Alatáriël: *Sniffles* I just got done watching the FY VHS where Chiriko
dies! It's so sad!!!! *cries*
Kate: I know! *hands Alatáriël a tissue then blows her nose in another*
Chichiri: *looks at them both uncomfortably* Don't cry, no da!!!... *sees that they don't pay attention* I guess I should say the disclaimers, no da!... *Looks to Kate and Alatáriël for a reaction... sees none and sighs* Alatáriël owns only Kate... and the evil chipmunks... Please don't sue, no da!... Bob is owned by Kate's friend, Josh.
Chapter 8: I can explain!!!... Oh wait... No I can't.
Kate turned around slowly, praying against all odds that it was just some curious rabbits or something. Unfortunately for her rabbits don't get that big. "What do you think you're doing?!", she cringed and REALLY didn't want to see his face. "N-nothing", Kate answered and noticed how small and insinificant her voice sounded.
"Then what'da ya got there?", Tasuki asked, sounding pissed off. 'Ok, Kate... WWCD?', (aka: What Would Chichiri Do?) She took a deep breath and went chibi, turning to him. "Me? I'm just going to go over THERE now!", Kate said and pointed to one direction then ran another after grabbing the fan.
She somehow managed to run into the woods... The only thing she didn't know is that by dragging the tessen behind her she was leaving a large indention in the earth following her where ever she went.
She got scared when she entered the forest and heard the sound of someone coming up behind her right on her tail. (AN: In other words she was afraid of the tessen). The faster she ran the faster, whom she thought was Tasuki, ran.
If she would have thought about it for a second she would have realized that Tasuki's power is speed and would have given up immediately... However this is Kate we are talking about. She just kept running.
Eventually she ran out of energy and adrenaline and slumped to the forest floor, using the stolen tessen as support. She looked around her carefully, unchibied. She didn't hear anything... but she did see a long line that had seemed to follow her into the forest. She sweatdroped when she saw the fallen tree trunk she had sliced in half.
"Uh Oh", she mumbled and picked the tessen off the ground. It now had grass and dirt trapped in between the folds that made up the fan. 'There just ISN'T an up side to this, is there?!', She thought and rested the fan on her shoulder as seen had seen everyone's favorite bandit do so many times before.
'What to do?... What to do?', she asked herself casually. 'You can drop the tessen and run for your life... but that might mean never seeing Chichiri again so that plan is out...', she thought. 'Hmm... You can wait for him to find you, beat you up, then you can crawl your bloody corpse back to camp!... Hey! That's a good idea, but I wanna give him a run for his money first!!!', she thought and ran in a 90 degree angle from where she had been heading.
Now in her normal form she could run a lot faster and farther. 'I wonder if he is following me', she thought. She finally stopped when she reached a river. She sighed and walked up stream. She had eventually concluded that Tasuki's power was speed and could have caught her at any moment.
'So... why didn't he?', she thought. Suddenly she became aware that the sun was setting and fast. She had about 30 minutes before it was gone and she was left in the dark all alone. She glared at the tessen. "This is all your fault, ya know?! If it hadn't been for you i'd be hanging out with Chiri right now!", she told the fan and kicked it. It responded by falling over.
Kate sighed at she looked back where she came. She didn't recognize it and the sun was setting. 'I better head back before I get into REAL trouble', she thought. She was in trouble but she had a feeling Tasuki might have mercy on her pitiful soul... A rabid wolf might not... or since she was in an Ancient China like land perhaps a tiger!
She shuddered at the thought. 'Lions and tiger and wolves, oh my!', she thought with a small grin. Suddenly a hand reached out of the bushes and she barely dodged it. "What the fudge?!", she screamed and went chibi, holding the fan behind her so it was out of site. "Come out! I know you are there...", she said in a childishly frightened voice.
Not surprisingly out stepped Tasuki. She hadn't even heard him! He didn't say anything and just stood there looking intimidating. "Tasuki-san! Konnishi wa! What are you doing in this neck of the woods?", she asked acting like she didn't know why he was there... even though he knew that she knew why he was there.
"Give it over...", He said in a threatening voice. She sighed and reluctantly did as she was told. A sudden poof of smoke took her by surprise and she jumped back. Before her stood Chichiri with a frown on his face. 'Oh gods! This is almost worse!!!', she thought and stared at her feet, unchibi. 'No wonder he couldn't catch me', she thought.
"Stealing's not nice, no da... Not to mention this is a very weird thing to steal...", he said. She could practically feel his eyes looking into her soul and she cringed, figuring he could. She could tell by the sound of his voice he wanted an explanation. "I... I... I wasn't thinking!...", Kate said and almost jumped when Chichiri walked up to her.
"I know that", he said. 'ARG! He's not giving me any clue as to what he wants to hear!', she thought and took a quick look to his face for any hints. All she saw was that he had a hand on his waist and was looking at her like he wasn't very happy.
'Uh... Damn...I can't tell him the truth!... I can't lie to him either!!!', she thought and bit into her lower lip. "I... wanted to use it for something... I was going to give it back!", she said. "... What use could you have for Tasuki's fan, no da?", Chichiri asked. Kate cringed. He said the exact thing she couldn't tell him. 'Think fast!', she thought. She couldn't think of anything.
"I can't tell you", she said and bowed her head to him. "Why not?", he asked. She clenged her fists to her side. Something inside her just wouldn't let her lie to him. She had a feeling Mitsukake's herb he gave her was laced with truth serum, but this was different. She COULDN'T and WOULDN'T allow herself to lie to him.
"... Chichiri, I'm scared to tell anyone", she said. Chichiri seemed surprised at that response. "Scared, no da? Of what?", he asked. She looked up at him hesitantly, but couldn't look him in the eye. She looked back down. "People's reactions... How it would change them...", she answered.
He took her words into consideration. "Reactions to you stealing Tasuki's fan, no da?", he asked and she shook her head. "Iie... Something much more serious than that...", she said and began twittleing her thumbs together.
Chichiri regarded her with a small frown, all anger gone. "It sounds like it burdens you...", Chichiri said. She took note of no no da's. She nodded and rubbed her wrists that she noticed had suddenly got sore. Silence surrounded them and Kate could practically hear the cogs in Chichiri's brain turning. She noted that the sun had set and it was cold. She pulled her blanket closer to herself, which she had managed to keep a hold of while running around.
Chichiri looked around him before saying, "We should head back, no da... We'll talk about this later", he said and put his kesa on the ground. She nodded and acted like she didn't know what was going to happen next. "Come here, no da", Chichiri said and Kate did so. Once on the kesa Chichiri recited a spell and placed his staff in the middle of the kesa.
A yellow light flowed onto the kesa and Kate had to cover her eyes. Suddenly she got this terrible sinking feeling. 'Ah! I don't like this!', she thought as she looked down and saw that she was up to her waist in the kesa. When it was her head's turn to go threw she held her breath and prayed to land safely.
Chichiri, who was taller than her by 6 inches, (AN: He's tall!!! She's 5'3" and he's 5'9"!!!)watched as she didn't put up the normal fuss someone did when they entered his kesa for the first time. He did think it was funny, however, that she held her breath before disappearing completely.
Want to guess how they landed? A:) In a tree. B:) In water. C:) in a pool of red Jell-O, or D:) Oh the roof... by which Kate tumbles off of and hits the ground with a thud. If you guessed C you are not correct! The answer is D!
Kate didn't have time to think before she saw the roof raising up to meet her. "WOW!", she yelled as she hit it and tumbled down the side before rolling off the roof all together and landing on the ground. Chichiri floated down. "You alive, no da?", Chichiri asked to Kate, who was laying face first in the ground.
"DO IT AGAIN!!!", she yelled and jumped up, latching onto Chichiri, chibi. Chichiri sweatdroped. Kate pulled herself together and laughed, "Don't mind me...". Nuriko and Miaka suddenly emerged from the house Kate had just landed on. "What's going on out here?", Nuriko asked. "I feel onto the roof! It was so cool!", Kate said with a grin.
Nuriko raised an eyebrow and put a hand to her forehead. "Well, you aren't running a fever... How did you get onto the roof of all places?!", Nuriko asked. "Teleportation!", Kate answered happily, the rush having not warn off yet. Miaka giggled at Kate's display of hyperness as a result off falling onto a roof of all things.
Kate stopped bouncing around. She frowned and looked at her wrists. They were throbbing slightly and she rubbed them carefully. "I gotta go... be back soon!", she said and wandered back to where her backpack was. She rummaged threw it and sighed when she didn't find her herbs. "Did they grow legs or something?!", she questioned. It wouldn't have surprised her if they did... Stranger things have happened.
Truth serum or no truth serum she needed those herbs to take away the pain. She sighed, guessing Tasuki had found out about her stealing the tessen and this was his payback. Then a thought rushed threw her that made her blood run cold. 'The books!', she thought and quickly opened her backpack. Everything else was right where she left it.
She pondered that for a moment then recalled the first time she had tried to open her backpack and couldn't do it... Maybe he had tried and just hadn't succeeded, but if that was the case why didn't he just put his hand threw one of the holes and pull something out?
She decided not to dwell on it. She took her clothes off of the pole she had made and felt them. They were extremely cold. She sighed and left them there. She would have to sleep in the dress. She then picked up her backpack and headed back into camp.
When she got back she went into the shack they were all sharing and noticed Miaka, Nuriko, Tamahome, and Chiriko were the only ones in. "Hey, you'r face is pale white. Are you ok?", Tamahome asked.
Kate blinked and smiled sheepishly at him, "I'm ok", she said and sat down on one of the eight blankets spread out on the floor. She yawned and curled up in her blanket. "Oh! Hey, Kate! I almost forgot. That kid's father gave us all new clothes as thanks for saving his kid. Here's yours!", Nuriko said and threw her a small pile. Kate lifted the clothes up for inspection and smiled when she saw a white shirt and black pants.
She decided to save them for tomorrow, being too lazy to change into them, and settled down to fall asleep. She brought her wrists up to her chest in a praying manner and curled into a ball. The pain kept her up for a while, but soon weariness won out and she fell asleep.
In the middle of the night Kate woke up to the sound of someone walking around. She didn't move. Suddenly the foot steps stopped near her and she closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep as she evened out her breathing. She felt panicked when she felt them drawing nearer. 'What's going on?', she thought and fought to keep still.
Suddenly whoever it was who was near her stopped and she felt a shadow fall over her. A light caught her attention (AN: you know how you can see light with your eyes closed?). She began to feel herself feel calmer all of a sudden. She paid attention to whoever it was as they got up and walked away. She was so panicked she hadn't noticed her wrists were no longer hurting.
In the morning Kate woke up before everyone else. Looking to her left she saw Miaka was sleeping and was whispering Tamahome's name in her sleep. Kate sweatdroped. Looking to her right she came face to face, or should I say face to foot, with Tasuki's foot. She blinked a few times and resisted the urge to tickle his foot before throwing her pillow over her head.
With that motion she noticed her wrists didn't hurt. Thinking something might be wrong, and forgetting about her late night visitor, she quickly sat up and rolled up the sleeves to her dress. Carefully, Kate undid the bandaged and looked puzzled when she saw no marks. 'Not even a fading bruise', she thought as she slowly turned her hands.
Suddenly it hit her, 'Mitsukake?', she thought remembering how he had argued with Tamahome about not healing her. A smile slowly formed on her face and she shook her head slightly. Soon she felt herself fall asleep again. (AN: about the herbs... Mits got Tama-neko to steal them ^_~)
The next time she woke up no one was in the hut! She cursed and changed quickly before running outside. Everyone was saddling some horses and packing them up with supplies. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?!", Kate asked and ran over to Miaka. "Morning! Hey, what's the plan?", Kate asked. She knew the plan, but she needed some form of communication. "We're heading out soon, so you better get packed", was all Miaka said and Kate decided she'd do that.
She walked into the hut that belonged to the father of the boy Tamahome saved. "Hello? I was wondering if you had anything I can fix my bag with? It's ripped", Kate said to the father, who greeted her at the door. "Oh! Of course. Come in! Come in!", he said and Kate followed him into the hut.
"Strange party you all are", he said and Kate nodded with a grin on her face. "... I wonder how your blue haired friend keeps his bangs up like that...", the father said while rummaging threw a box. "I've asked myself that question... I don't have an answer though", Kate said with a laugh.
"Ah ha! Here it is!", the father said and turned to her. He handed her a needle (it was huge) and some thread (it was wide and rough). "Thank you!", she said and ran outside to fix her bag. She entered the hut with a grin covering on her face.
"Heh heh heh. Finally... I can get rid of you once and for all!", Kate said evilly as to tore apart the dress she had been wearing so she could use it for patches as she laughed evilly. Anyone who walked threw the door would think her mad as she sat there with her dagger in hand cutting a fine piece of clothing into squares for a patch, of all things.
Within 30 minutes she had half of one patch done. She was used to fixing her backpacks. No matter how good it was it always ripped, but this was the first time she had to ever fix it due to it being torn into by yo yo's, and she prayed it was the last time.
An hour and a half later she was done and it was time to go. She quickly got her clothes off the pole and ran to get ready. It looked like it was going to be a nice day. Kate smiled when she heard she got her own horse. She didn't like ridding with others. Chiriko rode with Mitsukake and Miaka with Tamahome (of course). Tasuki, Nuriko, and Chichiri had there own horses.
The road to Touran was totally mountains... Really BIG mountains. Snow began to show itself within two hours and Kate began to fear for the horses. Within six hours sense they left the village behind they reached Touran.
Soon they had settled down for lunch and Kate was never happier to get to eat something. "We're here at the city entrance, so let's split up and search, no da", Chichiri said pointing to a map. "Chiriko is still a child, so he and I will pair up", Chichiri said.
"Mitsukake is pretty level headed, so he can keep Tasuki on a leash, no da", he added. "Whaddya mean by THAT?!", Tasuki asked with a frown. "Naturally, i'll be keeping an eye on Miaka", Tamahome said. "What about you, Nuriko?", Miaka asked. "Me?... I'll join you and Tamahome. I'll take his majesty's place and watch Miaka, too!", he said.
"Hey, cutie", a weird looking dude said to Nuriko suddenly. Kate watched as he hid her smile behind her mouth as the man flirted with Nuriko. "Do I LOOK like i'd be tempted by trash like you?", Nuriko asked after she beat up the sorry loser.
"Maybe Miaka and Nuriko together are bad news!", Tasuki said and flashed his fangs with a smile. "That's true", Tamahome said. Right now Kate had got up and walked to the other side of the room. "I get the drift! I'm not a woman, it's ok, right? Gimme your knife!", Nuriko said to Kate, who was looking at a picture of what she thought was a dog.
Kate blinked and handed it over. (Note; Nuriko knows Kate has a knife because she placed it where she could get it if it was needed) Miaka gasped as Nuriko cut off his braid. Kate sighed as Miaka, Tamahome, and Nuriko talked about character development.
"I told you it was about time I gave it up! Besides, we're about to go to war against the Seiryu celestial warriors. Can't be delicate and womanly doing THAT!", Nuriko said with a grin. "The Seiryu celestial warriors. Yeah. We'd better watch ourselves, or we could bump into them", Tamahome commented.
"True. The problem is communication. They can discover us when we use Suzaku's powers, no da", Chichiri added. "I have a solution!", Chiriko said and handed out flares. Kate momentarily pondered where he kept them, but decided it was one of the great mysteries of the universe.
"Wait! Kate, what are you going to do?", Miaka asked. Kate fiddled around with her dagger. "I'll have a look-see and if I see anything you'll be the first to know!", Kate said. Almost immediately you could see everyone's faces grow concerned with this idea.
Kate rose an eyebrow, "I'll be fine.. Don't give me that look! I'll see you all later! Chow!", Kate said and ran off. Once out of site she paused to think of her course of action. She didn't have but an hour or so till Ashitare shows up to make things interesting and that sets the course of Nuriko's death.
She sighed and ran a hand threw her hair. She walked around and eventually found a place without any people. She sat down and got book 8 out and began to read over the course of events. She wanted to make sure she knew everything there was to know.
A sudden coughing sound caught her attention and she looked around. She noticed a homeless looking man standing across from her. 'Where did HE come from?!', Kate thought in shock. "Hello there, miss!", the man greeted and Kate returned the greeting with a grin. "What can I do for you?", she asked, standing up.
"This is for you", the man said and handed her something wrapped in a cloth. She looked up at him to ask about it, but he was gone. She looked around quickly, but couldn't relocate him. She sighed and unwrapped the item she had been given. Inside was a mirror.
She blinked and looked at it. 'What a crazy old dude', she thought. "It's not nice to call people names", A voice said and she jumped. It was that old dude again. "... What's with the mirror?", she asked, deciding to let that mind-reading thing go. "It will help you on your quest... Keep an eye on the refection and think of something", he said.
She rose an eyebrow, but did as he said. The glass began to form waves like a raindrop hitting a puddle and she stared in amazement as a image took form. "You should not meddle... but it seems your existence in this world does just that... Stay close to Chichiri... Do what you must and use this as you will, but be modest with its powers... Don't tell the others until the time has come for you to do so... I bid you farewell", the man said.
Kate looked up in shock, "Suzaku?!", she yelled but he was gone. She looked back at the mirror and the image moved. It was of Nuriko and his fight with Ashitare. He got slashed and Kate quickly covered the mirror up with the cloth in had been in and held it to her chest. 'This is insane', she thought before walking off, hoping to find Chichiri somewhere around the city.
Alatáriël: Gosh! This chapter took a while!!! ... I got a small writer's block... Sorry for any errors... This chapter had a bunch that I lost track of late at night...
Kate: *sighs* You're going to ruin my story...
Alatáriël: *glares at her with hate*... Go die...
Chichiri and Kate: ^___^ If you kill a main character your story will end! MWA HA HA
Alatáriël: *raises an eyebrow at Chichiri's evil laughter* Riggggghhhhttt...
Chichiri: Time for reviews, no da!
Chibichibi386: *laughs* Glad you liked the fic! Sorry this up-date is so late. *bows*
Selene Serenity: *Giggles* What did you think?!
Opaaru Tsuki: Oops! Sorry if I ruined anything for you! *bows* I hope you like this chapter.
Holly: I don't think i'd like it there. LOL *Laughs* Well, you were close!
Songwind: *laughs* I love Tasuki's horse!!! XD It's so funny!!... Heh heh. Glad to know that your review might ward off any flames. *laughs*
Chiri26: *laughs* Thank you! I hope you like this one too!
Kate: I know! *hands Alatáriël a tissue then blows her nose in another*
Chichiri: *looks at them both uncomfortably* Don't cry, no da!!!... *sees that they don't pay attention* I guess I should say the disclaimers, no da!... *Looks to Kate and Alatáriël for a reaction... sees none and sighs* Alatáriël owns only Kate... and the evil chipmunks... Please don't sue, no da!... Bob is owned by Kate's friend, Josh.
Chapter 8: I can explain!!!... Oh wait... No I can't.
Kate turned around slowly, praying against all odds that it was just some curious rabbits or something. Unfortunately for her rabbits don't get that big. "What do you think you're doing?!", she cringed and REALLY didn't want to see his face. "N-nothing", Kate answered and noticed how small and insinificant her voice sounded.
"Then what'da ya got there?", Tasuki asked, sounding pissed off. 'Ok, Kate... WWCD?', (aka: What Would Chichiri Do?) She took a deep breath and went chibi, turning to him. "Me? I'm just going to go over THERE now!", Kate said and pointed to one direction then ran another after grabbing the fan.
She somehow managed to run into the woods... The only thing she didn't know is that by dragging the tessen behind her she was leaving a large indention in the earth following her where ever she went.
She got scared when she entered the forest and heard the sound of someone coming up behind her right on her tail. (AN: In other words she was afraid of the tessen). The faster she ran the faster, whom she thought was Tasuki, ran.
If she would have thought about it for a second she would have realized that Tasuki's power is speed and would have given up immediately... However this is Kate we are talking about. She just kept running.
Eventually she ran out of energy and adrenaline and slumped to the forest floor, using the stolen tessen as support. She looked around her carefully, unchibied. She didn't hear anything... but she did see a long line that had seemed to follow her into the forest. She sweatdroped when she saw the fallen tree trunk she had sliced in half.
"Uh Oh", she mumbled and picked the tessen off the ground. It now had grass and dirt trapped in between the folds that made up the fan. 'There just ISN'T an up side to this, is there?!', She thought and rested the fan on her shoulder as seen had seen everyone's favorite bandit do so many times before.
'What to do?... What to do?', she asked herself casually. 'You can drop the tessen and run for your life... but that might mean never seeing Chichiri again so that plan is out...', she thought. 'Hmm... You can wait for him to find you, beat you up, then you can crawl your bloody corpse back to camp!... Hey! That's a good idea, but I wanna give him a run for his money first!!!', she thought and ran in a 90 degree angle from where she had been heading.
Now in her normal form she could run a lot faster and farther. 'I wonder if he is following me', she thought. She finally stopped when she reached a river. She sighed and walked up stream. She had eventually concluded that Tasuki's power was speed and could have caught her at any moment.
'So... why didn't he?', she thought. Suddenly she became aware that the sun was setting and fast. She had about 30 minutes before it was gone and she was left in the dark all alone. She glared at the tessen. "This is all your fault, ya know?! If it hadn't been for you i'd be hanging out with Chiri right now!", she told the fan and kicked it. It responded by falling over.
Kate sighed at she looked back where she came. She didn't recognize it and the sun was setting. 'I better head back before I get into REAL trouble', she thought. She was in trouble but she had a feeling Tasuki might have mercy on her pitiful soul... A rabid wolf might not... or since she was in an Ancient China like land perhaps a tiger!
She shuddered at the thought. 'Lions and tiger and wolves, oh my!', she thought with a small grin. Suddenly a hand reached out of the bushes and she barely dodged it. "What the fudge?!", she screamed and went chibi, holding the fan behind her so it was out of site. "Come out! I know you are there...", she said in a childishly frightened voice.
Not surprisingly out stepped Tasuki. She hadn't even heard him! He didn't say anything and just stood there looking intimidating. "Tasuki-san! Konnishi wa! What are you doing in this neck of the woods?", she asked acting like she didn't know why he was there... even though he knew that she knew why he was there.
"Give it over...", He said in a threatening voice. She sighed and reluctantly did as she was told. A sudden poof of smoke took her by surprise and she jumped back. Before her stood Chichiri with a frown on his face. 'Oh gods! This is almost worse!!!', she thought and stared at her feet, unchibi. 'No wonder he couldn't catch me', she thought.
"Stealing's not nice, no da... Not to mention this is a very weird thing to steal...", he said. She could practically feel his eyes looking into her soul and she cringed, figuring he could. She could tell by the sound of his voice he wanted an explanation. "I... I... I wasn't thinking!...", Kate said and almost jumped when Chichiri walked up to her.
"I know that", he said. 'ARG! He's not giving me any clue as to what he wants to hear!', she thought and took a quick look to his face for any hints. All she saw was that he had a hand on his waist and was looking at her like he wasn't very happy.
'Uh... Damn...I can't tell him the truth!... I can't lie to him either!!!', she thought and bit into her lower lip. "I... wanted to use it for something... I was going to give it back!", she said. "... What use could you have for Tasuki's fan, no da?", Chichiri asked. Kate cringed. He said the exact thing she couldn't tell him. 'Think fast!', she thought. She couldn't think of anything.
"I can't tell you", she said and bowed her head to him. "Why not?", he asked. She clenged her fists to her side. Something inside her just wouldn't let her lie to him. She had a feeling Mitsukake's herb he gave her was laced with truth serum, but this was different. She COULDN'T and WOULDN'T allow herself to lie to him.
"... Chichiri, I'm scared to tell anyone", she said. Chichiri seemed surprised at that response. "Scared, no da? Of what?", he asked. She looked up at him hesitantly, but couldn't look him in the eye. She looked back down. "People's reactions... How it would change them...", she answered.
He took her words into consideration. "Reactions to you stealing Tasuki's fan, no da?", he asked and she shook her head. "Iie... Something much more serious than that...", she said and began twittleing her thumbs together.
Chichiri regarded her with a small frown, all anger gone. "It sounds like it burdens you...", Chichiri said. She took note of no no da's. She nodded and rubbed her wrists that she noticed had suddenly got sore. Silence surrounded them and Kate could practically hear the cogs in Chichiri's brain turning. She noted that the sun had set and it was cold. She pulled her blanket closer to herself, which she had managed to keep a hold of while running around.
Chichiri looked around him before saying, "We should head back, no da... We'll talk about this later", he said and put his kesa on the ground. She nodded and acted like she didn't know what was going to happen next. "Come here, no da", Chichiri said and Kate did so. Once on the kesa Chichiri recited a spell and placed his staff in the middle of the kesa.
A yellow light flowed onto the kesa and Kate had to cover her eyes. Suddenly she got this terrible sinking feeling. 'Ah! I don't like this!', she thought as she looked down and saw that she was up to her waist in the kesa. When it was her head's turn to go threw she held her breath and prayed to land safely.
Chichiri, who was taller than her by 6 inches, (AN: He's tall!!! She's 5'3" and he's 5'9"!!!)watched as she didn't put up the normal fuss someone did when they entered his kesa for the first time. He did think it was funny, however, that she held her breath before disappearing completely.
Want to guess how they landed? A:) In a tree. B:) In water. C:) in a pool of red Jell-O, or D:) Oh the roof... by which Kate tumbles off of and hits the ground with a thud. If you guessed C you are not correct! The answer is D!
Kate didn't have time to think before she saw the roof raising up to meet her. "WOW!", she yelled as she hit it and tumbled down the side before rolling off the roof all together and landing on the ground. Chichiri floated down. "You alive, no da?", Chichiri asked to Kate, who was laying face first in the ground.
"DO IT AGAIN!!!", she yelled and jumped up, latching onto Chichiri, chibi. Chichiri sweatdroped. Kate pulled herself together and laughed, "Don't mind me...". Nuriko and Miaka suddenly emerged from the house Kate had just landed on. "What's going on out here?", Nuriko asked. "I feel onto the roof! It was so cool!", Kate said with a grin.
Nuriko raised an eyebrow and put a hand to her forehead. "Well, you aren't running a fever... How did you get onto the roof of all places?!", Nuriko asked. "Teleportation!", Kate answered happily, the rush having not warn off yet. Miaka giggled at Kate's display of hyperness as a result off falling onto a roof of all things.
Kate stopped bouncing around. She frowned and looked at her wrists. They were throbbing slightly and she rubbed them carefully. "I gotta go... be back soon!", she said and wandered back to where her backpack was. She rummaged threw it and sighed when she didn't find her herbs. "Did they grow legs or something?!", she questioned. It wouldn't have surprised her if they did... Stranger things have happened.
Truth serum or no truth serum she needed those herbs to take away the pain. She sighed, guessing Tasuki had found out about her stealing the tessen and this was his payback. Then a thought rushed threw her that made her blood run cold. 'The books!', she thought and quickly opened her backpack. Everything else was right where she left it.
She pondered that for a moment then recalled the first time she had tried to open her backpack and couldn't do it... Maybe he had tried and just hadn't succeeded, but if that was the case why didn't he just put his hand threw one of the holes and pull something out?
She decided not to dwell on it. She took her clothes off of the pole she had made and felt them. They were extremely cold. She sighed and left them there. She would have to sleep in the dress. She then picked up her backpack and headed back into camp.
When she got back she went into the shack they were all sharing and noticed Miaka, Nuriko, Tamahome, and Chiriko were the only ones in. "Hey, you'r face is pale white. Are you ok?", Tamahome asked.
Kate blinked and smiled sheepishly at him, "I'm ok", she said and sat down on one of the eight blankets spread out on the floor. She yawned and curled up in her blanket. "Oh! Hey, Kate! I almost forgot. That kid's father gave us all new clothes as thanks for saving his kid. Here's yours!", Nuriko said and threw her a small pile. Kate lifted the clothes up for inspection and smiled when she saw a white shirt and black pants.
She decided to save them for tomorrow, being too lazy to change into them, and settled down to fall asleep. She brought her wrists up to her chest in a praying manner and curled into a ball. The pain kept her up for a while, but soon weariness won out and she fell asleep.
In the middle of the night Kate woke up to the sound of someone walking around. She didn't move. Suddenly the foot steps stopped near her and she closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep as she evened out her breathing. She felt panicked when she felt them drawing nearer. 'What's going on?', she thought and fought to keep still.
Suddenly whoever it was who was near her stopped and she felt a shadow fall over her. A light caught her attention (AN: you know how you can see light with your eyes closed?). She began to feel herself feel calmer all of a sudden. She paid attention to whoever it was as they got up and walked away. She was so panicked she hadn't noticed her wrists were no longer hurting.
In the morning Kate woke up before everyone else. Looking to her left she saw Miaka was sleeping and was whispering Tamahome's name in her sleep. Kate sweatdroped. Looking to her right she came face to face, or should I say face to foot, with Tasuki's foot. She blinked a few times and resisted the urge to tickle his foot before throwing her pillow over her head.
With that motion she noticed her wrists didn't hurt. Thinking something might be wrong, and forgetting about her late night visitor, she quickly sat up and rolled up the sleeves to her dress. Carefully, Kate undid the bandaged and looked puzzled when she saw no marks. 'Not even a fading bruise', she thought as she slowly turned her hands.
Suddenly it hit her, 'Mitsukake?', she thought remembering how he had argued with Tamahome about not healing her. A smile slowly formed on her face and she shook her head slightly. Soon she felt herself fall asleep again. (AN: about the herbs... Mits got Tama-neko to steal them ^_~)
The next time she woke up no one was in the hut! She cursed and changed quickly before running outside. Everyone was saddling some horses and packing them up with supplies. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?!", Kate asked and ran over to Miaka. "Morning! Hey, what's the plan?", Kate asked. She knew the plan, but she needed some form of communication. "We're heading out soon, so you better get packed", was all Miaka said and Kate decided she'd do that.
She walked into the hut that belonged to the father of the boy Tamahome saved. "Hello? I was wondering if you had anything I can fix my bag with? It's ripped", Kate said to the father, who greeted her at the door. "Oh! Of course. Come in! Come in!", he said and Kate followed him into the hut.
"Strange party you all are", he said and Kate nodded with a grin on her face. "... I wonder how your blue haired friend keeps his bangs up like that...", the father said while rummaging threw a box. "I've asked myself that question... I don't have an answer though", Kate said with a laugh.
"Ah ha! Here it is!", the father said and turned to her. He handed her a needle (it was huge) and some thread (it was wide and rough). "Thank you!", she said and ran outside to fix her bag. She entered the hut with a grin covering on her face.
"Heh heh heh. Finally... I can get rid of you once and for all!", Kate said evilly as to tore apart the dress she had been wearing so she could use it for patches as she laughed evilly. Anyone who walked threw the door would think her mad as she sat there with her dagger in hand cutting a fine piece of clothing into squares for a patch, of all things.
Within 30 minutes she had half of one patch done. She was used to fixing her backpacks. No matter how good it was it always ripped, but this was the first time she had to ever fix it due to it being torn into by yo yo's, and she prayed it was the last time.
An hour and a half later she was done and it was time to go. She quickly got her clothes off the pole and ran to get ready. It looked like it was going to be a nice day. Kate smiled when she heard she got her own horse. She didn't like ridding with others. Chiriko rode with Mitsukake and Miaka with Tamahome (of course). Tasuki, Nuriko, and Chichiri had there own horses.
The road to Touran was totally mountains... Really BIG mountains. Snow began to show itself within two hours and Kate began to fear for the horses. Within six hours sense they left the village behind they reached Touran.
Soon they had settled down for lunch and Kate was never happier to get to eat something. "We're here at the city entrance, so let's split up and search, no da", Chichiri said pointing to a map. "Chiriko is still a child, so he and I will pair up", Chichiri said.
"Mitsukake is pretty level headed, so he can keep Tasuki on a leash, no da", he added. "Whaddya mean by THAT?!", Tasuki asked with a frown. "Naturally, i'll be keeping an eye on Miaka", Tamahome said. "What about you, Nuriko?", Miaka asked. "Me?... I'll join you and Tamahome. I'll take his majesty's place and watch Miaka, too!", he said.
"Hey, cutie", a weird looking dude said to Nuriko suddenly. Kate watched as he hid her smile behind her mouth as the man flirted with Nuriko. "Do I LOOK like i'd be tempted by trash like you?", Nuriko asked after she beat up the sorry loser.
"Maybe Miaka and Nuriko together are bad news!", Tasuki said and flashed his fangs with a smile. "That's true", Tamahome said. Right now Kate had got up and walked to the other side of the room. "I get the drift! I'm not a woman, it's ok, right? Gimme your knife!", Nuriko said to Kate, who was looking at a picture of what she thought was a dog.
Kate blinked and handed it over. (Note; Nuriko knows Kate has a knife because she placed it where she could get it if it was needed) Miaka gasped as Nuriko cut off his braid. Kate sighed as Miaka, Tamahome, and Nuriko talked about character development.
"I told you it was about time I gave it up! Besides, we're about to go to war against the Seiryu celestial warriors. Can't be delicate and womanly doing THAT!", Nuriko said with a grin. "The Seiryu celestial warriors. Yeah. We'd better watch ourselves, or we could bump into them", Tamahome commented.
"True. The problem is communication. They can discover us when we use Suzaku's powers, no da", Chichiri added. "I have a solution!", Chiriko said and handed out flares. Kate momentarily pondered where he kept them, but decided it was one of the great mysteries of the universe.
"Wait! Kate, what are you going to do?", Miaka asked. Kate fiddled around with her dagger. "I'll have a look-see and if I see anything you'll be the first to know!", Kate said. Almost immediately you could see everyone's faces grow concerned with this idea.
Kate rose an eyebrow, "I'll be fine.. Don't give me that look! I'll see you all later! Chow!", Kate said and ran off. Once out of site she paused to think of her course of action. She didn't have but an hour or so till Ashitare shows up to make things interesting and that sets the course of Nuriko's death.
She sighed and ran a hand threw her hair. She walked around and eventually found a place without any people. She sat down and got book 8 out and began to read over the course of events. She wanted to make sure she knew everything there was to know.
A sudden coughing sound caught her attention and she looked around. She noticed a homeless looking man standing across from her. 'Where did HE come from?!', Kate thought in shock. "Hello there, miss!", the man greeted and Kate returned the greeting with a grin. "What can I do for you?", she asked, standing up.
"This is for you", the man said and handed her something wrapped in a cloth. She looked up at him to ask about it, but he was gone. She looked around quickly, but couldn't relocate him. She sighed and unwrapped the item she had been given. Inside was a mirror.
She blinked and looked at it. 'What a crazy old dude', she thought. "It's not nice to call people names", A voice said and she jumped. It was that old dude again. "... What's with the mirror?", she asked, deciding to let that mind-reading thing go. "It will help you on your quest... Keep an eye on the refection and think of something", he said.
She rose an eyebrow, but did as he said. The glass began to form waves like a raindrop hitting a puddle and she stared in amazement as a image took form. "You should not meddle... but it seems your existence in this world does just that... Stay close to Chichiri... Do what you must and use this as you will, but be modest with its powers... Don't tell the others until the time has come for you to do so... I bid you farewell", the man said.
Kate looked up in shock, "Suzaku?!", she yelled but he was gone. She looked back at the mirror and the image moved. It was of Nuriko and his fight with Ashitare. He got slashed and Kate quickly covered the mirror up with the cloth in had been in and held it to her chest. 'This is insane', she thought before walking off, hoping to find Chichiri somewhere around the city.
Alatáriël: Gosh! This chapter took a while!!! ... I got a small writer's block... Sorry for any errors... This chapter had a bunch that I lost track of late at night...
Kate: *sighs* You're going to ruin my story...
Alatáriël: *glares at her with hate*... Go die...
Chichiri and Kate: ^___^ If you kill a main character your story will end! MWA HA HA
Alatáriël: *raises an eyebrow at Chichiri's evil laughter* Riggggghhhhttt...
Chichiri: Time for reviews, no da!
Chibichibi386: *laughs* Glad you liked the fic! Sorry this up-date is so late. *bows*
Selene Serenity: *Giggles* What did you think?!
Opaaru Tsuki: Oops! Sorry if I ruined anything for you! *bows* I hope you like this chapter.
Holly: I don't think i'd like it there. LOL *Laughs* Well, you were close!
Songwind: *laughs* I love Tasuki's horse!!! XD It's so funny!!... Heh heh. Glad to know that your review might ward off any flames. *laughs*
Chiri26: *laughs* Thank you! I hope you like this one too!
