"Takiko!" "Takiko-sama!" Takiko heard familiar voices calling her name as she and Hikitsu approached the tavern. She saw Iname, Uruki, and Tomite frantically searching for her. Iname's face brightened as Takiko came into his view. He ran to her, embracing her. Takiko felt warm in his arms. I wish I could stay this way forever…in his arms… Iname took her back a little and stared angrily at her. "How dare you leave without one of us!? We were worried sick!"
"It was alright…I was attacked, but Hikitsu, another Genbu Seishi, saved me."
Iname was shocked. "You were attacked!? And that's what you call being alright!? What if Hikitsu hadn't been there?"
Takiko let herself out of his arms. "Well, he was there, and I am fine, so let's forget about it. I promise I won't do it again." She smiled at Iname, and then pointed towards Hikitsu. "Everyone…this is Hikitsu. Hikitsu, these are the Genbu Seishi: Iname, Uruki, and Tomite."
Hikitsu nodded at them. Iname led Takiko back into the tavern. "Tomorrow we leave early. Let's get some rest."
******
Einosuke sighed in relief at reading that Takiko was now safe. With the relief passing over, he continued to read. "In Kutou, the spies' message of Hikitsu's powers reached the shogun."
******
"Highness!" Kutou's shogun kneeled before the emperor once again. "Spies in Hokkan have told us that they saw a Genbu Seishi using magic powers."
The emperor looked worried. "It can't be….has the legend really come true?" He forced a laugh. "Of course not! I don't believe any of it! But…make sure these people are taken care of quickly! Still, they shouldn't affect our plans." He seemed nervous.
The shogun bowed his head. "Yes, Your Majesty."
******
Takiko awoke little earlier than Uruki and found herself hungry. I'll go get some food downstairs. She looked in a mirror as she headed towards the door, and remembered Hikitsu's words the night before. Am I really "cute?" Did he mean that? And does Iname think the same?…. She still couldn't get the feeling of their embrace out of her mind. She found herself blushing. Is this how it feels to be in love with someone? I barely know Iname, but….She looked away form the mirror and opened the door. A sleeping Iname fell at her feet. He rubbed his eyes. "Aha! I caught you! Were you sneaking out on your own again?"
"Of course not! I'm just getting some food." Takiko found herself blushing again. Did he sleep here all night so that I wouldn't leave again?
"Fine, fine, but Kutou's out to get you-I'll go with you." Iname led her to the tavern below and ordered some food for the both of them. They were both silent.
Takiko tired to start up a conversation. "So what part of Hokkan are you from, Iname?"
"Very far north. But I can't go back there." He noticed Takiko seemed puzzled, so he continued. "My parents, as good people as they were, couldn't afford much. I have 11 little brothers and sisters, and my dad worked very hard to be able to feed all of us, but he just couldn't ever get enough money. Some of my younger siblings died when they were young because they couldn't survive without food as long as the older ones could. When I was 14, I volunteered to leave the house so Dad wouldn't have to worry about feeding as many. My parents didn't want to see me go, but they believed I could have a better chance to survive on my own than with 10 younger siblings who got most of the food we could afford. Plus with this Genbu character that sometimes appeared on my forehead, my mom believed it meant I had an important destiny that I needed to follow.
"So I got odd jobs all over the country, and with just myself to support, I started to have extra money. I realized that my family could be putting some of this money to good use, so I went back home to give it to them.
"But my dad was too proud to take any money, even if it meant my siblings could have a decent dinner that evening. My mom was furious that Dad wouldn't take a gift that could help her children, and they argued. Before that evening was over, I had secretly given the extra money to my mom, but my dad found out. He threw the money back at me, telling me he didn't need his own son's charity, and that he never wanted to see me trying to better him again. I was so confused; that hadn't been my thoughts in any way, but I had offended my father, and he never wanted to see me again. I just ran out of there, leaving the money behind anyway, and I haven't been back since.
"I became the wanderer you know today. A year ago, I met Uruki, and we seemed too similar to be true. She had left her family because they couldn't support everyone, and she, too, had a Genbu character. We figured it was destiny that we met, and we've been traveling together ever since. And then I met you, and I knew for certain my destiny was with you and Uruki."
Takiko felt her heart tug at his story. "You haven't seen your family for years….Maybe your father has cooled off by now. You really should visit them and let them know you're okay."
Iname laughed. "Not old Pops. He's too proud to ever admit he's wrong. I'm sure I'm the last thing on their minds right now. Anyway, thanks for listening, Takiko." He laughed again. "Don't let that kid Tomite learn I poured out my feelings to someone."
"Oh, did you? Too bad I missed it." Tomite appeared behind Iname, followed by Uruki and Hikitsu.
Iname stood up, facing Tomite. "Don't listen to other people's conversations!"
"Calm down! I didn't mean to!"
"Of course you did! You're always out to get me!" "Am not!" "Are too!"
Hikitsu noticed everyone was staring and seemed embarrassed to be with them, and Uruki and Takiko sighed. Uruki winked at Takiko. "Boys will be boys! Let's just leave without them and see if they quit squabbling in time to catch up."
******
"Genbu no Miko and her four Seishi set out early that morning, but my mid-day, they were caught in a ferocious blizzard."
******
"I can hardly see a thing!" Hikitsu shielded his eye from the blaring snow.
Iname nodded. "And I don't think there's a town coming up soon. We'll have to look for other shelter."
Uruki looked around. "I don't think there is any! Why don't we head back to the town we just came from?"
"No!" Takiko forced her horse to move on. "Kutou will invade any day now! We can't loose any time!"
"Takiko-sama!" Tomite tried to get his horse to trench through the banks of snow, but it wouldn't budge forward. "Don't get so far ahead of us! We can't see you! TAKIKO-SAMA!!!!" He dismounted off his horse to try and follow Takiko, but he could barely move through the snow. The other Seishi got off their horses as well, but the winds pushed them back, and no one was sure exactly which way to go. "TAKIKO!" "TAKIKO-SAMA!"
******
"Genbu no Miko could barely hear the voices of her friends as she fell off her horse and into the deep snow. She felt the cold piercing her, and saw the world becoming black. Just before she shut her eyes, she saw a figure bend over to pick her up."
******
Takiko's eyes blinked open slowly to the warmth of a fire and the smell of a delicious broth. She sat up slowly and looked around. She was in a cave with a fire burning and food cooking. Across from her sat a boy, about 14, with short brown hair. "So you've awakened at last!" he exclaimed. He poured some stew into a bowl and handed it to Takiko. "Here."
Takiko took the bowl. "Arigatou….but where are my friends?"
"I didn't find anyone with you. If they were smart, they found shelter."
Takiko dropped her stew and headed towards the cave opening. "I have to find them!"
The boy held her back. "You mustn't! The storm is still too ferocious. You just have to trust and pray that your friends found shelter! There are many caves here….you can search for them once the storm recedes."
Takiko still felt very worried about her friends, but something within her told her they were okay. She returned to the fire and ate some stew, then fell asleep.
******
When Takiko awoke, the fire was still burning, but the boy was nowhere to be found. Takiko saw that the snow had stopped, and she knew she had to look for her friends quickly. I didn't even know his name, or have a chance to thank him properly, but I can't stay any longer.
She ran out into the snow banks and found it hard to move around, but she pushed herself onward to where she felt her heart guiding her. She wasn't out for more than five minutes when she heard familiar voices calling her and saw her friends up ahead.
"Takiko-sama!" Tomite tried to run through the snow, falling at least five times, but he didn't stop until he held Takiko in his arms. "We were so worried about you! How did you…?"
"I was worried about you guys, too. Someone found me in the snow and brought me into a cave until the storm was over."
Iname, Uruki, and Hikitsu caught up and smiled at Takiko. Uruki hugged her and wiped tears of joys from her eyes. "We were so certain you were gone forever, but somehow we had a feeling you were safe, so we found a cave and waited for the storm to recede."
Iname glared angrily at Takiko. "You promised that you wouldn't go off on your own anymore!" He noticed Takiko's sad face and gave her a hug. "I'm not…I'm not that angry at you. This time, I'll just be thankful that you made it back to us alright-but don't do it again! I don't think our hearts can take any more incidents like this!"
Takiko smiled. "I'll do my best!"
******
"Left without horses, Genbu no Miko and her four Seishi started to walk towards the town directly north of them when Genbu no Miko suddenly fell to the ground, clutching her chest."
******
"Takiko-sama!?" Tomite ran to Takiko's side. "What's wrong?"
"I'm…fine. I just feel like I left something behind. We have to go back."
Hikitsu kneeled beside Takiko also. "Go back? Go back where?"
"To the cave I stayed in…" Takiko's eyes widened as she realized a possibility. "The boy who rescued me-could he have been a Genbu Seishi?"
Iname nodded. "I believe you're able to tell those kinds of things, so I'll go back with you."
"What about the rest of us?" Uruki asked.
"You guys go ahead to the next town, get some horses, and try to catch up with us later."
Uruki, Hikitsu, and Tomite nodded, and the groups went their separate ways.
******
Takiko still couldn't get over the feeling she had whenever she was alone with Iname. Walking next to him, she found herself staring at his handsome features. Iname noticed. "What's wrong?"
"Oh…nothing. Here's the cave." They entered, and Takiko saw that the fire had been put out, and it didn't look like anyone was around. "Hello? Are you in here?" There was no response. Takiko felt herself grow disappointed.
Iname noticed and put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't get so discouraged. He most likely was traveling, too. But I'm certain that if he is a Seishi, we'll meet him again."
Takiko nodded, and they exited the cave. "At last we found you, 'Genbu no Miko.'" Takiko and Iname were shocked to see about twenty Kutou soldiers waiting for them at the cave's entrance. Iname pushed Takiko behind him and got ready to fight. Takiko tried to hold him back. "No, Iname! There are too many to take on by yourself!"
"Well, what else do you propose I do? I'm supposed to protect you, aren't I?" The 'Cow' character shone on his forehead, and he lunged at the nearest solider, knocking him to the ground, but other soldiers soon surrounded Iname, attacking him from all sides. He raised his hand and ice formed at the soldiers' feet, knocking some to the ground, but there were too many, and Iname was getting beaten badly.
"INAME!!!!!" Takiko screamed, trying to get near him, but a soldier grabbed her and brought her to his captain. "Here's the girl, Sir."
"Good-the shogun requested that she be brought to him alive, but we're to kill her companions." He dismounted off his horse and walked towards Iname, who was lying in the snow, weak with pain. "I'll kill him myself, so that I may be honored by the emperor." He drew his sword, but in a flash, it was knocked away. Everyone turned to see a boy holding a stick of ice. It's the boy from the cave! Takiko thought.
"Who are you?" asked the Kutou captain.
A green character flashed on the back of the boy's left hand. "Encampment?" Takiko read. I was right! He is a Genbu Seishi!
He spoke. "I am one of the Genbu Shichiseishi, Hatsui!" He charged at the soldiers, the ice stick in his hand extending and contracting to hit soldiers. Iname regained some of his strength and was able to knock out some of the soldiers who were distracted by Hatsui's appearance.
The Kutou captain saw that his troops were going down fast, so he ordered a retreat. "Take the girl! Quickly!"
Iname's character seemed to glow even brighter on his forehead. "YOU'RE NOT TAKING HER ANYWHERE!" He released a large wave of ice, freezing all the soldiers except the one holding Takiko. Afraid, the soldier let go of Takiko and jumped on his horse, galloping away. Iname raised his hand to freeze him as well, but Takiko pulled down his arm. "No…let him go. There has been enough bloodshed today." Iname nodded.
Takiko turned to Hatsui. "Thank you so much! But how did you find us?"
"I went out of the cave this morning to get more firewood, and you were gone when I returned. I figured you had found your friends, so I continued on my way, but I couldn't let go of the feeling that I had to come back."
"Takiko felt the same way. Your destinies are definitely linked." Iname laughed, but quickly fell over in pain.
Takiko grabbed on to him. "Iname! You're hurt pretty badly! We have to get you to the next town soon!"
Hatsui bent over to Iname's other side and turned to Takiko. "I'll help you support him. So, you're really Genbu no Miko?"
Takiko nodded. "My name's Okuda Takiko. And he's one of the Genbu Shichiseishi as well, Iname."
"Pleased...to..meet you." Iname struggled to say.
Takiko grew even more concerned. "Please don't speak, Iname! Save your strength for the walk!"
Iname smiled at Takiko. "Takiko…you're so kind. Always concerned about others…."
Takiko felt herself glowing inside. "Don't speak!" She smiled at Iname. "Come on, let's go."
******
"Now Genbu no Miko had found five of her Seishi, but as the three headed north, the soldier they had let escape headed east to report what had happened…"
To be continued…
