Hogo Seishin Episode 6 Preview!

Okay, so here's the deal. I'm working on a crochet commission for Ottawa Crocheted Goods, a small business I made up, the page to which can be found on Facebook under --^ this name. That being said, writing has being been going REALLY slowly. It makes me cry. T_T
  Also, I'm not sure I will be able to release an episode next Saturday, or even a preview a week from now for Episode 7. Episode 6, however, I will be able to put up today (preview) and this coming Saturday (full story). This means that after this week, I don't think I'm going to be continuing my usual regiment of one episode per week.
  Another reason behind this, a BIG one, is because in November, in my city, there's an anime convention (yes, I'm a con-goer, don't hate me. ) called N2U. A program in N2U is specifically set up so con-goers can take some of their own hand-crafted, personally made items and sell them to other people. I have recently bought a table for this event, and will be participating, however, that means I will have to spend the next six and a half months preparing for this event. Which, in turn, means I will not be writing too much over the next little while. I will try and post updates every TWO weeks instead of one, but honestly, I will not make any promises I cannot keep.

  On a lighter note, I've been informed that Unum-Ales-Angeli MIGHT be putting up the VERY FIRST FRONT PAGE COVER of Hogo Seishin to dA next week! I was ecstatic to hear the news! I'm so excited for this, and I hope you all are, too! She does such amazing work, and if you haven't seen some of her character sketches and other work, GO SEE IT! Right now! Go, go, go! I'll wait. (waits.....................................)

  Okay, you see how amazing her art is?! She's incredible! All the more reason we should all be excited to see how Hogo Seishin's cover is going to come out! So, while you wait for that, I'll give you the preview to Hogo Seishin's sixth and newest episode, TEKE TEKE! (I especially had a lot of fun writing this one. One of my favourites to write so far!)


第六 章 :テケ テケ
Chapter Six : Teke Teke

  "Before we head to Azumino, we'll make a stop on the way. We've heard there's a disturbance around a town called Takayama, and since we're headed in that direction, we might as well check it out."
  Kasuma was speaking with authority, and even though Satsuki wasn't going to object to her anyway, she still thought it strange how Kasuma was talking in a tone that suggested she wouldn't leave Satsuki with the option to do so to begin with.
  "Alrighty, then," she said, going along with her. "but why are we going on foot, anyway? I'm sure Kamiko's tired of carrying me around everywhere we go."
  Kamiko huffed with exasperated agreement. She really was sick and tired of playing the part of Satsuki's "steed", as she thought she was doing.
  "Instead of taking public transportation, which takes detours and never makes a bee-line for their destination, we're heading straight to Takayama through the mountains. It'll take less time, and it'll be easier that way."
  "Easy for you to say," Satsuki sighed, annoyed. "You guys are as good as ghosts. You don't have to worry about dying horrible deaths from wild animals chewing on your hide. I'd personally rather not be made into wild dog chow, thanks..."
  "You must be forgetting that we're armed with our own blades, which we will use to protect you." Kasuma looked back at Satsuki with an assuring grin. "With us with you, you're only in about as much danger of death as we are."
  Satsuki looked at her quizzically at first, hoping what she was saying was true, but then she shrugged and decided to trust her judgement. She'd saved Satsuki's life twice before, after all.
  "First thing's first. We're going to get you some new clothes. You've worn those ones for a few days now. If we can find a bath-house in Takayama, you can clean yourself up, too."
  Satsuki grinned at the thought of a nice, warm bath to soak in, and new clothes to put on afterward. She took a moment after to take stock of her currect condition; her clothes were all worn and dirty, and even ripped at the hem a little, and she smelled less like a bouquet of roses and more like a bundle of onions left out in the sun for a couple of days too long.
  "We shouldn't stay too long in Takayama. We don't want the one we're after to  get too far ahead of us. We don't think he knows he's being chased by more than just Shinigami, but we don't want to just assume he doesn't. He may try to leave the country to get out of our reach instead of just getting out of theirs and calling it a day. We're not going to take our time with this, but we're not going to overlook anything, either. We can't afford to make either of those mistakes."
  Satsuki stayed silent, but agreed. They were already still in the dark about who this guy even was, and the last thing they needed now was to be so far behind him that they would no longer be able to catch up.
  "So, what's this so-called disturbance in Takayama?" Satsuki asked. "How do you even know there is one?"
  "Hogo Seishin can contact each other and communicate in ways other than talking. We can also track eachother within a certain distance by 'feeling' each other's prescences. It's difficult to explain to someone who doesn't actually know what it feels like." Kamiko told her.
  "Think of it as like..." Kasuma interjected. She paused for a moment thoughtfully, trying to think of something good to compare it to. "...well, whenever the microwave turns on and is cooking something, or when the television is left on, you can still feel a sort of really faint charge coming from it. It's like a small buzzing in the back of your mind."
  Satsuki looked at the back of her head, very confused. She never felt anything like that at all in her life.
  'What the heck is she talkin' about?' she thought, raising an eyebrow.
  "We feel that feeling everytime there's a disturbance near us. The closer we get to the source, the more prominent the feeling is."
  "What happens if you're right next to the source?" Satsuki asked, just for the sake of asking.
  "It sort of feels like your whole mind is vibrating. It's rather uncomfortable." Kamiko answered.
  "These are our senses reacting to the spirits' energies around us. The closer we are to the spirits, the stronger their energy feels." Kasuma explained.
  "Uh..hunh..." Satsuki pretended she understood. "So...you can feel that...buzzing, or whatever it is, right now?"
  "No, but another one of us has. My guess is that they've got their own business to take care of, and since we're going that way, they want us to take care of it."
  "How do they know we're headed that way?"
  Kasuma glanced back at her again, and pointed at her temple with an index finger.
  "I've told them. It's no secret."
  "I see..." Satsuki replied curiously.
  "We'll just take care of what's happening around here, then we'll move on to Azumino. Shouldn't take too long." Kamiko said non-chalantly.
  Satsuki looked back down at her yukata. She was already beginning to feel impatient for new, more comfortable clothing.

  They walked for less than another hour before coming to the small city of Takayama. It was not a heavily industrialized place, with low buildings, and small businesses huddled together in the middle of housing neighbourhoods and shops dotting the narrow cobble-stone streets here and there, instead of the segregated districts Satsuki was used to seeing in a city. It had a very rural look to it, and Satsuki could almost get the feeling like she was entering a quiet village, like in Hida, just by the look of it. It was quiet, not crowded and busy.
  It was a little too quiet.
  "Hm..." Kasuma looked at the view, pondering. "Something is definitely wrong here."
  "Shouldn't there be more people out and about?" Kamiko asked, though she already knew the answer.
  Satsuki looked out onto the streets. She noticed many of the windows were shut tightly, as if trying to keep something out.
  "Unless something's keeping them indoors for their own protection..." Kasuma answered Kamiko.
  Somewhere in the distance, they could hear a train rolling by. To the left, at the edge of the city, a pillar of smoke was slowly rising up and moving torward the east.
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And there you have it! The preview to Episode 6, which will be coming out this Saturday! Please, look forward to it, and look forward to Unum-Ales-Angeli's upcoming submissions to dA! Until next time!