Chapter Six

"Well, it's not ideal, but it's better than the open desert."

As the tired group of Kutou soldiers reached one of the few watering holes that dotted around the barren, dusty terrain, Hyoushin cast a glance around him, nodding his head slowly in approval. "This was well located, Suiko - I trust the water is clean enough for us to drink?"

"It is pure." Suiko nodded her head, offering him a flirtatious, teasing smile as she pranced towards him, resting her hands playfully on his shoulders. "Are you not cross with me any more then, Hyoushin? You were mean earlier - I don't like it when you're mean."

"Will you stop doing that?" Hyoushin sent her a long suffering glance, and Miramu smirked, dropping down beneath the shade of one of the resiliant desert trees that had taken advantage of the rare pooling water to set down roots.

"A woman with no substance and a man without a soul. I think you make a rather nice couple." He reflected lazily, resting his hands behind his head as he watched the soldiers tethering their horses, dropping their belongings with relief as many of them headed to the pool to collect water. "Hyoushin, you should be nicer to Suiko. She's probably the only woman who'll ever show you that kind of attention."

"Considering that you owe me your life, Miramu, you could thank me by being silent." Came Hyoushin's even-tempered response. "We're all tired, and thanks to your previous antics, we're sheltering in a less than perfect location. If there is a dust storm or something of that nature..."

"There won't be." Miramu shrugged his shoulders. "The air is all wrong - there's not enough of a breeze and what little there is isn't blowing in from the right way. The mountains are sheltering this location - don't worry so much. This is as safe a place as any in the desert."

"Well, I won't pretend I'm not glad to be stopping." Aoiketsu admitted, reaching down to rub his legs with a rueful grimace. "Riding all that way, and now this...I'm fit to drop."

"I think we all are." Maichu flopped back on the hard ground beside him. "I could sleep for a week, at the very least."

"No stamina." Miramu mocked, and Maichu cast him a glare.

"The Commander's right about you." He said darkly. "Because of you and your bloodthirsty behaviour, we don't get to sleep in beds tonight."

"If you're that bothered, I'm sure I can easily make you sleep. Very soundly indeed." Miramu twitched his fingers, the glitter of his dagger appearing in his grip. "Keep it in mind - I've no qualms about introducing you to my bloodthirsty behaviour, as you call it."

"Just because I don't have a ship to throw you overboard from, Miramu, my words to you still stand." Hyoushin said sharply. "You will not threaten nor harm any of my men while on this mission. To do so would be tantamount to treason against Kutou's Emperor. And even if you don't care about that, I do. Sairou's Shinzahou or not, I will renege on my vow to protect you and slay you myself."

His eyes narrowed, and for the briefest of instances Miramu was aware of a flicker of cold flame in the impassive amethyst eyes.

"I am a good swordsman." The Meihi added quietly. "I do not take the pleasure in execution that you do, but when I undertake the task, I rarely fail."

"Threatening words." Miramu taunted, a grin touching his features as he put his dagger away. "Don't worry. I don't think your men are worth my energy to attack. Besides, there's no benefit in it for me, is there? If I annoy your Emperor too much, he won't pay me. And that won't suit anyone. So relax. Your flock of sheep are safe enough from me."

"Don't call us sheep, else you might not be safe from us." Maichu warned, and Miramu laughed.

"Consider me corrected." He said lazily. "Either way, I'm tired too, you know. I did come on this journey with you."

"Well, the night will begin to draw in soon." Hyoushin gazed across at the skyline. "Kayu, I want you to take two others and gather what you can for firewood. It's still warm now, but the desert will be cold at night and we can't afford to be unprepared. Maichu, you and Aoiketsu have the supplies we acquired from Kaidou - I entrust to you the task of rationing enough for us to each eat something."

"Yes sir." The soldiers dispersed as soon as Hyoushin's orders had been spoken, and Miramu cast him a faint, amused smile.

"They mightn't admit it, but they are your sheep." He observed. "They don't question, they just obey. What a dull life that must be."

"Perhaps, but it is better than the kind of life of one who slays his own flesh and blood." Hyoushin said evenly. "Suiko, rather than hang all over me like an unwanted fur stole, perhaps you might prepare water for our journey tomorrow? If the source here is pure, we will doubtless need it on our trek tomorrow."

"You're still mean." Suiko sighed, but obediently disentangled her arms from around his shoulders. "All right, Mean Hyoushin. I'll do as you say."

She flounced towards the water's edge, and Hyoushin sighed, slowly shaking his head.

"The longer I spend in her company, the more I wonder about Seiryuu's divine power." He murmured, more to himself than anything. "Can her prediction even be trusted? Will collecting the Shinzahou bring Seiryuu no Miko to Kutou and can she save the East from itself? I really do wonder."

"Kutou is a shambles." Miramu reflected, and Hyoushin glanced at him in surprise.

"Yes, I have ears. I can hear your mumbling." Miramu nodded. "Even if you do speak with an unemotional, unexotic Eastern dialect, I'm not deaf."

"My words were addressed to noone in particular." Hyoushin shrugged.

"Even so, mine are addressed to you." Miramu responded evenly. "Your country is desperate indeed, if it relies on the power of Beast Gods to save it."

"Desperation is a dangerous state of mind." Hyoushin murmured. "I won't pretend I don't worry about it. You may have lost all sense of loyalty to your land, assassin, but I have not lost mine."

"A country that probably killed your family, and who enslaved, brutalised and humiliated you, no doubt." Miramu said baldly, watching his companion for any reaction or flicker of emotion. "Why are you such a fool as that, Hyoushin? You are still a slave, you know. Kintsusei-sama may have offered you your life, but you haven't taken it. You've become his slave, instead of your master's. Do you really consider this life any different from the one you lived before?"

"Kintsusei-sama has never beaten me." Hyoushin's expression remained impassive, although Miramu could hear a faint note of something else in the man's tones, and he frowned, recognising it as the unusual inflection of a Meihi accent that the Commander normally suppressed. He eyed his companion keenly, realising that it was a sign that, however outwardly composed Hyoushin seemed, inwardly his words had struck a nerve. He pursed his lips.

"And you are content, living that way?" He asked. "You are as pitiful a creature as Toroki and those Seishi for Suzaku. They are willing slaves, too - they have no concept of life or living it. And nor do you."

"I don't believe that's your business." Hyoushin shrugged his shoulders.

"No, most things aren't my business." Miramu admitted. "But I'm already universally hated. Why should I care if I offend someone?"

"Yes, I suppose that is a logical reply from a man such as you." Hyoushin met his gaze, nodding his head. "And to answer your question, yes. I am content. Besides, no man in Kutou is free until the East is at peace within itself. We are all slaves to war, Miramu. And until I can say that all the people in the Dragon's land are free, I do not concern myself with my own freedom. I have not been forced to take this path - I chose it. That is what makes it different. I am a soldier who serves his Emperor. Not a slave who serves his master. The parallel you draw is flawed."

"Perhaps." Miramu murmured, his brow furrowing as inside him he felt the faintest pang of envy at the other man's words. Confused, he shook his head as if to clear it, stifling the impulse before it could spread.

"Why would I be jealous of this cold, soulless man who only obeys and does not live?" He wondered inwardly, glancing down at his hands. "Do I not live the freer life of the two of us? Wretched as it is, being Geiyo Miramu - surely it is worse being the Meihi Hyoushin?"

"Tomorrow, will we encounter the hermit Toroki?" Hyoushin's voice cut through his thoughts and he looked thoughtful, nodding his head as other, yet more painful thoughts teetered at the edge of his consciousness. He sank back against the tree, rummaging lazily in his pocket for the pouch of herbal stems as he placed one between his teeth pensively.

"Most likely." He agreed. "At least, you will. I've no intention of entering her cave or seeing the girl. You do Seiryuu's bidding...I'll wait outside. So long as you keep your half of the deal, I won't need to worry."

"I don't intend to kill her." Hyoushin shook his head. "I'm not like you in that regard."

"I would not kill Toroki." Miramu said gravely.

"So Byakko's land still does have ties on you, then."

"It curses me to admit it, but I suppose it does." Miramu agreed wryly. "Don't worry yourself about them, though. They are insignificant enough. Besides, Toroki isn't of a violent disposition. At least, not when I knew her. Who knows how time and the treasure have changed her? But she was always a peaceful soul, as a child. I imagine that won't have altered much."

"You do indeed sound intimately acquainted with this girl, Miramu." Hyoushin eyed him suspiciously, and Miramu shrugged his shoulders.

"We grew up in the same village, a lifetime ago." He said carelessly. "But when I was fourteen, I killed my father and I left the area for good. She was ten at the time...and I doubt her mother or father would have cared too much that she was away from my influence, given the nature of my so-called crime. So I did know her, once. But I don't pretend I know her now. And I have no intention of renewing the acquaintance. I have no time for Byakko or his peculiar interpretation of slavery."

He brushed his tongue absently against the herb stem, tasting the bitterness as he did so.

"Tomorrow, I will lead you to the cave she hides in." He added. "Then the rest is up to you."

-----------------

"How are you feeling now, Shishi-san?"

As the redhaired bandit sank down onto the comfortable matress with a sigh, the tall, dark-haired woman cast her a compassionate look, settling herself down beside the bed. "Your arm has stopped bleeding, and your colour is a little better, but you must have taken quite a whack."

It was later that afternoon and, after the young girl Kiki had returned with the apothecary's tall, strapping husband, the injured bandit had been hoisted into his arms, carried briskly down the uneven pathway to the little house which served as their family home. The children had quickly been dispersed as the woman in residence had realised Shishi was truly not well, and so now, twenty minutes after their arrival in Shouki-mura, the three young travellers found themselves in the simply furnished back room of the property. All had been struck by the easy, unquestioning way in which the woman had offered her services, and even the wary Jin had relaxed some as he had realised that these people truly did mean to help, not harm.

"The world's stopped spinning some." Shishi admitted ruefully now, in answer to the apothecary's question. "I guess...it's a good thing I decided to flop out not far from your village, Geiyo-san. I swear, if that guy had carried me any further..."

"We're grateful for your helping us." Jin added from the doorway. "Geiyo-san, if we can pay you something for your services...Shishi was an idiot and threw herself into a stupid situation, but so long as she's okay, that's what matters most."

"It's all right." The apothecary smiled, even as Shishi shot her bandit friend a dark look. "Really. I'm glad I could help you young people - isn't it a long trek to come all the way from Kounan like this?"

"We're sort of on a specific mission." Hikari sighed, dropping down on the end of her friend's makeshift bed with a grimace. "We didn't expect to encounter thugs like that in Hengei. It seemed like such a nice town."

"There are thugs everywhere there are cities." The woman said sadly. "At peace or at war, such is a fact of life."

"That's what I said." Jin nodded. "And why I'm not happy letting you girls out of my sight. Kashira'd freak if anything happened to you, Shishi. An' Chichiri'd do the same for you, Hikari - he's about adopted you of late."

"Chichiri?" The apothecary looked startled. "But that's..."

"Ri Hou Jun." Jin offered her a rueful smile. "Force of habit there...forgive me. He's not so different from you, actually, Geiyo-san. He grows herbs for healing, too, in a village not far from the mountains in Kounan."

"I see." The woman frowned, and for a moment she was silent. Then she returned the smile.

"I'd rather you called me Anara." She said at length. "That's my name. Hearing Geiyo-san is all very well from the village children, but from young people of your ages, well, it makes me feel old. Besides, my husband's name is Geiyo. Mine only is by marriage...I've never entirely been used to it in everyday circles."

"All right. If you prefer." Jin looked startled. "Anara-san, then."

"And you needn't worry about payment." Anara continued. "To be honest, it's good to use my skills to some benefit. But I am curious as to why you three have come all this way. We don't get visitors in Shouki very often - and even in Hengei, most people are traders who don't trek into the desert. You must have come this way for a reason - or are you lost? If so, perhaps we can help you find your way out - the desert can be a maze but not to those who've grown up around it."

"We're not lost. Not yet." Hikari shook her head. "Well, I suppose coming here is a detour, but we...we were heading this way. It's hot, travelling like this, and we did hope we might find food and water here on our trip. And maybe...maybe information. If...if we could."

She pinkened slightly as Anara sent her a quizzical look.

"Information?" She asked gently. "You came to Sairou looking for information? And you wound up here, in Shouki-mura? I don't understand."

Jin sighed.

"The truth is, Shishi getting the hell kicked out of her is something of a setback." He admitted. "But one of the children who helped us said something to us that might make our visit here more productive than we expected. They said you knew somethin' about Celestial Warriors of Byakko...specifically a chick known by the name of Toroki."

"Toroki?" Anara's expression transformed in an instant, and Hikari was certain that she saw the woman pale at the mention of the Seishi's name. "That's why you're here? Because you're hunting Toroki?"

"We're not hunting her." Jin held up his hands hastily. "Nothing like that."

"We wouldn't come to Sairou to hurt one of their Seishi." Hikari added. "We just want to ask her advice. Her help. It's something that we think she might be able to do - to tell us, or...or well, we've been told that she lives somewhere around this area. In a cave, one of the children said. But..."

"I see." Anara ran her fingers through her hair, then, slowly, she shook her head.

"I'm sorry." She murmured. "Toroki left this village four years ago. She hasn't been back since and noone has seen her. I can't help you with what you want to know."

She cast Shishi a glance,raising a finger to touch her brow.

"Your friend needs to rest." She added, as if she considered the subject closed. "Concussion is tricky. My remedy will help take the edge off the nausea and the dizziness, and the wound to the arm is not serious – it will heal fairly quickly, I think. But there's no real cure bar sleep and time for a blow to the head."

"Time we don't have." Jin said sadly. "Especially if you don't know where Toroki is, Anara-san. We'll have to do a whole lot more searchin' - are you saying she won't be fit to travel on today?"

"Not today and perhaps not tomorrow, either." Anara said evenly. She shook her head. "Not with a concussion like this."

"Shit." Shishi groaned, casting Jin a beseeching look. "Jin, you ain't going to take notice of that, are you? We can't stop around here for two days - we don't have time to do that! And I'll be okay! Tomorrow morning - I'll be fine. You'll see! I'll be okay...I'm tougher than that."

"We're going to follow the expert's advice, Shi-chan." Jin shook his head. "I'm not going to get tessen-flamed for taking gambles on your life."

"You're welcome to stay here." Anara assured them. "It's not often we have guests...I'd like it, if you'd stay."

She got to her feet, casting Shishi a backwards glance as she did so.

"I'll bring you some water, and then you really should rest." She added softly. "You'll take no harm from the blow, I don't believe, so long as you don't push yourself too hard."

With that she was gone, and Shishi buried her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry." She said sheepishly. "Guess there goes our quick plan into the desert, huh?"

"Well, what's done is done." Jin said with a shrug. "Don't look like that...it wasn't your fault. Even if you were foolhardy, goin' at those guys, I won't pretend I'd have done any different in the circumstances. It's just a good thing for all of us that Hikari has a good imagination, even if she doesn't have any sword fightin' skill."

"People in this world are superstitious." Hikari reflected. "That's all."

She sighed, kicking her legs idly against the edge of the bed.

"And I don't think Anara-san was telling us the truth, either." She said frankly. "Did you see her, when we mentioned Toroki? She went white. She knows something about this girl we're looking for. But she didn't want to tell us."

"Well, we are strangers." Jin reasoned. "And from the South, too. I suppose no matter how helpful she is with treating Shishi's concussion, that doesn't mean she wants to tell us all her country's secrets."

"It wasn't like that." Hikari shook her head. "It was more like...the question frightened her. Not that she thought we were prying into things that weren't our business. It was like it actually worried her that we'd ask."

"Meanin' what?" Shishi demanded, leaning back against her pillows as she cast her friend a quizzical look. "You're goin' to have to join the dots for me, Hiki. I ain't thinkin' on all cylinders right now."

"Nothing new about that, kid." Jin looked amused. "But now you say it, Hikari - didn't those kids act the same way? When one of them told us somethin', the older told them to button it."

"And the kid mentioned Amefuri as well as Toroki." Hikari remembered, her brow creasing in consternation. "As if...but Taiitsukun said that Amefuri had turned away from Byakko. I'm sure she did. And that we shouldn't seek him out. She wouldn't have been so adamant about us seeing Toroki, if they were together. Would she?"

"Maybe it's not Amefuri that's making this dame upset." Shishi suggested. "Perhaps there's somethin' about Toroki we don't know."

"You think she might be dangerous?" Jin asked sharply, and Shishi shrugged.

"Dunno." She said frankly. "I know as much as you. An' that's less than Hiki - Hiki, what did that Taiitsukun person say about Toroki exactly? As close as you can remember - what did she tell you?"

"That she was of a peaceful disposition." Hikari frowned. "And that she wouldn't be looking for a fight. That we'd have to negotiate to get the Shinzahou from her, and it would be hard. But that she wouldn't fight us."

"Then Toroki can't be dangerous, surely?" Jin pointed out. "Doesn't Taiitsukun know everything when it comes to things like this?"

"I don't know." Hikari admitted. "Can anyone really know everything?"

"Ain't she like, Emperor of the Heavens, though?" Shishi remarked. "S'why only people like Papa an' Chichiri an' you can go see her, because you're connected to the Gods direct. I guess Jin's right. She'd know."

"Although I guess it doesn't mean there aren't things she hasn't told us." Hikari ran her fingers through her hair absently, shaking her head. "I don't know what we should do. Obviously we can't go anywhere while Shishi's still seeing double, and Anara-san has said we can stay here. I think she's a nice person - she and her husband both seem kind. But...her reaction bothers me. I don't know why she'd be afraid just by hearing Toroki's name."

"Perhaps she's freaked out by the divine." Shishi managed a faint smile. "Or more likely, she knows that when Papa an' company came here, one of the Byakko Seishi snuffed it helpin' them to escape. That might be it."

"You know, you're calling Kashira Papa a lot." Jin cast her a glance. "You must really be feelin' out of it...you don't usually forget so easily."

Shishi grimaced.

"There's noone here to hear me, 'cept you guys." She responded. "And I'm tired. Let me alone, huh? I've already puked my guts up once today...don't pick on me."

"Are you feeling any better?" Hikari eyed her doubtfully. "You still look really kinda pale."

"I don't know." Shishi admitted. She sighed, shaking her head gingerly as if trying to clear it.

"T'be honest, I don't think I could do much more walkin' today." She added sadly. "I want to...I don't want to be holdin' everyone up because I let my guard down an' that jerk got the better of me. But I think...if I try an' get up right now...I might throw up again. Or pass out. I thought I might do that when that guy was carryin' me back here. It sucks but I don't think I am all right. An' I guess I'm gonna haveta listen to Anara-san's advice an' sit put. At least...well, we'll see how I am tomorrow mornin', huh? If I can, I want to leave then. I'll rest this afternoon, an' I'll do my best to sleep it off."

"All right." Jin pursed his lips. "But be straight with us, okay? You're more important than Byakko's treasure, and Kashira'd say so too. I ain't gonna face him an' explain what happened if you get killed...an' I think Anara-san knows what she's talkin' about. She sounded...sorta like Chichiri-san, when she was examinin' you. I think she's done this a long time. An' she grows herbs, too, jus' like Chichiri-san an' Aidou-san do in the Eastern village. So we should listen to her."

"What if Kutou are already here though?" Hikari asked softly, and Jin shot her a startled look.

"Hikari?"

"That really makes me feel a lot better, saying stuff like that." Shishi added, and Hikari pinkened, shaking her head.

"Sorry...I didn't mean it that way." She said hastily. "It's just...I don't know. I wonder about them. Taiitsukun said they were making preparations. They had a lot further to come than us, but..."

"We don't know a lot about our enemy, really, do we?" Jin's expression became thoughtful, and Hikari shrugged.

"We know that Miramu is a stupid jerk who kidnaps children to get what he wants." She said darkly, and Jin pursed his lips.

"We do, but that's about all we know." He said with a sigh. "We know the Emperor is gathering Shinzahou. We know that's a bad thing. But we...what else do we know? It's been buggin' me a bit, actually, while we've been travelling. I was always taught that fightin' an enemy is only a good idea if you know that enemy. You can't win a battle you don't understand. I think that's why we lost the Seiryuu earring, t'be honest. Because think about it. We had no idea who Miramu was. We still don't, really. We had no idea where Kutou's people were or what they were thinkin'. But Miramu knew the way to get us to cooperate with him. He knew where Chichiri's family were. He took the one person that Chichiri'd probably die for most readily. An' when we met him in the forest, he knew Kashira an' Chichiri-san by name. More'n that, he knew what kind of fighters they were."

"Meaning that Kutou have been watching us? Studying us?" Hikari looked alarmed. "Do you think so...?"

"No..." Jin chewed down on his lip thoughtfully. "If they had been, Hikari, I think they'd have figured out who you were, an' Miramu'd have taken more interest in you. As it is, I don't think he's even from Kutou. I think he's a hired agent - someone who's doin' the dirty work of this Kintsusei-sama guy in the East. But he did his homework on Suzaku Seishi an' it paid off."

"Maybe, but how does that help us?" Shishi demanded. Jin shrugged.

"I don't know if it does." He admitted. "But I do know that if we encounter Kutou, we're goin' to have to be damn careful. They don't know about us or Hikari - not like they seem to about Kashira an' Chichiri. An' if we do encounter them, it might not be a bad thing. I mean, we might find somethin' out - the more we know, the easier we can avoid them. Right?"

"You make no sense." Hikari groaned. "You want us to meet them so we can avoid them. Isn't that what you just said?"

Jin grinned ruefully, scratching his head.

"I guess I'm not as good a tactician as Kashira or Aniki." He admitted. "But something like that. I don't say we should fight them - hell, I don't want to fight them if we can avoid it. Not with Shishi below par, especially. Hikari, no offence, but you're not exactly skilled in that department."

"None taken. I know my magic is unpredictable and unreliable." Hikari said with a sigh. "Truth is, I've not felt even a flicker of it since we left Kounan. I'm starting to wonder if it only works in proximity to Suzaku's Shichi Seishi."

"Even more reason for us to be cautious." Jin acknowledged. "But if we did encounter them...we should try an' learn everything we can about them. Because this ain't just about Byakko's Shinzahou, is it? So long as Hikari stays with us, in this world, sooner or later they'll come lookin' for her, too. An' if we're goin' to protect her, we need to know what we're up against."

"That's creepy." Hikari shivered. "Let's not focus on that, okay?"

"If Hiki went back to her world, would she be safe?" Shishi asked, and Jin shrugged.

"I don't know." He admitted. "Hikari, what did Taiitsukun say about you staying in our world?"

"Just that it was my decision, as it had always been." Hikari rubbed her temples. "I think that it's a lose-lose situation. If I go back...I can't make any kind of a difference. I can't summon Suzaku - although Taiitsukun was depressingly negative about me doing that. Something about me not being my mother - or something. But so long as I'm here, there's that chance. That we could stop this by summoning Suzaku and asking him to halt Kutou's ambitions. So long as I'm here, that's a possibility. But...so long as I'm here..."

"Suzaku no Shinzahou is within enemy reach." Jin finished. "I get you. Either way it sucks."

"Right." Hikari nodded. "Either way it does."

She leant back against the wall, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm resigned to being here, though. Now." She added. "Until this is finished...I'm going to stay. With all of you. I want to help. So my going home isn't an issue."

"I'm glad about that." Shishi admitted. "You're weird as hell, Hiki, but I kinda like havin' you around."

"You say I'm weird." Hikari snorted. "You're fourteen and you wave a sword at people."

"I'm almost fifteen."

"That makes it different?"

"No, but I'm sick of being the youngest." Shishi pulled a graphic face. "Jin an' me are taking care of you, you know. Not the other way around."

"Who saved your skin in Hengei?" Hikari raised an eyebrow, brushing her fingers against the sword which Reizeitei had given her.

"Hotohori-sama." Shishi said promptly. "And we both know it."

Jin chuckled.

"You two are bad as one another, but it makes for interestin' travellin'." He observed. "An' you are soundin' more like yourself, Shi-chan. Even if you do still look like a ghost."

"Then I guess I'll rest up some more, an' hope I'm fit to leave tomorrow." Shishi decided. "And with or without Anara-san's help, we're gonna track down Toroki no matter what!"