Yeay, Chapter eleven! And guss who's back after not writing about them since forever. . . ' I need to think of a bigger role for them, lol! Anywayz, thank you all for the wonderful, wonderful reviews!

babysparrow – Thank you so much! The identity of all the future warriors is a secret, though on the internet there are a few hints as well as hints in this story as to who that particular warrior is. I'm glad you like it though!

The Muses Tk and Zv—lol! Casts revive XD I gotta continue the story Tk! You can have him after. lol!

Care -- Wooow, so many thank you's! I'm so happy you enjoyed the last chapter!

Kaeru Soyokaze—lol, originally Jin-Shun was going to be 21, but I didn't want to after a while. ' Making him 15 is better for his relationship with Amefuri! Wow, 17? You're two years younger than me too! XD lol! But 17 isn't old at all.

Suzuno Oosugi—Kay-kay, name change! Writes it down XD lol! I'm glad you enhoy the way Tatara acts; he's hard, but hopefully I'll get a gold of his character soon!

Chapter 11

"Well, here we are."

Takao stepped out of his shining sleek black automobile, which had just been parked in his driveway. He waited for a moment as he stood next to his own door, shutting it, and leaned against it. Puriti hadn't come out, and when he walked over to her side to open it, he noticed she was engrossed in reading The Universe of the Four Gods and smiled warmly. "Are the adventures my daughter is having so amazing?"

"What?" Puriti snapped her head upward to look at him, broken of her trance. It took her a moment to realize what he had said, but with his smile she turned back to look at the book, also smiling herself. "Yeah, it's pretty amazing. She's been through a lot of shit though."

She turned to him again, wondering if such a seemingly proper gentleman would correct her for her langauge, when he only asked as he stood out of her way for her to come out, "What kind?"

"Well . . . She has three warriors now. But she's only met two."

"Amefuri . . . and?"

"That girl from before, Doulin. The one who let her stay the night with her husband? That's Subaru. And the third guy, Tatara, saved her from a bunch of plant monster things. They were gonna eat her."

"Is that so?" Takao was worried about his daughter, though he couldn't bring himself to show it. Afterall, what in the world could he do about it? He could try speaking with her, since he had one of her hairbands. But that would be it . . . Besides, Puriti seemed so interested in the book, he wouldn't want to take it from her until she was asleep. If she was planning on staying at his home, which he had a strong feeling she was.

"Wow," the young ganguro said, looking at his home. "That's so cool! You never see people living in old Japanese styled houses anymore."

"Yes, it was quite a bit of money to build," he said, laughing a bit. His home was a rambler, with a beautiful small lake in the front and sliding doors. The patio up in the front had a single swinging bench on the front, perfect for two to stare out at the beautiful Cheery Blossom trees that had just started to bloom. "But, my late wife loved Japan and it's history, and she loved the more natural feeling before when Tokyo was called Edo."

"She was alive then? Pretty old then, huh?"

"No, no; her parents and grandparents were much older and were alive then. They told her stories of that time, and had many photos when it was more of before automobiles and when the Government was just beginning."

"Oh."

Puriti deicided to walk onward on the cement sidewalk the car had parked up onto, and on the natural and narrow path with bits of grass sticking out here and there which led to the patio of the house. She slid open the door, and the first thing she saw to the left and to the right were shelves filled with countless books. There was not a space left on them either; they were tightly packed together, all arranged by title and color neatly. A small round table fit for only one with a tea cup and pot was next to a chair with two more books piled there. Behind this were three large hallways and a single light in the center of the walkway room, the better to see.

"Someone likes to read," she muttered to herself in a sarcastic sounding voice, though it wasn't sarcastic at all. Takao stepped in from behind her and she moved out of the way quickly, still clinging The Universe of the Four Gods tightly in her hands. He slid the door behind him and laughed a little at her bewildered expression.

"I was a fan of Einosuke Okuda's work," he said, and she had remembered the man when he explained the adventures of the Priestess of Genbu. "I wanted to write about different places like he did, but seeing how Takiko grew up without her Father . . ." his eyes seemed hurt of just the thought for a moment, "I didn't want that to happen to Suzuno. So, I decided to translate books about the world and stay home."

"So . . . I guess that means you know a lot of languages?" He smiled as he held up five fngers, shrugging a little as if he was trying to be modest about it; she was compeltely amazed. "Whoa . . ."

"Do you want something to drink?" Takao asked, walking over to the one- person table and picking up the cup and pot, "This tea is old, but I can make some more easily. You can make yourself at home and have whatever you want."

She ignored the rest of what he said after his question, and walked over to the single chair in the hallway, picking up the two books with one hand and sitting them on the hardwood floor. When she sat down, opening the Universe of the Four Gods, she replied, "Sure, thanks."

The four traveled through the Haunted Mountain, Subaru and Amefuri up front since they were warriors, Lanva following closely, and Jin-Shin in the back. The younger of the two warriors was practically trembling, his eyes darting in every direction. He jumped and yelped a little when something touched the back of his shoulder, but his fear turned quickly to annoyance when Lanva started laughing.

"We're supposed to be serious now!"

"Aw, come on! What's wrong with a little fun?"

"I-I don't like your version of fun," he sputtered, his eyes narrow and clearly annoyed. Just for a moment everything was silent among the four of them when a shifting sound came to their ears from the distance. It rustled the tall grass around them since the path they were on had been beaten to dirt. They all listened for the sound, it coming closer and louder, their hearts beating in unison nervously.

A loud screech sounded as something long and thin darted out to Amefuri stopping suddenly just inches from his face. It was an eyeless creature, with a long, green, snake-like body and a bulb with sharp teeth as a head. In between it's fangs was something that looked just like its' skin-color, tattered and dead. Hanging barely by threads from its' mouth also were two bobbing, dead heads that looked just like it.

Amefuri held up his arm, which was still horribly stubbed and scarred but bandaged tightly as to hide it's ghastliness. The creature cocked its' head curisouly, creeping closer to the arm and sticking out a long and thin olive-colored tongue that licked the bind lightly, then backed away in a jerking manner and hissed. The tongue already was starting to sizzle from the poison, and Subaru stepped forward from her posisition behind the Warrior and her fiancee.

"You shouldn't use your powers more!" she said in a stern voice; she would have stepped between the creature and Amefuri, but Jin-Shun protctively placed his large, knuckled hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Your arm is in a bad enough condition as it is!"

"Maybe we should see what you have then?" he suggessted, unafraid since the monster obviously was not a ghost; he still kept his arm up, just in case it decided to try and bite him again. "You're a warrior; use what you have."

"But-"she muttered, suddenly realizing something. "I don't know . . . what I can do . . ."

"It's okay." It was then the creature seemed to lose its' interest, and the long vine gradually grew smaller until the head slid silently back into the bushes, then the rustling was heard again. "I wonder when you'll figure out what your power is, though." Suddenly the young boy was deep in thought. "Well . . ."

"What is it?" Jin-Shun asked curiously, though it sounded like there was a bit of disgust since it was his rival.

Amefuri leaned against a tree, at first closing his eyes the better to concentrate, then leaning over a little and scratching his pantleg when he felt the grass sway against him. He put his hand on his chin and looked up at the leaves, the trees completely covering above them so much they couldn't see the sky. The youngest of the four of them was the only one whose head grazed the high branches and had to bend over a little. After a moment of observing, he collected his thoughts enough.

"It was earlier today," he admitted, starting his story. "After Suzuno ran away from me across the marketplace, I wanted to try and find another way since the crowd was too thick. But," Amefuri glanced up at his fellow female companion for a moment, "Subaru said that we couldn't waste time, and it was like we darted through."

"So . . ." Lanva crossed his arms and balanced on one leg, his foot propped against his knee and standing straight. "Is it speed?"

"Maybe . . ."

"Let's try it!" Subaru said with a determined smile. She walked over to Amefuri and grabbed his stubbed arm, holding it with both hands and focusing attentively. The other two non-warriors gathered closely to watch and see what her plan was. She took a very deep breath, preparing, then said in a powerful voice as if casting a spell with her new found power, "Speed up his healing process and let his hand come back sooner!"

Everyone waited for some sort of sign in earnest, but not even the Celestial Warrior symbol on her breast glowed, and the excitement was gone in an instant, followed by a depressed sigh from each of them.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Lanva shouted, jerking Subaru around to face him and shaking her, his hands clamped on her shoulders. "Do something! That kinda stuff is useless!"

"Stop it, you stupid jerk!" she shouted back, pushing him back and slapping his face, which made him step back quite a few steps before he could catch his own ground. She put her hands on her hips and walked past the three of them, going deeper into the woods with her nose in the air. They stopped for a moment, not bothering to turn around when she was the only one walking. "Well? Am I the only one concerned for the Priestess?! Come on, move it!"

"Yes ma'am!" they said together, following her. Amefuri glared at Lanva, who shrugged. "Idiot, you made her mad now!"

"I didn't mean too!" he fought back in a whisper, covering his mouth so his fiancee wouldn't hear him. He shrugged as he spoke in all honesty, "I was trying to encorage by using, eh . . . you know, reverse pschology! By telling her she was bad, I thought it would help her powers and stuff!"

". . ."

"What?"

"You really are an ass."

"Bite me," he retorted, taking the hand he used before and pointing to his chest with his thumb, smiling in a cocky manner, "Just you watch; I'm gonna go and protect Dou- Subaru right now! I bet she won't hate me then!" He laughed, talking to himself like he was concocting up the perfect plan, "Yeah, then she'll be my perfect little love muffin again . . ."

"Like she ever was."

"Hey!"

Lanva didn't even bother to see his companions' stupefied expression and he jogged to catch up to Subaru in the woods, who was still in a tense and upset pose; her shoulders were rigid and high, and her chin was up, her eyes completely facing forward. The only thing that had changed from before was that only one hand was on her hip, while the other relaxed at her side. He stepped in front of her with a cheeky but corny smile, making her stop.

"What?" she asked in a sharp tone, obviously not so forgiving at practically being called 'Useless'. He frowned for a second and his eyes glanced around at their green, jungle-filled surroundings, trying to think of an answer. When he did, he showed it with enthusiasm.

"Baby doll," he said, trying to sound appealing, "I'm here to protect you from everything in these woods, okay? Even if you are a warrior with no powers, you're still my fiancee, and I'm gonna be here always!"

Lanva obviously found no flaws in his speech, and acted rather proud at what he said. He thought that her muscles would finally relax and she'd smile at him warmly, calling him a 'jerk' like she always did, but her reaction wasn't that, nor was it her extreme anger that she often let out on him. She turned her face for a second so Lanva couldn't see, and confused, he put his hand on her shoulder to turn it back, and when he did he saw tears.

"What . . .?" He was completely blown away; in all the time he had known her, he had only seen her cry once before. She was someone who, though motherly and kind, was very prideful and didn't like to show her weaknesses. "Douli . . . Suba-"

"I'm really that pathetic, aren't I?" she said to him in a flat tone, trying her best to smile but avoiding his gaze. She sniffled a little and blinked, then a small river came formed down the side of her cheek, "I'm nothing more than an object to you . . . Just a woman who can't do anything, right?"

"Huh?" This had really thrown him a loop. "I don't understand . . ."

"The only reason we're even together is because of force; otherwise, you'd be going places and seeing woman better than me, right? I'm . . . I'm just someone who holds you down. But . . ." She lifted up her own hand and lightly pushed Lanva's off her shoulder and turned away a little more. "That isn't any reason to keep saying these things to me."

Is that really what he said? Lanva couldn't understand what she was saying, or why she was suddenly crying. He wanted to comfort her, just because he hated to see a girl cry, but he also knew she'd get mad; either way, no matter what he did, he'd be in the wrong, even if he didn't know what was going on. Deciding to be serious for once and not trying to beat around the bush, he bowed his head only a little, closing his eyes and saying in a calm voice, "I'm sorry."

He turned back towards the front of the woods since he technically was ahead of everything and ran up on ahead, deciding that it was best just to give her some time alone; he wasn't very good at talking seriously, anyway.

Up ahead, Lanva noticed how the wood seemed to be getting thicker, and the path that was compacted dirt before was starting to grow thick and tall piles of grass, obviously showing that no one came so deep into the mountain, or at least not that often. He stopped to check his surroundings and see if there was an easier path since the grass on the one he was already on reached his knees, only to be disspointed with more giant leaves and vines hanging down.

'Vines' he thought to himself, walking over to one that was hanging securely on the branch and tugging on it. "I guess I could climb the tree . . ."

He pulled on the vine again and jumped a little, enough to plant his feet on the side of the tree and give him enough momentum to stay there. Concentrating as best as he could, which unfortunately was something he was good with only when it came to Martial Arts, he held onto the vine while slowly one by one taking small steps towards the closest branch, which to too high for one to reach just by standing on the ground along.

It was then that Lanva's hands felt a shiver, and at first he thought it was him. He ruled out that explanation though, since his hands were sweaty from the humidity and there were drops of the sticky liquid on his face. It was too hot (Or too humid) for his body to suddeny shake in such a manner, unless he was catching a fever. Then he felt it again, and after he felt the vine loosen very quickly, making his body drop a little.

"What the hell?" he looked at the vine where his grip was starting to slip, and then upwards completely, coming face to face with eight giant bright orange petals connecting to the center of a yellow ring. Inside the ring was a deep hole, so deep it was black. Because his hands weren't available at the moment and the golden outside looked like a crusty substance that was producing tiny and sticky slime balls that swam through the large veins of the petals, he didn't bother to reach in and see what was inside. For a moment, his curiousity seemed very aroused as he stred back at it, not afirad at all of the oversized blossom. Then, he could have sworn he saw something shimmer in the blackness.

"What in the world . . ?" His curiosity meter had reached its' point, and finally he let his stiff legs jump to the ground, though he kept the vine in his hands to trap the flower. When he looked up again after bending his knees a little for them to get used to their posisition, he saw something shimmer again. With one hand available to him, he slowly and cautiously reached upwards towards it, completely unaware of the teeth that started to glow out of the inner circle. When he saw the flash again, he reached in very quickly, too tired of waiting and yelped at the teeth that had taken a deep hold of his wrist.

-- Man, not a very eventful chappie. But poor Subaru! XD I'm mean . . .
' lol! I need something to get Takao and Puriti more involved in the
story- they're hard to write about! Well, hopefully you enjoyed
it nonetheless!

. . . So, another profile!

Echi

Celestial Name: Amefuri

Celestial Ability: Controlling poisons and Acids

Celestial Mark: Tongue

Age: 16

Personality/Extra: Amefuri is a sweet boy who, once he agrees to something, he sticks to it. He's a very loyal and loving person, sometimes too loving since he's a prostitute. He was raised this way since his Mother was one as well, and doesn't know any another life; therefore, he doesn't always realize it when he's being too affectionate. He does realize, since he's been looked down upon by people since he was a child, that this isn't an appropriate job. Since he's been made fun of and sometimes physically hurt, he can show easy compassion for others in pain as well, since he knows what it's like. He's very touchy about his lifestyle and doesn't want people to change it for him.

. . . Poor, poor Amefuri. -- ' I'm mean to him too, but I really like him! I want to develop him more, I feel like I haven't done enough for him. Well, soon! I'll be able to soon! I have plenty of time, lol!