~Hakurei Shrine~ > Kosuzu's Grand Bookstore
A New World (book 2) Complete
Iced Fairy:
A single line streaked briefly though the night sky over the Hakurei shrine.
Hitomi frowned at the sight.
Shooting stars weren't exactly rare in Gensoukyo. Well, small shooting stars weren't. But the shrine maiden could tell that this one wasn't actually a meteor. There was nothing about it that stood out, it just felt wrong. But Ran had taught her to trust in her intuition, and that advice, unlike some others, had never steered the woman wrong.
?What is it mommy?? Kanon asked.
Hitomi quickly smoothed out her frown. ?Ah, I just saw a shooting star. Nothing important, Kanon.?
Unfortunately Kanon's intuition was as good as her own. ?Why are you hiding stuff from me mom? I'm a big girl now. I'm almost 9! Soon I'll be able to take up the shrine maiden duties.?
Hitomi smiled and ruffled her daughters hair, much to the young girl's annoyance. ?You've still got 3 years of training left my dear little girl. I know you can move the Yin-Yang orbs about, but there's a lot more to being a shrine maiden then that.?
Kanon checked her bow before sulking for a good five seconds. Then she turned to Hitomi with a serious expression. ?Mommy, why don't you explain what you do when you go out? I know about all the other shrine maiden duties, but you don't tell me about that one....?
Hitomi sighed and closed her eyes. She had been putting explaining the youkai extermination off. She really shouldn't do it too much longer. Even if Gensoukyo adopted the spellcard rules again, there were always a few youkai that needed to be exterminated.
Still Kanon was young. And they hadn't done enough combat training for Hitomi to feel comfortable with the idea of Kanon fighting a practice battle, much less a real one.
She decided it would be best to put it off again.
She opened her eyes and forced a smile. ?That's because you aren't going to be doing as much of it. Right now you need to focus on keeping the shrine and learning your spiritual powers okay??
Kanon sighed and frowned. ?Fiiiine.?
Hitomi resisted the urge to ruffle the girl's hair again and looked towards where the false meteor had fallen. She wanted to check the place, but she always felt worried leaving Kanon behind with only the shrine's wards to defend her.
A bit of rustling nearby drew the shrine maiden's attention. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted the distinctive markings of a certain black cat.
Hitomi instinctively frowned. She didn't like how that youkai hung around the shrine all the time. However she knew, logically, that the cat youkai wouldn't harm Kanon. In fact the creature would probably protect her daughter.
She let out a small sigh. ?I need to go check out that shooting star Kanon. It shouldn't take long though okay??
Kanon's frown deepened. Still Hitomi was proud, her daughter didn't make a big fuss. ?Will you be home for bedtime?? was all the girl asked.
?Yes, unless someone from the village calls me,? Hitomi replied. She hugged her daughter tightly. ?I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise.? She stood up and started outside, but when she reached the door she paused.
?And while I'm out if that cat comes by you can play with her. Just stay inside, alright??
She didn't like saying it, but her daughters safety was far more important then her dislike of youkai, or her pride.
Kanon's eyes opened wide, then she nodded. ?Thank you mommy. I promise I'll stay inside. Can I give the cat some fish??
?Only a little.? With that, Hitomi flew into the sky, before she gave into her urge to glare at the youkai again.
She had something to do, and she was going to get it done quick so she could spend more time with her daughter.
-----
Yorihime shook her head as they left Eientei. ?I still don't know how she put a fail-safe on all the moon's best weapons. Especially since I know she wouldn't use anything like a lockout code or genetic scan.?
Toyohime nodded. ?Yes. Eirin wouldn't pick anything that could possibly be mimicked by an enemy.? The older sister smiled. ?Still, it won't be our problem. We can figure it out in our spare time.?
Yorihime nodded. ?Right.? Then she sighed. ?Still it's going to be weird not being generals anymore. I suppose the moon won't need generals but....?
?Yes. We've held the positions a long time.? Toyohime turned back to their pet Reisen. ?That's right. I've drawn up paperwork transferring you from the lunar emissaries to my household as an assistant. If you want it of course.?
The moon rabbit looked almost shocked at the offer for some reason. Yorihime idly wondered if the girl was just paranoid or if her last master had been already falling. ?Ah, I'd be happy to continue in your service! I owe you so much after all.?
?Now now, that's nothing, I....?
Yorihime blinked as her sister stumbled, then her eyes opened wide and she drew her sword. Her blade rapidly deflected an arrow purely off instinct, then she stepped back as another sword clashed against hers.
As the shock of the initial assault passed, Yorihime's mind rapidly quickened up to the speed required for true swordplay. She analyzed the situation. She recognized her opponent immediately as the sword master Jiyuwan. Anyone who studied the blade on the moon at least read his works. She'd actually trained with him a few times, even though he preferred straight blades to katana.
Her sister was on the ground. Yorihime couldn't tell from this angle if the arrow was lethal or if Toyohime was simply wounded, but she was out of the fight.
Reisen had taken a throwing arrow to the shoulder. The moon rabbit was trying to drag her sister away with a single arm. Yorihime was touched by the sentiment, but there was no way she could succeed without hurting Toyohime further.
?Reisen, run!? she shouted, with jumping back to try to get time to summon a god to aid her. She was no match sword to sword, but the man she faced had no serious magical skills, and a known distaste for any energy weapons. Of course a master swordsman could use air pressure strikes, but those were easy to parry.
Unfortunately, he knew his weaknesses as well. He idly tossed two more throwing arrows, one hitting poor Reisen in the leg, the other forcing Yorihime to parry again. He then closed the distance. His movements were perfect, almost silent. Yorihime turned all her attention towards staying alive.
Yorihime blocked his thrust to the outside of her body, then pushed her blade out to avoid the slash he turned it into. She made a snap cut towards his head, but he shifted slightly and cut at her arms, forcing her to fall back into a high guard.
He cut low, and her stance was wrong to avoid the blow. She called upon her flight to get back, but the blade still cut her leg. It was a moderate wound, and she'd now have to spend the fight partially flying to compensate. That would prevent her from getting a solid counter attack in.
She needed a new strategy.
Jiyuwan silently rushed forward again, going for a finishing head cut. Yoriime whirled her blade up to cover her head like a roof in the traditional parry, then tried to rush past the swordsman. For her troubles she got a hard knee to the ribs that cracked at least two and sent her flying backwards.
Exactly as she had planned.
Ignoring the pain from her wounds she held out her blade and called forth, ?Guan Yu.?
The guardian god appeared in front of her, his halberd unsheathed in his right hand. The god did not pause, but swept his blade straight towards Jiyuwan.
To Yorihime's surprise the Lunarian swordsmaster didn't stop either. He brought his blade up in one hand to block, an effort that was sure to be futile. Sure enough, the mighty god of righteousness' polearm hammered through the weak defense and cut deeply into her enemy's arm.
But his other arm flew upwards and sent three throwing arrows into the air.
It is difficult to truly kill a god that has been called somewhere. But dispelling them is not as difficult. The two arrows Jiyuwan tossed struck the god in the chest, leaving it to stare in wonderment, as he switched his blade to his good hand and cut the god in half.
The third arrow had been aimed at Yorihime. She was good enough to ignore the shock of her wounds, tough out a forced dispelling, and deflect an arrow.
She wasn't good enough to do all that and prepare a block against the strike Jiyowon made as he cleaved through the fading deity.
There was another rush of pain. And Yorihime felt weak. There was a final jerk as the assassin twisted the blade to get it free, but that didn't hurt. Yorihime was becoming numb. She saw her sister and Reisen lying across the way, and tears came to her eyes as she realized they were both sure to die now.
She'd heard that your life was supposed to flash before your eyes when you died, but strangely all Yorihime saw was the flash, then a stream of flames pushing her killer back.
Then everything went dark.
Sect:
... Huh. I wonder what Tenshou hopes to accomplish now that his assassination attempt has failed, and his right hand man possibly dead at Mokou's hands. I'm guessing that he wanted to pin the murders on either Eirin or one of the Earth youkai.
Kasu:
Mokou~
Iced Fairy:
Hm... So many assumptions.
Ah well, I suppose that gives me the chance to mention the quotes I've been including. I've tried to find something suitable for most chapters though some sections are easier to work with then others. It helps that I'm including some quotes that are a little obscure. For example the prologue's quote was rather obvious, but the first chapter is a quote from the Sandman (From the Exile sub story).
Today's is from a song. It's fairly old, and doesn't really have an official version. But the full stanza as I know it is:
So stand to your glasses steady,
This world is a web of lies.
Here's a toast to the dead already.
Hurrah, for the next one who dies
Alfred F. Jones:
Eeeee. :* The layers and layers of intrigue in this are so wonderful. ~
Edit: Oh, and Jiyuwon is awesome.