Heyo all, thanks for the wonderful reviews! They're always fun to read. This chapter was a little later than usual (Not 'cause I'm late with writing- I've actually wirrten up to Chappie 17 XD) 'cause I'm lazy about updating. ' But, I hope you enjoy it, no less!

Kaeru Soyokaze- Yup, poor, poor Lanva . . . XD I like him 'cause he thinks he's Mr. Suave. Lol! Yup, being 17 isn't bad at all! You can drive then! Sooooo lucky XD lol!

Care- I really am developing their relationship slowly, aren't I? ' I'm not sure where to go with it, so that's why. XD I've gotta figure something out! I dun want anyone falling in immediate love, ya know?

The Muses Tk and Zv- That's oka! Yup, has been acting strangely lately, hasn't it? ' Oh well, it got through in the ned, didn't it? Thanks so much!

Suzuno Oosugi- Yup, darn those weird plant thingies . . . XD lol! Now we get to see the conclusion! Yeay! Dances lol! XD

Kage- Thanks so much! Yup, more right here! Hope ya like!

Chaotic Demon- Sort of funny how you mention that . . . XD In the orginal idea, she was, but I cut it out 'cause it seemed too obvious. ' So nope! Thanks for reading though!

Chapter Twleve

"Damn it, this thing's alive?!" Lanva said under gritted teeth, flailing and pulling the creature as far away from the tree as he could, towards the tall grass that had originally stopped him from moving on. All while trying to lower it towards the ground where he would have the advantage, his hand was inside and had caught something that seemed . . . fuzzy? Were the insides of this masculine carnivore soft?

While he wrestled with it, Lanva found that while it was a big creature, it was a giant flower and mostly vine. He turned his body as best as he could, moving the hand that still had a grip on its' body towards the flower instead of away from it. When the flower up in front of him and he could see both sides, he lifted on leg as high as he could and brought it down on the stem by his heel, causing the creature to shriek when its' skin tore off. With such a jerky movement he could feel the tear on his arm as well; he tried his best not to notice the pain and kept hacking away, knowing that it couldn't take much more of it.

"Gotcha!" he said with a successful smile when his leg came down a cut the plant in half. For a few moments, it shook more violently than ever, as if trying to fight for life while a dark green liquid oozed from its' ripped body. Then, giving up, its' teeth retracted and the full weight of the creature was finally realized as it fell onto the ground with a thud.

Lanva let go of whatever the fuzzy thing was inside the flower and pulled his hand out, oberserving the ring of blood on his wrist and the tiny freqent marks on him, many of them spread and long from the constant movement of the two fighters. Instead of a shimmer to catch his eye this time, he heard a tiny high-pitched squeal and looked down at the flower, taking his mind off of his wound and not bothering to get out of the tall grass. He bent his legs, resting his arms on his knees and waiting for whatever creature it was to get out.

"Hello . . .?" While he heard shuffling, it didn't seem intent on moving. For a second everything was silent, so thinking that maybe it was a part of the flower that had finally died off as well, he reached for the center once again, unafraid of another attatck. Then he heard a snarl, and something large and white darted out, throwing him back. It pounced on his chest, and Lanva felt like there were bricks on top of him; however, the flat ground wasn't underneath him for long, as the ground semed to literally crack and crumble, sending him tumbling down what was a small and round tunnel, his back sliding and his head facing upward. With that, he had no idea where he was going and with the slickering speed of what seemed like moist dirt it was like he was moving before he could think.

Lanva shut his eyes to protect them from anything that would come, ignoring whatever it was on his chest that seemed comfortable in tagging along for the ride. He felt his body swish around a very small and dark channel, going deeper into the mysterious mountain. Finally he felt his body slam against something hard, knocking the wind out of him, but even though his eyes were closed he could tell that it was lighter; was he outside again? It didn't matter where he was, he just wanted a second to get some breath.

" . . L-Lanva?"

Lanva forced himself to open his eyes to look at his surroundings, and now he could comfirm that he wasn't outside, but what looked like a small room. The walls were more like compacted dirt, but it wasn't try like the ones at the Capital; it was moist, and roots and greenery slipped in and out of the surface, holding it all together in a bind. What seemed like thousands of small flowers, violet, azure, emerald, ginger and so many more bloomed as well, letting off a heavenly scent that was not too strong fill the four-walled area. In the center, hanging like a chandelier above a wooden table that also had plants crawling over it was a lit lantern- the light he felt before. "Are . . are you alright?"

He had been focusing so much on the room, he didn't notice the two people in the room with him, leaning over him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust properly, which by then his breathing pattern was normal; to the right was a man with long dark hair and violet eyes, and to the left was . . .

"Suzuno!" he said excitedly, lifting up his arms and pulling her into a tight hug, one which seemed more like an embrace between close friends than one between lovers. He grinned, partly because he was happy to see her and partly because he was proud to have found her first. "How are ya? We've been looking for you, you know!"

"You . . ." Suzuno's normal stutter seemed to hold a tone of surprise. Though she couldn't see it, because of that his smile went from being childish to genuine, as if truly happy she was safe, and he exprected her to hug him back as well. But, she continued to speak, saying, "You have something . . . on your lap."

"Huh?" He pushed her away gently for a second, giving her a quizzical expression, then he looked down at the creature that had jumped on him earlier. Amazingly, of all things to find in a haunted woods on a mountain was a baby tiger. Its' fur was a gorgeous snowy white, though it was tainted with the green slime from the plant, with black stripes. Its' eyes were closed as it was licking its' crossed paws, cleaning itself of the chunky liquid. When it had opened them to glance at its' surroundings, however, the blue they had seemed very deep and dark, like anyone could find an endless road if they could walk into them.

"That tiger . . ." the man said as if it were familiar, getting Lanva's attention. Lanva looked over from the handsome man, who was kneeling over to his right, and then to Suzuno, who was sitting to his left. She was a little closer then she was before though, more than likely because of the hug he had given her.

"Who's that?" he asked, rudely poitning.

"Oh," Suzuno said, as if she had forgotten something very important. She quickly turned her head to the man, and while she faced his direction and he faced her, her eyes were clearly staring down at the ground where Lanva's legs were sprawled. "This . . . This is Tatara. He's a Byakko warrior, and he lives here."

'Really,' he thought to himself, his outside expression unusually calm while his mind completely surprised. In fact, he was more suspicious of the myterious man than comfortable of him, even if it was the Priestess of Byakko who guarenteed his title (who would know better?). That expression of his was calm and clear-headed, and it looked like he was a good guy, but . . . How did a warrior of all people just happen to bump into the Priestess? He frowned inwardly, sighing. 'I'm just speculating. A warriors' a warrior. Like hell he's gonna do anything to her.'

"Hey," Lanva said to Tatara, who was standing up straight instead of leaning over. The young fiancee was also trying his best to stand, only meagerly able to sit up straight up so his back wasn't curved against the wall, which was better than nothing. The baby tiger, who was heavier than his small size admitted him to be, looked up at him when he moved but went back to licking the slime off its' coat in a matter of seconds. Feeling compelled, he lazily pet its' back and it sort of fell over so that its' belly was showing. Suzuno was watching this, and she even smiled. Originally he was was going to ask Tatara what his ability was, but it had completely slipped his mind.

"It's really . . . cute," Suzuno said more to herself then the other two men. Her hands were in her lap and when she lifted one a little to try and pet it as well, she pulled back nervously; Lanva wasn't sure if it was because it was a tiger they were petting or if it was because she didn't want to get in his way. He thought he might as well explain himself, though. She was probably curious, but unfortunately her personality sealed her words.

"Anyways," he started, rolling his head around to stretch and crack his neck a little, "Me, Amefuri, Dou- Subaru and this big guy that I forgot the name of. . . we were all looking for you in the woods. Then I went off and got lost, and I had to fight off this giant plant monster thing. Then," he stopped petting the baby mammal for a moment and pointed to it instead, "this tiger came out of it. It jumped on me, and I didn't know what was going on; next thing I knew, I fell in a hole and was here."

"You fell in one of my routes," Tatara explained, bringing both of their attention to him. Lanva noted the foreign accent, trying quickly to figure out where it came from but to no avail. "To protect myself at night from the plants, I had to build a home underground. That was one of the hidden paths."

Oh, so that was where he was.

"This tiger . . ." he continued on, kneeling completely and scratching the back of its' ear as if it were a puppy, but even so it lifted its' head and seemed to enjoy it. It stood up up on all four legs, occasionally stepping up and down in place (Lanva's stomach) to feel its' ground, then it jumped off and walked to the Celestial warrior, who continued to stroke it affectionately. "I had found it barely a month ago here; not long after that, it was lost. I thought he was gone . . ."

"Yeah, well he would've been if it weren't for me! I saved its' furry butt."

Tatara smiled at the younger mans' enthusiastic speech. "While I'm not certain where it is from, but I will take care of it as long as it is here in this forest."

"Huh?" Lanva was completely confused by what he said, and before he stood up, he stretched his arms out and slid forward a bit so he could lean backwards stretch more. "Aren't you going to go with the Priestess? We got two warriors already; with you, it'd be a third. Doesn't make any sense for you to stay."

"Um-"Suzuno was definitely going to question the 'second warrior' she obviously missed. But before she could ask, she shut her mouth again as Tatara stood. She was the only one sitting now on the ground, and this time the baby tiger came to her, yawning and laying its' head of her lap.

Tatara answered very simply; while he looked the mysterious type, at the same time to Suzuno he was a very honest man who didn't hide anything when asked of it. He told him the same thing he told her. "If I leave here, everything on this mountain will die."

"Good riddance," Lanva muddered, putting his hands on his hips and eyeing the colorful plants on the walls as if they would spring to life and attack as well. He sighed. "Look, if you're a gardner and have a green thumb, it's none of my business. But you're a warrior too. And think of it this way; if you don't help her, not only will this mountain rot, but all of Sairou will too." He leaned forward so that he was more eye to eye. Both were very tall, even if Tatara, the older of the two, had a couple more inches. "Eh? Can ya live with that on your shoulders? Come on, you know you want to help!"

The two stared for a moment, then Tatara sighed and smiled slightly, running his hand through his hair. Lanva thought he had broken through, but the he said, "Perhaps I will someday. For now, I will not."

Lanva's face grew impatient, but instead of prying on, it was him who gave up. He turned and leaned over a little, reaching out his hand to Suzuno who seemed very absorbed in the baby tiger that enjoyed her company as well. Her face told him she didn't want to leave its' company, but instead of protesting, she took his hand and was pulled up. The little animal played with her swishing skirt, swirling around her.

"He seems fond of you," Tatara said, "If you would like to take care of him, I'm sure he would like that as well, Suzuno."

". . .Really?" With that, Lanva saw for the first time her eyes truly lighting up and a real smile coming across her face. And, loudly like she really meant it, she said to Tatara, "Thank you!"

To him, Tatara just didn't seem all that great; when and if he ever decided to work with the Priestess, he would have to stay and keep a close eye on him. He would tell Amefuri to watch him as well. Something about him didn't seem right . . . Why did the Priestess of Byakko trust him so, and if he wasn't going to help her, why did he seem so nice to her?

"O-kay," Lanva said, picking up Suzuno's new pet and holding it; it seemed lighter now, and was sure that even Suzuno could probably hold it on her own. He looked around a little, and saw a wide, round opening covered with many vines; the only hint that there wasn't a wall there were the bits of light peaking through it. He pointed to it and looked over to Tatara, who nodded and put his hand against the wall. His Celestial Symbol appeared and the plants that were on the wall sprang to life. Within moments all of the greenery had crawled out of the path of the walkway.

"You better come join soon," Lanva said while smiling, though his voice sounded a little threatening. He walked out first towards the light of the outside, and Suzuno paused her movements, looking back at Tatara. He didn't react at all to her leaving, as if he had no desire to stay. When Lanva called her again, she turned and walked on. Behind her, the vines closed up and for some reason, she felt a sink in her chest.

The tunnel wasn't very long, but it felt like it was a graveyard, it was so silent. Lanva decided to start some sort of conversation, since it was enough to make even him feel awkward.

"So . . . uh . . ." Lanva started, occupying his hands by petting the little furball being held by one of his arms, "How'd you meet that guy, anyway? I guess since he's got a symbol, he's a warrior and all . . ."

". . . He . . He saved me," she answered, looking down and fiddling with her fingers in front of her. "I was in trouble, and he saved me . . . Then he . . ." She stopped for a moment, but when he said curiosuly, 'Yeah?' she continued. "He made a tall stalk . . . and the leaves were hard, so he could walk on them. He carried my to the top, then we went down a hole. Then I stayed in his house . . ."

"I guess that's where I came in, huh?" he said, and she nodded. He shrugged. "Well, whatever. I'm glad you're okay though, Priestess, so I should be thankful to him one way or another. I don't like him very much though."

He half expected her to say something about him, even a little thing in his defense, but her mouth was quiet. For the rest of the way out, neither one spoke.

- - -

Yeay for little tiger thingies! XD Yup, we have a little mascot now, and I'm sure ya all know why I chose a tiger . . ' So obvious, lol!

Aaand another profile! Yeay! Celebrates with confetti Oooh, my deviantart page got 6000 pageviews yesterday. Another yeay!

Jin-Shun

Age: 15

Personality/Extra: Jin-Shun is an extremely huge guy, part of one of the more childish gangs of Sairou. He's a friendly rival of Amefuri's, and is willing to try anything to punch his buttons as long as it's not too life threatening. Even though he tries to act tough, he's very much a Momma's Boy and supports recklessness without foolishness. He's a nice guy, but his jealousy of Amefuri and his role for Sairou is the one thing that may make him act stupid every once in a while. Because of his large size, people are afraid of him, and that's made him a very sensitive boy.

So profile for Jin-Shun. He's kewlies to me! lol!