CHAPTER THREE

SohRyu locked eyes with Kurikari RyuOh, King of the Dragons. The shorter shiki grinned and greeted SohRyu, but kept walking with Rikugou. The six-eyed blonde was so shocked that he stopped moving. But this was enough to cause Kurikara to stop.

"Rikugou," Kurikara's mood had turned sour. "I take it that you do not want to show me around the village any longer?"

Rikugou bowed to SohRyu to calm him down and padded after the shorted boy. "I'm coming, Kurikara." He moved closer to the boy to whisper next to him after they had gotten out of hearing range of the taller blue-haired shikigami. "Why did you disrespect him like that?" he asked, his mouth hung open afterwards.

Kurikara smiled up at the taller blonde. "To tell him he had no power over me. He never had, and never will."

"I don't think that's very true, Kurikara."

"Rikugou." the shorter shiki's voice was tinted with malice. "Don't go there. You have no right to know about SohRyu and my past together." He stalked off towards the other side of the woods where they had stopped to talk to each other.

He moved closer to Kurikara. "If you opened up to him, I'm sure SohRyu would understand." he said softly. "But.. He does have quite the temper, and I'm afraid that you might have unleashed his wrath. I don't think he'd do anything in the open. But, I'd watch your back." Rikugou moved past Kurikara, but was stopped by a boy-ish hand that gripped his sleeve. "Yes, Kurikara?"

"Do you think I really upset him?"

"He has been humiliated in his own town by his rival. Of course he'd be upset with you."

Kurikara's gazed lowered to the ground. Emotions flowed over his young looking face. "I..I." he faltered several times before Rikugou raised a gloved hand, a smile had grown on his lips.

"Even if you do not apologize to him, do not run away. He would be most disappointed in you."

"Of course! How could you suggest that I'd do something that.. that cowardly!" He said dramatically. Though, Rikugou could tell that inside the boy-ish figure, he was hurting terribly. "Let's keep going!" Kurikara called triumphantly to the man who wasn't standing more than two feet away from him. "I wanna see the rest of the town."

Rikugou smiled and flared one of his gloved hands out to Kurikara, showing off the embroidery on the fingertips and up to the wrists. "Aren't they lovely?" He said with high praise in his voice. "I had them made several decades ago, and they still look brand-new!"

"Did you make them?" Kurikara asked innocently.

"Oh heavens, no!" Rikugou said with an exhausted voice. "I wouldn't want to put out an eye." He added with admiration in his voice. The smile had slipped slightly from his face as he began thinking. "Well, I have another pair similar to these that Tsuzuki had hand-stitched for me. Absolutely gorgeous. I only wear those on special occasions!"

Kurikara wondered what had gotten the taller shiki to go on about Tsuzuki's gloves but he figured they were connected in the blonde's speech pattern. 'After all, the blonde had a human counterpart on the other side of the gate.' Thought Kurikara before returning the smile the blonde had threw at him. "What are we going to see next, Rikugou?" he asked trying to conceal his thoughts from his voice. 'After all, who would want to be compared to a mad scientist like Watari?' He added to himself.

He maneuvered himself through the woods after Rikugou, being just as graceful as the taller man, even if the wood brush reached up to the middle of his back. "The first real destination is right up here, a must see at a time like this." Rikugou grabbed Kurikara's elbow and pushed him up farther than himself. "See isn't the view wonderful at this time of the night?"

'The view' turned out to be a gigantic waterfall that poured out into another lake that branched off into several other streams. Kurikara and Rikugou were on top of a cliff that faced the waterfall. And from where they were standing, they could practically see the bottom of the lake from the great distance they were at. But, he knew that the lake was a lot deeper than what his eyes were telling him.

He shook his head and continued to survey the area around the waterfall. Yet again, there was a thick forest that was overly dense in one area and a side that wasn't as crowded. But his eyes were drawn back to that ice-y clear water.

"I just like to come over here when my thoughts are a mess." Rikugou confessed. "I think it helps in more ways that one."

Kurikara was about to ask what he meant when Rikugou began to move on. "Let's go, we do want to see at least a few more sights before night falls/" He called back over his cloaked shoulders.

Kurikara huffed, but followed the taller shiki.

"What's next?" He asked with a small pout.

The blonde picked up his pace. "Come on, move faster." Danger threatened in his voice, and he kept it barely above a whisper.

Kurikara moved his hand over Futsunomitama's hilt, just incase something decided to get brave and attack them. Of course Kurikara didn't need Futsunomitama. He could fight just well without him, but it was a welcome reassurance that the sword would be there to back him up, just in case.

The sword pulsed against his hand, expecting something to happen soon.

Both Kurikara and Rikugou were pushed to the ground simultaneously. Long strands of blue hair brushed against Kurikara's face, revealing their attacker.

"What in god's-" But Kurikara was cut off my a hand covering his mouth.

SohRyu looked sternly at Kurikara, his eyes telling the other to behave and be quiet. He turned his attention to Rikugou and whispered: "What were you doing out in the woods?"

Rikugou smiled knowingly. "I wanted you to come save us."

SohRyu's eyes turned into steel. "I can't believe you would disobey a direct order. This town needed you in place to let us know of our attacker."

Kurikara pushed himself away from SohRyu, standing up. His eyes locked with SohRyu's again. "I can't be-" was all he got to before SohRyu pulled him back onto the ground and place his hand back over the smaller shiki's mouth.

"We are at war with a neighboring village." SohRyu said with a hiss. "We cannot afford to lose against them."

"Is this why Konoe wanted me down here. To save your pansy asses?" Kurikara snorted and shook his bangs away from his face. His scars over his right eye shown brightly in the pale moonlight before his bangs slid back into place over them.

He stared at SohRyu. "Where are the other shiki's?"

The bluenette looked over at the boy-ish shiki. "Many are off in neighboring villages, some remained here, and the rest went wherever they pleased. I told them that I'd call them if things got too hectic with the local wildlife."

Kurikara sneered when SohRyu said 'wildlife'. "Do you mean the other type of shiki?"

SohRyu nodded. "They are not intelligent enough to form a group this large by themselves. Someone is leading them to us. Pressuring them to come forward." His gaze turned towards the ground as he finished.

The shorter dragon snorted again. "Okay, I'll help."

SohRyu's head snapped up, "I didn't offer."

"I know."

TBC

A/N: I know it's been a loooooooooong long time since I'd last updated this story. But, It's still for my friend Picaro, who is a wonderful writer. You all should check out her work!

Another note, I know the beginning is very sketchy. But this will not stick to the storyline of the actual manga, and when I have first started this however long ago, I had no idea how these characters acted. And I still don't. So please don't mention how bad I've made them. If you have questions about it, please ask in your reviews or email me. I may eventually one day redo the first two chapters. But don't let them throw you away from the story. I assure you it will be good.

Now, I'm going to be a good little author and try to update the others XD

I love you all! - AO