Flowering Star

Suzuno surveyed her surroundings again. Well, I might as well start walking… Picking up Hoshi, she began to trudge through the sand in the direction she was facing. As she walked, worries cluttered themselves in her head. What if I'm walking I the wrong direction? What if a scorpion bites me? I could die of dehydration, or heat stroke, or… Suzuno finally dropped. She had no idea how long she had been going, or how far she had gone. Hoshi licked her face in concern. Then, everything around Suzuno faded into blackness except for herself, and a large white tiger with piercing, icy blue eyes.

Sit. Ordered a deep voice, strong and powerful. Suzuno sat up like she would eat, on her knees with her hands in her lap. Look here, girl. The voice commanded again. Blue eyes met blue, and Suzuno trembled. I want to look away, but I can't… The tiger padded around her several times, as if inspecting something. While it walked, Suzuno thought. I suppose it must be him talking, but who is he? And who has ever heard of a talking tiger? Maybe I'm hallucinating?? The tiger had finally returned to its original position. You will do. It said firmly. Before Suzuno could say anything in reply, the tiger suddenly roared and lunged at the girl, running one paw down her chest. Suzuno hit the ground; unconscious.

Hoshi hissed in anger at the tiger, but it only looked at the small cat and replied; be silent, little one, your mistress has important work to do. With a last roar, the tiger vanished, and all in the nearby city swore that they saw; for a brief second, a white tiger bounding into the woods. One young man in particular noticed this. She's here, he thought, a slight blush going across his dark cheeks. The girl I dreamt about, really here now… He pushed back some dark brown hair (which only fell right back in his face again) and set off down the street.

Suzuno awoke for the second time, much more fazed. Picking Hoshi up again, she dazedly wandered forward. Memory returned in a rush. The tiger! She thought her hand flying to where it had struck her. But there was no blood or tears in her clothing. Puzzled, she looked up. Where did he…go? Her confusion turned to elation when she saw an archway of reddish stone bordered with peeling gold paint. A city! Suzuno thought, smiling.

Walking through the crowd, Suzuno looked around. I wonder if I can find out where I am… Too absorbed in her thoughts and the foreign scenery, Suzuno only caught a glimpse of Hoshi disappearing into the city. "Hoshi!" Suzuno cried, taking off after her cat, running until she hit something and fell flat on her bottom. The something she had hit, it turned out, was a young man who looked to be a few years older than Suzuno. His dark brown hair was pulled back in a rather long ponytail, but a lot of his hair still managed to fall into his eyes, giving him a very mysterious look. But his chocolate-brown eyes were kind; Suzuno found herself attracted to this stranger's friendly look.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry!" Suzuno spluttered out, blushing and feeling very awkward and foolish. The young man smiled.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, smiling. "I'm usually the one in that position, so I know how it feels," Suzuno looked at this man some more. His skin was fairly dark, and his clothing looked something like what one might find in India or some other desert country. The stranger paused for a moment, thinking. "Is this your cat?" He asked, to Suzuno's surprise, holding out Hoshi, who looked like he was enjoying himself and doing just fine.

"Y-yes," Suzuno said quietly. The man smiled and offered his hand. It took Suzuno a moment to figure out what he meant; the she accepted it and was gently pulled to her feet. Blushing slightly at the realization that she had been holding the hand of a man she had never met in her life, she then took Hoshi and clung to him.

"You look lost," Hoshi's rescuer said tentatively. "Are you foreign, or…?" Since Suzuno had no idea what the 'or' was meant as, she replied.

"Y-yes, I'm from Tokyo," He stared at her like the girl had just named some other planet.

"Tow-kee-yo?" He asked, obviously confused. "I've never heard of that country before," he thought for a moment. "Is that a satellite country of Kutou, maybe?" Kutou? Suzuno thought. I've never heard of that country before…

"Erm…Mister…uh…"

"Tatara," he replied firmly. "You can call me Tatara, Miss…"

"S-Suzuno. Suzuno Oosugi." Tatara thought a little more. It's nice to know his name now, at least. He seems very nice, too. But it's a little scary… I feel attracted to him…

"Suzuno-san," Tatara said abruptly. "When you arrived here, did you see any sort of light? Or a tiger? Both would have been white,"

"Err…" Suzuno thought for a moment. How does he know about the tiger?? Is there a connection?? "D-do you know the tiger?" Suzuno asked, her voice almost a whisper. As much as she wanted to sound confident, the feeling escaped her.

"Not personally," Tatara said, looking up at the sky and sheilding his eyes from the sun with a hand. "I would guess it was Byakko, the country's Guardian God…" he started walking, and Suzuno hurriedly trotted up to him. "This is confusing," Tatara muttered as they wound through various streets and plazas. "Even if she's from another country, she still would know who Byakko was, wouldn't she? I mean, all the countries have a God, even all the territories and whatnot… But there is a possibility, though it's so unlikely… she could just be some rich girl from another city, but she certainly doesn't act like any I've ever met… oh well, don't judge a book by its cover.."

What is he talking about? Suzuno wondered as Tatara continued to ramble. Is he even talking to me? And what on Earth is he talking about?? I'm not rich… Is Byakko the tiger I saw? I'm so confused… Suzuno looked up at the blue sky. Daddy…Taiyu-Chan…when am I going to see you again?? "Tatara-san?" Suzuno asked, looking to her side. But Tatara wasn't there. Panic swelled up in the girl's chest as she realized that she had stopped walking a while ago. I'm completely lost! She thought. "Tatara-san!!" she called as loud as she could. Someone put a hand on her shoulder. Suzuno turned around, expecting Tatara. But instead, she came face to face with another man with golden eyes.

"Did you mention the name Tatara?" he asked quietly. Suzuno nodded slowly.

Mwahahaha!! Cliffhanger…(again. I just looked at the last chapter's AC, I said the same thing. I like keeping people in suspense, not being in it!) even though it's really obvious who "Mystery Man" is… cough cough TOKAKI! cough cough Anyways… once again, a much better chappy than the draft. The draft only went for three chappies, so I'm baisically making this up as I go. I've got all the Seishi planned out, of course, the idea's been on me for about a year. So I'm finally writing it up!! See you in chapter three! It's really just a filler,tho… Suzuno accepting her quest and setting off with her two Seishi, off to find the third…

Next Chapter: A Quest Accepted!