Chapter Twelve
It was already dark in the Kanin mountains.
As Hyoushin emerged from the cave, running his gaze carefully over the assembled men before him, his eyes narrowed and he thinned his lips, displeasure flickering in his expression.
"Miramu is not here, is he?" He murmured.
"We haven't seen him, Commander." Maichu shook his head. "Nor any sign of this wretched shrine. I even offered to cut Aoi up and let him drip his blood all over the passages in case it had an effect - but those tunnels all look the same."
"And noone is going to cut me up." Aoiketsu added indignantly. "My blood is mine, thank you, and I'd like to keep it."
"Considering what happens when you don't, Aoi, it's probably a good thing Maichu didn't." Kayu reflected. "We had no luck either, sir. No sign of anything even remotely like a shrine."
"Likewise." Jakou confirmed, spreading his hands. "Are we sure that it's really here, Hyoushin-sama? Could that assassin have lied?"
"He is not here." Hyoushin mused. "But...I wonder what that means. I think perhaps we will wait a little longer before we leave this place. If he does not return by the time the moon is directly overhead, we will go looking for him. And if we have to do that, we will be taking him back to Kutou as a prisoner of the crown. I am fed up with his games and his deceit...he knew very well the terms by which we came here, and I will see him adhere to them."
"I'd like to carve something pretty on his smug face." Maichu admitted. "He rubs me up the wrong way, sir...he's really sneaky and sly, and I hate that."
"Exactly." Aoiketsu shivered. "Anyone who can kill his father in cold blood has issues. Maybe we'd be better just leaving him here, Hyoushin-sama. We can hunt tomorrow for the fang, but I don't think we can trust Miramu to keep his word now we have the Shinzahou in our grasp."
"A deal with the devil." Hyoushin murmured, as his mind flitted to Toroki's hot tempered words, and he shook his head. "No. We must remain here for the time being. On the off-chance he has merely been delayed by an unseen opponent."
"An unseen..." Aoiketsu frowned. "What kind of opponent, Hyoushin-sama?"
"Toroki." Suiko hissed, curling her cape around her as she grimaced in distaste. "That dirty tiger-slave woman is in the tunnels. She tried to hurt Hyoushin...maybe she hurt the assassin, too."
"I'd say he could take it." Kayu muttered. "He's so smug and full of himself that it'd do him good to be spooked out by that weird witch woman."
"You met Toroki down there, sir?" Aoiketsu asked, and Hyoushin nodded.
"In company with representatives of Kounan." He agreed. "Which makes me wonder what kind of a game we are playing. She let us take the treasure without a fight, but in the caves tonight, she was quite another prospect. I do wonder whose hands we're playing into, and what is at stake. And if Miramu is not here shortly, we will go and we will find him. Alive."
His eyes narrowed.
"Because if he does not return here soon of his own accord, I will want to ask him some serious questions."
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In the cave beneath the immense cover of Spider's Peak, time seemed to have stopped still.
As Shishi stared in horror at Hikari, caught in the tight, unyielding grip of the assassin, a cold chill ran down her spine. She swallowed hard, uncertain what could be done and yet knowing that something had to be - that somehow they had to find a way to save their friend.
"Hiki said we shouldn't fight Amefuri - but what the hell else can we do?" She muttered, her fingers closing almost instinctively around the hilt of her sword. "We can't let him hurt her. We can't!"
"Well?" Miramu's voice seemed to break the uneasy silence in the sacred chamber, and he offered them a cool, even smile. "You do know, I trust, that the strength of a Celestial Warrior is greater than that of an ordinary mortal? It's entertaining to kill her, but I'd like to know a few things before I do. Such as your connection with Toroki - has that hopeless prophet aligned herself with the God of the South, now she has failed to protect the treasure of the West?"
"You know about that." Jin's eyes narrowed. "So you took Seiryuu's treasure for Kutou and now you've done the same with Byakko's."
"You're mistaken." Miramu shook his head. "I haven't even seen Toroki in ten years, more or less. Of course, I'm aware of her. She's the kind of Seishi that it's difficult to forget about completely, and I can feel the pulse of her life-force as easily as I'm sure she can feel mine. She is a hindrance to me in more ways than one - she can see me where others can't, and of course, for an assassin, a witness is a terrible thing."
He smiled.
"I may have to kill you all." He added. "Considering that fact."
"You really enjoy this kind of thing, don't you?" Shishi exclaimed. "You really like hurting people! I bet you felt really good, slashing Meikyo's arm back in Kounan, and I bet you'd get thrills from killing us here and now too, wouldn't you? You're the sickest son of a bitch I've ever met...how can someone like you be a Celestial Warrior?"
"That's a damning judgement indeed, coming from someone who makes her home with mountain bandits." Came the smooth, even response. "I'm quite hurt."
"You will be, if you don't let Hikari go." Jin drew his sword, and Shishi saw a strange, focused resolution in his brown eyes. "I mean it, Miramu. Cowards attack girls. Cowards hurt girls. Celestial Warrior or not - only a weak man would take a woman hostage and threaten to cause her harm."
"I don't subscribe to such ideas." Miramu shook his head. "A hostage is a hostage, and I know from experience how truly fearsome an opponent a woman can be, if you let her take you off guard."
"Let her go." Jin repeated softly. "If you want a fight, I'll fight with you. If it will make you happy, I will. But let Hikari go."
"Jin, shut up - you don't know what you're saying!" Hikari exclaimed, but Jin met her gaze, and Shishi saw something flare in the depths of his eyes.
"I know exactly what I'm saying." He said quietly. "You're Hikari. I promised Kashira an' the Emperor that I'd take care of you - both of you. And a bandit doesn't break his word, Hikari. Besides, I promised you too, didn't I? That I'd protect you, no matter what? I know what I'm doing."
"You talk a good fight, for one so young armed only with a mountain sword." Miramu admitted. "It wouldn't be an even match, and that would be far from interesting. But you have courage - I suppose that gets you some credit at the very least. You have more about you than those sheep-like Kutou soldiers, always following their ghost's orders and never thinking for themselves. They could learn a lot from Kounan's bandits, I think."
He laughed, evidently amused with himself.
"But then, maybe if they did that, they wouldn't be so afraid of your people and the things you stand for." He whispered.
His hold tightened around Hikari at this point, as he pressed the flat of the blade against her windpipe, causing her to cough.
"But that isn't settling this little matter." He said, pulling the weapon back once more to allow the girl to breathe. "I'm keeping this one. If you two want to live, leave. The fang belongs to me, Toroki is not here to save you, and I'd like to find out a little more about Hikari."
"Let me go!" As if something had been sparked into life within her, Hikari sent him as vile a look as she could muster, and as Jin let out an exclamation, Shishi registered the faint crimson glow that had begun to haze around the schoolgirl's young body. Hikari closed her eyes, clenching her fists as if willing the warm red energy to act as a barrier between her and her captor and as Miramu cursed in surprise, she broke free of his grasp, dropping to the floor as the red aura faded and died.
"What the hell was that?" Miramu stared at her in disbelief, and Jin was down at Hikari's side in an instant, putting himself neatly between her and the assassin as he gazed up at the westerner defiantly.
"Maybe Kounan's force is something you should be scared of." He snapped, and Shishi's eyes widened as she registered the uncharacteristic coldness in her companion's tones. "Maybe you don't know as much as you think you do...Amefuri of Byakko."
"Who are you?" Miramu's gaze rested on Hikari, disbelief still in his expression. "You've lied...you must be one of Suzaku's. It's the only way..."
"That's none of your business." Shishi recovered her wits, pulling her own sword from its scabbard as she too moved to defend Hikari from Miramu's attentions. As she did so, she cast the schoolgirl a sidelong glance, realising that, although the aura had faded, some element of Suzaku's power still swirled within her and the expression in her hazel eyes was almost unearthly. Inwardly Shishi half-wondered whether or not Hikari was with them at all, now - or whether she was under some kind of Suzaku spell as the God's magic had fought to preserve her life.
"She ain't strong enough to maintain it yet, or use it. An' she's more damn vulnerable after she's used it than she is before." She realised grimly. "Each time, before, its wiped her out, some. An' this is the same...it must be. Dammit, in front of this guy...an' the fang..."
Miramu gazed at them for a moment, as if gauging his next move. For an instant he tensed, glancing towards the door of the chamber as if he sensed something coming his way, and he muttered another curse.
"There's no time for this." He murmured, reaching to grab the bone chest from beneath Byakko's paw. As he pulled it free, he snapped two of the beautifully carved claws, sending them clattering to the ground, and at the sound of it, Hikari seemed to snap to attention, raising her head as she stared at the box in his hand.
"Hiki?" Shishi murmured, unnerved by Hikari's expression, but the girl did not seem to hear her as she got slowly to her feet, a resolute, fixed expression on her face as she kept her gaze unwaveringly on the article in Miramu's hand.
"The fang of Byakko." She murmured, and Miramu's eyes narrowed as he nodded his head.
"Yes." He replied. "I can touch it. This place doesn't hurt me...I'm Byakko's Chosen, and it's my right. You're the alien here, Hikari. You and your friends. You have no right to touch this. None at all."
Hikari frowned, as if only half-digesting this. Then, with a strange yell, she launched herself at him, stretching her fingers to grab at the casket. As she did so, she knocked it from his hand, and as Miramu almost fell off balance, he grabbed her roughly by the arm, fumbling once more for his knife. In the momentary struggle, Hikari's watch slipped loose from her wrist, falling forgotten to the chamber floor as she worked to evade Miramu's swift, ruthless reflexes.
"Hikari!" Jin's yell pierced through the chamber as he darted forward, and Shishi felt her heart leap in her chest as time seemed to move in slow motion. Frozen to the spot, she could only stare in horror as the Byakko Seishi wielded his weapon in the young schoolgirl's direction, and then, as it seemed the blade would pierce her, Jin was in the way, his sword against Miramu's dagger as he sought to push the weapon back.
"Shishi, get Hikari away from here." He gasped, and Shishi jerked back into life, nodding her head as she darted forward to grab Hikari by the arm.
"Hiki, are you crazy?" She demanded. "You can't just go jumping guys like that - not even with Hotohori-sama's sword!"
"We have to get the fang." Hikari raised anxious eyes to Shishi's bronze ones. "We need to do that...don't we?"
"You're confused. You're not acting on your own impulses." Shishi shook her head. "We need to get out of here. Forget the fang - let Myoume handle the fang. We weren't meant to come here and this is why. Let it go, Hiki. This isn't a safe place and even the best fighter knows when to withdraw."
She turned to where Jin was still struggling against Miramu's strength, a frown crossing her features.
"Don't fight him." She called out. "Pull back. We didn't come here for this - remember what Myoume said!"
"Myoume..." Jin's expression darkened, and he nodded.
"I remember." He murmured, and Shishi was suddenly aware that his words seemed to carry something more foreboding than just the warning not to enter the shrine. "Shishi, get Hikari out of here, dammit. Get her out of here and snap her to her senses. Don't worry about me...just damn well do it!"
"Jin, you're being an idiot!"
"Shishi, do as you're damn well told!"
Shishi started at the impatience in her fellow bandit's voice, staring at him in disbelief. In all the years they had known each other, he had never spoken to her like that before. As she made to retort, however, the glitter of Miramu's weapon swept through the air and Jin fell back, muttering a curse as he clutched a hand to his ribcage.
"Jin!" Hikari screamed, suddenly returned to herself as she registered her friend's peril, and Shishi felt cold inside as she watched the Byakko Seishi advance on his fallen opponent.
"Too rash, too impulsive." She heard Miramu reproach. "You throw your life away, boy...for what? To protect two women who aren't smart enough to protect themselves - or even to listen to your instructions, when you willingly throw yourself before my blade? It's foolish...you've been rash."
"No, I've not." Jin retorted, pulling his blade up as if preparing to fight once more. "I know what I'm doing. I'm here for this reason, Miramu. I'm not afraid of you, or of what you can do to me. You can't hurt Hikari so long as I'm here. So I'm here. Do what you like. I don't care. I'm not going to give up that easily!"
"Have it your way." Miramu shrugged, tightening his grasp on his weapon as he readied himself for a second assault. "Your strength is second to mine, boy, although I do admire your courage to do it. Jin - is that you name? I'll remember it, I think. Most of my victims beg for mercy before I bring them darkness. You won't be one of those, will you? I like to see it. I don't like cowards."
"Well, I'm sure as hell not a coward." Jin pulled himself to his feet, holding his sword firmly in his hand, although Shishi was aware of the red that stained the upper portion of his clothing. "I'm ready for you."
"Jin, stop it! Stop fighting him!" Hikari begged, but Jin ignored her, his stance only becoming more resolute at the sound of her voice.
"I won't let anything happen to you or to Shishi." He called back, and Shishi bit her lip as she registered the suppressed pain in his voice. "I promised Kashira an' a bandit keeps his word!"
"Obligation till death...you bandits sure do run deep." Miramu reflected. "But you can't..."
He faltered in mid-speech, his brow furrowing suddenly as his gaze darted towards the shrine opening once more. He muttered a curse, and as Shishi followed his gaze she saw Myoume standing between the carved stone panels, a strange, unreadable look on her face.
"I thought I told you not to come here." She said softly. "Jin..."
Jin did not answer, and Myoume sighed, a troubled expression touching her indigo eyes as she stepped slowly into the chamber.
"Miramu." She murmured.
Much to Shishi's surprise, Miramu took a step away from the wounded bandit, slipping his dagger into his belt as he cast the newcomer a pained look. For a moment, they exchanged glances that somehow seemed to convey everything and nothing in one brief instant. Then the assassin darted forward, scooping up the bone chest as he retrieved his carved bow from the chamber wall. He cast Myoume another strange look, anguish flickering in his seiran gaze, then, before their eyes, he vanished.
For a moment, nothing moved. Then Myoume sighed, closing her eyes.
"He's gone." She murmured. "And he's taken the fang with him."
"Jin!" At her words, Jin stumbled to his knees, and Hikari pulled herself free of Shishi's grasp, hurrying to his side. "Jin! Are you all right? Jin? You're bleeding - are you okay?"
"Are you?" Jin cast her an anxious look. "You're not hurt - he didn't harm you?"
"I'm fine." Hikari shook her head. "I'm sorry...I don't know why I did that. It was...I didn't mean to. It just...happened. Like Suzaku..."
She faltered, as Shishi came slowly to sit by their side.
"Jin?" She murmured, as she knelt beside them, her keen gaze noticing the pallor of his face and the blueness of his lips. "Loose your tunic. I want to see what he's done. We need to stop the bleedin' an' Chichiri must've given us something to help."
Jin offered her a rueful smile, reaching a blooded fist across to take her hand in his. He squeezed it, but there was something lacking in the strength and Shishi frowned, eying him carefully.
"Jin-kun?"
"You fool." Myoume bit her lip, and at her words, Jin raised his gaze to hers, a flicker of resignation in his gaze. "What did I say to you? Jin, I was serious. I meant it...why didn't you listen to me, dammit? I told you...why didn't you listen?"
Tears glittered in her indigo eyes, and something cold stirred in Shishi's heart.
"What do you mean?" She demanded sharply. "Jin, what's she talking about? What did she tell you? What have you done?"
"What I promised Kashira." Jin said evenly. "Don't look at me like that, Shi-chan. I ain't a coward an' I ain't lettin' anythin' happen to you or Hikari. You know that."
He winced, drawing a hoarse breath into his lungs, and Shishi's eyes widened.
"Shit." She whispered. "What the hell have you done? You ain't breathin' right - did that bastard slice your lung? Jin, we need to get you out of here! We need to find a doctor!"
"It's bad?" Hikari looked alarmed. "Jin - you're shivering. Shishi's right...at least let us take a look at the wound. Maybe there's something we can do to stop it bleeding like this."
Jin was silent for a moment. Then he reached his finger up to brush her cheek, shaking his head.
"If I hadn't done it, he'd have killed you." He said quietly. "An' if that happens, it ain't jus' me that's doomed. Everyone is. Everything. So I made the only choice I could, that's all. It's okay...there ain't nothin' you or Shishi can do about it, an' I...I don't want to move anywhere. I'm fine...right here. It's all right."
"Jin?" Fear gripped Shishi's heart and she grabbed him by the shoulders, meeting his gaze head on. "What are you saying, you idiot? You're not...you ain't going to die, do you hear me? You're not! It's just a li'l scratch - you can take worse than that! On the mountain...you can take more than that!"
Jin closed his eyes briefly, then he sent her a resigned glance.
"Poisoned." He murmured, as Shishi realised how laboured his breathing truly was. "The blade...was...otherwise..."
He faltered, and Shishi realised she too was shaking, as she struggled to come to terms with what he was saying.
"There must be some kind of antidote in among Chichiri's stuff." Hikari was already rummaging frantically through the pack. "Something we can give you - just hang on in there, Jin. Keep breathing. There must be..."
"There's nothing you can do." Myoume said softly, and Shishi was aware of the tears that now ran down the older woman's cheeks. "It's too late, Hikari. That's why I didn't want you to come here...to face Amefuri before the statue of the tiger like this. I knew...and I told him...but..."
"You what?" Rage flooded Shishi as she glared at the Seishi in disbelief. "You knew this would happen? You knew all about Amefuri and Miramu too, didn't you? But you never told us they were the same!"
"I didn't know that you had met Miramu at all." Myoume said, distress evident on her features. "And yes, I knew...I knew and I tried to stop it. I tried to tell him..."
"I had to." Jin whispered. "Myoume...Hikari is...Shinzahou. You said it...the one...who can...save this world. I...I'm just...a bandit. I...ain't...as important...as her."
"That's rubbish!" Hikari protested. "Jin, I never asked you to die for me! Please...hang on! Hang on! I'll find something here in Chichiri's remedies - there must be something we can do!"
"You bastard, you're not going to up and die and leave me." Shishi exclaimed, grabbing Jin tightly by the hands. "You an' me, we're gonna be like Kashira an' Aniue one day, remember? Are you gonna run out on that? You know it's always been that way - you ain't allowed to die!"
Jin drew a painful breath into his lungs, eying her gently.
"Stay strong, imouto-chan." He murmured, and Shishi's eyes widened at the affectionate 'little sister' nickname that he had never before used. "You'll be Kashira. You're...strong. With or without...me. You're like...Kashira. You'll...be all right."
"Like hell are you getting off that easily!" Shishi was frantic now. "Jin, dammit, stop talking like that!"
"Tell...Kashira...I did...my best. Okay?" Jin's brow creased in pain, and Shishi swallowed hard at the greyness of his skin. "I...want to go...back to the...mountain, Shishi. Promise me?"
"I...of course you're goin' back, you idiot! We're all going back! All of us!"
"Then...it's all...all right." A look of relief crossed Jin's features, as his eyelids fluttered shut and he slumped unconscious against her.
"Jin?" Shishi murmured hoarsely, but there was no response, and with a trembling hand, she reached up touch his neck, feeling for a pulse.
There was none, and her heart froze in her chest.
"Jin?" She whispered. "Jin, dammit...Jin!"
This last she yelled out, the word echoing around the shrine as both grief and anger swirled through her soul, choking her and making her feel sick and dizzy with disbelief.
Myoume closed her eyes, pressing her hands together absently in prayer as she slowly shook her head.
"Byakko protect him. Suzaku, take care of his soul." She murmured softly.
"Jin?" As Shishi dazedly set the still body down on the shrine floor, Hikari reached out a tentative finger to touch him, her voice wavering on the edge of hysteria as she seemed to grasp the fact her young friend had lost his grip on life.
She shook her head.
"No." She whispered. "No, you can't die. You can't die! This isn't...it isn't supposed to happen! It's not supposed to be this way...it's not supposed to be!"
"Hikari, calm down." Myoume said softly, but her words fell on deaf ears as tears coursed down the schoolgirl's cheeks.
"Noone's supposed to die for me." She murmured. "I hate this. I hate it! I can't bear it. I can't let you die because of me! I can't let you, Jin! I can't bear it!"
As her voice raised in pitch, her body became engulfed once more in a bright vermillion light and as she let out a cry of grief, the light flared more brightly, filling the chamber and causing Shishi to have to shield her eyes from the glare. As the light dimmed, Myoume let out an exclamation, and as Shishi lowered her hand, she realised that where her friend had been there was now nothing.
She cursed.
"Hiki." She murmured. "Dammit, not again!"
"Again?" Myoume frowned. "She's done this before?"
Shishi nodded numbly, her gaze returning to Jin's cooling body as she did so.
"She's left me alone. They both have." She whispered. "She's damn well abandoned me...they've both abandoned me! Shit, Myoume, if you knew this was going to happen, why the hell didn't you stop him? Why the hell..."
She faltered, fighting her emotions, and Myoume sighed, rubbing her temples.
"I tried." She repeated. "I told him what I'd seen...maybe by doing so I sealed his fate. I don't know...I hate not knowing. But I had to try. I didn't know if I could prevent it - and I didn't know you knew my brother by his real name. But..."
"Wait a damn minute." Shishi was alert, grabbing the Seishi by the shoulders as she gave her a little shake. "Miramu is your brother? That damn bandit-murdering child-kidnapping bastard is your brother?"
"Yes." Myoume whispered, anguish in her indigo eyes. "My older brother...four years apart. I'm sorry, Shishi. I'm sorry for what he's done...to you, to Hikari, to everyone. I...I...I can't stop him. I'm useless, in the end. I see things but I can't prevent them. I wanted...I wanted to protect Jin. I didn't want my brother to take his life. But in the end...I wasn't able to. I couldn't stop it...I couldn't save him."
At the pain in Myoume's voice, Shishi felt her anger crumble and as grief overwhelmed her, she felt the unfamiliar tears well up in her eyes.
"Jin was my brother." She said unevenly. "Even if not by blood, Myoume, he was. He was. He was always gonna be there, to look out for me. We were...one day, we were gonna rule the mountain together, like Kashira an' Aniue do. It was always...the way...things were going to be. An' now...an' now..."
She faltered, unable to go on, and Myoume slid a gentle arm around her shoulders.
"He wanted to go home." She murmured sadly. "And that's what we should do. My family bear the blood debt for this, and therefore we'll go to the village and demand their help to carry out his wishes. I'll come with you back to Kounan, Shishi...you're not alone, I promise. Even if right now you hate me, for being Miramu's sister, or for...for being such a useless excuse for a prophet - I won't abandon you. Not like this. I know how it feels...to lose a brother."
Shishi closed her eyes, struggling with her emotions once more. Then she reached across to scoop up Hikari's forgotten watch, running her finger over the scraped surface as she cast the Seishi a helpless look.
"What about Hiki?"
"Hikari isn't in Sairou any more." Myoume shook her head, and Shishi stared at her, absently fastening the watch around her own wrist as she did so.
"Not in Sairou? But...?"
"She's not here." Myoume spread her hands helplessly. "She's gone."
"Gone where?"
"Gone home." Myoume murmured, biting her lip.
"Back to her world."