Warning: Fantasy, PG, Ran/Ken.

Disclaimer: Weiss belongs to Takehito Koyasu and Project Weiss.

First Born of the Eighth House

Chapter Ten: Truths Revealed

The next morning they woke up cold and hungry. Although Ken's coat and their makeshift shelter had protected them from the outside air, as well as anyone still searching, the ground had sucked up most of their body heat right through their clothes. They'd climbed from their shelter shivering and sniffling and Ran had a slight cough. Ken insisted he wear his heavy coat and they'd both been surprised when it fit, for the most part. The coat was still warm and between that and walking they'd both soon been rid of their chills.

The hunger was harder to deal with. The berries from the day before hadn't been nearly enough and the little water they dared drink didn't even take the edge off. They found themselves moving slower and less able to focus as a consequence. Once they located the underground stream they began following it once more and hoped for another pond with berries.

"What was the last thing you had to eat?" Ken asked as they trudged down another steep slope, this one covered in thick foliage. His stomach had been aching most of the night and he felt dizzy with a pounding headache, but food was all he could think about.

"Cake," Ran answered.

"Cake?"

"Hn."

That wasn't what Ken had been expecting to hear, so it proved a momentary distraction. He tried to come up with an explanation but his thoughts were too muddled. He opened his mouth to ask, but Ran beat him to it.

"We closed our shop early and were going to sell what was left yesterday at day old prices, but somethings don't keep well. So after lunch we finished off a cake," Ran said.

"Oh."

Ken's stomach growled loudly and he absently apologized.

"Was it good?" he asked.

"Too sweet," Ran answered. "How about you?"

"I like sweets."

"No, what was the last thing you ate?"

"Oh," Ken had to stop walking in order to think and Ran placed a hand on his shoulder to prompt him back into moving. It was happening more and more often, Ran's subtle touches and Ken was beginning to grow very accustomed to them. "We had lunch on the road. Bread and cheese and some salted fish. But I got sick right before we went into town so I guess the eggs at breakfast were the last..."

"Wait. What?" Ran asked. "What do you mean you got sick?"

Ken didn't stop walking. It was easier to hide the flash of pain from sudden memory if he was watching his footing, but he realized that Ran was already onto him. The red-head's questions, although not really prying, were getting more pointed.

"I...," was as far as Ken got.

As he was speaking he pushed through a large shrub and would've tumbled down a cliff-face if Ran's hand, still on his shoulder, hadn't clutched onto him and yanked him back. Ken fell against his new friend with a quiet "oomph" and rested there a moment. Relieved that he'd been interrupted and dazzled by the sudden view.

The trees and foliage ended at a sheer drop down a rocky cliff and before them spread the tops of a thick forest squeezed between two other mountain peaks with a ribbon of silver water winding down the middle of the trees to a distance flash of water. Above them opened the canopy of the sky, wide and bright and blue, not a cloud to be seen.

"We're on Diamond Peak, the third spire of the Tiara Peaks in the Barriers. We're on Diamond Peak," Ran muttered excitedly. "Do you know what this means? They'll find us."

Ken felt his hopes rise even as a feeling of despair shot through him.

"Ken, that's the Silver Ribbon," Ran said pointing past his right shoulder at the river. "All we have to do is follow it to the Maiden's Hair. Those falls end in a cove on the eastern side of Lake Osino. That's it in the distance!"

Two shaking hands gripped his shoulders and pulled him around to face excited violet eyes.

"We're nearly there! Almost home! We'll be safe, Ken! They'll find us for sure now," Ran cried happily, but within moments his smile faded. Ken could see his friend reading all the emotions on his face, in his eyes. His hope and his despair battling for dominance. Ran's reaction was a combination of horror and concern, and it was only after a tentative thumb wiped a tear away that Ken realized he was crying. "What is it, Ken? Please tell me."

"I'm not the Renewer," he blurted out and it felt good. It felt good to be rid of the burden of secrecy. It felt good to say it aloud and to hear himself say it. It felt good to tell Ran the truth.

"What?" Ran asked obviously confused and shocked.

"I'm not the Renewer," Ken repeated gaining strength as he continued facing all the lies he'd been living. "I'm not Lord and Lady Couteau's son, I'm not Aidan's twin, and I'm not the Renewer of the Sacred Flame. It's all been a lie. My whole life is a lie," he stated.

Ran stared at him a moment as if he were searching for the truth and Ken waited for his reaction.

"You're not the Renewer of the Sacred Flame," he finally said very soft and very slow, but with none of the revulsion or anger that Ken had expected. Somehow he sounded oddly hopeful.

"No, I'm not," Ken replied. "I'm a decoy. That's all," and he allowed his chin to sink toward his chest as the deep sorrow welled up inside him. He didn't want Ran to see him cry again or be anymore disappointed than he already must be. But as Ken closed his eyes he felt two hands gently lift his chin and two seeking lips press firmly against his own. He was so startled it took him almost a full minute to realize he was actually being kissed and not imagining it. Ran was kissing him.

Ken tentatively kissed him back before suddenly gasping for air.

"Sorry," he mumbled, blushing furiously, "my nose is plugged."

He didn't dare meet Ran's eyes but a handkerchief suddenly appeared under his nose and he realized it was the one he carried in his coat pocket.

"Here," Ran's voice said with a hint of amusement.

"Thank you," Ken said sheepishly, wondering if Ran was smiling. If he was Ken wanted to see it so he peeked upwards through his long bangs.

Ran was watching him with those impossibly violet eyes full of something warm and tender that made Ken's empty stomach flutter and his toes curl. He blushed harder and blew his nose loudly. By the time he was finished he'd regained some of his meager composure.

"You kissed me," he said looking at Ran who blushed in response which made Ken wish he'd hurry up and do it again.

"Yes," the red-head replied suddenly looking a little uncertain. "Did you like it?"

Ken felt his cheeks heat back up and a bought of shyness seized him.

"Yes, I did," he admitted. "But why'd you do it?"

"Because...I wanted to," Ran answered, still pink but with less uncertainty. "I've wanted to since I met you. I think you're cute."

That admission had them both blushing and blinking for a few moments and left Ken with a beaming smile.

"Really?" he asked then shook his head. "I meant, why now? Why didn't you kiss me before?"

"Because I thought you were the Renewer," Ran replied as if it should be obvious. "That wouldn't have been proper. I'm just a baker's son."

"So? Whoever the real Renewer is he's still just a person," Ken said. "He'd be damned lucky to be kissed by someone as beautiful as you."

That statement left Ken wide eyed and bright red, and had Ran grinning.

"You think I'm beautiful?" he asked in a way that reminded Ken of a cat asking a mouse if he liked his whiskers.

"Yes," he answered and then Ran was kissing him again. This time he'd been ready and he allowed himself to feel all the tingles those amazing lips inspired throughout his body as he eagerly responded.

The heady combination of suddenly discovering a mutual attraction and the weak dizziness of an empty stomach proved too much and Ran was forced to break off their first passionate exchange before they both tumbled off the cliff. So they sat for a time and enjoyed the view while they made a plan of descent. Ken's confession seemed to have lifted the weight from his shoulders and Ran could sense the lightening of his new friend's spirit. Ken was freer than he had been and smiled even more readily. As they'd begun their long climb down, easing their way along the edge of the cliff, always keeping the river in sight, Ken had begun the tale of how he'd come to discover the truth. It certainly explained all the emotional turbulence Ran had sensed in him since their meeting. He realized that they'd only known one another for a day and a half, and he marveled that so short a time could feel so long.

In fact, he'd never spent so much time in the company of one person without a break. Even in the bakery he was often left on his own or sought out solitude. But with Ken he felt perfectly at ease and content. Even the thought of being away from the brunet was beginning to disturb him in some vague way. So he pushed it aside and didn't dwell on it. Surely there was some way they could stay together. Since Ken wasn't the Renewer there was no true obstacle to their tentative new relationship, and if Ken would let him, then being a possible target to keep the true Renewer safe was a burden Ran was willing to share.

As they helped one another down the difficult terrain, and he listened to Ken tell his story, Ran reveled in every touch and the fact that he didn't have to be careful that his hands didn't linger, or worry that the touches were unwelcome. Along a stretch of even turf Ken took his hand and they walked along like that for a while until the ground became too uneven again.

By mid-day they were down the slope and into the heavy forest. The view of the river was gone and the earnest search for the Silver Ribbon began. They worked their way back to the west until they came upon its steep bank. It was an ancient body that had worn its way down from the top of Diamond Peak for millennia, cutting through the bedrock a slender, deep trench down which it wended its merry way across the narrow valley floor between Emerald and Topaz, the two fore peaks of the Tiaras, until it reached the precipice of the cliff overlooking Viola Cove on Osino Lake. There it fell in the shimmering, rippling lengths that formed the Maiden's Hair Falls. From a distance the Tiara Peaks looked like a crown perched on the head of a lady with long, flowing silver hair. It was a much admired sight and had inspired many a song, tale, and poem. Ran, his mother and his aunt had often spoken of visiting Viola Cove so they could look upon the famous falls.

He wondered if they were looking on them now and thinking of him.

Shortly after finding the Silver Ribbon they came upon another grove full of dew berries and ate all they could as they moved through it. Ran didn't want them to stop. Since they knew where they were, and knew where to go, he was anxious that they keep going. They had managed to get to the best possible place for a rescue, but it was also the most likely place for their captors to wait for them. He feared an ambush and they'd begun to be more aware of their surroundings. Ken stopped talking and they ate in silence as they carefully followed the edge of the river.

"Do you think we'll be able to reach the edge of the Maiden's Hair by nightfall?" Ken asked softly when they took a rest to share the last of the water in his flask.

"Yes," Ran answered. "If we keep up the pace we should reach it well before."

"Once we get there I'm thinkin'...I might use my magic," Ken said watching Ran's reaction. "My father...I mean Lord Couteau, he tagged me right before I was taken. If I do something he'll feel it. I'm sure he will. If I'm that close."

Ran considered a moment then nodded.

"I think it's a good idea," he said then met Ken's eyes. "You know, I'm sure he still thinks of you as his son. He's raised you well, hasn't he? I'm sure he'll be hurt if you start thinking of him as your Lord rather than your father."

Ken pouted at him for a moment before shrugging and looking away.

"You're probably right," he said then climbed to his feet. "You ready?"

"Yes. Let's go."

Twenty paces further on Ran pulled Ken to a stop as he felt a sharp and sudden sense of impending doom. While he looked and listened at the forest around them Ken pointed at the ground.

"A circle," he said in a horrified whisper.

They looked about them then only to find that they'd walked right into a field of the things. Inactive until they were unlucky enough to step inside one.

"They're everywhere," Ken said looking desperately at the ground.

Just then there was a tremendous crashing from the forest to their left and frightened brown eyes met worried violet.

"Jump," Ran said with resolve and before Ken could argue Ran took his hand and pulled him over the embankment toward the freezing silver of the river.