Fushigi Yuugi OC AU/Rewrite

Chapter 9. Enemies Unseen

I struggled as I tried to get away from the mysterious person who grabbed me, trying to kick at them and grab at the trees to impede them. I wiggled free enough to where my mouth was uncovered for a moment, a moment I took to bite down onto their hand. The person yelled in pain and their grip loosened, I took the opportunity to finally free myself. "Let go- Huh?" I was taken off guard by the appearance of my kidnapper. He was a young man, about my age maybe a bit older, with light blue hair that almost looked almost buzzed off aside from some strands at the front that tufted to the side and a long ponytail down the back. What surprised me most was his outfit, he looked almost like a monk of some kind but had a large hat at his back, tied around the front of his body with a string.

He held his hand and gently blew on the area I bit him. "That really hurt, ya know?" His eyes were closed and I hadn't seen him open them once since I actually got a look at his face. 'Who is this person...?' "What a healthy bite you have, Priestess of Suzaku." The atmosphere was so strange, it was as if he didn't mean me any harm at all. But if that was the case, why had he grabbed me? "I should have asked you before I rescued you from the Kutou warriors, ya know?" My eyes widened at his words. "Huh? Wait-" "Don't let them catch you off guard, Priestess!" He knelt down and pulled his hat over his head... and then down over the rest of his body. "Wha...?" I grabbed the hat and picked it up, finding nothing underneath it, the man had just vanished...

"He vanished without a trace. I never even found out what his name was." I held the hat and slowly rose to my feet as I heard footsteps running up behind me. "Ice!" I turned around and saw Tamahome, slightly winded from running after me. "Are you alright, Ice?" I nodded and still looked around the area, trying to find any trace of the man. "Yes, I am. But... I think someone was coming after me, we need to go back." I grabbed his arm and began to head back the way we came, when all of a sudden I heard a shrill scream. "Nuriko!" I dashed off ahead of Tamahome to go see what happened.

My eyes widened at the sight in front of me. Nuriko was thankfully alright, some arrows lodged in the tree behind her as she contorted her body to avoid them. However the other men hadn't been so lucky... Many of them were shot with multiple arrows, some even only had one well placed arrow fell them. I was too shocked to even scream as I felt all the blood drain from my body, leaving me pale and weak at the sight of it. Noticing my shaken up state, Tamahome quickly covered my eyes with his hand. "Don't look. What went on here Nuriko?" I couldn't see it, but I heard the distinct sound of an arrow snapping, assumedly Nuriko's doing. "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 Ice."

At her words I slowly pulled Tamahome's hand away from my face and I looked down at the men who had been killed. "They were after me. The guy who grabbed me... He told me they were." He looked at me in surprise. "You spoke to him?!" I nodded and walked over, kneeling down next to one of the bodies. "These men... They were killed because someone was trying to get to me." I tried to steel my nerves but I could still feel my hands shaking to prove how scared I actually was. But I couldn't turn away from this, this was real and it happened because of me.

I stood up on shaky legs and turned to Tamahome and Nuriko. "It doesn't feel right to just leave them here... Would it be alright if we buried them? Then, I want to go into town and tell their families what happened to them." They nodded and Nuriko came up behind me to place a comforting hand on my back. "Ice, Tamahome and I can bury them. You should go into town and tell their families." I quickly shook my head. "No. We shouldn't split up, not after what just happened." I grabbed a shovel that was resting on a nearby tree, we were on the outskirts of a village so I guess parts of these woods had been used for farm land, and began digging some graves for the men.

"But, Ice... Do you know how to bury people?" My whole body flinched and tensed up a bit at Tamahome's question and I gripped the shovel tightly as unpleasant memories of my parents filled my mind. I let out a deep breath to compose myself and nodded slowly. "Yes, I do." They didn't question me further about it, much to my gratitude. After we had buried all the men, I got down on my knees and clasped my hands together as a sign of respect for their sacrifices. "I'm sorry you ended up like this... because of me. I promise I won't ever forget it." I said softly before rising to my feet and facing my two companions. "Let's head into town." Tamahome said softly and I nodded back in a wordless response.