Wow, I got a seriously positive response about the last chappie! XD Finally, he's in! Celebrates Now, let us continue . . . lol!

Care – Yup, finally! ' Do ya think I waited too long to put him in? I hope I get more used to him soon . . . But I'll try my best to keep him in as much as I can, and to get a strong development between him and Suzuno too!

The Muses Tk and Zv—lol, thank you so much! ' Another Amiboshi addict? I absolutely adore him! I hope you enjoy future chapters!

Kaeru Soyokaze- - lol, I'm so happy you like Amefuri! XD I think he's very fun and I enjoy him a lot too! And hopefully this chapter will teach you more of Jin-Shun- things you'd never expect! ' lol!

Uchiha Tenshi- Wow, I'm so flattered you love it so much! ' I try to update a chapter a week; hopefully I'll be able to keep up the schedule! XD

Chapter 10

Suzuno stared up at the tall man, trying to ignore the slight pain in the back of her neck from the bleeding. She didn't know what to do, or what to say; she was a little shocked, nervous. What could she do? She couldn't tell him he had to become one of her warriors, but . . . What about the summoning?

"You don't like . . ." Suzuno said a small voice, not sure of how to reply. ". . . Being a warrior?"

Tatara didn't answer her, but released his hand from her chin and turned to glance down at the creatures he had killed to save her moments before. He then looked over to the flower where they came from, which was back in her direction, and felt the petals; they tingled for a moment when his fingers grazed against them, like a puppy when being pet. "If I leave here," he said, still not looking at her, "This place will die."

'Die?' Suzuno thought, a chill striking her. Just the word made her frightened. Then she thought of what he said entirely. He meant to say that he had the burden of taking care of the entire Haunted Mountain? It was so . . . so . . .

'Wait a second!' Something very peculiar struck within her, and she went to reach for Tatara's hand again, which he didn't protest. He looked down at her curiously as she watched the mark, which had started to fade. She tried her best to ignore the plant she once thought gorgeous before, as it was whining a little when it wasn't being petted anymore.

"There's a ghost that supposedly controls the entire forest in there; once you go in there, unexpectedly the plants will start to move. Some have never even come back, so they also say the plants are carnivorous."

"Umm . . ." she started, trying to find the words. "Someone told me there was a ghost here who . . . who made the plants come to life, so everyone says this place is haunted." She looked up at Tatara, who made no motion of interrupting her story. "You're a warrior . . . right?"

"Yes," he replied. Suzuno had hoped that he would've caught on to her idea instead of her having to explain it. She felt foolish speaking of someone like this for some reason, and decided to change the subject.

"Can you control poisons too?"

"What?" He seemed very confused by the question; Suzuno wasn't sure why, since she had assumed that the warriors all had the same abilities. When she saw Tatara with the vine coming out of his hand, she thought that perhaps Amefuri hadn't used that part of his ability yet.

"I only know one warrior . . . His name is Amefuri. He . . . umm . . ." She tried to find the words for it without making it sounds like a weak power; she had indeed seen what it could do. "He can make it rain acid, and he can heal people who are poisoned. He told me he knows all kinds. . . I was wondering if you could do the same."

This time, he spoke much more than when he had before. "No; as the seven warriors, we all need to have different abilities to protect our Priestess. Like Amefuri, I have something in my power. My ability is the life of nature, and to use it to look after the life of the Priestess." When he had motioned his arm a little, Suzuno let go of him, and he faced his palm in her direction indicating her to watch. In the center, there was a small, dark brown seed. Amazed, she watched as the seed slowly grew into a long green stem, which at the end, a gorgeous red rose had bloomed, it's petals lightly covered with dew drops that reflected her face. He handed it to her and smiled. "In every way, you, the Priestess of Byakko, are in my care."

Suzuno didn't know she wanted to say something. Instead, she said a quiet thank you for the rose and turned her face away, trying to think of what this man was saying. Tatara . . . what a confusing person. At first, he said he didn't want to be a warrior, but it was for this forests' sake. He was in charge of their life, but he also told her he was responsible for hers. After saying that, why would he have said no? She didn't understand at all.

"Come with me," he said to her, walking towards the trees where he had stepped out of. She decided to trust him, knowing that even if she didn't she wouldn't survive with carnivorous plants about. Pausing for a moment and looking at the plant that had attacked her before, she held onto the rose with both her hands in front of her chest and trotted a little to try and catch up with him.

"There he is," Amefuri said, seeing a large man as he came closer to the mountain. He was sitting, cleaning his weapons and acting as if there was nothing going on. Amefuri seemed to be more annoyed then angered when he shouted, "Jin-Shun!"

Jin-Shun put his weapons down beside him, careful to place them a decent distance away from his legs as not to cut himself. As if he were friends with the warrior, he smiled and waved, then began to laugh.

"You actually came Echi!" he said, laughing so much his large hands were over his stomach. "I sent one of my guys to get you, but I thought you would turn tail and run!"

"One of your guys?" Amefuri said in a confused manner, stopping right in front of Jin-Shun who, even though he was sitting, was only an inch or two shorter in comparison. "No one came for me, you stupid oaf; I came here on my own!"

"Really? But you still came?"

"Hand me back the Priestess!" he demanded, glancing upwards at the woods a bit and shivering. He tried to shake the thought of the woods being haunted, but that was like trying to float in the sky; for him, it was practically impossible. Jin-Shun noticed how uncomfortable he seemed, and snorted, covering his mouth. "Sh-Shut up!"

"You probably shouldn't talk back at this guy," Lanva noted, trying hard not to laugh himself. Jin-Shun stood up, showing his impossibly enormous size, which cranked the young man's neck. "He's like what, thirty? He's huge!"

"Stupid, he's fifteen," Amefuri mumbled, surprising the two fiancée's. "He may look big, but he's younger than all of us!"

"That . . . that guy is. . ." even Doulin, who was usually polite about someone who was different (Save Lanva's unusual perverseness) fumbled with her words. Jin-Shun fidgeted uncomfortably and then pouted at Amefuri, sticking out his lower lip.

"Yup, he's nothing but a harmless overgrown kid," Amefuri continued, smiling as if he had found the giants weakness and was getting his revenge. "Always acting like the tough guy until his Mommy comes out to tell him it's time to go home . . . He's never once finished a fight with me, really. We've been rivals ever since he were kids, you know?"

"Fine, if you think of me that way . . ." Jin-Shun shrugged as he bent over and picked up his weapons. "I guess I should just go home to my 'Mommy', and leave you to look for that girl."

"That girl is the Priestess of Byakko. What if she's gotten eaten by the gh- gh . . . things."

"The Priestess . . ?"

"That's right kiddo!" Lanva said, suddenly feeling overpowered again about being the oldest in the group. He ringed Amefuri around the neck, who flinched as if he were someone disgusting but didn't push him away. Lanva chuckled, "And this guy is the first of Seven Warriors to get him!"

"Well, you guys should go up and look for her th-"

Suddenly they all turned upward towards the mountain, all hearing an extremely high-pitched screech that echoed all the way down the mountain. More, smaller and fierce shrieks followed, all of them sounding inhuman.

"Gods!" Lanva shouted, letting go of Amefuri and pointing up towards where the noise was heard. "Suzuno's being eaten by man-eating ghosts as we speak!"

"Stupid!" Doulin said as she hit him in the back of the head, "Don't say it so recklessly!"

"M-Man-eating gh-gh-ghosts . . ."

"Echi, you should be over that stuff by now."

"Yeah, they're only see-through monsters of the dead!"

"Stop!"

"Listen to all of you!" Doulin said fiercely, getting the immediate attention of all three young men. Her tone was strict and furious, and her hands her on her hips, her legs spread apart as if she was strongly holding her ground. She eyed the three of them, making them each stop their careless ramblings. When she spoke, she said every word sharply as if she were a general in the army. "All of you have been taking these jokes a little too far. There is a crisis going on; The Priestess, prophesized to be the only person who can save us all from death, right now could be in trouble herself! And you're all just sitting here playing tricks on each other like it's another day?!"

Doulin walked past the three of them into the entrance to the woods, then stopped and turned around to look at them again. "I don't care if I don't have some symbol; I may be just a normal woman, but if those damned Warriors aren't here, then I'll be one in their place!"

Suddenly a bright light emitted from Doulin, and the four of them had to shield their eyes. The light was strikingly bright and beautiful, a gorgeous white that seemed lighter than snow. In just a moment, the flash was gone, and Subaru looked at the three of them with a frightened expression. What had just happened? Her eyes shifted and her face turned behind her and to her sides, trying to see where the light came from when she felt something cling to her breasts. When she looked down, there was no surprise to see Lanva.

"You . . ." she said in an angry voice, elbowing him on top of his head as hard as she could. "I don't care what excuse you have, you stupid jerk! I'm going to-"

"No, look!" Lanva pointed, massaging his skull with one hand as he used the other to point. Shining on her left breast, partly covered by her cotton blouse it hung so low was a symbol. Amefuri examined it closely, and Jin- Shun looked over the them, leaning to get a glance. Having the three like that made Doulin a bit uncomfortable, but this time she held her tongue since they had an excuse. "It says . . ."

"I think that's the symbol for the Celestial Warrior Subaru," Amefuri confirmed, backing up. He shrugged. "But, we can't see it all . . ."

"I'll check!" Lanva said excitedtly, before being stopped by both boys. Subaru turned around pulled down the blouse herself, then turned around once she had fixed herslef up and nodded that it was indeed the symbol. Even though she kept her face as calm as possible, inside there was such an overwhelming bubble she thought she could cry.

'I'm really . . . a real Warrior?' Doulin thought, glancing down to look at her symbol. She looked over at the others. Lanva seemed stupified but proud, more than likely because of the fact that he wasn't a warrior and his fiancee was. Amefuri smiled jovialy and celebrated in a small fit of laughter and cheering while Jin-Shun nodded approvingly, also smiling. He wasn't a warrior either, like Lanva, and barely knew what was going on, so he much much calmer than his two seniors.

"Well then," Amefuri said, taking Doulin's hand and kissing it, earning a glare from Lanva. "From now on, you're not Doulin; you're the second of the seven Celestial Warriors of Byakko, Subaru!"

She seemed surprised; although she had a moment to get the feel of the idea, just hearing such a thing directly made her senses go wild. 'Subaru . . .' A brand new name; a name to be proud of, no less. Now, she really could protect Suzuno and no one sould say anything about it. Now, it was her turn to smile. "Alright everyone . . . Let's go find our Priestess!"

Suzuno followed Tatara, who at times stopped for a moment and turned his head a little to see if she was catching up. He noted that while he had lived here for years, she hadn't, and wasn't used to the thickness of the woods. While he could maneuver through it easily, it took her some time; he also started to see her breathing was becoming heavy, and also remembered how much the atmosphere must have weighted on her chest.

"Are you alright, Priestess?" he asked, stopping again and turning completely around instead of just his head. She stopped in front of him once she had pushed some of the gargantuan thick leaves out of the way. She leaned a little to catch her breath, pressing her hands on her knees for support.

"I'm . . . I'm okay," she replied. "I'm just a little tired."

"Do you want me to carry you?" he asked. "It would probably be better on the both of us, since the path is even more difficult from here."

"Um . . . Uh-huh." Tatara could easily read that she wasn't sure, but just accepting his kind offer. She couldn't, no matter how hard she tried, hide the fact that she was a very shy girl. A definate weakness for the Priestess of Byakko.

Before he picked her up, he only slightly lifted off the beaded necklace he wore off of his chest, just high enough so that it was eye level with him. He fiddled with one of them a little, then jerked it off, in which it make a loud popping noise that startled Suzuno. It started to open in his palm, and as a giant green stalk grew his celestial symbol glowered on the back of his left hand. The Priestess watched in wonder as it grew larger and larger, the stem so wide he had dropped it. It continued to grow until there were thick-skinned, shell-hard leaves sprouting from the sides and vines curling securely on the nearby trees. Then, it was ceased of any movement.

"I . . ." Suzuno stopped talking more a moment as Tatara picked her up from underneath her knees and tightly held her back; she wasn't susprised, as he seemed to give her plenty of a few seconds warning to let her hold onto the front of his shoulders as he lifted her. She decided that she rather wouldn't ask the question, until his voice asked, "What is it?"

Was he reading her mind? She tried to find words that would make her question seem more intellectual, though no matter what it wouldn't sound so smart. "When I first saw you, the vine was already in your hand, and . . . I was . . wondering . . ."

"Yes?"

". . . I was . . . I was thinking that it came out of your hand . . . The plant. I thought that it grew from there." She closed her eyes, feeling her heart racing rapidly and feeling low for saying out loud something so embarrassingly idiotic. Not meaning for him to hear her next, she laid her chin on her chest, her voice slightly muffled by her cotton cloth uniform, whispering, "That was so stupid . . ."

"You're wrong," Tatara reassured clearly, surprising her a bit. She looked up at him, feeling his body turning to the vine to climb, although he was looking down at her. "You said nothing wrong. A person who asks a question remains a fool for five minutes, but one who never asks is a fool forever."

He turned his head after that, his eyes staring upwards to their destination as he firmly planted his feet onto the leaves and stepped on upwards like a staircase. However, she remained her same gaze, replaying the words he had said. 'Forever . . .' she thought it over and over, and then she started to wonder again why she couldn't walk these leaves herself. She was going to say something about it, but she decided to play the fool instead.

- - -- - - - - --

OMGosh, another warrior! Now we're movin'! XD lol, I doubt it . . ' I figured it was about time Subaru was revealed, since half of you knew it was her already! And I hope you guys like the sort of sweet, stoic, wisdom-like approach I gave Tatara? ' I'm nervous about that . . . Some of the things he says come more into play later. I wonder how I can pull of their relationship! Dances 'cause she actually edited this chapter yay!

Aaaaand, another profile, 'cause I was bored . . .Takao-chan! Have you guys seen him in Genbu Kaiden? Like, total hottie . . . XD lol!

Takao Oosugi

Age: 38

Personality/Extra: In Suzuno's light, Takao, her Father, is a hearty, kind gentleman who is the life of the party. And she's right; he is someone you can always count on, who will help others without spoiling, and will speak his mind without being cruel. He's never been hated by anyone before, and tries to guide his daughter to become a stronger person. He's even handsome for his age to boot, although even after his wife's death he still stays loyal by wearing his wedding ring. He knows that taking small steps for his daughter is far better, although he has never been successful with getting her to really speak to someone. Eleven years ago, he witnessed the journey of the Priestess of Genbu and fears the book, but he also thinks that perhaps this journey could be a good thing . . .

' He hasn't been in the story much . . . I hope I can stick him in there more! ; Sorry to Takao fans!