Author's Note: I'm extremely sorry to everyone for taking so long to update! I got sick again and it took me a little while to catch up in school again and then we got lots of projects and finals are coming up and I haven't started studying yet! So, please forgive me for the lateness of this chapter, I'll try harder to update sooner!
Treasure of the Mountain
Miaka and the others slowly started their way through the cold, damp, dark cave in the mountain. Tasuki was carrying Tara, who had fallen asleep again right before they started their way into the cave for the Shinzaho. Her breathing was back to normal at the moment and she shifted slightly when a drop of water from the ceiling landed on her head. Tamahome walked beside Miaka the whole way, trying to comfort her. He could see Nuriko's bracelets shimmer in the slightest bit of light. Miaka looked down at the bracelets, and quietly sighed as they shimmered.
"He did it so that we could advance in our journey Miaka, so we have to get the Shinzaho, for Nuriko." Tamahome said, placing a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Miaka looked at him and gave a slight smile as she continued to walk. Then they stopped, two figures were standing in front of two more doors, standing tall and ready for battle if necessary. One had long silver hair and an eye patch on one eye, and the other was slightly shorter with dark raven hair and a hat that stood on his head.
"What business do you have here?" asked the taller, silver haired man. Tamahome looked at the man, giving him a sideways glance as he stepped forward.
"We're here for the Shinzaho! Now step aside please." Chichiri looked at the men as they grabbed their weapons and got into battle stances. Tasuki stepped over to the side and was about to set Tara down when he saw Tamahome rush towards them and smack into an invisible wall. Miaka, just out of reach from Tamahome was on the other side of the barrier, shocked. The two men looked at her, then at each other.
"Are you the Suzaku priestess?" The shorter one asked, staring at her. Miaka looked at her eight warriors, then back at them.
"Yes, I am the priestess of Suzaku." She replied, swallowing hard and shooting a quick glance at the bracelets that she had received earlier.
"Then we shall put you to a test to make sure you are worthy of the Shinzaho that our priestess left behind." The shorter one said, looking up at his comrade. The taller one nodded his head.
"But in order for you to do this test, you'll have to strip." Miaka looked at them in disbelief and Tamahome's face turned crimson.
"Miaka, don't do it, they're just perverts!" Tamahome yelled through gritted teeth. Chichiri looked at Tamahome and so did Chiriko, Mitsukake and Tasuki, who had just set Tara down against the wall so she wouldn't get hurt. Her body was almost limp at the time being and it was cold as ice. Meanwhile, Miaka was stripping down to her underwear.
"That's as far as you get." She said, covering herself with her arms.
"That will do." The taller one half mumbled, lifting his hand to the air. Ice started to begin to form at Miaka's feet, the freezing sensation being to surge up Miaka's body as more ice formed over the first layer and moved up her body.
"If you can break the ice forming around you, we will know that you are worthy of the Shinzaho." The taller one said, standing there, watching closely. Miaka continued to try and break the forming ice, now up to her waist, but it formed faster than she could break it. It crawled its way up to her neck and then completely surrounded her body, stopping her from being able to breathe.
"Now she'll only have a certain amount of time before she dies of suffocation." The shorter man said, almost laughing at them. Tamahome was horrified, all he could do was watch as his true love and priestess was left to die if she didn't crush the icicle that had almost become a part of her. Chichiri, Chiriko, Mitsukake, and Tasuki all stared in disbelief too as Miaka struggled to keep consciousness and break the ice. Just then a flash of red light surrounded her body and shattered the cold ice. She looked down at her arms and noticed the bracelets had changed form to aid her.
"Nuriko…" She breathed, before looking back at her other warriors, one still unconscious. Tamahome ran up to her, noticing the barrier that had barred his path was now gone, and hugged her. The other warriors gathered around her too, to congratulate her on succeeding. The two men stepped closer to the group as Miaka put her clothes back on.
"Well done, Priestess of Suzaku. Now follow us to the room with Genbu's treasure. Miaka got up and followed them to the set of double doors and let out a gasp when she saw what the room inside looked like. It had beautiful light blue drapes hanging from tall pillars and a red carpet on which to walk on. She stepped across the carpet, walking as though she were afraid to break the huge room. The other Suzaku warriors waited outside as she went and collected the Shinzaho. Tasuki had gone and gotten Tara from where she was resting and was carrying her on his back, she still felt cold as the ice on the walls. Miaka walked back out of the room to where all her friends were and turned around to the two men.
"Now our job is done, we were guarding this chamber for 200 years until someone worthy as you, Priestess of Suzaku, came by to claim the Shinzaho, a beautiful necklace that our priestess left behind for other priestesses." The two men started to disappear and blend into the surroundings.
"So they were here for 200 years. No da." Chichiri muttered under his breath. He looked at Tara, still sleeping.
"We should really get here somewhere warm. No da."
As all the warriors chatted away, talking about how they got the Shinzaho, a wolf came up to them and snatched it right out of Miaka's hand. The wolf's face was half burnt, and it looked almost as if it were smiling at them. It raced off into the woods and Miaka let out a little scream.
"The Shinzaho!" She raced after the wolf, worried about the treasure she had just received and how quickly she had just lost it. She could hear the warriors behind her, calling her name trying to find her, but she just continued to run after the wolf.
The wolf reached a little camp and ran to the man standing outside the biggest tent, Nakago. The wolf gave Nakago the precious treasure and right there, Nakago gathered a ball of chi together and shot it right at the wolf, Ashitare, killing him.
"Now I have the Shinzaho, and we didn't have to do a thing to get it." Nakago said, holding the necklace rather strongly.
Okay, I'm going to stop this chapter here, and I'd just like to say…. I'm really sorry that this took forever to get p, but I had school, exams are coming up, projects! Oh man, the list just keeps going and going and going… like the Energizer bunny! Anyway, I hoped you all liked this chapter; I spent about 2 hours writing this one just to let you know, so I worked hard, and if it's not a very long chapter, that's because in Word I made the font pretty small. Anyway, in summary, I'm sorry it took so long!