La Fleur Rouge

This chapter has been beta'd

Ryuko didn't understand why Ragyo had gotten so upset after Nui came home, or why she was angry at the pretty golden box Nui had brought with her. Her sister must have done something bad while she was gone, really bad. That was the only time her mommy ever got mad at the blonde. She had also been hurt when she got back, and Ryuko noticed when she saw the blood on Nui's arm.

Their mother had demanded right away to know as to what had happened, but her anger had vanished as quickly as it appeared when she remembered the youngest daughter was there, before kindly asking Ryuko to stay in her room for a short while before she dragged Nui off. She wanted to talk to the eldest in private, and she didn't want to show such fury in front of the six year old.

The young girl was curious to know what was going on, and that curiosity is what had her creeping out of the room, quiet as a mouse as she approached the stairs. She shook off Senketsu's attempts to get her back in her her room, crouching down instead to peer over the steps where she could see Nui and Ragyo. Ryuko leaned forward a little to try and hear them easier.

"Nui! What in the world drove you to do something so...so...stupid?" Ragyo hissed, and the little girl could see her holding Nui's arm in a vice like grip, could see the blondes face scrunched up in pain, "Do you have any idea what would have happened if any one of them had followed you here? They would have found this tower, would have found us!" she snapped.

Nui had, for all she's worth, looked ashamed of her actions and ashamed of having angered their mother, "Maman...I'm sorry, I didn't think-"

"Of course you didn't think!" Ragyo interrupted her, jerking her forward and shaking her roughly, "You never think, you only do what amuses you, damn the consequences! You could have put us all at risk of being discovered and you wouldn't have cared, would you? You got hurt, Nui! Don't you think they're going to wonder why you were bleeding one moment, and not the next?"

The eldest daughter looked down, hand coming up to hold where she had gotten cut earlier that day, "I...I'm sorry, Maman, I'm sorry."

Ryuko had never, ever seen her mother this angry. She'd never seen her jerk Nui around like that and yell at Nui like that. Her mommy never got so angry, never got violent, this side of Ragyo was not her mother. It couldn't be.

Their voices turned into background noise as Ryuko quickly made her way back to her room, not wanting to see Ragyo like this. She was scared of this side of the woman, very scared of the angry person that took her mothers place down there. Her door was quickly shut and she fell to her knees, still able to hear the yelling from downstairs but unable to make out the words.

So, trying to forget and block out the fight, Ryuko distracted herself with the box Nui had brought and left in her room. It was slow, but as Ryuko examined it, she found herself growing more entranced by it's beauty, her mind starting to forget about Ragyo's anger. The girl found herself relaxing and calming, taking in the simple beauty of the box. There was no way to open it though, it was locked but she supposed Nui might have the key. Something like this must have something grand in it.

"What'd you think is in there?" Ryuko asked her friends.

On her shoulders, Junketsu reached towards the box, foot rubbing against a red gem on it, only to be swatted away by Senketsu who looked back at Ryuko. She may be naive, but from the reaction Ragyo had over it, she could tell Nui did something bad to get this. She stole this and got hurt in the process. Then to answer her question, Senketsu shrugged, and Junketsu shook his head. Something important, that much was obvious.

The girl hummed in response, brushing her thumb over the crest on the very top, "It looks really cool, I wonder if Nui'll open it tonight," she mused.

When the door to the room was thrown open, Ryuko quickly jumped back away from the box, startled, and the two lizards dashed under the dresser to hide from sight. Nui stalked into the room looking upset, but she hid the expression quickly as she approached her.

"Hi, little Ryuko," she smiled, crouching in front of the smaller girl, pinching her cheeks affectionately and acting like she had not just been chewed out, "I'm so glad to see you were alright on you're own the past few days," Nui told her, ruffling her hair a little before she went to stand again. Her gaze went to the small box and her smile grew, "do you like what I found? It's pretty, isn't it?" it as also the reason Nui got in trouble.

Ryuko nodded, her gaze locked on that box again, "It is! Where did you find it?" she asked her.

Her answer was a laugh and another cheek pinch, "it's a secret," Nui told her, standing back up and adjusting her dress, throwing her a playful look, "Maman isn't too happy with me bringing it home though, but that's alright! Once I get it opened, she'll change her mind!" Nui glanced back and forth as though she was about to speak of some secret, her grin growing, "Inside is a great treasure! Can you believe it? Such a small box holding something so big?"

The young girl could only nod in agreement, mesmerized by the possibilities that lied inside.

When she looked at Nui again, she didn't need to say anything. She had lived with her long enough to be able to tell simple things from her expression and she had seen and heard enough to make it clearer. Maman is mad at me, was the unspoken message that her blonde sister was saying. She must have noticed Ryuko's questioning look as she tilted her head to the box as though to say getting that had been the cause of their mothers anger.

Ryuko blinked at that, "Why would she-"

"Ryuko!" Ragyo yelled from down the stairs, cutting her daughter off and causing both heads turn to the door, "Would you like to help me make dinner?"

As Ryuko stood up, Nui flashed her a smile, "Get down there and go help Maman," she said ruffling Ryuko's hair and gave her a playful swat as she dashed past her, urging her to move.

Satsuki gasped and groaned as the drifting log she had been clinging to bumped lightly against two rocks, stopping both it and her from drifting down the river any more. Opening her eyes, she blinked several times to try and clear her eyes, but the blurry vision never left. Letting out another low groan, the woman let go of the log to slowly swim to shore. It wasn't that far off, but with her sore muscles and limbs like jelly, it might as well have been a mile.

As soon as she was able too, Satsuki dropped to her knees, crawling out of the water and collapsing onto her side. Her ribs and lungs were burning, her body felt heavy, and the added weight from her soaked clothes did nothing to help. The pain began to ebb away as she rested until it was just a dull ache and after what felt like eternity, she managed to push herself to stand on shaky legs.

"Where...am I?" she whispered, taking in her surroundings, noting that she had no idea where she was anymore. During the chase, had lost track of where she was but paid little mind to it then, and now she was even more lost. This left her with two choices.

Try and find her way back to the castle, or try to find the thief and get the box back.

The answer came easily enough to her. She was going to look for that blonde haired thief, get the box back and throw her in a dungeon for a long, long time. There was something about that girl that just made Satsuki grind her teeth together.

Her hand reached to her hip, intent to grab Bakuzan's hilt but found only an empty sheath. A moment of confusion brought on by her minds still unfocused state passed before she remembered what happened to it. Right, the girl had taken the sword and thrown it down the river. That girl...she wasn't human, no human could have taken a blow like that without wincing, and the thief wasn't even bothered when her sword sliced into her arm.

It sent Satsuki's hairs on end.

"Just standing here and thinking isn't getting me anywhere," Satsuki muttered to herself, shaking her head, "I need to get moving."

She took a few unsteady steps forward, allowing the instability in her step to ease out until her steps were steady and strong. She still stumbled here and there, fell on her knees once or twice even, but she was moving forward, and that was enough. For now at least.

As she tried to take another step, searing pain shot up her leg causing her to stumbled onto her knees.

"Shit," she hissed, holding onto her leg and glaring at it. This would be a problem and would make it harder to move at least. "I can't let this hold me back," she muttered, holding her breath to keep from making a noise as she slowly pushed herself to stand. The pain was searing, but Satsuki would push forward like she always did.

She could hear how her four gaurds would react if they saw and knew what had happened. Apart from hunting down the girl who caused her this injury of course. The frantic attitude they would have caused Satsuki to let out a small chuckle. They'd come to worry soon too if she didn't return with the rest of the group and would tear the world apart to find her. She was certain of that. Which meant she had to get this done quickly and return home before they caused too much of a stir.

She walked slowly and the pain began to fade, either from dulling or from her mentally blocking the pain. Her steps became more steady and her pace increasing until she was moving quickly enough for herself. But even after what felt like hours of walking, Satsuki couldn't find any trace of a trail or lead. The sun was going down and she was going to need to find some sort of shelter before long. Continuing her search would have to wait until the morning when there was light out.

Satsuki had just come up to a stop, the pain in her leg still there but having toned down to an ache. "Ow..." she murmured, raising the leg and leaning against the moss covered rock for support as she held the calf, giving it a light massage in hopes to ease the pain.

Or rather, that was what she had planned to do, but when she brought her weight against the rock, she soon learned that it was just a wall of moss with nothing solid behind. With a cry of alarm, Satsuki tumbled back, letting out a groan as she landed rather painfully onto her back.

"Ow..." she muttered staring up at the stone ceiling. It appeared she had fallen into some kind of natural rocky tunnel. Tilting her head father back to try and see the other end, cold excitement ran through her body at the sight of the tower that stood there proudly. Rolling onto her stomach and pushing herself up, Satsuki shook her head, "Unbelievable," she muttered, unable to believe her luck. This sort of thing didn't just happen out of the blue.

But despite her disbelief, Satsuki was already approaching the tower. Just from the appearance alone, she could see it was rather old. Rocks were chipped, there were vines growing around it, and a few cracked places along the base. But the one thing she couldn't find was a door.

"How am I supposed to get in then?" Satsuki muttered, tilting her head up at the tall, and her eyes narrowed in on an open window. "It's high up, and a dangerous climb," Satsuki muttered running a hand over the surface. The stones were uneven enough to provide a grip, but it would still be dangerous, and fatal if she fell. Though despite the difficulty it would be and even knowing the challenge it'd be to get to the window, Satsuki began a climb.

The first few feet was easy enough, but as the Kiryuin got higher and higher, the stones she could grab were getting farther and farther spaced. On more than one occasion, she nearly slipped and fell. The blood roaring in her ears was deafening. She grunted and panted the higher she got, her fingertips burning with pain as the rough surface scrapped against them. Had Satsuki been a lesser woman, she would have been shaking with fear, but she wasn't. If she felt any fear she did not show it.

After what felt like an eternity of climbing, she was able to grasp onto the ledge of the window. Relief coursed through her as she pulled herself up into the safety of the room. Glancing at her hands, they were smeared red as a result from the climb.

"A needed suffering," Satsuki murmured to herself before taking in the appearance of the room she was in. It appeared to be a bedroom. A kids bedroom at that, if the few toys and stuffed animals were anything to go by. But one thing caught her attention more then the stuffed pig or stacked blocks, and that one thing had sent a cold feeling into herself, along with tingles of excitement and anticipation.

On the desk stood a golden box. The very same golden locked box that had been stolen from the castle.

"Unbelievable." Satsuki whispered, walking towards the object. Her fingers had just barely brushed against the cold surface when something hard hit the back of her head and Satsuki's world went black as she crumpled to the ground.