Amiboshi wasn't listening, he was looking over the cliff at where the girl had been. Did I kill her? He felt water coming out of his eyes again. What is this strange feeling in my heart? Caught off guards, he was suddenly paralyzed with pain.

When Urumiya came to, he saw Amiboshi being slammed into the ground by Hatsui. His blue chi was getting dim, outshone by Hatsui's green one.

Urumiya whirled around as he abruptly felt the appearance of another. Someone who looked like Amiboshi stood not too far from him.

"Aniki!" The man yelled, running forward.

The other's weapon, none other than the Ryuuseisui. At first glance, it looks like a child's toy with two spheres at either ends of a thick string, but Urumiya knew it to be a deadly weapon. The spinning spheres could drill through a normal man, bones and all. Even if somehow the first sphere was avoided, the second one was right behind. The weapon was mentally connected with the wielder so that its master can control it with the flicker of a thought.

"You'll have to go through me first." Urumiya positioned himself in front of the other man.

"Don't mind if I do," the other man snarled.

The Ryuuseisui attacked mercilessly, but Urumiya fended them off with mental shields. He used his power to attack the other's mind. The one who looked like Amiboshi clutched his head in pain as Urumiya's kanji glowed vividly.

"Aniki..." the other kept saying, he was slowly moving towards Hatsui and Amiboshi, despite the pain.

Urumiya doubled his attack but the other kept moving.

"No..body...can get in...my way!" He yelled furiously and his left shoulder was aglow with blue light. The cloth there burst and the kanji for Suboshi, 'horn', showed.

Using all his powers against this Seiryuu seishi, Urumiya wasn't aware of the appearance of another. A thunderbolt blasted through him and he was held to the ground by the energy. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone with red hair.

By now, Hatsui had worn himself out. With the extreme loss of blood and overexertion of power, he was swaying unsteadily on his feet, glaring with an insatiable hatred at the fallen Amiboshi.

"Hatsui!" Urumiya called a warning through the crackles of raw energy trapping him.

Hatsui snapped to attention and saw the one attacking Urumiya. Grabbing his whip, he attacked Urumiya's assailant, but he was in no shape to fight.

Realizing too late what exactly Urumiya was warning him about, something hard and round punched into his side. Hatsui skidded a little on the ground before he landed with a thud.

"I got him," Suboshi said and disappeared.

"It was a pleasure meeting you," the female with the red hair smirked and disappeared as well.

Hatsui and Urumiya laid there in the freezing night, their breath coming out in mists.

"Kamei!" Hatsui scrambled up suddenly, his very being screaming with agony, but he wasn't thinking about that as he looked over the blasted cliff edge. "Is she... Is Namame..." he asked Urumiya who knelt by him fearfully.

"I..." Urumiya tried to 'feel' them, "I don't know..."

"How can this be!!" Miaka yelled.

The people in the Tokyo National Library turned evil glares at her.

"Well, this answers the question whether the Seiryuu Seishis were reborn..." Yui stared at Toka's picture on the screen. He was just like Amiboshi. The wierd thing was why she knew this was Amiboshi instead of Suboshi. She didn't know how she made the distinction.

"The library will close in fifteen minuets..." The voice on the intercom announced, "Please remember all of your belongings and becareful on the road."

"It's getting late," Yui told Miaka, "If we are going to cover Kamei's tracks then we should call her mother."

"I wonder who Seiryuu no Miko is..." Miaka suddenly remembered, "They never mentioned her in the book."

"First thing's first," Yui dialed the number for the Okuda residence.

Suboshi stumbled into the throne room supporting Amiboshi, trailed by Soi.

"I am disappointed," Nakago frowning at the battered form of Amiboshi, "What happened?"

This last question was directed at a short girl, with her metallic green hair fashioned in two hoops, who stood next to Tomo by the throne.

"It was still a new spell, Nakago-sama," she said silkily. If she was a cat, she would have been purring, "I am still perfecting it."

"You little witch!" Suboshi charged hotly, "You put Amiboshi's life in danger!"

"Watch how you talk to me little boy," the girl hissed, "I can turn you inside out with a mere thought!"

"That's enough," Tomo said quietly, but with authority. People like him didn't need to speak loud to be heard.

"Yes Tomo-sama," the girl replied only loud enough for Tomo to hear the 'sama' part.

"Well, go fix up Amiboshi with one of your potions or something," Nakago waved at her, as if shooing a fly.

"As you wish," she replied and retreated with Amiboshi still being supported by Suboshi.

"That little brat!" the girl cursed angrily as she let Suboshi and Amiboshi travel ahead of her. "Who does he think he is!"

"You really should know better than that," a voice said from behind her, "The walls may have ears."

"Tomo-sama," she jumped, "I--"

"What really happened," Tomo demanded.

"I don't know," she admitted, "He hesitated..."

"I am tired of your imperfections Miboshi," Tomo said coldly, not looking at her.

"Tomo-sama, I am deeply sorry... Please, I don't mean to disappoint you," Miboshi slipped her arm through his. "I do try very hard to please you." She gazed up at him with pleading eyes. They were a yellowish green color with split pupils, like a cat.

Tomo sighed disgustedly, "Go do what you were told." Jerking away from her, he wirled around and walked back to the throne room.

"Why must he be so stubborn?" she pouted and followed Suboshi and Amiboshi. "Ah, he'll come around, maybe later when he's in the mood..." She smiled, satisfied, no one could resist her charms, for long anyway.

The sun was shining high in the sky. It was perhaps around noon, the snow had already melted at this altitude. Soon, this valley will be covered by endless greenery.

Two distinct clumps lay on the melted snow among the bits and pieces of rock that had fallen around them.

One form stirred and rose slowly...

Staring as his vision blurred and refocused again, Namame stared at the cliff edge where he had fallen from. How did I survive that? Except for bruises and cuts, there were no serious injuries.

Panic rose within him and he looked around for Kamei. She lay a few feet away from him. With shaking hands, he brushed bits of rock off of her and felt her pulse. She was still alive. He gently felt her neck and limbs to make sure that nothing was broken. She must have hit her head during the fall because a thin line of blood ran down the side of her face.

Pulling off his cloak and wrapping her in it, he tried to keep her warm. This was how he had first found her, half naked (by thier standards) in the freezing northern night. He had thought that she was lucky to have survived, maybe some of her luck was rubbing off on him too.

He worried about how Hatsui and Urumiya were. They must be out of their minds with anxiety by now. They might even think that he and Kamei were dead, considering the fall they had. Namame couldn't believe it himself that he was alive. There were miracles after all...

The eerie silence all around was periodically interupted by the call of a raven. He should keep himself occupied lest his mind wandered to that unwanted place... But it was too late...

The smoke choked tears out of his eyes. He looked around and there was nothing but destruction. He walked through what used to be his village. He couldn't breathe, the stink of slaughter was everywhere. He wished he could claw out his eyes so that he could not see... A pile of charred bodies laid ahead. His brother's little wooden horse was still creaking foward on its chipped wheels, pushed by the heat of the still burning fire. He stumbled toward what was left of his family and tripped. He had fallen over his little sister's doll...

Shaking visibly, Namame fought out of the horrid memory. This was no time to lose himself...

He found Kouryuu's sword and resheathed it. Easing Kamei into his arms, he stood up and started walking.

"Amiboshi...I'm gonna kill him with my bare hands," Hatsui was muttering feverishly.

Urumiya sat behind him on the horse, trying to keep him in the saddle.

Hatsui had fainted, a short time after the 'battle' and fell into a fever.

Urumiya had to get to the bottom of the cliffs to find Kamei and Namame, for he knew that they were still alive. They had to be...

However, they would have to travel a long time before they can get to the bottom.

At midday, he stopped near a small river. Here, at a lower elevation, the snow was mostly melted and a carpet of crisp green grass covered the ground with small wild flowers of blue, red, and yellow popping up here and there.

Urumiya got Hatsui off the horse and laid him next to the river, putting a cool towel on his head.

He laid back, sighing, he was completely spent. He had 'transfered' some of his energy to Hatsui. Hatsui had gotten worse since the morning and he had to get him to a doctor soon.

Allowing himself a brief rest, he laid down near the river. At first he didn't realize that what he thought was a song bird was actually the sound of a wind instrument.

A young man came out of a forested path, a piccolo in hand, playing a serene song. Several oxen followed docilely behind him.

Urumiya watched from his position on the ground, he felt tension easying out of his tired muscles.

The young man stopped abruptly when his eyes landed on the figures laying on the river bank. He looked at them and jumped back when he realized Urumiya was alive.

"Are you all right?" he asked, hesitantly.

"I guess I'm not," Urumiya told him with a wry smile, "My friend here is worse though. Do you know any doctors near by?" He asked the other man as he was helped onto his feet.

"You're in luck," the young man smiled, "My village is very near. We have a resident doctor."

Sighing with relief, Urumiya followed the ox herder.

Without him even noticing, fog had suddenly pulled a curtain around them. He trudged slowly, Kamei still in his arms.

Namame set her down gently to rest a little. He was worried about why she was still unconscious. The fog was moist and settled heavily on them. He brushed her hair out of her face and found his hands lingering there.

"Wake up Kamei," he whispered.

Somewhere out there in the mists, he heard the sound of neighing. It seemed that there were a lot of them.

The sound was distant at first, a gentle murmur in the ground like a distant thunder. The tremor grew though and Namame found himself facing an unknown danger. Which way were they charging? The fog was too thick to see beyond a few feet and by the time he saw the horses, it might be too late.

Namame picked Kamei up and poised to run. A shadow emerged from the mists and he dodged out of the way, but that was only one horse.

"You there!" There was a rider on that horse. "What do you think you're doing! Come back here before you get trampled by my horses!"

Namame did as he was told. The rider whistled and a white horse trotted to them out of the fog. Namame was gestured to take the horse.

They rode silently, the sound of horses all around them. Suddenly, the fog lifted as suddenly as it had come on.

"Thank you," Namame told the man.

"I see your friend there, is she all right?" he asked. This man had hair so light that it looked silverish. He did't look that much older than Namame though. He wore a patch over his right eye.

"I hope so," Namame replied, "She's not waking up."

"Here we are," the man dismounted and Namame found that they had arrived at a large tent.

"Put her on that cot over there," the man gestured and Namame obeyed.

He broght a bottle and placed it under Kamei's nose. She stirred a bit, her nose wrinkling. She sneezed and awoke, looking around her in bewilderment.

"Never fails," the man chuckled.

"Where-what-I'm not dead?" Kamei was looking at her hands to see if they were solid. Strong arms encircled her and she cried with relief, "Namame! You're all right!"

"That is what I should say Miko-sama," Namame said, still not letting go, "You had me worried."

"But how...?" she asked, blushing a little, looking around to cover her embarassment, until her eyes landed on the man who stood by, watching them.

The man with the silverish hair nodded and bowed slightly to her. "My name is Hoku Tou," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you Genbu no Miko."

"Gyuulou!" A female with reddish brown hair yelled at the man with the piccolo. "Where have you been! You were supposed to be back a while ago!"

"I ran into some people Orume," Gyuulou said hesitantly, "One of them needs your father's help."

"Doko?" Orume looked at the strangers behind Gyuulou and saw the one passed out on the horse. "My father's away at the moment," she told the short man with the golden hair, "But I can see him, if you want."

"Thank you," Urumiya bowed to her in gratituded.

Gyuulou and Urumiya hauled Hatsui inside the healer's home and deposited him on a straw mat.

"Somebody must give him a bath," she said with her back to them, "Cleanse his wounds."

Gyuulou and Urumiya looked at each other.

"Isn't somebody going to volunteer?" Orume regarded them with her hands on her hips, "Or do you want me to do it?"

"No!" Gyuulou said, louder than neccessary, "I-I mean a lady shouldn't have to--"

"I'll do it," Urumiya told them.

Orume filled a large wooden tub with hot water and Urumiya did as he was bade.

"My," Orume frowned when Hatsui was lying on the mat, all cleaned up, "What happened to him?"

"Long story," Urumiya said in a tone that wished for no further questions.

Orume couldn't help but ask, "How did he get so hurt?"

"He was protecting someone he valued," Urumiya told her, sighing.

"A woman huh?" Orume said while applying herbal treatments and bandaging. "Who's so important?"

Urumiya didn't wish to say and remained silent.

"Masaka," Orume turned and stared at him, "Is it Genbu no Miko?"

"Orume!" Gyuulou said in a scolding tone and she gave him a look. "I mean, he doesn't seem to want to talk," he finished meekly.

Orume subsided, "All right, I won't trouble you stranger, for now."

The girl with the cat-like eyes busied before a blue fire. She picked up a long sharp thorn from a basket full of them next to her. The sign 'basket', the kanji for Seiryuu seishi 'Miboshi' glowed azure between her collar bones, above the low neckline of her dress.

Using the thorn, she pricked her left index finger, and let three drops of blood drip into the dancing blue flame all the while chanting something under her breathe.

"For Tomo-sama," she said, smiling, "I shall kill you Genbu no Miko."

Ramblings: I know, people are probably like, "Nani?! Miboshi went through a sex change?!"

My comment on that: ...

Like I said before, reincarnation is a unpredictable thing ^-^

(It's my story and i'll do whatever i want Mohawhawhawhaw!)

*ahem*

I wonder how many people are actually reading this story???