Welcome to Gaia! ::

::The real Tomo smirked, this one was tricky, and he liked that. And he seishi was not about to give up just yet. Tomo knew Tatara was holding back, for what? Something was going to happen, and Tomo wanted to get an idea of what these Byakko had up their invading sleeves. That sad face still on his illusion, he tried again.::

How can our goals be the same, yet lead us down such different paths? How is it that we crave the same freedom, yet we must fight? This I do not understand.

Your desire is to protect your country from that which would wish to harm it. Our goal is to have a country worth protecting. You wish for the freedom to live in peace, as do all of the people of Kutou. We Seiryuu have been working hard to create a better country. It's taken time and effort, and we are so close to making the leap to a peaceful nation. If I am incapable of understanding why, then tell me. Teach me.

::Tomo wondered how much it would take to crack this Byakko. He seemed to be doing well. Tomo would not be the one to really push him, that was all Nakago, but then it became the matter of letting that happen. He did not want to admit it, but Tomo was rather drawn to this young man. Hell, he had dreamed about him. Suffice to say, he would like to keep him alive, if possible. Sadly, the lad seemed to be uttterly set against the Seiryuu. Okay, so Tomo had invaded the privacy of their minds, but he only did it on Nakago's orders. Nakago would only have ordered him to do it if he percieved them as a threat. A threat that could jeopardize their plans, which were more or less noble intentions. Some people would have to be removed, but that was a Kutou-nobleman's problems, it had nothing to do with outsiders. And yes, Kutou armed forces were amassing along the borders, but it would just take a few days to set up a new regime, and those forces could be withdrawn. Could. That would be up to the new empress, and her trusty advisers.::

Too little too late

::Tomo thought as Tatara spoke. He clearly was not going to get anywhere.::

::His thoughts were interrupted by a new problem.::

s**t! He's going to...

::The illusion stayed right where it was, but the real Tomo leapt into action. Whatever the hell was going on, Tomo's illusions would not suffice. He would need a little more firepower before Nakago arrived. He rarely got to use his telekinesis since he was so damn good at illusions, but now seemed like just one of those instances where he would need it. He kept his illusion going however, whatever the Byakko was up to, Tomo had a duty to stop him. HIs illusionary self no longer looked on in sadness. Its face looked rather hurt now, angry and bitter.::

Run? Abandon the shrine and palace? What kind of coward would I have to be to leave all that holds my country together? What kind of seishi would I be then? So, it is to be war, is it? Your woman just could not let us be, and now what are your intentions? You wish to defeat Seiryuu in their own home? Planning to defile our shrine while you are at it? You have to know that I cannot allow such an act against my God to occur! You leave me no choice, I will taste the rage of Byakko and answer with the powers granted by the God of War!

::At the same instant, he was casting an illusion for Nakago's eyes only, similar to the one conversing with Tatara. He sent it as a warning to the shogun.::

Nakago-sama, the Byakko have made their move. Hurry!

::Tomo no longer supressed his power. In fact, he would probably need a great deal of it very shortly.::

"To run would be a very clever move and would give you the opportunity to regroup before returning the attack," Tatara replied calmly as another roar echoed from above, it sounded like it was coming from the rooftops rather than the sky, as if an avatar of sorts had emerged from out of nowhere, whatever it was however, it was much larger that normal.

"And I did not defile your temple, in fact I haven't touched it; none of us have, therefore your comments have no truth there is simply a shield in front of it and it is there for good reason," He murmured before glancing upwards towards the ceiling as another roar echoed above him and he smiled.

Soon, very soon he would unleash his powers and take his leave...perhaps he would suffer minimal pain as well for Subaru was move at an unusually fast rate. He continued to speak with his own thoughts and closed his eyes briefly...just a little longer.

[***Pouncing Tiger, Worried Dragon - Subaru in the big city...***]

Subaru gasped within the shadows as she felt the suffocating grasp lift away from her form, at last she was free to wield her magics and to the greatest of advantages, not only that but Tatara had begun to call forth his own and Nakago had made a very dangerous mistake, he had left Subaru free to wield all her magic...and that meant...

"Tatara!" she called loudly, though she remained hidden 'somewhere' within the shadows for she was the shadows at this moment in time. Her voice would alert him and as she left the palace gates, her dissipated figure flowing easily through the shadows she began to weave her magics around not herself, but instead Tatara.

The symbol upon her breast began to burn angrily as the powers of Byakko surged through her, the deity aiding his loyal seishi as best he could within the foreign lands and as the symbol brighten the magic that she summoned forth began to seep over the body of Tatara, the white aura pulsing around him. Upon any sort of impact to Tatara's body, the aura would crackle and retaliate...much like the shrine's shield. So it was true, even a shogun, an elite could make terrible mistakes...

"I win," she whispered as she continued to focus her powers on the shield around Tatara as she glanced around, remaining within the shadows to avoid being sighted too soon or she could jeopardise his chances of survival yet something caught her attention a light, merry whistle...within the distance.

"Hmm..." She murmured and continued to creep through the shadows towards the whistling in the distance.

[***Pouncing Tiger, Worried Dragon - Tatara & Byakko***]

"Seiryuu," Tatara replied coolly as he closed his eyes, smiling warmly as the aura enveloped him. The whip would have been of concern to him but now that a shield remain around him, protecting it from his blows he could continue to be calm and collected...he could time his attack perfectly, however even now, beneath his feet the weeds within the cracks of the tiles had begun to grow, snaking up the back of his legs towards the chains that binded him...As they grew, they would weaken the chains, he just had to be patient.

Yet after a few moments he released a bemused chuckle and glanced upwards at the loud roar. The being producing the angered cries had moved now and seemed to be heading towards Tatara's right, yet after a few moments there was a brief scratch upon the tiles and the large feline leapt from the rooftops, landing on all fours with its teeth bared.

The piercing blue eyes turned their gaze upon that of Nakago and the hair on the back of the feline's neck rose as it began to approach a peculiar white aura beginning to surround it in the similar fashion to the one that now surrounded Tatara. Yet the feline was much bigger than most of its species and the fur coat much whiter, the black stripes therefore looking much darker and menacing in contrast.

It's ears rested flat against its head and it released another roar as it swiped out a forepaw in warning, the tail swaying from side to side in warning...what a pretty white tiger this was, no?

"I would like you to meet my friend," Tatara purred and glanced towards the tiger, who paused briefly and almost seemed to smirk, a deep wisdom and intelligence within its eyes, "He isn't very happy with you, you know..."

((Okay, unless anyone has any objections, as moderator of this RPG, I nominate myself to play Suboshi until we can find someone else. Long live Seiryuu Seikun and his noble servants!))



::This meant war. The Byakko lad was handsome, but there was no way he would be spared now. He dropped any and all illusions he was maintaining and approached the shogun.::

I need to step out for a moment, I have a promise to keep.

::He left the hall and grabbed the nearest servant scrambling by.::

Get my headpiece from my quarters. If anyone tries to stop, tell them I will personally have them executed. And make it quick!

::He re-entered the hall, a sour look on his face. He should have just worn the damn thing, he should have know he would need it, it was one of his favorite weapons. In the meantime, what could he be doing to stop the Byakko? Telekinesis? Tatara's plants looked like they could do some damage, but there was not anything incredibly useful in the room use could use to stop them. He strained his mind for some ideas, but waited for word from Nakago before doing anything else.::

EDIT: This battle is off limits until Nakago returns, because, well, fair is fair.

|alrighty! We'll see ya later! ^_^|

Tamahome nodded. Finding the othe seshi would be a good idea. Plus, he could always make money on the way.. "Yeah that would be a-" Tamahome was cut off by Nuriko's scary voice. He jumped and turned around. Sweat dropping he said, "Uh, Nuriko! There you are!"