Nabiki was silent as she walked beside Tatewaki to her father's estate. What was he thinking, sheltering a fugitive from the Wyld Hunt? What could that possibly accomplish?
Tatewaki did not bother her with needless conversation, and she was glad. She needed to be planning, not talking. She had no idea what was waiting for her at home, but she knew one thing. Whatever the situation was, she would find a way to get her father out of this mess he'd gotten into.
Not out of altruism, of course. Any tendencies she might have had toward that virtue had be beaten out of her by the nearly literally cutthroat competition at school. No, this was in her self-interest as well. Any shame her father brought to House Tepet would reflect poorly on her as well. If this situation wasn't handled properly... the consequences did not bear thinking about.
The estate gates finally came into view, and Nabiki frowned at the scene that revealed itself. Over a dozen figures clustered around the gates - she quickly counted fourteen mortals, but only one Dragon-Blood. The gates were open, and in them stood the unmistakable figure of her father. The elder Tepet was talking with the Dragon-Blood from the Hunt, and Nabiki was glad to see that the exchange of words did not appear to be particularly heated at the moment. That would make things easier.
The Huntsman turned as the two younger Exalts passed through the ranks and approached, and Tatewaki saluted. "Commander. I've brought the Tepet girl."
Nabiki bristled at being referred to so dismissively, but hid her irritation. Instead, she turned her attention to Soun. "Greetings, father."
"Nabiki. I did not expect you to be visiting. I thought your duties in -"
"I'm on vacation," Nabiki said curtly, and instantly regretted that fact. Even in this situation, her father expected - and probably deserved - more respect. She waited for a rebuke, but none came, and that worried her. "I did not expect to find the Wyld Hunt besieging your estate, father."
Soun opened his mouth to reply, but stopped as Nabiki's gaze left him to look over his shoulder. Standing frozen behind him, looking for all the world like he'd just run into a horde of demons fresh out of Malfeas, stood a young boy, a dirty bandanna wrapped around his head. Seconds later, Nabiki's younger sister Akane charged at him, delivering a solid punch to his back.
The boy didn't seem to notice.
Nabiki took a step back, and felt rather than saw the mortal Huntsmen behind her ripple.
"Don't just stand there!" Tatewaki yelled. "Surround him!" The Huntsmen raced to comply, ringing the boy, and incidentally Akane, with steel spearpoints.
"Well, well," the Hunt commander said. "It seems we've succeeded in luring our prey."
Soun frowned. "You lied to me, Genma," he said.
Nabiki started as a portly, mortal man emerged from a patch of shadows. "I, I can explain, Lord Tepet -"
Soun gestured, and the wind roared. A thin red line appeared on the man's white shirt, and he stumbled back. "That was for telling me your boy was dead," Soun said. "If I discover any more of your story was lies, the birds will feast on your entrails."
Soun turned to the Huntsmen. "Do your business."
The Hunt's commander smiled. "Your luck has run out, boy," he called out to the boy who still stood just in the gates, ringed with steel. Nabiki noted with relief that while her attention had been on her father, the Huntsmen had pulled Akane out of their circle. The commander continued, "Reveal your mark."
The boy slowly reached up and untied his bandana, letting it drop to the ground. As it fell it revealed a golden, glowing circle on his forehead. The Huntsmen surrounding him stiffened.
"A Blasphemer," Tatewaki whispered beside Nabiki. Seeing her look of confusion he explained. "The marking on his forehead tells us what type of Anathema he is."
"So, we have found our prey," the commander said. "Excellent." He flicked his hand almost negligently. "Kill him."
Tatewaki drew his blade, and Nabiki fingered her dagger nervously, but it was the mortals who struck first. Almost as one a dozen spearpoints thrust at the boy.
And he moved. He leapt atop one spear, wrenching another from its wielder's hands and slaying a third Huntsman with the stolen weapon. A glow surrounded him, a golden aura that hurt to look at, and the mark on his brow glowed brighter yet. Behind him Akane screamed in terror.
The boy's father turned to flee, and Soun sliced open his belly with blades of air even as he moved to assist the Huntsmen. Nabiki watched in shock as the boy - he couldn't be any older than Akane - methodically felled the mortal Huntsmen before the two Dragon-Blood at the gates could reach him. "Stay back," Tatewaki warned Nabiki as he moved to stand beside the other Huntsman, who even now waved Soun aside. The two Huntsmen's animas flared, raging auras of flame that somehow seemed pale beside the golden radiance that was the Anathema. At a gesture from the commander, Tatewaki began to circle around the boy.
As soon as a gap opened, the boy struck. Nabiki could not say whether his fists struck the commander or only the Anathema's aura touched him, but none the less the Huntsman stumbled back under a dozen blows even as he raised his fiery blade to parry.
Akane shrank back from the confrontation, and Nabiki shouted "Run!" at her sister. Akane did not move, seeming frozen in terror.
It seemed Soun could wait no longer, and her joined the two Huntsmen in their attacks, and now the commander did not protest. Much to Nabiki's surprise, the boy held his own for a few moments, if barely, but was still slowly pushed. Without stooping down, the Anathema somehow gabbed a fallen spear from the ground and in one smooth motion stabbed at the Hunt commander.
The point emerged from the back of his chest. For an instant, all four combatants stood still, then the commander slowly toppled. "Get back, boy," Nabiki heard her father tell Tatewaki, and the Cathak complied, his blade n a defensive posture.
Soun's anima raged, razor-sharp blades of wind whirling about him. "You die now, Anathema," he said, as a whirlwind began to form around them.
With a sinking feeling in her gut, Nabiki realized that her father did not notice that Akane was still standing, frozen, behind the glowing boy, and would surely die in the storm he was summoning.
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(Posted Sat, 26 Jun 2004 05:28)
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