To be a seishi
Chapter one: And here we set our scene
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It was pitch black, the dark only found in the deepest pits of hell. This was true darkness, darkness that lived in his heart. The heart of a man broken and left alone, unable to die, unable to find peace, because he was needed. Yes...Suzaku no Chichiri was needed.
He couldn't give up now, he couldn't...It was his destiny to fight along side his star brothers, stand by them to fight and protect his miko, Miaka Yuki. He knew that, knew it as much as he knew if he didn't get help right away, he was going to die.
So he stayed there, lying on the shifting mud, listening to the water that was straining against the dam, trying to rush toward him with the force of a years rain behind it. His one good eye stared up at the black sky, which suddenly shifted, the stars shining down on him as if nothing was amiss.
Only, something was wrong with the familiar sky, and it didn't take him long to see it. The dark clouds hadn't vanished completely, no, they were there, hiding the constellation he was named after behind the same darkness that was beginning to override his senses.
"Ah..." He murmured, blood slipping from the corner of his mouth to dribble down his chin. He didn't even have the strength to wipe it away. "I knew, it wouldn't take...long..."
For days he had been separated from them, caught in the web of lies he had constructed to keep his real self in and everyone else out. He missed them, missed Miaka's naivety, missed Hotohori and Tamahome's bickering over who loved her the most. He missed Chiriko's childish innocence, he missed Mitsukake's silence. He even missed Tasuki's colorful vocabulary.
However, what he missed most of all, might just have been the feeling of belonging he received every time they greeted him with smiles on their faces. Yes, he would miss that the most, miss their voices calling out, "Chiri!" But what was he to do? He couldn't go back now...Not now. He wasn't right...He wasn't Suzaku no Chichiri anymore.
It was better to forget about them, forget everything and just let himself go. That way, he wouldn't have to remember what they had done to him. Turning his head, he laid his cheek on the ground, the cold mud feeling like ice against his heated skin. No, it wasn't going to be much longer at all.
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"Chichiri!" The voice was raspy from overuse, barely heard above the raging of the wind. A storm was coming, a dreadful storm that promised destruction from either its dangerous lightning or flooding rains. Or perhaps even both.
Miaka Yuki tripped, her form crashing heavily to the ground, the simple tunic and slacks she had borrowed already well torn and dirtied. Her hazel eyes clenched against the tears that threatened to overtake her, she stumbled to her feet again, "Chichiri!"
"Miaka!" Tamahome's voice was laced with worry and she was suddenly jerked back against a broad chest, "Please...Please stop! Its been a week...a WEEK." The miko was stunned to see a tear leak out of the older man's eye, slipping down his cheek. "We've looked everywhere for him! You cant keep going on like thi-"
"I am not going to stop looking for him!" She screamed, fighting against him, her hair pulled back in a simple bun, a few tendrils curling about her face. "I am not! Chichiri is out here, and Im going to find him!"
"Miaka!" Tasuki's voice easily cut through the raging wind, "You are FREAKIN INSANE! We are in the middle of a freaking HURRICANE! You cant just go runnin' off in the middle of the night!"
"I CAN FEEL IT, ALL RIGHT!" The youth screamed, her volume easily surpassing Tasuki at his best. "I CAN FEEL HIM SLIPPING AWAY! I AM GOING TO FIND CHICHIRI! WITH OR WITHOUT YOU!" Her breath was coming hard and fast, her voice cracking with the strain of raising her voice.
"You done now?" Tasuki asked.
Dumbly, the junior high school student nodded, her hands clenched tightly in the wet material of Tamahome's shirt.
"Good. Now get yer sorry butt back inside, Ill take it from here."
"But-"
The miko never got to finish her sentance, because at that moment, Tasuki had lunged, pressing something against her nose and mouth. She barely had time to rasp out a weak, "Why...?" Before she collapsed asleep.
"Tasuki." Tamahome held Miaka in his arms, protecting her from the now pounding rain. "Are you sure about this?"
Amber eyes locked onto his, "Chichiri helped me when I needed it the most, risked his very life to save mine...The least I can do is return the favor." And with that, the fire seishi was gone.
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The water was straining against the weak dam, splashing over its banks so hard water flew tens of feet into the air, coming down hard on those guards and towspeople trying to keep the furious liquid from breaking through. They piled heavy bags of sand around the base of the wooden blockage, trying to weight it enough to take some of the strain.
"We cant! Its going to break!" A middle-aged man screamed, trying to push against the bending wood as he stood knee-deep in the water leaking from the weakening dam. "No...Its too strong...cant...!" His grip was starting to slip and the water was harder to force against...
A hand gripped his shoulder firmly, "Move aside."
Violet hair pulled back into a long braid...Kind, bright, brown eyes...Feminine features, but with an air that suggested entirely otherwise...There was only one person in Konan who matched such a description. "N-Nuriko-sama!" He gasped.
"Move aside." Nuriko repeated calmly, "I have this." He placed his hands on the wood, a few feet apart, and pushed. The cracking of the wood stopped abruptly and it was eerily quiet save for the sharp cries of those still on the banks. "GO!" Unable to say a thing, the farmer ran, having to almost swim to the other side, the level of the water rising fast.
The seishi firmly dug his feet into the heavy sand at the bottom of the river, his arms actually starting to shake from the exertion he had to put up. Suzaku...This wasn't going to work...He wasnt going to be able to stop it! His symbol flared to life on his chest, yanagi easily visible through the thin, soaked through tunic he wore. "Oh...Suzaku no...!" He felt the wood giving way beneath his hands. "No!"
His gauntlets flashed into existence, but it wasn't enough...It just wasn't enough!
"NO!"
The dam gave way.
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Chichiri immediately noticed the change it how the ground shook and he felt a soft smile on his face. This was even better than what he had hoped for. To die the same way...the same way Hikou did. Ah, this must be Suzaku's just punishment, making him die just like the friend he betrayed. He closed his eye, "I accept, Suzaku-sama. I accept this path, just like I accepted it a month ago when I met with Jiyun. I knew one of us was going to have to lose...And it wasn't going to be me." Chichiri's voice dropped dangerously to a low note that had rarely ever been heard from the usually cheerful seishi. "And so...I sold my soul."
"Ch-Chichiri?"
The monk's eye snapped open, coming to rest on a bair of booted feet. His eyes traveled up black pants, a dark green shirt..."Tasuki." His voice was completely devoid of emotion.
"Chiri...What the frick happened to you...?" Those bright amber eyes couldnt believe what he was seeing. There was the oldest, and by far the strongest of the Suzaku seven, looking like he had been through hell and back. His eye was even more devoid of life than ever, his scar was red and angry looking, as if someone had...someone had..."Oh gods...Chiri...What the...Who...?"
"I did." The blue-haired warrior turned his head away from his star brother, once again staring up at the sky, devoid of his constellation still. The ground was shaking violently now, and the water could be seen, barreling toward them. Tasuki saw it too, his eyes went wide and he jerked forward, hoping to grab Chichiri and leap for safety. Only there was nowhere to go. The entire area around them was flat land, farming land.
"CHICHIRI!" He screamed, covering the other with his body just as the water overtook them both.
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OH NO! Confused yet? Wanna find out who Jiyun is? Wanna find out just exactley happened to poor Chiri! COME BACK NEXT TIME for chapter two: Suzaku no shichiseishi Chichiri.
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