Disclaimer: I do not own Seirei or any of the characters.
Upon the disappearance of the warriors and Tanda, Shuga rushed back to the palace. His worry for Chagum was confirmed when he saw the Second Empress in Chagum's rooms with tears running down her cheeks.
"Second Empress, I . . . ." Shuga paused as the Second Empress stood. She turned her gaze to him as she had before when Chagum was supposedly possessed by a demon. Worry for her son's safety shone in her eyes, along with a mother's determination to see her son came to no harm. Shuga closed his still open mouth and bowed. She did not even have to make her request. Shuga knew that, unlike the Emperor, the Second Empress was not afraid to call on help from outside the palace Star Diviners when Prince Chagum was involved. She had lost him once, then her elder son. She would do anything to see that she did not loose him permanently.
"I will search for the Yakue Shaman Torogai, and I will personally search through the translations of the tablets to find an answer. I will tell no one else." Shuga turned to leave as the Second Empress nodded her approval. If the Emperor discovered that Chagum had disappeared again, and on the eve of the anniversary of his triumph over La Lunga, he may consider that Chagum was again possessed by a being of Nayug. Since the Nyunga Ro Im (Water Spirit) only laid its eggs once every one hundred years, there was no chance that Chagum could again be possessed by an egg laid by the spirit.
Shuga left the palace for the Star Diviner's hall. Before he searched out the old shaman, he wanted to read the account of the Master Star Diviner's experience with the water spirit. Although the child did not survive, perhaps he could find a clue there.
Upon entering the hall, Shuga walked straight to a bookshelf with the translations of the tablets. They had been bound into books and Shuga pulled down the first of the several books on the shelf. He turned to sit at the table behind him with the open book in his hand. He pulled a lamp closer to the book to light up the fine writing on the page. His eyes swept over the pages of the book quickly until he found where the account of the water spirit began. He slowed his reading, studying every sentence for some clue to why Prince Chagum and the others had disappeared. Though he hadn't confirmed the spear-wielder's disappearance, he was sure that she too had disappeared with the others that had been in Nayug the year before.
The day went on and Shuga continued to read the account over and over. Nothing was mentioned that would help him find Prince Chagum. Shuga was turning back to the first book again to start reread when a messenger walked into the hall. Shuga looked up as the man bowed, then rose to his feet to accept a rolled paper.
"This arrived this morning. It was brought to us by a bird we did not recognize." Shuga nodded and dismissed the messenger before opening the message. He recognized the familiar writing of the spear-wielder. He read in interest.
A month ago I was pulled between Sagu and Nayug.
Shuga found himself grinning in spite of himself at how blunt the spear-wielder was. When he had gotten the chance to better know her when she traveled back to the palace with the soldiers, she had not been particularly open with him. He knew she had been preparing herself for the inevitable. He continued reading.
I worry for Chagum. Should he be pulled into Nayug again, La Lunga may try to kill him. Tanda and I agree that we may be taken into Nayug again at the full moon.
Shuga turned the short note over, looking for more. When he found none, he sat back down and sighed. However, he was surprised to find himself relieved. The spear-wielder had been in the city when Chagum and the others disappeared. If she had disappeared with them, she would die before allowing harm to come to the prince. He found that more comforting than knowing that the eight warriors had also disappeared.
Now, however, he wanted to try contacting the shaman. She was the hardest person to find. He sighed and, after replacing the books he had been using, walked out of the hall to find himself looking up at the night sky. He looked at the rising moon. It was almost full. He had spent longer in the hall than he had intended. He entered his small room shortly after and sat down at the simple desk to write a letter to Torogai. He was half-way through the letter before he realized the messengers that had the best chance of finding her were unable to do so. He sighed as he realized the new problem, but finished his letter before trying to find an answer to the problem.
Several minutes later, he set down his brush and closed the inkwell, leaving the message to dry on his desk. He walked to the window to consider whom he could send to look for the shaman that would have a chance to find her. He found himself sighing again. The eight warriors were the only ones he trusted to be able to find Shaman Torogai and he was relatively sure that they could deliver the message without her pulling some trick as she had a tendency of doing. With them gone, there was no one that Shuga could trust to deliver a message. Shuga turned and walked to his bed. He laid down with a sigh as exhaustion hit him. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and his stomach growled, but his need for sleep was overpowering. He hadn't been sleeping well since Prince Chagum had been pulled between Sagu and Nayug the month before.
Shaman Torogai pulled her head from the water and gasped for air. She sat panting for a few seconds before pulling her legs up and picking up her hat. The small long-eared animal jumped into her lap and chattered contently as she pet it.
"Hm . . .so La Lunga are acting strangely? The water people could try bearing with it for a little longer and give me more information. Tch . . . better go check on my fool of an apprentice." She stood and the animal leapt to her shoulder and then into her hat, where he nestled into the straw and hair. The burrow that continually 'insisted' on coming with her was cropping grass, but looked up when she appeared again. She climbed onto his back and turned him toward the trees.
It was late when Torogai heard a familiar call. She looked at a small waterfall and pond she was passing. She climbed from the burrow's back and walked to the water's edge. A moment later, she put her face in the water and saw one of the water people swimming toward her. It spoke to her in clicks and trills with an occasional name. She nodded and pulled her head from the water again. She caught her breath for a moment before mounting the burrow again.
"It seems the danger is closer than I thought." The burrow started moving again, faster than before. With a little help from Shaman Torogai, they would reach the edge of the forest by morning. She reached up and picked up the animal in her hat. She put a rolled up note in his mouth.
"Take this to that youngin' in the palace." The animal let out a muffled trill, then bounded out of her hand and dashed ahead of the burrow.
Shuga woke the next morning to see a pair of ears flicking around over his face. He followed the ears down to see the face of the small animal Shaman Torogai carried in her hat. His eyes widened as the animal jumped off his chest and nuzzled a rolled note with his nose and a trill. Shuga quickly opened it and found a short note from the shaman telling him she was coming. He was a mix of surprise and relief. The shaman knew something had happened and she was coming. She would arrive that afternoon. He again found himself grinning. He knew she would be expecting plenty of sake* and food.
Note: sake is a common alcoholic drink
The day passed with Shuga waiting outside the gates, trying to wait patiently for the arrival of the old shaman. Finally, the old woman appeared riding the same burrow she had ridden the year before. He sighed in relief and smiled as she drew closer. The burrow's ears flicked as she climbed down and sent him on his way.
"A good one, that creature. He really took to me." She hadn't even acknowledged Shuga until the burrow had started walking back the way he had come, no doubt headed for where his actual owner was.
"Well, boy, are we going to eat or stand here?" Shuga's smile grew slightly and he laughed gently. She had greeted him just as he had expected.
"I have arranged for a meal to be prepared. I'm sure you would like to bathe after your long journey too." Shaman Torogai looked up at him as he directed her into a side gate.
"You are impatient, boy. We have no time to loose. Being taken into Nayug is not a gentle matter," she said with a hard look at his face. Shuga sighed as she walked past him.
"So, you know what has happened?" Shaman Torogai's staff clunked quietly on the stones of the walk. Shuga's hopeful question was squashed with her reply.
"My stupid apprentice has told me that they were pulled into Nayug. They seem to be safe for the time being, but we need to find a way to bring them back. La Lunga are hunting them." Shuga forced himself not to ask for the prince's well-being as they walked through a door opened by a servant. A bottle of sake was standing next to a long table of food and a pillow for the Shaman to sit on.
"I will eat while you tell me what you know." Shuga sighed again as she took a long drink of the cooled sake. She was quite overwhelming.
I'm trying to keep the chapters coming School is making it interesting though. Please R&R!
