Wee, it's fun to update. I'm not entirely sure why I suddenly thought to myself, 'You know what would be fun? Updating Be There,' but I'm glad I did. I'm sure you wonderful readers are, too, heh.

Congratulations to soldier4Christ for correctly guessing about Apus' constellation. I suppose it's not hard when the character's name is his constellation, and there's a ton of websites about it. But still, I applaud you for taking the initiative and searching out info. I hope this update is soon enough for you (since you said that was what you wanted). Can you figure out how his lovely little spheres play into it?

Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Saint Seiya. If I did, there would be a lot more mythological content. Wouldn't it be fun to see the bronze boys running through the labyrinth, Minotaur hot on their heels? Of course it would.

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Breathing Fire

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"Where's the blasted checkpoint?" Seiya screamed, wanting for all the world to just punch down the trees of the jungle so he could see clearly without an endless mass of green to cloud his eyes. "We're right where it's supposed to be, but I'm not seeing anything even remotely resembling pseudo-knights, communication equipment, heck, even a bed!"

Shiryu, face creased in thought, stood beside him. "Calm down, Seiya," he said softly, prevailing on his senses to provide some explanation. "The safe house couldn't have disappeared. We probably got turned around somewhere." The din of life around them, squawking birds and buzzing insects, was almost deafening. "Let's just take a moment to think about things."

Seiya huffed in frustration, scuffing a foot along the ground. "Think, think, think. We do too much thinking. Shun could be dying! We need to get him some help and then figure out how this all happened in the first place." The knight batted half-heartedly at a frond. "I know we're in the right place," he muttered.

Much to his disappointment, Dragon could come to no other conclusion himself. He was certain that, while hasty, their progress had been direct and that they were, in fact, standing at the site of their next contact point with the princess. But surely it wasn't possible to hide or remove a retreat full of electronics without leaving some suggestion as to where it had gone, or simply that it was missing in the first place. "Look around and see if you can find any sign that a cabin used to be here," Shiryu suggested at last.

Pegasus grudgingly got to work scrutinizing the underbrush and trying to find some hint at a foundation or activity. As far as he could see, though, there were no footprints, no broken plants, nothing to suggest that anyone had been there before them. Everything was completely, annoyingly, natural and undisturbed.

"Nothing," he said angrily, straightening up. When he turned to trudge back to Shiryu, however, an entirely different sight met his eyes: the cabin. It had materialized out of thin air off to the right, partially hidden behind trees and flowers with sickly sweet scents. "Hey, Shiryu!" Seiya called. "I found it. Weird thing is, it's almost like it was here the whole time but we couldn't see it."

He started toward it, expecting to hear the similar crashing footsteps of Shiryu as he made his own way through the thick foliage toward the returned structure. There was a rustle of leaves, but it seemed farther away that Shiryu ought to be. And then, all at once, everything fell silent in a hush that charged the air. Seiya immediately stopped and looked around.

"Shiryu?" There was no response. "Shiryu!"

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Pheonix Ikki, the rogue knight of Athena; the no-nonsense, independent warrior of fire and rebirth – the name suited him. Just as the legendary bird that he embodied and whose powers he harnessed, Ikki was unique, different. He shunned teamwork and rebelled at being given orders. He served his own gains, despite what anyone else might think. The fight against Sactuary was not a battle of justice for him. It was vengeance. The only suggestion that he actually cared about something, anything, were the moments he shared with his younger brother, Shun.

The jungle training mission had sounded like a bunch of pointlessness the moment Sienna had voiced her plans. What extra skills could they possibly gain from trudging through humid undergrowth with poor attempts at 'enemies' paid to shout, 'Boo!' at every campsite? And yet, in spite of his protests, Ikki was still there, though well removed from the chummy traveling of the other four knights. A part of him wanted to spend time with Shun, now that he was rehabilitated, but the greater part of him knew he couldn't stand Seiya's whining, Shiryu's detached thinking, and Hyoga's general lack of humanity. Before long, he knew, they would be pitted against each other.

So he had ventured on his own. Ikki was certain there was nothing he couldn't handle alone and so far he had been proven right. The biggest annoyance was a swarm of mosquitoes that were convinced he was their next meal. But that problem was quickly solved by adjusting the atmosphere around him so that it was too hot for even the humidity-loving bugs. He was Pheonix Ikki – proud, strong, and virtually unstoppable.

That was, until something drew him to a complete halt.

At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The jungle thrummed with the familiar, aggravating hum that it always seemed to have. Unseen animals made their voices heard, water dripped, and leaves continually shifted underfoot. But eventually he could hear a faint something else, a rhythm that was unnatural though oddly similar to his own footsteps. Another person, he thought instantly, defenses primed.

Ikki continued walking as if nothing was out of place. He wanted whoever it was to think he was totally unaware of their pursuit, and then gain the upper hand at the last minute with a blazing fist to their stomach. Mentally he marked the location and distance of the sound, altering his path so as to bring him closer without being obvious about it. Just as the phoenix was about to turn and swoop down on the hunter-turned-hunted, the sound stopped abruptly with a faint thump and didn't continue as Ikki waited, listening.

Having a good idea of where the follower had stopped, Ikki approached slowly. His eyes picked out sloppy disturbances – scuffed leaf litter, snapped branches. His pursuer was certainly not a very good one. Finally he neared the spot and, sure enough, he could see a body sprawled on the ground in the dim haze of the jungle world. The figure groaned and rolled slowly until facing upright.

That's when Ikki froze.

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The Knight of Ophiuchus, the serpent holder, watched Pegasus with grim satisfaction. So uncertain, so afraid… He smiled down at the writhing form at his feet. Shiryu the Dragon; not quite a serpent but close enough, as far as the constellation went. Not that it made any difference, for Ori's phantom grip around his throat was quite real – and would be to anyone at the receiving end of his wrath. Beside Ori, timid Andrew's eyes darted between the prisoner and the seeking Seiya.

"Are you going to kill him, Ori?" Andy asked quietly. "Are we even supposed to kill him?"

Ori shrugged, watching as Shiryu tried to speak but found to air with which to make the sounds. His face was growing blue and it was a wonder that he was even conscious at this point. "I don't think the Master will mind if he dies before being suitably punished. He'll have the other four to play with."

"But that's not what we're here for," Andy continued, placing a hand on Ori's shoulder. "We're supposed to subdue them and take them back for judgment. Sure they'll die for defying Sanctuary, but by his hand, not ours."

Ori cast a cold look at his teammate. "What would you know? You're not even a real knight."

Looking slightly hurt, Andrew rubbed his arms, fingers ghosting over the bands of gold. "Maybe so, but I'm the only one who can use this, so I count just as much." Don't I? he wanted to add, but remained silent.

"Whatever." The serpent-holder released his grip and Shiryu gasped raggedly for air.

"Seiya," he choked out hoarsely, a sound barely above a murmur. He coughed, sucking in gulps of air. As he convulsed, a leg shot out and struck Ori's shin, causing him to yelp in surprise and pain. This was all the sound Seiya needed, as he turned toward their hiding place, ready to get to the bottom of things.

---

Ikki sat next to a very tattered Shun, one hand holding his brother's. Andromeda's other hand tightly gripped his chain as he slipped in and out of fevered dreams. Finding him sprawled on the jungle floor had been a shock to Ikki, but he recovered quickly enough. With a thoughtfully provided first aid kit – something Ikki had scoffed at when he discovered it in his gear – the phoenix had tended his brother as best as he could.

It fell to waiting, something which Ikki wasn't very good at or accustomed to. But he stilled all desire to fidget, to wake Shun and demand to know what had happened, and remained a still, silent figure at his brother's side. He was an older brother before almost everything else, he knew, though that usually resulted in a tough love approach. Ikki wanted Shun to grow strong in his own right, instead of always depending on him to bail him out of trouble. At the moment, though, Ikki wasn't sure if his plan was working.

"Who did this to you, Shun?" Ikki asked, brushing away some stray strands of green hair from Shun's pale face. "I'll make them regret ever laying a finger on you."

In response to his voice, Shun stirred. His eyes fluttered open and looked around in confusion, glassy with sickness. He made some small, indeterminate sounds which tightened Ikki's hand on Shun's. Andromeda looked blinkingly up at the face of his older sibling as if trying to see him clearly through a dense fog.

"It's me, Shun, Ikki. Everything's okay," Ikki heard himself saying.

"Ikki?" Shun's voice was small and pained. Tears appeared in his eyes and in seconds were flowing freely down his cheeks as he closed his eyes with relief. "I found you. I knew I would." He raised an arm weakly to swipe at his eyes, muttering something that sounded very much like 'I'm sorry.'

"Tell me what happened, Shun," Ikki prompted gently. He had to know how his brother had ended up in this wounded state. While detesting to fight, Shun was very capable of defending himself. "Who did this to you?"

Andromeda seemed not to hear. He began to struggle to sit up. Ikki held him down, knowing that moving around would only aggravate the state he was in. "Please," Shun moaned, fighting weakly against his brother's hands, "please." Ikki let him up, and Shun promptly threw himself awkwardly into Pheonix's arms, burying his face into Ikki's shoulder. "I'm cold, Ikki," he whispered before a fresh wave of tears silenced him.

Ikki hugged his brother tightly, heating up the air around them and wondering at what forces were at work within the veil of the jungle.

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A quick final note. I read somewhere that Shina is the knight of Ophiuchus (you know, her attack being 'thunder cobra' and everything). However, I didn't know this prior to setting up the plot for this fic, and it wasn't really made clear that Shina was the serpent holder. I figured she was just a knight of a snake. So, in my interpretation of things, Ophiuchus is Ori and Shina is just the serpent knight. Of course this means that Ori could possibly have some extra special power over Shina, but I won't get into that. Feel free to imagine, though.