Welcome to Gaia! ::

Nuriko blinked and shook Tamahome a few times.

"What do you mean 'There you are.' You didnt even notice I was missing, did you?"

He said in a pouty tone and crossed him arms. Despite his curiosity to know what the two were doing way out here alone, he decided to ignore it. What these two did in their free time wasnt his concern. After all, he still had a certain someone to impress and follow relentlessly. Ack. Speaking of him, he hadnt seem him in awhile.

"...Where's Hotohori-sama? What if... what if... he got lost? Or hurt or worse! Maybe he got kidnapped and is being forced to be unspeakable things against his will..."

The last one was probably a little farfetched, even in his mind, but it was possible. Hotohori was young, gorgeous and very wealthy. Who wouldnt want him? ...This only made him more irritated. Hotohori-sama was his and his alone, until he decided otherwise.

Miaka smiled at Nuriko, it was good everyone was catched up now. She laughed at Tamahome cringing at Nuriko and then watching Nuriko flip out over Hotohori and she then remembered her previous time alone with Nuriko.

"Ah...Nuriko...Tamahome, shouldn't we go try to find more seishi? I mean...and maybe a inn with...umm food?" she said rubbing behind her head laughing loudly. Her stomach was empty and she wanted food.

She then smiled innocently hoping one of them knew a place to eat and would help her get there, "Ah! Rice would be good! Or jello! Ahh...prime rib! Or even root beer floats!" she said while she was dancing.

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::Nakago turned once more, body facing the chained Tatara, right side to the shrin, left to The Great White Tiger, with Tomo betwixt the Tiger and Tatara. The emerging plants threatened the integrity of the great hall, and this fact was not lost on Nakago. The transfer of his own power left Subaru to have more freedom, and he knew where it came, directly around Tatara. Though, his whiop had not been meant to strike him, not this time..it was more to assure he had his attention. How she had known right where he was, and how she had known enough of what had gone on was still a mystery, and one he did not have the time to figure out now.::

::Eyes not leaving the Tiger at this point, he spoke, changes in tone and inflection making it clear who he was speaking to and about, even if he did not specify at each juncture, nor deviate from eyeing the "creature".::

::To Tatara:: "No...He isn't very happy with me...But he is no more angry with me than Seiryuu is with the desecration of his temple at the hands of you and your kind...And the god of battle will not back down from this fight. "

::To Tomo:: I am not sure the exact extent of the sorcery she has weaved concerning our temple...but I have tasted a similar aspect, and we shall deal with it in due course...in the mean time, those ominous plants are having detrimental effects on the stability of this hall, and perhaps even the tmple itsself..and we need to do something about that. We may not be able to directly enter the temple...but I believe that we came work around that as well..."

::He worded the next part in a manner that Tomo would know exactly what he meant, but the Byalkko would probably misinterperet or not truly understand the aspect of Tomo's power:: "...Project yourself into the temple, and You will be the medium for us to save the temple from this attack, and then we'll deal with the sorceresses seal, once we have taken care of the rest of this."

::This would only be a slight division of Nakagos power, leaving Yui under a protective barrier, along with Amiboshi at her side, then enough to sustain the temples intergity from the attack of Tatara's plants, and still leaveing Naakgo with the bulk to attend to the rest of what was heppening here in the great hall::

::It was a magnificent creature standing before him...glaring at him, with those eyes and an aura recognizable from his encounters with Seishi of the other beast gods. He did not waver i his stance, effectively being in the center of everything, the plants converging on the temple and the hall, Soon to break Tatara's chains...which were no longer of concern to him anymore, as his plan had apparently not gone as intended, Tatara, Weilding more power than ever before had seemed, even in his condition, Tomo...waiting, ready to act, and the Great Cat standing befor ehim int he very halls of Sieryuu.::

::To one end, this wa sperfect...He would need nothing more to convince Yui of the danger and their need to act immediately. They needed only deal with this immediate threat::

"So what now...Byakko...?"

::Tomo, for all his vast worldly experiences, was stunned. Of all the things to happen, this was the least expected, if he could have even predicted it. He nearly flinched at the beast's voice, especially hearing it speak Nakago's real name, which Tomo was certain very few knew. To top it all off, the Byakko seishi had escaped, and with something so huge happening, Tomo saw no point in starting any new illusions. He glanced at the shogun, and back to the beast. He could not keep a scowl off of his face. It was still beyond him why Byakko would interfere. Those meddling seishi had been annoyingly assumptive about the Seiryuu, and now they were in some serious trouble.::

::Tomo's jaw dropped a little. Was the beast telling him what he thought it was? And for a brief moment, Tomo considered what it would be like if he did 'try again.' As unlikely as that was, it was a nice fantasy. Just like the rest of his dreams, they were all just nice fantasies to bide the time. Tomo swallowed hard and tried to push back the trickle of conflicting emotions he was starting to feel. That damn inner turmoil was at it again, now of all times. His rather large ego was humbled by the awesome power of Byakko, and it left him just a little uncertain. It seemed pointless to hide anything from such a creature, but he still raised his head high, and tried to look confident while waiting for Nakago's command.::

Tamahome blinked at the word 'jello'. "What's jello?" Was the first thing he blurted out. Standing up, he nodded. "Yeah. I guess we'll have to feed that never ending black hole you call a stomach some time, but why not..cook..something? It'll cost less.."

"Are you certain of this?" Byakko replied calmly, he could have been referring to the confidence Nakago had in regards to the Byakko seishi or he could have been referring to the name but after a few moments more he released a sigh and rose to his feet, shaking his great bulk before rising up onto his hind legs.

The figure glowed briefly and the large feline form became a more humanoid build, it continued to morph until at last the light faded and before the pair of seishi stood no longer a tiger, but a humanoid being, the mark of Byakko upon his forehead. Now his facial expression could easily be read and it was not one of anger, but rather of pity and sadness.

"I know what moves you will make Ayuru and I know the outcome of each," He pointed out and glanced up briefly at the storm again before sighing and shaking his head, "I know your past, your present and your future but I pride myself on allowing a freedom of choice, all mortals have that gift," He lifted his hand briefly and motioned to the storm clouds, the symbol upon his forehead flickering to life as the winds began to shift and blow upwards to disperse the clouds.

"But be aware," He continued and flicked his wrist, commanding the winds to soften and become warmer once again, "That even if you summon my brother, some of your wishes will not come true," He whispered and placed his hands together once more, "Be aware that the lands of Sairou and Hokkan are protected by their deities...those that have already been summoned."

He smiled however after a few moments and arched a brow, "As for my seishi, all but one has left and she will soon follow." He pointed out in a wry tone before glancing at the shrine and placing his hand against the seal, it pulsed briefly against the palm of his hand before shattering into countless shards of light.

"Understand this however, we may meet again...but you will always be Ayuru to me." He finished and snapped his fingers, a silent command issued to his meddling seishi. At once, there was a reply and the flames vanished from the rooftops of the houses, a streak of white light shooting upwards into the sky before fading.

"It is done..." He finished and then turned his gaze back to the pair of seishi, "Now, would one of you be so kind as to show me the way out?" He enquired with a rather strange smile.

[***Byakko's Tour of Kutou***]

Byakko once again, shook his head sadly at being dismissed so easily, he could see that the seishi was so set in his ways and yet he couldn't stand the thought of all that would transgress if he continued, what a waste it would be... He pursed his lips however and after a few moments of regaining his composure he sent one last thought towards Nakago, a simple warning.

'Ayuru - To abuse your fellow seishi is one thing,' He was obviously referring to Ashitaire in this instance, 'But to abuse your miko is another, she is weak already and without love and care she may not live to complete all three of her wishes.' He paused for a few moments to allow this to sink in before continuing with another warning and one that perhaps would be somewhat more unweclome.

'And do not attempt to concoct an illusion from what you have witnessed today, for that is going beyond the boundaries... You are right Ayuru, we will meet again but perhaps not on the same grounds.' He finished and then turned to Tomo with a warm smile.

"Lead the way."

[***Tatara and Tokaki***]

"How are you feeling?" Tokaki enquired as he took a seat on one of the outcrops. They had been sitting in the same spot for a long time as Tatara attempted to regain his strengths. In truth, had it not been for the intervention of Byakko he wouldn't have had the strength to keep up appearances.

His limbs ached, his head pounded but how was he? He didn't know...Too many things, both physicall and mentally had occured and he could no longer put how he felt into words, his head was in turmoil and in combination with the pain of exhaustion, he really was not in the mood.

"I have felt better," He replied at last, resting his back against a tree trunk with a grim smile. Tokaki simply smirked at this and shook his head, turning his gaze towards the city of Kutou in the distance.

"Interesting place," He mused at last and grinned, "Pretty ladies but uh...a little too much violence for my tastes."

"Hmm.." Tatara responded.

"So who was the girl with the braids?"

"That was Subaru...another of the Byakko seven," Tatara explained with a chuckle.

"Ah, so - where to?"

"Well...when I can walk again I would suggest that we return to Sairou to recuperate..."

"Good idea!"