The Thorns Of A Rose (A Fushigi Yuugi Fanfiction) [ON HIATUS]

Chapter 9: "Enemies Unseen, Lady Miya Made A Scene"

"The Lady Miaka, priestess of Suzaku, had finally returned to her home. However, the moment she left, the Lady Miya quickly parted ways with the three Suzaku warriors, to start the training that Taiitsukun promised her, gaining the powers of all the warriors of the Four Gods, and almost gave up due to a certain Seiryuu warrior named Nakago, venting her anger to anyone that she landed her eyes on.

Meanwhile, when the Emperor Hotohori asked Lady Miaka to find the Suzaku Seven, she and Nuriko set out to find Tamahome, but before she knew what was happening, the Lady Miaka was pulled away, into the night."

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Miaka kicked and squirmed, trying to escape from the hands of her captor in vain. Unfortunately for her, her captor managed to take her away from Tamahome's sight. "Miaka!" Tamahome yelled for her, but he was late. Still, he chased after the both of them, leaving the rest in Nuriko's hands. He ran and ran, but they were nowhere to be found. "They disappeared!" Was what he could only say, after failing to catch up with them.

Back to Miaka, who remained kicking and squirming aboutーstill, to no availーsuddenly had an idea. She bit her captor's hand that was covering her mouth. Her captor screamed in pain. "Let go!" She shouted, as she finally managed to escape from her captor's hold. "That really hurt, you know," he said, blowing at his hand where the priestess bit him.

'Who is this person?' Miaka thought, as the guy continued to blow at his swollen hand. "What a healthy bite you have, priestess of Suzaku. I should've asked you before I rescued you from the Kutou warriors, you know."

"Huh?" Miaka looked at him with pure confusion written on her face. "Don't let them catch you off guard, priestess. Unless you want Lady Miya to be involvedーIt'll be quite a mess, you know."

His last sentence instantly caught her attention than the first. "Huhーwait! You met Mi-nee? You know where she is?" She fussed, but was quickly ignored. The guy went in his kasa and disappeared before her very eyes, leaving her in a state of bewilderment, though she quickly examined the hat to find no trace of the guy. "He vanished without a trace! And I never even found out what his name was!"
[A kasa (笠) is a term used for any one of several traditional Japanese hats. Source: Wikipedia]

"Miaka!" Tamahome shouted, seeing Miaka sitting on the ground, holding a kasa. "Tamahome!" Miaka exclaimed his name as well, relieved upon seeing him. "Are you alright?" Tamahome asked her. "Yes I am, but... I think someone is after me!" Miaka replied back. 'Who are they? Why do they want me?' She thought, when all of a sudden, Nuriko's scream reached them, gaining their attention. The two of them hurried back to where Nuriko and the others are.

The two instantly came to a halt upon their arrival, seeing the gruesome scene before them. All of their companions lay dead, except for Nuriko who stayed with her arms and right leg up, leaning on the tree as she successfully avoided the arrows sent by the enemies.

Miaka was in more shock, taking in the scene before her. She screamed in terror and Tamahome embraced her as he covered her eyes, preventing her from seeing any more horror presented to them. "Don't look! What went on here, Nuriko?" He inquired, looking at the cross-dresser who broke an arrow. Nuriko recalled the event that transpired. "We were ambushed from the trees with a hail of arrows! It was right after we lost sight of the two of you!"

"I could swear those arrows were meant for Miaka," he continued.

"They were after me! The guy who grabbed me, he told me they were!" Miaka trembled as she spoke. "You spoke to him?" Tamahome turned to her. Miaka nodded. "They were killed because someone was trying to get to me! And also... he said something about involving Mi-nee! Oh, what do I do? What happened to Mi-nee? Where is she now?"