Name: Across the Sea (Version 2.0!)

Rating: PG-13, possibly R in later chapters

Warning: Full series spoilers, OOCness, Rampant fancharacters, Shonen-ai and possible lemon in later chapters. Swearing, too! So much fun! Wait a sec… NO LEMON! But then again lemon pretty much follows Talis wherever she goes so… Implied lemon! There we go.

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DayDreamer: Don't get me wrong, I love Nataku and Raishinshi. It's just that they make such good home décor!

Reiki

What? Ryu? Who told you about Ryu? Ugh, fine, I'll tell you.

I guess it started at the village we came to after we left Seiji's palace. Since it was in the mountains, there were a few hot springs just north of the village. Huge tourist attraction. But anyway, a few days after we arrived there, I decided to head up and check it out. Sadly enough I was not the only one it the pool. A girl, maybe about twenty? With really long hair that was really dark grey and about waist length. Kind of silvery. Her eyes were the same colour as her hair and she was looking at me. Not with contempt or fright, just looking. Then she goes "Out. Now." What was I supposed to do? Get into the springs with her? I ran back towards the inn we were staying at.

As fate would have it, the silver-haired girl worked at our inn. The next day she was the one who served us the food. She gave me a strange look and gave us the food, then bowed and left us to our meal. Unfortunately, Aiko noticed the confused way I was staring after her.

"Reiki…"

"Yeah?"

"What did you do?"

"….. Whatever do you mean?"

She whacked the back of my head with a board. I think there was a rusty nail in it.

That night I was walking back from finally getting my bath at the hot springs when I found the innkeeper beating the silver-haired girl. Again, what was I supposed to do, sit back and watch? I set his hair on fire (I'm part kitsune) and helped the poor girl up. "So what's your name?" I asked. I saw her left cheek for the first time as she turned to me. At first I thought it was scarred, but then I realized it was a spiderweb that came down from her ear to partway down her cheek it was either a tattoo or a demon marking, not that it mattered much.

"My name is Ryugumo. Call me Ryu. What about you?"

"Reiki." I grinned. I couldn't help it I guess. She gave me a cautious smile in return. The next day we left, with Ryu in tow.

One evening we were all sitting around the campfire watching as Jahiro and Talis cuddled in a corner. Noticing them, Ryu cocked her head. "Are they in love?" Sometimes I miss having someone so blunt around to just get everything into the open. "Well, they're both good-looking and their personalities match, so I don't see why not."

Suddenly she looked sad. "Is that what love is?" I was rather taken aback. Who wouldn't be? Then I burst out laughing. Being surrounded by subtle, catty bitches all my life, she was really a breath of fresh air. "You know what? I don't really know." That night she fell asleep on my shoulder.

"Hey, look! A castle! Maybe we can stay there tonight!" Aiko really was more upbeat since we had left Tori no Shiro. Maku shivered. "Better that than the ground. Why didn't we steal any blankets?" I laughed at her. "Too late now, Futtota and his son are probably back by now and I don't really want to go explain ourselves." Jahiro shuddered

It took us forever to get up the hill, but the view was wonderful. The entire valley was spread out before us. We all stood there for a moment, but when we turned around I noticed Ryu was gone. "Hey…" I started, but before I could finish the huge wooden door in front of us opened. The person who opened it had long silver hair.

"Nani?" went Taikoubou, looking around for some sort of back door. We all blinked as she bowed and invited us in.

"Konnichiwa. I am Ryu. Welcome to Sono Shi no Shiro."

"Ryu?" I said.

"Inviting name." Said Taikoubou. "Try saying it three times fast." She retreated into the darkness, motioning for us to follow her.

Once inside, we found ourselves in a large room with spiderwebs stretching from the ceiling to the floor. Maku undid the ribbon around her wrist and started playing with is nervously. "I like the décor." Taikoubou broke the silence. At the end of the hallway was a large chair, or, upon looking closer, a pile of bones in the shape of a chair. A tall, lean man was slouching in it.

"Kasasagi. Ryugumo. Restrain them." A small framed girl with shiny black hair came towards us, twirling chains that glinted in what little light there was. In seconds, we were all bound tightly by either chains, spiderwebs, or the ribbons that Kasasagi had taken off of Maku.

"… Nandayo!"

"Kukuku. Watashi wa Hyoga. Welcome to my castle. For dinner we'll be have you, you and you. The rest of you will rot in a cage until I'm hungry again." With each 'you' he pointed to one of us.

"Ryu!" I yelled. "Why are you doing this?" She leaned in close to me with sad eyes. "Because I love him."

"Talis, who hadn't heard us, started yelling at Hyoga. "I've heard of you! You prey on those who wander up here! I know why the village below was abandoned!" He laughed. "Well, aren't we feeling clever. May I just say, at the risk of sounding cliché, 'DUH'?'

"Ryu…" I said. "Don't do this. You know he's just using you. How long have you been letting this happen?" Her eyes softened. "Daisuki, Reiki-kun. But I have to. So does Kasasagi. He has power over her." At this point, Hyoga was leaning over Maku, freezing her feet to the ground. Ryu's eyes hardened as she looked at me, then she pulled a knife out of her yukata and pulled it back to throw it. I closed my eyes and flinched, but the blow never came. I cautiously opened my eyes again and saw Hyoga clutching his chest, a knife handle sticking out of it. Suddenly, Ryu yelled. "Get out of here, all of you! Kasasagi, take them to Taka pass!" Kasasagi nodded and snapped her fingers, causing all of our bindings to fall off of us,

When I look back on it, I guess they had been planning it for a while. Most of our group was already out the door, but I had hung back for a moment. Aiko turned from the door and yelled. "Reiki! Come on!" and dashed out. I turned back from looking at her and found Ryu's face close to mine. Very close.

"I lied earlier."

"Really?"

"I don't like you."

"Pity."

"I love you."

Suddenly her face was very close to mine.

Once at the pass above the valley, we hung back for a minute to see what was going on. Ryu had stayed behind to kill Hyoga, but he was a powerful ice demon and she still hadn't come out so we feared the worst.

"Come on!" Yelled Kasasagi. "We have to get away from here!"

Maku turned to her. "But what about Ryu?"

Kasasagi gave her a sad look. "Haven't you figured it out? She's not going to come. We planned this from the beginning. She has a very powerful demonic power and she's going to-"

A bright white light radiated from the castle, and an explosion rocked the ground.

"- Do that." Kasasagi finished.

We turned and walked down the pass towards the next village.

)—(

Ryu – A few minutes earlier

Once they had left, I turned to Hyoga, who was now choking on his own blood.

"They weren't your real friends, you know." He managed to get out.

"More my friends than you had ever been. Images flashed through my mind. Images of Hyoga taking me in, so kind, but sometime a few years ago he had changed, become more violent and vicious. Images of Kasasagi and I being beaten numerous times for failing to bring him sacrifices.

Then, images of Reiki. Reiki and I, and what could have been. I bowed my head as I waited for them to be a safe distance from the castle, as Hyoga laughed. Then, when I deemed the time was right, I raised my head.

"Sayonora."

Then I knew no more.

)—(

Authors notes:

Sono Shi no Shiro: Means The Castle of Death.

Daisuki: It means 'I really like you' sort of just short of 'I love you.'

Yukata: It's like a summer kimono.

Taka Pass: Hawk Pass.