Konan - Mount Reikaku

[Kaivi Silverwing]

Mika cracked open one eye as she watched him stick his hand into the barrier. She hoped and prayed he was quick enough to grab it. She had heard about that fan from the last boss. It was supposed to shoot fire when a certain set of words were spoken. And, she knew those words. Her brother had told them to her after she had been named his second in command. The only problem was that only the boss of the bandits could make the flame come forth. For now, she was the boss. However, once her brother returned, she would be his second in command again. Which also meant she would have to forefit the fan. I don't care... I just want to hold it...

Her eyes widened as he removed the fan. "You got it? YOU GOT IT!" She smiled, laughing a little. Tasuki's fan was now removed from the shield. She couldn't believe it.

((I didn't see your edit. ^.^))  

[TionneDawnstar]

Sun Li handed the fan to her, so he could nurse his burning hand. It wasn't too bad though, and the feeling faded quickly. "There you go, my lady. Your fire shooting fan."  

[Kaivi Silverwing]

With a childish grin upon her face, Mika took the fan from his hands. She resisted the urge to start playing with it, trying to set it aflame. She was always a pyromaniac. It sort of worked, since she also really didn't like water. She looked over at the stones, pondering as she did. She noticed something while she was trying to think as her eyes drifted over to Tasuki's stone. At the bottom of the stone, where the fan had been sitting, was the Suzaku mark for Tasuki. "Hmmm... That's kind of interesting. Look... the stone the fan was in front of is marked with Tasuki. I guess the fan really is mine."  

[Wakaran a i xx]

Wincing as she became conscious, Ayame slowly opened her eyes, gray eyes widening as she saw dirt before her. Quickly pushing herself up into a sitting position, the seventeen-year-old rubbed her right eye with the back of her right hand, taking a look around with her unobscured left eye. Wherever she was, she wasn't in a library. Or rather, she was, but wasn't at the same time.

"Oh, I knew the library was going to be a bore," Ayame said to herself, rising to her feet and brushing off any dirt that had attached themselves to her school uniform from the time she was lying on the ground. Tatsuko had wanted to go to the library that day after school to start on some sort of homework or other, and the girl only agreed to go because she was promised they would all do something fun afterwards-- that, and because they were good friends, of course.

But somehow, she had fallen asleep...that's what the brunette believed, anyway. How else could she explain the strange surroundings around her? It was definitely an odd setting to dream of, but that could also be blamed on the book she was flipping through before dozed off with that eerie light. Rubbing the back of her head, Ayame continued to glance around the huge mountain village she was in front of, wondering what she was going to do until one of her friends woke her up.

Before she could decide, though, a small group of men had walked behind her, one of them roughly bumping into her as they walked past. Pushed forward due to the action, Ayame turned to give a bewildered look at the men before checking to see if she had dropping anything. Noticing she was missing her wallet, she quickly glanced back up to look at the trailing backs of the men. "Hey! Come back here!" she yelled, running after them, and unknowing into a trap.  

[TionneDawnstar]

Tamahome raised his eyebrows as he had this strange feeling go through him. "Tasuki, did you just feel that? I felt like I needed to be somewhere else..."  

[Kaivi Silverwing]

She too felt the odd tug. It was like she was needed somewhere else. "Yeah. I felt that too." She wondered what it could be, to cause that. Afterall, why would both of them feel the same thing at the same time... unless. "Tamahome... do you think..."  

[TionneDawnstar]

"I bet it is... the priestess... somehow, I just know it's her." He motioned for Mika to come, "Let's go find her! She might be in trouble!" He dashed out of the room, though got lost... he didn't really have a good head for directions...  

[Kaivi Silverwing]

Mika nodded, as she strapped the fan to her back and darted out of the room after Tamahome. "Yo, Tamahome. Wrong way," she said, pulling him in the right direction. She knew the bandit camp and Mount Reikaku like the back of her hand, a fortunate side effect of having spent nearly her entire life upon it's mountain sides. She motioned for him to follow her, as she began to sprint out of the camp. Mika glanced back to make sure he was still behind her. Once out of the camp, she grinned. "Alright Tamahome. You can probably sense her better than I can. Tell me what direction, and I'll get us down there."  

[TionneDawnstar]

He closed his eyes and let his accumulated chi flow out. Red sparks of harmless energy crackled around him as he did that, bouncing around his fingers and arms. "That way," he pointed the direction he could feel her presence. "She's frightened I think, I can feel her very strongly." He looked to Mika as the rest of the energy dispersed.  

[Wakaran a i xx]

"Man, what kind of joke is this?"

Rounding the corner in which she had heard the voice, Ayame stopped short as her eyes landed upon the four men that had bumped into her before. As suspected, they had stolen her wallet, which they held open in front of them, though going by the tone in their voice and the look they gave her, they didn't seem happy with what they found inside.

"What kind of trick are you playing here, woman?" another had questioned her, and she took an involuntary step back as he took one towards her. Ayame didn't understand what they were talking about. They were the ones who took her wallet and led her to such a remote place-- how could they accuse her of doing anything wrong?

"And here we thought you were loaded, with those weird clothes you got on. But you don't even have a cent...only strange coins and useless bills."

"Heh, well, we got her all the way out here...let's see what else she's got on that body of hers. She does owe us that much, after all."

Laughing nervously, Ayame scratched the back of her head to mask her fear, continuing to step backwards out of the dead-end alley she ended up in. Useless money? What were they talking about? "Y'know, you can keep that. I don't need to take the train home, anyway. It's only a two hour walk from the library. I'll be fine. Sorry for bothing you! Ja!" Swallowing, she hoped they accepted her apology, though logically she really shouldn't have been the one asking for forgiveness. It's just a dream anyway, Ayame. It's not like anything could really happen--

Her thoughts were cut off as one of the men stood at the only exit from the alley, blocking any chance of her escaping. Gasping, Ayame stopped short and took a few steps backwards, though all she was doing was buying time as the men closed in on her. She constantly kept her head moving to know where they were in relation to her at all times, but as she turned her head away from one they had grabbed onto her.

Letting out a scream as they dragged her down to the ground, Ayame struggled as they tried to hold her down. Wake up...wake up...wake up...wake up!! she urged herself, wondering why she was waking up in the library. She was definitely going to lose it, even if it was just a nightmare-- no one ever wanted to stay trapped in a dream like that.

A slap to her face snapped her out of it though, and out of surprise, she ceased movement as she realized that it hurt--the slap had really hurt her. "This...isn't...a dream..." Ayame whispered to herself, becoming numb as she noticed they were in the process of undressing her. Closing her eyes, Ayame shook her head, struggling to get free once more. "Someone, please, help m--" Her cry was muffled as one of the men covered her mouth, and Ayame whimpered, helpless to stop the unthinkable from happening to her.  

[TionneDawnstar]

A sense of urgency came over Tamahome, "She's in trouble!" He took off in the direction of the miko, jumping down small cliffs and running as fast as he could. He knew he was getting closer, and he heard her scream, then the scream cut off. "No!" he yelled, his symbol glowing angrily as he rounded the corner into the small canyon. He saw the men trying to take advantage of the priestess. His priestess, the girl destined to summon Suzaku. His hand shot out, and he let out a word he'd learned from his sensei. He was mostly a martial artist, but he had a very small amount of training in the sorcerous arts. He hoped it would be enough. The red chi flowed out of his hand, wrapping around the bandits, holding them in place, but not harming them. "You're boss is right behind me, if you are part of the Bandits here. I'm sure she won't be happy, and she has a new toy she'd like to try out." Sun Li smiled at them. "My lady, they can't move now... if you could come this way, away from them? I'm not sure how long I can hold them."  

[Kaivi Silverwing]

Mika could feel it as well. The fear practically radiated from the direction of the priestess. She had been right behind Tamahome, her own mark glowing just as brightly. As she neared the quartet of bandits, she glared at them. They were indeed a few of hers. She didn't much like them. They were as bad as Tai, Dai and Kei, if not worse. "What the hell are you four doing down there? You have best get your sorry asses back to the camp, before I roast you alive!"  

[Wakaran a i xx]

It took a moment for Ayame to realize that the men were no longer touching her, for they were being held by a mysterious red thread of sorts. Slowly opening her eyes to make sure everything really was okay, she cautiously glanced at the black-haired man that seemed to be controling the rope, her eyes moving to the woman who soon appeared beside him. She was a bit unsure about them, considering what she almost went through, but for some reason, she felt she could be safe with them-- though compared to the men she was trapped with, they were for sure were more comforting.

Swallowing, Ayame crawled away from the men, making her way over to where the other two were, closing her shirt with one hand and pulling down her skirt with the other hand as best she could. The men had at first glared at the one who held them in place, figuring he was only bluffing, but they truely became afraid when their leader had appeared shortly afterwards. Not wanting to find out what her new toy was, which seemed to involve roasting, the four men broke out from the loosening hold and pulled themselves together.

"Run for it!"" one of them had yelled, and they ran out of the dead-end area, leaving the wallet and making their way hastily back to camp as ordered.

Ayame let out a big sigh of relief as the men had disappeared, but the feeling slowly faded away as she realized there were still the two left. Did they want something from her for saving her? "Th-thank you," Ayame managed to get out, cowering slightly. "You...you can have my wallet if you wish, though they didn't seem to want it..."  

[TionneDawnstar]

The man seemed puzzled, "Oh no my Lady, we require nothing... we heard your call and came to your aid." The red cord vanished, "I'm Sun Li, but most people call me Tamahome. It's an honor to meet you, my lady." He bowed formally and looked back to Mika.  

[Kaivi Silverwing]

Mika watched the retreating figures of the four bandits disappear, making sure to note in her mind a suitable punishment for the four of them. Then, she bowed as well. "Please, my Lady, it is our pleasure to protect you." She smiled, righting herself and looking fully at the girl before her. The priestess couldn't be much older than herself. "I am Mika, though I am also called Tasuki. It is a great honor to finally meet you."