Tale of the Fire Flower
Prologue, Part 2: Chase
Feudal Japan- Midmorning
"But my Lord-!" Tsumi's protest was cut short with a wave of the hand.
"I will have no arguments Tsumi." He told her firmly.
"You know that I am more than capable of handling myself!" She pointed out.
He nodded in agreement, "That I do, however these people are dangerous."
"A little brat and two old hags? Dangerous?" She tested the words on her tongue. "That's impossible! They are no more dangerous than an insect!"
"Tsumi, I have been watching them for some time and they are very dangerous. I cannot afford to lose you to them." His voice became tender. Her master took her chin in his fingers and lifted her face to meet his. "I need you, Tsumi. You will have your chance soon enough, but I need you here with me for now."
This had caught her off guard. In her time with him she had never seen his lordship so. . . vulnerable. He had always been cold ruthless, calculating, violent, and malevolent. It was as strange to see a softer side of him.
"My Lord. . . who will carry out your will?" She inquired softly.
He smiled a wicked, cold smile, "You may enter."
The door slid open to reveal a man in a white baboon's skin.
She observed the strange fellow as he and her lord conversed. It wasn't until she read his aura that she realized what he was.
"But my lord he is-"
"More than capable of fulfilling this mission." He shot her a warning glance and turned his attention back to the man sitting in front of him, "You are comfortable with the conditions of this mission?"
The man nodded slightly, "Yes."
The dark haired woman behind him gracefully opened her fan allowing a small smile to grace her lips.
"Time is of the essence, Naraku." He said as stood, "Tsumi do you have the jewel?"
"Right here my Lord." She held it up for him to see, the violet gem shinning with power. Slowly a portal began to open behind her. When it was stable she stepped to the side to grant them access.
Naraku smiled slyly before he and Kagura jumped into the swirling vortex. The feudal lord watched as the portal closed behind the two.
"What do we do now . . . ?" Tsumi wondered.
"We wait. . ." an evil knowing smile danced on his lips as he exited the room.
~|.U.|~
New York City – 12:14 pm
Rena always loved being at Roxanne's house. It was huge and there was never anything not to do. She followed her chipper friend though the winding halls of her home all the way to her room.
"Here we are ladies!" the brunette spread her arms wide in a presenting fashion.
"Roxy, we've been here a million times. Do you have to do that every time we come over?" Grace asked, as she tossed her bag by a fluffy chair.
"Maybe. . . ?" She toyed. Roxanne let her friends settle in before she sis what she loved most. Gossip!
"So, before we start our day on the town, does anyone have something they want to discuss?" Her eyes were just as probing as her tone. She turned to Gina and gave her the "spill it" look.
Realizing that there was no shaking the determined girl she sighed in defeat, "Fine. . . in Biology the other day, we were all waiting for the bell to ring and guess who wanted my number?" She could barely contain her excitement. "Spencer Madden!" She squealed.
Both Rena and Roxanne leaned in with surprise, "Really?"
Gina's nodded quickly, "Yep! He wants to meet me for coffee on Sunday."
"Wow, that's great Gina." Rena smiled.
Their attention then turned to the blue eyed girl in the room.
"Rena is there anyone that you have your eye on?" Roxanne prompted.
"No. I don't really like high school guys. . . I think they're too immature."
"Really? What about Michael or Nimba?" Roxanne posed.
"Nope. I mean don't get me wrong, I think their cute, but I just can't date guys my own age." She explained.
"What's so wrong with guys in our age group?" Gina pressed.
Rena hunched, "They goof around too much. I mean they can't even take themselves seriously let alone a relationship." She paused for a moment. "On top of that I do not have do not have the time or energy to put into a 'TV drama' relationship."
They all laughed at her comment. It may have been funny, but that's just the way she felt. She had had boyfriends before, and watched as her other friend's relationships went from great to shit in a matter months. I guess you could say what she really wanted was to find her true love. Cliché, yes but sometimes the best things are.
~|X|~
Asian Market - 3:34 pm
"Ms. Rei, don't forget you leeks!" a young man yelled after her.
"Thank you, Benji; I need those for dinner tonight." Rei smiled.
"Well can I come?" he joked.
She laughed. "Nice try, I'm sure your mother would miss you too much."
"Have a nice night, Ms. Rei!" he called after her.
"You too, Benji!" as she continued back home she couldn't help but feel something was wrong. No 'wrong' didn't begin to describe this feeling, it was pure evil. She quickened her steps to a near run until something caused her to stop. Across the street, on top of a building, she saw a man in a white baboon's skin. Terror struck her like a blow to the face. Unconsciously she began to walk towards him, entranced by the sight. The raging horn of a semi-truck scared her back to reality. Rei stumbled back onto her butt and dropped all her groceries.
"Ma'am are you alright?" A concerned passerby asked as he picked up the food that wasn't ruined.
She didn't answer. She was too terrified. Rei scrambled to her feet and took off towards home.
She was out of breath and scared as hell when she slammed and locked the door. She set herself against the door and sank to her feet.
'This couldn't be happening. . . not now. . .' she thought.
Footsteps came quickly down the stairs. Masaki stood at the base of the steps and studied his wife for a moment before realizing how distressed she was.
"Rei, what happened?" He ran to her side and took her hand in his.
She took a moment to compose herself before speaking, "Masaki. . . our granddaughter is in grave danger."
Masaki was baffled, "What do you mean?"
"The ogre was just a test dummy so he would track her down and kill her! Masaki we need to get her out of this country!" Rei was crying. She was a strong woman who hadn't shed a tear since her son's death.
"It's alright. You go pick her up and I'll go get her things together. If we want to beat him we have to be faster than him."
"Right," She sniffled and Masaki pulled her to her feet, "If I'm not back in 10 minutes. Then come and look for us." Rei grabbed her keys and out the door she went.
~|O^O|~
New York City – 4:20 pm
Gina nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Spencer talking to Chase and Kevin Lockson.
"Guys look, it's Spencer!" She squealed.
"Good God woman. . ." Rena took her pinky and moved it around in her ear, "Way to make us deaf. God. . ."
Gina sunk into herself, "Sorry guys."
"Why don't we go say 'Hi'?" that was more of a statement than a question coming from Roxanne.
"You guys go ahead, I'm just gonna hangout in this Hot Topic for a while." She waved them on.
"Rena, you're coming too. Could it be that you lied to us about not wanting to date high school boys?" Roxanne nudged her.
"No! I just don't want to go over there!" She marched into the store only to be dragged out by both her friends. 'Why does this always have to happen to me?' she wondered as she was dragged out.
"Hi, guys." Roxanne smiled.
"Hiya!"Gina offered a toothy grin.
"'Sup. . ." Was Rena's stale greeting.
"Hey." The guys chorused.
Roxanne stole Chase for a while and Gina whisked away Spenser leaving Kevin and Rena to themselves.
"Um. . ." Kevin stammered, "Ogenkidesu ka?"
She smiled, "Watashi wa daijobudayou, atnata desu ka?"
He looked utterly confused by what the hell she just said, "What?"
"I said 'I'm doing fine, you?'"
"Oh. . . good." Kevin smiled nervously.
Rena studied the tall red head for a moment, "What made you want to lean Japanese?" she probed.
"You." His voice held a heat that caused her face to turn red.
"You have a crush on me?" She asked a little confused.
He smiled and nodded, "Why shouldn't I?"
Before she could answer, the sound of tires screeching pulled her attention to the street. To her mortal embarrassment it was her grandmother.
"Granny, what's going on?" her confusion and embarrassment evident.
"Just get in the car and I will tell you." Rei was not in the mood for questions.
She told her friends goodbye and got in her grandmother's car.
~|o()o|~
Kagura was sick to her stomach. The tunnels were small and cramped and occasionally she would step in something she would pray was mud. . .
"How much longer do we have to wander down here in this filth?" she demanded.
"This should be far enough. Kagura I want you to search from the skies and I will smoke her out from down here." Naraku instructed.
Kagura proceeded to the exit above them until something occurred to her, "Why are you doing this? You can't stand taking orders from anyone. . . and now you're a professional hit man?"
Naraku smiled deviously, "I thought you might ask me that. . . you know InuYasha and those brats have been a thorn in my side for far too long. . ." he let Kagura do the rest.
"So you made a deal with the Northern lord. . . if you kill his pest he'll kill yours." Kagura said.
"Exactly. . ."
Kagura smiled as she ascended to the surface. She brushed the dirt from her Kimono, took a feather from her hair and took to the skies.
He was tired of losing to kids. . . he wanted to find this girl and do what he was instructed to do. Kill her. He was not about to let easy prey get away.
~|-8-|~
"You want to know what's going on. Well here it is-" Rei took a deep breath, "Chinatown isn't safe for you anymore."
"What do you mean, Chinatown isn't safe for me anymore?" the teen demanded.
"Exactly what it sounds like, you're in danger if you stay here."
"Wait. . . I know what you're doing!"Rena exclaimed.
"You do?" Rei shot her a side look.
"You're just making all this up so you can ship me off to Russia!"
Rei shook her head, "Honey, I'm not making this up just so I can ship you off to Russia. Chinatown really isn't safe for you anymore."
Rena sat in silence while thinking of all the different possibilities of why her life might be in danger, "It must be the Yakuza! What did you crazy old coots do now! Did you promise them money or drugs or something!"
'Goddamn it Rena . . .'
. Rei gave and irritated sigh, "This has nothing to do with the Japanese mafia; someone really wants you dead!"
A wave of mixed emotions slammed into her like a wrecking ball to an old building. She couldn't think of a reason why anyone would want her dead.
"So what are we going to do?" her voice now quiet.
"You, are going to Japan to live with your mother's parents. Your grandfather and I are going to hold them off as long as we can. And no you have no room to argue here." Rei told her as she hooked a right.
Rena swallowed hard before she spoke again, "Who's after me?"
Her grandmother shook her head, "We don't know." Technically she wasn't even lying.
The car began to shake. . . at first both of them thought that they were going over bumpy road. It wasn't until the shaking worsened that they realized that it was road itself that was shaking.
"Granny. . .?"
She tightened her grip on the wheel, "Hang on, baby girl!"
Rena let out a small yelp as the car went down the road at full speed. Just as she sped past a manhole cover it blew off releasing a purple noxious gas.
'Shit! We're running out of time!'
She drove like a maniac; swerving all over the road trying to avoid the covers and the gas that spilled from them.
"Granny, slow down! The cops will come after you!" her granddaughter warned as she hung on for dear life.
"Like they'll have time!" She made a sharp turn in to the driveway next to her husband's car. "Rena hurry and get to Masaki's car he'll take you to the airport."
"But. . . I don't want you guys getting hurt." Rena said softly.
"We're not that easy to take down. These old bones still have some power left." And for her sake she hoped that that was true. Both of them exited the car and to Rei's horror the gas was rising.
"Don't breath! Use your scarf as filter!" the older woman warned.
While holding her breath Rena took the scarf from around her neck and tied it over face like an old west out law and made a B-line for her grandfather's truck.
Rei stood and watched as her husband and grandchild peeled out of the driveway and onto the road. She walked inside and waited . . . she was not going to let Rena die. Not while she was living!
~|-O-|~
'The time has come. . . I've got you right where I want you!' Naraku broke down the door and peered into the darkness of the home. From the darkness, a female stepped forward. To his displeasure it was not the teenaged female he had hoped for.
"Who are you?" he asked sourly.
A smirk twisted the woman's lips, "What's wrong, handsome? Not the girl of your dreams?" She chided.
A low growl rumbled from his throat, "Do not mock me woman. . . I am more than capable of ending your pathetic existence!" came the lethal warning.
The woman's expression changed from teasing to deadly, "So you think. . ."
"Kagura search this place for the girl while I deal with this wench!" Naraku growled.
Kagura did what she was told she ripped the house apart looking for the girl. . . but she wasn't there. That's when Kagura realized that the old hag was just a diversion to stall for time!
"Naraku! Stop! It's a trick she's stalling for time!" Kagura called as she jumped over the railing of the upper floor.
"What?!" Now he was pissed. He didn't appreciate being tricked.
"Oops. . . you found me out." came the playful jeer of the woman.
He had no more patience left. Naraku shot out tentacle and grabbed the woman by the neck and lifted her off of her feet, "Where. Is. The. Girl?" he growled.
The woman smiled through the struggle, "Long. . . gone. . . heh, heh, heh. . ." she choked out.
Naraku was done playing games, he threw the woman down and headed for the door.
"Kagura finish her off, I'm going after the girl. . ."
~|-C-|~
Masaki was relieved that no one was coming after them. He looked over at his sleeping granddaughter and relaxed. That was until he saw something out of the rearview mirror. It was a man in a white baboon pelt flying after them.
"Aw, damn!" he groaned. Masaki put his foot on the gas and prayed that he would lose that him. Much to his dismay, the man was after them was able to match the speed of the car
"Give me the girl. . . and I might spare you." He lied.
Masaki was no fool. He was not about to give up his only grandchild to this. . . whatever he was! Mumbling a few choice words under his breath he pointed a finger at the man and shot him with a blast of green light. Hopefully that was enough to stun him.
Rena stretched and turned to look at her grandfather who looked rather tense, "Ji-ji, what's wrong?" sleep coating her words.
"Nothing, just go back to sleep." He was lying and they both knew it. She knew that if she asked again she would get the same answer. Not having much of a choice she settled back into her seat. Although, something caught her eye. . .
"Ji-ji!"
Masaki didn't have to turn around to know that the man was back on his tail. He could feel that he was pissed and ready to kill, but Masaki would never give him that chance. He rolled up his sleeves and readied himself, "Rena take the wheel!" without so much as an opposing sound she took the wheel from Masaki.
He positioned himself out the window and held out his hand. He began to chant in unknown tongues and his light began to glow and iridescent green. On the last word of this chant a shot of bright green was released from his and hit the man dead on. Masaki knew that that was not enough to kill him, but when woke up, he was not going to be the happiest camper.
He had arrived at the airport just in time for Rena to catch her flight.
"I love you, Rena and don't forget to have Natsumi and Ichirou call us once you get there." He gave his granddaughter one last kiss on the forehead and sent her off.