It's nice to know that you all enjoy this bit of nonsense that sprouted from my brain in a moment of work avoiding weakness. Really, I should be doing so many other things. . . even writing on other fics, but instead I think I'll do this. ^___^ Food for the brain! Sorry if there are any inconsistencies, I was looking through trying to make it neat enough to post, but sometimes I forget things. . .
Disclaimer: (See first part)
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Part II
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"So then what happened to the boy?" Yahiko's wide eyes betrayed his unparalleled interest in the tale.
Sano stroked his chin. "The boy? Well, he became a powerful dark magician and scoured the land for the princess, but he couldn't find her. The fairies had been clever and they had hid too well. Each passing year made the sorcerer more and more enraged with his failure, and so long as the Western Spire is surrounded by a raging storm all know that Tomoe's curse goes unfulfilled." He quietly tucked his hand into one sleeve. "Some say that to gain more power the magician gave his hand to a devil, so instead he has a mechanical hand just like this. . . WAAAH!!"
"AUGH!" Yahiko jumped as Sano jetted out a hand from the sleeve and grabbed the boy's ankle.
"Uncle Sano! I can't believe you still tell that crazy story. It isn't exactly comforting." Kaoru shook a blanket, airing it on the porch next to the boys. "Yahiko, go home, I'm sure Tae needs help with weeding. The plants are coming up like crazy these days."
Sullenly, Yahiko picked himself up and wandered down the stone walkway that led to the dirt road he used to get home. Past the orchards was his house where he lived with his sister Tae and their grandfather. They grew a lot of varied produce, most of which they ate, but some of which they sold at the weekly market. His reluctance was substantial at first because Sano liked to tell amusing stories, but the scare he had just received from the older man made him a bit resentful.
As Yahiko wandered away with a wave back at Kaoru, she looked down to see her uncle with a rare contemplative frown on his face.
"When did you get more responsible than me, Jouchan?"
"When I was about five, you silly rooster head." She gave the blanket a few more vigorous shakes and then sat down on the porch herself. It was hot out, and the sweat on her brow did little to alleviate the oven that was her body. "When are the boys getting back?"
"Dunno. Jiro will take forever in deciding what to buy, and then Aoshi will probably brow beat the poor merchant until he lowers his price to some impossible amount. . . those two just don't know how to shop."
Kaoru laid down on the porch, letting a small breeze toss her bangs back. "If you hadn't broken that shovel. . ."
"Listen, how am I supposed to know where there are rocks? Seriously, it's tree planting, not something weird like spellcasting or something."
"You just have magic on the brain. You need to stop telling those stories. It puts impossible ideas into Yahiko's head. Fairies and dark magicians. No one believes that kind of stuff anymore. If you must then tell him something nice next time. I like the one about the big frog prince. . ."
Sano looked a little uncomfortable. "Aoshi was the one who told that story. . ."
"Oh yeah." She tried to act casual as she played with some hair, twining it about one finger. "You know, uncle, I turn eighteen next week. . ."
Sano practically sprang up from the porch. "I just remembered I left the pitchfork in the far corner of the grove. I'll be right back." Heat notwithstanding, Sano made quick time into the trees.
Kaoru wished that her uncles and cousin would be less mysterious about what they were planning for her birthday. Aoshi simply wouldn't say anything, and Sano (who was usually a soft touch when she really poured on the charm) was using a quick retreat tactic that meant she couldn't push for answers there. Jiro would just laugh and tell her to be patient. But it was ok, because every year her birthdays just got better and better.
Last year they had lit up the entire orchard with lamps in the trees and all of them plus Tae and Yahiko and neighbors for miles around played tag among the trees. Then they had eaten cake and pies with sweet cream until she thought she would never be able to walk again.
It was fun, but sometimes Kaoru wondered if she would be anything besides a kid to her relatives. Even Jiro saw her as a child just out of the crib. They had, as of late, gotten especially fond of reminiscing among themselves about the early days when they had just started taking care of her. Once her parents had died and the men had found themselves saddled with a baby girl, at first they didn't know what to do, but soon frantic confusion turned into confident routine.
Then she had learned to walk and it was incompetent terror all over again for the men. Or so they said. But since Aoshi didn't correct them, she assumed that at the very least it was hard at the beginning. Behind all the complaining, Aoshi had said once to her one night when she got particularly indignant about the stories, was a lot of love.
"We miss those days, because it seemed like we had all the time in the world. Now you are growing up so quickly and—" he just stopped talking and gave her a hug before walking off. After that she didn't mind the stories so much.
She didn't feel like she was growing up. Other than the chores and seeing her friend Tae about every day, not much really happened in her life. Every now and then Sano would start telling stories about some adventure he had, but if it got too raunchy then Aoshi or Jiro would stop him. Kaoru knew there was more out there and she wanted to experience it. Good or bad, she certainly was ready to leave this quiet little farming community. What she wanted for her eighteenth birthday, more than anything, was a trip to the city. Maybe even to move there. That's why none of them would talk to her about her birthday. Each one didn't want to be the one to tell her no.
Well, she was going to do it with or without their approval, but she'd rather try to get it before she just took off for the capital to the south west. Tae said she had been there once to visit a family member who owned a pub there. She said it was large and full of people and that even at night noise seemed to fill the world. For Kaoru, who was sick of the silence, it seemed like heaven.
The fact was she was a bit lonely for the kind of companionship she knew her family and friends couldn't provide.
Dammit, every girl she knew besides her already had a boyfriend. What made her so intimidating?
Other than three large, strong, overly protective male relatives who outstripped just about every man around in looks and brains?
Hm.
Well, only a man who could surpass her uncles would be worthy of her anyway. That's what she told herself when she was feeling strong and independent. Sometimes she wished that maybe her uncles and cousin would just turn a blind eye when a boy tried to talk to her. They didn't really try anymore. Most had gotten scared and then looked elsewhere.
The heat made her angry and sleepy. Maybe now was a good time for her to seek out the river. It would be cold and it was early enough in summer that it would still be deep enough to swim in a bit. So what if they didn't want her to go alone into the forest next to the orchards. Her relatives weren't here now and she was hot and irritated at them anyway.
A swim was exactly what she needed.
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"I thought you said you'd have something useful to tell me. This isn't news. Time runs short and I am not a patient man with those who waste my time." Enishi pushed his glasses further up onto his eyes. They blocked the hurtful rays of sun that his eyes had never fully adjusted to after growing up and living on a mountain of dark stormy days and even darker nights.
"Please, Your Excellency, King Goro is most difficult to extract information from and my son remains ignorant of my plans. He will thank me one day when he is on the throne. . ."
"Your intrigues bore me. What can you offer me besides the same old information, or should I take my aid to some other power hungry imbecile?"
The man quivered beneath the sorcerer's gaze. "I would never do anything to anger you, Your Excellency, you know I wish for the completion of your mission as much as my own."
"You are a worm, Himura. If your son Kenshin were not officially engaged to the princess then I would not have spared you a second glance. Goro knows what a threat you are to him, which is why he proposed the alliance." Enishi took a sip of the wine Lord Himura had offered and then began to rise from his chair.
"It's my son!" Himura finally bit out. Enishi turned with a look of renewed interest. "Goro told my son that if he wanted to meet his bride before the wedding, then she could be found in the eastern edges of the kingdom. Kenshin would tell me no more, said it would be 'untrustworthy' of him to betray the trust of the king." Himura took a gulp of wine. "Follow my son and you'll find what you desire."
Enishi saw a man who claimed to want to give his son everything, but who just sold his son's honor away for his own bid for the throne. This is why he didn't like people. Even the goblins and trolls under his command were more trustworthy. Possibly more likable as well.
"When I am successful, you will have the use of my armies for your war against Goro. And don't worry Himura, I won't harm your son so long as he doesn't get in my way. . ."
With a dramatic sweep of black cloak, Enishi vanished and finally Lord Himura felt like he could breathe again. The heat of summer seeped back into the room, replacing the natural cold the magician seemed to bring with him on each visit. Himura drained his cup and poured himself another glass of wine.
"Not get in the way? You obviously don't know Kenshin. . ."
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Yahiko was almost home when he came across a lost looking man on a horse wandering down the road. The man had a friendly face and shockingly red hair tied back with a leather strap. From his clothes he looked wealthy, or more wealthy than anyone around here. Yahiko felt a little shy, but soon got over it as the man got down off his horse and addressed the boy directly and politely.
"I'm afraid I seem to have lost my way. Could you tell me where a girl named Kaoru lives?"
Yahiko wondered if he should tell this man where she lived, but then remembered that at least Sano was there so maybe it would be all right.
"Buso? Well, she's just down until you get to the trees and take a right. Hard to miss. They're the last ones on the road. Just be careful, Sano and the rest don't like boys calling on her without any notice."
The violet eyed man just gave a friendly smile and thanked Yahiko, and even gave him a coin for his trouble. When Yahiko glanced down, he was shocked to find the glint of gold in his hand. Why, he and Tae couldn't grow enough vegetables to make this much in six months! Since when did Kaoru have such rich guys after her?
That wasn't to be the last of his shock for the day. He was maybe a yard or two from the pathway down to his house when another horseman came down the road faster than any runaway cart. Yahiko watched, stunned and curious, as the horseman halted suddenly in front of him.
If the first man had been intimidating, then this man was just frightening. On a black horse with red eyes, the he looked down on the boy from behind tinted glasses. His white hair shone in the light, and Yahiko swore he had never seen anyone wear that much black in the middle of summer.
"Are you stupid boy? I asked you if you saw a man with red hair pass by here? His tracks got muddled about three miles back." When Yahiko continued to stare, he ignored the boy and swore. "I can't lose him now! I've come too far. . ."
"D-d-down to the end of the lane, sir." Yahiko pointed as the horse pranced and snapped at the air with sharp teeth. Did all horses have red eyes? The boy couldn't remember that let alone his own name right now.
"Good boy. I knew you couldn't be as useless as the rest of these hicks." He threw down a coin, this one glinting silver in the light. Then in a cloud of dust the stranger was gone, and Yahiko threw off a sudden chill as he picked up the silver coin. It took him a moment to take in what had just happened, then, naturally, he ran in to tell his sister everything in a breathless stream of incoherent and excited babble.
Not too much later, down the road Kenshin couldn't understand what had gone wrong. This was the place, but there was no one in sight. Maybe he hadn't gone far enough. He left the house surrounded by orchards and went down the lane further, entering the woods and looking for another small path that promised to lead to a house. King Goro had been so reluctant, but seeing as it was so close to day of the wedding, he felt that perhaps it would be best after all to let the bridegroom actually meet his bride. So he gave the two most precious secrets of his kingdom to this young man who had proved himself loyal and honest so many times in the past: the name and location of the princess.
No one called her by name, it was said, lest you share her curse. That was just superstition, begun by the king who kept her name secret lest the sorcerer discover her location that way. Kenshin rolled the name around in his mind. Kaoru was a good name. Maybe marriage would not be so bad if he looked at it optimistically. He wasn't crazy about the idea, and he didn't particularly want to be king, but he had a feeling that that was part of why Goro agreed when his father sent in the proposal. Of course, his father had never asked him, but he was a dutiful son and he would abide by this course of action as if he had decided it for himself.
Hm. Looked like he was lost again. Maybe if he turned around. . .
"I don't have time for this. Just tell me where the princess is, and we all can end this as soon as possible." Enishi was fed up with Kenshin's slow indecision. There was less than a week left, and he would win at whatever cost. Following in silence was not something he really felt like doing anymore.
Kenshin drew his sword. "Who are you and why are you addressing me in such a way?"
"Why, simply a retainer of your father's. He was worried about you. . ."
"I don't believe you."
"Listen Himura, don't make this difficult for both of us." Enishi felt like he was so close, and the hunger in him was making him sloppy. "All I need is the location of the princess. Even if you don't give it to me, I will find her. But if you tell me then I won't be forced to kill you."
"You're the dark magician, aren't you?"
Enishi rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "Brilliant deduction. I can see why your father has such high hopes for you. Seems as if today the universe is proving to me that no intelligent life actually exists on this planet." He withdrew his own sword. "Very well then, shall we begin?"
Surprisingly, Kenshin struck first with an amazing speed and strength that Enishi would never have guessed he possessed. Vaguely he remembered that Kenshin was Goro's new watchdog, called the Manslayer by his enemies. That might have been good to recall earlier, especially now that he was knocked from his horse.
Kenshin too dismounted, wanting the battle to be even to give his quarry a chance. No one had ever been able to match him in fair combat. He was not overly confident; he simply wanted to be chivalrous. Enishi didn't miss this act and decided not to waste his breath taunting the man. Loosing his concentration, his spirit steed dissolved and now Enishi considered what magic could aid him. However, even that much hesitation cost him. The little Manslayer had slashed at Enishi's arm, but only because the magician had dodged the killing blow to his neck.
Damn this knight was fast. Magic would take too long, and that meant he had to rely on his sword.
When it was all over, Kenshin admired at how fast even this wounded and tired sorcerer was, but ultimately Kenshin was the better and more practiced swordsman and much better rested. Enishi fell, bleeding from a dozen places. No one could survive blood loss like that, and Kenshin didn't feel the need to administer any additional blows to a fallen foe. Besides, he had his own wounds to attend to, as well as a father to question. Despite Enishi's accusation, Kenshin was very bright and he knew better than anyone that his father was not the most honest of men. Kaoru would have to wait. He had a long ride back and he needed immediate medical attention. No one had hurt him this badly since he was still a knight in training, and it was almost sad that he had not been able to fight this man at his full strength.
There was a small town a score of miles back. He could make it by nightfall if he pushed the horse.
The dust from the horses' hooves settled down on the body of the slowly dying magician. His tight black clothes were stopping the blood from escaping too quickly from his body, but if no one came then he was doomed to die here on this road. And all because he was so greedy to avenge his sister that he couldn't keep his mouth shut and his head down for a few more hours.
"Tomoe," he screamed in his head. "I'm so sorry. . ." Someday he would fulfill her curse. Maybe then he could see her smile again.
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Kaoru felt cold now. She had stayed in the river for too long and her body was pale and shivering from its icy touch. That and the terrible feeling she had gotten from the echoing of something through the woods that had disturbed her while she dressed again. It sounded like when Uncle Aoshi pounded out the tin roof for the chicken coop into its proper shape. Maybe not just like, but that metal on metal sound was not one she experienced often.
No no. It was more like the time Uncle Sano and found cousin Jiro sleeping in the hay pile and woke him up by ringing a pot with her best ladle. It had almost been worth the ruined ladle to see the way Jiro sprang out of the hay like it was burning.
Hm. Then again perhaps it was more like. . .
A dead body in the road.
The first thing she did was check to make sure the body was actually dead. Satisfied that this unlucky traveler was still breathing, albeit shallowly, she then sprinted for the house. With seven minutes to get home, three to get Sano, and probably another seven back here then that meant that he would just have to keep breathing for about a half hour more at least.
She looked at the puddle of blood around his body and heard his strange murmuring.
Maybe she could cut the run to six minutes.
Her wet hair streamed behind her and her cheeks were glowing a bright apple red as she rounded the turn into the house yelling with what she had left in her lungs for Sano.
"Body! Road! Bandits! HELP!" Sano, who was ready for actions before questions, followed Kaoru as she took off in the direction she came from. He easily caught up with the already exhausted but still running girl, and she led him to the man she had found.
Amazingly, the man was still alive, and together they picked him up and moved him back to the house. The fact that he survived that trip as well shocked Sano, who had seen how much blood he had been lying in. If only he could use his magic. . . but that was impossible because then the magician, that bastard, would hone in on them faster than anything and his precious Kaoru would be in danger just as much as this poor sucker here.
Since when had there been bandits in the forest?
"Uncle! Go get some water, I'll go sterilize my sewing needle. Some of these look like they need stitches, and we don't have time to wait for the doctor." Sano knew sword wounds like this weren't often the way bandits handled things. A quick knock to the head or a stab to the throat, maybe, but not random cuts on the legs or abdomen. Who was this man and how had he just appeared out of nowhere?
But Sano had no more time for suspicion as Kaoru swallowed her nervousness and sewed together and bound the wounds with sheets she ripped from her bed. She wasn't planning on sleeping tonight anyway. Not while this man was still in danger. Except for his fine cloak, the rest of his clothing was ripped too much to be useful so she threw it outside in a pile as soon as she was satisfied with her patient's even breathing. Out of the intimidating clothing he simply looked very young and unlike the burly farm boys Kaoru had known. Maybe he was from the city. The thought set her heart racing in a way different from the danger the man was in. Guiltily, she shoved the curiosity back.
"I'll just throw out the shirt, but I think I may be able to save the pants. Watch him for me." Kaoru picked up the clothes, smelling blood on them and swallowing heavily.
After she exited, Sano stared at the boyish face and tried to place why someone with a shock of white hair would look so young. Something nagged at his memory.
"Sister. . ." the man called out in his sleep. "Tomoe. . ."
Oh crap.
Carefully, Sano approached the bed and opened up the boy's eye since he was fairly insensible at the moment anyway.
"Don't be what I think you are. . ." he looked into the iris and cringed. "Damn." It was just as he'd feared, and he knew Aoshi was going to give him an earful when he got home. Some stray Kaoru had saved. It was like saving a little dog and finding out it was really a plague bearing rat.
She came in to see Sano still leaning over the prone form of her patient. "How is he doing?" Kaoru sat down next to the bed and took the stranger's hand in her own, causing Sano to swallow heavily.
Trying hard to hide his disappointment at the statement, Sano answered. "I think he'll pull through thanks to you."
An hour later, Aoshi and Jiro came home, and all hell broke loose.
The bag of potatoes fell from Aoshi's nerveless fingers. Unlike Sano, he knew this man on sight. Jiro didn't take long to also realize the very man that had been hunting them actively for nearly two decades was now laying down in Kaoru's bed, with bloody bandages wrapped around him and a concerned Kaoru holding his hand and looking down fondly (fondly?!) at him.
"Jiro, go in and find out what happened from Kaoru. Sano, you and I are going to have a little chat outside about the proper way to treat houseguests. . . ."
Once they were a good distance into the orchard that buzzed with the summer night noises and was stirred by the occasional breeze, Aoshi whispered furtively in an angry tone.
"Tell me that he is on his death bed and you put him there."
"Well, actually, ummmmm. You see, Kaoru kind of found him half dead on the road and we sort of, er, saved him?" Sano tried to laugh as if it were really very amusing.
"And what part of him dying on the road like an animal was a bad thing?"
"Listen, are you going to say no to her? I'm not going to be the one to go and kill her precious patient in cold blood. What sort of explanation would we give her? You know she'd think I was just making up another story. Dark magicians? Curses? Right." Sano's voice rose in anger and Aoshi shushed him. "There are only six days left."
This gave Aoshi a moment of pause, but he continued on. "We cannot leave a threat like that in this house. I will kill him myself and you all can tell Kaoru whatever you want."
"Do you want to face her as a murderer?"
Aoshi fumed in place a moment. "I suppose he doesn't know, does he? Until we know more I suppose he can stay his sentence. But only for her sake. I don't want my Kaoru thinking me a butcher."
With a raised eyebrow, Sano smirked at his friend. "Your Kaoru?"
The solemn man briskly brushed past Sano and made his way into the house. It wouldn't due to tease him about it, for one thing they all felt that way about Kaoru and frankly it was going to be the most wrenching tear on his heart to give her back to her waiting parents. For another thing, Aoshi simply never rose to the bait.
The activity that he found upon reentering the house seemed normal and yet strained. Jiro and Aoshi were unpacking the supplies they had bought and soon each would go to sleep to recover after a busy a day. Sano too had actually done a fair amount and would like the chance to sleep, but with their mortal enemy in the house he wasn't sure if any of them would actually manage more than an hour of restless tossing. Kaoru wouldn't stand for them waiting with her; she'd just worry that much more about them as well as about that worthless sorcerer whose hand she petted with concern at that very moment. That might even lead to questions, but they again didn't want to give her any answers.
Kaoru, aloof from the tense emotions of her uncles and cousin, was lost in contemplating this new man who had appeared in her life. She heard the noises of the house being shut down for the night, and after each man bid her good night in turn she was soon left alone with her patient.
There was no reason to worry about fever because his body was cold as ice. She would have thought him dead except that he still breathed and that tended to indicate the process of life was continuing. The prospect of watching him breathe all night was not an exciting one, so instead she searched through his things which she had so casually hung up outside. She told herself it was for signs of who he might be when honestly she just wanted to search through his things in general.
In addition to a dagger with a shine of some oily fluid on it she saw small vials of various sizes and colors and a small mirror. Nothing else. No food? He even had some money in a pouch on his belt, which was confusing as she assumed he was attacked by bandits. Belatedly she remembered a sword, but she could get one of her uncles to pick that up tomorrow if it was still there.
Her gaze wandered back over to his face. He really was quite handsome.
That was a bad direction for her thoughts to go. A man like this probably had a wife or a lady waiting for him somewhere just like every other man his age seemed to. But it was nice to just let herself wonder what it might be like if someone as pleasing to look at as he was actually gave her the time of day, and could stand up to her formidable uncles. However, she saw these passing fancies for the dreams they were.
"Sister. . ." his mumbles touched something in her heart. He was pleading for the hand of one that he wouldn't find here. Then he started to shiver.
How was he so very cold? He had on every spare blanket in the house. The only other option would be just to. . .
She wouldn't have even considered that if he were not so attractive.
Then again, she wanted to, and he needed it, and what could it hurt? She was keeping all her clothes on after all. It only took a moment to situate herself by his side and wrap her arm over a strip of undamaged skin. His body was like a heat sink, keeping her from sweating beneath all the covers on them, but slowly he seemed to normalize to a better body temperature and she was grateful. It had been an emotional day, and it was so nice to just fall asleep next to someone. This reminded her of those nights when she crawled in with Uncle Aoshi during all those years of terrible nightmares when she was just a small child. . . where shattering windows and long corridors filled with doors haunted her mind's eye.
But there was something different about sleeping next to this man. Rather than examine it, she allowed his steady breathing to lull her to a sound slumber.
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Enishi woke, wondering where he was because it certainly wasn't hell. The soft form beside him almost seemed to him to be Tomoe and his heart leapt only to be crushed down as he saw the face was too young to be his beloved sister.
Her hair was too glossy, with a blue tint to it, and her lips were not a pale purple but a blush of coral. The hint of color in her face gave away her increased temperature and made her seem healthier than Tomoe ever had been, but they both had a delicacy about them.
More importantly, to Enishi's groggy mind, he noticed how he felt like his skin was on fire everywhere she touched him. Tomoe had been like a winter night, but this girl felt to him like a summer day, bursting with youth and love and beauty. He wanted to crush it as much as he craved to possess it. It was a strange sensation to be assaulted with so suddenly. He had no defense against it. The only things he had craved before were a rare spell book or an unusual item of the arcane or profane.
He had never wanted anything quite as much as he wanted this girl, and here she was in his arms. Once he lifted his arm, jets of pain shot through his recently sewn wounds and he felt blood well from his bicep. Magic would heal this in time, but he could let it wait until tomorrow. Enishi could acquire this exotic little creature once he had taken care of his other mission.
If he had been familiar with the concept he might have said that it was love at first sight, but for Enishi the concept of love was not this benign; pleasure always came with a catch.
Once he was less groggy he would be able to think things out more thoroughly.
First, he had to sleep.
