Darkness

Day Fifteen, Part Three

         I waked quickly to catch up with the others. My sister did not like me to communicate with the Guardian Spirits as there was always the danger of one being pulled into their web. There was that little matter known as Forest Politics. I was seriously beginning to wonder how much alike was the East and the West. There did not seem to be any kind of 'organized' anarchy here. The trees looked as though they had been planted in orderly rows rather than growing by Nature's whim. It was quite different from what I had experienced in both Japan and my own hometown of Malaysia.
         I stepped up my pace, remembering to wipe out all traces of the 'chi' trail as I went along. I didn't feel as much at ease here as I pretended. There was too many things that did not follow what I had learnt throughout my years as serving in the East.
         I folded the cloak over my arm, remembering what my Imouto (little sister) had mentioned about the blood stains being hard to clean. It was a dark cloak, but youkai blood was notorious for being quite smelly as they rotted. The cloak was then slung across my shoulder, although I did think of just throwing it away. It had been a little cumbersome as I fought the youkais just now.
         I was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse and an ankle-length skirt that was slit up my left thigh. It allowed me to move much faster and easier than had I been wearing my usual jeans. Ankle-high boots completed the ensemble. Besides, Su had insisted that I wear them. The things one will endure to satisfy a loved one's desires. I caught up with them pretty quickly, and the boys stared at me as I moved up to take my place beside my sister.
         "Well?" my sister asked.
         "The Guardian Spirit will take care of the bodies. Nothing here is what it seems," I said in a low voice.
         "The politics?"
         "Iya. There aren't any. That's what strikes me as odd. There also doesn't seem to be what we would normally find in forests of this size and kind," I told her.
         "Culture?" my sister asked, but before I could answer her Hiei spoke.
         "Do you want to tell everyone where we are?" he said. I think that was the longest sentence he had said so far.