Chapter Nine
"It seems like you had relatively little difficulty, then, in retrieving the Tiger's treasure."
As the group of soldiers, mage in tow, descended the mountain path, Miramu stood at the foot, his arms folded across his chest as he cast them an amused glance. "Toroki was no trouble for you, then? She didn't cast any of you down into insanity? I suppose that must be down to your charms, Hyoushin."
"We have retrieved the treasure." Hyoushin said evenly. "Where is Aoiketsu? We need to get back to camp as soon as we can, and I will not tolerate further delay in this dry, hot region."
"I'm here, Hyoushin-sama." Aoiketsu emerged from behind a jagged twist of rock and from the fed up look on his face, it was clear that he was glad to see his companions returned. "Did you manage to get it? It seems like ages since you went up there, but I guess it isn't, huh?"
"It seems like ages to me too." Maichu said fervently. "But we got it. So now we can go - right?"
"No...we can't." Hyoushin's eyes narrowed. "Our business in Sairou is not over yet. However, we will return to the watering hole and relieve Bouri and the others. We have done enough for today, and tomorrow we can look to other things."
"What do you mean, sir?" Aoiketsu looked startled. "You did get the Shinzahou, right?"
"Yes, we did." Hyoushin agreed. "But it is only half of our task here. We also have to retrieve the holy relic associated with Sairou's tiger...just as you and Maichu retrieved the sacred scale of Seiryuu and enabled us to revive Suiko."
He cast the mage a doubtful look at this juncture, then,
"Miramu, is this something of which you also have direct knowledge? Since your locating of this treasure was indeed correct, I would like to know if you are aware of more."
"I know some things." Miramu agreed vaguely. "Let us walk back to the camp...it's dusty and dry here for your poor sheep, and Suiko might dry up if she's not careful. We wouldn't want that, would we?"
"Shut up, stupid." Suiko snapped back at him. "Unless you want me to make you very, very wet indeed. Or don't you know that your body has water inside of it, assassin? Would you like it if I made all of that explode out of you like a giant fountain? Don't speak so casually to one blessed by the power of Seiryuu-kami-sama!"
"Calm down, the both of you." Hyoushin raised his hands. "Suiko, we will not harm Miramu. Odious as he might be, you must ignore his antagonism. He is useful to us at present."
"I don't see how." Suiko pouted, but she folded her arms across her chest. "Fine. But he better be careful."
"It would be much more helpful to all of us if you tried to keep your temper a little more in check, also." Hyoushin added. "You were not so petulant as this within the Shrine at the palace, Suiko, and even though I realise you are in a strange land with an alien climate, this is something we all must suffer. It is trying to all of us to hear you complain constantly about things we cannot help."
"I can't help it either." Suiko said defensively. "I'm strongest when I'm near to Seiryuu-sama's power. The scale and the Shinzahou are both in Kutou, silly Hyoushin. I'm in Sairou."
"I see." Hyoushin sighed heavily. "So the further from those you are, the more erratic your moods and behaviour...correct?"
"I am Seiryuu's servant. The guardian spirit left to protect Kutou." Suiko tossed her head. "I am not designed to go trekking across icky deserts to find alien treasures."
"The sooner we leave this place, the sooner we'll be back where there's water, Suiko-sama." Aoiketsu suggested hesitantly. "At least at the camp there's the watering hole...and if we can find the relic as easily as we did the Shinzahou, we'll be back in Kutou soon."
Suiko eyed Aoiketsu for a moment, but as the soldiers began to leave the foot of the mountain, she did not hesitate to follow them, and nor did she complain about the briskness of their pace.
The return leg of the walk was quicker than it had been on the way to the mountain, for the sun was dropping in the sky and with the incentive of fresh water in their minds, all the tired and dusty travellers set to their task with renewed vigour. Consequently they arrived at the camp before darkness fell over the barren landscape to find that Bouri and the other two soldiers had obeyed Hyoushin's commands to the letter. The basic travel rations had been meticulously divided and prepared, and for a while there was little sound audible beneath the desert trees than the consuming of food and drink.
At length, Miramu sat back against the trunk of a nearby tree, pulling his worn pouch from his belt as he slipped the herb root between his teeth, chewing it absently as he cast Hyoushin a sidelong glance.
"Can I see it, then?" He murmured, and Hyoushin eyed him warily.
"See what?"
"Byakko's mirror."
"Why?"
"I'm curious." Miramu's lips twitched into a smile. "Why, don't you trust me? Didn't I lead you to it? Hyoushin, I'm hurt."
Hyoushin's eyes narrowed, but he slipped his hand into the cloth bag, pulling out the mirror and setting it down on the ground between them. Miramu pursed his lips, reaching out a hesitant finger to touch it's shimmering surface, and as he did so, a flare of white light glittered around it. He drew his hand back, amusement in his eyes.
"Well. It truly is the Shinzahou." He murmured. "You have indeed done well."
"What did you do to it?" Hyoushin demanded.
"Nothing at all." Miramu shook his head. "I don't want anything to do with it. It might think it has a connection to me, as a Westerner. But as far as I'm concerned, you can throw it off the next cliff without causing me any distress. It's a cursed mirror in the hands of the West. Take it to the East and play with it - give it to your Emperor and let him have his fun."
Hyoushin eyed him in surprise, scooping the now silent mirror back up as he returned it to its pouch.
"I believe you mean that." He murmured, and Miramu nodded.
"With all my heart." He agreed easily. "Take it with my compliments. I wouldn't have brought you so far otherwise...would I?"
"Miramu, do you really know where the relic is? Byakko's relic?" Aoiketsu asked at this point, and Miramu glanced at him, offering him a strange, predatorial smile.
"You know all about divine relics, do you, Aoi-kun?" He asked softly. "For a soldier, you seem remarkably well educated in these things."
"Aoi and I fetched Seiryuu's scale from the underwater cave." Maichu put in bluntly. "That's all. We're not stupid, you know. Just because we bear arms, we're not idiots."
"Perhaps not." Miramu stretched his hands over his head, not noticeably put out by the youngster's protestations. "However, I'm afraid my answer regarding Byakko's relic may be of some small disappointment."
"You don't know anything about it, do you?" Maichu demanded, and Miramu chuckled.
"On the contrary, I do." He murmured. "It is a fang - the mage spirit sealed within it is known as Kitora, and like the Shinzahou, it lies somewhere in the Kanin mountains. Unfortunately that is as much as I know. And besides, even if I knew more..."
He shrugged.
"Getting to it won't be easy." He reflected. "You cannot just walk into a sacred shrine. You must break the seal on the shine door first. And only those with special, particular blood can do that."
"But Maichu and I managed to get into Suiko-sama's shrine." Aoiketsu objected. "Okay, it wasn't so easy as all that, but we did get the door to open. And I was able to take the casket from the flames that protected it. It can't be that difficult to break through Byakko's seal - can it?"
"You broke the seal on my shrine?" Suiko's head jerked up at this, and she stared at Aoiketsu as if seeing him for the first time. Aoiketsu held up his hands.
"I'm sorry." He said hastily. "I didn't mean disrespect to Seiryuu. And I didn't mean...to defile the place with my blood. But we...we managed to..and the Emperor..."
"Your blood opened the door?" Suiko's strange blue eyes narrowed and she reached out a ghostly finger to touch him. "Who are you, soldier? Why is it possible for you to have done such a thing? The dirty assassin speaks the truth - to open the door of the shrine requires the blood of the Chosen. You are not one of Seiryuu's Celestial Warriors...how can it be that you released the seal?"
"Maybe he's Seiryuu no Miko." Kayu suggested frankly, and Maichu laughed, even as indignation flared in Aoiketsu's odd seiran eyes.
"Stop it." He ordered. "I don't know how it happened, Suiko-sama. That's just what did. And it only opened it some. The Emperor said it was to do with the fact I really wanted to help Kutou - that's why my blood had an effect."
"Rubbish." Suiko said frankly. "He's lying. Even from here I can feel the blue blood rushing through your veins, Kaiga Aoiketsu. You are special...Seiryuu runs through you like water through a stream. Your Emperor is a fool. And so are you, to believe the untruths he tells."
"I'd advise you not to speak so of Kutou's emperor before me, Suiko." There was a warning note in Hyoushin's voice, and the mage sent him a quizzical look. "Remember who it is who controls the Shinzahou and your relic, currently. Besides, the question of the scale is no longer important. We have it safely in our possession. How to retrieve Byakko's fang is another matter."
"Well, maybe it's less of a problem than you know." Miramu said easily. "If I know Toroki like I think I do, she'll come looking for her treasure. And more, she'll move to safeguard the relic. She knows where it is - she's probably the only one Byakko has trusted with that knowledge, and considering her powers of sight, it's impossible for her not to know something about it. All you need to do is track her...and wait for her to use her blood to open the shrine for you. Then you can take the relic...can't you?"
Hyoushin's eyes narrowed.
"Miramu, I want to know once and for all your connection to this girl." He said softly, and Miramu shook his head, spitting the well-chewed stem out onto the ground as he did so.
"No, you don't." He said evenly. "You want to know if I'm capable enough to follow her tracks and make your life easier. And the answer is yes. We have the Shinzahou, which will call out to her just as she will reach out for it. And more than that, as an assassin, I'm skilled at tracking people. You needn't worry. I'm sure that tomorrow will find us on the trail to Kitora's shrine."
"If that is the case, then, this time you will be accompanying us all the way to the fang's location." Hyoushin said frankly, and Miramu's eyes flickered with something as he cast the Meihi a dark look.
"That was not part of the arrangement."
"It's also not contrary to it." Hyoushin said evenly. "You asked not to be involved in taking the Shinzahou from Toroki. This was granted you. The woman's life was spared. You were granted this also. But there was nothing said about the relic. And if we are going into the mountains more deeply, Miramu, I will have a local with me who at least knows the terrain and the trackways. You might not know the exact location, but you have a better idea than we do. And if you are such a professional as to be able to track Toroki's trail without being observed, we will have need of your skill."
"I didn't say that." Miramu's eyes narrowed. "She is not someone you can track without her knowledge."
"Are you scared of her?" Maichu asked bluntly, and a flare of rage danced briefly in the assassin's eyes before he got himself under control, shaking his head.
"Why would I be afraid of her?"
"Because you told me yourself that she's predicted your death. That she'll kill you one day." Aoiketsu remembered. "Is that it? Is Maichu right? Are you afraid of her?"
"On the contrary, death would be an interesting new adventure." Miramu said derisively. "I am not afraid of being killed by Toroki."
"Then what is it?" Hyoushin pressed. "If you have a genuine reason not to enter the caves, I would hear it. And then, if I deem it worthwhile, I will consider your feelings. But whilst you are in the employ of my Emperor, and whilst I am in charge of this expedition, you will otherwise bow to my instruction...at least if you do not wish to be taken forcibly to Eiroku and delivered up to those there who have a grievance against you."
There was no emotion in the Meihi's tones, and Miramu frowned, for the first time seeming somewhat unsettled. For the briefest of instants, he appeared like the wildcat that he so disdained, cornered and defensive as something feral glittered in his seiran eyes. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone, and at length he sighed.
"All right." He murmured. "I will enter the caves and I will do my best to do as you ask. But you can carry the consequences to your Emperor, if any such arise."
"Consequences of what nature?" Hyoushin demanded, and Miramu shrugged his shoulders.
"I will come, but I will not fight Toroki for you." He murmured. "I will not fight her, I will not kill her. And your promise regarding her life will still stand. But I warn you now - my presence there, alongside you...will not induce the girl to help you. She knows better than you the man that I am...more than anyone else ever will. Do not expect to find Toroki easy to coerce, if she knows you are aligned with Geiyo Miramu. She and I are acquainted, and she will also know more quickly of your coming, if I am in attendance. But you have insisted, so I will come. And if you regret it, Hyoushin, on your head be it."
"You are a coward." Maichu snorted, and Miramu shot the soldier a poisonous look.
"And you are dispensible." He hissed. "As soon as I am no longer in the Emperor's service, I will be at liberty to kill anyone I please. So mind your tongue, soldier. I do not take kindly to that word."
Maichu grimaced back in the assassin's direction, and Hyoushin sighed.
"Enough of this." He said frankly. "Tomorrow, we will do as we have already planned. We will find Byakko's fang. And then we will report back to Kutou. There will be no problems. There will be nothing to fear. If we encounter Toroki, we will overcome her the way we did this afternoon. Whatever your reservations or superstitions about her, Miramu, this is what we will do. But for now, we will rest. There will be plenty of time for this on the morrow, after all."
Miramu sent him an uneasy look, and the doubt in the assassin's eyes were not lost on Hyoushin, but he did not comment on it.
"Till tomorrow." He repeated again. "When we will all leave camp and venture into the mountains in search of Kitora's shrine."
-----------------
"This...is the place?"
As Hikari stepped into the cave, she hesitated, glancing around her in some confusion. "Jin, are you sure? This is what the map says...this cave is the one we need to enter by?"
It was the next morning and, after having spent the night camping in the abandoned village, the three young travellers had set off early for the Kanin peaks, at last finding the passage through which they would be able to encounter the Seishi known as Toroki. For Hikari, the distraction was a welcome one, for it gave them all something to focus on and she had found it more easy to push out of her mind Jin's sheepish confession of the day before. He had said nothing on that subject since, and he had not acted any differently from how he had before, but even so, Hikari felt somewhat self-conscious.
"He's in love with me." She murmured to herself as she stepped over a dip in the floor. "Is he really? Is that possible? It's crazy...we've known each other about two and a half, three weeks...that's all. Can he really? And more to the point, what do I feel about it? What he said is true. This isn't my world, and it's a stupid thing to even think about. So why am I thinking about it? I don't think...I'm in love with him. But then...I haven't thought about Haru-kun since I've been here, either. So maybe I'm not in love with him either. And in that case, how do I even know what being in love is? I've nothing to compare it to."
"That's what the map says." Jin spoke now, distracting her once more from her swirling thoughts as he cast her a grin. "Although it looks barren, I think we should follow it. It's an old miner's track, that's for sure...and there are sconces. We should light a torch and take it with us, since we're going to be going deeper and we don't want to get lost."
"We won't get lost." Shishi shook her head. "I'll mark the walls as we go. That way we can find the way out. And the torches here are missing, Jin, but the ones in the next two sconces aren't."
"Right." Jin agreed, hurrying forwards to dislodge one of the torches from its ancient holder. "Guess it's times like this that it would be helpful to have the tessen with us, huh?"
"I suppose." Shishi sounded rueful. "But like hell would Kashira have let us take that with us. Even if I could use it - which I can't."
"Well, basic bandit techniques will have to suffice then." Jin said pragmatically, striking flint against the stone wall as he brushed the torch against the resultant spark. It flared immediately into life, and Jin nodded, satisfied.
"There we go. One light."
"You guys have an answer for everything." Hikari sighed. "When you do stuff like that, I feel even more useless."
"Shut up with the whining." Shishi ordered. "You're going to be our chief negotiator when we meet this Toroki girl - right?"
"Right." Hikari nodded.
"Can you feel the Shinzahou yet?" Jin asked, and Hikari shook her head.
"No." She admitted. "Not at all."
"But we're sure we're on the right path?" Shishi pursed her lips, and Jin nodded.
"Anara's map is very clear." He agreed. "So long as she's given us the right information, we're going the right way."
"More than that, there are other tracks." Shishi's eyes narrowed, as she gestured to the floor. "Fresh footsteps...have those Kutou bastards got here first after all?"
"Well, I guess we'll find out." Jin said grimly, as Hikari's eyes widened in horror.
"Kutou's men? You mean they might be right here in the cave with us?" She whispered. Shishi shrugged.
"Maybe." She said briefly. "Don't worry, Hiki. We won't let anything happen to you."
"There's light from up ahead." Jin gestured with his free hand. "Looks like a chamber...I'd say we've found our target."
"Then Hiki and I'll go check it out." Shishi grasped her friend by the hand before she could protest. "You stay here and watch for Kutou's lot...just in case they're around."
"Are you sure?" Jin looked doubtful, and Shishi nodded her head.
"Positive." She agreed. "Come on, Hiki. Don't just stand there. This is your big entrance."
And before the young schoolgirl could protest, she found herself tugged in the direction of the flickering torchlight.
"The lion...and the light."
As they stepped into the chamber proper, a soft voice made them hesitate and as one they turned, Shishi's fingers hovering towards the hilt of her sword as she scanned the room for any sign of the speaker. As she did so, a young woman stepped out of the shadows, glancing from one to the other and then nodding her head as if confirming something to herself.
"Yes. That is who you are." She murmured. "Sukunami Hikari...at last we have the fortune to meet face to face."
"How...how do you know my name?" Hikari stared, caught off guard, and the stranger smiled, spreading her hands.
"I know a lot of things." She reflected. "I've been waiting for you for a while, Hikari. You and your friends."
"Are you...Toroki?" Shishi asked doubtfully, and the girl nodded, flexing her right hand so that the two travellers could see the white mark glittering on the tip of her index finger.
"So I am." She agreed. "And you are Suzaku's people. The lion - Kou Karin - and the light - Sukunami Hikari. You've come to see me to ask for my help - to ask about the Shinzahou. Haven't you?"
"Yes." Hikari agreed, before Shishi could react to the use of her full name. "That's right. Toroki-san, I'm sorry to come and disturb you like this...Anara-san told us that you didn't like company. But it's important...we had to find you, because..."
"Anara-san?" Toroki's eyes widened. "My mother was the one who sent you to me here?"
"She was." Hikari agreed. "Please don't be angry about it, Toroki-san. She wanted us to help you, too."
"I see." For a moment, emotion glittered in the girl's strange blue eyes. Then she smiled, shaking her head.
"You do not need to worry." She murmured. "Besides, I've expected your coming for some time. Only..."
She sighed, settling herself down on the floor as she gestured for her companions to follow suit.
"I cannot give you what you came here to find." She admitted. "I'm sorry...but that is the truth."
"Not even if we tell you that it could help stop the destruction of this world?" Shishi demanded. Toroki shrugged.
"The Shinzahou is no longer here." She said frankly. "You are not the only people to visit me of late. The men of the Dragon came yesterday, and took the Shinzahou away with them. Kutou's men."
"Kutou!" Shishi muttered a curse, and Hikari bit her lip.
"Did they hurt you?" She whispered, and Toroki shook her head.
"No. Not really. But I didn't put up that much of a fight." She admitted. "They came to take it and I did not stop them."
"Why not?" Shishi demanded. "Are you crazy? They're the ones who're going to destroy everything - I thought you had some kind of psychic power! Why can't you see that?"
"Time is a delicate balance." Toroki sighed, running her fingers though her snow-white hair, and with a jolt Hikari registered the strain that their companion had been under. "It's hard, sometimes, to know how to act. Especially when you know where some of those actions may lead. But I'll explain it to you, if I can. Even though I knew you were coming also, I knew that Kutou would take the treasure. And more, that I would let them. Because by doing so..."
She trailed off, shaking her head in frustration.
"All I know is that it was something that had to happen." She admitted.
"But if Kutou really are massing power that could cause devastation...?" Hikari faltered. "Toroki, you've seen that, haven't you? Like I have. The death of this world. Anara-san told me you had - many times. Why would you want that to happen?"
"I don't." Toroki managed a faint smile. "Everything I do is designed to try and stop it from happening."
"Then why did you give your frigging treasure to Kutou?!" Shishi exclaimed.
"Because that's what was meant to happen." Toroki responded softly.
"But you said you want to prevent it. Don't you?" Hikari looked confused.
"I haven't ever been able to prevent a vision coming true." Toroki responded with a sad shrug. "No matter how hard I've tried to. And as each comes true, the others become more vivid in my mind. It's a calculated gamble, I realise that. But the only vision I care about preventing is the end of existance. Nothing else. But in order to prevent it, I must see it more clearly first. And in order for that to happen, other things I've seen must come true as they're meant to happen. Since Kutou came yesterday, I have had a more clear picture of your coming. And it gave me hope, Hikari. You are the light...I'm sure of that now. Even though it is vague and hazy in my mind, you're the one thing that stands between this world and destruction. So long as you are here, there is a faint hope. That's the only thing I'm clinging to. Nothing else matters, at the end of the day. Kutou or Kounan - I don't have loyalties to either one. But I'm born to protect this world - to protect Sairou. And that's what I'm trying to do."
"So you let them take it so that you could get a better idea of Shishi and I coming to see you?" Hikari asked slowly. Toroki nodded.
"Yes." She agreed. "So that I could discover if you truly were the light I had seen in my dreams for so long. Although it's difficult to do. The Shinzahou accentuated my powers by a lot...in both good and bad ways. Things are not so clearcut for me to see now that the treasure has gone...it's a gamble that I can manage to see and forstall these things without it."
She smiled.
"But it's also a relief to have it gone, in some ways." She murmured. "At last my thoughts are my own again. I can speak to you without your lives flashing in front of my eyes...that's not been possible for such a long time. It's nice, to have some control over Toroki's spirit. I feel like she's dictated everything I've done for the past ten years. And even though that's my fate - my destiny - sometimes it's wearing."
"Taiitsukun said we were to seek your advice and help, and listen to what you told us." Hikari reflected. "So...so that must mean she knew you were waiting for us to come."
"Taiitsukun?" Toroki's eyes widened. "The real Taiitsukun? Emperor of the Heavens?"
"Yes." Hikari confirmed. "She told us to seek you out, Toroki. That you wouldn't fight us - but that we should ask for your help and advice. Especially in dealing with this land. And...Amefuri. She mentioned him, too."
At the mention of the other Seishi's name, Toroki's beautiful eyes clouded, and slowly she shook her head.
"I can't tell you about someone who has severed himself from Byakko so completely." She murmured. "Amefuri is someone who acts alone - he is a rogue, no more, no less. He does not let me see his thoughts and feelings...and there is nothing I can tell you about him except that you must not cross his path if you can avoid it. He does not see things reasonably...and he may be violent for no reason. You would do better not to worry about Amefuri at all - he can certainly bring no benefit to your cause."
"That's more or less what Taiitsukun said." Hikari acknowledged. "And if that's so, we'll avoid him for sure."
"That would be best." Toroki agreed. She frowned, eying the two young girls keenly.
"You've come here seeking something that I can't give you." She murmured. "But Kutou also intend on taking the relic of Byakko from the shrine of Kitora. They wish to raise Byakko's mage from her sleep, and when they came here, they had one such mage already with them. Their own, Suiko, the water witch. To break the seal on Kitora's shrine, they need the blood of Byakko's Chosen -but I fear this is something they may already have. Either way, I have to go to the shrine of Kitora and try and safeguard this treasure, if I can. They will definitely go there - and the Shinzahou with them."
"So if we come to Kitora's shrine with you, we might be able to get the Shinzahou back from Kutou?" Shishi asked hopefully. Toroki shrugged.
"I don't know." She admitted. "I haven't seen that. And my visions are blurry and weaker than they were."
"You're weak yourself, aren't you?" Hikari realised. "You look exhausted...are you all right?"
"Yes. I'll be fine. Seishi are more resiliant than normal people." Toroki nodded her head. She smiled. "Besides, now the Shinzahou is gone, I can sleep far more easily. I've gone several nights without rest before...the power of the treasure coupled with my own Seishi power pushes the mind close to insanity. Perhaps beyond it. I don't know. Without it here, my thoughts are rational and cohesive...they are my own, as I said. I'll soon recover my strength, now that Byakko is not putting such a strain on me."
"Then we should team up." Hikari suggested. "You and I, we both want the same thing - to protect this world from destruction. So we should work together. Shouldn't we?"
"I've been waiting for you to say that." Toroki's eyes flickered with humour, and she nodded. "Yes. I agree. You, Suzaku no Shinzahou. And I, Byakko no Seishi...our aims are indeed the same."
"You know that I'm...?" Hikari faltered, and Toroki nodded.
"Yes." She agreed. "But you mustn't fall into the trap of believing that's all you are to this world, Hikari. You're not just an object - not just a treasure, like Suzuno-sama's mirror. You're a person too. You're Hikari...and that's why you're so powerful a person to this world. You'll come to understand what I mean, eventually. And so will I, I hope - even I don't know fully what I mean by it. I just know it's true. That when you stepped into this cave, I saw that there was a way to save this world. And that somehow, you being here is the key."
"Then I was right to stay." Hikari said resolutely. "And I'll stay until it's resolved."
"If we're all teaming up and becoming buddy-buddy, then I'll go get Jin." Shishi got to her feet, pausing as she reached the doorway. "Oh, but Toroki? My name ain't Karin. At least, I ain't ever going to answer to it, if you call me that. It's Shishi. Okay? You said yourself, the lion - that's the only thing I answer to."
"Shishi." Toroki paused then nodded her head. "All right. I apologise, Shishi. I'll remember."
She smiled, and Hikari realised that the Seishi was not only extremely pretty, but not that much older than they were.
"If it comes to that, I'm not really much of a Seishi without the treasure I was born to guard or the partner I was assigned to work alongside." She continued now, in her gentle, western tones. "You've met my mother, so you must know that I have another name. I'm Geiyo Myoume - and I'd rather you called me that. It's been a long time since I felt like Myoume at all - and it would be nice to hear it. I've been Toroki for four solid years, and I...I think Myoume finally has control of my mind back again. So...if it's all right with you..."
"Myoume it is." Hikari nodded, holding out her hand, and Myoume took it, shaking it firmly. "There. It's settled. Shishi, go find Jin. The sooner we work out what to do next the better - we don't have much time to lose."
"I'm gone." Shishi nodded, and Hikari found herself alone in the cave with the young Celestial Warrior.
"Your mother was really worried about you. She hoped we'd take the treasure away from you and let you be Myoume again." She said quietly, and Myoume's eyes softened.
"I see." She murmured. "My poor mother...she's suffered so much because of Byakko's calling."
"How old are you, Myoume?"
"Twenty summers, I think." Myoume smiled. "Roughly...it's hard to keep track of time in a place like this, especially when your mind is being ravaged and assailed by the lives of others. But I think it's been four years I've been here. And I was sixteen when I left the village. So I believe...twenty is correct."
"Anara-san said it had been four years." Hikari agreed. She sighed, leaning back against the cave wall.
"I'm fifteen." She admitted. "And I couldn't imagine running off from home to shut myself away in a cave...weren't you scared?"
"I've been scared since the day I first had the vision of the end of the world." Myoume agreed soberly. "But there's no escaping it. This is my duty. I have no life outside of Byakko's cause, sad as that might seem. I have no other real purpose for living. And if it wasn't that I believe Byakko intends me to find a way to protect this world, I'd never have relinquished my grip on the Shinzahou. As I said, it's a delicate balance - letting things happen, making them reality so that I can see more clearly what I want to prevent...all the time hoping I haven't left it too late to actually intervene."
"It must be hard, seeing things you can't stop." Hikari reflected, and Myoume nodded.
"It is." She agreed sadly. "Very hard."
She reached up to touch her snowy locks absently.
"My hair is testament to the horrors I've seen." She added. "I was not born with white hair, Hikari - my natural colour is black, just as yours is. But subjecting a small child to the kind of things I was forced to see...took its toll. My hair turned when I was ten years old, and it has never returned to black. Maybe it never will - perhaps it's the mark of the white tiger running through me, after all. Or maybe it's because I've never stopped seeing those horrors...today is the first day in a long while I've not woken in a sweat or a panic."
She glanced at her hands.
"I'm ashamed, but the human in me is relieved at the break." She admitted. "Even if it's weak to feel that way."
"It's not weak." Hikari shook her head. "I feel like I'm useless pretty much all the time, if that helps. But your hair really went white? Just like that? Because of the things you saw?"
"Because of the visions." Myoume agreed solemnly. "I've seen a lot of things, and many of them won't make sense to me until they're more ready to come true. I just hope I can piece things together enough to be in time. But now you're here - I have some faith that maybe, I will be able to do something. You are Hikari - you are the light that I saw. And...I'm really glad you're here."
At the sincerity in the girl's eyes, Hikari smiled, reaching out a hand to squeeze her companion's reassuringly, but Myoume pulled her hand back, shaking her head.
"You don't want to do that." She said ruefully, scooping a black glove up from the floor and pulling it over her exposed right hand. "Believe me."
"Why not?" Hikari looked surprised.
"My mark is the stellar mark of Toroki. It represents the three stars - or the three lines of sight. Past, present and future." Myoume responded. "Direct contact with it creates a pathway into another's thoughts and feelings...allowing me to see them, and even, if I take them off guard, to manipulate them or draw strength from them."
"You can read minds, too?" Hikari stared, and Myoume shrugged.
"Of a sort." She agreed. "If I was to touch you, I'd be able to see and hear what was in your mind at that very moment. If your guard was up against me, that would probably be all...if not, I might be able to push my own suggestions into your thoughts...as a form of defence against a hostile enemy, it's a calming technique and one I used to use in the village, when they'd gang up on me and call me a witch. I don't like to do it - I don't like other people's thoughts within my head. But sometimes...I can even push through to the memories beyond. And...if I can do that...I can draw the strength from it to create a delusion. I can make them see their memories, or my own thoughts, as if they were happening before them."
She sighed, folding her hands in her lap.
"It's an ugly, ugly technique and I dislike it." She added. "So I keep my hand covered in company, unless I have no choice. Bad enough I suffer the visions I do without making other people suffer them."
Hikari's eyes softened.
"When Anara-san told me about you, I thought you must be a very sad person." She reflected. "I think you are...a little bit. Aren't you?"
"Maybe." Myoume offered her a wry smile. "But sadness is part of life. And we move on."
"Speaking of which, that sounds like Shishi and Jin." Hikari got to her feet, hauling her companion up with her. "He's another of my 'guardians', if you like - he's a bandit, just like Shishi. I trust him - you can, too."
"If you say so, I will." Myoume eyed her keenly. "You're Suzaku no Shinzahou...I can have faith in your word."
"I don't know about that." Hikari flushed. "But I'm glad you think so."
Myoume opened her mouth to reply, but as she did so, she caught sight of the young bandits, and as her gaze rested on Jin she faltered, her indigo eyes opening wide with dismay as colour drained from her cheeks.
"Myoume?" Hikari murmured. "Something the matter?"
"Hiki, what did you do to the Seishi?" Shishi demanded. "She looks about to pass out."
"Are you all right, Myoume-san?" Jin asked softly. "Shishi's right - you don't look so good."
Myoume swallowed hard, holding out her hand to touch Jin's cheek.
"Rou Jintsui." She whispered hoarsely, and Jin stared at her in surprise.
"How'd you know that?" He demanded. "Even on the mountain, most people jus' call me Jin...how'd you know my family name as well?"
"She's a psychic, ain't she? I guess she saw it. Or read your mind. Or something." Shishi reflected. "Myoume - what the hell are you staring at him like that for? I thought it was okay, us being here like this!"
Myoume bit her lip, and Hikari could tell that it was a genuine effort to pull herself together. She sent Jin an uneasy glance, then shook her head.
"Nothing." She whispered. "I'm sorry. I...I'm just tired. That's all."
"Deluded is more like it." Shishi murmured, and Jin frowned.
"Have I done something to upset you?" He asked quietly, and Myoume sent him a pained look, shaking her head.
"No. Nothing at all." She responded. "I'm sorry. I just...for a moment...everything blurred. I'm all right now. I'm sorry to startle you."
"Are you sure?" Hikari was concerned, but Myoume nodded.
"I'm fine." She murmured. "Really. I...I'm fine."
"Then we're going to Kitora's shrine?" Jin asked, and Myoume bit her lip. Slowly she nodded her head.
"I know the quickest way." She agreed reluctantly. "Even so, it will take time to reach it and you must trust me. You must trust me and do exactly as I say. Especially...especially you, Rou Jintsui. Do you promise me that you will?"
"If you think it's important, I guess so." Jin looked startled. "Sure. This is your patch...you're the expert."
"Yes. Good." Myoume's eyes seemed to flicker with faint relief, and she nodded. "In that case...it may be...possible. To get there. And...I...I will lead you."
She gestured a gloved hand towards a hidden cave entrance that lay to the back of her humble hiding place.
"Follow me."