Sasuke slipped into the back entrance of the Southern Palace. The sun had already set and he didn't want to get caught. The punishment for his absence would be bad enough, but the rarity and the quality of the herbs he had acquired couldn't be passed up. The momadi market only just slipped into town this morning and the army would surely root them out by daybreak tomorrow.
He understood the Emperor's caution with the momadi. Sasuke had seen a handful of momadi warriors and that had certainly been a beastly lot, but the merchants were a kind sort who, despite struggling with the Imperial language, always seemed to understand what he needed. Certainly, they couldn't all be savage monsters, could they? It was Sasuke's belief that, if they all just listened to each other, the Imperials and the momadi could come to some sort of truce.
As it was now, it was more of a harsh standstill than anything else. The Emperor may lay claim to the momadi's desert lands, but if an Imperial were to venture into the mountains of Bella-benne they were unlikely to be seen again. The same was true for a momadi caught in the Imperial Fertile Lands. It was an old war that went back so many centuries that its beginning was lost. Pity that, since the momadi had access to rare resources that could not be found anywhere else in the Goddess's Realm.
Sasuke paused as he came to the ruined wing at the back of the castle where his rooms were situated. Someone was here. In the dim moonlight, Sasuke's red eyes scanned the crumbling corridor, looking for any hint of colour in his otherwise gray world. His ability to detect the colours of life, even in the blackness of night, was one of the reasons Master had bought him as a child over twenty years ago. The corridor remained gray, but he was unconvinced. Slipping into the shadows of a broken column, Sasuke remained absolutely still and waited.
Time ticked forward and the corridor remained still, yet the feeling of someone else being there never ceased. With each minute that passed Sasuke knew that the severity of his punishment increased, but he'd rather be punished than dead. Though most had forgotten it, there were those, like Master, who believed the old legend of the Blood Eyes. It wouldn't be the first time that someone tried to either steal him or murder him out of fear. He loathed Master, but he didn't think he'd particularly like anyone who thought him an inhuman object to be used for their own gain. At least with Master he knew what to expect.
A wisp of light appeared at the edge of a dilapidated door. It was a warm colour, a swirling blue and gold, like a gentle summer day, but its light was struggling, dim. They were injured. Not an attacker then. Sasuke slipped out of the shadows and the light vanished back into the room.
"Hello?" Sasuke called out, softening his voice to sound more feminine. "I won't harm you. I live here."
When no answer came he cautiously approached the room and repeated himself in what little of the momadi language he knew, "Alo? En nelam io. En lef lar."
"Momadi?" a small, boyish voice came from the room. A child.
Sasuke's heart clenched for the boy. If the child was momadi then he must be lost and very afraid. Sasuke wished he could lie and bring comfort to the child, to say that yes he was momadi, but he knew he could not pass for one. "Nemomadi," he said gently, then added, "Nehiohanmi." –but not your enemy.
When the child did not reply, Sasuke took a step into the room. He immediately spotted the dim light of the child in the far corner, as well as the dying crimson light that pooled around the boy. Blood. Damn the Mar. Sasuke needed to act quickly, but his momadi tongue failed him and he couldn't think of how to tell the boy that he could help.
"I'm a healer," Sasuke said, hoping the child might somehow understand. He looked around the room for some way to explained and then hurriedly pulled his satchel forward. Reaching inside, Sasuke pulled out a handful of herbs. "Healer. Let me heal you."
"Lil?" the boy said. "Lil-io?"
"Ai. I can heal you. Lillio."
Slowly the boy began to move. Sasuke rushed forward and helped the boy up. The child was a small, thin thing, most likely around six or seven, he'd wager. The boy was covered in crimson light, but the worst of it came from his shoulder blade. Sasuke removed his head scarf, allowing his long braid to fall to his waist, and pressed the cloth to the child's wound. Oddly, the boy did not make a pained sound, but Sasuke saw his light flair for a moment.
"I need to get you into the light, somewhere where I can tend to—somewhere en lillio," Sasuke said. The boy nodded, seeming to understand. Gently picking the boy up, Sasuke quickly carried the child from the room. His quarters were not far and Master rarely ventured into them, preferring to send Enrí, the butler, to fetch Sasuke when the need arouse. Otherwise this ancient wing was abandoned, save himself.
Reaching his rooms, Sasuke bolted the door behind him and set the child on a cot near the fireplace. A disadvantage of residing so far from the other servants and the rest of the castle was that this portion of the palace had never been modernized. He would have to tend to the child by firelight and boiling water. After lighting the fire, Sasuke placed a kettle over it to boil, and then lit several candles. His small parlor came into view and Sasuke could see the diluted colours of the world.
He grabbed a bowl, bandages, and other supplies from the bathroom before kneeling down beside the cot. As he went about grinding herbs together the boy rolled onto his side to watch.
"Nemidimo-io?" the boy asked after a moment—You are not a girl?
Sasuke flushed slightly and shook his head, focusing on the task at hand. Despite being born male, when Master had bought him at the age of six Sasuke's name, gender, and humanity had been revoked. Now, at twenty-six, he couldn't even remember his birth name or what it was like to wear something other than a dress, corset, and bustier with faux breasts.
"Nemidimo," Evenly murmured and then turned to the boy. Pointing to himself, he said, "Sasuke."
"Sasōka," the boy repeated slowly with a momadi accent, and then pointed to himself and said, "Boruto."
Sasuke smiled softly. "Boruto, I need to remove your shirt."
When Boruto's brows lifted in confusion, Sasuke gestured to the bloody, tattered remains of the boy's linen shirt. Seeming to understand, he helped Boruto remove the garment and then inspected the child's shoulder wound. It was as Sasuke feared. The boy had been shot. The metal bullet had partly imbedded itself into the bone, slowing the flow of blood exiting the wound, but also kept it from closing. Sasuke glanced at the discarded shirt. Given the amount of blood, Boruto must have been shot some time ago. How the child was this conscious was astonishing.
The kettle whistled sharply. Taking it off the fire, Sasuke poured some in the bowl with the grinded herbs and set about washing the wound. It must have hurt for Boruto's light kept flaring, but the boy did not make a sound. Were the momadi trained from birth to not react to pain? It had taken years and stubborn pride for Sasuke to remain completely silent during Master's punishments. How much pain had this child endured to be this quiet?
"I'm going to remove the bullet," Sasuke warned before using a pair of sterilized tweezers to dig the bullet out. Boruto's light became blindingly bright, forcing Sasuke to close his eyes. He kept digging, using the tips of his fingers to lead his work. When the bullet was finally out, Sasuke pressed a clean, herb-soaked cloth to the opening and waited for the blood to slow and Boruto's light to return to normal.
"You don't react to pain much, do you?" Sasuke said, opening his eyes.
"Farden?" Boruto's voice was weary.
"Oh, um," Sasuke stumbled. "Nedōhio…dō…pain, um, ouch?"
Boruto tilted his head to the side and nibbled on his bottom lip, his brows crunching together. Sasuke couldn't help but smile softly. The expression was adorable. Suddenly Boruto's eyes widened and his face softened before turning serious. "Ne. Fis nefan komfar at enfafa andor."
No. This is nothing compared to what my father endures.
Sasuke frowned. What kind of life did the momadi live? Picking up one of his sterilized needles and some medical thread, Sasuke began sewing Boruto's shoulder. The child's light flared again, but not nearly as brightly. Apparently surface pains were more tolerable to him than internal ones. Sasuke relaxed slightly at that, knowing the numbness first hand that came with the normality of internal injuries.
"So, Boruto, do you know any of the Imperial tongue? You seem to understand me a little," Sasuke inquired, trying to lighten the air a bit.
The boy was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Ai. Little. Enfafa teating en, um, me. Me fafa teating me."
"My papa is teaching me," Sasuke corrected softly.
"My papa is teaching me," Boruto slowly repeated, elongating the foreign sounds.
"Very good. Fari go. My momadi tongue is poor. I've no one to teach me other than the occasional travelling market. Are they who you're with?"
"En momadi," Boruto said, not fully understanding the question.
"Ai, but where is your papa?" Sasuke tied off his last stitch and began bandaging up the wound with some herbs. "Ara iofafa?"
"Oma." Home.
"An iomomo?" And your mother?
"Nehiomomo," Boruto said flatly.
"You have no mother? Then who are you with?"
Boruto looked over his shoulder. "Anio?"
Sasuke's brows rose. "And me? What about me?"
"Iofafa an momo?"
"Ne. I have no papa or mama," Sasuke said a little more curtly than he meant too. Standing, he began cleaning up his supplies. The child appeared reluctant to say who he was with. Perhaps after some sleep and a meal Boruto would be more willing.
"Nefafa an momo?" Boruto asked, clearly confused.
"Get some sleep. You'll be safe here."
Sasuke walked into the bathroom, which was more of an herb shack since he used the abandoned bathhouse for bathing. Setting aside the used things to be sterilized later, Sasuke approached the broken mirror and double-checked his appearance. A few strands of his long, black hair had fallen around his face. He pinned them back. Slipping from the worn working dress that he had relieved from one of the maids, Sasuke walked into the adjoining closet and replaced it with an elegant dress detailed with Fíorian lace. Master loved all things Fíorian and Sasuke wanted to distill as much of the prince's temper as possible. He would be in trouble regardless, however.
"Where you go?" Boruto asked as Sasuke reentered the living room.
"Where are you going," he gently corrected. "I must step out for a little while, but I will be back with some food. I will lock the door behind me, so you will be safe in here. All right?"
Boruto frowned and struggled from the bed. "Ne! Nelif."
Rushing over, Sasuke gently pressed the child back into bed. "Shh, shh. It's all right, Boruto." When the boy had stopped struggling Sasuke sat on the edge of the bed. "Calm yourself. It will be all right."
"En ne want you lif."
"I know you don't want me to leave, but I must." Sasuke ran a soothing hand through Boruto's hair, it was knotted and tangled, but soft. "If I don't a very mean man will come here. I must go to him and make him happy before that happens."
"Why would he come here?"
"Because he is angry with me. You see, I was supposed to be back hours ago. Doesn't your papa get mad when you don't come home like you're supposed to?"
Boruto's brows lifted in confusion. "But you said you nefafa?"
"That's right, I don't, but I have a Master."
"Mastar?"
"Master. Someone who owns me, like a person owns a pet or a horse."
"But you ferson."
"Person. I am." Technically. Sasuke frowned. "It's complicated. But I really do need to go. You'll be safe here and I'll come back with some food. You're hungry, aren't you? Fodo?" Sasuke patted his belly.
Boruto nodded.
"Then get some sleep and I'll be back in a few hours."
"Ai."
Sasuke ran his fingers through Boruto's hair again. The boy's light was dim, but steady. If he rested and ate he'd surely heal. Sasuke sighed and reluctantly stood. Time to face the Mar. He notched his chin up and straightened his shoulders as he left his rooms, locking the door behind him. Sasuke looked both ways, assuring himself that, as per usual, the corridor was empty, before slipping into the room adjacent from his.
This had once been a library before burning in the last century and left forgotten like the rest of the wing. Most of the books had turned to ash and blown away with time, but there were still a handful that had survived. Sasuke had read them all. It was in his perusal in his younger days of the survivors that he had found the hidden compartment in one of the still standing bookcases, where he now hid the key to his rooms. Nothing was safe on his person when Master was concerned.
Afterwards, he made his way swiftly to the great hall, where Master was sat high on the dais, finishing his evening meal. Master's light was a deep, simmering red, different than the crimson of blood he had seen on Boruto, that overwhelmed its usual brown. Sasuke took a deep breath.
"He's in his cups tonight," Enrí, the palace butler, murmured as he came up behind Sasuke. "Shall I sneak you breakfast in the morning?"
Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the elderly man, who had been his only alley over the years. After being so easily sold off by his family, Sasuke found it difficult to trust anyone, but Enrí had never acted harshly toward him like the other servants did. The aged butler was also a momadi sympathizer and descendant, but that was a secret kept between the two of them. "Could you manage enough for two?"
Enrí raised an eyebrow.
"I found a small chick who had been rooted from its nest and terribly injured."
The butler, ever the professional, gave no inclination of his surprise. He merely nodded and continued into the great hall. Sasuke watched Enrí go about his duties before slipping into the room. No one looked at him as he made his way toward the dais. No one noticed. Why would they? Who would notice an inanimate object? Approaching the prince, Sasuke's nostrils were assaulted with the heavy scent of Master's pungent Fíorian cologne and wine—never a good mix. He kept his eyes steadily on the horizon and sat upon the thin pillow at Master's feet.
"You're late," Master snapped without looked away from his plate.
"I wasn't feeling well so I laid down and overslept." Sasuke would not ask for forgiveness like a good pet. He would not bow his head or demurely advert his eyes. It was an aloof, indifferent, stubbornness that he had had since a child. He would not be broken. It was a challenge that, twenty years later, Master still thankfully seemed to find intriguing. An owner's boredom was death to a pet. Sasuke well knew this, but he also could not give up his own humanity, his pride.
"Then you should be well rested for tonight."
"Of course, Master."
A.N.
(Notes will rarely be this long, I'm just clarifying a few things in this one)
Hello lovelies! I am here with my main beast—the work that I am currently focused on the most. It is technically an original work, but I'm reworking it as a fanfiction to share it all with you. ^-^ It is part of my Clans series—Queen's Clan and King's Clan are also (sort of) on fanfiction as well. I'm working on all four stories roughly at the same time. This story is kind of a stand alone, with the first three being a sort of trilogy. You don't necessarily have to know what happens in the first three to understand this story, there are no overlapping characters.
For those of you who read what is up of QC, to clear up confusion, same fandom, completely different story & time period. QC happens around Year of the Goddess (YotG) 1,000 or so, this story is around YotG 2,000. So whilst they're all Naruto characters, none of them are the same people.
Clarifications:
Momadi Language: This is a made up language, primarily based off of English. It's perfectly okay if you don't understand what is being said. If Sasuke understands it then there will be some kind of clarification to the best of his knowledge, if he doesn't then there won't be any clarification so you'll likely be just as out of the loop as him.
Sasōka/Pronunciations: Sasōka is the closest pronunciation of Sasuke in the momadi tongue since they don't have an "oo"/"u" sound. Yes, Boruto has a U in it, but I can't really do much about that because fanfiction, so yeah. Also, a quick momadi pronunciation note (for those language nutters out there like me :D ), "i" is pronounced as "ee" rather than "eye." So it's moh-mah-dee, not moh-mah-die.
Original Characters: Minor characters, like Enri, will keep their OC names partially because I'm lazy, but mostly because I don't want to use up a fandom character that could be better used later in the story.
Location: I've a massive map—& when I say massive, I mean like 10'x8'—that I've been drawing out as I create this world. Unfortunately, fanfic doesn't let me place images inside of chapters, so I'll explain here, map-wise, what might be helpful information. The first three stories take place in the northern kingdoms (Ríocht na Uisce, An Talamh Fíor, and Iníon Ríocht). These kingdoms are what would sort of be considered the "standard." They are the most technologically advanced & powerful. Also in the very far north are the islands of Oileán Sneachta, a frozen wasteland of a kingdom.
This story takes place in the Imperial Kingdom of Tir yr Haul, one of the two southern kingdoms. This is a massive desert kingdom that is split by a large mountain range (Balla-beinne). On one side of the mountains is the coastal area referred to as "the Fertile Lands," which is firmly ruled by the Emperor. On the other side is the desert where the momadi live. To the north of the mountains & the Fertile Lands are the Scattered Islands, which will be explained more in the story.
To the west of Tir yr Haul is An Talamh Thorthúil, which is covered in tropical rainforests.
The Mar: Between the northern and southern kingdoms is a large body of water known as Muir na Bandia. In the Goddess's mythology (which is the primary religion of the northern kingdoms & the empire/Fertile Lands), the Mar resides deep below the sea (the Muir na Bandia), and it's more like the Underworld in Classical mythology rather than Christianity's Hell. It's the place you go to when you die, it's where the Goddess is believed to reside, however it is also where you come from when you are born. However the term Mar is still sometimes used as a curse, as in wishing for someone's death.
Author's Notes: They won't typically be this long. Promise. I'll only use them to clarify mythology or things like that that are either asked about by you lot or would have come from some other source (such as the map or one of the other stories) that is somehow pertinent to the story.