Chapter Seven: Forest action
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After eating they went back to the farmhouse. Tamahome was nowhere to be seen which made Miaka worry. He asked Mr. Mao but he told her he has no idea to his whereabouts. After an hour, Tamahome came back. He was filled with bruises and deep cuts. His clothes were torn apart. He was holding something wrapped like a baby in his arms. He handed it to Miaka.
"Take care of him so he won't run away again," he said softly. He lost consciousness after that.
Miaka opened the wrapped thing. It was little Taka and his eyes showed fear and he shivered wildly as Miaka hugged him. Mr. Mao's wife, Jia Mei, declared that Tamahome badly needs a doctor.
"He lost a lot of blood and I'm afraid his wounds would soon be infected." She said.
"Oh, if Taka could only talk," Miaka sobbed as she stared at Tamahome. "Uncle, what happened? What did he do when he went back from fishing?"
"All I remember is that after eating, he went to look for Taka. He found out that he's missing. He was so worried that you'll get angry if you find out about this so he searched for your puppy everywhere." Mr. Mao replied.
"Rei what do you-" Miaka realized that Hotohori was also nowhere to be seen, "Oh no! After Tamahome now Rei is missing! Who knows what will happen to him! I must find him immediately!" Miaka started to run frantically out of the house.
Mr. Mao stopped her. "I'm afraid that's not the best thing to do," he said, "As you can see, Tamahome was able to go home but he was hurt badly. I know I shouldn't think like this but I'm afraid that it would be impossible for your friend to go back. If Tamahome, a Suzaku seishi was able to make it but he was badly hurt, what more for a normal human?"
"But if he doesn't come back in an hour I'll go and follow him. And, no one can stop me," Miaka said. Mr. Mao was about to refuse but her eyes showed determination and courage.
Meanwhile, Hotohori saw some footsteps that he assumed were Tamahome's. He followed them and it circled around the farmhouse. Finally, he thought of just going back because he has circled the whole place 9 times when he saw some footsteps that lead to a dark thick forest. At first, Hotohori hesitated to go but…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" came a bloodcurdling scream of a woman from deep inside the scary forest.
"This is no time to lose," he told himself as he rushed into the forest.
The woman continued on screaming. Hotohori followed the sound until he came into a clearing. The scream subsided. Now, he doesn't know where to go. We stared at every direction. The ground was filled with grass and dry twigs. He finally decided to go back when he heard a twig break like someone or something stepped on it. Instinct told him there was someone or perhaps something watching every move he makes. He slowly bends to get a large sturdy but thin and long piece of an oak branch. When he was able to touch the branch, a creature jumped over him. It looked like a very big wolf. It just disappeared in the darkness. Hotohori's heart beats so fast.
"What a narrow escape," he said to himself as he imagines what would have happen if the big wolf caught him.
Just as he was about to walk away, he heard another twig break. He whirled around and saw three big wolves staring at him with the scariest eyes he has ever seen, while gnashing their big sharp teeth. Their long fangs glowed in the darkness. For once, Hotohori thought he'd just run out of the forest and forget everything.
"But what about the lady who shouted a while ago? What if she's still alive? In the first place, I don't think these wolves would let me get out easily…" he thought.
Suddenly, a number of wolves appeared from every direction.
"Suzaku, help me!" Hotohori said to himself.
His character glowed. He felt his strength increase. Now, he got the branch again and attacked the wolves. He was surprised that when he strikes them, the branch just passed through their bodies, as if the branch just strikes the air.
"Goodness, are they ghosts? No, maybe they're just products of my imagination."
He punched himself. When it hurt, he knew he wasn't just imagining things. One of the big wolves charged at him and was able to bite him in the arm. He shook the creature off. When it went away, Hotohori stood up again as he winced in pain with every move. The enormous creatures stared at their injured prey. They started to roar as if calling the others to their place and join them in their little feast.
"What am I gonna do?"
After a minute of growling, there was a sound from the shrubs.
"Goodbye life…"
"REKKA SHINEN!" a man shouted and it sent the shrubs to burn. The wolves moved away in surprise.
"You okay?" the man asked Hotohori.
"DO I LOOK OKAY?" Hotohori answered in annoyance.
The man introduced himself as Tasuki and Hotohori introduced himself as well. Tasuki helped Hotohori walk away while the wolves are still blocked by the fire.
"That was a narrow escape. Good thing I came to save you. I'll introduce you to the others," Tasuki said.
"Others?" Hotohori asked as he looked around to see if there's someone with them.
"There they are." Tasuki pointed to a group of people sitting by a bonfire.
"Finally, we found another creature by our species," a woman with a long purple hair said.
"Are you the one who shouted a while ago, Miss?" Hotohori asked as he sat with the group.
"Yes, and c'mon, Your Highness, don't you recognize me?" the woman added.
Hotohori stared at the woman intently. His face brightened when he recognized the person. "Oh, Nuriko! It's been a while since you've left the palace. Did you find your sister?"
"Yes, I found Kourin and I wanted to thank you again for letting me go and find her," Nuriko replied. After that, introductions were made.
"Why don't you have some soup first? Miss Nuriko cooked it," a man with a smiling mask on, who said his name was Chichiri, said.
"Nuriko, you didn't tell them?" Hotohori inquired. Nuriko pretended not to hear. "Nuriko!"
"Okay, fellas, I'm not a girl, I'm a man," Nuriko confessed.
The four men with them stared at him openmouthed.
"Well, you look more like a beautiful woman to me still," Chichiri said.
"More like a fat-assed, shitfaced, pathetic gay to me," Tasuki remarked. Nuriko gave give him a big hug.
"Thank you very much, Fangboy," he said as he squeezed him tightly.
"Bastard! Let go of me! You're gonna crush me to death!" Tasuki shouted.
They all laughed at the poor bandit. After that, Mitsukake healed Hotohori's wound while Chiriko played a song by using a leaf.
"How did you get in here?" Hotohori asked the group.
"Well, actually, I was watering our plants when I saw a little girl picking our flowers. Of course, I got angry and so I scolded her. She ran away from me so I chased her. After a long period of chasing, I stopped to rest when I realized I'm already here in this weird forest." Nuriko answered.
"Oh, is that so? My story is a little different. I was collecting some medicinal herbs when my little kitty suddenly ran toward this dark forest. I ran after my cat, but I wasn't able to find it. Then there came those hideous wolf-like creatures and attacked me. Nuriko came to help," Mitsukake said.
"I was in the library and reading some scrolls. A lady came to ask if I could help her look for a certain book. I agreed so I searched everywhere when I saw a secret passage behind a tall shelf. I was curious, so I decided to explore it. I ended up in this forest where I found Mitsukake and Nuriko," Chiriko stated.
"I know my story is kinda weird, so I request all of you to do your best not to laugh. I was fishing, when I caught a big fish. I tried to pull it to surface but it was too strong. Instead, it pulled me to the river into this forest," Chichiri replied.
"Now, enough of those boring stories of yours listen to mine. My friends and me were fighting with Kutou soldiers when a soldier ran to the woods. I followed to him and to my dismay, didn't find him. All I saw was a pack of gruesome wolf-like creatures. I fought with them but unfortunately, my weapons just pass through their bodies. I used my tessen and found out that somehow, they fear fire although I still don't know if it could destroy them. I then met these fellas in this part of the woods. We became hungry so Nuriko, Chichiri and I decided to look for food. That's when I saw you, Your Highness. You know what happened next," Tasuki responded.
"I see, do you know the way out of here?" Hotohori asked.
"Nah, no idea, I guess we're gonna stay here for a while," Tasuki answered.
"No way, I have to go back as soon as possible," Hotohori retorted.
Out of the blue, a cold wind brushed through their faces that sent them chilling to the bones. They can hear the howling of the creatures and the shrubs began to rustle. The men looked around and they saw ice-cold eyes staring at them.
"Oh no, this isn't a good thing," Chichiri said as the creatures moved toward them.
"We're surrounded!" Nuriko exclaimed.
"This is it, fighting time!" Tasuki shouted as they started to attack the creatures.
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Are they going to survive? How can they fight those creatures? Who or what sent for them? Don't worry no one will die here. What do you think? Please REVIEW!