Chapter 8: ...Or Is It Because I'm Learning to Love You?
Cold floor. Drafty interior. Ash-laden smoke. Aching muscles. Chafed wrists. Bruised body.
It was all Ami could do to convince herself not to open her eyes. But in the end, inquisitiveness prevailed, and she realized she couldn't take just hearing and not seeing any longer. Shifting herself to a more comfortable position, she stretched her legs. Ankles tied. Wow. At least she was propped up against a wall.
Alcohol-stumped bodies littered the dilapidated hall. Cracks ran across the ceiling and the lacquered paint was fading into chipped bits of colour. Among the men, the few early risers sorted out last night's find, pulling out bolts of brocade, bags of gems, and stores of food from sacks parked all over the long room. Whatever was worth trading was carefully tucked back away, while anything less fragile was simply dumped onto the floor. One of them was doing just that when a familiar backpack tumbled to the floor.
Ami whined.
"Shut up," the bandit automatically growled, not even sparing a look at her as he emptied the contents of the bag and frowned over them.
Instead of stopping, however, she kicked out, pounding her feet against the floor.
The man finally glared at her. "I said shut up."
What should have been a defiant "NO!" came out as a long, stifled cry. Staring at her long and hard, understanding dawned in his face. He held up the bag.
"This yours, nee-chan?"
She shook her head.
"Whose is it then?"
A shrug.
"I see." Amused, he ambled over and yanked down her gag. "Okay, whose is it?"
"Don't touch it. It's my friend's."
At that, the bandit grinned hugely and caught up her chin. "Yer friend must be mighty pretty, huh?"
Her eyes narrowed as his meaning sank in. "My guy friend's."
Releasing her, he walked back to sift through the mess of foreign things and found a mirror "I s'pose men go around bringing mirrors with them?"
"Some men are particularly vain," she retorted.
The bandit merely snorted at her comment. When he found a tube of lipgloss and a bottle of cologne, Ami withered. There was no way out now. "`A take it that yer friend is excessively careful of his appearance?"
"Yes," came the dejected mumble and rolled eyes. Were Lolita in her place, Ami could guess exactly what the other girl would do. Probably something thoughtless enough to get her out of her bonds and straight into trouble.
The bandit's grin widened. Getting up, he clapped his hands loudly, eliciting inebriated protests in the general direction of his subordinates. "We missed a valuable thing last night men!" The force of his voice positively shook the crumbling walls. Throwing Ami a malicious smirk, "The little lady 'ere would like somebody to keep 'er company till we've sold 'em."
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
Morning came with a pounding headache.
A thorough check revealed that bandits had most obviously struck the previous night. Goods and money were stolen, of course, but more distressing was the fact that Ami and the silk merchant were gone, too. Chichiri had ridden hard in hope of tracking the thieves, but the most he could do was return with a handful of Konan guards who had finished patrolling the area just before the mishap. Even then, the guards were not helpful beyond the promise of escorting the merchants to the next village and of sending scouts to sniff for the hideout. In the end, the Suzaku group decided to rush to the closest settlement for information and provisions.
That was when Chichiri's headache intensified. When he and Tasuki concluded that selling one of their horses would be the most practical thing to do, they hadn't counted on nobody wanting to buy the said horse, with all its sleek, imperial perfection and fancy trappings. Even when he was desperate enough to suggest trade, nobody would take the animal.
Tasuki was having no better luck. Assigned to gather as much information as he could on the bandits, he headed straight towards the tavern, Lolita in tow. She wasn't too happy about his "ingenious" plan, but was eventually persuaded to accept it. Now, in a dusty old bar, she waited for him to finish talking to the bartender.
"Looks like a nice, peaceful town," the seishi remarked, making her want to roll her eyes with impatience. Some bandits were out large with Ami and the silk merchant, and after what the Konan guards told them about dirt-poor, starving revolutionaries stalking the area, she dreaded thinking of what those men would not do to get their way.
"...no problems around here, like bandits?..."
"...woods are a very good hiding place, though nothing like the mountains..."
She tapped a random tune on the counter. Maybe the bandits-or-probably-revolutionaries would resort to asking for ransom. But Chichiri was already having one hell of a time trying to raise meagre funds, so obviously, they would not be able to afford paying ransom. The most probable outcome was the kidnappers selling their captives into slavery, just like they probably sold all the stolen goods on the Konan black market.
Ignoring Lolita's glazed look of speculation, Tasuki persisted in his interrogation.
"...any case of kidnapping?"
"...ever saved the victims?"
"...hideout...?"
The bartender fell strangely silent, shot glass frozen in the folds of the dishcloth.
He had struck home. The bandit eyed the man as nonchalantly as he could. Beside him, Lolita paused her finger band to listen to them.
One minute passed. Two...
The bartender coughed, then returned to his task as if nothing unusual had happened. "I am sorry, but nobody has ever tracked the victims down. Their families have never seen them again." Without skipping a beat, he caught Lolita's eye and nodded towards a zither in the corner. "I was looking at the way you sounded out that melody and wondered if you knew how to play the guzheng, nee-san?"
Lolita started. Tasuki narrowed his eyes at the bartender's back.
"I, uh, tried it a few times – "
"Perfect," the older man nodded amiably. "I heard you travellers were robbed and are looking for money. If you want to play here tonight, I'm willing to pay you."
Tasuki twitched in his seat. News sure travelled fast in a small town. Slipping a hand under the counter, he grabbed Lolita's arm and jerked towards the door.
"So how about it?"
Before Tasuki could shake his head, she thanked the bartender with a big smile. "I'll keep it in mind!" and hopping off her seat, dragged a frowning bandit out behind her.
As soon as they were gone, the older man disappeared into a basement door beside the counter. Another man was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. Except for the outstretched hand holding a brown paper packet, the latter was completely hidden in the shadows.
"That's the girl we want."
Pale, the bartender tucked the parcel into his trousers pocket. "About the payment..."
A deadly silver glint suddenly flashed out from the darkness. The second man's voice had gone down a few notches to become a menacing snarl. "You know what happens if you don't finish the job..."
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
"The place has been booked, fellas!"
Ami chest tightened at the laughter in the bandit leader's voice. As soon as the man reappeared in the room, he had strode over to her and made the proclamation. Presently, he leered with a mix of amusement and regret. She stared right back.
The leader crouched to her level. Sweeping critical eyes over her he mused, "How much d'ya think y'll fetch, my dear?"
"Depends on where you'll sell me," Ami bit back through clenched teeth.
The bandit feigned astonishment. "Now, now, for someone about to be sold into slavery, y' don't seem too concerned."
She shrugged detachedly. "I'm not."
"Really." Salacious intent replaced surprise. "Then maybe y' should just stay here with us. I'm sure we'll value y' more than any whore-hunting bastard will. Not too many ladies wander in our parts, y' know. Foreign ones from other worlds are especially rare," he hissed into her ear.
"I guess I'll make you rich, then."
He chuckled, a disturbing sound that made the hairs at the back of her neck stand right up. "Not just you. Yer lil' friend will no doubt earn me some, too."
At once, her carefully nurtured air of indifference smashed to admit a surge of hope. Only moments ago, the bandits were talking about sending poison to somebody in town. She didn't need to hear the details to know for who it was. "I thought you wanted to kill Lolita!" Ami bit her tongue, wishing it would just rip right off and stop making her blurt things out.
Hot breath tickled her neck as the leader quietly laughed. As if catching her thoughts he whispered, "I don't care about her name. But I sure as hell am not going to kill a prize like that. We just need a little bribe for her guardians to come prancing right in begging for help. My man has seen 'er..." He pulled away, and their eyes met. What Ami saw there made her feel very strongly for her new friend. "He suggested that maybe we keep her for ourselves."
"And...and are you going to act on that?" Her voice shook when she next spoke.
Her question went unanswered. Dragging her up, the bandit leader untied the rope around her ankles and pushed her towards a small door near the end of the room. Another man was waiting, and he exchanged self-satisfied smirks with his boss as he undid the knots on her wrists.
"Clean yerself up." The door turned out to be the entrance to a crude bathroom. "I promised th' bastards a pretty woman, and a pretty woman they're gonna get." Heavy hands shoved her in, and the door slammed shut before Ami could react.
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
Their protests managed to penetrate the music blaring right into her ears. Exasperated, Lolita yanked off the earpieces of her iPod to stare at the two seishi. At her look, both men immediately stopped talking.
"I'm trying to work," she said with veiled calmness, holding up sheaves of paper dotted with notes.
That was the wrong thing to say. Chichiri's face immediately wrinkled into the same distraught expression he had been wearing for the past thirty minutes, and Tasuki's verbal fireworks resumed.
"Ya won't go th' tavern tonight! I don't like it an' I won't let you!"
"He's right, no da. Lolita-chan, this place doesn't feel right. It could be dangerous, no da!"
"Don't be so pig-headed and listen fer once!"
Stuffing the iPod back into her jeans pocket, Lolita clasped her hands on her knees and looked at the Suzaku seishi expectantly. "Okay. So any more great ideas?" She tried to hide the sarcasm in her voice, but it leaked out.
The monk winced. "No, no da."
They had spent roughly the entire day trying to get information and provisions, none of which endeavours were fruitful. Tasuki's scowl spoke for itself, while Chichiri returned with the same old horse. Truth be told, by the end of the day, only the horse looked satisfied.
"Tasuki?"
"No," he grumbled.
"So the only alternative is to accept the bartender's job offer."
"NO (no da)!"
Lolita sighed. "Look you guys, there's no other alternative. If we want to keep going, we're going to need fresh supplies. Let me help. Please?"
She begged and begged.
Chichiri was the first to break down. He did it reluctantly, procrastinating and sighing and shaking his head and looking at her sternly hoping she would change her mind. Lolita just stared at him pleadingly. Now that he thought about it, maybe it was harmless. Glancing at Tasuki, who had stubbornly crossed his arms across his chest and was having a one-sided glaring contest with the girl, he nodded.
"All right, no da. But Tasuki and I will be there the whole time."
"Yes!" She looked so triumphant Chichiri thought she would start throwing her papers into the air like confetti. "Deal! Can I go over now?"
"What for?" the bandit protested, grimacing at her closely written scribbles. "And how are you supposed to play with so many blots on your page?"
"I have to practice," she replied, taking him by the elbow. "And those blots happen to be the chords I'm supposed to be studying. Coming Chichiri?"
Watching Lolita drag his friend away, the monk shook his head. "I will look for information about the bandits, no da. But I will drop by later on."
"Be sure ya come on time!" Tasuki bellowed. "`Cause if Lo's playing is so terrible, I don't know if I'll be able to keep the angry crowds at bay!"
"I will mesmerize you," she promised sarcastically, batting his arm. "Bye' Chichiri!"
He watched them enter the tavern before he headed outside town. The merchants' trail swept right past the entrance to the village like a ribbon connecting it to the rest of civilization. There was nothing but wilderness across the trail. The forest started out sparse and thin, then built up into a dense, ancient woods. Beyond the first few metres, Chichiri could make out nothing except stout trunks and twisted branches heavy with foliage. Indeed, if bandits roamed the area, they should have built a hideout somewhere between those leafy screens.
He tried to examine the ground for signs of recent travel, but whatever grass flattened by retreating men had already sprung back up. There was almost nothing he could go on. Except...
Chiding himself for not thinking of it earlier, Chichiri teleported himself up into the topmost branches of the largest tree he could find. From the new vantage point, the once-forbidding acres were suddenly spread out like a map. Unfortunately, all he could see were tufts of trees covering the land in every shade of green. Everywhere he turned, the same sight greeted his eyes. Green to the left, green to the right. Green...
He paused to sniff the air. Smoke. Afraid that there was a large fire in the village, he twisted south in its direction. That was when he saw it: the first wisps of smoke curling up from something somewhere in the north. He was about to dismiss it as chimney smoke from a neighbouring village when he realized that it came from within the trees. After a minute, the soft, dirty white tendrils accumulated into a larger puff of darker smoke.
Forest fire? No, it was too little...
Chichiri did not dare confirm what he was thinking as he scrambled down the tree. Concentrating on getting to the source of the smoke, he ran blindly through the trees, stepping over large roots and brushing twigs out of the way. Pretty soon the air grew warmer, and the choking smell of burning wood wafted heavily from up ahead. A huge fire crackled, and with it mingled the sounds of men's laughter.
The seishi stiffened as he sent a wall of chi before him and found several unrestrained auras. Flashes of orange flame shot out from the thinning trees farther ahead. The smoke stung his eyes. Keeping low and out of the thickening smoke, Chichiri crept towards the gathering. When he was close enough to hear snatches of their garbled conversation, he dared a peek.
Five or six men were building a large bonfire and talking about what a great party they were going to have after the first bitch was sold that night, and how it would get better and better every night after that. When the topic veered into details he didn't want to hear, Chichiri stopped listening and surveyed the area instead. The clearing looked like some kind of old courtyard. Wild grass grew between cracks on the cobblestone tiles, which stretched out for a few square metres before ending like a driveway in front of a similarly decrepit two-storey building. A couple of rough-looking men hung around the entrance, polishing old swords and swigging jugs of sake.
The hideout.
He inched back into to return to alert his companions when, unexpectedly, a scream tore through the woods.
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
Ami knew she was alone the minute the door closed behind her. As alone as she could get with a horde of men probably waiting for a free show, anyway. The point was, she was technically left to herself. Left to her resources. Left to her thoughts. She never actually thought that time would come. Experimentally flexing her wrists, she found that they worked just as well as before despite the soreness and the bits of torn skin.
That was a start.
She found water, splashed some on her face, and tossed the remainder onto the floor just as if she were bathing. Hushed talking rumbled from the other side of the door. She rolled her eyes.
Men.
The bathroom was tiny, having only enough space to hold a soaking tub and an open floor to bathe. Towels lay in a crumpled heap in another corner, while various articles of men's clothing hung from lines strung from one wall to another. Carefully picking up her skirts, Ami dumped some more water on the floor and tiptoed to the tub. The only other exit was a window above the said tub. It looked kind of small, but the frame was crumbling apart and there were no shutters. She might fit.
Discarding the bucket, she clambered up the sides of the tub. It was easier said than done, for the bath was really nothing more than an ironbound square barrel made of brittle wooden planks. One wrong step and she could spend the rest of her life picking splinters from her legs. Very, very carefully, Ami climbed up, grabbing onto the window frame for support the moment she could trust herself to keep the precarious balance. When she stood to her full height, the low casement came down to her neck, just high enough for her to push herself up and shimmy out into the world beyond.
"Oi, nee-chan! Are ya done yet?" The bandit leader pounded at the door.
Ami hissed as a start nearly sent her into the brimming tub. Gripping the dusty window more firmly, she called out, "Not yet!"
"Ya better hurry up! Some o' th' men are gettin' impatient!" he laughingly yelled back.
Of course they would be, she thought dryly. Bracing herself, she heaved herself up. The upper half of her body slid right through the opening, with room to spare. She was calculating the distance to the ground and the amount of pain it would necessitate when a bandit suddenly strolled out from a corner of the hideout. She was hard to miss.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, racing over. "Get back inside!"
"I wish I could," she muttered, and meant it. Getting onto the tub was hard enough, but it was even harder to stand back on it after deliberately pushing herself off it for the option of hanging halfway out a gaping window.
"You're trying to run!" The young man's eyes widened with belated understanding. "Boss!"
"Quiet!" Ami whispered loudly.
"You're not going to get away on my watch!" He backed away from her, still shouting for his boss. The men on the other side of the bathroom door had stopped their indirect voyeurism to change into a jumble of shouted orders and scrambling. Sooner or later, they were going to barge in and find out what she was up to. Ami knew that being yanked back into the bandit hold would be infinitely more painful than landing on her face on the grass outside. Sucking in what could be her last lungful of air, she shut her eyes and pushed against the outer wall, propelling herself forward into thin air.
Fear stopped her body clock for one second. The next, she found herself sprawled on the ground, probably bruised in a hundred other places she never before knew existed. Immediately following her brief flight, the watchman high-tailed back to his comrades, screaming about suicidal prisoners. That at least, bought her some time to catch her breath. It wasn't a very long time though, as footsteps thundered from either side of her. Making sure nothing was broken, she picked herself up and ducked under the cover of the trees ahead.
"I see her! She's running away!"
The voices, once far, were suddenly gaining. Ami ran desperately, but not fast enough for brambles to catch in her long skirt. More than once, she collected additional scrapes tripping on prehistoric roots.
Sounds of impending threat fuelled the adrenalin already pumping in her veins. She glanced upwards. The sky was still a bright orange, but night was already descending into the forest. While it shrouded her from the men, it also obscured the way, and Ami found herself falling more often than she was running.
She was tiring too, breathing in sharp little gasps rather than in long, drawn inhalations. Her lungs burned with the need for oxygen, and her limbs began to ache from exhaustion. Then just as she thought she was going to give, the trees thinned out, letting little spots of orange light into the leafy darkness. The forest floor suddenly glimmered a fiery gold.
Like the fires of hell, her mind blurted out before she knew what it was thinking. Yet she kept on, because at the moment, the 'fires of hell' were a great deal kinder than the bandits-turned-slave-traders. Sometime during the race her shoes had come off and she had to sprint barefoot, the ground a living warmth under her exposed feet. It was a comfort, that warmth.
Dry leaves rusted as she ran towards the light, certain of salvation. There had to be a village on the other side. There had to be – would be – people who would come to her aid. The others would be there – Lolita and her haphazard bravado, Tasuki and his similar impulse, and Chichiri with his reassuring presence. He would be there, the expression showing relief at her escape at the same time vowing punishment for her captors. She could almost see his face...
The daydreams kept her from noticing at first, but it only took split seconds for reality to hit. When it did, that light airy feeling she had falling out the window came rushing in. It was a beautiful high keeping her afloat, away from the painful truth of the ground crumbling right under her, dropping her down a jagged precipice. But the tranquility couldn't last long enough.
When the initial terrified scream had faded into a distant echo, she was already hurtling down at breakneck speed and enjoying the ride. It was as if her body had stopped caring and had resigned itself to whatever fate had in store. Stones cut into flesh so many times the pain numbed itself after a while, and the relentless jarring ceased to bother her. Then, just as she was convincing herself that nothing really mattered anymore, a sharp pain blew up the side of her head. Hot blood tricked down her cheek as she lay listlessly, struggling between consciousness and oblivion. The last things Ami saw were spots of green that must have been grass. The last things she heard were men's voices booming into her pained mind through an incalculable distance.
"That's it. She's dead. No one's gonna survive that fall."
"So what now, boss?"
"What now?" The footsteps retreated back into the forest. "We get th' other one and sell 'er b'fore she can kill 'erself."
Then the world spun black.
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
Tasuki was growing agitated. Chichiri was never late. Maybe once, but surely, he would come on time now? The tavern was slowly filling with people – people who wanted one quick drink and then stayed when they saw the new performer testing her instrument. The bartender was calmly serving his customers drinks, and a waitress wove amongst the tables, taking orders.
Stuffed in her corner, Lolita was nowhere near composure herself. The new instrument was a tad different from the piano she was used to, and even after all the transposition, she wasn't sure she could make it work. To top it off, she hadn't expected so many people to turn up. When her fingers were visibly trembling with nerves, she got up and strode to Tasuki.
"I'm going to mess up," she moaned, kneeling down to clutch his arm in supplication. "I've never done a stupid Mozart on a stupid foreign instrument I've touched only so many times I can count them on my fingers the transposition is going to be all wrong I'll make a total fool of myself so many are watching like it's some damned philharmonic concert. Can I have your drink?"
"You can have this," a sweet voice interrupted. Lolita looked up to see the waitress sympathetically smiling down at her. "Nervous?"
"Yes." She accepted the glass and quickly swallowed the contents.
"You'll do fine," the other reassured, and then hurried to the next customer with a tiny wave.
Lolita turned to Tasuki. "Do you think she's right?"
He offered a lopsided smirk. "Who said I was goin' tuh be mesmerized?"
"Right." Taking a deep breath, she stood up. "Right. You are so going to be beyond mesmerized." With that, she made for her instrument and sat down. With a clearer head, she saw that nobody was really paying any attention to her except Tasuki. Lolita relaxed. She would just pretend she was alone in her practice room at home. No one listening, no one waiting to comment on her performance, no one pressuring her to play perfectly to show off to friends...
Hesitant fingers hung suspended in the air for only a moment, during which Tasuki had a fleeting vision of her bailing out. But the moment was gone as quickly as it flashed by, and the next thing he knew, those same fingers, shaking only seconds ago, were suddenly all over the place, creating music the likes of which he had never heard before. The patrons stopped talking to listen, and a hushed silence fell over the place. Notes rippled out of the instrument, overflowing, running into each other; one brisk bar pouring into a slow and teasing lullaby. The melody circled itself, going round and round; pausing but never catching up. From her hands, Tasuki's eyes travelled to Lolita's face, and he gaped in awe.
Maybe he expected to see the same intense look as the music she made, but her face was calm. She looked like a child playing with her favourite toy and getting too caught up in her own fantasy world to notice anything else. There was only one way he could describe what he saw there. Peace, pure and simple.
When the final strains stopped vibrating, Lolita dared look up. Everyone was staring at her with surprised looks. From the back of the crowd, applause began to ring out. Then somebody shouted for another song, which was loudly seconded. She peeked at Tasuki. The bandit was grinning widely.
Flushing in pleasure, Lolita turned to her instrument again. Unbidden, a new piece floated out of her fingers. She had performed it for her mother's friends once before, and though she wasn't too crazy about the company, she did love the composition. Plus, the soothing calm would complement the first piece's rushed ecstasy.
Easy and controlled. That was what the song was all about. It was a juxtaposition of contraries – both passionate and reserved, urging and sheltering, hot and cold, confused and...pained. Lolita blinked against the rising heat from somewhere in the depths of her body. As soon as it came, it was completely doused by a chilling coldness. Then the pounding began in the back of her head, at first in time to the music, and then not, shredding her concentration into a million little pieces. She struggled to focus on playing, but it was difficult when she could barely keep track of her hands. They hit several wrong notes, and through the haze of a clouded mind she heard confused murmurs. Any other time, Lolita would have caught herself and backtracked, but her body was strangely intent on flouting her. Mumbling an apology, she stood up and stumbled to Tasuki, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process.
Strong arms suddenly propped her up, and belatedly, she heard the concerned question. It sounded like it was spoken underwater. The rushing in her ears grew stronger, and the tiny demon drummed away at the back of her head. Lolita gasped, trying to explain what was wrong when she looked up, saw Tasuki's blurred face, and swooned dead away.
"Lo!" He lay her on the floor, calling out for help. "What's the matter?" All talking in the room escalated into a panicked level. Chairs scraped back, and several pairs of feet scrambled towards the door. Steel whistled against steel. Tasuki looked up to see several of the patrons closing in on them, weapons drawn.
"Poison," one thickly muscled man smirked. "Hand 'er over and we'll give 'er th' antidote."
The flame-haired bandit crushed Lolita into his arms, eyes molten as he sized up his opponents. "No fuckin' way."
010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101
A/N: Now we're getting somewhere. I had had enough of the introspection of the previous chapter and decided it was time to speed things up a bit. It's still not as fast as I would have liked (courtesy of my compulsion to explain everything and iron out every single detail, not to mention VERY wordy habits), but I will try to push the pedal in the next chapters. Can't wait to write the fluff! Art classes are coming to an end for me, so fic-writing will probably be my single solace from now on. (I am SERIOUSLY in need of a life.)
If you think it's worth the time, please review. Mata ne, minna-san! XD