"Mou, mou, mou..."

"Sit down, Shinja-chan." The fourth (well, second for now) Winguardian in the hierarchy was sitting with Shinja in the planning hall. "I’m sure they're FINE."

"Iyah, nai desca, I should have heard from Kouji-chan by now...." Shinja paced, occasionally running her fingers through her curling brown hair. The new dye color irritated her skin, but that wasn't the worst part of being First in Command. She sat, hands clenched in front of her, sighing with worry. "I cant believe they'd do something so dangerous-and that Kouji would ALLOW Kirehashi to be dragged along!"

"You know how she is...always up for an adventure." The boy patted Shinja on the arm. "Come on, now, calm down. They'll be back soon."

"I hope so. You've been so nice to me, and I barely know your name-"

"Nakama." The boy smiled. "Hikari Nakama Jaakuno."

"Nakama..." she murmured. "Well, Nakama, thank you for joining me in such short notice. You've been a lifesaver." She studied the boy. He was about a foot taller than her with long white hair he wore in a ponytail and a scar across one cheek.  He smiled at her, rather disarmingly.

"Miss Shinja, anything I can do to prove my loyalty to the Winguardians."

Shinja studied his face for a second. "Can I ask you where that scar came from?"

_____

It was the last day of the tournaments.

Each summer, the young Winguardians held a tournament on the top of Kazeshiro to display their sword fighting talent. Although it was unofficial, it was well-known that the lead Winguardians watched the tournaments to pick their successors.

So far, there were four standouts-Two lower-classman named Hanae Shinja Chikara and Hontou Kirehashi Roku, and two higher in the warrior ranks: A boy named Hikari Nakama Jaakuno and a girl named Hana Kouji Darou.

The last fight between Shinja and Kirehashi was a draw. This left the winner of the tournament (and the main pick for next commander) to Nakama and Kouji.

They stood to face each other. Nakama stood at one end, a headband holding his closely cropped ivory hair at bay. He held a long, ivory sword straight out at Kouji. "Ready, girl?" he laughed. She was, after all, a year younger than him and female. Beating her should be easy, and then it was just a short step to become leader...

To his surprise, she grinned, showing a pair of needle-sharp fangs. "Yeah."

"SAH!" He charged her, holding out the long ivory sword like a lance. He flew straight at her-

"Sa-a.*" She laughed, watching him come at her. He stared at her in shock while he rushed. (Why doesn't she move-)

All the sudden, a wisp of smoke was where she once stood. He felt metal graze all around him, a sharp pain in his cheek, his sword-hand-

*tmp* Kouji landed neatly on the ground behind him on one knee, still holding her sword in one hand. She stood up and looked back-

There was her opponent, still standing. His clothes were cut all over, and his sword clattered to the edge of the arena. A hush fell over the crowd.

He looked at her in shock, felt the blood draining from the deep cut on his cheek, felt his hopes fall to pieces, and fell into unconsciousness to the cheer of the crowd for his opponent.

"Kouji Darou..." He murmured, slumping to the ground. "Yurusenai.**"

*Sa-a, in this case, means "nothing" or "no concern". She's mocking him by saying his attack is nothing special.

**Yurusenai means "I’ll never forgive you".
___________


"Oh, this scar? It’s nothing...."

__________

_

Kaze no Densetsu
Chapter Three: Shinko (Tamashii no Majikku)
_

*chink*

"Kire..."

*chink*

"Kire!"

*chink!*

"KIRE!" Sora screeched in exasperation. Kire stuck his head up from the bottom of the boat, looking confused. "Nanda?"

"Can you stop that please?"

He smiled a little. "Sorry, Sora-sempai...I'm trying to correct the
aerodynamics on the wings." he growled. "I keep going lopsided during
practices with my commander."

"Kire..."

"Yes, Kouji-sempai?" Kire turned to her, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. She glared at him.

"MY NAME IS HA-NA KO-U-JI DA-RO-U." She enunciated each syllable through her clenched fangs.

"O-okay." He ducked back a little. (Sempai wa kowaii...) He went back into the bottom of the boat, and the endless chinking continued.

"Iyyaaaahhhh." Kouji beat her head against the side of the boat. "If he
doesn't stop hammering, I'm gonna go NUTS!"

They had been on the small schooner for approximately a week. Land was due at any time, which was good because cabin fever was at an all time high for various reasons. Kouji was ITCHING for a fight, but there was no one to battle. "Please? Please? I’ll just practice with ONE sword!"

"No!" Sora screeched exasperatedly. "The number of swords doesn’t matter. It’s the fact that if you fall, you can fly. If I fall, I plumet into freezing cold water with sharks and eels and god knows what all."

"But no one will battle me!" she muttered. "Kirehashi is too afraid of
hurting me (yeah, fat chance!) and Ryu wont fight women! God, I hate that guy."

"Why? He's not all bad."

"What part of him isn't bad?"

"He's confident-"

"Arrogant!"

"Self-reliant-"

"Self-obsessed!"

"Brave-"

"Stupid!"

"Kouji!" Sora growled. "Can’t you get along with anyone?"

"I get along with you."

"Just BARELY." Sora stuck her tongue out at her, and they both burst out laughing.

**************

"Good god, is this place DESERTED?" They all stared up at the castle, covered with vines and ivy. It looked like a giant leaf palace, a structure composed totally of vines and flowers.

"It’s beautiful..." Kouji went up and examined it. She pulled a little of the vine away too see soft, brown brick. "I think it’s made of dirt! Who ever did this did it on purpose. I thought the Honoshiro was overdone, but this is so cool...it puts the Fire Castle to shame."

"Hey!"

Kouji glanced over and grinned micheviously, "I can’t help it if you have Castle envy Ryu."

"I do NOT have Caste envy! My Castle is huge!"

Kire spoke up, "Well, it’s not always the size that counts. As with this awesome place, it’s sometimes what you choose to do with your Castle more than anything else."

Ryu smirked, "What do you know boy? You don’t even HAVE a Castle!"

The look on Kirehashi’s face made Sora burst out laughing.

Ryu shook his head dismissively and gazed back up at the living palace. "Someone must enjoy playing in the mud. Oh well...what's say we get looking, huh?"

"Looking?" Kirehashi glanced over at him.

"Well, there has to be a king around here SOMEWHERE." Ryu gave him a
patronizing look. "Maybe you ought to pair up with someone...being so YOUNG and all."

Kire growled. "Listen here-"

"Tcha!"

They all whirled around, swords drawn. "SHOW YOURSELF!" Sora screamed. That was a distinctly female voice, which equaled intruder...

"Is it that stupid winged bitch Nanami?" Kouji muttered.

"Bitch?" The voice squealed.

Kire looked around. "Who's saying-"

"TCHA!"

"Ack!" Kire jumped back a foot. Materialized directly in front of him was a young female elf. She had light purple skin, dark purple hair, and bright green eyes. She wore a black pants and a green Chinese style tunic with bronze buttons. The elf grinned at Kire. "You're cute!" she giggled.

"Umm..." Kire turned red. Kouji snorted.

"My names Shinko!" She giggled again. "I like you! Your arm is shiny!"

"Uh..." Kire looked down at his gleaming metal arm, then back at the girl who was holding her hand over her face and laughing. "What funny wings!"

"Hey!" Kouji strode forward, sword drawn. "Who are you, and why are you
harassing one of my officers?"

"I don't like YOU." The elf girl stuck out her tongue.

"Same to you, elf-bitch!" Kouji stuck her tongue out back.

In retaliation, Shinko grabbed Kire by his metal arm. "Come on! Let's go meet my daddy!"

"Your...daddy?" Kirehashi was still having trouble taking all this in.

"Yeah! I gotta make sure he likes you, If I'm gonna marry you...." She glomped onto his arm, blushing.

"Marry me?"

"MARRY YOU?!?" Kouji screamed.

"Don't get jealous, fang-bitch." The young elf laughed darkly. "Tcha!" The two disappeared.

They were left staring for a bit. Sora was giggling, Ryu scratching the back of her head, Kouji clenching and unclenching her hands slowly and turning red.

Finally Sora spoke up. "How cute!"

"CUTE?" Kouji whirled around. "What a bitch! She just WALKS in here, insults me, grabs Kire-"

"Is that what's bothering you about all this?" Sora grinned at her. "That she took Kirehashi?"

"Don't be stupid." Kouji spat. She spread her wings. "I'm gonna go find him."

"Good! I’ll go-"

"I’ll go  with you, Ryu said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't want my charming young princess getting lost."

"What do you mean YOUR princess?" Sora said, blue eyes narrowing. "I'm not ANYBODYS."

"I gotta roll...have fun with Ryu!" Kouji laughed over her shoulder as she flew off.

Sora sighed as her friend dissapeared into the sky. She turned to see Ryu standing next to her and grinning broadly.

"I suppose we should search inside the Castle, since Kouji was headed towards the forest."

Ryu bowed, "You’re wish is my command, my Lady."

Sora rolled her eyes as they pulled on one of the ornate Castle doors. Suprisingly, it swung open without protest, and the pair proceeded inside.

"Where are all the lights?"

Ryu grinned and grabbed Sora’s hand, "I don’t need a light, you’re radiant beauty will guide me safely...plus, it sets a romantic atmoshphere, don’t you agree?"

There was a *thunk* ing noise, than a loud clatter as something hit the floor and fell against a metal object. 

Ryu moaned unhappily, "You could have just said ‘No.’ On the bright side," he chuckled, "I think I found a lamp." There was a flicker as the Honosai glowed bright red for a moment, than a tiny flame caught on the wick.

Sora stared down the now illuminated hallway at the many doors on either side.

"It’s gonna take us forever to find the right one!"

"Never fear my Lady, I’ll take care of it!"

Sora looked over curiously, "What are you going to do?"

Ryu held up a small pink pendant, hanging around his neck from a golden chain.

"This will help me detect power.If the boy is in the same building, I’ll be search out his strength...weak though it is." 

There was silence for a moment, as Ryu swung the pendant back and forth slowly in the air in front of him with one hand, and kept the other on one of the dirt bricks. He glanced up suddenly, "Kirehashi isn’t in the Castle. However, there seems to be a large mass of power coming from that way."

He pointed down the hallway at a door on the left.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!"

"Wait! It could be a trap! Or an angry moster! Or a horrible-"

Sora had already dissapeared through the door. Ryu shook his head, "On the other hand, damsels in distress are usually VERY grateful to their rescuers..." With this in mind, Ryu grinned and ran after Sora. Throwing open the door, he gasped at the sight that greeted him.

Sora turned around slowly and whispered, "There are hundreds of them...and they’re all armed!"

The two stood on a balcony overlooking a large practice field. Hundreds of people swarmed below, all dressed in either gold or green. Each color seemed to be staying on a practicular side, green on the right, gold on the left.

"What do you think they’re doing?"

Ryu shrugged, "I’m not sure. They look like warriors though. Most of them have scars from battle."

Sora nodded, "I noticed that too. And, it would explain why you sensed a large amount of power..."

"Hi! Are you here to watch the tournament?"

Ryu and Sora turned around to see a small boy in a gold shirt with ivory buttons grinning at them.

"Tournament?"

The boy nodded, "Yeah! My big brother is entered, he’s gonna win!"

Sora grinned and crouched down to speak to the child face to face, "Really? Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to compete against your sibling."

The boy shook his yellow hair, "My brother says that in the Meiyo no Shiai, the more combatents, the more fun, the more opponents, the more glory to the winner."

Ryu grinned, "He sounds like Kouji."

The boy grinned back at Ryu, "My brother says that cuz this years chosen weapon is swords, the Lightning Kingdom is gonna scorch the Earth Kingdom! And one day I’m gonna be a big warrior and win, too!"

Sora stood up suddenly, grabbed Ryu’s hand, and hopped up and down excitedly.

"The Houses of Lighting and Earth compete in together in this battle!The keepers of the Shoomeisai and the Chikyuusai most both be here! Isn’t this great?"

Ryu glanced down to where his fingers were now entertwined with Sora’s and smiled contendly, "Yeah...amazing."

The fair-haired boy grabbed onto both Sora’s and Ryu’s pants legs and tugged.

"Do you guys wanna be on my big brother’s team? Do you know how to play swords?"
__________

"Hmm..." Kouji landed in a likely looking place in the dark forest
immediately outside the castle. "May as well start here...Kire-ha-SHI!
Kire-ha-SHIIII!" She tramped through the brush, pulling tree branches out of her way. "KIREHASHI! WHERE ARE-"

*chomp!*

"IYAH!" She jumped back. She examined her hand, and saw two teeth marks ringed with red. "Ite..."

"Sorry about that."

A man stood out of the brush. He was considerably tall (even taller than Kouji) with short cropped brown hair and a brown goatee. He blinked his pale blue eyes and scratched the back of his head with long claws. He was wearing a brown, sleeveless tunic and big brown boots. He bowed to her. "I'm really sorry...I was taking a nap and I panicked...you really scared me!"

"I scared you?" Kouji gave a short laugh. "You BIT me, aho!" she squealed, blowing on her hand.

He walked up and took her hand. In his large hands, her's were completely dwarfed by comparison. His now retracted white claws curled around her fingers. He studied the wound. "It doesn't look that bad, little one-"

"Little one?!?" She jerked her hand away. "I'm almost as tall as you!"

"Now, don't get angry..." he sighed. "I hate anger."

"Oh, too bad." She spat and drew her sword. "I’ll prove to you I'm not so little..."

He sighed and unsheathed his sword. "As you will, little one, as you will..."

She advanced on him, swords drawn, but hesitated to run. (Why doesn't he attack?)

He pointed his sword at the ground and murmured. "Shinza..."

"Nani?" She stopped at the framiliar phrase and noticed his was glowing green. "Masaka!"

"Shizen!"

Green, flowery vines burst out of the ground, entwining her. They strapped her to the ground. "Ack!" She chewed on the vine at her neck without much luck. She spat out bits of plant.

"Aren't they pretty?" The man crouched beside her smiled benignly at her. "That vine is one of my favorites, and no thorns, so you won’t be hurt. I assume you came with friends, so we can wait for them here. I'm going to leave you tied up, though, because I think you must have quite a temper...to challenge a king like that."

(Owari Chapter 3!)