Back and Forth

by Sk8er7

Chapter 7

A Seishi-Napping

"This is nice." Megumi stretched her hands over her head. They had stopped at a small clearing. She dozed off, without knowing what was going on around her.

After a ten minute nap, she stood up. Stretching once more, she went to look for the others. A high-pitched scream filled the air. Then, an unmistakable "Miaka!" from Hotohori. She quickened her pace. "What's going on-" Nuriko's voice was cut off. Megumi jumped into the tree branches.

"Oh my gosh." Megumi saw everyone, but they were unconscious. Hotohori also appeared to be injured. Large rustling sounds could be heard just below her. Hugging the tree for dear life, she looked at the sound of the disturbance.

Many men carrying ropes were headed to the same spot as Miaka and the others. Megumi watched as their wrists and ankles were tied together. The leader appeared to be an ugly squat man, wearing a helmet with two horns sticking out on each side.

Taking a red pen from her backpack, she broke it. Megumi smeared the ink on her ankles and wrists. For a final touch, she put some on her face. Going ahead of them, she let out a trail of red ink from the trees to a spot on the mud path where she let the rest of the ink go. Megumi jumped down and assumed a sprawled position. Closing her eyes, she twisted her face into a look of pain. Her breathing was done in quick raspy breaths.

The bandits came and found her lying, supposedly injured. They approached her, binding her carefully because of her wounds. The rope work was done loosely. She was carried along with the others.

Megumi and the others were brought into a strange building and were deposited in one room. Their weapons and luggage were in the corner opposite of them. Megumi began to grunt, gasp and make any other sounds of discomfort. These sounds woke up Miaka.

"Megumi-chan!" exclaimed Miaka. She hopped over to the bloodied child. "What happened!"

"I-I don't know!" she gasped. "Something got me... And now I'm here. Don't worry Miaka, it's pen blood, so I'll still live if the wound itself isn't fatal." Through all of the rasping and quick breaths, Megumi gave a wink. Miaka understood the gesture, hopping away for Hotohori.

"Hotohori! Wake up!" Hotohori opened his eyes, but then closed them in pain. His hand went to his shoulder on instinct. "I'm so sorry, that you got hurt for me." He smiled kindly at her.

"It was either you or me, and I chose me," he replied. He looked atMegumi and asked, "What happened!"

"D-don't worry, Hotohori-san," Megumi told him. "I only s-spilled my pen blood. My p-pen blood is the blood that you can lose without d-dying. P-please explain to him quietly. C-conserved my strength." Nuriko began to stir.

"What happened?" he groaned. "I feel horrible- What happened to Megumi-chan?"

"Can you hop over here, Nuriko?" asked Miaka. Nuriko looked funny as he hopped over. "From our world, we have these writing utensils called pens. Pens are filled with ink, usually blue or red. Her pen was red. She broke it open and smeared the ink on herself to look like blood." At that moment, three men entered the room.

"The boss wants to see one of you," one of the guards said.

"I'll go," Miaka told them. She hopped over to Nuriko and Hotohori to reassure them. "Taiitskun's(1) mirror said 'mountain'. We are in the mountains. For now, you two just behave." Two of the guards pulled Miaka away.

"W-wait!" gasped Megumi. "Please, I-I don't have m-much longer. I-if I do, I'd l-like to spend my l-last moents with a f-friend, Miaka." The tortured smile on her face was touching, and the men gave in. The third guard picked her small body up easily as the other two lead Miaka.

"My s-sword!" she interrupted. "It has s-saved my l-life. I-It is my c-companion." He picked up her sword and put it with her. What hard could he do by giving a sword to a dying girl?

As Miaka and Megumi were taken away, many more men entered the room. They carried containers of beer and wine.

"You women will serve us wine," one of them announced. They untied Hotohori and Nuriko.

"They think that we're women," Nuriko stated. Hotohori nodded.

"Let's just keep acting then," Hotohori replied. "Miaka told us to behave. Hold on." Hotohori pulled out a bit of make-up and applied some fo his face, making him glow even more. He then began to serve the men enthusiastically.

'He's really taking his role seriously,' thought Nuriko.

"Do any of you have characters on your bodies?" Miaka asked Megumi's captor. He had blue hair and an uncaring look. He dismissed Miaka's guides and pushed her along with one hand.

"I don't know," he replied. "You'd have to ask our leader." 'The old pile of crap.' As he reached the door, he began to speak.

"Who is it? It's Koji. May I come in? Okay. Thank-you." He pushed open the doors. Miaka looked at the man strangely before he pushed her inside. He gently laid down Megumi, her arms wrapped tightly around her sword. Her gasps for air were even quicker and she began to sweat.

'Is she really pretending?' thought Miaka. Koji closed the door. Miaka looked fearfully at the leader. He was dressed the same as before, but now he appeared to be drunk.

"Hey there, missy," Eiken greeted drunkenly. Miaka went directly to the point.

"Does anyone here have a character on their body?" The leader thought for a moment before replying, "Tasuki might, but I won't tell you where he is unless..." He began to take off her sweater. She screamed.

"Help! Somebody help me! Tamahome! TAMAHOME!" Koji still stood outside the door.

"Despicable," he muttered before walking away.

"You do want me to tell you where Tasuki is, don't you?" Bearing this thought in mind, she closed her eyes.

"W-w-wait!" Megumi's choked voice was barely over a whisper. "P-please help me! I-It h-hurts s-so b-b-bad! M-Miaka!" There were tears in the young girl's eyes. Eiken could not care less of the child, but if that girl would shut up, that would please him very much so. He cut off Miaka's bindings and allowed her to go over to her friend.

Miaka untied Megumi's ropes and helped her stood up, her knees were shaking so badly. Using one hand to support Megumi, Miaka used her other hand to pick up the sword. It was very heavy, but when Megumi had it in her hands, it felt lighter. Megumi raised her sword when-

"Tell me where Tasuki is." In only a few seconds, Megumi had covered the distance from her and Eiken with her sword pressed against his neck.

"I don't know who he is," he stammered, "it's just a rumor that I heard." The blade was brought closer.

"Are you sure?" she asked him. He whimpered a 'yes'. "You know, maybe I should kill you. Violating someone's body without their permission is a terrible crime."

"Miaka!" The wall crumbled and standing there was Nuriko with Hotohori standing behind her. Megumi looked at the two, giving Eiken the chance to escape. He lifted her arms and ran to his seat.

Wolves appeared from nowhere and went to attack him. Eiken opened a box and took out a metal fan. Waving it he shouted, "Rekka Shien!" Fire burst from the metal fan as thought it was holding it in. All of the wolves were incinerated and everone only just got away from the blast.

"Is it over?" asked Hotohori. He was hiding behind a fence.

"You're so brave," Nuriko told him in a sarcastic tone. He looked around. "Where's Miaka and Megumi-chan?"

DONE!

that took so long... i have it all written down on paper, but i wasn't sure about tasuki genrou business. i also forgot the leader's name... the next update should be soon though.

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