Book I

Foraois

Forest

Chapter VII

Revelations

"May your journey overflow with frigidness and warmth."

The morning sounds of Tereré were a welcoming comfort to the wearily blonde who tilted her wide brimmed hat up as her blue eyes blinked against the greyness of the sky. Her blood ran cold with the steely Northern resolve but her heart was still basking in the warm air of the Southern sun and still pined to feel the warmth against her skin. She was donning her patroller cloak, repaired sloppily in the day she had, had to stitch the tears together, and she had shoved the red cap into her pocket. Today, she decided, she was going to sport her wide brimmed hat that she had decorated with a stray feather she had encountered en route to the Long House.

When she had immigrated to the North because of her late husband's desire to return to his own lands and escape the conflicts, she had not thought twice about following him to what was at the time the most peaceful of the cardinal villages. Her own homelands had been ravaged and destroyed by Central's campaigns and she had witnessed too much carnage to be able to gaze into the fields of white flowers without seeing white marred with coppery red and rusty orange. Her own homeland had been reverted to a primitive state of what was once the glorious Southern region and she saw the devolution of her precious lands as a sign to move away quickly and seek refuge where she could.

Ro had ultimately boarded the train bound for Tereré, when there was still active surface, and clutched her travel papers close to her chest as she watched the landscape go from flat to raised plateaus and mountains. The train had already passed through the Central plains and bypassed the capital—it was the slow train that offered a direct connection between her village and the North—and she noticed the changes immediately. The once celestial sky was stained a permanent grey that had changed between dark and light grey with little variation. She had watched as her husband breathed out a sigh of relief as they pulled into the familiar mountain range that marked the beginning of the Northern territories and a foreign land that she was emigrating to out of love.

As she tapped her foot nervously against the ground awaiting a status report on her weapon, she felt the wash of memories come over her as the bustling sounds of the industrial Tereré once again infiltrated her memories. The sounds of metal being worked into weapons or tools resounded from the Southern districts, the calls from the market vendors selling their pathetically laughable products came from the East, and she could pick out the marching of children to collect supplies and run deliveries around the village between the various delegation offices. The sounds were more or less the same to the auditory landscape that was Tereré but they held different meanings than those she had sussed out on the first day: the lines of children were just physical manifestations of the decline in education, the vendors' callings were empty promises of selling sub-quality products, and there was a noticeable lack of a train given that the station had been shut down and stripped of its metal to be forged into tools. Most shipments from Central were brought in by carts along the degraded routes that were in desperate need of repair and often took weeks more compared to the train.

"Forgive my tardiness," A voice called Ro's attention over to the side of the Long House as the lithe figure of Tomoe emerged from the corner. The other Southerner had garbed herself in what seemed to be a simple cloak—a simple hand-me-down from a sympathetic neighbour—and her neck was wrapped with a scarf that had seen better days. Ro nodded in greeting to the dark haired female from the same lands as her and tilted her head back as she looked back up at the greying sky with a tired look to her blue eyes.

"S'okay," Ro managed to slur lazily as she lowered her gaze back to Tomoe's expectant face. "You needed something from me? I know I said we'd get tea soon…but I've been a bit busy."

"Yes, please forgive me for calling you out on such short notice, but I needed your help," Tomoe said in a tight voice as she took in Ro's wary look. Despite the two being from the same area and having ended up in the small industrial village, they were night and day in terms of personality. Ro had garnered a healthy respect for Tomoe's ability to seemingly predict the future and any bizarre occurrences but still guarded a harsh mistrust towards the much severer female given that she had spilt a heavy dosage of information regarding Kaoru on the blonde. Still, when Ro had been awaken by a tap-tap on her window and Tomoe's flowery handwritten note requesting her presence at the Long House, Ro had felt a sense of obligation to trudge down before her shift began to address whatever her fellow Southern needed to say.

"My help," Ro repeated mutely as she blinked at Tomoe before crossing her arms over her chest. "What sort of help?"

"More like information," Tomoe corrected herself lightly.

"If I had to venture a guess, you want more information about Kaoru," Ro said caustically as her accent dripped through her words and her gaze intensified at the request of Tomoe. Ro knew that her dealings with Tomoe were either neutral or unpleasant and she was privy to the fact that Tomoe's manipulation tactics were top-notch compared to some of the Delegation members that Ro had crossed paths with in her day. "You want to contextualize whatever vision you had about her, correct?"

"You're as intuitive as ever," Tomoe said flatly as she brushed a strand of hair from her face. Ro glowered at Tomoe with a weary stare as she tried to assess what the other woman was after in this turn of events. Precious information about Kaoru could lead to several outcomes that would either benefit her friend or give Ro more of a reason to worry about her well-being and it was something that tugged her in two or three directions. She also knew that having the red-headed foreigner in her home was inching closer to being another thread in the complex tapestry that was being woven and despite Kaoru having been rescued by said man, there was much more to the story and it was seemingly locked away in who the red-head was.

"What kind of information do you want?" Ro questioned.

"What kind of information do you think will protect your friend?" Tomoe responded with a question of her own as her own gaze steeled against Ro's clear blue stare that refused to falter. "The more information you provide me, the more you will be able to protect her from what is to come."

"You say that," Ro began as she unfolded her arms and shoved them into the pockets of her cloak. "You say that so casually—yet if I were to ask you to indulge me a bit about what is supposedly 'to come', you won't utter a peep. Funny that you come asking for information yet you refuse to share any. Thought we were raised better than that, eh?" Her blonde brows were furrowed as she looked away from Tomoe and stared out at the mountain and the forest that seemed to hold an even more ominous look to it that particular moment.

"You are in no position to negotiate on such fragile terms and conditions,unfortunately," Tomoe pointed out as she shivered in the cold Tereré wind as a gust blew against her frame.

"I'd say the same to you as well, Tomoe," Ro replied back pointedly as she glanced at Tomoe out of the corner of her eye. "You claim that information can protect Kaoru yet you refuse to provide said information for those of us close to her to be able to ensure that she is protected. That's hardly diplomacy."

"We never spoke of diplomacy and I have no interest in what happens to her as a mere spectator."

"It was assumed from the beginning that since you came here there was something going astray from whatever fate has planned for our cursed existence," Ro said slowly as she felt her hair billow in the wind and she felt her hat threatening to take flight into the breeze. "You yourself said you felt pulled to Tereré and that Kaoru is the focus of your attention. If there's one thing that we carry on our shoulders, it is solidarity when a comrade is face to face with a situation that is already live by our profession but we know that our lives can end with a simple misstep."

"Do you oppose destiny being altered?"

"Not if it's to ensure that a friend is safe in this world we have inevitability created for ourselves," Ro replied back steadily. "I trust that your vision is reliable considering your track record with these things in Elizondo as well as at home, but the lack of information on your part makes me suspect there's something else at play."

"If I were to tell you what I have seen in regards to Kaoru, would you being willing to part with information about her?" Tomoe asked quietly as she stared at Ro who was stiff as a board as she contemplated Tomoe's posed situation. "You were never seen as the type to barter your loved ones' lives over mere information, Ro." Ro's face did not move from its stoic expression as she leaned against the oil drum that was devoid of its typical fire and she felt her gaze glaze over at the thought of Kaoru and whatever premonition that Tomoe had envisioned.

"It's not about bartering, not at this stage," Ro finally relented as she rested her hands on the brim of the oil drum and crossed her legs. "It's about hiding precious information that could very easily prevent someone else from dying."

"Do you want to know what I have seen in regards to Kaoru?"

"Of course, but not paying your asking price," Ro replied heatedly. "She is too precious to lose—I cannot lose another loved one in my life. Yet you bargain for information as though it were a sack of beans or something much less than another's life. The fact that you seem to discard that fact is cruel, Tomoe. You've always had that about you, eh." Ro pushed herself away from the oil drum as she squared her shoulders and tilted her chin up at the dark haired woman.

"I see it from a very different perspective, Ro," Tomoe said simply as she gave her Southern kin a wearily look. "If I were to indulge you in the details of what my vision entails for Kaoru's future, it would alter the natural path of whatever the outcome may be. This itself presents many dangers and you yourself have seen this when they tried to prevent the famine. The information is merely information but fate marches to its own drum. Regardless if I tell you what Kaoru's role in the vision is, there is little that one can do to change the flow of the currents of fate. You yourself say you are not opposed to altering fate if it is to protect someone but the very altering of fate is enough to have the contrary effect of what you desire."

"Then why do you want information from me if nothing can be done about it?" Ro barked out before clasping a hand over her mouth to avoid attracting more unwanted attention.

"I want to ensure that fate plays out the way it is supposed to in the interest of Kaoru's well being as well as the way history is supposed to be spun," Tomoe replied steadily. "The vision I had of her was not one of death—at least, not her own death." Ro's eyes widened momentarily as she processed the words that entered through her ears.

"If it's not her own death-"

"-It will be a different sort death," Tomoe interjected. "Fate has dealt her a much harder hand that a death in the forest or in some cruel accident. I want information on Kaoru's essence: I want to understand how someone like her thinks to better understand why this vision hints at her involvement."

"Kaoru hates death," Ro said quickly as she tugged at the brim of her hat, shielding her eyes partially from Tomoe. "Ironically enough, despite being surrounded by death in our profession, she has never been able to shake it off and still is greatly bothered by it. Yet I don't think she fears her own death: most of us in our line of work know sooner or later we will go toe-to-toe with death herself and have to resign ourselves to the inevitable.

"Kaoru has learned how to hide her true feelings of death for the same reasons many of us do, I guess. After all, it is an integral part of our landscape and the impartialness of it truly can destroy your perspective of the world around you," Ro continued as her voice drawled slightly and she looked at the other patrollers who were setting off on their routes. "Death does not discriminate nor does it show mercy—we are all aware of this yet we are not given the luxury of being able to avoid something that lingers around every bend. Most of us in the patrol division are single for this reason—to reduce the impact on whoever is inevitably going to be left behind."

"Where do her loyalties lie?"

"Her loyalties?"

"Yes, her loyalties," Tomoe repeated patiently. "Where does her allegiance rest? With her own interests or that of her own people?" Ro started at the question and snapped her jaw shut as she realized that she was unable to answer that question nor wanted to. It was a heavy question that bore a hefty weight and could arguably be twisted depending on who was asking. It was an interrogation that Ro was not willing to indulge in as she felt her throat close in resisting the urge to snap at Tomoe's harsh question. The mere putting in doubt that Kaoru's loyalties were a factor in this so called vision sat disgustingly low with the blonde because it also was something that she herself was unsure of in terms of a simple answer.

"Would Kaoru protect one life at the cost of many or protect many lives at the cost of one?" Tomoe queried as her eyes narrowed. "If you cannot answer that question than perhaps you might reconsider your friendship with someone whose loyalty is not established."

"I cannot and will not answer such a question because it is not my place to do so," Ro replied as her hand reached up and smashed the hat further onto her head. "My loyalty lies firmly with Kaoru and that will not change until the day I die—come may it come. I wish to protect those close to me from even more suffering than we already live." Ro's eyes were hidden by the brim of her hat but she felt the warmth gathering in the corners of her blue eyes at the mere thought of the day that the impartial hammer of death was brought upon them.

"As of now I cannot answer that question nor do I have the right to answer it in the end, really," Ro continued in a much softer voice as it trembled. "But we have been friends for years without me knowing the answer to the very question you've asked and even knowing the answer would most likely not change a thing between us."

"You speak of comradery as patrollers," Tomoe remarked.

"I speak of friendship that has withstood may trials over the years," Ro corrected as she refused to meet Tomoe's steady gaze that seemed to be able to see through even the thickest of skin. "Being patrollers is a minute detail in what has been an entire canvas of what we have experienced together." Tomoe's mouth was pressed into a fine line on her face as she took in the blonde's hunched figure as she tried to assess the best course of action in trying to budge the stubborn Southern to reveal more information. Tomoe knew much more than she let on and she knew that Ro's ultimate confirmation or denial of certain details would provide a different angle to her comprehension of what she was seeing with her mind's eye. She had not counted on the blonde to be resistant to answering her carefully constructed questions and she was finding it to be a proverbial thorn in her side as she pressed the fellow Southerner for more information.

"You will protect Kaoru even is she is harbouring a stranger in her home?" Ro's poker face did not falter as she kept her eyes tilted downwards but she cursed inwardly at Tomoe's direct question. She should have known that Tomoe would pick up on such a bizarre presence and she should have foreseen that question from twenty miles out. Gritting her teeth together as she tried to not to let her outward reactions be read by the other woman, Ro lifted her head in defiance as she stared Tomoe straight in the eye before uttering, "I have no bleeding idea what you're talking about."

"Lying never suited you, Ro," Tomoe said lightly as her eyes traced the movements of another patroller that was sliding up to the Long House before vanishing within the mouth of the building. "You were always too honest for your own good and your own body betrays you when required to avoid the truth."

Ro was deathly quiet as she regarded Tomoe with a look of mirth before realizing that Tomoe was more than likely aware that the red headed foreigner was another piece to this mystic puzzle that was slowly growing bigger and bigger as the day dragged on. A mere day ago she and Kaoru had been setting out on a typical patrol and twenty-four hours later she was being grilled by someone that even the Delegations grew to fear by what was uttered from her lips. Ro found life to be ironic and painfully funny in even its lowest points but she was not blinded to the cruelty that fate sometimes lashed out with in the tragic twists of life.

"That man is not an immediate danger to her," Tomoe said softly as her expression melted away and revealed the tired frown lines that rimmed her cheeks. Time had not treated her nicely and her foresight had left her many sleepless nights that shadowed her already wise gaze. "Yet it is best he not remain here for the interest of her safety."

"I thought you said he wasn't dangerous," Ro said wearily as she realized that lying would not get her anywhere with Tomoe who had probably picked up on the stranger's presence anyway.

"To her no, but to those who seek him—that man is a magnet for danger and trouble and Kaoru will end up ensnared in the very thorny vines that are destined to trap him," Tomoe replied simply as she silenced herself as she watched another patroller wander into the Long House. Ro was stumped for words as she fiddled with a long piece of her golden hair and she sighed as she cast Tomoe a hardened look that seemed to discard her reservations about the older female.

"Do you know his name?"

"He has had many over the years," Tomoe replied. "But to us humans he is simply known as Kenshin."

"Why do you know his name?"

"The same way I knew Kaoru's name before crossing paths with her," Tomoe answered simply. "But it is not the first time I have seen him in a vision." Ro gave her a bleary look as she burned the name of the red head into her mind and looked away from the other woman as she tried to digest the information that had been given to her. It was a precious nougat of data that would further their investigation to understand where this so-called 'Kenshin' came from even if Tomoe was unwilling to volunteer any more information to aid them. Ro was mildly appreciative of the information as she pocketed her hands once again and looked longingly towards the Long House.

"This is information that you wanted to give me knowing that I will tell Kaoru," Ro said simply. "You are counting on me to go and repeat everything to her."

"Yes," Tomoe confirmed.

"You do not object to me telling her the stranger's name," Ro stated.

"Had I any objection I would not have told you."

"Why are you telling me his name?"

"Fate wishes for me to do so," Tomoe answered dutifully as though it were obvious to the world around her why she took the decisions that she took. Ro sighed a heavily sigh as she bowed her head at Tomoe and raised a hand to wave her off as she tried to muster the words to best express her tangle of emotions that had balled in her chest. She had known that when Tomoe had summoned her that she would probably be the receiving end of very difficult news and she knew that she would be thrust into a situation that she was not necessarily able to process on her own.

The very information that Tomoe had selectively provided was useful without a doubt and there was an edge of relief to the fact that Kaoru's involvement in her vision did not end in her own death but there was a hint of despair that lingered at the mere questioning of Kaoru's loyalty. Tomoe's words lingered heavily like a heavy crown of thorns upon her head as it would have almost been more merciful for the vision to speak of her own death as opposed to her being responsible for others' deaths. The mere integrity of Kaoru was being put into doubt and it was enough to make Ro hesitate and truly consider how Kaoru responded to the deck of cards that some unseen fate had provided her to play with as she moved through the different turns of her life. Ro knew that the moment she told Kaoru that she would be at the helm of controlling the death of someone else that the blue eyed patroller would potentially crack her slowly hardening outer layer designed to protect herself from the harshness of their world.

"This has been too much for you," Tomoe remarked.

"It would be for anyone," Ro grumbled as she stared at the ground angrily. "Why do you refuse to speak to Kaoru?"

"Would she believe me if I did?"

"No," Ro answered as she gave a rueful half smile that did not reach her eyes. "No, she wouldn't—she'd probably write it off as nonsense." Ro's fingers were still being bitten by the cool air as she felt her shoulders sag significantly at the weight of the information that Tomoe had provided her.

"You are useful as a vehicle for this information given that you are much closer to her and she trusts you," Tomoe said simply. "I trust you to communicate what I have told you to Kaoru in the interest of not only your relationship but in the interest of also ensuring that she is prepared to face these consequences knowing what she will be confronting so that she is best equipped with making the righteous decision."

"I thought you said that, that would alter fate which is prohibited," Ro pointed out tepidly.

"This information is not detailed enough to truly divert the flow that the river of fate takes at this point in her life," Tomoe answered quietly as she rubbed her hands together in the frigid Tereré air. "It is merely a warning for her to be attentive to what occurs around her and the danger she herself is navigating sheltering such a thing in her home."

Ro fell quiet again as she sighed into the cool air and tilted her hat back as her blonde bangs framed her tired face as she took in the form of Tomoe. Ro was no stranger to adversity as her own life had been narrated around being a witness to the horrendous side of human nature and she herself had castigated herself to a life where adversity was a highlighted word in her vocabulary. Yet she knew that the information provided to her by Tomoe was information meant to be shared with Kaoru with an intention whose inner mechanics were still unknown to her. She was wary of Tomoe's motives but her own sisterly love of Kaoru wished to fight against whatever fate deemed to stain Kaoru's life with even more tragedy. The blonde felt herself trapped against a wall as she felt torn in too many directions and she steeled her nerve as she bit her lip and brushed passed Tomoe, her cloak billowing elegantly.

"Do not go near her, Tomoe," Ro growled before glancing over her shoulder. "Your presence would be enough to kick up the dust that has barely settled."

"And if I were to go near her?"

"Your own fate is something that I would have no qualms about defying in the interest of protecting the one person I have left in this world," Ro said in a dark tone as her eyes narrowed dangerously, the truly predatory nature of a patroller creeping into her normally jovial Southern manner. "I will not hesitate to stop you."

"You would kill me?"

"No," Ro answered as she straightened her back and pivoted to eye Tomoe with at almost feline glint to her bright blue eyes. "But I would ensure that, that pretty little mouth of yours would never utter another word. Death is too easy of an escape for us in this cursed world, isn't it? We take away what is most precious to us and that, for you, would be your ability to spread your warnings and visions." She curled her lips into a crooked smile that was touched with the darkness that swirled within her soul as she reeled around and sauntered away from the figure of Tomoe who was watching her retreating form with an indifferent gaze.

"For all living creatures, death is an absolute truth," Tomoe murmured as she watched Ro's wide brimmed hat vanish from her line of sight. "Death is the absolute judgement and people cling to their minuscule existence of a life until the end that is decided by something beyond what mortals can control with their own means." She clutched at the folds of her cloak as she bundled it closer to her body against the cold Northern winds that seemed to kick to life in warning of her intruding on land that was not her own. The mountain seemed to groan as the trees rustled, blending into the background noises of Tereré.

The South is definitely much more agreeable for human life, Tomoe thought idly as she tucked the scarf closer to her body and sighed as she slowly ambled towards the share house where she was lodging during her stay in the Northern village. The fact that humans have been able to make life in these conditions is truly testimonial to our resistance as a species and our open defiance of the Earth itself.

"Tereré?" The red headed man repeated slowly as he rolled the accented word off his tongue after Kaoru had corrected him a smattering of times as he tried to understand the need for an accented vowel in their language.

"Better," She said with a nod as she peered at the foreigner seated at the table. Sanosuke had hesitantly lent him some clothes that were comically large on his much smaller frame: the sleeves of the white button up shirt were rolled up to his elbows and his pants were rolled up as well to accommodate his shorter legs. Kaoru had not set out to untangle the red nest of knots that rested at the nape of his neck but she knew it would be a daunting task as she bustled about the kitchen preparing a strong brew of tea.

"Where are we in relation to the Central plain?"

"The Central plain?" Kaoru echoed as she halted temporarily in her search for a third tea cup and looked at him with a startled look. She had herded him down the stairs and into their kitchen, forcing him to take a seat at their unsteady table as she told Sanosuke off for not having collected their rations and she forced the taller man through the door to go collect their weekly food allocations and sent him off with orders to procure as much extra tea and rice as he could get. When Sanosuke protested to leaving her alone with the red-head, Kaoru had rebuked and told him off for doubting her slight investment of trust into the foreigner who was watching their exchange with passive interest.

"The Central plain, " Kaoru repeated again as she scoured her brain. She had been an excellent student of geography when attending school but the distances to the Central plain were often obscured because the routes changed frequently. Their state was small in comparison to others and there were only few villages that were distributed in the cardinal directions of the Central capital. The villages' distances were healthy to keep those in the capital content from seeing the lower rungs of their society and the villages were also mum at not having to regard the Capital within eyesight.

"Why?"

"I heard Sanosuke say something about Central," The red head answered quietly as he stared at the table cloth and studied the pattern with a bored expression. "From what I understand from the information stream, there's a massive expanse of land there and it is extremely fertile and houses countless resources such as healthy rivers and strong agricultural practices."

"Sano was most likely speaking about the city we call 'Central'," Kaoru corrected as she felt her fingers bump against the tea cup and she eased it from its place within the cabinet. She lowered it to the table as she moved over towards the stove to heat the water in the kettle as she eyed the tea rations that she and Sanosuke stored on the counter. "And to answer your question, Central is three hundred or so kilometres to the South of here. Why?"

"Central refers to your system of governance," He said simply as though it were a plain fact. Kaoru gawked at him as she tried to understand how this stream of information was being fed to him and what type of information he was amassing in his mind. His violet gaze was gentle and docile—reminding Kaoru of the lambs she had seen as a child—but she knew that there was something much more pressing in terms of what he was picking up on his environment. "It is a system that seems not be to be favoured by the people in this land."

"You could say that," Kaoru offered slowly as she dumped the tea leaves into the thin filters and deposited them into the three cups. "It's not safe to speak openly of it—just so you know. Behind closed doors, well… it depends on your company, I suppose. People have been executed for speaking against Central's policies or questioning their line of action."

"How terrible," The red head murmured as he shook his head. Kaoru found his response oddly comforting to think that this non-human was in agreement with the majority of what her people thought but she squashed the pang of sympathy that sentiment as she busied herself with heating the water on the ancient stove. "Has it been this way since you were born?"

"They've been in power for about eight years," Kaoru replied evenly.

"So you were born prior in another world," He prodded. "A world that had not been touched by the hands of this Central." His voice was steady as though he were sorting through the information that he was receiving from Kaoru—which she contained to strictly factual data—and the information that was filtering through his hyper sensitivity as he acclimatized himself to the world that he awoke in abruptly with little information other than to 'run'. His gaze was tame and Kaoru had to admit that she would not wish to be in a position such as his with no memorable knowledge of what or who he was prior to slumbering in a world where information was gold and was either insurance or a curse upon your life span.

"You could say that," Kaoru repeated diplomatically.

"Ms. Kaoru is from these lands," He said simply. "From Tereré."

"That's correct," Kaoru answered again patiently as she allowed him to ask questions that she saw no harm in him asking. They were, as far as she was concerned, verifiable facts that would not endanger anyone if he were to possess this knowledge. She felt that the restriction of the most basic of information would hinder him and she permitted herself to attend to his questions as she prepared the strong brew of tea for them.

"This village takes from the mountain and the forest but does not live from it," The foreigner pressed on and Kaoru felt her shoulders stiffen at the underlying tone that was hidden within the very words he spoke. They were once again—factual—but they hinted at a strong accusation at the fact that the citizens of Tereré pillaged the mountain and the forest of their resources to strengthen the Capital's own agenda as well as their cache of tools and weapons. The harvesting of resources was where the surveying brigade came in and the mining and the forestry divisions performed the heaviest of labour. They were endangered by the forest and its creatures constantly as they took without repaying the mountain for being forced to surrender her essence to vitalize Central's greed and necessity to harness more power for their constant siege of campaigns.

"The forest cries, that it does," The red head said impartially as though stating another run-of-the-mill fact. Kaoru felt her cheeks redden at the underlying message he wished to transmit to her in an obvious show of distaste for the destruction of the mountain and the robbing of her precious minerals and tinder. Kaoru was aware that this man was hyper sensitive to the environment and the demonstration of magic to heal her festering wounds was proof beyond words that he was connected to the magical underbelly of the world they inhabited but she was unsure how he fit into the puzzle of the mysterious forest. He himself said he was not from the forest—as far as he knew—and that when he woke up within the wooded area of the mountains, he, too, had been disoriented but able to navigate his way down to the edge of the village. Kaoru understood that his origins were unclear but his ability to adapt to the natural environment was second nature to someone like him.

It still doesn't give us any clue to what he is though, She thought to herself as she kept an eye on the kettle as she waited for it to whistle. Kaoru ran an appreciative hand over the smooth skin of her neck, marvelling at the fact that it did not seem to have suffered from any injury at all, and she sighed as she trained her gaze to the red head who was watching her with a careful eye that was not hostile but simply curious and alert. In the twenty minutes since she had sent Sanosuke off to fetch their rations, she had been under the careful watch of the foreigner whose attitude was pleasant and benign and whose questions seemed logical and appropriate given the context. When he had emerged from Sanosuke's room donning the other man's clothes, Kaoru noticed he seemed out of place in such garments as he tugged at his sleeves.

"This information that you are receiving from the environment," Kaoru began as she started to formulate a question in her own mind. "What kind of information is it?"

"Ah, yes, well…" He trailed off as he leaned back in his chair and contemplated her question with a genuine sense of sincerity as he mulled over her words. It was a fair question to someone like her whose learning capacity was much more structured in comparison to his. "It is… useful information, I suppose. This one is able to understand and read the environment to better adapt to it. This one can hear the voices of the forest, the cries of a mountain… they tell this one many things, that they do." He paused as he folded his hands together neatly on the table before looking back at Kaoru with a light smile touching his face. "Although this one cannot be sure what information is verifiable or not given the state of my memory…"

"That hypersensitivity is obviously not human," Kaoru said indifferently as she began to pour the hot water over the tea bags, her profile facing him. She was erring on the side of caution as to not offend her bizarre guest and his symphony of oddities that seemed to relentlessly pursue him. "Most here would see it as a curse."

"That could be," He agreed. "It also has its merits."

"The fact that you do not remember anything… it's a bit odd, don't you think?" Kaoru mused aloud as she brought over a cup of tea and set it before him before sliding into the chair across from him. "Doesn't it bother you? Not remembering even where you came from or your name?"

"This one finds it to be fundamentally difficult, yes," He replied slowly as he wrapped his hands around the cup, the runes peeking out and tempting Kaoru's gaze. "However, there is most likely a purpose behind this one's memories ceasing to exist, that there is. What it may be, well, I am unaware… but these sorts of incidents tend to happen for a designated reason that we ourselves may be unable to understand in the beginning." He stared into the tea as he heard Kaoru rustling in her chair before shifting into a more comfortable position.

"Perhaps this is cautious optimism being thrown to the wind," He continued in his soft tone of voice as he raised his eyes to met her own, "But fate has its way of making paths intersect and this one believes that Ms. Kaoru plays an important role in determining why this one was woken once again."

"Excuse me?" Kaoru squeaked as she nearly burned her tongue on the hot tea that she was nursing between her hands. "You think that I woke you up?" His face was pleasant and the apologetic smile flickered across his lips as he bowed his head and considered her. Her eyes were alive with a flickering movement of confusion and bafflement at such words and her head spun momentarily before she collected her coolness and stilled herself.

"Not quite wake this one, no," He said thoughtfully as he frowned slightly. "Yet this one was drawn to Ms. Kaoru and to ensuring that you were safe from that creature."

"But," She began as she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in frustration. "What do you and I have to do with each other? If anything, we'd seem like natural enemies: you believe that I am tied to your awakening somehow?"

"It is merely a theory," He corrected. "This one cannot confirm or deny it. This one was instructed to run and to seek out Ms. Kaoru."

"But why?" Kaoru questioned as her voice harshened and her hands balled together, resting on the table. She could feel the oath to refrain from questions slowly slipping from her fingers as her need to understand the circumstances crept up on her. It was intense to apply pressure to such a fragile existence with no recollection of who or what he was yet she knew that they could trail around in circles for days before progressing.

"That is a valid question, Ms. Kaoru, and unfortunately the answer is not as transparent or obvious as it should be," He said with a shrug of his shoulders and watched as her form shrunk in a bit more. She was recoiling from the lack of information and he had already guessed that Kaoru was someone who enjoyed having a fair majority of the picture in her mind. He knew that his lack of memory was a burden on the female seated before him and the lack of such details as a name or even where he was from was already crossing a firmly drawn line in the sand given that his understanding of the climate was one festering with mistrust and hostility.

"Stranger in a strange land," Kaoru mused aloud as she gave him a pained wince. "It's incredible to not have a memory yet have a constant feed of information trickling into your brain."

"Is it uncomfortable for you, Ms. Kaoru?"

"No, not really," She replied as she tilted her head at him and studied his figure. "But without knowing who you are, what you are, and why you're here and why now… there are many key elements that raise suspicion… especially for Sanosuke who is much more experienced with the other side. We know you're not human and we know that you are able to use magic… yet you do not fall into line with anything that we're familiar with.

"When you came to my rescue in the clearing, you made that Espina class vinzinho nervous and it seemed on edge in your presence," She continued as she unfurled her hands and folded her fingers together. "That creature is blind, which makes its other senses much more polished and refined in terms of perceiving its environment. That is a clue that you are much more connected to the Earth than others. Then you were able to disable it momentarily without killing it is also indicative of things that go beyond a general understanding of your relationship with the environment." Kaoru sighed as she crossed her arms and tilted back in her chair. "You were able to heal is allegedly quite a nasty toxin from the Espina… there's a lot of information for us to take in and analyze yet it really gives us no clue about you."

"Yes, that would be a bit off-putting, wouldn't it?" He said with the same at ease smile as he took a long sip of the strong brew of tea and inhaled the gentle mix of herbs that gave it its flavour. "This one does not wish to become a liability to Ms. Kaoru, so, please, forgive my intrusion. The debt that Ms. Kaoru feels obligated to pay is truly not that great." Kaoru's eyes met his momentarily and he felt as though the room darkened around him momentarily as he saw the shadows creep into her eyes before vanishing momentarily. Realizing he had committed some great faux-pas against Kaoru's land's culture, he closed his mouth and silenced himself as he regarded her.

"You are a liability," She agreed slowly. "But my job is another liability, the people I surround myself are liabilities as well. It's nothing, really… while I'm not sure if I can trust you one-hundred percent, you don't seem like you wish to cause problems." Kaoru nodded firmly as she straightened her chair and gazed at the red head.

"This one does not wish to burden you," He said carefully.

"It's nothing, really," Kaoru said as she waved his words away. "If I were in your situation, I would be worried about myself than burdening others: you're not in the best position to make snap decisions. I think it's alright if you count on us—well, at least on me—for a while until you get your feet under you." His smile did not fade at her words and he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as he folded his arms together into a passive position and he sank into his chair comfortably.

"Your hospitality is greatly appreciated by this one," He said in a soft voice that made Kaoru's guard drop momentarily as she felt a wriggling warmth in her chest. "This environment is not conducive to forming strong bonds with those that come from the outside—but Ms. Kaoru's kindness seems to be exceptional." Kaoru watched him carefully as he opened his violet eyes that seemed to have taken on a warm sheen that expressed an unvocalized gratitude that she had not seemed to have ever witnessed in her short existence on Earth. His mannerisms were gentle and he seemed to have infinite patience for trying to comprehend what was occurring around him whereas she knew that she would be demanding information and trying amass as much data possible to make a decision to better her own odds of survival.

A knock at the front door broke the comfortable silence that had blanketed them and Kaoru shot the red-head a look before gesturing for him to make his way to the staircase. He gave her a puzzled look but it creased into a serious one as he shuffled quietly over the floor and vanished upstairs as Kaoru moved towards the front door. She cast one lingering glance to make sure he was fully hidden from view before wrapping her hands around the door handle and opening it to be greeted with Ro's face framed by her golden mane of hair.

"Ro?" She murmured and her friend slid in as Kaoru closed the door and re-bolted it carefully.

"We need to speak now, Kaoru," Ro whispered harshly as her own eyes seemed troubled and her jaw was stiff. Kaoru blinked dumbly at the normally jovial blonde's bubbly aura but she nodded swiftly as she guided Ro towards the table where the two tea cups had been abandoned in the haste to hid the red-headed foreigner. Ro's eyes did not miss the detail as she shot Kaoru a preoccupied look and her eyes darted to the staircase before resting back on Kaoru's face.

"Before you ask," Kaoru said tepidly. "Yes."

"So he…?"

"This morning," Kaoru murmured in reply.

"Where's Sanosuke?"

"I sent him to get rations," Kaoru replied truthfully as she brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. She sank back into the chair she had been previously occupying as she gave Ro a steady look and invited her to sit down at the table as well. Ro carefully pulled the chair out from beneath the table and sat down primly as she arranged her cloak so that it did not snag anywhere. Her face was dark with angry lines and her lips were set firmly together as she fiddled with the hem of her sleeve.

"We've… there's not one way to really say this, you know?" Ro managed to bite out as she gave Kaoru a bewildered look. "But we're one step closer to what you need."

"What do you mean?"

"We've got a name."

A/N: Early update! This chapter was much harder to write but now we're finally getting things in motion! And it was a necessary evil. The next chapter is going to have a bit more of a healthy push to it, so thank you for your patience up to this point!

Also, I've posted another fic from the Gundam Seed arena! I've always been a fan of Athrun and Cagalli's relationship, so I've channeled the idea into using Athrun as a robot who falls in love with a human. Go have a read! :D

As usual, I do not own Rurouni Kenshin characters, but I like to torture them significantly.