Thanks for the overwhelming support. Here's more since you enjoyed the first SO much…
Chapter Two: Meetings
Tasuki made a note to tell Suzaku to work on where his portals dumped them. Carefully he tried to pick himself up, but slid on the wooden cylinders beneath him that clattered loudly as he rolled down the pile. He felt something whiz past his face and land solidly in the wood next to him. Reflexively, he started to jump up, but another knife flew and landed in his sleeve, imbedding itself deeply in the fallen tree that was at the base of the pile.
"What ever shall we do with you?" The question was purely rhetorical, and Tasuki fidgeted, trying to free his sleeve from the knife. Something rustled in the bushes off to his right and another knife went flying past him into the brush followed by a quickly, high-pitched yelp that he identified as Nuriko's.
"If you've hurt him…" he snarled menacingly.
He heard a sarcastic chuckle and was surprised to see a young woman leaning up against one of the surrounding trees. "I wasn't aiming to hurt him. If I have, it is because he tried to dodge the wrong way. Now," She fingered another knife idly. "I don't believe you answered my question."
"Give us a place to stay?" he asked.
She arched an eyebrow. "Why would I do that?"
"Cause he's cute, 'Lei."
The corners of Solei's mouth twitched at the look on Tasuki's face, and she sighed. "Very well, Amber. But he is your responsibility. You'll need to feed him and walk him and see that he does his business in the bathroom."
"I can keep him!"
"Yes."
"Wait, wuz this?" Tasuki looked startled and very unsettled.
" 'Lei is giving you a place to stay."
Nuriko came through the bushes, knife in hand, and Solei moved smoothly in front of Amber. "Who are you?" she asked. 'And are you male or female?' she added as a sarcastic thought.
"Nuriko."
'Ah, male them.' she confirmed. 'Hopefully he'll act like it…' "I will offer you each a place to stay, but I must ask you why you are here." It had not escaped her notice that they were comic characters.
"We are performers." Nuriko said after a moment's hesitation.
"We got lost in the woods here." Tasuki tried to gesture around, but his sleeve stayed in one place. Solei sighed and walked over to him, plucking the knife out of the log.
"I'm Solei, this is Amber." She waved an arm behind her to indicate the energetic brunette. "Follow me please." She led them around the training grounds, conscious of their quizzical glances, and slid open one of the paper screens of the temple she called home.
"You live in a temple?" Tasuki asked.
"With my grandfather." She continued walking and showed them to a simple bedroom with two beds and a window. "The bathroom is down the hall, last door on your right." Nuriko and Tasuki nodded, pretending to understand what she was talking about.
"Thank you." Nuriko said.
Solei nodded her head in recognition of their thanks. "Dinner is in an hour, Amber will come and get you when it is ready. Or I'll yell."
"You realize that they are comic characters?"
Amber nodded. "Duh? Who do you think introduced you to Fushigi Yugi? But, how did they get here? And why are they here?"
Solei shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine." Inwardly she knew that something was up. "I'm going to go finish cleaning and grab my knives from the woodpile."
"Can I stay for dinner?" Amber asked.
"Girl, you're slated to stay the whole weekend."
"Right. Forgot about that…"
She threw the last of the ruined manikins onto the pile, wincing as a splinter lodged itself in her palm. Skirting the outer edge of the wood, she found her knives and re-sheathed one, using the other to pick at the splinter. As she began to walk back to the temple, she became aware of footsteps behind her. She stopped, and the footsteps stopped.
Lifting her chin, she raised her voice slightly. "Show yourselves." There was a pause, but two figures stepped out of the concealing brush. With great effort she controlled her face. Nakago and Amiboshi. 'This should be fun.' she thought sarcastically.
"Who are you?"
"Travelers." came the response. "We're looking for shelter and heard that there was a temple nearby that would take us in."
"You heard correctly, have you names?"
Her eyes went first to the shorter of the two blondes. "I'm Amiboshi, that is Nakago." Obediently, her eyes went to the more imposing figure and her eyes remained locked with his.
"A pleasure." she murmured, then louder: "I am one of the caretakers of the temple, if you would follow me, I'll lead you there."
"And your name?" Nakago's voice was deep and silky, and a small shiver ran up her spine.
"Solei." She led them to the far end of the temple, trying to place them as far away from Tasuki and Nuriko as she could. "Here is your room. I would offer you separate quarters, but we have other visitors as well." They nodded and entered the simple room. "Dinner will be in a little while; I'll have Amber come and get you."
"Guess what?"
"What, 'Lei?"
"Nakago and Amiboshi are here."
"You're joking."
"No."
"How are we going to keep them from killing each other?"
"We won't. We'll have to trust that their 'gentlemanly instincts' will prevent them from doing anything stupid around us."
"Won't that be fun."
"Look, I've gotta make dinner. I'll let you know when to go get them."
"Wait, all of them?"
"Yes. Get Nakago and Amiboshi first and direct them to the kitchen. Then you can lead Tasuki and Nuriko. That SHOULD minimize unsupervised contact…"
"I'll do that. Get cooking 'Lei."
"Shut up, Amber."
Nuriko fiddled with the knife he had pulled out of his hair. The white blade gleamed under his scrutiny and he idly ran the blade across his palm. A trail of blood followed the tip. He and Tasuki had conversed for a bit, but neither had any idea of how to go about completing the task set to them. At least there was no sign of the Seiryu warriors.
A knock on the door interrupted their thoughts and Nuriko fumbled with a ribbon he had found, trying to bandage his hand.
"Dinner's ready." It was the brunette…
'Amber' his mind supplied.
"Well?" She was waiting in the doorway, glancing at them over her shoulder. "Are you coming?" They rose and walked down the hallways, booted feet making no noise on the rosewood floors. Upon entering the kitchen, they were assaulted with the rich smells of cooking sauces and vegetables.
"Sit down, please. Dinner will be finished in a moment." Solei spotted Nuriko trying to bandage his hand and called him over. "How did you do this?" Inwardly she knew it was from her knife, but she waited as she coated the thin wound in antiseptic and began to wrap it.
"I slipped and tried to catch myself on the edge of the bureau. It caught my hand."
Solei made a clucking noise that could have been interpreted as sympathetic and sent him back to the table, pulling the pans off of the stove and setting them on the table.
"Where are-" Nakago and Amiboshi walked in, cutting off the rest of her question. "Pull up a chair." she finished. Subtly she gestured for Amber to begin serving herself, hoping that it would help dispel tension and also that it would show the 'guests' what to do with the food.
"Do you four know each other?" she asked, mindful of the glares being sent across the table.
"Yes." Tasuki growled.
"Oh." Solei tried to sound surprised and made a silent prayer that nothing would go wrong during dinner.
Around midnight Amber and Solei slipped out of their respective rooms and met out in the training field.
"That could have gone worse." Amber said softly.
"It also could have gone better. Though, I don't think I'll ever forget the look on Tasuki's face when he tried the eggplant."
Amber cracked a smile. "Me neither. I just wish…" A rustle in the bushes prompted her to seek light and, after some concentration, a small fireball hovered over her palm, casting just enough light to see by. "Who's there?" she asked. There was no response.
"Amber, go back inside."
"But 'Lei…"
"Go, Amber." Silently, Solei hoped that Amber would obey and was gratified when she did. The rustles continued and she turned to face them.
As per norm, tell me what you think.
Please? Anything?
MS