Starlit Reflections

 Fushigi Yuugi is copyright Watase Yuu, Flower Comics, Studio Perriot, Viz Communications and Pioneer Entertainment.
 This fanfiction is written to entertain, not make money. If it did, the Mt. Leikaku bandits would undoubtedly (and gleefully) practice their craft and take all the profits.
 This chapter is rated PG-13; there is a death scene.  However, I consider it more gruesome than scary; please use your own judgement, and please don't read it while you're eating.  Crumbs are very bad for keyboards.

Chapter Ten: Dragon Waking

 Taiitsukun was relaxing in Her reception hall.  The dispatching of the Priestess of Suzaku - silly girl, but she couldn't escape her destiny, even if she did try, so there was no real need to worry - was a tiring piece of magic, even for the Creator of All.

 She didn't expect to feel an entry into the world quite so soon after that leavetaking.  Sitting up, she called a mirror to show her exactly what had just happened.

 The Creator of All, naturally enough, has quite an impressive vocabulary of profanity.  She invented it, after all, along with everything else; it therefore follows that She knows every foul word that has ever been spoken by man or God.  It took Her four hours to run through all of them.

 By that time, even if She had been inclined to stop the events She was witnessing, it was far too late.

 Yui woke with the mild headache that one always feels when one oversleeps.

 However, given the fact that she was wearing her school uniform, not pajamas, and lying on a stretch of cobblestones, rather than her bed, she sincerely doubted that this was the explanation.  She seemed to be all in one piece, though, so she apparently hadn't been mugged, either.  Yui had a healthy dose of egotism, and was well aware that she was a very pretty girl.  This was not a problem in Tokyo, when walking on well-lit city streets with a group of her schoolmates.

 Alone, in a city she didn't know, without any kind of lighting on the street at all, was a different matter entirely.

 Standing up, she looked shakily around her.  There was no sign of Miaka at all; and she wasn't even in the National Library anymore either, but a strange city.  This city was not what she was used to.  The wall that bordered the street was made of mud and wattle, while no building on the street was taller than two stories.  She could hear bustle and noise in the distance, but none of it near - a bad sign every citydweller learns to fear.  There were no footpaths, the street stretching from wall to wall on either side of the road, and the ever-present scent of bitumen, motor oil and petrol that marks cities with a large number of motor vehicles simply didn't exist.  Instead, she smelt oily smoke and a nasty smell that was sort of like pot-plant fertilizer and sort of like dog poop.  Except that it wasn't.

 Then a man rode past on a horse.  The horse lifted its tail and deposited a load of droppings on the street.  The smell hit her nose so suddenly that she lurched, almost hitting the building, but gave her the answer - that was the smell.

 Yui glanced around her nervously.  Where was she?  Where was Miaka?  This city was almost mediaeval, and she had no idea if it was even Japanese.  She... she might even have fallen into the book, herself....

 Swallowing against her nervousness, she began to walk down the street.

 "Where you goin', pretty girl?" a man's voice slurred behind her.

 Oh, no, Yui thought.  But she didn't make the mistake of responding, and began to walk faster. Miaka? Oh, Miaka, where are you?

 A man, grubby, unshaven and unkempt, stepped out of the shadows in front of her.  "He asked you," he said, ponderously, "where you were going, girl."

 Yui stopped.  "Away," she replied shortly and tried to step away from him.

 "That's not very nice," another voice interjected.  Yui glanced to the side, to see a young man, just as repulsively dirty and ragged as the other two.  "You haven't given us a chance to demonstrate our hospitality yet."

 "Yu~ui! Where are you?" Miaka called down the street.

 She'd found herself sitting on the floor of the National Library's Special Materials Room, alone.  So, naturally enough, she'd set out in search of Yui.

 She wasn't home, as the Hongou's answering machine informed her.  She wasn't at the library, and she wasn't on the street.

 Miaka sighed and decided to go home.  When Yui got home, she'd get her message and ring back, and then they'd talk.  What else could she do?

 Suboshi felt the quiet urgency in his belly that was pulling him along increase in intensity.  No longer quiet, it was a churning mass that burnt his nerves, making it impossible to ignore.

 He ducked into the maze of alleys that made up the back districts of Xi'entu, vaguely recognising the signs as wealthy districts graduated into poorer ones, until he found himself in a clearly criminal area.

 Setting the Taisuisen spinning in lazy readiness about his body, he forged on, heading ever deeper into the territory of those outside the law.

 There were six men surrounding her now - escape was impossible.  They hadn't touched her yet... but it wouldn't be long.  Her skin crawled at the idea of those dirty fingers groping her.

 Wherever she was, this wasn't Tokyo.  She was - she had to be - in the book.  Miaka! Miaka, can you hear me?

 "What - what do you want?" she stuttered, scrabbling in her pockets.  "Money?  I don't have much, but...."

 "You have what we want, pretty," said the young man who'd spoken earlier.  The youngest, he was apparently also the ringleader.  "And when we're finished, if you're good and don't scream too much," he reached and stroked a finger down her cheek, leaving a streak of dirt on the paled skin, "we might not kill you."

 One of the men behind her uttered a short bark of laughter.

 Yui sucked in a deep breath, and charged into a gap between the two men in front of her.  Maybe it wouldn't work, but she couldn't not try.  Not with what they were promising.

 A blue glow sprang up around her, a pale azure haze that clung to her body.  The men ignored it.  They ran after her, taller, faster and with longer legs.  She didn't even get to the end of the street before a hand landed on the shoulder of her jacket.  Twisting her shoulder as the grip closed, so all her pursuer caught was cloth, she didn't stop even as the jacket tightened and the button tore open.

 Another hand closed on her upper arm, using the inertia she'd built up to spin her against the wall.  Her head hit hard, and all she saw for a second were stars.

 When they cleared, the ringleader was looming over her.  This was not a significant improvement.  "Right, you little bitch," he hissed.  "I was going to be nice, but since you like it rough -" he pulled out a wicked, hooked dagger, stained with dried blood that hadn't been cleaned off, "- why the hell no-"

 A gold-and-blue striped ball burst out of his chest.  No sooner had it appeared than it equally abruptly disappeared.  The thug stared at the massive hole where his heart had been, looked up, and fell over.  His eyes, glazed in death, stared forever into nothing.

 Yui blinked.  The thug's blood was spattered on her hair, face and chest, and his corpse lay at her feet in an exaggerated pose of obeisance.  She would later recognise it as ironic, but at the time she was holding onto rationality with her teeth.

 The street was almost empty.  The other would-be rapists had run for their lives; there was only she, the still-bleeding corpse, and a boy, standing directly behind where the thug had stood.

 He looked about her age, maybe a little older.  His messy blond-brown hair fell over a bandanna tied around his forehead, and his grey-blue eyes shifted with emotions she was too wrought-up to read.  The bloodstained ball that had stopped her attacker spun on his left index finger, matching the blue and yellow of his clothing.

 Stepping forward, his bright eyes ran over her.  "Are you all right, My Lady?" her rescuer asked anxiously.  "They didn't hurt you before I got here, did they?"

 "I... I...." Yui suddenly couldn't form a coherent sentence.

 "Don't worry," her young knight assured her.  "They'll pay for accosting you.  Even I can tell who you are, so there'll be no mercy for the men who attacked the Priestess of Seiryuu."

 Priestess of Seiryuu?!?

 At this point, Yui's brain decided to shut down, and she tumbled forward into a dead faint.

 The Emperor of Konan's overall verdict was: Some days just weren't worth waking up for.

 Hotohori was tired, hungry and bored. When I get back to Court, I swear to Suzaku, I'm going to decree that all the people of Konan will observe at least a half-hour luncheon, he resolved.

 As they were about three days travel from Eiyou, they had decided that there was no point in staying.  As Tamahome had pointed out, "The country needs us, now more than ever."

 This time, however, they were avoiding the mountains.  The official excuse was the lack of inns there, but Hotohori had decided that, as Nuriko was still far too quiet and lethargic, they would try to reach established shelters rather than camp in the open.  A white bandage on Nuriko's arm was an all-too-clear reminder of the danger his country, and they, were in.

 Nuriko had dressed herself as a boy that morning - and it was startling to realize how odd that suddenly appeared.  The idea that Nuriko was a girl was somehow no longer alien, but right, and the sight of her in her boyish disguise, with her curves bound and hair tied in a mannish braid, was all wrong.

 The inn they stopped at, just after sunset, was both quiet and clean, but crowded, and there was only one room available.  It had four beds in it, though, so they took it.

 Hotohori's last thoughts, before he went to sleep, were of Miaka.  He hoped she was getting better... he hoped she'd come back soon... he hoped she knew what to wish for....

 Suboshi wished he'd brought his brother along.  Or a wagon.  Or something.  The Priestess was heavy!

 People were staring as he carried her unconscious body through the streets towards the New Palace.  He didn't get it; maybe it was the Taisuisen that he was spinning around them, to make sure the Priestess didn't get jostled and more injured.

 When the Palace came into view, he was very relieved.  Barely noticing the crowds, he pressed on.  Nearly there!

 He almost bumped into Soi, Tomo and Amiboshi as the three of them came charging out of the crowd.

 "Suboshi! What have... you...." Soi began, then stuttered to a halt as she stared at the youngest Shichiseishi and his bloodstained burden.  His eyes were flashing with triumph and pain as he cradled the girl close.  The girl... there was something about that girl....

 "Older brother! Elder sister Soi! Lord Tomo! I found our Priestess!" Suboshi announced at the top of his lungs.  Every person in the crowded square stopped dead and turned to stare at the small group.  A susurration of whispers began to blow through the mob.

 "She was being attacked by a group of thugs, but I got there in time and rescued her!" he crowed exultantly.  "But I think she's been hurt so I brought her back for the healers to see," he added, more quietly.

 The three older Shichiseishi surrounded the two, staring at the girl.  Amiboshi was the first to speak.  "He's right," he finally said.  "This girl is the Priestess of Seiryuu.  We'd better take her inside."  He looked around, glancing at the crowd.  "Before more rumours start," he added quietly, holding out his arms for Suboshi to place the Priestess in.

 Suboshi felt something clench as his brother made the offer.  The Priestess was his responsibility. He'd been the one Seiryuu had sent to rescue her.  Just handing her off was... well, wrong.  But he could trust his brother; Seiryuu had chosen him, too.

 Soi watched as Suboshi's lips thinned in a petulant scowl, and how he clenched his arms around the girl, before very gently settling her into Amiboshi's grasp.  Suboshi gently adjusted the Priestess' slack form, resting her head securely on Amiboshi's shoulder, revealing one of the most elegantly lovely faces Soi had ever seen. Oh dear, Soi thought, suddenly reminded that Suboshi's sixteenth birthday was three days away. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  I hope she likes him back, or life is going to get very complicated.

 When the party of Suzaku Shichiseishi rode into the Palace of Eiyou's courtyard, they were expecting a welcome.  Perhaps a feast.  Certainly a 'hello'.

 They didn't expect Lord Yukino to come charging out of the Council Hall, looking as if he hadn't slept for days, with his hair all falling out of its bun and his robes mismatched.  "Oh, your Majesty, thank goodness you're back, it's terrible!"

 "Whatever is the matter, Lord Yukino?" Hotohori demanded, dismounting and handing Takehito and Kae over to the stablehand who came rushing up.  "You don't look well."

 "It's the worst of all possible news, your Majesty," the Chief Advisor gasped out, ignoring the slight breach of politeness.  He took a deep breath and blurted it out.

 "The Priestess of Seiryuu has appeared in Koutou!"