Disclaimer – I own absolutely no rights to Fushigi Yuugi. Wish I did. I did create Lieutenant Kanai and Tank. Can't have our priestess wandering around unprotected.
Chapter 3 The Traveling Begins
It had only been about ten minutes after they galloped away from the palace gates when Miaka realized she was in trouble. For starters, her horse, which she was thinking of naming "Tank" because he was as broad as a minivan, was a very bouncy creature. They had not even reached the outskirts of town and she had nearly bounced off three times.
Since they were a detachment of soldiers, it had been decided that in settlements, the warriors would gallop their horses to prevent any civilian from getting a good look at their members. And with Miaka dressing as a soldier, she couldn't very well ride side saddle, or double with one of the others. It was common knowledge that the Emperor's mounted soldiers were consummate horsemen. It would be disgraceful to ride behind another on the same horse, unless the second man was horribly injured. So this left poor Miaka riding alone on this back of this massive horse. It wouldn't be so humiliating if she couldn't hear some of her traveling companions snickering at her from behind.
Miaka fussed, "How do you steer these things? And there's nothing to hold on to!" This was nothing like the other time she had visited where one of her warriors traveled with her, either allowing her to hold on from behind, like Nuriko, or letting her sit in front and holding her with strong arms, like Hotohori. Then her feet slipped out of the stirrups again for about the sixth time and she almost came unseated again.
Tank was at least following along with the other horses. If there was a need to separate and go a different way, she was in big trouble. She tried to watch Chichiri just in front of her to see how he managed to ride so smoothly. "Show off. Just because he was raised riding horses…." She grumbled. He didn't seem to bounce at all. Of course, it was hard for her to tell for sure, because her head was bouncing so much the whole world looked skewed.
The sound of another horse riding up along her right side alerted her to the approach of Lieutenant Kanai. The big soldier rode along side her and watched her distress. Finally, with a quiet voice that eerily reminded her of Nakago, he leaned over and asked, "You've never ridden on a horse before?" She couldn't really take her eyes off trying to hold on and simply snorted, "Ya think!" back at him. To his credit, Kanai didn't laugh at her antics like some of his less disciplined men had. Instead, he had decided it would be wise to teach her some of the basics so they weren't scraping her off the roadway. Also, he would not have citizens thinking one of his men was so poorly trained. She rode worse than a backwater farm boy.
He looked over her saddle and bridle. For starters, it appeared that her stirrups were too long, so when she bounced up, her feet naturally popped out. He called a halt to the ranks, and swooped off his mount to move towards Tank's side. Miaka looked more than a bit confused, but relieved to be still. "What are you doing? Is something wrong with Tank?" But the man simply grasped her ankle, removed her foot from the stirrup, and shoved her leg out of the way. Miaka yelled, "Hey! Take it easy! You'll push me off, and I'm barely up here as it is!" Chichiri rode back towards them and was making hushing sounds. "Mia! Remember, you are a soldier. You can't be yelling at your commanding officer. People will get suspicious!"
Miaka clamped a hand over her mouth and apologized with a simple, "Oops." And left it at that. After a moment more, Kanai moved to adjust the stirrup on the other side as well. Two of the other soldiers rode up to flank Miaka's horse so that any casual citizens could not see their commander doing this menial chore. Once they were to his likings, Kanai smacked Miaka on the thigh and commanded, "There, soldier. That is the proper length for stirrups in my regiment." He moved to mount his huge white horse and continued, "Now, you will receive a refresher drill on the proper riding techniques for his Emperor's horsemen."
After an hour of putting the horses through different paces to get Miaka used to the movement of each, the column of soldiers had put a great deal of distance between themselves and the palace. They could have gone faster if they had just continued galloping, but she was truly grateful for the lessons. No longer was she in constant terror of flying off the broad gray back, now she was just feeling like her legs were about to explode from the physical exertion. It was a lot of hard work to keep most of her body balanced on her legs like shock absorbers.
Fortunately, her leg muscles became so worn out, that they no longer burned, and became almost numb. Chichiri slowed his pace to match her horse and ride on her right side, while Kanai maintained his pace to stay on her left side. The thirteen other soldiers were divided with the second in command just to Kanai's left and the regulars divided up with five before them and five behind them. The two huge Sumo wrestlers were bringing up the rear on horses the size of small elephants.
Chichiri was terribly curious to ask this Miaka imposter questions. Being an educated man, he wanted to know as much as possible. Miaka looked lovingly over to her blue haired warrior and laughed, "You know, I feel like Nuriko, only in reverse. A woman pretending to be a man. But she was a much prettier woman than I'll be a handsome man. I look like a little boy!" and laughed at herself. Chichiri just looked curious, as if to say, 'how did she know that?' Miaka's mood fell a bit. She had really hoped to break the ice and get him to talking to her. She could almost feel the distrust rolling off him in waves. It was beginning to grate on her nerves.
Miaka watched the scenery pass by as the raced off to the North towards Hokkan and tried to shake her negative feelings. Since they had not gotten a start until well after lunch, it would soon be dinnertime and then time to camp for the night. She knew that time was of the essence, but there was no point in killing themselves and their horses just yet. Pulling the yellow legal pad pages out of her fanny pack that she had insisted on wearing under the military vest and jacket, she tried to remember her time line.
She figured she had roughly two weeks to retrieve both Shinzaho and return to the palace before her younger self tried to summon Suzaku. The time they had been with Tasuki and his bandits was all a big blur to her, and she couldn't remember exactly how many days they had been up there in the mountains. So, she estimated on the side of the least amount of time she was sure of.
She had penciled in about a week to travel to Hokkan and retrieve the Genbu Shinzaho, then another week to travel south then across the desert to Sairou for the Byakko Shinzaho. The second leg of her journey would be a bit trickier since Yui was not in competition with her, and doing some of the exploration. Miaka could only assume that Tatara, the guardian of the Byakko Shinzaho resided in that tower that Yui had him trapped in when Miaka had gone there before.
It made sense. Miaka had been on the tower of the lovers waiting for Tamahome when she saw Yui and Nakago pass by in their procession. Tatara had not been with them then, so he had to have been found in that tower. It was the best she could figure with the limited knowledge she held. It might have been easier if she could have just brought that darn book back with her.
She caught Chichiri casually trying to look at her papers while not looking like he was looking. It was no use since Chichiri would not be able to decipher her writing or language. Though, it made her a bit angry that he would still be suspicious of her. Well, he could snoop all he wanted. It wouldn't help. Her blue haired friend finally asked, "Mia, are you hungry? We could stop around here for dinner, you know. I'm sure we could find a place that could serve enough food to keep you happy, you know."
Miaka laughed out loud at the subtle jibe from her friend about her eating habits. She had always amazed her warriors with the amount of food she could pack away. It couldn't be helped when someone had such a high metabolism. How did they think she maintained all that happy, perky energy back in the past? With happy thoughts? Nope, good old fashioned food. She glanced over to the setting sun and commented, "Actually, I'm not all that hungry. We could travel a bit farther, unless all of you are ready to stop. Because, once I fall of this horse, I won't be getting back on for quite a few hours." Chichiri's face had turned cold as if this had been a test, and she failed. What! Just because she couldn't eat as much as she used to didn't mean it wasn't her!
She had been having difficulty keeping food down since before she started rewriting her story. She dropped her eyes as the vision of the empty, wind tortured, sun baked streets outside her scratched window flashed before her eyes. Was this the beginning of the sickness that had devastated her world? How much radiation had she been exposed to? Why hadn't it killed her immediately like everyone else? Her eyes became blank and sightless as she was sucked into her memories and relived those tragic events. Explosions, screams, crying, silence, all echoed in succession in her mind. The death rattles of a world.
It was her horse that roused her back to the real world with a nip on her foot. Her previously unseeing eyes glanced down to wonder at the pain in her toes. It took a moment for her to even recognize that she was on a horse, and it was nibbling on her. She finally reacted with a loud, "Hey, I'm not a carrot!" and a gentle kick to its furry nose.
She tried not to whine as she asked Chichiri, "Why did we take horses instead of a boat like we did last time?" Tank turned his head like he was going to take another bite out of her foot, so she hurriedly added, "Not that I have anything against taking horses. I love horses and riding all over the place. It's fun to bounce. I was just wondering about time."
Chichiri looked strangely at her and quietly commented, "Well, the Emperor was concerned about spies watching the ports, you know. It would look suspicious if a regiment of reinforcements left the city on a ship, you know." He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, never smiling.
Miaka huffed a bit as her shoulders sagged. "You still don't believe me." Chichiri simply shrugged, "Well, you must admit it's a bit unusual since I just left the Priestess this morning, you know. And there are so many things about you that are different, you know. It's a little much to believe right away, you know."
Miaka felt something in her snap. This had been going on all afternoon. She had had enough! "Of course I'm different. I already explained it's been nine years. A lot has happened! I bet you are different now than when you were younger and had just lost your fiancé and best friend in the flood!" Her voice rose in pitch as she got louder and the emotions took over. "My husband and daughter and everyone I know and love died a few weeks ago and…and…. I ….I'm trying…. " her voice choked up with emotion. "I'm trying to fix everything……..and you……" With a whirl of her head, she turned angrily away from her friend and kicked Tank as hard as she could. To the shock of everyone, her mount launched instantly into a wide open gallop and plowed through the five men riding casually before them.
Tears pooled in her brown eyes and rolled back into her cropped auburn hair as the wind whipped past her. Pain wrapped around her heart as she remembered the life she had left behind. The sight of Tamahome and Hikari lying on her bed, shrouded in white floated before her blurry eyes. Then the faces of all her friends and family she had lost, including those in this world, passed before her mind's eye and she sobbed at the loss. She had buried the pain every time it had welled up in her, but it broke loose and she could not deny it any longer. She never even registered the calls of Chichiri behind her or heard the other horses galloping hard to catch her.
Tank, true to his training, did exactly what his rider wanted. She wanted as much speed as this glorious animal could provide, which was considerable since warhorses were bred to be sturdy and swift in battle. He tried to follow the path she set for him, but she wasn't even holding the reins anymore. Both her hands were gripping the rolled front of the padding on the front of the saddle. She was just along for the ride.
Behind her, the reflexes of the soldiers had finally kicked in. Chichiri was the first to shake off his bewilderment and chase the receding silhouette of the girl with the Lieutenant hot on his heels. The remainder of the column of men closed ranks and followed their leaders. All the men had realized that this woman/girl was somehow special to the Emperor. Only the two giants at the back had not been present to witness his Highness embrace her, and allow her to touch his royal person.
Chichiri yelled, "Mia stop! Miaka, STOP! COME BACK! You don't know where you're going!" His horse was slowly gaining on the gray gelding since Miaka was no longer spurring the beast forward. A clearing could be seen beyond the gray blur of the galloping horse and Chichiri could see that Miaka was headed straight for some low hanging branches. Kicking harder, Chichiri tried to close the gap so he could turn her horse before she was brushed off and hurt. When it became obvious that he could not cover enough ground in time, Chichiri raised his left hand and chanted an incantation. With a loud pop, the wizard disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to reappear directly behind Miaka on her horse. He lunged for the reins that were flopping loosely on the horse's withers and pulled back and slightly to the left with all his might. His instinct to protect her caused his arms to squeeze against her sides to prevent her from being tossed from the horse as he changed their course. Finally, after barely missing the branches, the warhorse slowed to a walk, huffing out great puffs of breath.
Miaka was still sobbing, and not really aware of what had occurred. All she knew was that suddenly, she was being surrounded by strong arm, and she twisted around so that her left arm wrapped around his left arm and she buried the side of her face into his shoulder, hiding in the crook of his arm. If she had not been sitting astride the great horse, she would have turned completely around and hidden her face in that familiar chest.
Chichiri was murmuring soothing words to the distraught woman and dropped the reins of the now stationary horse, and lifted her into his lap. With both of her legs now dangling over his left leg, she could grasp his vest with both hands and bury her face to hide her tears and muffle her sobs. The Lieutenant pulled up along side of them in a cloud of dust, and quickly reached over to grab the dangling reins to prevent any further headlong dashes. His men fanned out around the two on the gray gelding and tried not to watch the scene.
As her cries lessened, and Miaka regained control over her runaway emotions, she murmured into Chichiri's chest, "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned your friends. It was wrong of me to take out my frustrations on you. It's just been so hard…..and to have my friends not believe me. I just couldn't take it anymore." She hung her head in shame.
Chichiri lifted her face away from his vest and removed his mask. "It's alright Miaka. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. It's an old wound, and doesn't hurt as much as it used to. And I'm sorry I didn't believe you, you know. I didn't mean to make you cry." The tears in Miaka's eyes amplified the beauty of her big brown eyes as he watched her look over his uncovered face. She tried to smile a bit and traced a finger gently over the brow of his scar closed eye and then down his cheek. "I'm glad you trusted me enough to remove your mask. I missed seeing your true face. It may not have been a long time for you, but it's been a long time since I saw you last. I really missed you and the other warriors."
Kanai surveyed the area they had stopped in and made a snap decision. He shouted to his men, "Set up camp here. We are stopping for the night." In less than a minute, the men were a flurry of activity. Horses were being dismounted and saddles removed, while provisions suddenly appeared around graced the fire pit that was swiftly erected. In the middle of all this, Chichiri still sat holding Miaka on her horse. The grey animal had sidled up to a small bush and was munching happily on the juicy leaves. Finally taking note of all the action around her, Miaka shyly suggested, "Maybe we should get down and help them?" to which Chichiri just laughed, "Mia, I don't think you realize just how sore you are going to be once you dismount. You've ridden a lot farther than you realize, you know."
Lieutenant Kanai grinned at the image of the slight brunette sliding gracelessly off the warhorse and landing on watery legs that didn't even slow her descent to landing on the ground on her butt. He had seen it happen often enough with new recruits who were not accustomed to extended hours in the saddle. Some non-horse people thought riding was as relaxed as sitting still, but that was only because they never tried maintaining their center of gravity over an eighteen hundred pound bundle of moving, rippling muscle that was a horse, with nothing to hold on to.
True to Kanai's imagination Miaka tried her best to dismount properly, and ended up in a heap on the ground, a long way down from where her descent started. From the ground, Tank looked to be about twice as tall as she was when she was standing. Who decided warhorses had to be giants? Tank's big gray head came around to eye her curiously on the ground, and she could almost see amusement in those big, expressive eyes. If that weren't bad enough, she was suddenly whipped across the face by Tank's almost white tail. She hollered in indignation, "Hey! What am I a fly? I thought we had an agreement? You don't hurt me, and I don't try to control you?" More snickers came from the ranks of the men as Chichiri moved to gently pick her off the ground and practically carry her to the campfire. She swore she was permanently bowl legged from riding such a wide animal and her legs had turned to mush. The muscles on the inside of her thighs were totally exhausted and causing her legs to swing weirdly as she tried to walk. Who knew joining the military meant giving up the ability to walk a straight line?
The soldiers around them were actually very good at setting up camp and preparing a simple but filling dinner. As much as Miaka really wanted to dig into the large helping Chichiri had piled on her plate like she used to, she knew it would only come back to haunt her later, literally, if she over ate. She listened to the laughing men as she picked gingerly at her food, and very slowly consumed a few bites.
Chichiri watched her eat with concern. "Mia, are you not feeling well? Your younger self has been shocking us for weeks with the amount of food she could eat, you know. And I thought you would still have this quality, you know. Is everything okay?" The two didn't notice Lieutenant Kanai drift a bit closer at hearing this question.
Miaka picked up a few more pieces of her dinner and tried to place them in her mouth, but just couldn't stomach it and returned it to her plate. With a sigh she tried to explain, "Well, since… the… event… it's been hard to eat. I went a few weeks without eating anything because, I just couldn't see any reason to eat. Then, I would eat when I was hungry, but I never got hungry. Once I started forming my plan to return here, I had to force myself to eat to keep from collapsing." She placed the plate gently before her and placed her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. "Today was the first time I've really been hungry in…. I don't know how long." She paused to gather her thoughts and Chichiri had enough presence of mind not to interrupt her. "I'm not sure if it's the stress of everything, or if it's the beginning of the sickness that… you know… took everyone away from me."
Chichiri reached over and squeezed her shoulder in support, and she raised her eyes to look at the concern in her friend's face. At least, he finally believed she was who she said she was. "Mia, what kind of sickness was it? Maybe we could have a doctor look at you and offer some medicine, you know?"
Miaka slipped off the log she had been sitting on, and sat by Chichiri's leg, and leaned into him. She sighed again. "It's not a big deal. There's no medicine that can help it if it is. But don't worry, it can't be spread. It's not really that kind of sickness. See, there is a protective shield of stuff around the planet that deflects the harmful effects of the sun. Without it, we would all be exposed to dangerous rays that would cause our bodies to break down from the inside out. That's what happened to my world. Several explosions went off way up there where the protective layer is and it was torn away. The harmful rays made everyone sick… except me." She fell silent again and her eyes took on that far away, dead look as she gazed into the fire without seeing it. She placed her right arm up on chichiri's thigh, and rested her head on her right arm. Without even really thinking about it, Chichiri ran his hands down her hair as if he were petting a cat.
After a respectful moment, Chichiri tried to bring her back to reality, and lighten the mood. He grabbed onto a blunt chunk of her unevenly cut hair and tugged it gently. "What happened to your lovely, long hair? It looks like someone attacked it with a knife, you know. Not to say that it doesn't make you look like a farm boy, but I don't think that's why you cut it, you know."
Miaka blinked a bit as she listened to her warrior, and finally realized what he was talking about. She snickered a bit and the sound grew. Finally, she was laughing gently at what she must truly look like. She had simply hacked off the shanks of hair that she needed without even considering how it looked. She didn't even try to cut it off evenly. "I just needed to cut my hair. I, snicker, can't tell you why just yet. But I bet it does look funny."
At that moment, the quiet, commanding voice of Lieutenant Kanai surrounded the two, "You may use my dagger if you wish to even up the 'soldier's hair. It would be a disgrace for someone representing the Emperor to be seen with such an unruly head of hair." The amusement was obvious in his voice. Miaka turned in surprise to see the large man resting close by, but not intruding on their privacy. She grinned as she thought of what this soldier must have thought of her when she approached the gates. "I appreciate the offer. I must look like a homeless urchin wandering the streets of the capital. What must you have thought of me when I approached the palace gates?"
A few of the men who had been stationed at the gate with the Lieutenant snickered under their breath at the reminder of what they had thought of her when she arrived. It wasn't until she had struck a fighting pose that they had taken her seriously. The fire light reflected amusement as the big man lowered his voice as if speaking in confidence, "You really don't want to know." At which Miaka snorted in mock indignation. He withdrew a wicked looking dagger and stuck it in the log next to Chichiri. He suggested, "While we are at it, let's have the healer take another look at that hand. It might help your riding ability to have the use of both."
The healer shuffled over with his box and unwrapped her left hand. Chichiri looked on in shock and had to ask, "Mia! What happened to your hand? Were you tortured?" He fought the urge to rip her hand out of this stranger's grip and treat it himself. She might be older, but she was still his priestess, and he lived to protect her. A stray thought crossed his concerned mind, 'She's as old as I am now.'
Miaka looked a bit uncomfortable and asked, "Would it be okay if I told you about that later? When there weren't so many ears around?" She looked up into his eyes and tried to express without words how crucial this was to her story of how she got here. And that it was a fact that should not be common knowledge. Chichiri acquiesced to her plea and let the subject drop.
She began groaning at her aching muscles and yawning before her hand was rewrapped. It was all she could do not to fall over into the warm relaxing fire. One of the soldiers had arranged a pallet for her to sleep on and Chichiri and the healer laid her on it after her hand was finished. Not a word passed her lips as her eyes fluttered shut and she was swept away into sleep.
Later that night, the camp quieted down with Chichiri sleeping to her right and Kanai to her left. The remainder of the soldiers were fanned out around them to create several layers of bodies that an intruder would have to tiptoe through to reach the woman. Two soldiers kept guard over their sleeping comrades.
Sometime in the deepest part of the night, Chichiri was wakened by whimpering and struggling sounds. He sat up abruptly and looked over to find Miaka thrashing about in a tortured sleep. He scooted over to embrace her and tried to calm her with shushing noises. They did not help to calm the nightmare she was experiencing. From behind him, Chichiri noticed a reddish glow and heard the call of a great hunting bird. His head turned with a snap as he stared in shock at the giant red phoenix that gently swooped down into the clearing to land without even stirring a blade of grass. The voice that came from Chichiri's mouth was awed and barely audible. "Suzaku!"
The great phoenix sparkled red and gold and slowly transformed into the image of a man with enormous red wings and red and gold armor on his shoulders, waist and wrists. A glowing symbol was visible on his forehead, and he strode forward with unmatched grace. Each step seemed more like the being was floating. His face was beautiful, even beyond the earthly beauty of Hotohori and Nuriko. His flaming red hair stood up surrounding his ethereal face as if a wind were blowing it gently.
Chichiri continued to simply stare and hug the struggling Miaka to his chest in hopes of calming her. Still, Suzaku glided between the sleeping soldiers towards their position by the fire. He stopped directly beside the two and bent slightly at the waist to touch Miaka's forehead. She instantly stilled in calm sleep. The god's fingers lovingly stroked down the side of her peaceful face before he straightened to his regal height of nearly seven feet tall.
The beast god's voice echoed through Chichiri's head as the deity addressed his priestess. "Sleep, priestess of Suzaku. Your journey is difficult yet I shall strengthen and watch over you." The intense golden eyes turned to stare into Chichiri's soul. "You, warrior of Suzaku, must protect this woman with your life. She has undertaken a task like no other and earned my respect and affections." And with one last screeching call, the deity reformed into the fiery phoenix and ascended back to the heavens. Chichiri sat staring at the stars where the red lights still seemed to sparkle among the stars. There was no way he would be able to return to sleep tonight.