((Hiyas! I know it's been a while, but… Well, things have been hectic an' all, so this is another chapter. Not my best chapter, but still… Oh, and it might be another month before another chapter comes out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi (or, as my mother calls it, Fishiki Yucki). I own Rei and Hikari, although Metajoker has permission to use Motoki, since my partner-in-crime gave her the permission without asking me, but, hey, what's in a name? The two characters are totally different, I assure you.
Warning: This chapter SUCKS! Read at your own risk! Oh, and massive gore. Sorry, folks, but it's a nightmare, right?))
Chapter Eight: Nightmares- Dreams and Reality
Chichiri woke abruptly, chest heaving as if he had just been running a marathon, drenched in cold sweat.
The nightmare that had woken him had stalked him every night for the past year. It repeated relentlessly, tormenting him with the same horrific images. Except this night it had been different, another element added.
It always started the same. He would walk down a hallway of Tasuki's hideout, a sense of urgency driving him onward. A turn loomed ahead and he would follow it into another corridor.
This one was different. The walls and floors were slick with blood, the stench of death and fear almost making him sick. At the end of this hall was always a square of light, and he would step through it even though he knew what he would see. It was always the same. Mangled bodies covered the floor, familiar faces contorted into masks of agony. With a soundless scream he would sprint back down the corridor he had come through, away from the carnage, sliding on the blood-coated floor.
This is where it changed. Instead of waking, he turned to throw himself into another room, slamming the door behind him and leaning against it, eye closed, gasping for air. The room was blessedly dark at first. The there was a short, sharp hiss and torches on the walls flared into life, revealing the room's other occupant.
A feminine form was pinned to the opposite wall like a butterfly on display, a strangely organic looking spear protruding from just under her ribcage. Blood long congealed covered half of the spear, the dark stains covered her lower body, and the wall behind her was spattered with rust-red. A ribbon of the viscous liquid wound its way down the rough-hewn rock to a grate in the floor, disappearing into the depths.
Raven hair, no longer shimmering with life, veiled her face from view.
He hadn't even woken when he realized who that broken body was.
Rei.
Then, as if tugged by an invisible puppeteer, her head rose, face no longer veiled. What he saw in her eyes had brought him to reality with a shock.
Chichiri sat up, shaking his head to drive the image out. Something was wrong… A tentative search with his mind revealed what was bothering him.
Rei's ki was gone.
Panicked, he searched again, but to no avail. There wasn't a trace of her ebony life force anywhere.
~*0*~
Tai Yi-Jun glanced up from her mirror, the sound of heavy double doors slamming open breaking her concentration. She raised an eyebrow as her student marched in, a protesting Nyan at his heels.
"Is something wrong, child?" she asked.
"Where is Rei?"
She had to admit, she was impressed by his control. The worry was almost imperceptible, would have been to a normal human, if it were not for the barely sensible tremor in his ki.
"She had gone to visit Hikari. Alone."
Chichiri paled. She had gone alone? Images of all the things that could happen to her came unbidden to his mind.
"I'm going after her," he said. "She shouldn't have gone alone no da."
The Oracle shook her head. "She wishes to prove something to herself."
She watched him quizzically. Her original impression that he was worried was quickly smashed to a billion pieces and rearranged as she watched the expressions on his face. Worry was only the surface emotion. The woman had never seen her disciple so frazzled.
"Alright. You can go after her, but on one condition!"
"Nani?"
"You must not interfere unless you are absolutely sure she can't handle a problem on her own. When, and if, you do you must not let her know who you are." Tai Yi-Jun said, ticking off the points on her fingers.
As an afterthought, she added, "Once she reaches the Temple I want you to wait for her outside. I think… She'll be glad to have your support."
Chichiri smiled gratefully. Then it became a decidedly wicked grin. "That was three conditions, sensei no da."
She glared at him. "Get out of here, you rascal. Before I change my mind!"
The mage's grin faded as soon as the doors closed behind him. Yet another puzzle to be considered had presented itself. Why had the dream bothered him so much? He'd never felt the need to check up on Tasuki, even the first time it had happened. He shrugged. That was something to think about later.
Now he had a job to do, and maybe the restlessness that had plagued him ever since the war would dissipate.
He fervently hoped it would.
~*0*~
Meanwhile, a few kilometers away…
Rei yawned, stretching as best she could in the confines of the saddle. 'I'm gonna kill sunkake-babaa for waking me up so early…' she thought as she glared at the scenery through half-lidded eyes.
At first the forest had been nice, since she hadn't seen this type of uninterrupted nature in Tokyo.
Then she had gotten annoyed with the constant twittering. Not too long after the forest had begun to blur into one big tree.
To aleive the boredom, she had decided to focus on something else.
'Rock…rock…rock…'
Rei shook her head violently and switched her gaze to other objects.
'Tree…tree…treetreetreetree-hey!' The trees were moving way too fast.
The woman pulled back on the reigns, slowing Twitch back to a gentle trot. "What's gotten into you, boy?" She glanced around. Everything seemed normal, to her senses. The forest was quiet…
'Quiet? It shouldn't be-!'
A barrage of arrows thudded into the ground at Twitch's feet, causing the normally placid horse to rear up in alarm, whinnying shrilly.
Rei let out a startled yelp as she was thrown from the saddle, impacting hard on the trail. The world hazed for a moment before her vision cleared. Various parts of her anatomy protested painfully as she sat up.
She let out a muttered curse as she found herself face-to-belt buckle with one of the dirtiest men she had ever seen.
He grinned widely down at her, revealing his many missing teeth.
"Now, what 'ave we here?" he said, bending down to look her in the face. "A for'ner… pretty one too. Eh, boys?"
Rei looked around and noticed the men hidden in the trees for the first time as raucous laughter echoed through the canopy.
"Shimatta!" she muttered.
"Now, now. That's no language fer a lady," the man chided. A lewd wink was thrown her way. "Unless, o' course, you ain't no lady."
A poisoned glare and silence was his answer.
"Yer a strong willed one. We'll haveta fix that before we sell ya."
So they were slave-traders. The raven-haired woman shuddered. This was definitely not her day. Getting away from them would be a problem, and she had no weapons…
She tensed…
Then sprang.
She made it halfway to the tree line before she was jumped.
Trapped in a leering ring of dirty, unshaven men.
Rei knew this was going to be a nightmare.
((Okay. Th-that's all folks! Hehhehhheh… I have some new ideas now…
Review time!
Shou Rei: Glad you liked my omake! Y'know, aside from one review saying it was weird, you're the first person to review it… ^_^ What do you think of the rest of the story?
Opaaru Tsuki: Ooo… A stalker? Yay!
Wolfdog: Oh, yuck. I hate homework too. Hope this chapter answers some of your questions!
That's all, minna! Review, please!))
Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi (or, as my mother calls it, Fishiki Yucki). I own Rei and Hikari, although Metajoker has permission to use Motoki, since my partner-in-crime gave her the permission without asking me, but, hey, what's in a name? The two characters are totally different, I assure you.
Warning: This chapter SUCKS! Read at your own risk! Oh, and massive gore. Sorry, folks, but it's a nightmare, right?))
Chapter Eight: Nightmares- Dreams and Reality
Chichiri woke abruptly, chest heaving as if he had just been running a marathon, drenched in cold sweat.
The nightmare that had woken him had stalked him every night for the past year. It repeated relentlessly, tormenting him with the same horrific images. Except this night it had been different, another element added.
It always started the same. He would walk down a hallway of Tasuki's hideout, a sense of urgency driving him onward. A turn loomed ahead and he would follow it into another corridor.
This one was different. The walls and floors were slick with blood, the stench of death and fear almost making him sick. At the end of this hall was always a square of light, and he would step through it even though he knew what he would see. It was always the same. Mangled bodies covered the floor, familiar faces contorted into masks of agony. With a soundless scream he would sprint back down the corridor he had come through, away from the carnage, sliding on the blood-coated floor.
This is where it changed. Instead of waking, he turned to throw himself into another room, slamming the door behind him and leaning against it, eye closed, gasping for air. The room was blessedly dark at first. The there was a short, sharp hiss and torches on the walls flared into life, revealing the room's other occupant.
A feminine form was pinned to the opposite wall like a butterfly on display, a strangely organic looking spear protruding from just under her ribcage. Blood long congealed covered half of the spear, the dark stains covered her lower body, and the wall behind her was spattered with rust-red. A ribbon of the viscous liquid wound its way down the rough-hewn rock to a grate in the floor, disappearing into the depths.
Raven hair, no longer shimmering with life, veiled her face from view.
He hadn't even woken when he realized who that broken body was.
Rei.
Then, as if tugged by an invisible puppeteer, her head rose, face no longer veiled. What he saw in her eyes had brought him to reality with a shock.
Chichiri sat up, shaking his head to drive the image out. Something was wrong… A tentative search with his mind revealed what was bothering him.
Rei's ki was gone.
Panicked, he searched again, but to no avail. There wasn't a trace of her ebony life force anywhere.
~*0*~
Tai Yi-Jun glanced up from her mirror, the sound of heavy double doors slamming open breaking her concentration. She raised an eyebrow as her student marched in, a protesting Nyan at his heels.
"Is something wrong, child?" she asked.
"Where is Rei?"
She had to admit, she was impressed by his control. The worry was almost imperceptible, would have been to a normal human, if it were not for the barely sensible tremor in his ki.
"She had gone to visit Hikari. Alone."
Chichiri paled. She had gone alone? Images of all the things that could happen to her came unbidden to his mind.
"I'm going after her," he said. "She shouldn't have gone alone no da."
The Oracle shook her head. "She wishes to prove something to herself."
She watched him quizzically. Her original impression that he was worried was quickly smashed to a billion pieces and rearranged as she watched the expressions on his face. Worry was only the surface emotion. The woman had never seen her disciple so frazzled.
"Alright. You can go after her, but on one condition!"
"Nani?"
"You must not interfere unless you are absolutely sure she can't handle a problem on her own. When, and if, you do you must not let her know who you are." Tai Yi-Jun said, ticking off the points on her fingers.
As an afterthought, she added, "Once she reaches the Temple I want you to wait for her outside. I think… She'll be glad to have your support."
Chichiri smiled gratefully. Then it became a decidedly wicked grin. "That was three conditions, sensei no da."
She glared at him. "Get out of here, you rascal. Before I change my mind!"
The mage's grin faded as soon as the doors closed behind him. Yet another puzzle to be considered had presented itself. Why had the dream bothered him so much? He'd never felt the need to check up on Tasuki, even the first time it had happened. He shrugged. That was something to think about later.
Now he had a job to do, and maybe the restlessness that had plagued him ever since the war would dissipate.
He fervently hoped it would.
~*0*~
Meanwhile, a few kilometers away…
Rei yawned, stretching as best she could in the confines of the saddle. 'I'm gonna kill sunkake-babaa for waking me up so early…' she thought as she glared at the scenery through half-lidded eyes.
At first the forest had been nice, since she hadn't seen this type of uninterrupted nature in Tokyo.
Then she had gotten annoyed with the constant twittering. Not too long after the forest had begun to blur into one big tree.
To aleive the boredom, she had decided to focus on something else.
'Rock…rock…rock…'
Rei shook her head violently and switched her gaze to other objects.
'Tree…tree…treetreetreetree-hey!' The trees were moving way too fast.
The woman pulled back on the reigns, slowing Twitch back to a gentle trot. "What's gotten into you, boy?" She glanced around. Everything seemed normal, to her senses. The forest was quiet…
'Quiet? It shouldn't be-!'
A barrage of arrows thudded into the ground at Twitch's feet, causing the normally placid horse to rear up in alarm, whinnying shrilly.
Rei let out a startled yelp as she was thrown from the saddle, impacting hard on the trail. The world hazed for a moment before her vision cleared. Various parts of her anatomy protested painfully as she sat up.
She let out a muttered curse as she found herself face-to-belt buckle with one of the dirtiest men she had ever seen.
He grinned widely down at her, revealing his many missing teeth.
"Now, what 'ave we here?" he said, bending down to look her in the face. "A for'ner… pretty one too. Eh, boys?"
Rei looked around and noticed the men hidden in the trees for the first time as raucous laughter echoed through the canopy.
"Shimatta!" she muttered.
"Now, now. That's no language fer a lady," the man chided. A lewd wink was thrown her way. "Unless, o' course, you ain't no lady."
A poisoned glare and silence was his answer.
"Yer a strong willed one. We'll haveta fix that before we sell ya."
So they were slave-traders. The raven-haired woman shuddered. This was definitely not her day. Getting away from them would be a problem, and she had no weapons…
She tensed…
Then sprang.
She made it halfway to the tree line before she was jumped.
Trapped in a leering ring of dirty, unshaven men.
Rei knew this was going to be a nightmare.
((Okay. Th-that's all folks! Hehhehhheh… I have some new ideas now…
Review time!
Shou Rei: Glad you liked my omake! Y'know, aside from one review saying it was weird, you're the first person to review it… ^_^ What do you think of the rest of the story?
Opaaru Tsuki: Ooo… A stalker? Yay!
Wolfdog: Oh, yuck. I hate homework too. Hope this chapter answers some of your questions!
That's all, minna! Review, please!))