Kyourin looked out over Unkai.
The ceremony at the bottom of the mountain had been a little short, shorter than she had expected. Everyone had been wearing black—including Kyourin and Touke—and had somber expressions on their faces—not including Aku. There had been some talking, obsequious stuff that kind of got on Aku's nerves. It was strange seeing the nyosen so reserved and polite like that, after she had been raised by them so cheerfully and so casually. It was like they weren't even being themselves. Even Kashou had been being exceedingly deferential to the both of them. The incongruity of it bothered her. At least Sekto, as she had said, hadn't been there.
Then they had ascended the crystal staircase, having the Mandate burned into their minds with each step. Kyourin had already memorized the whole thing anyway, but then, most Kirin did. At least now she would never forget it, she guessed.
The sky surprised Aku. She directed a dazed Touke to the shrine before taking a moment to think about it. It was common knowledge that there was a sea in the sky, above which they currently were, and that the water gave the sky its blue color. She wasn't exactly sure what color she had expected the sky to be above the clouds. But it certainly wasn't blue. She wondered at that for a few moments. Did that mean there was another Unkai above this Unkai? Did that mean it rained above the clouds as well? She hadn't heard explicitly if it did or not, to her recollection. This was weird. She was tempted to fly up and try to reach the second Unkai. Was it even possible to fly up to the first Unkai in the same manner? She wasn't sure. This whole situation was dazzling her.
So then she walked around the peak of Houzan, looking in all directions. Water, to the horizon. To the west there were other mountains sticking out of Unkai, the other four in Koukai. They looked pretty far away, as she knew them to be, but without landmarks it was hard to tell for sure. One of the mountains, she saw, stretched even further up than the others. That, she supposed, would be Suukou. It stretched high enough, she thought, there really may be another Unkai, and above that the Heavens. It took only a slight stretch of her imagination to think so.
But that didn't hold most of her attention. She looked in each of the eight directions, thinking to herself what kingdoms were there, what the state of affairs was inside. She knew a little bit, but not a lot. In the end she focused toward the northwest, toward Kyou. In that direction, on the edge of the mountain, was the Genbu, looking nothing but a great turtle, so large it couldn't be anything but a Shinjuu sent by Heaven. But she wasn't really looking at the Genbu. She was looking beyond it toward Kyou. Things weren't going so well there, she knew. The land was a disaster zone. War was coming. This was the moment of truth, their arrival in the palace. They could be received well, and everything would be okay, the war prevented. Or, as Mei suspected, the armies of the Chousai would fly out to slaughter them.
Kyourin shuddered.
It wasn't that she feared for her life. At least not directly. Her life only mattered for the sake of Kyou. If she died, Kyou would have to wait for the Kyouka to ripen, and for a new Kirin to grow. It would be wasted years Kyou really couldn't afford. But it wasn't really that. Besides, there was Plan B. It was that the very thought of violence made her extremely uncomfortable, shaking in disgust and fear. She wanted to take her Queen on her back and fly in the opposite direction, but that wasn't really an option. There would be blood, no matter what she did. She couldn't help it. All she could do was keep Touke alive, and stay out of smelling distance.
Kyou was suffering. And unless tomorrow went well, they would continue to suffer. Kyourin hated that it was mostly out of her hands.
"What do we do next?" Touke was standing next to her, looking very uncomfortable. She seemed less dazed than before, though, and Kyourin suspected that giving her time to pray and make her oaths had settled her mind a little bit. She wondered if the discomfort was because of the clothes. Sure, the people on Houzan dressed very richly, as far as materials went, but the style of the clothes themselves were actually rather simple. She would have to get used to much more than simply this.
Aku smiled, and, grabbing her by the hand, started walking toward the Genbu. "We go to Soufuu palace, of course."
"On that thing?" muttered Touke, trailing along behind her. She didn't have a lot of choice in following—Aku had her hand.
"Show some respect. That's a Genbu. It's a Shinjuu, sent by the Heavens."
"Like you."
"Exactly like me. You could say we're cousins." They were nearing the Genbu now. It had extended it's neck out toward the mountain, so they could more easily step onto it's nose, onto its head, down its neck, and onto its back, where a pagoda was waiting. On the way, Kyourin stopped in front of one of its eyes, and bowed her head. The Genbu blinked its enormous eyes at her. She led Touke to the nose and they climbed on.
The ride was very calm. There was almost no sensation of movement at all, as absent of landmarks Unkai was. No matter how far the capital, Genbu always brought its passengers to their new home the next morning. This meant they were moving pretty fast, but on the flat ocean terrain there was no way to know. Aku used a good portion of the time teaching Touke to read. She was delighted to find writing materials sitting around; Heaven clearly knew their situation. She taught Touke the basics—how to hold the brush, the basic rules of how to draw the characters, how the characters were mostly formed by combinations of simpler characters, and what an assortment of these simpler characters were and what they meant. Touke noticed herself that the first character in her name had "fire" in it. By the time Touke complained that her head couldn't absorb any more, night was falling.
Touke tracked down the bed. She shed the top few layers of her clothes and started crawling in. Aku did much the same thing. When she was just getting on, Touke gave her a look, and said, "What are you doing?"
Aku froze, looking at her. She wondered if she was about to be ordered away. "Sleeping with you, of course."
"You shouldn't. When we get to the palace you won't be able to."
"I know, but I have one more day, and I want to take it."
Touke sighed. "Just go to your own bed."
"Where?"
Now she frowned. "What?"
Aku couldn't help but smiling. "This is the only bed in the pagoda. Heaven knows, you see. Heaven always knows."
"I can't believe Tentei would approve, if He knew."
There wasn't really anything Aku could say that would convince her, so she just smiled.
"Fine. One last night."
Soon, they were in the positions Aku so loved, Touke on her back and Aku laying half on top of her. Her happiness even with something so simple was so intense she wondered if she'd be able to fall asleep. It took her laying there a few minutes for her to decide she didn't want to go to sleep yet. She ran her hand along Touke's side, feeling the slight tightening of the muscles beneath. In a repeat of what she had done the morning before, Aku slid her head up and kissed Touke's neck. Again and again.
"Aku," came Touke's voice after a short while. Aku could feel it against her lips. "What are you doing?"
Aku pulled back enough to see Touke's face. She was looking down at her with a somewhat exasperated expression. Aku just smiled. "One last night."
Touke seemed to consider that for a moment. She lifted a hand and stroked Aku's mane, running her fingers between the hairs. The movement tickled Aku's scalp. For another moment she just watched her with her beautiful blue eyes. Then she said, "Okay."
Touke stared out at the horizon, her vision slightly blurry. Aku's youma—shirei, whatever—had woken them up early and, considering how late they had stayed up, she didn't feel she had gotten enough sleep. They had come out to the head of the big turtle, staring in the direction the capital would soon appear. The sun rose behind them. It wasn't long afterward that an island appeared in the distance. Or more properly, Touke knew, islands. They neared frighteningly quickly. Touke wasn't sure how to feel about that. On those islands awaited her responsibilities as Queen, and frankly the whole thing terrified her. She felt that fear start to work in her. She did her best to remain standing, and resisted the need to throw up as the islands approached.
Then she remembered something. "Wait a minute."
"Yes?" The strange Kirin looked about as terrible as Touke felt.
"Isn't the Chousai a bad guy?"
A thin, wavering smile touched Aku's face. "Yes, I suppose he is a bad guy."
"And the Chousai lives in Soufuu."
"Yes."
"So…" Touke broke off, unsure if she should be asking the question. She was probably going to sound like an idiot again. "Why are we going to Soufuu?"
"We have to give the Chousai an opportunity to reform himself, to step back onto the Way."
Touke considered that for a moment. "No, I think we should just go straight to that Marquis's place. Where is that, Teki Province? How do we steer this thing?"
"Do you even know which way Teki is?"
"No, I was hoping the—what was it called?—Genbu would."
"Ah, I see." Before them, Soufuu Palace was growing ever larger. They were nearly close enough that they could start distinguishing individual islands, and individual buildings on those islands. "Tell me, do you wish to flee the armies of the Chousai or your duty as Queen?"
"Both," Touke said without thought.
A short laugh came from Aku, but her expression was anything but amused. She looked terrified herself. It occurred to Touke that Kirin didn't like violence. Exactly how serious was their aversion to bloodshed? She really didn't know. Or was she just nervous herself? "Don't worry. Plan B."
"What exactly is Plan B?"
"I think you're about to find out. Look."
Touke followed Aku's pointed finger with her gaze. From Soufuu Palace, black specks were rising into the air. They were too far away to see what they were, but they could only be one thing. Even as they watched, the Genbu rapidly approached, and some of them started taking on indistinct forms. "Oh, shit."
"I think that's hostile enough for our purposes. Nansou." At Aku's word, that big monster of a youma sprung out from nowhere. Touke felt a shuddering jolt of surprise fly through her, almost taking her into the air. She would never get used to that. Aku leapt onto the monster's back and held a hand down to Touke. "Plan B," she said simply.
"Grab a mount and run. I like it." Touke took her hand, and climbed onto the youma behind her. Almost before she got to the top, the youma sprung into the air. Against the jolt of leaving the ground, Touke grabbed at Aku. She always felt she was going to fall off when it did that. Again, after so short a time, she was flying on a youma's back with her arms around a Kirin, this time fleeing a force on kijuu out to stop her from taking the throne.
How her life had changed this last week.
Looking over Aku's shoulder, she saw Soufuu turn around to her right. But now the kijuu were near enough to be solid shapes, and were probably starting to get close enough to start throwing spears. She hoped this youma was fast. They had gotten to Houzan quicker than she had thought possible, so it probably was. There was no sign of movement as the youma ran through the air. The wind didn't blow, the waves lapped beneath them with no solid form. It was like they weren't really moving at all. It'd be easy to get lost up here.
She suspected they weren't moving in a straight line. It was hard to tell for sure, but she thought the youma might be putting them through a random, jittering sort of slalom. For a moment she was wondering why they didn't just run straight when a spear suddenly shot by them. She jumped in place, her eyes wide. Those assholes really were trying to kill them. Then another spear went by. Three more. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in Aku's clothes. She hated having spears thrown at her like this. She felt so helpless, unable to strike back, like a fly being slapped at. It was a bubbling frustration in her chest, and she hated it. She would give anything just to have a spear to throw back at them. Or a good bow to fire arrows back. She was a decent shot, not great, but it would be something.
"Suugu," came the youma's grumbling voice.
Aku let out a curse Touke never would have thought would leave a Kirin's lips. "Plan C."
"What's Plan C?" shouted Touke. She wasn't sure why she was shouting—there was no wind to work against. The stress of the moment just made her feel like shouting.
Without a word, Aku grabbed Touke's wrists, forced her fists open, and moved them up around her neck. All awhile, the youma dodged weapons raining down on them. The frequency seemed to be increasing. "Whatever happens," Aku said, severity in her voice, "don't let go."
"Right, don't let go."
"Okay, hold on tight. Nansou, now." And suddenly, without a sound, the youma was gone.
When Touke said it was without a sound, she meant the vanishing itself happened without a sound. Because with the sudden absence of the magic barrier or whatever youjuu and youma put up, the wind came as a sudden roar that completely deafened her. She felt the shout of surprise and panic exit her throat, but she barely heard it. They started falling toward Unkai below. The youma had brought them high, clearly trying to get above the opposing force, where it would be harder for them to aim, so they had quite a ways to fall. Even with the surging panic rising in her chest and throat, she remembered what Aku had said. She tightened her arms around Aku's neck, clenched her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut.
Because her eyes were shut, she didn't see it happening. She felt Aku's form against her shrink, as though she was changing shape, and a sudden warmth against her skin. Then Aku grew again. Or at least she assumed that's what was happening, because her arms were suddenly only partially wrapped around something much wider than Aku's neck. And her downward ascent slowed as something soft pushed at her from below. She felt like she was sitting on the youma again, except what she was riding now was narrower.
Shock registered as she realized what was happening.
But of course. Nothing was as fast as a Kirin running on the wind. Everybody knew that.
Cautiously, she loosened her arms a little and opened her eyes. Directly in her face was a thin streak of long hairs of deepest red. They fluttered slightly in the absent breeze, light and nearly transparent. It looked a lot like Aku's hair normally was. Maybe a little thinner. It was partially obscured by Aku's clothes, so she slid them out from under her and tossed them away. She looked around her. She couldn't get a great impression of shape from where she was, but she did notice that Aku—no, Kyourin—was now covered in light red fur, which scintillated in the sun, throwing off rainbow fractals as it shifted. She looked over her shoulder and saw they were quickly leaving the pursuing armies behind.
"Did you just toss my clothes?"
Touke jumped at the voice, nearly losing her grip she maintained with her legs. She hadn't expected Kyourin to be able to talk like this. Her voice was slightly different, but it was still obviously hers. "Um, yes. Was that bad?"
"Would you like me to greet the Marquis naked?"
The only thing that kept Touke from becoming completely ashamed at her thoughtlessness was the gentle humor on Kyourin's voice. "Um, no. I guess not."
"It's okay. I told her to have clothes on hand."
"So you're just teasing me."
"Yes, of course."
Touke grumbled to herself. After a minute longer flying, the enormity of what she was doing slowly dawned on her. She was riding a Kirin. The holiest creatures in the world, representatives of the will of Tentei Himself. She felt herself shudder a little. She was so awestruck she could barely think. "You really are a Kirin, aren't you?" she muttered to herself.
"Of course I am. You had doubts?"
"I shouldn't be riding you like this."
"It's fine. It was my idea, remember? Although you are pretty heavy."
"What?"
"I'm not used to carrying people. The only person I've had on my back before was a Kirin, and we're pretty light. That and he's a child. This is a pretty long distance, too."
Touke realized what she was saying and a spark of anxiety flared to life in her. "Will we be okay?"
"I should be able to make it."
"Should?"
"Yes, should."
That wasn't exactly the most confidence-inspiring thing she could have said. If they plunged into Unkai they were as good as dead. Touke found herself wishing she was smaller. Another thought occurred to her. "Do you know where you're going?"
"I've memorized everything there is to know about Kyou," she said. There was no pride in her voice. "And I knew I would fly over it someday."
"Well, yes, but there's nothing up here. How do you know where you're going?"
"Look down."
Touke looked over her side to look straight down into Unkai. The water was surprisingly clear. She had been looking at it from such shallow angles she hadn't noticed before. Below, forest was visible. She made out a few shapes of burned-out villages, fallow fields. The hills made discernable shapes, and she caught the curves of a few short mountains. "Okay, that makes sense. I guess."
"Don't worry, I'll get us there."
"Should."
"Yes, should."
The flight was pretty uneventful. Touke found herself watching the wastelands of Kyou drag by beneath them. They really were going pretty fast, as far as she could tell. She tried very hard not to move around too much, or make too hard of a profile against Kyourin. She didn't want to hurt her, nor distract her. As the hours stretched by, she found she was pretty bored. She didn't think it would be possible, to be bored on the back of a Kirin. But she managed it.
After some hours, suddenly she started feeling a light breeze. Perhaps it had started a while ago, slowly building, but she didn't notice it until then. "Is something wrong?"
"What?"
"I feel wind all of a sudden."
Kyourin's reply was long in coming. "Don't worry about it. I'm just tired."
"I'm sorry," Touke muttered.
"Why?"
"I'm so heavy."
"You're fine." Touke noticed Kyourin's voice was getting more brusque as she spoke. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to focus on not letting us die." Even when she was annoyed, her voice wasn't without the gentleness Touke had come to expect from Aku/Kyourin, as though even frustrated and furious, she wouldn't be able to harm a fly. Which was probably true, she realized.
"Right, sorry."
"Don't apologize."
Touke shut her mouth, resisting her impulse to continue the conversation. She usually didn't talk much, but now that she would be distracting someone she was suddenly chatty. She must just be bored. An hour or so later—it was hard to be sure—the sun had dropped far from its zenith, and Touke was starting to feel hungry as well as bored.
It was then that a blot appeared on the horizon. That had to be the palace. It approached, but slowly. Either it was very far away in this featureless landscape or else—Touke suspected—Kyourin was getting so tired she had slowed. As it approached, Touke got a better impression of it's structure. She hadn't been paying attention to Soufuu, as distracted as she had been, but this one she noticed. The peak of the mountain jutted sharply out of the water, hard rock amongst soft water. The area was pretty flat before them, with a few cliffs westward that rose above the rest. The buildings scattered across the flattened area came in all shapes and sizes, though most of them had blue roofs. She was pretty sure this one, though, was considerably smaller than Soufuu. That was the vague impression she got, anyway.
As it neared, she noticed it wasn't nearing uniformly. It was just in front of them for a while, then it would drift to the side, before turning back in front of them. Touke realized Kyourin was getting so tired she was having trouble flying straight. It least, it appeared, they were going to make it to safety in one piece.
Kyourin descended to the palace in a stuttering, meandering path. She seemed to be heading for a balcony just on the edge of water, made in glimmering white stone. Touke noticed there were people waiting there. They grew ever closer. Finally, Kyourin barely passed over the handrail, and her hooves clattered to the stone. It was only as she stopped that she noticed the Kirin's breathing—quick and labored.
Touke immediately sprung off Kyourin's back, getting her weight off the exhausted Kirin as quickly as possible. When she turned back to look at her, she saw that Kyourin—looking nothing but a strange combination of deer and horse in red and rainbow colors—certainly did appear exhausted, on the verge of collapse. Touke turned to the assembled people, about a dozen and a half, arrayed around them, prostrated to the ground. "Someone stand up and get me clothes."
"And water," Kyourin added.
Someone crawled forward on his knees toward them, head bowed to the ground, holding up a bundle of clothes. As Touke reached for them, he said, "We have a banquet waiting for Your Highness and the Taiho inside."
"Water now," Kyourin said. Someone stood, bowed deeply, and ran off.
"Everyone keep your heads down," Touke said to the gathered. She turned to Kyourin. "Whenever you're ready."
Kyourin didn't wait another moment. Her form contorted, taking a weird ball shape neither Kirin nor human, glowing with a pale golden light. Then suddenly Aku was standing there. Immediately her knees buckled. She nearly fell against the hard stone, and would have if Touke hadn't caught her. Touke helped Aku into her clothes. They were simple robes, easy to put on. The Marquis had apparently anticipated the need. Soon she had Aku, sweating heavily and shaking with exhaustion, dressed.
The man who had run off with water came back lugging an entire bucket. Touke worried for a moment that he had thought Aku was staying Kyourin, but when he approached, setting the bucket down with his head bowed, she saw that there was a cup of generous size floating in the water. Waving off his aide, Touke, still with Aku reclined in her arms, reached over for the cup. She scooped up a portion of the cool water and held the cup to Aku's lips. Aku, a little impatiently, grabbed the cup with both hands and drained the thing in seconds. She took a few more before she nodded that she was satisfied. "I think I can take some food before I pass out," she said between somewhat calmer breaths. "I'm starving."
Touke turned toward the gathered. "Marquis."
"Yes, Your Highness." One of them raised herself to a sitting position. The Lord Governor of Teki was a small woman, her brown hair streaked with blonde. Despite her size, she was obviously powerful. Touke wasn't sure how she got that impression. Maybe it was simply the way she sat, or the severe set of her face.
Touke resisted the impulse to bow low. She was the Queen here. "I think we'll take that food now. Where's the banquet?"
"We'll lead you there." The Marquis got to her feet, the others gathered around following her. "Can the Taiho walk?"
"I'm fine," Aku said. Even so, Touke had to help her to her feet. When she finally got to standing, she tried taking a few shaky steps.
Exasperated, Touke took her up in her arms. Aku really was very light, much lighter than someone of her size should be. With how many bags of rice Touke had carried around at the inn, it really wasn't that much of a stretch. Difficult, but not impossible. "Okay, let's go," she said, her voice only slightly strained.
"You didn't have to do that," Aku muttered in her strangely weak voice as the people led them off into the palace.
"You were gonna fall over again."
Aku didn't reply.
