"You said I have to hurry," I asked Nakago, trailing behind him as usual, "Why? Is Ashitare going somewhere?"
"Not so much that. As a stranger, you just have to be careful with your timing with Ashitare."
"Timing?"
"Yes. Remember back to when you recovered the first Shinzaho in Hokan, if you will."
"That was right after Nuriko died," I thought back. That was right- Ashitare was responsible for Nuriko's death. And we didn't have the Shinzaho for long, because a wolf stole it out of Miaka's hands… that wolf… "That was Ashitare, wasn't it?"
"That's a good start. Now compare that mental image to Nuriko's wounds."
I shuttered to remember that day, and how mangled my fellow warrior's body was. There was a deep wound all the way through his torso, and evidence that he had been pushed against things. However, a wolf, even of that size, wasn't very likely to have been able to push him like that without leaving claw marks on his chest. Expanding on that, it's anatomy didn't lined up well with that fatal wound… that was something that had to have been made by a human.
"Ashitare isn't really a wolf?" I asked. "A shape shifter, then? But even so, I thought Nuriko killed him before he stole the Shinzaho."
"You're partly correct," he deciding to quit having me guess, since he motioned for me to hurry up. "There are two halves to Ashitare: the human, and the wolf. Nuriko only killed the human part. Therefore, the wolf part was all that was left to retrieve the Shinzaho."
I couldn't help but think of Nuriko instead of Ashitare at that moment. If that's true, then his death was in vain. Of course, that made me the first of the Suzaku warriors to successfully kill a Seiryuu warrior, but at what expense?
"I won't leave you with Ashitare for very long," Nakago hushed his voice. "Because now that he's died, both parts of him have collided, and he can't stay in one form for very long at a time. You're lucky that he's more human today."
Before I could say anything, a deep, scratchy voice boomed. "It smells so familiar… a Suzaku warrior… and Nakago!" A large figure leaped between the two of us, with his eyes plastered on Nakago. "Why have you come here?"
"Nice to see you again, too, Ashitare," he stepped away.
"Is this for me?" he spun his attention around to me, and I was startled by how inhuman his face was.
"You have no physical body left to feed, so don't eat him," Nakago half-scolded him. "I'll be back later to collect him."
"Collect him?" the hairy man gave him a questioning glance, but the general was already gone. He growled, "That man disgusts me. He thinks he can just leave me with such temptation? It's a shame neither of us are still alive, or I would exact my revenge…." he trailed off, but turned back to me with a look of intrigue. "It's a shame you're not alive, either. Young flesh is much tastier, but being a Suzaku warrior would make you even more succulent."
My previous fears about what Tomo would do to me were nothing compared to how I felt then. In fact, I would have much preferred that to this man threatening to eat me, even though there was nothing to eat. I instinctively turned around to run away, but his quick reflexes kicked in and he grabbed a handful of my garments.
"Where do you think you're going? Nakago didn't even tell me what I'm supposed to do to you. Not that he would ever tell me much anyway," he sneered, and his spiritual breath felt hot against my neck.
"You don't have to do anything to me!" I pleaded, and tried to wriggle free. "Nakago- Nakago was just taking me to meet all of the Seiryuu warriors! If you don't really care about that, I'll just be going now…"
"Oh is he?" he raised his low pitch in question, and began to toy with my clothes as he thought. "Why would Nakago do something like that for a child's ghost? Much less, one of our enemies? Did death change him for the better? Or has it just made him lose his mind?"
"Erm," I said hastefully, and tried to move the clothes he was tugging at away from my neck, where it was already making me feel strangled. "Maybe that's something to think about later."
"Gyah!" he looked down at what he was subconsciously holding. "I'm all tangled up!"
This did fair well for either of us, because he tried pulling his hands in different directions, only making the clothes pull tighter around my neck. "That's not going to get you out," I tried to raise my voice to get his attention, "it's like a finger trap. The more you struggle, the tighter it'll get."
"Curses! I knew Nakago would do something like tie me up again!"
"He… he didn't! You…" I trailed off, reminding myself he probably wasn't the brightest of warriors. "You're right. He did this to spite both of us. But if we work together, we can get revenge on him!"
"Work with one of my enemies? Lunacies! Why would I do that?" he pulled tighter, forcing me to gag, even though I didn't have a throat to tie up any more. "But then again, if it's to spite Nakago…"
"E--exactly!" I cried out, wondering how long I would stay conscious under such pressure. "Just… pull very slowly in opposite directions…outwards…" Ashitare seemed very accustomed to following directions, and began doing just that. "Gently… gently…"
I was interrupted by the sounds of my garments shredding. But at least we were both free.
"Phew," I smiled, rubbing my neck with relief. "Are you alright?"
The wolf man was very silent for a moment as he held the shreds in his hands. "Is this… liberation?"
"Well, it's a bit of a strong word, but yes," I responded, though I found the question fairly strange. "So, if you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving now…"
"You can't get off this mountain," he snarled, and I suddenly became aware of my surroundings. Everything was white, and snow was blowing heavily. "My grudge against Nakago has trapped me here, and only someone with a life force as strong as his can pass in or out of it."
"Then what am I doing here?" my eyes widened.
"He took you here. Now you have to wait for someone to take you out," he glared at me, and I was startled again by how blazing his eyes were in contrast to everything else going on. I had certainly never seen human eyes likes that. "You should at least be thankful that you can leave! That you have tasted what they call liberation!"
I couldn't respond. I became more aware that this place was filled by his hatred, and that he couldn't put it behind him at all.
"Nakago said…" his hairs stood on edge. "Nakago said he would liberate me from those who chained me and jeered at me all of my life. He did that, all right… but only gave me new chains! He chained me down… and gave me new scars everyday with his whip!" he turned around and motioned to the long stretches of injured skin on his back. "He made me even less human!"
The mountain seemed to shake with his anger, and his spiritual body pulsed, threatening to change back into a more primitive form. "I can… I can never be liberated! Never!"
"A…Ashitare!" I yelled as loud as I could. "Ashitare! Calm… calm down! Please!" my desperate shouts continued. At all costs, I didn't want to see this wolf form Nakago seemed so apprehensive about. "Ashitare… Nakago may have enslaved you before… but you're the one enslaving yourself here!"
He focused back on me, as he paused, his fur still floating up and down with the movement of his life force. It was at that moment that I regretted opening my mouth and prepared to die a second death.
As expected, he took me as something to focus his anger on, and lunged. To my surprise, he yelled in pain as the sound of a whip echoed through my ears. Nakago was standing in between us, with his whip wrapped tightly around the wolf man's arm.
"Ashitare, that's enough," he said calmly. "Stand up, Chiriko. We're leaving now."
I did as I was told, as the whip released it's grip. He cowered to nurse his wound, glaring at the general. "You…"
"Just as the boy said, it's your own fault you let yourself stoop down to this, not mine," he cemented my previous comments as he ushered me away. The surroundings faded, with the sound of Ashitare's screams of vengeance.
"Thank you, Nakago," I said, trying to calm myself down.
"I should be thanking you, for saying something in my defense, of all people," he smiled, somewhat amused. "Especially after claiming that I was conspiring against you still."
"What?" I asked, before recalling what I had said earlier to Ashitare. "Then you were there the entire time?"
"Of course. I know what kind of mental condition that man is in. Only a fool would have left you all alone with him."
"Oh," I trailed off. "Then you there the whole time while I was with the others, too?"
"No, but I stayed close by, expect while I was speaking with Tomo beforehand. However, I do intend to leave you completely alone with the next warrior," he used a very serious tone, though it was hard to tell that it was different from his usual tone. I didn't think anything of it, and followed as usual, trying to chase Ashitare's entrapment out of my mind. I was very fortunate to be free of such petty attachment.
Wow, I was tempted to end this with a poem by Uesugi Kenshin, but there's no way Chiriko would know a 16th century samurai! (And no, not that Kenshin. A real one.) XD Anyway, I'm sure you all can guess who our tour guide Nakago is taking the little student to see next… oh, he'd probably kill me for comparing him to a tour guide.