I have finally decided to update...aren't you all happy? (smiles sheepishly) sorry it took so long. I was…busy…
caspercat22: Oh don't worry. She won't hurt Tasuki too much…as long as, of course, she gets her music back in tact. But by the time they meet up again, they'll have much more serious things on their minds (at that moment anyways)…
Kyae Sohma: If you're talking about the two just appeared girls, no, they're not. Each one of the four are for each of the four gods, so…I'm sure you can figure it out. And um…I'm actually not really looking for anyone to be in this particular story, but if I'm in need of another character, I'll contact you alright?
Enjoy! (again, the stupid divider line thing is NOT working...so...)
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To most people in Konan, the sunlight was a welcome sign; a sign of perhaps good harvest and the sign that their god, Enma, was perhaps happy with them that fine, fine day. Unfortunately, a handful of people did not share that same opinion, for as soon as the ray of sunlight hit her face, a blue haired girl muttered a snappish, "I hate you" to the sun, who thankfully was not a living and breathing sentient or else Jenna would have been fried to ashes for saying that to the sun.
Then there was an indignant exclamation of, "I haven't done anything!" from somewhere across the room. Too tired to check who it was, Jenna burrowed herself deep under the covers, "Stupid sun"
The person in the room laughed loudly at this, causing Jenna to snap her eyes open. Now, if she remembered correctly, she had been sucked into this strange world by Holly's computer and if she remembered even more of what happened since falling into a hell of pink bubbles and overly happy children, she would realize that there was no way that either Taiitsu-kun or Holly would sound like a guy. So, therefore…
"ARGH!" she screamed, wondering if she and Holly had been caught sleeping the previous night and now had been sold to some perverted old man… or maybe they ended up – she shuddered just thinking about it and finally risked opening her eyes.
To her relief, however, she found that the person in the room was not a perverted old man; in fact, he looked only a few years older than she was, which could either be a good sign or a bad sign, if you thought about it. He had dark blue hair that was neatly tied back and he looked back at her with dark green eyes
Holly, awoken by Jenna's scream, sat up groggily, "Where are we?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes and looking around, wincing at the sun's bright glare so very early in the morning, "And why are we up at this ungodly hour?"
"Actually" the blue haired man said with amusement, "It is currently noon"
"Oh…" she shook her head of the dazed drowsiness, "…who are you?"
"I am Hikou" the man smiled, "And who might you two be; both of you collapsed in the forest late last night while I was getting back from the capital"
"…so you're not selling us?" Jenna asked cautiously.
"Absolutely not!" Hikou looked insulted at the insinuation.
"Good" Jenna sighed in relief, "You don't know how many people have tried to do that! So far there's been twelve groups of them, and we've only been here a few days!"
Hikou winced, "And how are you two still walking around, may I ask?"
"…weapon…" Jenna said quietly with awe seeping into her voice as she cradled the ever-so-loved glaive in her arms. Hikou had to work hard not to wince at the sight of the weapon; if a normal glaive was scary to the opponent of the weapon's wielder, then this glaive would give them traumatized nightmares, for the end of the rod did not end out in a smooth edge like normal glaives did. In fact, the end had been carved so that it was jagged and with the metal used for the rod, could probably do just as much damage as the blade at the top, if not more. He hoped he would never have to go against such a weapon.
"Yes…anyways" he coughed, "Are you feeling alright now?"
Holly nodded, "Sleep is wonderful" she declared.
"So, is it safe to let you out into the world or would you like to stay in town for the time being?" Hikou asked.
Holly and Jenna exchanged looks and began whispering quietly and arguing slightly about what they should do, "I think we should just leave. There's really no point in staying" Jenna said.
"Yeah, but maybe if we stay in this town long enough, one of the people we're looking for might show up"
"True, but – "
"Besides…we'd just get lost if we ended up by ourselves again"
"True" Jenna said, "Alright. We'll stay"
Holly grinned, "Besides, this means no more meeting of perverted men trying to sell us…what the hell is their problem anyways?"
"Don't forget; kings in ancient times allowed polygamy" Jenna reminded her.
"That's NO excuse!"
"…actually, yes it is…"
"Oh…"
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"Oh, wait 'till I get my fucking hands on you, you stupid waste of nature!" came an enraged shout from one of the rooms of the fancy building that was currently occupied by two girls and two men who had arrived in town late last night. The building itself belonged to the two men; it was their 'base' as they called it for they were quite able to make a very decent pay.
"Alright, but what do you guys do?" Kristen asked curiously, looking around the fancy mansion, "Whatever you do, you must be paid a lot"
Nuriko shrugged, "We basically do anything…as long as it's something with fighting, I suppose; like when we broke into Liu's base. We also have connections to pirates, bandits, all the outlaws and sometimes, we get a…special job or two. Most of the work we do have something to do with overthrowing the corrupt emperor and his government or getting rid of…unsavoury characters"
"Oh cool!" Seiriko said, eyes wide, "Does special job mean assassination?" she asked eagerly, wondering if one could get paid for killing people off in ancient China.
Hotohori looked taken back and stared at her suspiciously, "…how do you know?"
Seiriko shrugged, grinning, "…I like weapons?"
"Oh yeah…" Nuriko slapped his hand to his forehead.
Hotohori groaned when he heard the shout, "The birds haven't done anything to you Seiriko, so please…"
"THEY'RE ALIVE!" came the scandalized retort.
Nuriko raised an eyebrow as he watched the black haired girl attempted to grab one of the birds from her windowsill and strangle it.
"I don't think that will work" he commented, crossing his arms and leaning against her doorway with amusement etched onto his very features.
"It will…" Seiriko said through gritted teeth.
"They can fly" Nuriko pointed out.
"So can – damn it– I!"
Nuriko rolled his eyes, "Where's Kristen this morning? I figured she'd have joined in the immense insanity by now"
Seiriko shrugged, "Last I checked, she was still sleeping"
"Thank god. Only one crazy one awake" Nuriko said, mouthing to the heavens dramatically. Seiriko whacked him over the head, "Shut up…" she pouted.
Hotohori chuckled, "Well, just leave the birds alone, at least for now alright?" he asked, "I'd rather not cause a scene on the first day back in town"
"…fine" Seiriko pouted, "But I'm asking Taiitsu-kun for a hunting rifle next time I see her…" she looked hopefully at the sky, as if expecting Taiitsu-kun to actually grant that certain request but was disappointed to see no hunting rifle appear. Seiriko shook her fist at the sky, "Damn you, you old witch"
Out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning hit the tree next to the window, successfully managing to fry the birds along with the tree. Seiriko was not sure whether to swear never to insult Taiitsu-kun again or to celebrate that the stupid chirping was finally gone.
She settled for waking Kristen up.
"KRISTEN!" she shouted once entering the other girl's room and jumping on her bed, which resulted in a startled yelp from the redheaded girl, "What the fuck are you doing Seiriko?" Kristen glared. Then she paused…
"…there are no birds singing…." She commented slowly.
Seiriko nodded eagerly.
"…no annoying chirping…"
More nodding.
Kristen got up from the bed and immediately fell to her knees, "Oh thank you Suzaku, oh merciful god of…" she paused, "What's Suzaku the god of?" she asked.
"Suzaku is the god of the South, fire and love" Hotohori answered, amused.
" – oh merciful god of the South, fire and of love. You have blessed us by ridding this morning of that asinine and useless creature known as a bird. I will forever be grateful!" she did a dramatic bowing gesture.
"…you do know that Suzaku is a phoenix and also a bird too, right?" Hotohori asked.
Kristen looked at him, "Yeah, but he's a real bird. Not those stupid little things that annoy us in the morning. I mean, at least he's majestic and all that"
"…I see…" Hotohori raised an eyebrow, "Well…"
Seiriko floated up in the air, "Ah…remind me to thank Taiitsu-kun later…" she mused.
"Alright…" Kristen said questionably, "But why?"
"She turned the birds into…well, a barbecue" Seiriko grinned, pointing at the charred tree and the smoking remains of the birds that lay underneath the branches.
"oh…"
"Hotohori! Kristen! Seiriko! One of the maids randomly came back to the mansion and made breakfast for us!" Nuriko shouted, "Something about 'sensing a disturbing force in the area'"
The three of them, much to lazy to walk down the many flights of stairs in the girls' case and much too eager to test out his new abilities in Hotohori's case, floated down the stairs, causing the maid who had come up to get them to scream in terror. She fainted dead away and Seiriko poked at her, "I think she's still alive…"
"You can't die of fright" Kristen said logically.
"Well…actually – "
"NO! I'm right!" Kristen said, slapping her hands over her ears to avoid listening to a possibly more logical opinion. Hotohori sighed, floating over to the dining table where Nuriko sat, "…well…we certainly won't be bored" he commented dryly.
The two girls merely grinned evilly at him and Nuriko snickered at the expression that crossed Hotohori's face.
The maid that Nuriko had been shouting about before came in, "Good morning; I hope you're enjoying your meal…"
Nuriko whispered quietly, "Didn't we fire that one?" he asked Hotohori. The golden-eyed man looked pensive and then he nodded, "Yes. We did…she talked too much"
Seiriko snickered, "You fired her for talking too much?"
"Just listen" Nuriko implored.
"…and last week, the family in the house next to the house next to the house next to the house next to me had beef for dinner…"
"What the fuck?" Kristen asked. Just as those words left her mouth, she was wrought by coughs that never seemed to stop.
"…did you choke on something?"
Kristen coughed and glared at Seiriko.
"Oh right…coughing…can't talk…"
Kristen gave one hacked and strangled sounding cough before they stopped. However, the coughs were soon the last thing on their minds as…
"Holy shit!" Seiriko exclaimed, which got the attention of the maid, who finally stopped talking about the sky.
"Oh no!" she cried out, wringing her hands, "You're coughing up blood! That's not normal! Maybe it was the food? Oh no; maybe I put in something poisonous by accident, or maybe I accidentally grabbed one of mother's – er…I mean, somebody's poisonous mixtures by accident! Aghhhhh…what to do what to do what to do" she continued to panic.
Hotohori looked at Kristen in concern, "You're not feeling anything…strange are you? No numbness, or a sudden pain somewhere in your body? No sudden lack of breathing?"
Kristen shook her head, still glancing in shock at the blood.
"Well, you weren't poisoned then"
WHACK!
The two of them looked to see that Nuriko had knocked the maid unconscious. The maid, who had managed to trample Seiriko in her panic, slumped to the ground. Seiriko got up when the idiotic woman stopped stepping on her, "Well, I'm not a certified medical professional but…you need to see a healer" she declared.
"No shit" Kristen glared, "But where are we gonna find one that knows why I'm coughing up blood?"
"…um…wait…didn't Yui mention once that there was a healer guy in the Suzaku group?"
"Yeah…"
"So we find him"
"How do you think we'll do that?"
"…we look for him…"
Kristen sighed, "Alright, we go around and look for him. It's the best idea we have anyways"
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It was already two days later and still, they had had absolutely no luck in finding a seishi, hopefully the one that was the healer. Hotohori had taken to making sure that Kristen got everything she needed, which was amusing for Seiriko and Nuriko to watch because as Nuriko told Seiriko, Hotohori never showed his concern this much to another person. Seiriko only grinned evilly at that and the two were then ordered to get more water from the nearby stream.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Hotohori asked in a worried tone, eyeing the five layers of blankets he had already placed on the girl's shoulder, too little if you asked him. Kristen just nodded; she could barely move under all this weight!
Both Seiriko and Nuriko wisely kept their mouths shut.
There was a gathering in town for some reason or another; deciding that perhaps it might give them a clue as to where the healer seishi was, they rode over, tall enough on their horses so they could see above the heads of all the villagers. On the wooden platform was a large man – large in terms of width – who was also very short at the same time. He was a funny looking man and one of his eyebrows looked as though it had recently been singed off and his face was red.
"Who is that guy?" Nuriko wondered aloud.
A villager – the villagers all over Konan seemed to just enjoy eavesdropping on conversations – answered him, "He's a great healer from Kutou"
"He looks like a fat midget" Kristen muttered.
"He's a renowned healer!"
Kristen's retort was cut off when yet another coughing fit started. She was dimly aware that her coughing had gotten the attention of the 'fat midget' and the midget was swaggering over towards her; it would have been very comical, especially since Kristen's horse sudden stuck out its foot and the midget tripped right on his face. He jumped up, face flaming even more, "Miss! Are you alright? Do you need to be healed?"
"I'm. Fine." Kristen coughed.
"You are obviously NOT fine!" the midget insisted, "Let me have a look at you"
"Over my dead body" she hissed. The midget smiled in a patronizing way, "I'm sure it's just the sickness talking" he walked forward, only to have a sword stuck in his face. He looked up into threatening golden eyes and gulped.
"I believe she said 'no' you miserable little cretin" Hotohori said coolly, "Perhaps you should learn to respect a lady's wishes"
"She is obviously very sick!" the midget insisted. Nuriko's eyes narrowed as he watched this exchange. Then he realized exactly who this midget was.
"And you're obviously not very human…Yao…" he said quietly. Hotohori's head whipped around instantly upon hearing the name. Yao was one of demons that a certain pirate friend had once asked them to keep an eye out for; he went around pretending to be a renowned healer and once he 'treated' them, the people who were treated were turned into mindless followers, not dead but not alive either.
Yao's head whipped around as his eyes glowed with anger, "So…you figured me out…Ryuuen and Saihitei of the – "
"Shut it" Hotohori hissed. Before he could do anything, however, Yao smirked menacingly and the body of the man suddenly slumped to the ground and standing over the body was a demon, who was still rather short with green skin, a horn grew on his forehead and a gruesome, distorted face to match. He yanked Kristen off her horse, who grimaced at the touch of the disgusting demon. Before Yao – or Kristen – could do anything, however, a warm green glow suddenly surrounded them. Yao screamed in fury and terror as his skin started to disintegrate into nothing, due to the obvious holy powers that had been shot at him, "You…will…never…" he said quickly as he disappeared, "win; there are too many of us on his side"
Kristen felt strangely disappointed when the green glow faded and she was left standing in a crowd of bewildered and frightened villagers.
"Are you alright?" a deep voice asked. A man stood to the side, his hair spiked up, a headband wrapped his head. He had kind concern etched across his features.
"Fine" she said, brushing herself off. Hotohori, Nuriko and Seiriko glanced in bewilderment at what had just happened, each pondering what Yao had just said. Well…not Hotohori. He was instantly checking that Kristen was not injured at all.
"I believe you were looking for me?" the man spoke again, holding up his left hand, on which there was a character…
"Mitsukake!" all four shouted at once. Mitsukake nodded, "Yes. Now…stay still a moment" he told Kristen, while Nuriko and Hotohori briefly wondered how the healer knew they were looking for him and how he knew that Kristen was sick.
The same warm green glow surrounded her once more and Kristen was aware of feeling something irritating and heavy leave the sanctity of her lungs. She breathed in and out, pleased that she could do so without coughing up blood, "I'm cured!" she smiled happily.
Mitsukake smiled, "I believe I will join you on your journey now" he said, "My preparations have been completed"
"…you knew you were going to find us?" Seiriko asked incredulously, "Are you some kind of psychic or something?"
Mitsukake smiled secretively, not saying a word and Seiriko pouted. Nuriko laughed, "C'mon Seiriko; I'll give you a ride"
"RIDE!" came the excited shout from the raven haired girl as she was suddenly attached to Nuriko's back for a piggy back ride.
Hotohori smiled gently at Kristen, "I'm very glad you're fine now"
"Thanks" Kristen smiled back, "And…thanks for taking care of me and all that"
"You're very welcome" Hotohori said, turning intensely golden eyes on her. Kristen flung her arms around his neck in a quick hug before running off to join the insanity of Seiriko, Nuriko and now, Mitsukake. Hotohori shook his head in exasperation at the conversation taking place and resignedly joined in, touching his neck in bewilderment every so often.
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"Damn it; why are we wearing these clothes?" Jenna scowled, picking at the 'normal' clothing Hikou's friend, Kouran, had given her and Holly to wear. It was not as if she did not appreciate the gesture or anything, but how did women stand wearing these things? They were much too uncomfortable!
"Because we couldn't get Hikou to give us guy clothes" Holly muttered.
"…I don't understand why we have to wear these; our clothes are just fine"
"Sure, if you want to scream out 'girls from another world right here' for everyone to know"
"We could say we're from one of those other countries"
"I think it'd probably be the same sort of style there too"
Jenna sighed, "So what are we doing in the forest now?" she wondered. They were in a secluded clearing surrounded by the rest of the dense forest and with no one in sight.
"We're probably going to be wearing these…clothes…for a while, so we may as well get used to moving around in them"
"As if that'll happen"
"And the best way to do that is to spar" Holly said, a glint in her eye.
Jenna grinned, "Ah…trying to do the impossible, are we?"
"Hey, if we can fight in these clothes, we can walk in them" Holly reasoned.
"True enough"
Jenna grinned and her weapon appeared in her hand, as did Holly's; then, without a warning, they slammed their weapons right into each other with a loud and almost sickening crunch. The sound attracted the attention of a certain group of three males nearby, who went to see what the noise was, and what could make such a noise in this forest.
What they saw were two teenage girls, moving at lightning quick speed, weapons hitting each other, although not in a way that suggested they were trying to kill the other. They moved so quickly and so skilfully that the three males were caught off guard for a moment.
Suddenly, a glaive was pointed at them, followed by another weapon. Holly glared at the males, "What are you doing here?"
"And please, don't say 'we're here to try to sell you'" Jenna pleaded, "I'm sick of bashing old men's heads in"
Tasuki gulped, "No…we were heading toward the village; we're looking for two of our companions"
"…that'd better not be a lie…" Holly warned.
"Doesn't matter; Kouran can tell if they're lying or not" Jenna said, "Let's just tie them up and take them back with us"
"Alright"
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Kouran smiled with amusement at the men that the two girls had brought in; they were dressed like bandits, to be sure, which she was inclined to trust more than those dressed like high nobility, so there was a point for them.
"Now, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"We're looking for two friends of ours" Kouji explained, "They were kidnapped one night and we've been searching for them ever since"
"Oh, how horrible" Kouran could not help but comment; they were obviously not lying, judging from the determination set in the eyes of all three…and the fact that she had a sixth sense for these things.
"Perhaps your friends' kidnappers will pass by here" Hikou suggested, "You may as well stay for a while; you look as though you have not had any sleep for a while"
Tasuki glared, aware of the bags under his eyes; they didn't need to tell him!
Kouji quickly clamped a hand over Tasuki's mouth, "Yeah…we'll stay"
Chiriko was already asleep.
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Please review.