Karyuudo Ittenshika
I lay on the bed staring up at a bleak ceiling. I felt so alone.........Kusayu and I came to this place, this backwater world, for one purpose, and one purpose alone-to fine Motochai and take Akusho, a rather evil book, from him and strip him of all his power.
Kusayu had gone hunting for Motochai days ago, leaving me in this place to wait in case Motochai decided to pay a visit to the Karyuudo Ittenshikai's abode and shut down out one and only portal home. Unfortunately, Kusayu hadn't returned yet, nor sent me any word about his progress, and Motochai hadn't shown up. I couldn't afford to leave the portal unattended for too long-Motochai was too powerful while in possession of Akusho, and so I was stuck there.
I sighed, and hit my head against the pillow, which made a rather fluffy noise and did nothing to distract me from my boredom and loneliness. I held my left hand out in front of my, tracing the black spider web lines burned forever into my pale white skin on the back of my hand, wrist, arm and fingers. The mark of Karyuudo Ittenshikai.
I sighed and thrust the hand under the blankets, not wanting to look at it any further, or to be reminded of my past. Before those marks were burnt into my skin, I was just Riska, a small, wide eyed girl who dreamed of traveling, adventure, the legendary Karyuudo, yet lived on a small planet with three brothers, a mother, a father and a grandmother. I hadn't even been to a Big City, before the Karyuudos came, searching for a man-Hortoni-who was not unlike Motochai. They enticed me, were kind and seemed to be so strong and lead such interesting lives.
When they left, Hortoni in their custody, I followed them through the portal back to the Karyuudo' lair. They were surprised, but treated me well until they could return me to my family-but I surprised them, and showed that I was more adept than they figured and would make a good Karyuudo myself. Kujorsai, one of the two that had caught Hortoni at my home, took me in and trained me. The day that I became Ariska, and had the spiderweb burnt onto my hand was the happiest day of my life. Or so I thought.
Since then, I had grown to regret my desision to join the Karyuudo-the only real good thing that came from it was Kusayu, and whenever he wasn't around my thoughts of the past began to take over.
I sighed a third time and stood. I needed to get out, I couldn't keep lying there thinking, else I would go mad. I needed something to do, someone to talk to. I glanced at myself in the mirror on the door-short, but slim, with large silvery eyes that sometimes shown black, skin as pale as snow, a long thin nose, small blackish lips that pulled aside to reveal dagger-like fangs, a delicate, pointed chin and silky black hair that fell well past my shoulders. Clad in pants and a shirt that clung to me like a second skin, with my gunbelt and swordbelt crossing at my waist even though I was in my own temporary home, and my weapons weren't in them, I didn't exactly fit in with the society.
Another thing that was so wonderful about Kusayu-he fit in anywhere. He was laid back, without the dangerous air that he keeps telling me I have, with dark brown hair at least as long as mine, though always worn back; tan skin; dark eyes and an infectious smile, he looked native to most any world. He also looked flawless-his skin was perfect, his eyes gorgeous almond shaped, his nose hawk-like, yet still apppealing-it was a look that was irrestable to most women-and some men at that. Thats why he was the one out searching actively for Motochai, while I languished in the small apartment he had rented us.
"Shimatta, Kusayu-kun!" I cursed in my frustration, clenching my jaw tightly, my claw-like nails cutting into my skin as I made a fist. "Can't you at least get in touch with me?" I sighed, and lowered by head. It would do no good to get annoyed with him, I reminded myself. And he was just in going out himself rather than having me go-after all, I was much more conpicious than he......I just hated being able to do nothing.
Out of habit, I picked up my tsurgi and slid it into it'd sheath, then headed downstairs. The downstairs of the apartment we-or, more accuartly, I-was staying in was barely furnished. There was a couch and a table, the kitchen was stocked with strange food from various parts on this world-some of which was quite good, while some of it made me gag. Around the table, there were two chairs, and then there was our equiptment and a few suveneir things that Kusayu had picked up. All of the things in the apartment, with the exception of most of my clothing and a few other things I brought from home, were Kusayu's doing. He thought it'd be nice and homey to have some native things, and while he was here he spent much of his time attempting to exhaust our-literally-endless supply of local money. A few times, he made me come with him, but when he left, of course, I didn't bother to go out when I didn't need to.
The one thing I did appreciate him picking up, was a small machine, known as a laptop. It gave me access to the world's "web," which was more of a machine library than an actual web. That was interesting-I could research the culture, see pictures of all the places I couldn't easily visit, and read their literature without actually dealing with anyone. It helped me pass the long hours.
It was to the laptop that I headed now. I sat down and pulled the simple computer into my lap. I pulled up the screen, and it turned on, listening to it's hum which was all too loud for it's small power supply. I waited with barely checked patience as it loaded up, and I could get onto the web.
I headed to a site that I had been visiting recently, which contained a novel. Actually, I wasnt' supposed to be able to get onto that site without paying for the reading material and getting a code, however, the world's technology was so outdated and unsophisticated that I had no trouble. I clicked on chapter five and started reading.
A soft buzz in my ear pulled me quickly out of the story. My communication device-which was installed in the upper part of my ear had been activated, meaning either a message from another world, or Kusayu-more likely the second of the two than the first.
"Konnichiwa," I greeted, keeping any hint of excitment out of my voice.
"Ariska-chan," the voice on the other side was familiar, but NOT Kusayu. It was Kujorsai, my old mentor and now one of my many supiriors-also he was the only person, with the exception of Kusayu, that I felt I could even remotely close to in a personal sense.
"Kujorsai-kun," I returned the greeting. "This is a surprise-can I help you?"
"No, but perhaps you can help Kusayu," Kujorsai sounded annoyed. "He found Motochai, but the baka didn't know it until after he got drunk off of furuzake." Ah yes, the vice of my darling partner-he's terribly laid back and all too trusting. That, and his joy in sampling native brews. I suppose that's why we make a good team-I'm nearly the exact opposite. "And, of course, told Motochai about who he really was et cetera et cetera."
"Baka." I muttered under my breath. "So, what did Motochai do?" I asked louder. "Gut him?" Would probly serve Kusayu right if he did, the damned fool. None the less, the thought of Kusayu dead made my insides twist up.
"Of course not, Ariska-chan," Kujorsai said as though it should be obviousl. "Have you forgotten that we have Tuzuki?" Shimatta, I had forgotten! Tuzuki was one of the other two most powerful books, aside from Akusho. While Akusho contained spells of destruction, Tuzuki held ones primarily of good. The third book, Nariku, held ones that fell under neither category-nature spells, chi spells and so on. It was Nariku that was the most powerful of them, but it was also Nariku that no one knew where it was. To make this short, if Motochai, or anyone for that matter, could get their hands on all three books, they could be nearly jujimi. Thats why the Karyuudo Ittenshikai wanted them so bad, and spent so much time going after people like Motochai and Hortoni. If we gathered the books, which are indestructable, we could lock them away, bury them forever and no one-not government or person-could have them. Thats one of the main reasons becoming a Karyuudo is so difficult-a Karyuudo can't have ambitions that would jeoperdize their work.
"And, of course," Kujorsai was continuing, oblivious to my thoughts. "You and Kusayu have access to Tuzuki."
"I know that," I replied, annoyance seeping into my voice. I was annoyed at Kusayu for being such a baka, but at the same time, myself for forgetting such an importent thing as the Tuzuki.
"Of course you do, Ariska-chan," Kujorsai crooned, in an obvious attempt not to get on the bad side of my anger.
I sighed. "Sorry, Kujorsai, I'm just a little annoyed at the Worlds right now,"
Kujorsai gave a dry laugh. "We all are, we all are,"
That brought a small smile to my face. "Okay, so are you going to give me information about where my baka partner is and in what shape?"
"Some," Kujorsai replied. "Where, I don't know. We're fairly sure that Motochai is still on that world,"
"Thats a help," I muttered, but Kujorsai ignored me.
"And that Kusayu is in bad shape-when you find him, he's not going to be able to help you much. Motochai," Kujorsai paused, his voice growing slightly strained in a frightening way. "Motochai ripped out all of his implants," I gasped in horror at the pain-as Karyuudo, both Kusayu and I had many implants, which were painful to get installed, even under the influence of pain killers. The implants ranged our comminucators to seven inch blades that could come out of our wrists to optical inhancers in our eyes. To have them all ripped out....I shuddered at the thought, feeling great pity for my partner. He was lucky to be alive, and more than likely, he was blind, near deaf and even if he survived with his intellect, he'd never be able to Hunt again.
"We're sending you someone else to work with for now," Kujorsai continued as I pushed the thought of so much pain out of my head. I like pain-or at least, I don't mind it, but the torture my mentor was talking about was just too much. "Could you open your portal?"
I sighed, not really wanting to get another partner just now, but knowing that, first off, I had no choice, and secondly unless I was more of a baka than Kusayu, I should take one anyhow. "Fine, I'll do that." I stood up while I talked and started back upstairs. I hated having the portal open-when it was open, it meant that anyone with the technology could invade me-friend and foe alike. "Who are you sending me?"
"His name is Kurasi. He's young, but he's nearly as experienced as you." Kujorsai informed me. "Be nice to him, Ariska-chan-though he's definatly cometent, he's a real sweetheart." Kujorsai, like many Karyuudo, ended up falling in love with his partner-there was such intamacy, it was hard not to. His partner was another male, and that made no difference what so ever. None the less, it was a little startling to hear my mentor-who I once caught naked in bed with Alini (one of the top female Karyuudo) when I was nine years old-talk about other men being sweethearts. "We'd hate to have you corrupt him."
I smirked. "I'll keep that in mind, Kujorsai-san. Anything else?"
"What, san now rather than kun? I feel hurt," Kujorsai's joking was so awkward that I almost laughed. Almost. "No, theres nothing else. Get in touch if you need anything, and take care, Ariska-chan."
"Thank you, Kujorsai-kun, I'll try." As my old friend's voice faded from my head, I sighed and opened the closet. Inside was a bunch of equiptment-including the portal. The portal was actually just a small, clear area large enough for a person to stand in. Around the outside of the portal, was a number of director beacons. Turn them on, and the portal is open for use. What actually makes the portal work is more implants-or rather, and injection into the blood. The portal technology works like a virus in the bloodstream-inject a number of tiny machines and soon a person has an electronic signature of their own, which can be picked up by the beacons. Much more trustworthy than the old portals, like the one I ran away through, which worked basically like a doorway, and in which people-anybody, Karyuudo or now-could get lost in all too easily. The only flaw with the new portals is that the Karyuudo aren't the only ones with the technology, which-if infiltrated correctly-makes the invasion of a world was too simple.
I took the last beacon out of my pocket-the portal can't work without all beacons, so I always carried one with me so that no one could use the portal without my sayso, and put it in place before stepping back. I pulled my sword from it's sheath and waited.
There was no noise, no flash of light and barely a wait before the person appeared. He wasn't tall, though he was taller than me, with a slim, but strong looking build, pale blond hair, large violet eyes that would make many a girl melt and a completely innocent expression as he looked around at his new surroudings.
I jabbed my tsurgi under his fine chin, close enough to the skin to be threatening, yet not actually touching him. I glanced down at his right hand, searching for the mark of a Hunter-sure enough, the back of his hand was burnt black in the pattern of a seven pointed star (each Karyuudo has an incevidual pattern-mine happened to be a spiderweb, Kusayu's was a large, branchy tree and this man's was a star).
The young man looked down my shiraha, confusion blossuming in his eyes. He looked a little hurt, as though having a sword at his throat was a personal insult against him. Perhaps it was-but I'd never bothered being careful about who I pissed off.
"Dochirasama?" I asked, looking right up into his face with my eyes narrowed.
The boy opened his mouth, yet it was a few seconds before he said anything. I sighed impatiently, pressing my tsurgi closer to him. At last he said, in a soft voice, "I'm Kurasi-are you Ariska?"
For a moment, I nearly ran him through-he acted like no Karyuudo I had ever known or heard of-he acted sweet, and painfully innocent. Instead, though, I lowered my sword very slowly. I had to trust him-or at least accept him-for now. Kujorsai would not be very happy with me if I killed him outright-besides, my mentor had said he was a competent sweetheart...
"Hai, I'm Ariska." I sheathed my sword without looking at it, and backed away from the closet so that Kurasi could come out. Kurasi slowly followed me, his wide eyes darting about the bedroom as I snagged one of the beacons, deactivating the portal.
"Kujorsai-san warned me about you," Kurasi informed me as I closed the closet up and once again stashed the beacon away. With my weapon sheathed, Kurasi sounded much less hesitant and more like a man.
"Did he now?" That didn't surprise me, and I wasn't really interested in what my old mentor had told this young Karyuudo about me-just what he'd said about Kusayu and Motochai.
Kurasi nodded. "Hai," he said confidently. "He told me not to piss you off. I can see why." I started out of the bedroom and downstairs, where the majority of the things Kusayu and I had brought with us to this world were stashed. Lick a puppy, Kurasi followed, his violet eyes soaking in all the details of the barren apartment.
"Thats good advice," I mumbled. Kujorsai didn't want me to alienate this boy? Fine, I'd try that for now, but if he got on my nerves or in my way the effort would immediatly end. "I'd follow it, if I were you,"
"I intend to." I glanced back at the boy, who's eyes were now firmly fixed on me. I shook my head quickly, and hurried down the rest of the stairs.
Once downstairs, I headed straight for the dining room where, spread over the table and counters, most of my equiptment was. I grabbed the small gun that fit in the holster on my gunbelt, and tugged it on. With a thought, I glanced back at the newcomer, who was staring at where the ceiling met the wall. When he felt my gaze, Korasi turned his eyes towards me.
Sure enough, as I'd thought, Korasi was dressed simular to me-clothing that he could move freely in and not trip him up. On one hip he had a pistol, but thats about all he carried. Surely, he had implants that he was more than proficciant with (he'd have to if he were a Karyuudo) but at the same time, it made sense to bring SOMEthing else with him...
"You didn't bring anything," I noted outloud, in answer to Kurasi's questioning stare.
Kurasi nodded. "I know," he said, coming over to the table and pulling out one of the wooden chairs so he could sit. "I didn't have much time to grab much, and Kujorsai-san told me that you could provide most everything I needed."
Well, that much was true...I nodded. "I can. Just tell me what you need." Kurasi looked thoughtful for a moment, but I didn't want him to concentrate on that just now. He had reminded me that he probably knew more about what happened to Kusayu than I did, and I wanted that information out of him. Now.
I sat down across from him, and stared at him until I had his attention. I'm very good at staring, but the time it didn't take long. "First, tell me how you got involved with this,"
Kurasi looked uncomfortable, but made an attempt to relax further. "I don't really know much," he said, his soft voice returning. "Kujorsai-san called me only about an hour ago and told me that a distress call from one of the Karyuudo had been recieved and I should meet him in his office in fifteen mintues." I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited for Kurasi to take a deep breath and continue. "So, I quickly got dressed and ran over to his palce. He told me to sit down, and then explained the situation to me. I-"
"Explained it how?" I interupted the other Karyuudo's narrative with the question. "I don't know many details."
Kurasi hesitated for a half a moment, then said, "He said that a pair of Karyuudo had been tracking Motochai for a while, and had finally cornered him on a primative world that doesn't even know about the existance of other worlds. One of the Karyuudo-Kusayu-went in search of Motochai while his partner-Ariska-stayed back with the portal. Kusayu traveled around the world following Motochai, who masked his movements cleverly with the use of the Akusho." So Motochai had learned how to the use the blasted book. Shimatta! "Finally, Kusayu returned to the city where Ariska was staying," I looked at him abrubtly. Kojorsai didn't tell me that Kusayu had come back! "But before he could get back to the portal and his partner, he was enticed by a tekiya with furuzake. After drinking more than was healthy, the tekiya revealed himself to be Motochai, and took the drunken man back to his own, broken portal." So Motochai's portal was broken-thats why he was still on this world. Useful information-I was lucky not to have been attacked so that he could gain possetion of ours!
"When Kusayu regained consciousness, he managed to send off a signal for help, then he tried to contact Ariska, but Motochai figured out the signal and using the book, ripped out all of Kusayu's implants while still keeping him alive." Kurasi's cheek twitched and a pained expression grew on his face. He didn't know Kusayu, yet he knew how painful that would be. "Kujorsai recieved the emergency messege, then asstertained what had happed after it had been sent through the jemu."
Kurasi watched me carefully, but when I said nothing, he shrugged. "Thats all he told me,"
"Okay, thanks," I mumbled, still processing the information that Kurasi had told me in my head. "Continue with your recount."
Kurasi nodded. "So, Kujorsai told me that I would be the new partner for Ariska-you-and help you find Kusayu and Motochai. He didn't give me any tiem to pack or say good-byes," That wasn't too unusal-but most times it didn't matter. Most Karyuudo kept things packed up for emergencies, and most Karyuudo didn't have many people to say good-bye to, especially since their most intamate relationships were, more often than not, with their partners who went everywhere with them. "He called you immediatly, while I was still in the office, and you know the rest."
"Thanks," I said dryly.
"Does it help?" Kurasi was giving me an odd look.
I nodded. "Some," I replied. "I hadn't known that Motochai's portal was broken-so we should probably disemble this one before we leave-and I hadn't known that Motochai was so profficient with Akusho yet." Kurasi was still staring at me, his facial expression hard, yet I could sense that there was something else in it. I grinned. "That'll make things interesting, don't you think?"
I stood quickly, shoving my chair back as I did. "Take what you want from the table," I told my new partner, as he sootd as well. "Just don't touch my nobegane, k? I'm going to dismantle the portal."
Aware that Kurasi was nodding, but ignoring it, I started back upstairs. I still didn't trust Kurasi, despite the accuracies of his story, and so I didn't want him to be the one taking the portal apart. The weapons and equiptment on the table, I didn't really care that much about-all of it was replacabe and all of them I could defend myself against, but if Motochai was really stranded here, there was no way I was giving him a way out.
Up in the bedroom, I quickly took the portal apart, stashing some pieces in various areas of the room and on my person. When I finally got to the most important componant of the portal-the conrtrolling beacon-a small, cylender about an inch long and very thin-I hesitated. The controlling beacon was more than likely what was wrong with Motochai's portal-you couldn't improvise with these things, and you couldn't get them on a world such as this...
I ground the beacon under my boot. As long as I was still alive, I was able to use the portal, thanks to a few special implants I had. If I died, then at least Motochai would remain here until another pair of Karyuudo came. Or he figured out Akusho even better.
With a small,almost sad sigh, I brushed the crushed remains of the beacon aside with my foot, and started back downstairs to meetup with Kurasi again. I didn't want to sit idle any more-I was impatient to get going.
To Be Continued
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