Everything was sharp and bright. His vision struggled to focus, going in and out like a camera that was broken. She bounced and swayed in his vision, haloed by the sun and the bright, white-blue sky like some angel of the end. He tried to shade his eyes, but he found he couldn't move. He tried to move towards her, but his feet were stuck in the ground like metal poles. His voice was dissolute, words coming out and becoming snatched by the wind. He was helpless. The chanting was all around him, that loud, never-ending cacophony of old voices in unison. He could feel them behind him, spurring him on to his destiny, whatever that may be, but he could feel that she was merely a signpost, a thing he'd pass on the way.
She smiled at him, a sad, lingering smile. The blue sky nearly swallowed her in its brilliance, and he was shouting her name, but the drowning noise of the chants and the great wind blowing past him stole his screams of desperation. Her hair was blown away from her face, skirts swirling around her, and he finally noticed they were on a cliff, so far off the ground. Her face was painted with lines of blue down her cheeks, black across her lips like the smear of Death's kiss, and a white dot on her forehead. She held up a mirror, showing him his face.
A grinning skull seemed to stare back at him, white paint against his already pale skin, outlining the bones that lay beneath, a red stripe over his forehead like a smack of blood. His eyes were painted dark, and across his chest was a leather strap holding a variety of objects that he couldn't quite see or understand. On his back was his sword, naked and gleaming, and... over his shoulder, a dark boy stood with deep, gold eyes. He knew that face, but he couldn't place where. And behind him...
There were legions of them. Old men. Young men. All warriors, all carrying spears, all wearing the same war paint of the dead, mimicking skeletons as if this would trick Death himself to pass over them.
She put her finger to her lips, her eyes almost conspiratorial, as she shook her head. She stepped backwards.
He pleaded with her.
She took another step.
His eyes were wide and terrified. She couldn't do this to him.
Her heels were on the edge of the cliff.
He needed her. She couldn't leave.
She smiled at him again, that lingering smile he'd loved. The sun seemed to swallow her as she fell backwards over the horizon, hand outstretched-
The dog was barking as if someone was trying to kill him, and Kanda opened his eyes, groggy. It was as if someone had burned an image into his eyes, that image of her. She'd been real as day. But what was all that racket about?!
Disoriented, Kanda first located his sword with his hands, locating the baby with his eyes at the same time. Nthanda was crying, rudely awakened by the dog. However, it wasn't just the dog that was making noise. He could hear the sounds of voices, deep and sonorous. They shouted in a language he wasn't familiar with, and he scrambled to pick up Nthanda first. A gunshot went off, and Kanda's nerves turned to white hot steel. He burst out of his tent on the side closest to the brush, ready to slice and dice anyone who happened to be in the way.
Luckily there was no one there, but he could already sense that there were several intruders in his camp.
"What the devil is going on here?!"
Kanda tried not to roll his eyes and failed. Of course, the old biddy would tell everyone from here to Cairo exactly where she was and how out of her depth she seemed to be. He snuck around the edge of the camp to see if he couldn't get an idea of what was going on, Nthanda quieted against his white shirt as the baby recognized their situation. There were approximately ten to thirteen men around the edges of camp and inside of the circle of tents, most of them lost in the high brush grass. He could see Ellis, but he hadn't expected what he saw.
She had a green paste on her face, her hair done in a tight knot at the top of her head, making her look doubly ridiculous in her nightgown. Where had she gotten facial cream? When did she manage to get a hold of facial cream? They hadn't managed to reach a depot or even a settlement for that matter for nearly three weeks. They were in the heartland of the northern British South African holdings, headed towards some little town where they could catch a train into Mozambique and hitch a ride on a boat as far as they could make it.
Of course, in between them and Mozambique was a high plain and several angry, murderous groups of anti-British insurgents. Most of them, unfortunately, knew Kanda's face, or at the least his hair. The statuesque Japanese man was a little hard to miss.
Kanda heard the snap of a twig behind him, and he immediately brought his sword to heel on the intruder's neck, just a centimeter above the skin. His eyes widened as he realized that, in the dark, all he could see were the whites of two eyes and the row of pearly teeth grinning from a pitch-black face like some sort of gruesome Cheshire cat. Vanya's form put up a single finger to her mouth amid the commotion, and faster than Kanda could catch, she disappeared like a ghost amid the mist.
Kanda turned back to face his camp, eying the men ordering Din out of his tent, the sleepy Finder more disgruntled than frightened by their guns. Ellis was stony faced, though it was hard to tell under all that facial cream. If he didn't know better, he'd say she had squash patches over her eyes, too. Kanda settled into the grass, deciding on a plan of action and wondering what in the world to make of Vanya, when suddenly half the men seemed to drop dead. The others shouted in fear, pointing their guns at both Ellis and Din, voices loud and frightened. Kanda made his move swiftly, clutching Nthanda in one hand (just barely - he was getting too big for this sort of thing) and wielding Mugen in the other.
Three men went down, crying out as their hamstrings were neatly parted from muscle with a near surgical cut. Out of the corner of his eye, Kanda managed to see the black blur of something jumping across the burning coals of the fire and plant its feet neatly on the chest of a man who'd pointed his gun at the Exorcist. Kanda caught the assailant in the crook of his elbow by the scruff of the neck and forced her down to the ground, unsurprised by an inky-skinned Vanya struggling in his grasp like a fox caught by a trap. Kanda smirked- until he heard Nthanda babble, "Uh-oh."
The click of a gun being cocked made its unwanted entrance into his ears, and Kanda sighed without turning around. There was always one more left. Kanda wasn't especially good at math. Kanda was about to curse under his breath, but Nthanda was within earshot and, unfortunately, so was Ellis. He'd never hear the end of it.
"Din, ask him what he wants," Kanda asked, projecting to the Finder. Din shouted to the assailant as Kanda tightened his grip on Vanya's neck, causing her to gag.
"It'll be easier if you don't struggle," Kanda promised in her ear, her braids tickling his nose. Short bursts of air over his arm told him she was laughing. Nthanda squirmed, unhappy.
"He say you the man that took out the Mdabe train depot. His bohss be tellin' him to watch out for you," Din informed. "His bohss ain' happy, Mistuh Kanda. No' happy t'all."
"I figured that," Kanda muttered.
Suddenly, Kanda saw something shift behind him, something tall with a splotch of green on it, and he thought to himself, If she screws up, I'm skinning her.
Ellis, however, did a very neat job whacking the man in the patella with a rather heavy frying pan, cracking it and crumpling him in a screaming, crying pile.
It was at this moment that a rather familiar, idealistic young Comtesse decided to make her entrance, screaming and swinging the butt of a shot gun, straight through their camp. Needless to say, she was watched with varying degrees of amusement and disbelief. Once her 'charge' was completed, Lavinia stood near the coals of the fire, breathing hard and looking around at the mass of men on the ground.
"Did I get them?" she asked breathlessly, almost as if to reassure herself more than the people she was 'saving'.
"Yes, dear. You got them," Ellis said in a rather flat voice, taking Nthanda from Kanda. The baby clutched her and looked down at Vanya with blatant distrust. For such a young child, he emoted very well.
"Ah. Well, I knew they wouldn't be much of a match. I did play cricket for quite a while. I have a mean swing," Lavinia said imperiously, hoisting the shotgun up to her shoulder and, somehow, missing it, finding her face with it instead. She looked stunned for a moment before letting out a small whine and dropping the gun, pressing her hands to her face.
"Lavinia? Comtesse! Are you alright?"
Three servants emerged from the tall grass, all armed with shotguns that looked like they hadn't seen oil since Jonah's time. Somewhere, the Rhodesian ridgeback whined piteously, hiding behind Ellis' skirts. Kanda rolled his eyes, gripping Vanya tighter as she fought. She was incredibly strong in this state, but no match for his magic-enhanced thew.
Kanda growled at his captive, "I said, it'd be best if you'd stay still."
"No, I'm not alright! Good lord, that bloody hurts!" she whined, sitting on the ground and attempting not to cry. She had a rather large bruise on her forehead, and Ellis sighed to herself.
"Din, be sure to get the young lady a blanket or something. She'll catch her death. I'm sure we have some sort of salve in one of the bags," Ellis suggested, looking rather intimidating- if not for the green mask on her face and the dog with his head up her skirt.
"What's with the rat crap on your face?" Kanda asked bluntly, standing with Vanya in his grip.
"It is not rat crap, thank you! It is a rejuvenation cream that is supposed to give me back my suppleness," Ellis said defensively, shifting Nthanda on her hip.
"Yeah. Rat crap. And what are you doing here?" Kanda said, before Ellis could fire back a response. He jabbed a finger at Lavinia.
"I am your protector! Obviously you need protecting from all these rogues. You have no idea how dangerous Africa can be," Lavinia snorted prettily (just derisively enough to sting, but not enough to make her seem unladylike) as her servants attended to her wounds. Kanda rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"God, please tell me you're kidding," Kanda pleaded.
"I am going to travel with you to-... where are you going, anyways?" Lavinia asked, suddenly curious. Kanda remained mum, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of an answer, but Ellis just had to pipe in.
"Cairo."
"Cairo?! You plan on traveling all that way on foot? You're either mad or devilishly ambitious," Lavinia said, both incredulous and still very on board with the idea. Kanda had half-hoped it would scare her out of the whole thing.
Suddenly, there was a gleam in Lavinia's eye as she suddenly considered the ramifications of such a long trip. Her governess had always stressed the fact that the longer the window of opportunity stood open, the much more likely probabilities were to occur, and this was one wide open window. It should be more than enough to win over his heart! And she'd do it by earning it by merit that she already possessed! After all, who knew more about Africa than Lavinia, Comtesse de Chavigne?
While Lavinia was lost in a daydream of tramping across Africa with the dour Japanese man in nothing but her knickers and corset, Kanda turned his attention to his captive.
"Get me some rope. She'll bolt the minute I let go," Kanda said.
"Say again?" Lavinia said, suddenly worried and half-excited by the prospect of being tied up. Dear, he was more adventurous than she'd thought.
"Not you. Her," Kanda said, hiking his elbow and gagging Vanya. She was on her tiptoes, trying to keep up with Kanda's elbow. He was so much taller that he almost had to stoop to have her on her feet. Din had already procured a blanket and some rope, handing the blanket to Lavinia's servants (much to her disappointment) and tying up Vanya rather warily.
"Sorry, Miz Vanya, deah. I don' mean dis pers'nal, y'know?" Din sighed, pulling the rope tight into a rather complicated system of knots. Din frisked her for her knives, removing five from the folds of cloth he could see (he'd rather not touch the parts he couldn't- he was a gentleman), and he also removed a few spell tags as well just in case. He watched her the entire time, dark eyes following her rather mirthful black ones.
"She a Loa, mistuh Kanda," Din said, straightening after a while, keeping his voice low so that only Kanda could hear him.
"Loa?" Kanda asked. He was unfamiliar with the term.
"Sort of Vodun spirit. Say they the communicatahs wid Bon Dieu, the Good God, but I don' believe. God ain' that confusin'," Din muttered.
"Oh, I communicate with Bon Dieu, Dingane, just not as intimately as most think," Vanya said, her voice suddenly taking an odd, accented lilt. It was the first time she'd spoken, and quite in the literal sense seeing as her tongue was still a mess.
Kanda looked at Din, and they shared a look. Vanya had dropped the Russian accent all of a sudden in lieu of a West Indies accent, and Kanda let her drop to her knees when she was properly trussed up like a calf at an American rodeo. Kanda looked at his companions sourly.
"Get her out of here. Set up a tent for her or something. She'll get eaten at this rate. I hate filing paper work for civilian deaths," Kanda ordered Ellis.
"What, you just expect me to obey you like a lap dog?" Ellis asked, taken aback. Kanda gave her a deadpan look, giving her a once-over of her nightie, creamed face, and done-up hair. The mention of 'lap dog' was awfully fitting, considering her closest companion happened to be a rather large canine practically sitting on her feet.
"You're not exactly in a state to fight back and keep your dignity," Kanda muttered.
Ellis made a face at the samurai. "Well! Come, Nthanda, let us welcome that dear lass. Seeing as someone refuses to be a gentleman. Hmph!"
With that, Kanda turned his attention to the Loa sitting next to the burned-out campfire. Din was already relighting it, seeing as no one was going to be getting any sleep as it was.
"What are you here for?" Kanda asked. "Why are you occupying the pipsqueak?"
The Loa looked up, the new firelight dancing in her eyes in a way that put Kanda in mind of hell itself. He wouldn't doubt it if she came from that very place. She grinned at him, all white teeth against her inky black skin. Her eyes crinkled in a way that Vanya's never did, and the effect was disconcerting. The Loa started to laugh, a deep throaty, almost sensual chuckle. It made Kanda's skin crawl, and Din's face sobered as he stirred the fire. Kanda decided it wasn't worth it to play with something that might as well be a demon.
He lifted his sword up to the possessed CROW's neck, and he said, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't just remove your head where you sit."
The Loa pursed her lips jauntily, almost to say 'oh, how quaint; you're threatening me.'
"Because you wouldn't harm another hair of your partner's head, love," the Loa answered with a smirk, the rumbling, deep contralto turned into a sultry, gravelly sort of speech. "You don't hate her that much. Even you have a sort of justice."
Kanda stood there, considering her words, sword-tip underneath her chin now and pressing hard enough to make the skin stretch, but not break.
" 'S no good, Mistuh Kanda. Dey don't feel like we humans do. She don't care a wit for Miz Vanya," Din suggested, standing up with a hot stick in his hand. Kanda stared at the usually cheerful Finder and his serious expression, and Kanda removed the sword from the Loa's neck. The spirit seemed awfully pleased with itself as it shifted on its knees. Though Kanda looked down on the trapped spirit, it seemed to him in a way that he was the one on the ground.
"I must admit, you Exorcists are a handsome lot a people," the Loa admitted nonchalantly.
"Answer my question. What are you doing here?" Kanda asked. In the fire light, he could see the scarification tattoos on Vanya's skin stand out a stark white. This was the same being that had possessed Vanya when they'd been attacked at that train depot. What had she done? What was this thing, and what was it after?
The Loa pouted fully, a strange expression on the usually deadpan CROW.
"Fine. You take the fun outta everything. I'm here on loan. Trapped, really. Can't get out," the Loa admitted. "I been sealed here by some sorcerer or whatnot, done stuck me with the soul of a to-be-dead girl. She's dead, but not all the way yet. I'm the thing stopping that from happening. I'm fulfillin' a prophecy of some sort, help put the universe right for Bon Dieu, though not by my own will."
"Prophecy?" Kanda asked, sitting down in front of the Loa. Din nervously shifted his weight, holding the stick in both hands with a tense grip.
"Yes. About the boy-man who was king and now is not. He come to free the world from the unDeath that captured us since the Great Water. Moved through space and time just to join with the North peoples and them's battles. I dunno, I don't really care. I ain't seen no boy-man-king nowhere, so I'm just a little skeptical," the Loa spat, crossing her legs into a more comfortable position.
"UnDeath?" Kanda asked.
"You a cousin of a parrot?" the Loa quipped.
For that, Kanda suddenly put the tip of his sword on the inside of a single nostril, tugging in warning. The Loa gasped a little, but then it began to laugh.
"Not my body, 'member?" the Loa chuckled.
Kanda thought of this and took the sword-tip out of her nose, wiping it against a pant leg. He never took his eyes off the Loa.
"Explain from the beginning. Why is Vanya to-be-dead?" Kanda said bluntly, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Explosion. She done almost left her body, but some sorcerer or somethin' dragged me with her soul into her body. Now we have to share, and it ain't comfortable," the Loa said, rolling its shoulders. "I'm the anchor. I ain't got a physical anchor, and she ain't got a spiritual anchor. We pull each other here, but if she die, I go free, and if I die, she die, you see? So maybe its win-win for me."
"And this is because of some... prophecy?" Kanda asked, not necessarily believing this. It seemed more like a fabricated tale from a wayward spirit that needed exorcising. For once, Kanda wouldn't mind having Allen around to purge the evil from the CROW with that nifty sword. He'd actually feel a little bad for killing Vanya if this spirit turned out to be dangerous. Of course, it wasn't like he'd lose sleep over it, but it would definitely leave a bad taste in his mouth.
It would bother you more than you think.
I don't remember asking for your opinion.
Technically, your opinion is the one I should be asking for, isn't it?
The Loa slowly smiled.
"It helps that you're a very handsome man, Mister Kanda," the Loa said, its voice rolling like gravelly honey. Kanda felt disconcerted by the fact that it was still Vanya's voice saying these things.
"I'm not interested," Kanda answered back. The Loa shrugged noncommittally-
Kanda almost didn't see her move. The ropes suddenly fell off of her, cut by some invisible force, and the Loa was moving at that blindingly fast pace, no doubt to run away, only to be met with the burning end of a stick to the cranium. The Loa-possessed CROW crumpled to the ground, groaning and disoriented. Din stood triumphantly over her, holding something in his hand.
"Jus' cuz a Vodun priest decided to help our God don't mean you want to. But I can fix dat," Din said, hanging an iron crucifix on a rosary. The Loa cowered, almost crying as it covered its face.
"No, no, please... no, not his name, I can't bear to hear it, please..." the Loa pleaded. Din lowered the crucifix as Kanda watched in horror and fascination as the Loa grovelled at Din's feet.
"No, mastah, no, please, I'm a free spirit, mastah, a free spirit. Shaitan ain't my master, Shaitan-"
"Then who is your massah, Loa? Who command you to be the guardian protectah of some boy-man-king who come and be the one to stop unDeath?" Din asked, kneeling over the keening, scrambling Loa who was immobilized upon the ground under the heavy burden of iron and crucifix.
"My massah be the Lord, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, but please, just let me go, I'm a free spirit, jus' a free spirit bound to some woman..." the Loa begged. "He command me ta protect 'im, got his angels over 'im, an' me and you and him, so he can stop the unDeath. 'S all I know, I promise, all I know..."
Din halted, looking down at the Loa with something like pity.
"You go back to where come from in Miz Vanya. You heal her up, you give her tongue back, and you stay sleepin'. You know th' authority undah whom I speak," Din said seriously. The Loa agreed heartily, fingers scrambling in the dirt. Din suddenly tapped her forehead with the crucifix, the barest touch, and the Loa gasped one final time before Vanya's skin went pale as paper, like the ink in her skin had leached into the ground underneath her.
Vanya stood up quickly, fighting ready, until she suddenly began to keel over from the brutal head wound she'd received. She held her head in her hands as Din steadied her and Kanda quickly got a few bandages and things from his bag.
"What... happened?" Vanya croaked, testing her healed tongue. Kanda felt awfully stupid once he realized that the bandages he'd retrieved were largely for nothing, considering the wound on her forehead was almost healed due to the unnatural abilities of the Loa.
"You were possessed," Kanda said bluntly.
Vanya's eyes widened, and she immediately dropped to her knees to start praying in Russian.
"No, no, no, you fine, Miz Vanya. I scared her off, see?" Din said, handing her the iron crucifix. The CROW stared at it with a look of disbelief, shaken. Kanda looked at Din, and the Finder gave a sheepish look as if to say 'I'll explain in a little while.'
"Now, you just go on off to bed, now, see? Go sleep some, you feel much bettah in the mornin'," the Finder suggested, leading the stunned CROW back to her tent.
Kanda watched her go, his eyes dark as he considered the ramifications of the event. In a lot of ways, this only complicated things. And Kanda felt a weight fall on him.
It was like grief.
He got up early in the morning, as was his wont. The day had yet to truly start, and Kanda couldn't sleep as it was. She haunted his thoughts, a ghost amidst the musings that went through his mind. He'd let Ellis take Nthanda tonight, knowing the child would stay up as long as Kanda did. They didn't need him to be cranky for the next leg of the trip.
Kanda stared out across the open grassland, this flat plain with nothing on it but a few acacia trees and the random gust of wind. It was almost eerie, the quietude. A fog had descended in the wee hours of the morning, and it put him ill at ease to think of what might be lurking in the dark, opaque grasses. Akuma had been few and far between. One of the good things about the open African wilderness was that after a while, the Akuma found it hard to come by prey on which to gain experience. They tended to stay close to mayhem, like carrion after a battle.
He looked into that darkness, and he knew that he needed something bigger than himself. They weren't even a third of the way there. This journey was so... so long, so terribly, terribly long. He could feel it looming over him as he thought about how they were going to get the funds to cross the continent. Nthanda was such a fragile little thing. He had no one on whom he could lean. If only she were here...
No. He refused to think that. She never had been to him. It was the lost trappings of a former mind. Yet... he couldn't shake it.
He heard the hush hush of moving grass, and he knew someone was also with him in this darkness. He felt a calm descend upon him as battle-readiness seemed to suddenly intrude upon his body, making his muscles tense as springs ready to unleash fury and blood.
She emerged from the grass, two knives in her hands. Her face was stolid, eyes blank and gray as slate. Her dark hair had grown, allowing her to bind it into a high bun. Her short stature made her no less imposing as she stared at him, her face flickering through something like apprehension and pity- for himself or her, he didn't know.
"Mister Kanda," she said politely, her voice noncommittal.
"Vanya," was all he said.
"I vould like somesing from jyou," she said quietly, her words specially formed around her newly healed tongue. She lowered her gaze, staring at the ground. Head still bowed, she looked up at the man.
Kanda found himself nearly scared of what she'd ask. The air seemed to freeze, tension pulling the mist taut as a harp string. In his mind, he could tell himself that he'd do what she asked, and he was almost certain of what she would request. But there was another part of him, one that had grown as of late, that wasn't sure if that request would make him bleed from his core, seeping around him into a wound that would never heal. He was torn as he stared down at the diminutive CROW in her black uniform.
"A spar," she said.
Almost imperceptibly, the samurai relaxed, chastising himself for even worrying. What was the matter with him? Would she have really asked such a thing from him?
"Your funeral," he said with a smirk, lifting his sword sheath.
For a moment, he could swear he saw a small smile flit across her face before she suddenly disappeared with a puff of fog the only telltale record of her flight. Kanda tensed, extending his hearing for the woman, just barely picking up the pitter-patter of tiny feet. He brought his sword up to his left, neatly blocking an attempted strike at his hip as she dashed underneath the sheath with acrobatic deftness. Kanda pivoted on his left foot, again avoiding a jab from the small woman. He ran backwards, putting space between him and her. She was probably one of the few people he could say was just as fast, if not faster, than himself.
And so it went, the battle that was a dance, the dance that was a battle. It was a back and forth weaving of movement, striking, dodging, and sweeping. Sinuously, they moved around each other like snakes, feet stirring the dirt, and the grass obscuring their view. It was as if they were playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek among the grasses, the soft sh sh sh like the lullaby of a warrior.
And if Kanda was honest with himself, he enjoyed the challenge.
There was a strange sort of etiquette to this sort of spar, this one-on-one code that both adhered to without ever knowing what that code was. Neither pulled dirty tricks against the other. There was just the simple joy of practice, move upon move upon move. Soon they were both breathing hard, but not breathing heavy. They had moved to a clearing underneath a spreading tree, and the very earliest glimmers of morning were showing.
They circled each other, and idly an expression came to Vanya's face as Kanda put one foot in front of other with deliberate slowness, his face focused and pensive.
"What are you thinking?" Kanda asked, and Vanya seemed surprised that he'd caught on to her sudden thought. She carefully allowed her face to go blank.
"I vas zinking how nice it vould be to see you on ze ground, and ze look on jyour face," Vanya said with a slight smirk, one of her few expressions.
And then, everything changed.
Just as the sun crested the horizon, the world took on a rosy tint of sunlight, and Kanda saw it in that moment.
In front of him, where Vanya stood, no, on top of Vanya, over Vanya, in Vanya, he could see her. The clean black uniform, pulled back hair, loving smirk.
"I'd love to see you on the ground and that look on your face when you find yourself there."
The tension he'd felt that first time fighting with her, so much like getting to know a person, except more intimate than conversation, less intimate than wasting the night. The air of expectation, hovering between him and her, he remembered it so clearly, like the reflection of his own face. He'd been taken aback, so in love with the tenacity, the willfulness, the sheer rawness of her resolve and courage.
And Vanya charged, seeing her opening-
But she was still there, encompassing the younger woman's body like an ephemeral sheet of memory, copying every move the CROW made, and in that moment, he hesitated in his confusion as he saw, finally, Vanya's face rather than hers.
And the agony that followed seemed to be more than he could truly bear. Kanda's heart was small and tight, like a wound ball of twine that was only a few tugs short of snapping itself. It could only take so much in it at once, and so much confusion and heartbreak and long-lost feeling, or ghost of a feeling, for someone else, someone the other one had loved beyond reason, beyond logic, beyond life and death, was too much for this little heart and its fragility. It snapped with a resounding wave, like an explosion clearing away everything around it in that single instant.
Her knife connected with his cheek, drawing a small line of blood. Almost unconsciously, Kanda remembered their first spar, that first blood she'd drawn, and the association with that spar and the other first spar, the one that was important to the other one (he had to remind himself that- he was not him, and he'd never be him, and he was his own person, own feelings, own thoughts) drew unfortunate conclusions and a strange sense of loss mixed with jealousy. In a way, no one should ever take that place in him, but that was another life, another heart, and another woman.
His elbow connected with her face, a crunching noise resounding in the air. The morning glow was no longer a glow- it was a harsh, blindingly sharp radiance. The softness had gone away, leaving hard lines and broken fragments of things.
His fist connected with her kidney. She doubled over and rolled past him.
His foot connected with her head. She went down on the ground, quickly standing, albeit a little shakily.
Her knife slashed into a feint, and he grabbing her other, hidden yet moving hand, throwing his knee into her stomach as he pulled her into the hit.
She slid a foot behind his ankle, but he quickly yanked her wrist upwards, bending it into a position in which it was not able to move, and her trip lost force.
She suddenly planted her feet into his chest, lifting herself by a single hand, and she used him as a springboard, causing the wind to leave his lungs. He let go, and she fell to her feet some distance away. She skirted him for another, low hit, but his sword sheath suddenly clipped her ear, disorienting her.
Finally, he planted a foot in the side of her knee, causing her to fall before she could put herself in a steadier stance. She fell to the ground, and his foot was on her neck, sword pressed against the skin like a sweet metal kiss.
They were like that for several moments, frozen in a still life. She breathed hard, and Kanda could clearly see her face in profile, outlined by the dirt and the shadows cast by the sun. It was as if the world were trying to reassure him that she was not her. She was someone else, from another time and another place. And he realized what he had done only when he saw the blood dripping from her mouth and under her hairline, her hair loose and undone from exertion.
It takes quite a lot for Kanda to be surprised, and surprised he was when she suddenly said, "Thank jyou."
It took another moment for him to realize that, imperceptibly, he was shaking. He was so full of that almost jealous rage and heartbreak, yet what Vanya had said was 'thank you.'
He lifted his foot from her neck, and she slowly began to sit up, dusting herself with one hand. Her eyes were downcast, concentrated on her task.
"Why?" he asked, trying to keep the waver out of his voice.
"Jyou vill do vat it takes, Mister Kanda," she said simply, looking at him. "And I thank jyou."
"Babuu!" a small, imperious voice suddenly said from the edge of the clearing. They looked, and Vanya snorted as Nthanda shakily walked side by side with the dog, who was happily panting next to him.
Kanda felt a spike of some emotion he couldn't quite pin. Shame? Panic? Worry? He'd never been good at his emotions. He'd never truly used them, honestly, but knowing that Nthanda had watched that fight, seen his brutality with someone Nthanda no doubt considered something like a mother or caretaker...
Vanya stiffly picked Nthanda up and cooed to him in Russia, and Nthanda wound his hand in her hair. The dark baby suddenly waved a hand at Kanda, insistent on his presence as if he were a little prince demanding the audience of someone of low birth. Kanda gave him a deadpan look. He was being ordered by a baby.
"No," Kanda said simply. The dog barked at him as if to mark the baby's point, a goofy grin on his face, and Kanda stared at the sky as if to ask for guidance before acquiescing.
"What the devil do you want, you little fart bag?" Kanda muttered as he bent down to Nthanda's level with a grumpy expression. Nthanda grabbed a strand of his hair and played with it a little bit, Vanya looking at Kanda with a perplexed look and Kanda rolling his eyes.
And then, Nthanda yanked hard on both of their strands of hair, bonking their heads together with a massive 'clunk!'
In that moment of pain, it was if all of Vanya's thoughts roiled in his mind, the remembered terror of fighting him (she'd been terrified of fighting him?), the derision and grudging acceptance, the strange symbiosis she felt with him (which he tried hard to ignore, because he felt it himself), and the horrible, keening, longing sigh of grief that seemed to play over her thoughts like the song of a banshee long after someone has passed.
The fight came back, that painfully stolid sense of duty that he hated for its blind faith and unquestioning loyalty. He felt his muscles move in time with her own as she had feinted and counterfeinted against him, planning just far enough ahead. He noticed her dependence on her momentum and her amount of space, cataloging it later. But he could also feel the grim humor about this as a preview for a later battle, one that's outcome would be much more... final. She had been testing him.
Memories, random bits and pieces of glorified past experiences, flashed in his mind of a little house in crowded Moscow, the ticking noises of clocks and toys, the magnificent opalescence of the royal family's palace with their onion topped towers. And then, the blood, the killing, the stealing, the raids, the terror...
And he knew that she'd taken from him, too. He could see it in her face, and they immediately parted, somehow finding themselves at opposite ends of the clearing. She was breathing hard, as was he. A red mark denoted their points of contact, and Nthanda babbled at them both as if he were teaching them a valuable lesson. The dog whined in between the two, looking back and forth at them.
"Who do jyou think jyou are, Kanda?" Vanya asked, her face closed off.
All he could do is stare back at her.
"Oh, toodle-loooo~! Loves!" a familiar, old voice shouted from beyond the grass. Ellis managed to beat her way through the grass with a parasol (the likes of which Kanda could only guess where she'd managed to sequester it without his knowing of its existence), and she stared at the two heavily-breathing teenagers.
"My goodness, have I interrupted something? Ah, well, it doesn't matter, as it is. I was going to interrupt as it was. We have things to discuss! After me, darlings!" Ellis said imperiously, whacking the grass with her parasol, causing several large locusts to suddenly shoot out for their hiding places. She yelped and then quickly composed herself, smoothing her ruffled figurative feathers.
Kanda and Vanya looked at each other one last time before finally following the woman through the grass.
"How do you bear to live in such squalid conditions?! Goodness!" Lavinia complained from her perch on a piece of wood around the fire. Her servants were off fixing her tent, and Din was hunting for dinner while Ellis fixed up the fire from the night before and readied the kitchen utensils. And of course, Vanya was pinning her bugs as per her habit, while Nthanda and the dog played in the dirt.
Kanda narrowed his eyes at her from across the fire, fighting the twitching building under his eyelid. He couldn't believe that someone so... annoying existed.
No, he couldn't say that. Lavi was still prancing across the earth with his high-pitched, obnoxious voice.
"We're sorry to bruise you're flawless skin," Kanda muttered under his breath, and Lavinia primped herself almost unconsciously.
"You're excused," Lavinia sighed, and Kanda reached for his sword. Hopefully she'd excuse him if her hair suddenly fell of her head...
"Tea?" Ellis interrupted, before Kanda could suddenly deprive her of her luscious locks. Lavinia threw her red hair over a single shoulder with a toss of her majestic head, and she smiled wide, showing a prodigious set of pearly whites.
"Why yes, I'll take a cup," she said, imperiously (but not so much to be haughty, for that would've been crude).
"Good. I've been meaning to get rid of yesterday's set," Ellis said nonchalantly, and Lavinia's face fell as she realized she was going to be given some rather aged tea. However, it was too late to politely refuse, as Ellis had gone off to fetch the tea, and the young Comtesse squirmed in her seat on a hard log. Vanya was busy pinning bugs to a cork board next to her, and Kanda watched as Lavinia warily looked at what the CROW was doing. Vanya stared at the young Comtesse as she slowly pushed a pin into a shiny blue-green beetle. The little insect fruitlessly flailed its legs as it was impaled, and Lavinia's already pale skin suddenly drained of what little color it had.
Kanda looked away, trying to hide a smirk. After the debacle that had led to both the Comtesse and the CROW being kidnapped, Vanya had shown little love for the young lady.
Nthanda sat at his feet, playing his little set of congo drums (which needed fixing- the drumskin on one of them was beginning to tear). The dog sat next to him as was his wont, and he looked up at Kanda pleadingly as the samurai tore himself a piece of salted beef. He gave a harsh look to the dog, and the Rhodesian ridgeback hung his head, still looking at the samurai. Kanda scowled out towards the grass, and the dog finally seemed to give up.
A piece of salted beef landed at the dog's feet, and he snatched it with gusto, his tail thumping the ground and sending a whirlwind of dust.
Ellis finally came back with a full tea set, which begged the question of where she'd been keeping that tea set, and she laid it out on the makeshift table made of a cut log. After much badgering, Ellis had convinced Kanda to cut part of a thick, dead tree to create what was effectively a cutting board and a table all at once. Kanda had not appreciated using Mugen for such carpenter tasks, something he considered much too menial for a good blade, but Ellis was plenty pleased with the result. It was, unfortunately, too heavy to take with them, or else she would've polished it and made it look like a respectable piece of furniture.
Of course, concerning her habit of hiding little bits of civilization in random places, Kanda wouldn't be surprised if the same circle of trunk showed up again at some other time.
"Now, it is time to be talking about the real reason I have called this little, oh... what is it that the American's call it? A poe- oh?"
"I thought it was Pee-wow," Lavinia offered.
"No, no, it's, ah... peu-woe."
"I belief jyou mean Powvow."
"No, that can't be right, there's no 'v'."
Kanda couldn't take the mangled use of American English slang.
"Powwow. Get on with it," Kanda growled, pointing his sword sheath at Ellis.
"Why yes, I believe he does have a point. Do continue, as my skirts cannot protect my behind from this horrid seat for much longer," Lavinia complained as she sipped her newly acquired tea. She almost hiccuped a little as the very bitter concoction passed down her throat, and she pressed her lips together as she began to put the tea cup down.
"Interesting that you should say, considering you are the subject matter," Ellis stated, reading a pot of water she'd gotten earlier in the day. Had Lavinia been enjoying her cuppa, she would've spit it back into her cup with mortification, but she was saved that indecency. However, it appeared she could not escape some sort of overly dramatic display of incredulity, seeing as she dropped the tea cup loudly instead, putting a rather large chip in it.
Ellis gave the woman a flat look, and Lavinia delicately put the cup back on the 'table'. Kanda almost rolled his eyes at the undue amount of hostility Ellis gave the Comtesse in response to the abuse to her good crockery.
"Jyou're in for it now," Vanya muttered under her breath as she took out another pin and tried to decide where to place her next acquisition.
"Our topic for the evening is whether or not to allow you to journey with us to our destination," Ellis stated. "We are embarking on a rather dangerous trek, and it would not do to have a political ally suddenly offed. We wouldn't be able to explain ourselves to the proper authorities either- the Black Order isn't keen on sorting out political unrest and dissent. You've already seen the creatures we are up against, and yet you're still here. I do not believe you truly understand the ramifications of this particular sojourn."
Kanda watched Ellis as the older woman diced desert vegetables for soup, her acuity nearly as keen as Kanda himself with a good blade, though it seemed her expertise only extended to plants. He stared at Lavinia, the young Comtesse gaping like a fish.
"Well! I had thought you would be rather glad of my presence on your little-little-your trip. I had it in my mind to protect you besides, seeing as you obviously don't know what you are up against either," Lavinia continued, sipping daintily from her chipped teacup. Ellis rolled her eyes heavenward, in unison with Kanda, Vanya, and even the dog. Nthanda merely continued with his drumming, paying no mind to the interplay of wills.
"Believe you me, dearest, I think we have everything under control," Ellis drawled as she stirred the vegetables into the soup.
"What we're saying is- go home," Kanda stated outright. That woman needed to learn to cut to the chase.
"B-but... I can help you! I have political acumen-"
Kanda hated to see what a rebel would do when they saw a pretty young white girl trying to spew politics at them while waving handkerchief.
"-and I can, uh, I can shoot-"
Perhaps a tree. On accident.
"- and I have survival skills!"
All those present stared at her with unabashed dryness. Lavinia squirmed once more in her seat. She held up two fingers, a width apart.
"A little. A little bit of survival skills."
It was quiet, nothing but the rustle of grass and the 'dong dong' of Nthanda's drum.
"Go home," Kanda merely stated again.
Lavinia pouted, crossing her arms, and stood up indignantly. She stood in front of the fire, her eyes alight and her hair blown back by the wind off the flames, and she stated boldly, "I will have you know that I am coming with you on this trip! I... I am... I am in need of a lesson! You said so yourself. Now, as a Comtesse I demand that lesson be given to me, through trials and tribulations! I will not be spoiled any longer, and I will not be turned away, do you hear me? I will grow strong, and the only way to grow strong is through hardship and adversity, and I have found that it practically follows you people with your-your- chipped crockery-"
"You're the one who chipped my crockery," Ellis breathed under a sigh.
"- and your horrid seats and your ghastly rebels and all else that God has created to torment humans of such fair disposition as I! You told me yourself that I'm a sick, spoiled little child who needs to be taught a lesson, even!"
Both heads turned to Kanda, and he looked at them with daring, black expression that brooked no questioning. There would be words.
"So if you are going to be the one to open my eyes to my current predicament, then perhaps you should also be the one to explain to me where I am in the wrong and correct myself. It is only your duty to do so for your Comtesse, that she may be as refined, elegant, and strong as she needs to be," Lavinia finished with a stamped foot, and it was silent for a few more moments as the three digested her words.
And then suddenly, the young Comtesse accidentally caught the corner of her rather frilly dress on fire as she was standing much too close, and she began to scream and stamp on the small flame attempting to climb up her dress. While she was attempting to control the small wisp of flame that was gaining a bit of territory, Ellis motioned for both warrior to follow her to her tent. As she led them, Ellis yelled behind her, "Stop, drop, and roll, dear, it's basic fire safety! Just don't roll in the dry grass, all right? There you go love, walk it off!"
Ensconced in the tent, Ellis let loose.
"You told her all that? You told a Comtesse where she could shove it?"
"How was I supposed to know she was going to follow us?! Most sane people leave! It was true anyhow, I don't lie."
"Good lord, Kanda, if she'd ever gotten wind of that to her father- do you know who her father is? The Comte of Chavigne, you-you...you clodhead!"
"That means about as much as a sack of pig's manure to me."
"Ve should probably deal vith ze zituation at hand," Vanya sighed, rubbing her nose bridge. The two fuming hotheads finally began to simmer, and they looked at each other.
"Do we keep her?" Ellis asked.
"No," Kanda stated.
"No," Vanya concurred.
"Yes," Din chimed in, and the other two stared at the Finder that seemed to have materialized in the tent, with uncooked dinner at that.
"You don't even know what we're voting on," Kanda grumbled, and the Finder laid his catch (three pheasants and a rabbit) near Ellis's bedroll before the woman could actually gripe at him for getting their blood on her sheets.
"Yes, Mistuh Kanda, ash'lly, I do, and I seh we keep her," Din stated wisely, crossing his arms. He pointed to Kanda.
"You saved her life. Her life belohngs to you. An' you try to teach her a lesson, so now she is your problem. She just gonna follow us anywehs," Din reasoned.
"Dingane has a fery good point," Vanya agreed. "Ze girl is like a dog vith a bone."
"We're not taking her with us. I'm not taking civilians."
"I'm a civilian," Ellis argued.
"You're old. No one cares if you die."
"Well, excuse me! If that's the case, I'll have her go with. She can crack a hundred pieces of good Wedgwood for all I care. As long as she manages to turn your hair gray, I'll be fine!" Ellis huffed, snatching up the pickings for dinner. "Now if you will excuse me."
And with that, she went out the tent flap. Though it is not possible to slam a tent flap, she seemed to give the impression none the less. Vanya watched, her expression as close to amused as she could get, while Din grinned and Kanda continued to boil like a pot over high heat.
"Vanya?" Din asked.
For a moment the CROW deliberated.
"On other hand, I see no problem vith zis. She dies, she dies. She lives, we get ze better ruler. Win win," Vanya said. In reality it was obvious she and Ellis were in much the same frame of mind concerning Kanda, seeing as she glanced with an almost triumphant smirk at the samurai.
"I'm the leader of this little band of idiots. I don't need another one," Kanda seethed to the back wall, and Din hid a wheezing laugh behind a cough. The Finder walked out of the tent and suddenly began to guffaw, a bright loud sound. Kanda barreled to the door to see what was the commotion, only to see Nthanda desperately trying use his drum set to console a rather distraught, soaked, and half-naked Lavinia who was sitting next to what was amounting to be a prodigious grass fire behind her. Kanda slapped a hand over his eyes as Nthanda babbled to Lavinia, slapping her thigh as the Comtesse dissolved.
"I tink Nthanda made up our minds for us, Misteh Kanda," Din snickered.
"She is not coming with!"
A/N: It's out, it's out, it's finally out! This chapter is extra long to make up for the lost time it took to write this (and it's finals week- hehe, studying, what studying?), and I hope that it was all you hoped for and more! This is one of those extra meaty chapters, and it even has plot points (gasp!). As you all know (of course of course) my schedule is EXTREMELY erratic ( I apologize so much, I know some of you waited almost a year at one point). That doesn't seem to be changing. HOWEVER. I hope to get back to writing shorter bits (more slice of life type stuff) now and again for this, but that doesn't mean the adventure will get any less adventure-y.
For the recognition! To my reviewers:
karina001 (my wonderful, wonderful beta!): I'm glad you've got that good insight. ;) You're great at making connections. I'm soooo happy that you gave me such a meaty review, especially considering it was a long chapter. Hope you'll enjoy this one! It was even longer than the last one... You've been oh so patient and I know you were chomping on the bit for this one.
BloodStainsOnMyKisses: Glad you thought it was so cute! Hopefully you'll still enjoy it, even when the cute parts are a little less evident (like this one).
DGrayman GRL: I see you caught on to that, didn't you? I was hoping someone would get it. Hopefully this made you feel a little better. :)
Kai-Chan94: Huh, I can sort of see where that would go- Kanda vs. Allen suddenly turning into a free for all with a baby somehow coming out on top. It would make for an interesting story... *eye twinkle* And I've never heard THAT description for the little baby, LOL. Cute little terd indeed.
jasdevi's secret sissy: Poor Kanda indeed. He is, namely, Katsura Hoshino's whipping boy. I like to think she'll make it up to him at some point.
Nano: Glad this got your attention! It's always nice to hear that someone couldn't help BUT review a story. And what happened to Allen in America? He ended up chasing fog lights in a certain mountain range of America because they were thought to be Innocence phenomena. I'd thought of making a sort of slice-of-life series out of that one, actually, but I never got around to it. It's still on the table, seeing as Allen's a character I have yet to expand on. Though right now he's actually in another story in this timeline called Chasing After The Wind (which I am still writing! Just... it's slow going).
Now for the members of the subscriber army! Our new members are jasdevi's secret sissy, goldenwings57, hkyadte, graveMonera, nevertheless im a ninja (neat name), Sevil33, and .
And almost every one from the subscriber army double dipped into the favoriteer army, with one exception: Letah. Happy to have you!
Now for the discussion! Are you happy that Lavinia is being tacked on to the band? What do you make of Kanda's recurring dreams? Would you like to see more of Nthanda, or is his point of view disorienting and/or boring? Would you like to have other canon characters added to the story at some point? Was this chapter just too ridiculously long? What sort of feeling do you get from the story: rollercoaster ride or a steady, plodding pace? What made you laugh? Which relationships do you like out of this story (it need not be romantic- paternal, friendly, or otherwise are encouraged, as there are more relationships that exist besides the romantic)?
That's all I've got for now. God bless you, and Merry Early Christmas!