Night was setting when they arrived at an old inn in the access to the village of Alem. They decided that inn was as good as any other and went in, their hunger long ago unbearable. It was full of people, mainly peasants getting drunk after a long day working the land. Many of them turned interested to see the newcomers for it was no common seeing foreigners in this part of the land. Alem was a small village of farmers and few people came from other villages. Glancing at the skinny trio they decided to go back to their beer, far more interesting and useful at the moment.
Kaoru didn't like the place but telling the others to go to another inn was not an option. They had been asking for food for the last two hours of travel -honestly, she could wait that from a child like Yahiko, but a grown man as Sanosuke should be able to control himself-.
Sitting on a table close to the door they waited for someone to ask what they wanted. Sanosuke and Yahiko started an argument on who would eat more food and drink more beer, whereas Kaoru chose that moment to have a glimpse at the pouch she hid in her worn out obi. Swiftly counting the coins she decided it would be best to ask for something very, very cheap if she intended to spend the night in a room. Sighing she went back to the boys –Sano couldn't really be called 'man'- sweat dropping at their never ending ramble.
A spat next to her feet made Kaoru look up; ready to tell whoever had done that to start apologizing in that very moment. But the sight of an incredibly big, fat, dirty man with an apron full of grease, and whose smell said 'Water? Soap? What do I want that for?', made her think twice before opening her mouth.
"What?" asked the waiter –was that really a waiter?- staring at Kaoru.
"Eh? Oh, nothing! I mean, nothing!" she blushed to the roots of her hair, knowing the disgusting look she had given to the man.
"What do you want?"
Sanosuke was the first to start "I want roast lamb and pork and beef and ham stew and cold meat and chicken and beer! And bread! Tons of bread!"
Kaoru sweat dropped.
Yahiko stood up "The same for me!"
Kaoru looked at the boy "What? How old are you? Ten? You're not drinking beer!"
He faced her, "I'm a man, I want beer!"
She smacked him "No way!"
They started to strangle each other while Sanosuke looked at them quite amused ant the waiter picked on his nose.
Five minutes later Kaoru stood up. "Listen rooster if you don't tell this brat to behave I'll go without you! Got it?"
Sanosuke grabbed the boy by his shirt and made him sit. "Behave brat. Only water for you."
Yahiko muttered about old hags and stupid roosters swearing not to talk to them ever again.
The waiter looked at Kaoru. "I just want the onion soup."
As he went to the kitchen Sano decided it was a good opportunity to find out about the girl's secret fortune. "So…" he started "What is the book about? A map to find a hidden treasure? Are you going to sell to an antiquarian or a Scholar?"
Kaoru grinned. Looking right, then left, then right again, she motioned them to get closer to her. The three of them were leaning on the table, faces almost touching, and she whispered "It's The Book."
With a proud look on her face she sat back, waiting for her great secret to sink in. Yahiko and Sano looked at each other, then at Kaoru, then back to each other, and frowned.
"Sano, what is this crazy hag talking about?"
Sanosuke shrugged. "Haven't the slightest idea. Missy, what is The Book?"
The girl stared at them astonished. "You… you don't know?"
They shook their heads.
"Where have you been hiding? In a cave with no human contact?" She then realized she was shouting and the whole inn was looking at her. Her face reddened as she sat. "Never mind."
Sano was about to ask again when the food appeared. Trays and dishes full of meat were placed on the table next to the two boys, while a little plate of soup was all Kaoru had. The man and the boy looked at each other, eyes widening. All of a sudden they started to eat as if it was the last day of their lives. When Kaoru had ended with her soup the others were still stuffing themselves.
A strong noise, similar to a storm, came from nowhere, and the boy stood up swiftly. "What? We're being attacked!"
Face now similar to a tomato, the girl mumbled. "It was my stomach."
Sanosuke and Yahiko looked at her before bursting in laughs.
Her face reddened even more. "It's not funny."
Sano laughed more. "Yes, it is!" Calming a little he asked her "Really, missy, if you were that hungry why did you ask for that tiny soup?"
"I don't have money for more than this." Was her answer.
The boys stopped eating and glared at her. "W-what?"
She was now annoyed. "When you tried to rob me I lied, I do have some money, but I don't have enough to ask for a banquet like yours."
Sano gulped. "You must be joking."
"Why?"
"You stupid hag!" rose Yahiko. "You were supposed to pay for our food!"
Kaoru blinked "What?"
"We are your bodyguards! You have to pay for our needs!"
"WHAT?"
Sanosuke made them stop. "Shut up you two! Do you want everybody here to discover us?"
They sat down again. Kaoru crossed her arms. "Now what are we going to do?"
Sano started to put food as he could in his bag. "First get as much food as you can?"
After doing so he stood up gesturing the others to do the same. "And now we…"
The waiter looked at them. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!"
"Run!"
The three fugitives started running into the forest followed by men with stickles, rakes and hoes.
In their escape Yahiko tripped with the root of a tree making Kaoru, who was behind him, fall. "Ouch!"
Sano turned around and saw Yahiko running, Kaoru on the ground clutching her foot and a bunch of angry men not too far from them. 'Shit!' He started to run towards Kaoru, passing Yahiko. The boy stopped. "Sano! Where are you going?"
"We can't leave the girl here!" Picking Kaoru up he started to run again. "Run Yahiko-Chan!"
"Hey!"
After being running for quite a long time –they didn't really think it had been more than ten minutes, but they felt as if they had been running for the whole day- they realized they didn't hear the villagers anymore. Yahiko looked behind them. "I think we lost them." Then he looked angrily at Kaoru, still in Sano's arms. "You hag, you had to fall hadn't you?"
"What?" She shouted. "It was your fault!"
Sanosuke chose that moment to let her fall to the ground quite unceremoniously. "Ouch! You animal!"
"Well" said the man "as you see you do need bodyguards."
She stood up, forgetting about her injured foot and sore bottom. "What? It was your entire fault! You… you… stupid moronic rooster head!"
"Why thanks." Sano grinned.
"Argh!" She sat against a tree. "I hope you have sleeping bags with you because we can't go back to the village and the next one is more than four hours from here."
Sanosuke frowned. "Of course we have. We are ready for the life in the forest!"
Yahiko pouted. "Yeah, great."
He wasn't like the other Gods. While the others had the features of ordinary Humans –though Megumi would angrily resent that- he was very easily recognizable. His long read hair, tied in a neat braid, was a warning to everybody, for red had always been a sign of danger. His amber eyes, though similar in color to Saitoh's, were far more threatening. They shone as if hiding a terrible power, and a simple look from them was enough to make a Human feel sheer terror. The cross shaped scar, which carried an old story of pain and suffering, was another of his unique characteristics. Just a glimpse made everybody realize they were in the presence of the God of Fire, the God of War, the terrible Battousai. Taking part in a Human war, his side was always sure to win, though those who had asked for their help would be in his debt forever. And that was something few wanted.
He had to go unnoticed this time, and that meant he couldn't let anybody see him. He was supposed to be resting in this tranquil era, not wandering the land searching for a Human.
A Human girl.
How could a Human girl enter the cave, get the Book without being noticed and kill the Guardian? Obviously this was not a common Human. He should be careful. This Human had the most powerful weapon on Earth. It looked like a simple book and for someone who could not read it was useless. But the body of the Guardian showed that whoever had the book not only could read, but had also deciphered one of the Elemental Spells.
He had to be careful.
Hiding in the shadows of the forest he paid attention to the discussion a pair of hunters had. "Then, that stupid girl said she could defeat the Gods. 'Come with me', she said. Can you imagine? I swear, if she had not run into the forest to Alem she would have known what we…"
He didn't need to hear anymore. Setting off to the next village he tried to think what to do when he found her. "Well, little girl. Let's see where you are hiding."
Yes, I know this chapter is shorter than the first one, but the next will be longer. Thanks to those who read the first chapter, and especially to those who put me in their alerts (You're the best :) )
I'm still looking for someone to preread and correct the chapters. So if any of you want to, you still can! (Isn't it great? LOL).
And the last thing. You know, I'm not one of those authors who say "If I don't get x reviews I won't update!" I will update even if I don't get any reviews. But knowing what you think is always useful and welcome. I know a lot of people hit my first chapter (though I don't know how many read the whole thing LOL), and I would really thank you if you sent me some reviews.
You know you want to! Review! ;) The next chapter should be out next weekend. Thanks for reading!
