I should help."
Nakago was about to speak again when the wolf recovered from its wound and turned on them again. It began its charge.
"Rekka Shin'en!"
"Hakujin Raiho!"
A stream of electrically charged fire turned the demon into a smoldering pile of ashes.
"You two can bicker later. If you didn't notice, we're a bit over run here." Tasuki pulled a knife out of her coat and threw it straight into the mouth of another beast. "Has anyone seen Chiriko or Tomo?"
Chichiri blasted another wolf. "Didn't they come out with us?"
"I thought so, but now I haven't seen them…Piao and Shen haven't shown up either…"
"Your little friends are smart not to be out here." Naraku held up her black mirror. "They know you're all going to die."
"Shut it you bitch! I'm so sick of you!" Tasuki barked at the floating spirit.
Naraku laughed. "Well, I suppose you'll be the next one to join the priestesses here since I'm sick of you too." She pointed the mirror at Tasuki.
Suddenly, an arrow went zooming past Naraku's face. Naraku and all the other seishi whirled to face the direction the arrow came from. Chiriko was perched on a rooftop, bow in hand. She was already fitting the bow with another arrow.
"Stupid girl. You can't hurt me with that thing."
"I know." She smiled. "But I really wasn't aiming for you."
Naraku's eyes narrowed. "You're more eager to die than your friends aren't you?" She turned the black mirror on Chiriko. "Fine. You can go next instead."
A white clawed hand came shooting out of the darkness, straight for her. She didn't move. Tasuki's face paled. "Chiriko, you little stooge! What the hell are you doing?"
As the hand reached her, she disappeared in a puff of smoke with a smirk on her face. Everyone stood still. Mitsukake was the first to speak after a moment. "Tomo…"
Suddenly two more images of Chiriko appeared on other rooftops. "Come on now. You can aim better right?"
Naraku let out an infuriated scream. "You'll pay for this girl!" She let loose more bolts of energy but for every image of Chiriko that disappeared, two more would appear.
Naraku was too angry to speak. All she did was scream whenever more images of Chiriko appeared. Nakago studied the images, trying to figure out which, if any, were the real Chiriko.
A sudden flash of silver answered their dilemma. On the ground about 50 meters away, Chiriko had just fired another arrow straight at Naraku's mirror. But it wasn't an ordinary arrow. The arrow had pierced straight through the mirror and crackled with a strange energy.
Naraku stared at the arrowhead in disbelief. "How could you have…?"
"Wasn't really me." She smirked. "I'd blame would-be nephew for this one. He made the arrow."
Naraku was about to scream again when a soft chant filled the air. Fear flashed through her eyes for a quick instant. She recognized the words and she swore it was her sister speaking them instead of Piaoliang. Naraku tried to throw the mirror away but it seemed stuck in her hands.
Everyone watched in awe as the mirror exploded and engulfed the surrounding area in a ball of white light. One by one wisps of light flew out of the ball. Each wisp had a vaguely human shape to it.
Chichiri shivered as one of them passed by her. "The souls…Suzaku…how many of them were there?"
"Almost one thousand…" Shen answered quietly. "If she had captured one thousand, we'd probably all be dead already."
A few more minutes of silence passed by while souls continued to fly by. Finally the last of the souls were flying away. While most of the other souls flew away, two stayed nearby, one tinted red and the other blue.
Suboshi stared at the blue soul as it took on a more definite shape. "Momo…" The blue figure turned to him and smiled.
The red figure hovered near Hotohori. It didn't do much. It just winked at him and flew off in the direction of the boat. He smiled.
The blue soul quickly followed.
Tamahome watched them disappear. "Were those the priestesses?"
Chichiri nodded. "Yep. They should be fine now…"
"Chichiri, you should go back to the boat just to be sure. None of the rest of us are really in good enough shape to travel at the moment. Tell them what's happened here."
"Everything?" Chichiri arched an eyebrow.
"Everything." He nodded.
"Alright. I'll be back later then." Chichiri disappeared in a puff of smoke.
A sudden scream from Naraku jolted everyone to attention. They had nearly forgotten she was there. She looked slightly older, a little more tired. "You'll all die miserable deaths for this!"
"Why don't you just admit you've lost?" Tasuki yelled. "We're gonna to beat you."
Naraku dragged herself to her feet. She glared at Tasuki. "But will the victory be worth it? I won't go down alone." She raised her hand and pointed it at Tasuki.
Everyone got into a defensive stance. But Naraku didn't fire at Tasuki. Instead she whipped around and shot at Chiriko who was a good distance away from everyone else. Then she disappeared in an explosion of black flames.
Chiriko's brain screamed for her to run but her feet wouldn't move. She closed her eyes when felt something crash into her body. She felt dazed and really couldn't register what hit her.
Tasuki caught a glimpse of something next to Chiriko before they disappeared behind a building. "I'll see if she's okay." Tasuki ran off to find the younger girl.
She turned the corner and saw Chiriko on the ground with someone next to her. After a moment she recognized the other person as Tomo. 'Well…this'll be interesting…' She ducked behind another close by building to hear what Chiriko was going to say.
"Chiriko…" Tomo gently nudged her. "You okay?"
Chiriko kept her eyes closed for a moment. "Ugh…" The first thing she saw when she finally opened them was Tomo's concerned gray eyes. "Tomo? You saved me?"
The concern suddenly fled from his eyes. "Don't expect me to make a habit out of it." He got up and dusted off his pants.
Chiriko pushed herself into a sitting position. "How can I not?"
He looked down at her. "What are you talking about?"
"You have made a habit out of saving me." She got to her feet.
"I have not!"
"You have so! You're always there when I need someone" She counted on her fingers. "The cave, the men outside the cave, the doctor, the storm and now this. Why do you keep saving me if you hate me so much?"
Tomo said nothing for a moment. He turned around. "Let's go rejoin the others."
"No." She didn't move.
"I'm not moving till you tell me what's up with you."
"Fine…" He muttered under his breath. "You really want to know why I am the way I am?"
"Yeah I do. Maybe it would help me understand you a little more." She crossed her arms.
Tasuki watched in shock as Tomo suddenly grabbed the shorter girl and kissed her. 'I knew he liked her…'
Chiriko's eyes widened as her arms fell to her sides. Tomo brushed his fingers against her cheek. "I love you Chiriko…" He murmured softly. "I don't know how else to act…"
Chiriko didn't move. She could barely breathe. She tried to find a lie in his eyes, waited for him to laugh in her face and say he was kidding. But she found none and he never laughed.
"You…you're serious, aren't you?"
"Yes…I wouldn't lie about this…"
Chiriko couldn't find her voice again. She just stared at the ground.
Tomo let out a quiet sigh. 'Well…what did I think she'd do? Jump in my arms and say she feels the same way? Who am I kidding? She doesn't love me…who the hell was I kidding?' He stared up at the sky, wishing he could just disappear and never come back.
Tasuki sighed and walked out from behind the building. "Hey! Are you two okay?"
They both jerked a bit. Chiriko looked completely relieved. "Yeah! We're fine." She hurried over to the other female seishi. "Just fine."
"Yeah…fine…" Tomo muttered and walked away.
Tasuki looked down at Chiriko. "You sure you're fine?" 'I wish I could have heard what he said after he kissed her…'
"Yeah. Of course we're fine. Never better…" She gave Tasuki a halfhearted smile.
"Hmm…well, come on. The others are waiting." Tasuki slung her arm over Chiriko's shoulder. "So where'd you learn how to shoot like that?"
Chiriko smiled at the subject change. "Oh…around. And I was always a bit of a natural born archer."
"Think it might be from being a seishi?"
She shrugged. "I dunno…I always thought it was just being smart, but I suppose there could be more to being Chiriko."
Tasuki smiled and led Chiriko back to the others. 'Well…I'm going to find out what happened here if it kills me…it's too good to pass up…'
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An Hua was standing on deck with Ryuuji and Hime. She looked up at the tall pirate. "Are they gonna come back soon?" She ran her fingers over Hime's fur.
"I hope so, kid. I'm startin' to worry about 'em…" He sighed.
She stared out at the island for a moment. Suddenly she saw some of the white wisps that had come from the mirror. "What're those?"
Ryuuji pushed An behind his leg. "I'm not sure…"
The wisps went soaring over the boat and off to points unknown. Then the blue and red wisps came to the boat. Hime meowed loudly at the sight of them. An smiled widely.
"Kohana and Momo-ne-chan!"
"What?" Ryuuji stared at the wisps. "How can you tell?"
"I just know!" She, with Hime at her heels, ran after the wisps as they went below deck.
Ryuuji didn't know what else to do other than follow. They rushed down to the room where Kohana and Momo were. Ryuuji opened the door.
Kohana was already sitting up, eyes wide. Momo was a little slower. She was lying on the bed, eyes open breathing normally.
"Kohana-ne-chan!" An grinned and ran over to the priestess, jumping into her lap.
Kohana smiled and swept the little girl into a hug. "An! Oh it's so good to see you!"
Ryuuji went to Momo's side. "How do you feel Lady Momo?"
Momo slowly sat up. "Wh…where am I? Who are you?" She stared up at the gold-eyed man she'd never seen before in her life.
"You're on the Blue Phoenix. I'm one of the crew members here." He helped her into a more comfortable position.
Momo looked around the room and saw Kohana and An. "Kohana…"
Kohana looked over at the other girl. "Looks like we made it out, huh?"
Momo shivered a little. "Yeah…" An suddenly got out of Kohana's hug and went to hug Momo. She blinked a few times. "Wh…what?"
An smiled. "You looked like you needed a hug. I'm An Hua. Nuriko's my big brother and Ashi-kun is my puppy."
Momo and Kohana stared at each other. Momo looked down at An again. "Ashi-kun? You mean…Ashitare?"
"Yeah. Him. He plays games with me. Dress-up is his favorite." She giggled.
Kohana was about to ask another question when the door opened again. "Chichiri!"
The woman hurried over to her priestess and hugged her. "Thank Suzaku you're okay…"
"What happened? Where is everyone? And why is one of Momo's seishi An's new playmate?"
Chichiri smiled. "Well…it's a long story. Ryuuji, can you get us some drinks? This is gonna take a while."
He smiled and nodded. "Sure. Be right back."
Chichiri made herself comfortable on the bed. "Well, I guess I'll start with what happened after you two were captured…that was a very interesting night…"
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Just in case anyone isn't aware of it, I do have a picture of Nakago for whoever wants to see it.
-Shadow Hawk