Einosuke recalled what Takiko had said about not being able to make friends easily. "It's the same as the girl in this book….it couldn't be that Takiko's inside it!" He could hardly believe the thought, but there seemed no other answer. "For now, all I can do is read. But there must be a way for you to return, Takiko!" He picked up the Shijin Tenchi Sho and continued. "The news of Genbu no Miko's arrival had already spread throughout Hokkan. The people started to believe there was a chance to win the war against Kutou, but Kutou's troops were gathering too quickly. Genbu no Miko and her three Seishi had to make haste on their quest to find the other Seishi, so by the next morning, they were packing to leave the capitol." ******
Iname was tying the horses with supplies. He looked around. "Where's the kid?"
Takiko was puzzled. "I think he means Tomite." whispered Uruki.
"Oh! I'll go find him!" Takiko went to Tomite's chambers, but he wasn't there. She saw him shooting arrows at a practice target in the courtyard, without a cloak on. Takiko saw it lying in the snow and picked it up. "It's cold out, Tomite. I don't want you to get sick! Please put on your cloak."
"I have to be ready for anything, Takiko-sama. If I'm facing the enemy without a cloak, I still have to know how to shoot well, don't I? Plus…" He pointed his bow at the target and pulled it back without an arrow in it. Suddenly, an arrow made completely of ice appeared, and he shot it at the target, completely turning it to ice. "We Genbu Shichiseishi deal with the cold pretty closely."
Takiko was amazed at his powers. She wrapped his cloak around him. "That was excellent, but we should get going now." Tomite smiled at her.
"Your hands are like ice!" Takiko remarked as she brushed against them. "Let's warm up by the fire before we go."
Sitting by the fire, Tomite sneezed as he warmed his hands. Takiko felt his forehead. "There's no temperature…"
Tomite laughed. "Don't worry about me, Takiko-sama. If you've lived in Hokkan for as long as I have, you get immune to the cold weather."
"Have you always lived here?" Takiko asked.
Tomite nodded. "I'm from a wealthy house just outside the capitol. My family visited the palace pretty often; that's how the emperor seems to know me so well.
"My family was known for its great scholars, so naturally, I was raised to become one like my forefathers before me. But I just couldn't understand any of it, and my parents were nearly ashamed of me. My Genbu character appeared early on in my life, but my parents were afraid it meant that my destiny was to be a warrior instead of a scholar, so they kept it a secret.
"But they couldn't stop my destiny. Whenever we would visit the palace, I would see the archers training. One day, the emperor let me and my brothers wander around, and I went up to those archers. I begged them to teach me, and with my first shot, I hit the bull's eye, and I kept hitting it perfectly. I could feel my Genbu character activating each time, and I knew this was what I was meant to be doing. My father saw and was furious I was doing something like that, so he forbade me to ever practice archery again, but I continued, anyway. I would sneak out of the house whenever I could. I made my own bow and arrows and would shoot at trees.
"One day, when I was out practicing, some bandits came to my home and killed my family to take their possessions. I felt like I should have been with them and protected them, or at least I should have died with them.
"The emperor was kind enough to let me stay at the palace. Now that I was free to practice archery, I hated it. I blamed it for my family's death. It wasn't until I heard the legend of Genbu no Miko and realized that I was a Seishi that I returned to it. It gave me a new purpose to life….getting ready to protect you."
Takiko felt herself blush. Tomite stood up. "I'm sorry to have gone on about myself. I must have bored you."
"On the contrary!" Takiko exclaimed. "I know how you feel….I lost my family recently."
Tomite looked at her sadly, and brought her close to an embrace. "Takiko-sama, I'm saddened to hear that you've had to face the same pain. If you ever need someone to talk to…"
Iname burst into the room. "What's taking you so…" He noticed their embrace and stopped. "Oh…sorry for interrupting…"
"No, it's okay." Takiko released herself from Tomite's arms. "We were just coming." She turned to Tomite and smiled. "Arigatou, Tomite-san. I might just take you up on that offer sometime."
******
"Meanwhile, Kutou country had heard of Genbu no Miko's arrival…"
******
"Highness!" Kutou's shogun kneeled before his emperor in the throne room. "Our spies have confirmed there is indeed a young woman in Hokkan that claims to be Genbu no Miko."
The emperor laughed. "Do you really believe that, Shogun? Each country has the same old legend, Kutou as well, but we shall never see our Seiryuu no Miko, and Hokkan will never see their Genbu no Miko! It's obviously just a plot to get us to back down, but our plans will not be disturbed! Our troops begin marching in a week!"
The shogun nodded. "What should we do about the three Genbu Seishi and the young woman, then?"
"They're even saying they have Seishi!?" The emperor laughed again. "Just kill them. It should be no problem."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The shogun left the throne room. "The emperor underestimates Hokkan. You!" A soldier stepped forward. "Relay my message."
******
Takiko brought out the scroll the emperor had given to her. She had been shocked when he revealed its title-Shijin Tenchi Sho-just like the book her father had brought home! Clues to finding the Shichiseishi were written on the scroll. Takiko read aloud quietly to herself. "'Cow,' 'Woman,' 'Emptiness…' Those are the characters that appear on Iname, Uruki, and Tomite. The others are 'Roof top,' 'Encampment,' 'Wall,' and 'Ladle.'" She sighed. "That doesn't help much. Hokkan is a big country, and the rest of the Seishi might not even know they're Seishi yet."
"Here, let me see that." Iname held out his hand for the scroll. He looked at it, turned red, and handed it back to Takiko. "You're right, it doesn't help much."
Tomite noticed. "You can't read it, can you?"
Iname became angered. "How would you know that!?"
"You were holding it upside down."
Iname grabbed Tomite on the horse next to him by his shirt, dragging Tomite towards him. "For your information, 'Empty-Head,' not all of us were born rich and educated!"
Tomite grabbed him back. "It's 'Empti-NESS', 'Cow-Brain!'"
Wrestling, they both fell off their horses. "That doesn't even make sense!" "You started it; I didn't even mean what I said as an insult!" "Well, you're insulting me now!" "You deserve it now!"….
The echoes of their bickering went on as Takiko and Uruki sighed. Takiko cleared her throat. "It's okay, Iname, I'll read it for you. If you'd both kindly get back on your horses." Glaring at each other, Iname and Tomite climbed back up on their horses. Takiko continued. "The remaining Seishi we're looking for have the characters meaning 'Roof top,' 'Encampment,' 'Wall,' and 'Ladle.'"
Iname looked confused. "That's all it says!? And what are we supposed to do with that!?"
Uruki patted him on the back. "It's okay. I'm sure our Miko will attract the remaining Seishi as she did to us."
Tomite interrupted. "Look! It's a town!" Dismounting off their horses, they went into a tavern. Iname talked to the bar tender while the rest got some food. Iname returned to their table smiling. "There's a rumor that someone saw a group of tough guys hassling everyone!"
Takiko, Uruki, and Tomite stared at each other, wondering what he was so excited about. Tomite shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, whatever turns you on!"
Iname glared at Tomite. "I'm not finished, Baka!" He turned to Takiko and Uruki, ignoring Tomite. "Someone who they picked a fight with said he saw a green character on one of their bodies!"
Uruki sighed. "So now we seek out a pack of troublemakers….Not exactly what I had in mind as my duty as a Seishi."
******
"After following several tips, Genbu no Miko and her three Seishi traced the band of hoodlums to an abandoned building in the worst part of the town."
******
Iname knocked on the door. "Excuse me…" The door opened, and a man with long greyish hair and a patch over his right eye answered. Iname ran back and hugged Takiko out of fright. "He looks tough!" Takiko rolled her eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be protecting me!"Takiko stepped forward, not letting a man's appearance judge what she thought of him. "We're looking for someone with a green character on his body."
The man's left eyebrow raised. "And how would you know about that?"
"The person with the character must come with us immediately. That person is one of the Genbu Shichiseishi, and I'm Okuda Takiko, Genbu no Miko. These are three of the Genbu Shichiseishi, and we need to find them all before Kutou invades Hokkan."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
Takiko looked worried a moment, but then reached into her bag and pulled out the scroll. The man looked shocked for an instant, then he quickly shut the door. "We don't have anyone you're looking for. Beat it!"
Takiko pounded on the closed door. "Wait! Please! We need to gather the Shichiseishi quickly, before it's too late!" She got tired of pounding and sunk to the ground. "Please…"
Iname put his hand on her shoulder. "Let's rest here tonight. We can return to that tavern."
******
"Genbu no Miko looked at her Seishi, Uruki, sleeping soundly across the room for her, and hoped that her other two Seishi were doing the same in the room next to hers. Feeling the need to plead with the hoodlums again, she quietly snuck out of the tavern and made her way back to the abandoned building. As it came in sight, Genbu no Miko felt herself being grabbed from behind."
******
Takiko wanted to scream, but her mouth was blocked. "So you are the 'Genbu no Miko.' Where are the people traveling with you?"
"They…left town."
The man grabbed Takiko's throat. "Liar! We just saw you with them."
The abandoned building's door flew open. "So if you know so much, why don't you tell her where they are?"
The Kutou spy was surprised. "Who are you!?"
The man with the eye patch stepped out of the building, followed by more rough-looking men. "I'm Tan Chamka, and these are my buddies. We're so delighted to make your acquaintance."
The spy chuckled. "I have some 'buddies' of my own!" About 25 men stepped out of the shadows from behind him. "Take care of them while I pry the girl for information!" He left, dragging Takiko with him.
The Kutou soldiers charged at Chamka and his friends, but they weren't as experienced, and the first five soldiers went down in an instant. Chamka laughed. "I guess you guys can handle this. I'll go after the girl."
He caught up with them fairly quickly. "Where are your friends!?!" The spy shook Takiko angrily.
"Let her go, or you'll be sorry." Chamka appeared behind them.
The spy pushed Takiko down and pulled out his sword. "On the contrary, I believe you'll be the one who is sorry. You're challenging one of Kutou's finest swordsmen!"
Chamka smirked. "Oh, really? I thought I was picking a fight with you."
The spy became angry. "Why you…!" He leapt at Chamka, who easily dodged, but he came back again, just barely missing cutting Chamka's face. Chamka's eye patch was cut, and it fell to the ground. A green character reading "Ladle" flashed on Chamka's right eyelid. Takiko gasped. Chamka lifted his arms and ice serpents went to surround the surprised spy, killing him in and instant.
Chamka extended his hand to Takiko to help her up. "My Genbu Seishi name is Hikitsu."
"Why…why didn't you say so before?"
"I didn't want to get involved with the whole thing-until I realized protecting a cute girl like you wouldn't be so bad." He winked his left eye at her and picked up his eye patch, tying it back on.
Takiko blushed, but recovered quickly. "I don't need your false compliments, I just need your service as a Seishi."
Hikitsu laughed. "And that you shall have. But I wouldn't be so quick to assume my compliment was fake."
******
Genbu no Miko had now found four of her Seishi. Hikitsu said farewell to his friends, and he and Genbu no Miko returned to the others. Genbu no Miko only had three more Seishi to find, but the day of Kutou's invasion Hokkan was arriving fast…
To be continued…
