Attack!

Arrival of the Curiously Masked Monk!

Episode 8

Lina and the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi huddled together, frozen in place. Their cook fire had gone out and they could see shadows moving among the trees.

"Protect Suzaku no Miko," Hotohori ordered. Just as the words left his lips, hands reached out from behind them and snatched Lina.

"HEY!" she screamed as she was pulled off. She wriggled and kicked but the grip was secure. In seconds, forest surrounded Lina and her assailant, with no sign of Tamahome, Hotohori, or Nuriko.

Not content to let things run quietly, Lina bared her fangs and sank her teeth into one of the hands around her.

"Itai na no da!" The person released Lina and shook his bitten hand.

"A...ano..." said Lina as she looked at him.

He was a curious fellow but he seemed rather harmless. Garbed in an odd cloak with a swirled circle design, beads, and a pointed straw hat, he certainly didn't look like anyone in an army. The oddest thing was his face - he wore a mask that covered his entire face and gave him a rather cheery expression. It reminded Lina of a fox, hiding his true expression. When Lina noticed his staff, she finally realized that the person was probably some sort of monk.

"That hurt, no da," he said, blowing on his hand. "After all, Suzaku no Miko, I was just protecting you from Kutoukoku's army, no da."

"Wh...what?" said Lina. "You kidnapped me and you say you're rescuing me?"

"I did rescue you, no da," he insisted. Then he sighed, "But I suppose you won't believe me. Very well. Goodbye, na no da."

"G-g-goodbye?"

The monk pulled his hat over him and disappeared.

Lina stared. She picked up the ordinary looking hat. It was empty, but she had seen the weird monk hide himself in it. Magic, she told herself. Only magic could do that. He probably used a transportation spell but left the hat behind. Lina slung the hat over her shoulder after determining that it held no monks or other secrets. I wonder how his magic works?

"Lina-chan? Lina-chan!! LINA-CHAN?!?!!!" Tamahome's voice echoed through the forest.

"Tamahome-kun?" Lina scoured the forests.

"Lina?"

Her stomach growled in response. "I'm over here!" she yelled, waving her hands.

Tamahome burst through the trees. "Lina-chan! You're okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay!" she said. "What happened? Where's Nuriko-chan and Hotohori-san?"

"Back at the camp," answered Tamahome, looking over Lina to make sure she was in one piece. "I think. When you were pulled away, I tried to follow you. But...what happened?" He noticed the hat dangling from Lina's shoulders. "And what's that?"

"It is," answered Lina, "a hat. It belongs to the person who pulled me off. He said he was rescuing me, and he knew me to be Suzaku no Miko, and then he just disappeared."

"Ano... that's kind of odd. We'd better go find the others, though. They'll be worried about us."

As they moved through the forest, Tamahome turned to Lina and asked, "So who was guy who pulled you off? What did he look like?"

"Well, he looked like a monk." Lina scratched her chin. "He had one of those staffs and the bead necklace, but he had this mask on, so I couldn't see his face. Kind of odd. Like a fox, I guess. And I think he used magic to disappear on me like that."

"Lina? Tamahome? Where are you?" Hotohori's voice grew louder.

"Here!" called Lina. "I'm okay! I'm fine! What happ..." Her voice trailed off as she arrived at the scene of the campsite. It was littered with several bodies. Arrows punctured the ground at irregular intervals. Hotohori's sword was unsheathed and he looked to be alright, but Nuriko was lying on the ground, wincing.

"What happened?" said Tamahome in a small voice.

Nuriko sat up, clutching a wound on his left shoulder. "Right after Lina disappeared and you followed her, arrows started flying. Then these men attacked. Hotohori and I fought them off, but we couldn't find you!"

"You're bleeding," said Lina, kneeling to get a look at the back of Nuriko's shoulder. "Probably from an arrow, right?"

Nuriko nodded. "It needs to be bandaged..."

"Bandage, smandage. I know a few White Magic healing spells. Hopefully, they'll still work. Now, hold still." She held her hands over the wound and concentrated on the spell. She didn't use White Magic often, but she did know a few spells that came in handy.

Slowly, grudgingly, her hands glowed white until Hotohori and Tamahome winced and looked away. Still Lina concentrated, pulling on more power until Nuriko's wound finally closed.

"Aaah!" gasped Hotohori and Tamahome in amazement.

Lina slumped over. "This isn't right," she muttered wearily. "A simple healing spell like that shouldn't be so difficult. It feels like I just cast the Dragon Slave. What's with magic in this place, anyway?"

"Arigatou, Lina-chan," said Nuriko, smiling. "I never knew you could do that."

"Yeah, well, there's a lot of stuff you don't know about me. Just don't let it happen again, okay?"

"Nuriko! Are you -?" Tamahome stuttered.

"He'll be fine. It's not like the arrow hit his heart or something," said Lina glibly. "I, however, need a long rest and something to eat."

Tamahome and Hotohori blinked several times. "Did you just say..." started Hotohori.

"Huh?" said Lina, too tired to notice Nuriko's flushed face.

Nuriko attempted to wave it off. "Let's get that campfire going again! Lina-chan needs some food and some rest!"

Hotohori and Tamahome stared intently at him.

"Ano..." said Nuriko.

"YOU'RE A GUY?!" they yelled in unison.

"Lina!" screamed Nuriko. "How could you?"

Lina looked at all three. "How could I what?" She was obviously very out of the loop. She took the opportunity to call it a day; falling asleep right on the spot without even having dinner.

There was an instant uproar. Nuriko stomped out of the camp, throwing fume marks left and right while Hotohori and Tamahome babbled to each other over the startling news.

Lina slept through it all.

The morning sun dawned bright and clear as if to make up for all the confusion the day before. Lina woke up with a ravenous appetite. Well rested, she turned her attentions to her other craving. "Food! FOOD! I'm so hungry! Where's breakfast?"

She woke up the other two with her yelling. Or maybe she woke them up when she went rooting through the packs searching for food. Of course, she could have woken them up when she ran in circles trying to find the packs. In any case, Lina woke up Tamahome and Hotohori in a way related to food. It was only when Lina saw the two blinking sleepily at her that she realized something wasn't quite right.

"Ne, where's Nuriko-chan?"

Tamahome and Hotohori exchanged a glance. "Um, Nuriko went off in a temper and didn't return."

"Ne, why? I healed up the wound, didn't I?"

"Lina-chan! Did you know Nuriko was a man?" blurted Tamahome.

"Yeah," she replied. "Oops. You're not supposed to know that, are you?"

Hotohori sighed. "That must be why he left in such a temper. We have to find him so we can continue to Mount Taikyoku and find the fourth Suzaku no Shichi Seishi."

"First, we've got to eat! I'm STARVING!"

"You're always starving," pointed out Tamahome.

She whacked him, her hunger making her irritable. "Well, I'm even more starving right now!"

Tamahome let out a sigh of long suffering and offered her some of the food in his pack. Lina latched on to it and gulped in down in two bites. "More! I need more!"

"YEOW!" screamed Tamahome when Lina bit his arm. "I am NOT your food!"

Hotohori giggled as he watched Lina chase Tamahome all over the clearing, demanding to be fed.

Lina got that sinking feeling that it wasn't going to be a good day. She stopped in the middle of the clearing, holding her stomach. "I'm sooooo hungry," she complained as an arrow swished through her hair.

It was definitely going to be one of those bad days.

"Abunai!" yelled Hotohori, pushing the others down. "Those men from Kutoukoku are back!"

"WHAT'S WITH THIS?!?! CAN'T A GIRL GET SOMETHING TO EAT AROUND HERE?!?!" Lina shot up enough fume marks to cloud the area.

"Minna-san!" Nuriko burst into the clearing, swinging a large club. On closer inspection, Lina realized it was an entire tree trunk. The assailants scattered as the thick tree limbs crashed close to their location.

"Nuriko-chan!" said Lina. "Do you have any food?"

He drew back a step. "Me? Give you food? When you spilled my secret to everybody?!"

"Ne, I don't remember doing that! You should be thanking me - I healed that wound of yours!"

Nuriko and Lina faced off, when a voice from behind Lina said, "Aiyah, na no da!"

Everybody turned. And stared. But there was nobody there.

The kasa on Lina's shoulder floated over her head and a man popped out of it. "Ohayo, no da!"

"You..." Lina pointed, "You're that fox-faced guy from yesterday!"

The monk dusted off his hat. "That's right, no da."

"Do YOU have any food?!" screamed Lina. "I need my breakfast!!"

The other three stared at him. "You - you're the fourth Suzaku no Shichi Seishi! Chichiri!"

"Hai, na no da! And I bring greetings from Taiitsukun herself, no da!" Chichiri lifted his staff high in the air and made several complicated motions with his free hand. A blast of light from the staff surrounded them. They were gone in ...well, a flash.

They arrived on a mountainside. It looked quite normal, complete with native wildflowers and a few bees and butterflies hovering around them.

"Suzaku no Miko..." said a scratchy old voice from behind them.

Everybody turned. Again. And stared. And this time, there was somebody there.

"SUNAKAKE BABAA!" hollered Tamahome and Nuriko in fright.

"Who's a sand-throwing old witch?" countered the old woman.

"You must be Taiitsukun!" said Lina. "Do you have any food? If you say no, I'll be forced to 'dragon slave' you."

Taiitsukun looked at Lina very closely. Very, very, very closely. Lina drew back a step and bared her fangs, "I haven't eaten in a long time! Gimmie some food!"

Taiitsukun nodded to herself and stepped back. Actually, as Tamahome and Nuriko noticed, she really floated back a few feet. "First, you must tell me what you see on this mountain."

Lina spouted a plethora of fume marks and popped several veins on her forehead. "WHAT SORT OF THING ARE YOU TRYING TO PULL, HERE?!" she demanded. "I see trees and flowers and bees, and there's some funny-looking colored spheres and a pagoda and ...hey, where did all that stuff come from?"

Taiitsukun nodded. "Only those who are pure of heart can see this. Others see a barren mountain instead of the paradise it is."

"Good, good, good," said Lina. "But where's the part when I get to eat?"

The creator let out a sigh. "Very well." She walked, or actually floated, into the pagoda.

"Nyan-Nyan!" screamed several someones as the group entered. "Cure, cure! Fix, fix!"

Nuriko leapt back several feet. "Whoa, what's with them?"

"Fix me up a gigantic breakfast!" yelled Lina at them.

The Nyan-Nyans looked at each other in confusion. Although they were used to Taiitsukun's orders and Chichiri's wishes, it was the first time someone had demanded food from them.

"Nyan-Nyan!" they chorused enthusiastically. "We'll make the biggest meal in all of Mount Taikyoku!"

"I'll fix some eggs!"

"I'll bake some bread!"

"I wanna fix Taiitsukun's face!" said another one.

Taiitsukun sent that particular hyper chibi-goddess flying. "The insolence from them," she grumbled to herself.

Another Nyan-Nyan had made her way over to Nuriko. "I can heal you, too!"

Nuriko scratched his head. "But Lina already healed me."

"I'll fix your perversion!"

A second Nyan-Nyan joined the first in touring the skies.

Before Lina could finish the incantation for the Dragon Slave (not that she thought it would work, but it was a perfect way to vent her frustration) a large table was set with a banquet large enough to satisfy even Lina's stomach.

"Itadakimasu!" Lina said in .0000587 seconds flat before diving headfirst into the meal.

"Aiyah, no da!" muttered Chichiri to himself.

Tamahome looked at Chichiri closely. "You know... your face is peeling," he said awkwardly.

Chichiri ran his finger over the peeling skin. "Oh, that's okay, no da!" He winked at the others, glad for the distraction from Lina's frenzied cramming. Pulling his mask off to reveal another, he smiled broadly, "I always carry a spare, no da!"

Sweatdrops appeared on the heads of Hotohori, Nuriko, and Tamahome.

"This is certainly very strange," Hotohori felt impelled to remark.

Meanwhile, Lina made headway on the large banquet. The Nyan-Nyans were in their element, happily rescuing plates before Lina broke them and replacing them with platters of more food. They made a game of it, gleefully throwing plates back and forth to be filled, cleaned, or in most cases, repaired. Everybody else looked in the other direction.

Finally, Lina's monstrous appetite wore down to a halt. She leaned back in her chair (she didn't even remember when it was brought to her, but she was beyond caring at this point) and patted her very full stomach. Her face carried a dreamy smile on it. "Aaaaah..." she sighed blissfully. "That was a good breakfast."

"Nyan-Nyan!" agreed the hyper chibi-goddesses around her. They immediately started whisking away all the plates and clearing the tables, thoroughly enjoying the odd task.

Taiitsukun stared at Lina. "Now, then..."

"UWAAAAAAH!" screamed Lina at the sudden view of the wrinkled face. She turned her head to the side and coughed several times. "Don't scare a girl like that!" she growled angrily.

Sweatdrops appeared on the heads of the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi.

"Now then," repeated Taiitsukun for emphasis. "You must have come here to ask me something. So, what is your question?"

Lina burped. "Oh, well, it's about my magic, you see," she said, waving her hand airily. "It's like this: my magic doesn't work in this world and I want to know why."

Taiitsukun nodded. "There's something else you want to know, I can see."

"Yeah, well... you wouldn't happen to know what happened to Naga the White Serpent, do you? You know, tall, long black hair, big bust, likes skulls, black magic sorceress?"

Again, Taiitsukun nodded. "Very well. I will answer your questions, if you will bear with me. They require...lengthy explanations."

Lina rubbed her hands together. "Let's get cracking, then!"

Continue: Episode 9: Shock! Taiitsukun's Lengthy Explanations!