It was a few hours before sunset. A young man, his clothes well-worn and his hair tied up in a sloppy bun, was clambering over the rocky ground. He tripped over a gnarled root, cursing, then paused in his travels to look up at the mountain looming in front of him. If he'd been a normal traveller, the sword at his side would have been a reassuring weight. For he was at the base of Mt. Leikaku, the home of the most notorious group of bandits ever to plague Konan Country. They often ambushed travellers, especially those who travelled alone, snatching all kinds of valuables, or even just the last few coins of poor men. However, since this young man WAS one of the notorious Mt. Leikaku bandits.... Banrai started again on his way, reassured that he was that much closer to coming home. "So I should have know better then to leave my horse unattended in the Mt Leikaku area... I'll just tell everyone I sold him. It may take me twice as many days to get home now.. but what's 3 days when I've been gone 4 years? "In retrospect, I shouldn't have spent so long in the desert.. I think the sun went to my head.. I'm talking to myself now! Ugh, you know it's time for a rest when... " The weary traveller sat down on a log to have a nap. She was about 3 days by horse from the little village outside Eiyou where she used to live, but now she had lost her horse. She wasn't in the best of moods and was ready to throw the heaviest thing she could find at anyone or anything that disrupted her little break. But good is it to throw a rock at a light? "What in the name of Suzaku?!" "Where did SHE come from?" asked Hana outloud. She was thouroughly confused by what had just happened. She had lay down for a nap, then there was a flash of red light, now there's a girl lying on the forest floor? Had she missed something? "Excuse me.. um.. Miss? Are you okay?" called out Hana. She's probably unconscious, thought the red head, maybe she fell out of the trees. Maybe she's a bandit and was spying on her! No, that somehow seemed unlikely. The girl looked so frail.. and her clothes were more then bizarre. "I guess she won't bite.." mused Hana as she crept closer to the fallen girl. Hana, for the life of her, could not understand where this girl came from. Her clothes were unlike anything she had seen in her four years of traveling. The heavy pants did look suitable for travelling.. but then there was the layers Hana supposed were shirts that didn't look warm enough for the chilly autumn evenings. And this strange girl had no bags or anything with her. Maybe she was captured by the bandits and is now running away, thought Hana. This seemed to be the most plausible answer at the time... though it didn't explain how she suddenly appeared on the ground.. and what WAS that red light? As Hana sat there beside the girl, trying to make sense of the situation, she suddenly noticed the girl's violet eyes were open. The strange girl sat up quickly and looked quite confused and frightened. "Um.. hi," smiled Hana, "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. You're safe now. Are you running away from the bandits?" "Bandits...?" replied the girl, looking no less confused and possibly more frightened. "I'm not a bandit myself, but this area is notorious for them... so maybe you'd like to keep moving? I'm heading toward the capital, would you like to travel with me for awhile? You don't seem to have any supplies with you..." Hana figured maybe the girl had knocked her head when she fell and so she didn't remember much. Nonetheless, this was not the area for young girls to be alone, and Hana could use the company. "I...where am I?" asked the girl, shivering and pulling her over shirt close around her. "In Konan, about half a day's walk from Mt Leikaku. I've got about 6-8 days of walking left before I get home, and I wouldn't mind the company if you'd like to come with me. I wouldn't feel right leaving you here alone... maybe I could help you find your way home...?" The girl just stared in confusion at Hana. "Are you cold? Here, take my cape," said Hana, remvoing the heavy cloth from her shoulders and drapping it over the girl. "Thank you," said the girl, clutching the cape tightly. She seems so frightening, though Hana, I wonder what those bastards did to her... "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Yumenno Hana... but please just call me Hana," Hana smiled and stood up, "I'm really quite nice, and I lost my horse so have had no one to talk to. So I'd be very grateful for the company if you chose to come with me. So, how 'bout it?" Hana offered her hand to help the girl up. The girl stared at Hana for a moment, but then seemed to sigh in defeat as she took Hana's hand and stood up. "I have no idea where am I, so I suppose I really should travel with you." "Great! We should get going and take advantage of what time we have left today. Still quite a ways to the town I grew up in. By the way, what's your name?" "Shino Setsu," replied Setsu as she adjusted the heavy cape Hana had given her. "So, where are you heading?" asked Hana, ever cheery. Somehow Setsu knew asking to go back to the library would be futile, so she merely shrugged. "Are you trying to get home?" "No," said Setsu suddenly, "Not at all. I.. I guess I'm just wandering." Hana looked at her a little funny, but shrugged it off and continued, "Well, why don't you come home with me? If you have nowhere else to go, I mean. I'm heading back to the inn where I grew up. I'm sure Ame would hire you if you'd like a job." "All right, sounds fine to me," said Setsu. Just then there was some rustling in the nearby bushes and the pair saw a man walking away. "Who are you?" snapped Hana, getting defensive. Setsu was a little startled by how quickly Hana went from bubbly and friendly, to threatening.. or at least trying to be threatening. Banrai was glad to have finally made it into the Mt. Leikaku forests, as it meant he was close to his destination. However, he wished that the shady forests weren't so chilly. He'd almost been reluctant to leave the sunny foothills for the relative gloom of the trees. In an hour or so, however, the forests would be only a memory, as he'd be back among his companions. They'd no doubt already begun carousing, rowdy with drink and in fine spirits from the treasure they'd captured today. He only hoped they would save some sake for him. He idly wondered what Jinku had been up to in his absence. They'd have plenty to talk about tonight; his lively friend would most likely go on and on, telling tall tales of the merchants he'd tricked out of their entire stock of merchandise, or the noblemen who he'd defeated in single combat, or the beautiful women who'd tried to tear themselves away from their husbands or fathers to live a life of freedom with him.... Suddenly the wind brought an unexpected sound to his ears. A murmur of voices. *Hey, maybe it's some of the gang, coming back from a raid....* He started off towards the voices, finally realizing that they couldn't be his friends, as they were too high-pitched. Ducking down, he started moving stealthily through the underbrush, finally coming across the source of the voices. Two women, talking with each other. For a moment he considered relieving them of their packs. It would be easy enough; neither of them seemed to be armed in any way. But it most likely wouldn't be worth the effort; despite the younger one's decidedly strange clothing, neither of them looked wealthy, or likely to have anything beyond a couple of coins. He stood up with a rustle of leaves, dismissing the pair from his mind, and turned to go. The older of the two women, alerted to his presence, leapt to her feet defensively. "Who are you?" she snapped, no doubt unnerved by the presence of a stranger. Banrai turned back and grinned disarmingly. "Y'know, you'd best be careful. It's not safe around these parts; anyone you run into might turn out to be a bandit." Still grinning, he sauntered off, feeling the woman's glare on his retreating back the whole way. Setsu could only look on in confusion. Where WAS she? What ARE these people? Ugh. "Come on, Shino-san, we should get going. You really can't trust the people in this area," huffed Hana. She lifted her several bags and started walking down the forest path. Setsu considered offering to carry something, but the shorter woman seemed to be quite adept at handling her load. It took only a moment for Hana to forget the stranger and start chatting up Setsu in that cheery way she had. Setsu found herself enjoying Hana's stories, but didn't feel much like sharing any of her own. So she walked in silence, listening to Hana's stories. "Do you mind me rambling on like this? I don't mean too, it's just been so long since I've had another person to talk too.." said Hana, feeling a little unsettled by Setsu's continuous silence. "Oh, I don't mind at all... I'm just tired," replied Setsu with a smile. And confused, and lost, and losing my mind, she added in her head. The stories Hana had been telling her made no sense.. it was like she was in a whole other world... She would shrug them off as mere fairy tales, but they were tales of Hana's own adventures. "Tired I understand. When I first set out 4 years ago I was only thinking about getting away from it all.. from Horoki mainly." "Horoki?" "Yah, he's Ame's son and I was friends with him and his cousin Iwa... and things were fine.. but when we were all 16 Horoki decided he was in love with me and proposed. So I guess you could say I ran away..." Hana sighed, she had never told anyone why she had been travelling for the past 4 years, but she felt Setsu would understand, somewhat. And maybe return the trust. "I take it then you didn't feel the same?" asked Setsu with a smirk. She didn't understand how this young woman could just bare her soul so easily to someone she had just met. "You could say that," laughed Hana, "I thought of them both, and still do, as brothers. A little, much less mature brothers, despite the fact that we were the same age. The pranks those two would play...." Before Hana could say anymore the two girls noticed a horse rushing towards them. It quickly passed them and turned to block their path. Hana stood protectively in front of the younger girl and glared angrily at the man on the horse. Setsu simply stared at pale, wide eyed man in bewilderment. His long, blowing red hair and red eyes made him look like some kind of forest spirit. Setsu was quite nearly convinced she had utterly lost her mind. "I gotta be crazy, I gotta be crazy, I gotta be crazy!!!" Thought the auburn haired seishi as he mentally asked the horse to go as fast as he could. In a quick glace he looked back just to see that the bandits that were chasing him hadn't given up, no matter how fast his horse was. "Those bastards won't give up at all! Well, I should have though twice before getting this shortcut...". His thoughts were distracted by the vision of a tree blocking the road. "That's all I needed.... A trap... If only I hadn't this thing telling me to go to Eyiou, and talking about this great danger... If only I wasn't in such a rush because of that...". He stopped his cursing to concentrate chi on his hand. For a second time seemed to stop, as he remembered his old Sensei teaching him the 'trick'. The wind caressed his hair, blowing gently through it as he opened his way in an explosion of red chi. He opened his eyes, seeing the now unblocked road and the bandits running scared as if they were in another time, another place. His horse kept it's speed and in seconds he was far from the explosion place, even if he hadn't noticed, his mind was taken by this feeling of urgency and danger and he was only distracted from it when he felt this strange chi, this energy that danced like fire in his mind. It seemed to have something to do with his strange feelings and dreams. He went throught the clouds in his mind and headed to the source of the chi, a couple of girls a short distance from him. He made his horse run till he passed them and turn, to stand in their way. The wind was blowing from his back and loosing his hair from the thin band that kept his braid, making the long, silkish locks of it soar to his right in a red bloom. Standing like that he looked unnatural, like some kind of spirit of the forests, his face was pale, his wide red eyes had a concern expression to them. It wasn't a surprise that the girls were scared. The older one, the one that had felt his presence, was protecting the other, a strange girl in foreign clothes. Yet something has struck him in the older girl... Her face.. He knew her... "Hana...?" he whispered loud enough only for the three of them hear. "It's me, Hidama." Hana's expression changed quickly from a frightened anger, to a confused shock, to happy recognition. "Hi-chan!" she cried happily, leaping at the man and hugging him as best she could from where she stood. She then stepped back and hit him with one of her sacks, "What are you doign riding around like some sort of crazed lunatic?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Hidama made a motion to tell Hana to be quiet, but the excitable girl just ignored him, "And why are you whispering? What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time, Hi-chan?" The silence was deafening. Mamoru could not remember the last time he walked without hearing a bird chirping or the wind blowing. It was an odd sensation, one he rarely got, but, being one of the seven Byakko seishi, he knew something was amiss. He glanced over his shoulder to see if he was being followed, but no one was there. He continued his meditation. For the past three days he had been drawn to this location, like a moth to fire. He had no idea why, but had a feeling it had to do with the legend. He would come here and meditate in this small forest by the Thieve's mountain in Kounan for what reason he did not know. Most of his life had been in isolation, training and schooling, and he only had one friend, his fiancee` back in Banrai. A flash of red shot through his mind and he stood upright abruptly, opening his eyes. *Red Chi, Suzaku...* he thought. He glanced around to see if it had come from anywhere nearby, due to the intensity of the chi had been so strong. Not seeing it nearby, he pulled his crystal from the pouch at his waistband. Closing his eyes he concentrated his energy on finding the strong red chi that he had sensed moments before. He suddenly opened his eyes and a thin red line shot out from the crystal towards the mount. *Such a strong chi... I've never sensed such an intense Suzaku chi before...* he wondered which seishi it could be. He gathered his belongings and began his trek towards Mt. Leikaku be teleporting across the border into the forests by the base of the mountain. Mamoru watched in the shadows as the rider made his way through the thicket. He spotted a pair of young girls and slowed his pace to call to them, as if he knew them. He hopped off his steed and advanced carefully. "I believe it is you who may be in trouble..." Mamoru finally spoke, revealing himself to the three. The one called Hidama took up a defensive stance, as did the one called Hana. The younger girl stepped back and gasped. Mamoru held his hands out, showing he had no weapon, and the other two relaxed. "What do you mean, stranger?" demanded the man. Mamoru pulled out his crystal, and it began to shine a bright red, and the symbol 'Wing' began to glow softly on the back of Hidama's left hand. "Suzaku shichiseishi, Tasuki. Yoroshiku." he bowed his head slightly. Hidama was taken aback slightly at hearing his seishi name so suddenly. Mamoru pulled down a flap on his shirt, revealing a glowing character, 'Lasso.' "Ore wa Byakko shichiseishi, Tatara." he stated simply. Hana looked on impatiently, wanting to know what was going on. "OK great, now that the formalities are out of the way, I'm Hana, and this is Setsu. You said something about us being in danger?" the Byakko raised his crystal and pointed it at Hana, and a small red chi appeared. "Not a seishi, but very loyal to the Suzaku... but her..." he pointed it to Setsu, and it began to glow intensely red, nearly blinding the others. Tatara repocketed the crystal. "As I thought. She's not a seishi at all." he whispered. The others listened on intently. "So who is she? No one other than a seishi could have a chi that strong!" Tatara looked at the frightened young Setsu, who was hiding behind Hana for comfort. Tatara bowed in respect and took her hand. "I'm sorry for frightening you, Suzaku no Miko-sama." Setsu looked behind her to see who he was talking to... but there was no one. And what was with that red glow deal? she thought, this whole situation just gets weirder and weirder... "What's a Suzaku no.." Setsu began to ask Hana, who was glaring at the strange man who had called her that. Then Setsu noticed the one Hana called Hi-chan staring at her and then suddenly he fell to his knees as if he was in pain. Hidama didn't liked the way Tatara had showed up, neither the way he just found out about him and his 'little secret', but he said the girl is Suzaku no Miko... "Suzaku no miko..." he whispered to himself as if trying to make it have a little sense. He then looked at Setsu and a bright red light flashed in his mind as the feelings came back. He fell on his knees holding his head, the pain was sharp as a dagger and he just couldn't bare it anymore. The pain increased as the uneasy feeling started to morph into a danger. The world was starting to blur. All he could hear now was a scream and all he could feel now was the pain... And then, the blackness came. Hana immediately rushed to the side of her fallen friend, leaving Setsu standing alone. Setsu was beyond confused. She didn't understand what was happening, or why. She didn't like how all these strange men were popping up all over the place... she didn't generally trust strangers. Hana had helped her and seemed nice, so she was okay... And Hana seemed to know this Hidama guy, so maybe he was okay too. This Tatara-whosit was a little iffy.. Hana didn't know him and didn't seem to trust him too much. Maybe that was because he was a stranger? Well, if Hana didn't know him there's no way Setsu could trsut him. How did she know she could trust Hana though? And back to this Suzaku no miko business... Setsu's thoughts were running rampant in disconnected circles. All these questions she couldn't even begin to answer. She heard Hana and Hidama talking but couldn't listen to them, only catching snippets of sentences. "W..What happened?" Hidama asked as he opened his eyes, confused faces looking down at him. "That's what I ask!" Said Hana with her best worried look "You looked at Setsu-sama, your eyes got weird and you fell screaming and holding your head!!! What do you think we thought??? I guess you gotta give us a good explanation about all this." She sounded like a big sister, Hidama loves when she sounds like that... She is all he can call Family, anyway... But he had no time for that now. "What happened? I... I... I don't know... It was a dream, I believe..." He looked at Tatara, who whatched him with a concerned face. "You... Did you had that dream too? Do you feel the danger?" He said as he got up on his feet, making a painful expression as his head ached like if someone had passed a needle through it. 'Danger? There's danger involved in this mess?' screamed Setsu in her mind. 'Well, I guess that makes sense... well, as much sense as anything could now...' Setsu continued to stand in silence, not hearing anything anyone was saying. She just stared at the ground, not noticing when she had let go of the cape Hana had given her and let it fall to the ground. The confusion was getting to her. She couldn't handle not knowing where she was, what had happened, how she had got there.. she didn't know anything about her situation. She didn't even know if *he* could find her here. What if he could? What if he was looking for her right now? What was she doing standing still?! "Setsu? Are you all right?" asked Hana, noticing the panicked expression on the violet-eyed girl's face. Getting no response, Hana approahced the girl and put a hand on her shoulder, "Setsu?" "NO!" screamed Setsu, violent throwing Hana's arm away, "Don't touch me! You can't touch me! I will never let you touch me again!" And with that she turned and ran into the woods blindly. She didn't know where she was going, and she didn't care. All this confusion had caused her to simply snap. "This is not good..." muttered the Byakko solemnly. He closed his eyes and blinked away in a small flash. Hidama and Hana just blinked as he disappeared from their sight. "Hi-chan, what's going on?" "I don't know, Hana, but he's not Suzaku, and it looks like he might be after Miko-sama... and it's all just like in the Legend. A girl from another world, dressed in different cloting, I can't just dismiss it as coincidence, especially since he found... that..." Hidama glanced around, then began to run in the direction that Setsu had run. "Hi-chaa~~n! Where are you going!?" "I have to protect her. She is Suzaku no Miko." Mamoru watched on from the trees above. He would easily be able to track Setsu with the crystal. Even without it, he could sense her unusually strong red chi. He wondered exactly why her chi was so strong. Was it because she was Suzaku no Miko? Or does she have some power from her own world that amplifies her own chi? He watched Hidama dash off, and Hana rush after him. He silently teleported his way through the canopy, following the trail of footfalls Setsu left as she ran from them. Setsu just kept running. She could barely see where she was going, her unshed tears clouding her vision. Somewhere in her mind she realized she was being foolish, there was no way her aunt's second husband could find her here. It was quite obvious that "here" was no where near Tokyo. But still she kept on running. Maybe if I keep running, thought Setsu, I'll just end up back at the library. The forest was getting thicker, or at least it seemed that way by the dimming light. It was getting harder to go forward, but maybe that was just her legs getting tired. She couldn't stop though, she knew they were chasing her. She had learned quite well to never stop running when someone was after you. Things may have been bad before, but they only get worse if they catch you when you run. I have to stop running, thought Setsu, I'm being ridiculous. I don't know where I am. I don't know how I got here. I don't know where I'm going. I have no where to go. Setsu leaned up against a tree and tried to think. Everything was so out of control now. Could she go back? Could they be trusted? Was it too late? She noticed the red haired man had found her, and her first instinct was to run. However, she quickly knew that would be useless... she had nowhere to run to. So she slid to the ground, rested her head on her knees, and cried softly. What are you doing? she scolded herself. Why are you so afraid? So weak? You aren't supposed to cry anymore... you ran away so you wouldn't cry anymore... Setsu looked up in surprise as she felt something heavy being placed on her shoulders. She saw sadness in the eyes looking down at her, and she didn't know what to do when he wiped the tears from her eyes. His touch was so gentle, as if he was afraid of hurting her. She didn't remember the last time a man had touched her without caussing pain, even the emergency workers lacked gentleness. The only male she trusted, Motoki, knew better then to try to come to close. But she had missed human contact, even if she would never admit it. "Thank you," she said softly, not knowing what else to say. Then, suprising herself with her own action, she hugged the young man. She found herself, somehow, for the first time in so long, trusting someone completely, even if she didn't understand why. Burying her face in his shoulder she said it again, "Thank you." Hidama held the girl tight, gently caressing her hair until she stopped crying. What problably was just a few minutes felt like ages, years of simple and quiet understanding, nothing more. It had been so long since he had felt like that... He could keep that hug to the end of times, but it was darkening and soon it would be too dangerous for a girl to be out there, even if she wasn't alone. "There, there..." he said as he placed a gentle kiss in her forehead. "Listen, we must go back now, it's darkning and we're on a very dangerous neighbourhood. I wouldn't like if anything badhappened to you..." Hidama always hated the way his eyes just give out everything he feels or thinks, they're just too deep and too wide, like a girl's eyes. But this time he didn't tryed to hide his feelings, he was concearned about Setsu and he didn't knew exactly why he was so concearned, but he knew it wasn't just normal... 'No, it isn't time to get confused, I gotta be ready for facing some bandits and protecting Setsu. Miko or not, she is still needs help.' "So, shall we go?" He said as he got up, his expression quickly changing from a mix of concearn and confusion to the practical look of someone who is trying to be strong, and offered his hand to help her get on her feet. Setsu nodded and stood up, brushing her self off and went to give Hidama back his coat. "No, you keep it for now, it's getting cold," said Hidama, fastening the coat around Setsu's neck. Setsu had never been one for eye contact, but she couldn't look away from the red eyes before her. She had never seen such genuine concern, it amazed her not too see a hint of doubt, a hint of fear, or even a trace of disgust that people usually looked at her with. A little voice in her head told her she'd regret trusting this young man so quickly, but she couldn't help herself. "Thank you," she said softly, as they headed back towards where they assumed Hana was waiting. Banrai walked onwards, awash in the golden light of sunset. He loped up the final stretch of trail with a smile as his destination came into sight. There it was, in all its glory: the headquarters of the Mt. Leikaku bandits. It was an ugly, squat, low building; cold in winter, and a veritable furnace in summer. The building itself, however, paled next to its inhabitants: the scum of Konan Country, hard-drinking, brawling, ruthless brutes to a man. But heck, it was home. He was back for the first time in weeks. Jinku would tease him mercilessly, he knew. "You've got a woman in one of those little villages, don't you! Whenever you get sick of us you scamper off to spend time with her! I'm onto you, you know," he'd say, with a wink. Banrai smiled, but weakly. *Jinku, if you only knew....* As he strode up to the door, a few strands of hair escaped the bun into which they'd been pulled, falling into his eyes. Mildly annoyed, he shoved the dark blue strands behind one ear. Already he could hear sounds from inside; raised voices, laughter, and snatches of bawdy drunken songs that brought a grin to his lips once more. "Hold it! Who's... oh, it's you." A dark shape by the doorway shifted and stirred, revealing Gen, a man with many years of the hard life of a bandit imprinted on his weathered face. He liked nothing better than sleeping; as many hours of the day as he could get away with. It was a wonder that he was still awake. "Hey, Gen!" Banrai said, greeting the older bandit. He was a little confused, though. "Doesn't Jinku usually have the evening shift?" And try as he might, he couldn't hear his best friend's sharp voice among the general hubbub inside the building. Strange. "Is he out on a raid or something?" A look at the other bandit's face made him catch his breath. It was gnarled into a mask of pain and loss. "Jinku's dead." Inside the Mt. Leikaku bandit headquarters, all was normal. Men were lounging everywhere, demolishing the current supply of sake with reckless abandon. And seated on a makeshift throne of treasure chests and tapestries, pillows and planks, overlooking the whole mess, was their leader. One muscular arm resting casually on a knee, he gazed reflectively into the bowl of clear liquor he held in his powerful hand. Suddenly, the cheerful hubbub was shattered by an angry cry. "YOU BASTARD!" The leader looked up calmly, heavy-lidded eyes searching for the source of the disturbance. It was a young bandit; one who he hadn't seen for weeks. The young pup was glaring straight at him with sheer unabashed fury. "I'LL KILL--" Banrai gasped, eyes watering. Gen had just elbowed him in the stomach. "Shut up, you idiot!" the older man growled, maintaining his grip on Banrai, wrestling him to the ground. "You wanna join Jinku in hell?" On second thought, maybe he *shouldn't* have told the youngster exactly who'd been responsible for the death of his friend. Banrai's rage was overwhelming. Struggling in the other bandit's grip, he caught sight once again of the leader and growled. Even so, part of him protested against the sheer and utter folly of attacking this muscular panther of a man; this man who, several months ago, had single-handedly wrested control of the entire gang. This man who could defeat a small army in combat and who showed no mercy to enemies or allies alike. The cold realization struck Banrai that he had no chance of winning, not even if every other man in the building stood with him. Which they didn't. Quieting down somewhat, he allowed Gen to pin his arms to his sides. By this time, several of the other bandits were standing over him, unsure of what to do next. "Boy," spoke his nemesis in a cold, even tone, which rang out loud and clear in the hush that had befallen the building. He stood up in one fluid motion from his seat of privilege, dominating everything with his sheer force of presence. "You don't stand a chance. Quit this foolishness." Banrai wanted to spring up and choke the man. He wanted to hear screams of anguish. He wanted to pound that cruel, emotionless face till it begged for mercy. But what he did instead was sit quietly, shrinking in on himself. *I'm sorry, Jinku. I can't.* He stared furiously at the ground, his mouth twisted in grief. The tension in the room relaxed. Banrai knew without looking up that the leader was now ignoring him, and had no doubt returned to his seat. His life had been spared. "Thought you were a goner, boy," muttered Gen. "Never pull a stunt like that again." The older bandit let go, pushed himself up, and stumped back outside to his post. Trying his best to ignore the viper coiled at the far side of the room, Banrai stood. His knees were weak. *There was so much I wanted to tell you, Jinku. I was looking forward to hearing your stories... I miss the sound of your voice.* He stumbled towards one of the tables, pouring himself a bowl of sake, then started to drink himself into oblivion. The other bandits nearby, some of them his friends, some merely acquaintances, looked on in sorrow and pity before returning to their drunken carousing. Hidama began to run in the direction Setsu had gone. Hana felt a bit confused, what in the name of Suzaku was happening here? "Hi-chaaa~an! Where are you going?" she called. "I have to protect her. She is Suzaku no Miko," replied Hidama, barely pausing in his run. Hana just sighed and followed him. "How do you know if she's really Suzaku no Miko?" asked Hana, trying to keep up with her friend, "We don't know that guy, maybe he was just messing with us. Maybe he'd been following Setsu and I, knew she was confused and lost, knew the legend, and decided to have some fun!" Hana could tell Hidama wasn't listening to her, and she stopped running. She couldn't keep up with him that well anyway. She was worried about Setsu, but she knew Hidama would find her. I should go back to get Hi-chan's horse, Hana thought, it's getting dark and I know all to well what happens when you leave stuff unattended in these woods. As Hana neared the clearing where Hidama's horse and her bags had been left she heard some voices. Oh no, she thought, not again... they've already taken my horse and the packs I had on her! She ran to the spot the voices where coming from, and sure enough a small group of men were leading away Hidama's horse and taking Hana's bags as well. "Hey! That's my stuff!" cried Hana. "Oh really? Well, you're stuff is comin' on a little trip with us. Why dontcha join us?" asked one of the men, leering at the young woman. "No thank you, I think I'd rather just take my stuff and continue on my way." "What fun would that be?" asked the second of four men, "You shouldn't be travellin' alone at night, little lady." "I'm not alone, my friends are just taking a walk," said Hana, trying to remain calm as a couple of the men came closer. "Sure they are, babe," chuckled one man, grabbing her arm suddenly. Hana quickly pulled a knife out of her sash and stabbed the man's arm. Shit, she thought, that was intelligent... like I'm in any position to start a fight with four bandits! She turned to run, but someone grabbed her ponytail and yanked her back. Hana tried to scream, but a hand clasped roughly over her mouth. "Stupid bitch, what the %^&( was that? You're coming with us, and you're going to #$^*ing pay for that little prank," cursed the man she had stabbed, as he tore of her sash and used it to wrap his injured arm. I'm so close to home, thought Hana, tears coming to her eyes, why are things going wrong when I'm so close to getting home?! In a last effort to escape the bruttish men, Hana bit the hand over her mouth and kicked back hard. "*&%$!!" yelled the man, letting her go. However, four to one isn't fair odds, and another one of the men hit her hard on the head, knocking her unconcious. "I hate women who travel alone," grumbled the man she had bitten, "They're not only stupid enough to travel alone, they're stupid enough to put up a fight." "They're sure entertainin' though," chuckled an uninjured man as the group headed back towards their headquarter's, Hana drapped over Hidama's horse. "Suzaku no Miko-sama will be find with Hidama I suppose," Tatara thought silently to himself as he teleported silently into their hideout. Using his power, he concealed himself by clouding the bandit's minds. He made his way into the cells, where the four bandits had her pinned down on a table. "Yamenasai!" she screamed in slight pain. She was a strong woman, but not even she could fight off 4 bandits. Tatara closed his eyes and placed his palm on Hana's shoulder. She gasped quickly as her consciousness faded slightly, and when she opened her eyes, she was back outside. "You will be alright." came a soothing voice. Standing over the young woman was the Byakko no shichiseishi, looking around for pursuit. Once he saw there was none, he picked up the girl, much to her annoyance. "I can WALK myself, thank you." she retorted. Mamoru simply placed a hand on her forehead and she lost consciousness again. He then concentrated his chi on Suzaku no Miko so he could bring Hidama's friend back to him. Banrai poured himself another bowl of sake. Gen was snoring on the ground beside the table; his watch was over, and he was back to his favourite activity. Sleeping. A lot of the guys were following his lead, too, now that it was dark. Suddenly there was an explosion of noise from the doorway, waking up about half the sleepers. Even Gen snorted and shifted around. Banrai looked up in a drunken stupor, realizing that a bunch of the rougher guys had found a girl and had dragged her back to headquarters. They shoved people away from one of the tables; drinking bowls and empty containers were swept off and clattered to the ground. The girl's cries of anger were loud in Banrai's ears as they threw her on the table. Hey, didn't she seem familiar? For the life of him he couldn't remember how or why. For a moment he considered getting up and doing something about this, but quickly put it out of his mind. These were some of the biggest, meanest thugs to ever be allowed into the Mt. Leikaku bandit gang, and they wouldn't hesitate to pound him through the walls if he crossed them. Plus, getting up and doing something would require coordination. After this much sake, he was lucky to be able to sit up straight. The four thugs were in fine spirits, roaring with laughter, trading rude comments, and leering. Banrai dropped his head to the table, hoping to be spared at least the sight of what was bound to happen next. That's why he didn't see what DID happen next. The first he knew of it was when the thugs' laughter turned to angry shouts and curses. Looking up, he saw four furious bandits... and no girl. *What happened? Did she escape?* "Where'd he COME from?" one of the rowdies shouted. "Outta nowhere...! The bastard! She was OURS!" "How'd he do that, by Suzaku?" By Suzaku.... Instantly, everyone went still. No one spoke. No one moved. The bandit who'd last spoken looked stricken, his mouth gaping, trembling in... fear. Banrai, his head fuzzy, wondered what the heck was going on. And then, one man stood up from his makeshift throne. The bandit leader. A man who called himself Ronshou, who had appeared several months ago and fought his way savagely through anyone who dared to oppose him. And he was angry. "Who dares to speak THAT name in my presence?" Banrai blinked. What was the leader talking about? The rough man cowered, and his three friends quickly backed away from him. Ronshou's eyes burned with savagery as he regarded the unfortunate bandit. "You know the penalty for speaking of that... *charlatan*." He strode forward; the bandit cast pleading looks towards his friends, but no one came forward to help him. "What the heck is going on?" Banrai stood up abruptly, the room spinning around him. The leader was going to attack someone... for no reason? And everyone was just sitting around and watching! Were they all mad? A tugging at his elbow brought him crashing back to his seat. "Shut up and sit down!" hissed Gen. "Don't get involved!" With a look of hard determination in his eyes, the lone bandit abandoned himself to his fate, and launched himself towards Ronshou, fists flying. But he was no match for the tall, powerful leader. One punch, two, and he was howling in pain. The worst part was the look of unholy glee in Ronshou's eyes. Banrai felt sick just thinking about it. "This is crazy!" he snapped, only to be accosted once more by Gen. "He'll kill you if you try to stop him, so don't even try!" The older bandit was visibly scared. "You weren't here when it began! He'll kill anyone who speaks of...!" "Anyone who speaks of...." It took a few seconds for Banrai's fuzzy mind to figure out what Gen was talking about. "Of *Suzaku*?" "HUSH!" Gen, in a panic, tried to cover Banrai's mouth. The younger bandit lurched to his feet, stepping dizzily away from the table and out of Gen's clutches. "I can't believe this! I can't believe any of this!" The bandit was howling for mercy by now. *Jinku, is this what happened to you?* Even though it was a rowdy, vulgar brute of a man being assaulted by Ronshou, all he could think of was his friend, lying there helpless, no one coming to his aid.... *Jinku, grant me courage.* He knew he was no match for Ronshou. But things had gone too far. He could not ignore this monstrosity. "RONSHOU!" he cried, shoving his way forward through the ranks of bandits who were quietly, fearfully watching one of their number being attacked. Just as they had probably watched Jinku's death. "You MONSTER! How can you do this?" The leader paused in his vicious beating, pinning the whimpering bandit under one foot and catching Banrai in his powerful gaze. "My rules are clear," he spoke in a commanding tone of voice. "None may speak of that beast which pretends to be divine. On pain of death." Banrai shivered, but something within him utterly refused to back down. "Suzaku is the Guardian of our country," he said quietly. "Anyone who says otherwise is worse than a fool." Oozing confidence and self-assurance, Ronshou smiled smugly. "You have tried my patience for the last time, boy. In the name of the true god, you will die."