Welcome

It is the most extraordinary sensation he has ever experienced, and that is saying a lot. It is like fire, but it doesn't burn. It is like ice, but it doesn't freeze. It runs through his veins as liquid light, banishing darkness and sending the force of falling stars hurtling around his body. He is being pulled, but he cannot tell from where, or even in which direction he is travelling. It is not flying, but he knows there is no ground beneath his feet. Something else in in complete control, and yet he somehow doesn't mind. This is not a battle. This is not a war. This isn't even a surrender. This is...

"Oh, he's been awake for several days now, but I only let him up today. You know what he's like – he'd push himself so hard that he'd just end up taking even longer to recover if I didn't force him to take it slowly."

The voice of his guardian pulls him out of the dream, much to Ryuga's disappointment. To his mild surprise, he is still on the sofa, his white jacket now tangled around him rather uncomfortably. Well, that'll teach him to try using it as a blanket. Outside the window, it is pitch black – he must have been asleep for several hours.

"I see you've been exploring, Ryuga," Tamotsu says from somewhere above his head, and Ryuga opens his eyes to see that his guardian is not alone. There is another man with him, his hair as wild and spiky as Ryuga's own, but instead of the white that Ryuga shares with his guardian, it is deep, royal blue. One section flops over his left eye, but doesn't quite hide it.

"This is one of our neighbours," Tamotsu is saying as Ryuga drags his attention away from this newcomer's eyes – such a terrible, piercing blue they are, as if they are staring right through him – and focuses instead on his guardian. "Ryuga, meet Gingka. Gingka, meet Ryuga."

Ryuga blinks. "Gingka?" he splutters, not sure if this is still a dream or whether his guardian is trying to mess with his head. This man looks nothing like the Gingka he knows, from the dark blue hair to the clothes he is wearing. In fact, the only thing that might have recalled the powerful red-head Ryuga knows is the man's expression, an almost cocky grin that sparkles through the man's eyes.

"Hey, kid," the man – Gingka, Ryuga supposes he must call him – says, and Ryuga shudders at the name he has always hated. "This guy lookin' after you properly, right?" He tosses his head, revealing a set of three pale-blue ribbons knotted into the hair at the nape of his neck. They are long and thin, and seem to move in defiance of physics, stirring without the slightest breath of wind and twisting into curious shapes. Ryuga has never trusted things that move without some evidence of how or why, so regardless of how relaxed Tamotsu seems to be he finds himself tensing up, a tremor running like cold water down his spine. He makes no reply to the man's question, leaving Tamotsu to roll his eyes and shake his head.

"Ryuga hasn't met anyone else yet," he says sternly. "Don't confuse him."

Gingka – no, this is utterly ridiculous, Ryuga decides, so from now on he will have to be Other Gingka – looks puzzled. "You lettin' him meet us one at a time, then?"

"Something like that," Tamotsu says, and Ryuga catches a strange sort of strain in his voice, as if he is becoming far more guarded. "Ryuga, Gingka lives just around the corner – his garden backs onto ours. You've seen the garden, haven't you?"

Ryuga nods, unable to think of anything sensible to say. It is clear that Tamotsu knows just what he's been up to. Other Gingka just grins again.

"Tamotsu's an old friend of mine, he won't hurt you," he says, but then his expression softens a little into something Ryuga can't recognise. "Not when he's saved you so many times."

At this, Ryuga gives up trying to understand, because Other Gingka clearly likes talking in riddles that Ryuga's sleep-muddled brain cannot be bothered to decode. He's also vaguely irritated by Other Gingka's accent.

"Anyway, Tamotsu just brought me over to say hi to you, in case you thought you were livin' in some kinda ghost town," Other Gingka continues. "You'll like it here, I promise. You'll just hafta get used to the idea of it." He holds out his hand. "I'll see you up and about the town soon, right?"

Ryuga shrugs, the only response he can thing of, and doesn't take the man's hand, drawing back a little into the cushions of the sofa to get away from this very, very strange person.

"Aw, and there was me thinkin' he couldn't be scared," Other Gingka laughs, withdrawing his hand and putting it behind his head in a way which reminds Ryuga so forcefully of the first Gingka that for a second he reconsiders his original analysis. Then he registers what Other Gingka just said.

"I'm not scared," Ryuga snaps, eyes flashing dangerously even though he knows that in this state he can't do anything. "You're just confusing."

Tamotsu sighs. "Gingka, that's enough. He only got up today for the first time and now he has to deal with you being daft? Didn't you say you had some plans for this evening?"

The words have an immediate effect on the blue-haired man. "Oh, yeah – a dinner date!" he exclaims. "She'll definitely come this time, I'll make sure of it!"

Ryuga just notices his guardian rolling his eyes before the white-haired man speaks again. "What is it now, Gingka, the fifteenth time you've asked her? Give up, why don't you."

"Nah, she'll fall for me eventually," Other Gingka laughs. "You'll see!" And to Ryuga surprise, he waves and heads for the door. "Bye, Ryuga!"

"Sorry about that," Tamotsu says quietly as he makes to follow Other Gingka. "Gingka can be a bit excitable about meeting new people, and he's never one for being subtle. I'll be back in a minute – hang on."

He leaves the room and closes the door behind him, allowing Ryuga to breathe properly for what feels like the first time since he opened his eyes. Other Gingka is as loud as Ryuga's Gingka, though thankfully seems to have less energy. What a strange place he is in.

"He's not exactly responsive, is he?" he hears Other Gingka mutter from the hallway. "I thought you said he was getting better."

"You were confusing him," Tamotsu's voice floats through the wood of the door. "Anyone would be quiet when he doesn't know what on earth you're talking about."

"How? You... you mean you haven't told him?"

"Ryuga still doesn't know where he is or what really happened to him." Tamotsu speaks quietly, but Ryuga can still pick out the words. "He's not strong enough yet."

Other Gingka sighs. "You'll have to tell him sometime, El."

"It's been years since you called me that." If Ryuga is not mistaken, Tamotsu sounds almost irritated. "Don't. His hearing's so sharp, I wouldn't be surprised if he's listening to us right now."

Ryuga winces. Oops. So much for that plan. He is about to put his hands over his ears and try to ignore the conversation when Tamotsu speaks again.

"I'll tell him when he's ready. He still doesn't really trust me, and I don't blame him after what he's been through. No matter what, I want him to be safe here - not feel safe, be safe, and I'll do anything to keep him from coming to any more harm."

"You already have," Other Gingka murmurs. What a strange thing to say, Ryuga wonders.

"I want to help him, not hurt him." Tamotsu continues as if he hasn't heard the other man. "Saying anything too early could damage him in ways you could never understand."

There is the sound of the front door opening, and any other words are drowned out by the wind that blows outside. Ryuga frowns. Tamotsu is keeping something from him, and that concerns him. But at the same time, after what Tamotsu said just now and considering the love he has already put into repairing Ryuga's coat and coronet without asking for anything at all in return, Ryuga can't help but wonder if in this situation, maybe Tamotsu knows best. He certainly knows more.

Talking of that... Ryuga pulls himself carefully to his feet. He has had an idea, something that should give him some more clues as to exactly where he is. He makes his cautious way over to the window, leaning on the windowsill and staring up into the dark, cloudless sky. He scans the heavens for the familiar shapes of the constellations, knowing that he can use the stars to navigate by as he has done ever since he began to walk the wilds.

But he can't recognise any of the stars he sees above him out of the window. It is as if the old constellations have been shifted, their patterns changed and warped until he can barely make out the basic shapes of Orion and Crux, let alone the other, vaguer ones.

Where is Sirius? Where is Eltanin? Where is he, that the stars themselves should be different?

For a second he is afraid, a sensation so alien to him that it takes him a moment to understand what it is. But then something in his mind settles. Maybe he is in an unknown place, but the house is warm and comfortable, and if Tamotsu meant him any harm then surely he would have done something long before now rather than helping Ryuga to regain enough strength to be able to leave. Despite his misgivings about Tamotsu's choice of neighbours, Ryuga cannot help but consider his guardian to be worth at least some of his trust.

If Tamotsu is here, then Ryuga will trust him that nothing will happen to hurt him. He is safe here.

He knows that now.