Disclaimer: Well. :stacks two OVA series, four episodes, four CDs, seven manga, and several hundred image files into a pile: THIS :points: is all I own of Fushigi Yugi. Just this. And I don't own the rights to it. Just … the things themselves. :weeps profusely, wishing she had the money to own more than the measly little stack: Oh, and this. :pulls out a hand-made pillow with a picture of chibi Chichiri and Lai Lai on it: Betchya don't have one of THESE. :huggles pillow:

Note: I want to apologize for both the rather graphic nature of the last chapter and for Tasuki's language… Should have put some warning at the beginning, but I didn't think of it until now. So, maybe I should warn you now, there's a bit more of it in this chapter.

Chapter 5: Betrayal by Chi

Being on the track team at school, Riana had never thought of walking as hard work. Running ten miles in cross-country was hard work. But after spending day after day on her feet, she was getting tired. Granted, those first couple days, walking all night to reach that first village inside Hong-Nan and not getting to rest until the end of her first day traveling with Ji-Shin, had been the hardest. But a break, a single day of no walking, was sounding really, really good right about now. She prayed she wasn't the only one who thought so, because there was no way she would be the one to suggest it.

Watching Ji-Shin, she got the distinct impression she wasn't.

Nor was she the only one to notice the youngest Seishi's flagging spirits. Two days after Houshun's first successful hunting trip, in which time he'd killed two more rabbits and three squirrels, Xaioh called a halt early in the afternoon. Ji-Shin immediately plopped onto the ground and starting rubbing his calves and ankles. They hadn't been going very quickly, but would keep moving from the time they woke until they halted for the night with almost no stops. It wasn't the easiest pace in the world to keep up.

Xaioh watched him for a moment. "I think," he said at last, "it would be wise for us to stop for a while."

"Fer what, ten minutes?" Liang was apparently none too happy either.

Ryu-Sen shook his head. "I think he means more along the lines of for the day."

Houshun couldn't help it. He sighed with relief and leaned back against a tree. This pushed the kasa, which he had taken to wearing to keep off the sun, down over his face. "Thank you, Suzaku!"

Smiling, Xaioh shook his head. "Actually, I mean for the rest of today and tomorrow."

"Please tell me you aren't joking." Ji-Shin looked so hopeful it was almost comic.

"Not at all. I doubt our arriving in Eiyo a few days later would make much difference. It would give us all a chance to recover from the pace we have kept so far, and, if he is willing, perhaps tomorrow Houshun could try for some larger game. If we remain here until afternoon on the next day, that would give us time to prepare the meat so we can carry it with us."

Houshun hooked a thumb under the rim of the kasa and pushed it up to peer at Xaioh. "I think I could manage to find us a deer or something." After a moment's thought he shoved away from the tree and slung his pack to the ground. "Actually, if you guys want to start setting up camp, I'll go see what I can do about food right now."

"We prob'ly shouldn' camp here. We're gonna need water close by." Why did logic sound so surprising coming from Liang?

"Good point. You and I can see about finding a good site while he's hunting, and Xaioh and Ji-Shin can hold the fort here until we all get back."

"An excellent arrangement," Ji-Shin said, and flopped onto his back.

"Just be careful, you three," Xaioh warned. "We may still be in the territory of those bandits."

Houshun sketched a cheery salute, gathered up his hunting gear and a coil of rope, and headed out into the woods.

Two hours later, Riana was standing over the body of an enormous stag, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do now. She couldn't carry the thing, and wasn't even sure she had the strength to drag it very far. Trying to remember what she had seen her father do when he'd still hunted, she lashed its legs together and threw the rope over a high tree branch. She then hauled on the rope, practically lifting herself off the ground in her attempts to raise the stag. No luck. It weighed more than she did.

Attempting to remember the laws of physics and simple machines didn't help much either. That had not been her best subject. Finally, she tried looping the rope under an exposed root, allowing her to pull up on the rope instead of down. Bracing her feet against the root, she gripped the rope near the ground and pushed herself upright, using her thighs instead of her arms, bringing the rope with her. This was far more effective. It took a while, but she finally raised the deer completely off the ground. Now she would be able to gut it more easily.

Once that was accomplished, she went back to the rope and pulled the stag even higher, until it was above her head. This served the dual purpose of letting the blood run out and, hopefully, putting it above the reach of most ground scavengers. There wasn't much she could do about birds. She buried the entrails a good distance away from her kill and headed back to find the others and get some help carrying the carcass.

By the time she figured out which direction to go and made it back, she had killed three rabbits for dinner. Liang and Ryu-Sen had returned over an hour ago, and when they saw Houshun carrying only three rabbits, Liang immediately started snickering.

"We've been waitin' all this time fer that? Shit, man…couldn' ya find anythin' a little bigger?"

Houshun just smiled and handed the rabbits over to Ji-Shin, who'd become their unofficial cook. "These are for tonight. Ryu-Sen, could you come with me? I have a project requiring your particular…strengths."

"Oh? Alright."

He followed Houshun back to where the deer hung. Houshun laughed, watching Ryu-Sen's violet eyes grow hugely round as he started up at the thing.

"Well now I see why you wanted my help. This is one big deer. How the heck did you get it up there?"

"It wasn't easy, that's for sure." Houshun rubbed his lower back and stretched a little. "I'm probably going to be sore in the morning."

"I wouldn't be surprised. Here, let's get this guy down." Ryu-Sen pulled on the rope to give Houshun enough slack to untie it, then lowered it carefully to the ground. He eyed the carcass, his lips curled just slightly in disgust. "This is really going to mess up my clothes."

Houshun fell over where he had bent to untie the stag's legs. How could he be so damn concerned with his appearance when they were out in the middle of nowhere? "Gods, Ryu-Sen, just carry the blasted thing already. There's a stream near our camp, right? You can soak the blood off as soon as we get there."

He tipped his purple head and considered this. "True." And he slung the dead deer up over one shoulder as if it weighed no more than a rag doll. Houshun just stared for a moment, then followed numbly after him.

The clearing Liang and Ryu-Sen had chosen for their campsite was a little glade a stone's throw away from a small, clear stream. A fire pit in the center of the area gave evidence to its being used by travelers in the past – something Ryu-Sen mentioned had influenced their choice. If it commonly hosted travelers, then it must be a fairly safe location. Houshun wasn't so certain, but with the forest being rather sparse around the clearing, they wouldn't need to be concerned about ambush. He held his tongue.

While Ji-Shin roasted the rabbits and some of the venison, Ryu-Sen and Liang cut the rest of the meat into thin strips. Xaioh hung these on a long stick over a larger fire than their cooking fire, allowing the meat to slowly cook and dry. Houshun, having begged off anything arduous after his hunting, merely tended the two fires, making sure their jerky was thoroughly smoked. They would allow that fire to burn throughout the night, and for the first time set night watches, so as not to accidentally burn the forest down.

After dinner they drew lots on watches and laid out their bedrolls. Purple dusk faded into blue-black night as the stars appeared overhead. There was little conversation; everyone just wanted to sleep. Houshun sat near the fire – he had drawn first watch – and stared up at the sky. A sigh of deep contentment escaped his lips.

"The stars just aren't like this at home."

Behind him, Ryu-Sen muttered an incoherent reply, but the others were asleep. Houshun arched an eyebrow, smiling a little.

A breeze picked up, tapping Riana's shoulder as she turned her attention skyward again. First was the easiest watch, in her opinion. The fire wouldn't need too much tending at this point, and though she was fully as tired as her Seishi, she couldn't bring herself to think of sleep just yet. Though that would probably change in a couple hours.

She decided to risk letting her hair down for a bit while the others slept. Fetching a comb from her pack, she unbound her bun and gently began straightening the twisted mess, wincing every time something touched her scalp. I need to take this bun out more often – maybe then it wouldn't hurt so badly. Gradually the pain eased, and soon her hair hung in its usual ordered waves to her waist. The wind felt wonderful, running its ethereal fingers through the soft strands.

Fortunately, no clouds hid the stars, so she was able to gauge fairly accurately the length of her watch. But its ending presented a different sort of difficulty. Liang had the next watch. She knew from watching Ryu-Sen wake him in the mornings that it was not an enviable – or safe – task. After a few moments' quiet consideration, Riana fetched a stick from the pile of firewood.

From about three feet away, Houshun prodded Liang sharply in the back with a branch. Liang twitched violently, but didn't wake. Another poke. The Seishi grumbled in his sleep, a long, low growl. Houshun sighed in disgust. This time he brought the stick down sharply on the side of Liang's head with just enough force to hurt. Liang swarmed out of his bedroll, flailing in all directions. He managed to catch the branch, and swung it blindly in a glancing blow to Houshun's face. Houshun bit back a yelp, afraid they would wake the others.

"Liang, wake up!" he hissed.

Liang froze, and finally took stock of his surroundings. When his eyes fell on Houshun, his jaw dropped. "Who th' hell are you?"

"Who – what?" He stared at the Seishi, momentarily at a complete loss. Oh…the hair, of course. That would confuse him, wouldn't it? "Liang, it's me. You have next watch, remember?"

"Houshun?"

He nodded, feeling like he was dealing with a small child. "Quiet down or you'll wake everyone."

"Right, right." Glancing suspiciously at his Priest, he made his way over to sit near the fire. "Damn. With that hair, man, ya look just like a girl…"

Houshun snorted. "Why do you think I keep it tied up?"

"You should cut it or somethin'. It's worse than Xaioh's!"

Worse how? "Drop it, Liang." Houshun sat on his bedroll and twisted his long hair back up into its knot. Then he pulled out a cloth and dabbed it against the gash running down his left cheekbone.

"What the hell d'ya do to yer face?"

"Liang?" Houshun said as he curled into his bedroll.

"What?"

"Shut up."

Riana woke early the next morning and lay staring up at the trees for several minutes. Something had woken her, but she couldn't sense anything. She rolled over, expecting to see Xaioh sitting near the fire – he had the morning watch – but he wasn't there. Frowning, she sat up and looked around. Xaioh sat on a fallen log to one side of their camp, staring, not at the fire he was to be tending, but out into the woods. Something in his expression frightened her. He looked darkly troubled, and briefly she struggled with the impulse to go put an arm around his shoulders and find out what was wrong. For the first time, she found it terribly difficult to maintain her disguise. After a moment of intense concentration, it was Houshun who finally walked over to the Seishi.

He crouched beside Xaioh. "What is it?"

Poor Xaioh nearly leapt right out of his skin. "Brightest Suzaku – don't do that!"

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were that focused." He joined Xaioh on the log and rested his elbows on his knees. "Is something out there?"

Running a hand through his chestnut hair, still trying to collect himself, Xaioh didn't answer right away. "I am not certain," he said at last. "Something caught my attention about an hour ago, but there has been no sign of anything since. Still…listen."

Houshun complied. "I don't hear anything."

"Precisely. No birds, no squirrels chittering, no insects – nothing."

"Too quiet, you mean."

Xaioh nodded.

Blood pounded loudly in Riana's ears and slowly turned to ice in her veins as she strained her ears for any wisp of sound. He was right – there had never yet been a morning that she wasn't awakened by the morning birds long before it was actually time to get up. But not today.

Slowly, Houshun stood and retrieved his bow. He left it unstrung, but returned to sit watch with Xaioh until the others woke.

The silence broke after a short while, however. Whatever caused it must have moved on. Feeling somewhat silly, Houshun stoked the smoke-fire, rekindled the dinner-fire, and put some water on to boil for morning tea. Neither he nor Xaioh mentioned their early-morning paranoia to the other Seishi, and if the two of them were a little more alert than usual, no paid enough notice to mention it.

Breakfast was leftover rabbit stew – of which there was quite a bit, since most of them had opted for venison last night – and Ji-Shin was bold enough to be the first to taste the dried venison. He pronounced it quite good, and dry enough to last them at least until they reached the capitol without spoiling. Liang put out the large fire, added the larger partially-burned logs to their wood-pile, and buried the rest of the ashes. While he took care of the fire, the others bound the strips of meat together with twine, wrapped them in some thin cloth Ryu-Sen and Xaioh had left from several rolls of cheese they had bought on the way out of the capitol, and stowed them in their packs. That finished, the five of them were finally able to relax for a bit. Being able to just sit around and wait for lunchtime came as an immense relief. Houshun pulled the kasa over his head for a brief doze.

But the peace was not to last.

A distant, shrill scream interrupted their lunch. For maybe three heartbeats everyone froze, heads turned toward the sound. Liang and Ryu-Sen took off, heedless of Xaioh's shout for caution. Houshun was half a second behind his Seishi, slinging himself into his quiver and grabbing his bow before darting out of the clearing.

"Stay here!" he called over his shoulder to Ji-Shin. Xaioh, he knew, would follow.

The wind whistled in the kasa as Houshun ran, and he spared a thought to wonder that it didn't fall off. He quickly caught up with Ryu-Sen. "Liang?" he asked.

"Went ahead."

"How far?"

"Not very. When we get there, find a tree and stay out of danger."

Houshun grunted assent and focused on running. Running and talking used too much air.

The clash of weaponry soon reached his ears, punctuated by a woman's sobs and Liang's swearing. Ryu-Sen grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him toward the nearest tree. Unable to suppress a surge of annoyance at his Seishi's protectiveness, Houshun complied with the wordless order. Stowing his bow, he clambered quickly up the trunk, positioning himself so he could both see and shoot clearly.

What Riana saw, was a mess.

From the look of things, a troop of bandits had attacked the wagon of a woman and her teenage son. The boy was on the ground, apparently unconscious, his leg bent at a terrible angle, while his mother crouched over him, a long knife held steadily in her bony hands. Liang stood between them and about fifteen burly miscreants, doing a fairly good job of keeping the men from their prey. Some ignored him completely, deciding instead to loot the wagon while their fellows took care of the lone defender.

Not lone for long. Ryu-Sen burst into the fray from the opposite side, driving the bandits away from the wagon. His appearance scattered them, and being attacked on two sides made it difficult for them to regroup. But there were still too many well-trained fighters for even three Seishi to tackle alone.

As Xaioh entered the battle, blade flashing, Riana sighted along her arrow and began picking off the enemy. She wasn't as accurate as she'd hoped – the animals she'd killed for their dinners had been mostly stationary, which these rouges most certainly weren't.

But the arrow that pierced the earth right between Ryu-Sen's feet wasn't hers. Startled, she scanned the trees for the enemy archer. He got off three more shots before she could locate him, and it took four arrows to finally bring him down. She was running out of arrows, and more bandits were pouring into the clearing. Cursing, she dropped out of the tree and skirted around the edge of the battle, reemerging near where the woman and boy lay.

Three bandits charged her at once. The first she first she dropped with an arrow buried in his eye, but the others were coming on fast. The second carried an enormous broadsword and swung to take her head – and would have, if she hadn't at that moment crouched to retrieve her dagger from her boot. She saw his guard open and lunged upward, but he made a backswing, lower this time. His blade cut into her shoulder. Had it been his foreswing, he might still have killed her, but the backswing lacked power.

Fighting the sudden wave of pain, Riana buried her knife to the hilt in his throat.

But now she was weaponless, and third man carried no weapons – he was trained in hand-to-hand. His fist slammed into her jaw, and she stumbled backwards into a tree, smacking her head off the solid trunk. The stars cleared just in time for her to see him reaching for her throat, but not soon enough to stop him.

As she began to struggle for air, a hand materialized beside her right eye and slammed into the ruffian's nose with a sharp crack. Roaring in pain and surprised, he momentarily released her. Riana slumped forward, too relieved to be able to breathe to think of running, and he lunged at her again. This time, two hands appeared, catching the bandit's fists inches from her face.

"Untie the kasa," said a voice in her ear.

She obeyed, and the hat fell to the ground behind her. She could feel someone standing there, now, and stepped out from between his arms. A brief glance at her rescuer revealed – unsurprisingly – a blue-haired man in monk's garb. The bandit was quickly overcoming his surprise at the newcomer's mode of appearance, and his superior strength would soon have the smaller man at a disadvantage if Riana didn't do something. She pulled her last arrow from her quiver and didn't even bother putting it to her bow. Griping it like a dagger, she thrust it into the bandit's near eye.

Silence spread throughout the forest. Riana looked around. Her Seishi stood panting, looking somewhat haggard, but none were seriously hurt. What bandits who weren't dead had fled at the loss of their leader, now laying headless at Xaioh's feet. She had a bad moment upon seeing that corpse, imagining herself in its place, but her throat hurt badly and distracted her.

For some time Riana concentrated very hard on breathing.

A hand gently brushed her elbow, making her jump, though she managed to swallow a rather undignified shriek. She whirled, meeting a pair of startled mahogany eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you."

Chichiri's eyes held her transfixed, and she once again had to remind herself to breathe. Eyes, she thought. Two. Plural. God bless Suzaku for that kindness. She had to wonder if that thought was heretical, or blasphemous, and if so, to whom? But she hoped the intact pair of eyes indicated that his life had not been so traumatic, this time. She nodded slowly, glancing away.

"Are you alright, Priestess?"

Again she nodded. Her brain was not working properly. The clash of swords was still in her ears, the smell of blood clogged her nose, and something about his words was strange.

He raised his eyebrows a fraction. Ria felt something drip off the end of one finger, and realized she couldn't move her left hand. Or arm. Looking down, she noticed with some surprise that her hand was covered in blood. The blood reminded her of why she couldn't move her arm, and she cringed.

"Ow."

Now that it had her attention, the wound on her shoulder began to hurt unbearably, as though making up for those minutes where her battle-fogged mind refused to process the pain.

"Here, let me have a look."

As he moved to examine her injury, her brain began to work a little more, and she pulled away. "No, I'm alright. I can wait. The boy…" She nodded to where the woman still knelt by her son. Neither had moved throughout the conflict. Riana smiled wanly at Chichiri. "He needs more help than I do."

He regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, then started to say something, but was interrupted by a girl running into the clearing.

"Mom! Mom, I found him!" The child skidded to a halt next to her mother and stared, wide-eyed, at the men around them.

"You were supposed to stay in the village," the woman scolded halfheartedly, enfolding her daughter in a tight embrace.

"But I had to show him where to go!"

A tall, broad-shouldered man followed the girl to her brother's side, completely ignoring everyone but the patient, until Ryu-Sen said, "Well. This is convenient."

The man's head snapped up, and he blinked at the violet-haired Seishi. "Nuriko…" His voice was surprisingly deep. He looked around at the rest of them, much as the girl had done.

Xaioh smiled and nodded. "Later," he said. "Help the boy, first."

Mitsukake snorted with a touch of contempt. "Of course."

While her newest Seishi went about setting and healing the boy's leg, Riana started to look around for her arrows. She found the two she had used last easily enough, and, ignoring the concerned looks Chichiri gave her, she went about removing them from the heads of their victims. It was an awkward business, having only one hand to use, but she managed. However, she rather doubted she had the strength to collect them all, so she decided to retrieve her dagger and leave the rest for later.

She stepped around the bandit at her feet and walked over to the one who had tried to behead her. Because of the direction of her lunge, the dagger was buried more under his chin than actually in his throat, and she noted with morbid fascination that she could see the blade in the bandit's mouth. Her stomach lurched. Ignoring it, she pulled her knife from its macabre sheath. She couldn't keep herself from looking at the blade in his half-open mouth, and watching as it slid free. But the sickening squelch as the tip of the blade left the skull was too much.

Riana stumbled backwards from the corpse, her right hand clapped tightly over her mouth. Attempting to steady her stomach with deep, calm breaths didn't help, either. The smell of blood surged into her nostrils and caught in her throat with a metallic tang. Discarding all attempts at dignity, she fled, hoping she could make it to the stream before her stomach gave up the fight to retain lunch.

Chichiri watched her go, wanting to follow, but uncertain she would welcome the intrusion right now. She'd tried so hard to hold together. But she shouldn't be alone, particularly with that injury. With a sigh, he picked up his kasa, then looked to see if any of the others intended to follow the Priestess.

Tasuki and Nuriko had started trying to fix the wagon, and Hotohori was helping Mitsukake tend the boy. Nuriko looked over at Chichiri and smiled, but it looked strained.

"Welcome back."

Chichiri looked around at the dead bandits. "Thanks." His eyes again traveled to the path the Priestess had taken. "Should I…?"

Nuriko followed his gaze. "Yeah, you should probably go after him. I'm fairly sure this was his first battle, and I know he's never killed anyone."

Him? His? Chichiri blinked at Nuriko, bewildered. Why did they think she was male?

"I'd go, but we have our hands pretty full here…" He ducked a plank Tasuki was trying to set in place. "Houshun's a good kid; he'll probably pull together pretty fast."

Feeling very confused, Chichiri started after the Priestess – Priest? Complete, mind-numbing confusion had become rather unfamiliar to him lately, and he couldn't help but find his reaction to it somewhat amusing.

Riana made it to the stream – mostly. She stumbled on the smooth stones of the bank and landed on her hands and knees at the water's edge, sending a shockwave of pain through her left shoulder and pushing her roiling stomach out of her control. She vomited up what felt like everything she'd eaten for the past month into the stream; at least, she tried to lean over the stream, but couldn't quite get far enough, so it splattered the bank as well. Even after her stomach was empty she couldn't stop retching. She felt she would turn herself inside out if she couldn't stop.

She was too weak to even raise her head as she heard soft footsteps approaching, but the damp cloth laid on the back of her neck and the cool hand against her forehead helped her dry heaving to finally cease. Another cloth wiped her face. After a few quiet moments she carefully stood, her knees shaking and barely able to hold her, and went upstream a bit, supported by a gentle hand under her right arm. Collapsing beside the water again, she rinsed out her mouth and washed off her arms. Then, her strength deserted her completely, and she sagged against her human crutch.

As her body quieted, she realized she was being spoken to, and probably had been for some time, though she hadn't noticed until now. As though waking up, she only caught the very end of the question.

"…any better?"

"What?" she croaked, and winced. Her voice sounded terrible. She coughed, trying to clear her throat.

"Careful. Just relax." She was still for several long moments before he repeated his first question. "Do you feel any better?"

"I guess so." Riana's voice sounded better on a second attempt. "I can't throw up any more, at any rate."

"Can you sit?"

She moved away from him slightly, until she was sitting without support. Her head started spinning the moment she moved.

"That's what I thought. Let's get that wound bandaged – it's part of what's making you nauseous."

Though she had been unable to turn her head to see the speaker, she wasn't surprised, when he crossed in front of her to examine her left shoulder, to see that it was Chichiri who had followed her. She watched out of the corner of his eye as he leaned partway into his kasa and emerged with a roll of clean bandages. He then gently tore away the sleeve of her tunic. She winced, remembering Leng-Si's kindness in giving her the spare clothing. At least this was the brown set.

He used the cloth which had been on her neck to clean the cut, rinsing it frequently in the stream. "Well," he said, in the same tone he might have used to discuss the weather, "he did quite a job here. This is actually worse than it looks."

Riana was trying not to flinch away from the pressure of the rag, and it took a moment for his words to register. She frowned. "I really didn't need to know that."

She thought she saw him smile but couldn't be sure, and he said nothing. The silence persisted for several minutes, while he finished washing her wound. At last she sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped."

He didn't seem the least bit offended. "Not a problem. Under the circumstances, you have every right to be tetchy."

That wasn't quite the response she'd expected. She fought the nausea and pain to turn her head just enough to look at him. He was definitely smiling. But it was a small smile, like he was laughing at some private joke. He's teasing me… Somehow, that was as surprising as anything that had happened today. Well, what goes around, comes around. "So, doc, am I going to live?"

Briefly, Chichiri's eyes flickered to her face, and his smile widened a little more. "Oh, I think you might. This is going to hurt, now," he added as he started bandaging the deep cut.

"Because it didn't before? How bad is it, exactly?"

"The cut goes to the bone. If we didn't have Mitsukake…"

"Go on."

"Well, you'd probably lose your arm."

She'd been right the first time. She didn't need to know.

After a few minutes he sat back. "That should see you through the night. I'd use my own healing spell, but it wouldn't work as well or as quickly as Mitsukake's gift. Then tomorrow he would have to muddle through my spell, possibly making his less effective."

She touched her bandaged shoulder. "I can wait. Thank you."

He waved a hand dismissively. "I was not about to let you sit there and bleed to death."

Ria stared at him. Having only just met the man, she could say with almost complete certainty that he was the most confusing person she had ever met.

"But while we're on the subject," he added, "what happened here?" He tapped the bandages around her upper torso, visible under her arm now she lacked a sleeve.

"What happened…?" She felt the blood drain from her face as her thoughts ground to a halt.

"Priestess," there was no humor in Chichiri's voice, now. She realized that it was his calling her 'Priestess' earlier that had struck her as so strange, only her overtaxed brain hadn't caught it. "Why the deception?"

She didn't know what to say. Turning away, she stared sadly at the stream for several minutes, watching the water run away over the smooth stones, wishing she could escape as easily. To buy herself time to decide how to answer him, she asked, "How did you know?"

"Your chi," he replied, simply. When she blinked at him in surprise, he continued. "A woman's chi and a man's are fundamentally different. Granted, there are some individuals who are so perfectly balanced it's difficult to determine their gender, and some men and women whose chi is just the opposite." For a moment he paused, thoughtful. "But a man with feminine chi still comes across differently."

"A mage and a chi-sensor."

"And a priest, of a sort. Never hurts to branch out."

"They're intrinsically similar, I would think."

"True."

Riana had stalled long enough. After another short pause in which she collected her thoughts, she did her best to explain her actions. "There were two reasons. The biggest…we have a story in my world about Miaka's time as the Priestess. I didn't want… I don't want everyone risking themselves for my sake. As a male, I thought I might be allowed the opportunity to prove I could look after myself. Or at the very least be permitted to pull my own weight rather than standing back while everyone else rushed into danger…" Lightly, she brushed her fingers over her left shoulder. "I'd been doing well until this."

"You did very well, despite that." Silence stretched between them again, uncomfortable, but she waited for him to go on. "Miaka felt much the same way you do. She wasn't much of a fighter, but had the most amazing luck."

I could do with a little more luck, I think. Although, as easily as all the Seishi have come together, I shouldn't complain…

"Two reasons, you said. What was the other?"

Haltingly, she told him of her arrival in Qu-Dong, the man who attacked her, and the help Leng-Si had given her. The disguise had been a way to travel in relative safety. She hadn't revealed herself to Ji-Shin because she hadn't known at first that he was Chiriko, and feared to trust him.

Chichiri looked thoughtful as he stared out into the woods across the stream. "And then you met Nuriko and learned you're the Priestess…"

Nodding, she said, "I certainly didn't stay disguised because I feared the Seishi." She frowned slightly. "At least, I don't think I did."

At that, a smile ghosted across his features again. Ria watched as he stood and retrieved his kasa, sighing a little at its slightly battered appearance. "This has seen better days," he said. The change of subject startled her, but she continued to stare at him. Looping the string over his head, he hung the hat behind him. At last he looked down at her, and his eyes were kind. She held her breath, but again, he surprised her. "You'll have to tell Mitsukake, or he might give you away."

Windborn: Well, I was going to try to go farther than this, here, but it seems to want to stop at this point. :shrug: At any rate, my muse is back from his vacation… (Seems he stayed in New Zealand a lot longer than I did! Fortunately, that also improved his temper.)

Chris-muse:sheepish: I was being abused, sorry… You wrote about five thousand words in one night!

Windborn: True, my fault, there. Procrastination is an evil thing. Note – when you have a ten to fifteen thousand word novel opening due, don't wait until the night before to do most of it.

Chris:sweatdrops: It does make life difficult on this end.

Windborn:huggles muse: Sorry.

On another bright note, I can finally stop referring to the capitol as "the capitol," thank heaven. Why I could never remember Eiyo I don't know, but I couldn't. I won't forget this time. Ja, y'all! Please Review, even if just to tell me it's awful (which I deeply hope it ISN'T!)

Also, I apologize if the "Miko disguised as a male" has become cliché… It wasn't when I first thought this story up three years ago. It just took me so long to get that first chapter posted… :shrugs: But there you are.