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Whispers of a Warrior
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Chapter One- Test
Sunlight filtered through the open window and the air swirled the curtains allowing a slight breeze to fill the room. Tohru knew as soon as her senses came back to her that she was no longer in the forest. Her entire body tensed as the only thought that ran through her mind was 'they've found me.' Fear took hold of her and sweat started to gather on her upper lip. Keeping her eyes closed and trying to feign sleep she took stock of the state her body was in, feeling for clothes.
She almost sighed in relief when she felt them, a frown marred her forehead as she also noticed that they had changed somewhat, she was no longer wearing what she had worn before she had passed out. It could mean that she had been abused in some way but that thought was gone as she realised that her feet and her wounds from the fight with the Haranu were bandaged. Her clothes were now of soft material and she wore loose fitting pants instead of her grass skirt. Figuring that now was as good a time as any Tohru quickly leapt from the bed she was in and crouched down beside it, her blue eyes searching the room for anyone in it other then herself.
From the corner of her eye Tohru saw a soft movement and turned towards it, her hands in front of her in defence. The person sighed and moved out from the shadows, silvery grey hair shone brightly and piercing violet eyes watched her intently. Tohru noticed his weapons and licked her lips anticipating a fight.
The man before her did not move, did not speak and Tohru took the time to look over her 'opponent.' He wore strange clothes, nothing like the Haranu, his clothes were black with silver trimming and held a beautiful crest on his chest. She took her eyes from his body and searched his face, he was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen in her life. After only seeing males like the Haranu this man was otherworldly. His skin was pale and flawless from what she could see, his nose straight, his eyes large and intense, his mouth pink with a slightly larger lower lip. To her, this man was beautiful.
Tohru now realised what her Maman had told her about beauty and how it was a magic that could blind you, take you off guard. She quickly stopped her eyes from continuing to rove over him and guarded her mind from these thoughts. Tilting her head to the side she decided that this silence had gone on long enough.
"Who are you? You are not Haranu, I can see that, and where am I?" She did not get up from her position and the man before her did not move. She continued to watch him, wary now, if he had been friendly, someone who was helping her then he would have answered her. With a deft movement the man before her flung a small dagger in her direction and using her reflexes that had been honed for years she dodged it, caught it by the handle and flung it just as quickly back at him, aiming for his nether regions. Her Maman had always told her to aim there on a man. It was back in its sheath before she even realised that he had caught it.
With the barest twitch of the mouth the man with silvery grey hair bowed to her, his eyes amused. He opened his mouth to speak but the door opened quite loudly and a horde of finely dressed people entered, the man quickly fled back into the shadows to remain hidden. Tohru had not taken her eyes from the shadows the man had retreated to, her senses however were now trained on the five or so newcomers.
"Ah, I see your awake, good. Our father wanted to have a few words with you." Flickering blue eyes on the people she eyed them in secret, she moved to a standing position but kept herself ready for an attack, she was in a strange place and these people had the advantage of knowing the area. The man that had spoken had brown hair and a kind face, he did not hold a fighters air around him. There was only one with them other then the man still hiding in the shadows that had a powerful aura surrounding him. This one had two toned hair, the main colour though was white.
"Hai," she whispered, trying to figure out where she was, biting her lower lip she furrowed her brows. They were not Haranu, she could mark that off of her list and she knew that the surrounding kingdoms of the forest were the Taiholain, the Niho-gazu and the Sohma. From what her Maman had told her the Taiholain wore dress robes that billowed around them and they were a tan skinned race with raven black hair so they were not Taiholain. The Niho-gazu were friendly people who were mostly farmers and they lived in a warmer climate, their clothes were light and airy, so she realised that they were not of Niho-gazu. They then must be of the Sohma, her Maman had told her that they were honourable, trustworthy people, but nothing more.
Her frown deepened and she scratched her head, blocking out the questions the people behind her were throwing her way. So they were Sohma, Scar had been from Sohma…there may be more men like him here. Suppressing a shiver of dread she spun quickly, her eyes taking in her surroundings with a new fever. The questions died as they watched her strange behaviour.
"How safe is this room?" she questioned them, she didn't care what they thought of her but she needed to make sure that if the Haranu found who had killed their leader, if they found where she was now, that they wouldn't be able to harm her or kill her while she slept. A young girl with blonde hair stepped forwards and curtsied to her, a shy smile on her face.
"The palace is quite secure, no one can harm you now." Blue eyes flickered to the shadowed area of the room where the silvery grey haired man still hid and she held back her comment.
"So I am in Sohma, how did I get here?" the girl smiled brightly.
"How did you know?"
"Process of elimination." she muttered, her eyes still scanning the room for weaknesses.
"Haru found you while he was hunting, he brought you back." Another girl had stepped forward, she had light brown hair and guarded eyes, her lips were in a thin line and she had a rather aggressive air about her that Tohru found fascinating.
"Who is that?" she asked, her mind only half paying attention to their words. The two tone haired young man raised his hand slightly, his posture straight and his hand on the hilt of his sword, a true warrior never lets his/her guard down.
"Take me to your father then." she said, hoping that this man would give her a proper account of what was going on as these people only seemed interested in asking her questions about herself. She felt a shift in the air at that, the group of finely dressed people became tense and the shadowed man tensed. Rolling her stiff shoulders she moved forward to press the people out of the room and to take her to this man.
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Tohru wished now that she hadn't asked them to take her, the man although was possibly a great ruler, had no tact about personal things. He told her matter of fact what had happened to her people, how after she had been brought to his palace he had sent off a contingent of soldiers to help her Clan but had found only the bodies of raped women.
He then told her of what he wished of her, not allowing her time to even grieve as he told her his plan to keep his daughters safe from the men of his kingdom. Tohru, an initiated woman of honour agreed to do as he asked, she had no one now, her people were dead because she had deserted them and what else could she do to try and repent of what she had done, of her cowardice.
She was in the gardens now, they had given her an hour to prepare herself for the testing they were going to give her, to see what level her skills were at. Tohru faced the blue, clear sky and allowed her eyes to tear up, but she would not cry, women did not cry. Her people would need a proper burial ritual as was her duty to carry out. She could not be there when they burned their bodies as the soldiers had already done that, but she could do the rest, even if she was not there in the place they had been killed and burned.
Piking a few flowers she went to the newly turned earth and lay down the flowers, each a different colour.
"Red for blood, Yellow for womanhood, Blue for safe journey, white for peace." She licked her lips, she had never done the ritual before, but she had witnessed it many times.
"You fought bravely, you died honourably, and I will avenge you my sisters, my family, for your deaths were so I could live." The words sounded hollow even to her own ears. "forgive me" she whispered, it was not a part of the ritual but she felt that she needed to say it, she knew that she could never expect them to forgive her for leaving them to die, but she knew that by asking, she was admitting to them she was sorry. Taking a flint she struck it and allowed the sparks to dance across the flowers of the four different colours.
Usually one of the women would start singing, it was tradition to sing until all the flowers were burnt, and it was always someone other then the person who had spoken the words of passing. As she was the only M`eunya present it was her duty to sing the passing song.
The flowers turned to ashes and the wind picked up, taking them away. Her eyes were watery but tears did not fall. Breathing in deeply she calmed her mind, sorting herself out as now was the time to show these men the strength of women. Turning her back on the charred earth she walked away, not noticing the piercing violet eyes that followed her.
~`'~
They had set up the training yards to test her and there were many people outside sitting or leaning on the fence to watch what was happening. Tohru watched them from beside the two young princesses that she was to protect, Kagura and Kisa. They were both holding a platter of fruit and water for her to take her fill as it had been a few days since she had eaten.
They told her that she had slept fitfully for three days, there had always been someone with her, mostly the doctor Hatori, their brother. He had given her small sips of water during those days to keep Tohru hydrated and she smiled softly at the young girls as they talked, they reminded her so much of the young girls in their Clan.
"Oh look, Yuki is here, he doesn't usually allow himself such frivolities." The two young girls giggled and pointed to the silvery grey haired man who had been in Tohru's rooms earlier that day. Tohru narrowed her eyes.
"Who is he?" The two princesses laughed.
"Our reclusive brother, he returned from the XiaoLon Monk temple only a few months ago. He trained there with them since he was three, he is the best swordsman in our Kingdom." They both sighed with affection.
"Why is he back if he is a monk?" Tohru asked, brow furrowed. They both giggled.
"Oh he was never a monk, our father made them train him, he has always favoured Yuki…but well since he is twenty three now, he must start looking for a bride. He hates the idea, he hasn't been near women all his life and now he's surrounded by them every day." They both laughed and Tohru smiled, she knew how he felt. "Anyway," Kagura said, trying to stop her laughing, "I don't think he will be finding a women too soon, he avoids them at all costs." Tohru nodded her head, storing that information away, there was something interesting at the thought of someone else having been trained to fight since they were young as she had been. Tohru continued to watch the silvery grey haired man for a few more seconds before she was interrupted by a red haired, red eyed young man with an easy grin.
"Hello Warrior Princess, I am Ryou…I will be testing you today." Tohru blinked at him and took a step back, they weren't serious were they? This boy was going to fight against her? She looked towards Kagura but found the girl swooning after this child. Not noticing the confusion on Tohru's face he touched her to lead her to the first test when he found himself on the ground, face towards the blue sky. There was laughing from the onlookers and turning to the side he found Tohru in a fighting stance glaring down at him.
"Never without my permission." She spat. Picking himself up from the ground he took his time in brushing the dirt from his soldiers uniform.
"We'll, I don't think we need to find out how good you are at hand to hand combat." He laughed before bowing at her, "Sorry, I didn't know you were the kind to be all touchy feely." Eyeing him in distaste she moved away from him, his touch had brought back memories of the night she had escaped from Scar and of what he was going to do to her. Shuddering she followed the laughing red haired youth to the archery targets.
"We will place you at two hundred feet away, we will have someone moving the target around, you will shoot and we will gauge your accuracy. Tohru sighed, this was child's play. Back in the Clan they had done this when they were ten years old and strong enough to pull the bow string back far enough to hit something other then our own foot.
The testing was all too simple for Tohru until it came to the weapon they called a sword. Her people had never used such a thing, they had used throwing knives and bone daggers, but never these long metal pointed sticks. She said as much and the red haired boy laughed again.
"Now we have found your weakness." Eyes flashing as she realised her mistake she attacked first crushing the boy to the ground and holding his own weapon at his throat.
"You intend to use it against me?" she asked, voice low and dangerous, she pressed the sword closer to his throat allowing a trickle of blood to go down the blade. "I may not know how to use it, but that does not mean that I cant." The boy below her smelt of fear and her eyes narrowed as she felt a familiar presence near her. Before she could react she was gently pulled from the red head and placed on her feet, the sword taken from her hand.
"I will teach you to use the weapon, we will not use your limitation against you." Tohru turned to see the silvery haired man standing before her, and she was startled to find that his voice made her feel a tingly warm feeling inside her stomach. She wasn't sure that she liked this feeling.
Tohru then became aware of the whispers that were gaining in volume and she looked around her as she realised they were talking about the offer Yuki had given. Tohru turned back to the man before her and bowed her head slightly, to learn from the kingdoms best was an honour.
"Hai, I accept." There was a slight tugging at his lips and she noticed with fascinating that this beautiful man was giving a half smile, and it looked stunning on him.
~`'~
She was walking in the gardens, it had been two days since she had accepted the offer of training from Yuki, the Monk prince and she was excited to start learning a new form of fighting. He had spoken of when they would begin which was at the end of the week, and she new that the reason for this was to allow her to get into a routine at the palace and to also allow her to talk more with her charges, to get to know them and their routine as well.
She liked the gardens, they reminded her of the forest, their peaceful green with splashes of colour, the sound of animals and birds. It was deserted of human presence as they only went to the gardens on special occasions, and she liked this, it suited her.
"Good afternoon." Tohru was startled from her walk by the soft baritone of Yuki, she cursed herself for not being more aware and she noticed the amusement in his eyes.
"Hai it is good." She allowed, he joined her on her walk along the path. They walked in silence until it was broken again by his silky voice.
"I love the gardens, I love plants, back at the monastery it was my job to be the gardener, to keep everything alive. They said that it would help me to be at peace and find balance when I used my martial arts." It was the most he had ever said to her and she enjoyed the fact that he was sharing something with her. There was something about his presence that calmed her, made her forget for a few moments that she was not a Haranu, that she was something other then a warrior who had left her people, he made her feel balanced.
"Do you garden now?" She asked, brushing her fingertips with the flower petals. He did his half smile again only this time it was wistful.
"Iie, father doesn't want me to get dirty." Tohru laughed at the absurdity of it.
"Then just change after you do your gardening." She joked, and she again felt lighter at being able to revert back to being a little playful as she had done with the children of her Clan. He shook his head and his smile remained.
"Are you ready for your training deshi?" Torhu made a face at the word, she had been a student all her life, only when she had become of age had she stopped being one. Now she was again a deshi. Sighing she nodded.
"Hai sensei." Yuki touched her arm softly at the joke and his smile touched his eyes that danced with amusement.
"I feel old now." He said softly. Tohru snorted and swatted his hand away.
"You are only twenty three as your sisters have told me, that is not so old." Tilting his head to the side Yuki pursed his lips.
"And how old are you that that is not old?" Tohru raised an eyebrow.
"I am Twenty, now I must go Sensei, it is time for lunch with the young princesses. Ja ne." she said and hurried away. Yuki watched her go before lifting his hand and sighing a soft
"Jamattene."
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Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket
Written by Uth`e
Phirien - Hiya all! I'm Uth'e's little sister. ^_^ this is only the second Fruits Basket fanfic I've read and I think it's pretty good so far. Yuki is so cool. I can't believe though that you left out the part where Yuki was supposed to catch the dagger Tohru threw back at him. That half smile he did would have looked pretty painful if I hadn't told you that you had missed the bit out. You should be more careful next time Uth'e.
Nethqua- Where's all the fighting?
Uth`e- I'm getting there, hold up!
Phirien- hmm…Yuki's a bit of a stalker isn't he?
Uth`e- well…he hasn't seen women for the last twenty years, he's fascinated by her, like she is by him…all the better for some lovin ehh?
Nethqua- PORN!!!!
Phirien- it is not porn if you read it, its called romance!
Uth`e- well I just call it the good stuff…mwhahahaha, you have to have some lovin when you read a fanfic,
Nethqua- I suppose, porn is just porn, no real getting to know the person.
Uth`e- and how do you know what porn is?
Nethqua- I must be going now
Phirien- HA! caught you out you porn watcher!!!
Uth`e- right…next chapter will be up soon!!!