I'm so so so so so so so so sorry. You wouldn't believe how terrible I feel about this incredibly, ridiculously late update. But … uh … I had horrible writer's block, or just writer's lack of work ethic. I'm sorry. I'm hoping to fix this, too – an important author note at the end of this chapter! Please do read it; it's actually important.
This chapter dedicated to Chatay-samafor awesomely offering to depict some stuff from TMS, and continuing to ask for more of this fic. Her drawing is beautiful, but alas her webpage isn't opening until sometime in the summer, I think. But, I'll put the URL in here for sure when it does!
Um. Alas. The previous chapter suffered a lack of reviews, for which I do not blame anyone except myself … TTTT anyway … Chapter Five was what I would like to call a 'transitory' chapter, because it let the story flow from an introduction of place, people, time, and hints of plot into this, which is, TADA, the plot. Well, a subplot, but closer to the plot than before. Yes. Um. Go read.
Alas for the lack of reviewing.
But regarde! The chapter opens with Kouji instead of Takuya, for once. GO READ! (then REVIEW!)
tms
Chapter Sixtms
"My Lord." Kouji turned tiredly to Yamato, resisting the urge to stab something and run screaming into the water.
"What is it now, Yamato?" He sighed.
"Apologies for bothering you," Yamato said, looking anything but apologetic. "But Astarian officials would like to know who will be taking your place during your absence."
Kouji groaned. "Are they all a bunch of fools?"
"Yes." Ruki said shortly from the door before vanishing, presumably to terrorize the younger recruits to the Guard or buy some sort of nourishment. Kouji's stomach growled pathetically and he envied her for a moment, the wafting scent of bread from the door reminding him of the fact that he had yet to eat breakfast, let alone lunch.
"Do you have a message for them?" Yamato pressed.
"Yes," Kouji growled. "Read the instructions I left. Every word. If they are incapable of reading, find my scribe and he will do it for them."
Yamato grinned, one of the few instances of recklessness from the young commander. "Yes, my Lord," He said cheerfully, and left, no doubt to deliver the insulting message with gusto.
Kouji looked after the retreating form, wondered idly if he should call him back and send something more civil, and decided that the damned Officers of the City could do very well with a reprimand. Always slacking and never remembering their place, or those of anyone else. Sending a Lieutenant to deliver a mere question … really. Uncouth fools.
Even that Half-Elf, Takuya, was a little better.
Kouji forced his mind back to work. For the fifth or sixth time in the past two hours.
'Lady, that Half-blood is annoying. And I still can't believe I lost that bet … if that news makes its way around the Guard I'll have no esteem from my soldiers at all. I guess I'll have to talk to him about being in public. Don't they teach courtesy in Cadnum?'
The boat rocked compromisingly and Kouji was forced to grab his desk to avoid falling. "Damn." He swore, righting himself and the numerous delicate objects in the room. "What in Her'lin was that?"
A random sailor poked his head into the cabin. "Sorry, m'lord!" He called. "Big load coming on board!"
Kouji grumbled. "Why do we need such a big load? Yamato had better know what he's doing – what?" This last was snapped at the unfortunate Joe, who had appeared in the room.
"Sorry, my Lord," He said apologetically, readjusting his glasses over his dark eyes. "Um. We need to know if you approved the final decision on the new resolutions on refugees from Kynia?"
Kouji groaned. "Yes, yes, give the paper to me and I'll sign it," He muttered. "Incompetents."
"Sorry, my Lord," Said Joe again.
"Not you, Joe." Kouji said. "Them. The Council."
"Er. Yes."
Kouji signed it: an extravagant flourish of his name and a stamp from the seal he had taken to carrying in his sleeve, since he used it almost every day, wherever he went.
"I'll, uh, bring this to the Council then." Joe suggested, and Kouji nodded and waved him off, rubbing his temples once the secretary was out of the room. He was tired, annoyed, bothered, and to top it off he hadn't eaten since last night and there was still that stupid rumour from Lornin to worry about. What he needed, Kouji thought, was to get away and hide somewhere people couldn't find him, and to hell with the Council not being manageable without him.
At this juncture, Ruki returned, munching sedately on – well, it certainly looked like roasted meat skewered on a stick, but Kouji had had Ruki in his employ long enough to know that Kynian Elves, especially those from Suraci, had rather different tastes, and it was best not to ask what went into their food and simply eat it. At least it tasted good, most of the time. His bodyguard swallowed and tossed back a few strands of coppery hair.
"Your head cook sent me," She said finally. "He said to ask you if he ought to lock up the estate for the week or if he's allowed to move his family into the place and live off your stuff until you return."
Kouji almost cracked a smile. "Tell him to get his fat rear off my land and to stop sending high-ranking Elves on courier jobs."
"Sure," Said Ruki, popping the rest of whatever she was eating into her mouth. "I'll make sure to let him know that only the Elf Lord can do that."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, whatever." She said. "Oh, as a side note, if you need to get away, the roof of boats is always good."
Kouji blinked.
'The roof of boats?'
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Takuya peered out into the passageway.
'Empty, good.' He thought as he manoeuvred himself down the hall and up the steps to where the window of the highest cabin glinted in the daylight. The upper decks of the huge boat were still more or less deserted, save a few sailors and the captain occasionally checking to make sure everything was in place.
'Izumi'll never think to find me here,' He thought triumphantly. 'And she's busy now with Guard stuff, so I'll finally get time to stop and think. And possibly sleep. Yeah, sleep sounds good …'
Carefully and as quietly as he could manage, he hauled himself up onto the very roof of the boat, a flat, white, rectangular section across which he could just lie down comfortably. "Mission accomplished," He said out loud, looking as satisfied as a cream-sated cat.
Flopping onto his back, he laid still, limbs akimbo. The sky was almost disturbingly blue, with only the whitest and fluffiest of clouds floating around the merrily shining sun. Every once in a while a bird would fly over, and Takuya started to amuse himself by seeing how many he could name by the shape of their wings and wingspan.
"Hawk, vulture, I don't know, I have no idea, really big bird, really small bird, swallow, sparrow, geese, I don't know, I don't know …"
He was about ready to doze off to the tune of his own repeated "I don't know" when a scrabbling sound at his feet drew him back to alertness. Sitting up and looking warily at the section of the edge where one could climb up using the window, he shifted his feet back slightly, partly to accommodate the climber and partly to not alert the other to his presence.
He was surprised, if not shocked, to see a familiar dark head rise up over the edge, dark blue eyes narrowed in concentration as the Elf Lord swung his lissom body over the edge of the roof and froze, staring at Takuya. Takuya stared at Kouji, who stared back. The Elf Lord's muscles were taut along his arms and legs, the slender figure crouching tensely as if ready to spring.
Takuya gulped, and managed, "Kouji."
Kouji said, "Takuya."
Takuya realized that the conversation was not off to a promising start.
They stared at each other some more, and then suddenly Kouji relaxed.
"It's just you," He said. Takuya was bemused.
"'Just' me?" He asked. "What, I'm not important enough to worry you?"
"No." The Elf Lord said shortly, and settled cross-legged onto the roof. His cloak billowed slightly with the breeze and settled around him, making him look even thinner than usual.
"Well, thank you." Takuya said dryly. "Much obliged."
Kouji made a sound that might have been a laugh but cut off abruptly halfway through. "Down!" He hissed, grabbing Takuya's arm and yanking him into a prostrate position.
"What in -" Takuya began, indignantly, but was cut off by a pale hand over his mouth.
"People are coming this way." Kouji's voice said, somewhere in the region of his ear. "Shut up and don't move."
Takuya froze as finally he, too, heard the voices and accompanying footsteps coming in his direction. As they became louder, he suddenly realized that the edge of his cloak was hanging just over the side of the boat, tanned material clearly visible against the white of the roof. 'Shit,' He thought, reaching for it. It was just out of his reach, and his slight bending over only served to dislodge its folds so even more fell over the side.
Kouji hissed in his ear, "What are you doing?"
"My cloak!" Takuya snapped back. "It's hanging over the edge and they can see it!"
"Der'nath," Kouji swore. "Where?"
Takuya pointed and felt the Elf Lord's head rise behind him, looking for the triangle of cloth that was so complicating things.
"I can see it," He heard the Elf say.
"What are you - " Takuya began, but was again shushed by the hand over his mouth.
"Don't move." Kouji commanded, and slowly reached over Takuya and for the cloth. His hands brushed the edge once, twice, twitching a few more folds over the edge. The voices came closer and Takuya held his breath until finally Kouji managed to grab the cloth and haul it back up. Kouji brought the cloak, fisted tightly in his hands, to Takuya's chest and said, "Hold it this time."
Takuya was about to retaliate when suddenly a brassy male voice erupted just below them, startling him into compliance.
"Where is the young Elf Lord?" Takuya felt rather than heard Kouji's breath of irritation at the adjective.
"I'm not sure, Councillor," A familiar voice replied. Takuya frowned. Who was it?
"He was supposed to be here!" The same male voice said, clearly annoyed.
"Yes, and he was mere moments ago," The other's voice said blandly. Takuya placed it suddenly – Kouji's bodyguard, Ruki. Who apparently had no idea that her liege was hiding on the roof of a boat.
"What shall we do about the act, then?" Another voice, higher and slightly nasal. A miniature commotion ensued – in all, Takuya counted perhaps four, five Councillors milling about the top level of Kouji's boat.
"Sign it, I imagine." Lieutenant Yamato's voice cut neatly through the voices. "After all, the Elf Lord did agree upon the revised clauses already."
"But without his express permission we cannot continue!" Murmurs of assent followed this statement, as did a quiet groan of annoyance against Takuya's neck. With abrupt realization, Takuya noticed that the roof was really only barely large enough to hold the both of them, and as a result Kouji was practically pressed up against Takuya. Not to mention one hand was still around the Half-Elf's arm, evidently not trusting him to hold his own cloak. And Kouji was definitely breathing on Takuya's neck.
Takuya managed only by a huge feat of self-control not to blush and run madly off the roof.
'Just hiding together, just hiding, not curled up together in a small space on a roof where no one but birds can see us, just hiding, even though it looks like that it's just hiding … Yeah, hiding … If you keep thinking that, Takuya, you just might start to believe it …'
"Well, we certainly won't find him on the roof." Ruki's voice again, crisp and just short of rude. "Shall we go below decks and try again?"
The footsteps retreated, and Takuya was about to breathe a sigh of relief when a voice spoke from by the roof again – Yamato's.
"Close call, my Lord." Takuya blinked, absorbing this. So, the Lieutenant of the Elf Guard had known they were here. Well, of course. The Elf was supposed to be trained in every form of combat from kickboxing to spear casting, surely it would be hard to miss their panicked movements from earlier.
"Thank you, Yamato." Kouji said from behind him, voice resonant and ticklish against Takuya's sensitive ears. The Lieutenant sighed.
"We know you deserve a break, my Lord," He said, sounding somewhere between exasperated and amused. "But remember that Ruki and I are not covering for your fancy High Elf ass next time."
With that, he too strode away, brisk footsteps fading away. After a long moment of anticipation, Kouji released the Half-Elf and sat up, laughing. Takuya propped himself up on his elbows, looking in wonder and confusion at the chortling Elf Lord until the absurdity of the situation finally sank in. And suddenly he, Takuya, a minstrel that hadn't known his own species until a mere week ago, and Kouji, an Elf Lord that could probably trace his bloodline back fifteen generations, were laughing raucously on the roof of a boat because they had barely escaped being caught by a group of Councillors that were obviously completely lost without their leader.
It was all terribly bizarre, and Takuya loved it because they were laughing. Together.
'Weird,' He thought fervently, 'But definitely fun.'
"So," Kouji managed after several minutes of hilarity. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"
"I was – making a strategic retreat from certain personages that happened to be pestering me until I thought I would go mad." Takuya replied, straight-faced. Kouji's mouth quirked again.
"Indeed." He said. "What a coincidence. I happen to be here for much the same reason."
"How unusual," Takuya said, maintaining the mock formality. "How do you like this lovely upper level vantage point then, my Lord? It is the highest platform of this fine structure, and nearly inaccessible by those that are incapable of delicate balance and the skills required to step upon a windowsill."
"It is very lovely,' Kouji said. "I am well-repaid for my efforts in accessing this point."
"Indeed," Said Takuya, running out of grandiose phrases to use and falling back on repeating Kouji's words. The Elf Lord lay down again, folding his hands behind his head. A sigh of contentment emanated from his lips before he spoke again, a faint pleased smile echoing around his expression.
"It is nice to be up here, though." He said contemplatively. "It's not every day I get to stop and admire this land we live in."
"Yeah." Takuya agreed, lying down beside the Elf Lord and staring at the clouds. A solitary bird circled above them, long neck straight despite being buffeted by the high-altitude winds.
"A cormorant," Kouji said in a tone suggesting surprise.
"A what?" Takuya asked blankly.
"A cormorant," Kouji explained. "They're fishing birds. They're actually used very commonly among the fishermen in Hun'rye, but they don't usually come to the eastern borders. The waters here in Kananth and Sarin are far too cold to accommodate the birds."
"So it's a messenger bird," Takuya joked.
"Actually, it might be." Kouji said seriously. "Some cultures have historically used cormorants to carry messages because of the fact that they can follow waterways with uncanny accuracy. Some rulers have actually been known to use cormorants as spies."
"Spies? How?" Takuya asked, genuinely confused. Kouji went on to explain in detail the birds and how their ability to carry all manner of things enabled them to be used as 'second eyes' for commanders, which led to Takuya's query as to whether the Elf Lord himself had actually used cormorants for spying purposes. Kouji laughed.
"No," Kouji said. "I use Humans or Elves as spies. I have no skill with animals."
"But you're an Elf!" Takuya said in some surprise.
"That's just a generalization." Kouji said dryly. "Elves have some rapport with nature in general because we have something that binds us to it and usually are on reasonably good terms with wildlife, but animals just don't like me for some reason."
"Maybe you're just dislikeable." Takuya joked, but Kouji's expression looked pained for a second and Takuya immediately regretted it. "I was joking. Look, the bird's leaving."
"Yes." The Elf said softly, making no effort to continue the discussion. They lay in an awkward silence for a few minutes, during which Takuya fidgeted with all the loose bits of clothing he had, which encompassed quite a number of things. Finally, in an attempt to make conversation, he turned to the time-honoured topic: weather.
"The sky's really blue, isn't it?" Surprisingly, Kouji responded.
"It is." Encouraged, Takuya continued with the first thing that came to mind.
"That cloud over there looks like an elephant," He said, pointing. It wasn't until the words left his mouth that he realized how entirely stupid he sounded and clamped his mouth shut. 'Clouds! I'm so incredibly stupid!'
"I think it looks more like a camel."
Takuya gaped.
"Doesn't it?" Kouji turned to him seriously. "See, the legs are too thin for it to be an elephant."
"But the face is way too long to be a camel."
"It has two humps!"
"And a trunk!"
They stared at each other for several seconds, and then Kouji smirked. "It's a camelphant."
"And that one's a turtledog," Takuya pointed. Kouji's elegant finger indicated another.
"A dograbbit."
They continued in this vein for quite some time, until the sun had inched across three-quarters of the sky and the warmth of the day had begun to retreat. Takuya sighed blissfully, wrapping his errant cloak about himself for warmth. And then, entirely unexpectedly, Kouji's stomach growled.
"Sorry." The Elf said hastily, and if it hadn't been for the dimming light Takuya would have sworn the Elf Lord was blushing. "I haven't eaten in a while."
"Actually, neither have I," Takuya said. "I skipped lunch because I was afraid of meeting Izumi in the kitchens."
Kouji laughed. "I haven't eaten at all today, because I simply haven't had time to stop."
Takuya blinked. "Aren't you hungry?"
As if on cue, Kouji's stomach growled again. "That would be what that noise is about, Takuya," Kouji replied dryly. Takuya contemplated this tidbit of information for a moment, and suddenly his face broke out into a wide grin.
'So finally I can put these skills to use!' He cheered mentally. Out loud, he asked, "What do you want to eat?"
Kouji sounded confused, but answered anyway. "Actually, I smelled bread this afternoon when I was down in my cabin. Fresh bread. I haven't had that in a terribly long time, and for some reason that's the first thing I can think of. Why? What are you doing? Hey! Someone will see you!"
Takuya, evidently paying no attention whatsoever, was climbing down the window onto the deck below. "One order of fresh bread, coming right up!" He said cheerfully, giving a slight jump and vanishing over the edge. Kouji shot up in alarm, leaning over the side of the wall and breathing only when he realized that Takuya had landed safely on the deck and not over the side of the boat.
"What are you trying to do?" He demanded angrily, his annoyance at his own worry making the words rather harsher than intended. Sadly, Takuya was unfazed.
"You'll see!" were his last words as he ran down the stairs.
"No, you idiot! We're about to leave! Come back!" Kouji called down, to no avail. He was about to raise his voice again when he realized that anyone could hear him, and pulled his head back over the edge, fuming quietly.
'What is that fool trying to do?' He groused mentally. 'He could get caught, stealing food from the kitchens when it isn't mealtime. Or if he's buying something, he could miss the boat and get stranded in Astaria! What would he do then? What would I do then? Suffer Kulodis' wrath when they realize I neglected to bring the Firestarter to them? What is he doing, anyway? If the cooks catch him they'll probably beat him within an inch of his life …'
The boat began to rock ominously, signifying the clumsy untying of knots and shove-off by the sailors. Astarian sailors were known for their ineptness anywhere near land, and similarly for their skill with all things involving currents and navigation of the countless winding and crossing waterways that formed what was collectively known as the Ryoun Rivers. The cormorant returned, circling lazily before flying off again, and the sun sank into redness.
Kouji had just begun to contemplate going after the intrepid Half-Elf when a step under the ledge startled him into alertness. Sitting up, he tensed, ready to disembowel the mystery person if he should try and access the roof, when suddenly a long brown bag flew up and landed squarely in front of him, followed by a pair of hands and finally a grinning face sparkling with excitement.
"Takuya!" Kouji hissed.
"Hey, Kouji, give me a hand." Takuya said. "I can't quite see the bar in this light."
Kouji rolled his eyes and grabbed the minstrel's hands, getting only a moment to note the lute-string calluses before Takuya hauled himself onto the roof and pulled his hands back.
"Thanks," Takuya said awkwardly, blushing.
"My pleasure," Kouji said just as uneasily. A silence followed, then Kouji broke it with, "So, what did you run off so happily to get?"
"Oh!" Takuya's face lit up. "Right, you said you wanted bread, right?"
"Possibly," Kouji said warily. "Why? You didn't – you did, didn't you?"
"And I got bread!" Takuya affirmed, pulling out from the bag a long golden loaf, still steaming and obviously fresh from the ovens.
"Takuya!" Kouji hissed. "The cooks'll kill you if they find out you stole from them!"
Takuya shrugged innocently and tore off a piece of hot fluffy bread, offering it to Kouji. "They won't if they don't know."
"I could tell them," Kouji pointed out, even as he reached hungrily for the piece, body warming at the mere sight of nourishment.
"But you won't, right?" Takuya asked. "Will you?" He added, suddenly uncertain.
"Of course not." Kouji said shortly around an undignified mouthful of food. "Now get to tearing that thing apart, Half-Elf."
Takuya smirked and complied.
"So," Takuya said after a while. "Do you have any clue what the Elf Mountain wants us for?"
"No." Kouji said shortly. "Kulodis does things for reasons usually only the highest up on the chain know, and I'm about one step below the lowest of the highest."
Takuya deciphered this to mean, 'I have no idea.'
"I thought the Elf Lords of the capital cities were relatively important on the Elf Mountains, since they're pretty much the first line of communication between Elves and Humans." Takuya said curiously. "And I hear that the Astarian Elf bloodline is pretty pure."
"One of the purest." Kouji said dismissively. "I can probably trace my lineage back thirteen or so generations, and those are Elven generations."
"Pure bloodlines simply mean a lot of inbreeding." Takuya pointed out.
"It's different with Elves." Kouji said.
"Oh." Said Takuya.
"But not much. What about you?" Kouji asked. "How much of your heritage do you know about?"
"Nothing." Takuya said. "I was adopted, remember?"
"Oh. Right." Kouji frowned and popped the last piece of bread into his mouth. After some contemplative chewing, he commenced speaking again. "You know, you are quite the Firestarter, Takuya. That little blaze back in the forest could have done some serious damage if it hadn't been contained. The trouble is that I don't have any of your bloodline to try and pinpoint where it's focusing from and how to control and direct it, and if you're from Sutasi it's likely we'll never find the records … "
Takuya blinked. Firestarter. 'Right, I was going to ask about that …'
"What is a Firestarter?"
Kouji stared at him. "No one's told you what a Firestarter is?"
Takuya flushed for some reason. "Izumi tried, when we were still coming to Astaria, but I fell asleep."
"Hmph." Kouji said, sounding amused. "Academic lectures not for you, minstrel?"
"Well, my profession lies in the arts." Takuya said defensively, and Kouji laughed before explaining.
"A true Firestarter is a very rare commodity. The gift of fire is not that rare in itself, but only rarely do we ever hear of Firestarters capable of true firestorms – like yours back there. Because the ability to summon fire grows as the Firestarter himself grows, usually the gift isn't even manifest until at earliest seventeen or eighteen, but yours is incredibly strong already at sixteen."
"So I'm a super-power." Takuya said smugly.
"Well, a raw one at best." Kouji said, and Takuya could hear the smirk in his voice. "I mean, if you don't get training, all it'll ever be good for is life-or-death situations, like the one you faced in the attack. If you just go back home to Centris without doing anything for your talent, it'll eventually just die out altogether."
"Oh," Takuya said, sounding slightly more subdued.
"I imagine that that is probably the closest reason to why Kulodis summoned us." Kouji said. "Or you, anyway – I still don't know what I've been called for. Even if you are a Firestarter, that doesn't mean you need me as part of your entourage."
"Hmm," Takuya said, staring up at the night sky. The stars were twinkling into being, and the sounds of the boat below – some of which sounded suspiciously like "Where's the Elf Lord!" – contributed to a dreamy mood.
Kouji relaxed beside him. Takuya lifted an arm to point out a group of four stars arranged in a cross. "Those are the Northern Radiants," He said. "See? The brightest star points east, the bluish one points north, and the reddish one points south. The dimmest one – the one that looks obscured by something – that one points west."
"Really?" Kouji said, sounding surprised. After a moment, he said, "You're right."
"Of course." Takuya said. "Haven't you ever heard of the legend of the Four Gods of the Sky?"
"No." Kouji said. "When I studied that group of stars, I learned that the white one was going to last the longest, the blue one the next longest, the red one was already dying, and the dim one is practically dead. All scientific explanations and such."
"Oh." Takuya said. "I should tell you the story of the Four Gods sometime. It's actually common folklore."
"I didn't hear much 'common folklore' as a child," Kouji said dryly. "Not everyone's a minstrel."
"Oh. Yeah."
"But do tell me," Kouji said, a smile sounding in his voice. "Sometime, when we're stuck somewhere and we've gotten tired of insulting each other?"
"Okay." Takuya said, grinning widely.
A long silence followed, during which Kouji was so silent and his breathing so soft that Takuya fooled himself into believing the Elf Lord was asleep. Just as he was about to lean over and check, Kouji spoke.
"Did you ever dream about the stars as a child?" He asked softly.
Takuya blinked, surprised by the choice of subject matter. "Well, yeah." He said matter-of-factly. "Doesn't everyone?"
"Hmm, no." Kouji said, sounding slightly muffled. It was only when Takuya looked over that he realized it was because the Elf had drawn his cloak over his throat and face to keep out the night wind. "Tell me about yours."
Takuya blinked again, embarrassed this time. "Um. They're hardly spectacular."
"It doesn't matter," Kouji said.
"Um, well …" Takuya racked his brain for memories. "I remember, one time, I had this really weird dream. It was one of those weird dreams where you know you're dreaming but you believe it anyway. I think I was walking along this forest road, when suddenly a person in a cloak showed up in front of me and told me to follow him. I thought, well, it's a dream, why not? So I did, and he led me along to this pond. He told me to look in, and I did, and I saw all this fire in the water, and I think I said, 'The pond's burning up!'"
Kouji laughed. "Burning water, Takuya?"
"Yes, burning water. I'm telling the story, so shut up."
"Of course, my apologies."
"Anyway, I was staring at this burning water when the guy behind me went, 'that's you'. I stared at him and of course thought he was crazy, but he said 'go on, touch it' so I did. It was so hot I thought I was melting, and I think I was screaming in agony, and suddenly the guy from behind me said, 'this is you' and I said 'I don't want to be this'."
"What a charming story, Takuya. Are you sure this wasn't a nightmare?"
"Well, it wasn't because of what happened next. Stop interrupting me! So anyway, I said that I didn't want to be that, and the guy behind me started laughing."
"Oh, dear."
"Kouji, I'm going to hurt you if you keep talking."
"I'm so afraid."
"Do you want to hear the story or not?"
"Yes, of course, keep going."
"Anyway, the guy said, 'find light' and I was like, 'are you insane?' But all he said was 'find light', so I figured that that was what I should do. At this point I suddenly saw this little pinpoint of light, like a star, and for some reason I thought that I had to grab it, so I did."
"And?"
"And all the fire melted away so that even thought I was in the middle of all these flames, I wasn't burning at all. Actually, I felt calm and cool, kind of tranquil – like a lake of water. I remember watching my dream-self holding the hand of this figure of light, and going, 'turn around, you idiot!' But my dream-self wouldn't turn around, and I never saw the face of that light person. We were standing there for what seemed like eons, and the flames burned into blackness and we were surround by stars everywhere, and all I saw was the finger of the light person pointing this one way, west."
"Hmm."
"Then I woke up."
"Sounds positively prophetic.'
"I don't know, maybe it is. This is one of my hopes – in my travels, I'll find the person most like that light person, and I'll hold onto them and never, ever let go."
"Very romantic," Kouji laughed.
Takuya blushed madly. "So what?" He asked defensively. "What about you? Surely your dreams weren't much clearer?"
Kouji froze. Takuya blinked, concerned.
"Hey, what is it?" He asked. "Was it something I said?"
Kouji shook his head until he realized Takuya couldn't see it in the darkness. "No. It's nothing."
Despite the fact that his worry was not in the least assuaged, Takuya shrugged it off, persisting in his question: "Well, what was it?"
Kouji was silent for a long while, then spoke, the brief, clipped syllables sounding much more like the usual, commanding Lord Kouji than the laughing Kouji of moments earlier.
"The last time I dreamed about stars was when my family was in Sutasi for a Council meeting. I dreamt that the stars from the Western Sky came down and burnt the city to a cinder, and that one star grabbed my mother and engulfed her in flames. The next day was the Sack of Sutasi." Kouji said shortly.
"Oh." Takuya said, mortified. "I'm sorry."
"It's nothing," The Elf Lord said. A moment later, he spoke again. "I'm going to go down and do my duties for the night."
"What?" Takuya said, startled.
"I take my leave," Kouji said coldly, and left.
tms
Takuya was bored. Very, very bored. Since the little incident on the roof of the boat, he had barely seen Kouji, and as a result his only source of amusement or distraction had been conversation with Izumi. And Izumi, even, was increasingly occupied with Guard duties, and had more than once brushed him off with a semi-apologetic, mostly annoyed, "I'm busy, Takuya."
"It's been almost a week," He groaned, rolling over in his bed. The boat gave a slightly disconcerting rock, but Takuya had long grown used to it. He reached out and deftly caught a glass before it hit the floor, and with the other hand held steady a delicate lute he had been fiddling with moments earlier.
"Argh." He said coherently.
"Indeed," Said an unexpected voice from the door of his room, and Takuya's head snapped up to see the Elf Lord, looking slightly disconcerted, standing in the doorway – or, more accurately, holding onto the edge of the doorframe as though he had very nearly fallen over. Which, considering the movement of the boat, he likely had.
"Kouji!" Takuya said, uncertain as to whether to be pleasantly surprised or vaguely irritated at the intrusion.
"Takuya," Kouji nodded, letting go of the doorframe only when it was certain the boat had stopped moving and stepping gingerly over to where Takuya lay, still clutching the lute and glass. "I take it you have amused yourself over the past week?"
"Hardly." Takuya groused, setting the items back into their proper places and sitting up to get a better look at the Elf Lord. No, his eyes weren't deceiving him – Kouji did look more stressed out than usual. "How're you doing?"
Kouji looked slightly surprised at the show of concern, albeit mildly. "I'm alright, just a little irritated," He conceded. "We've been experiencing considerable difficulties in navigation for the past day, which although only to be expected is nonetheless always a cause for concern."
"Expected?" Takuya inquired.
"We're nearing Kulodis," Kouji said by way of explanation. "Which reminds me. I came to tell you that we'll be at the Elf Mountain hopefully within the next day, and you need to prepare."
"For what?" Takuya asked, surprised. "What're we doing?"
"Well, firstly, you need to have presentable clothes." Kouji said wryly, tugging gently on the ragged ends of Takuya's cloak. "For which you will need to follow me." With that, the Elf stood and began to walk out of the room, not even pausing by the doorway to wait. A slightly bemused Takuya bounded after him.
Once Takuya had caught up to him, Kouji began speaking again. "Although Kulodis has been at best vague about the summons, my guess is that they're taking you for a meeting with the old bastard and then training you for a while. For the former, you'll need the fancy clothes and some sort of crash course in Elven manners, and for the latter, a good many weapons, clothing, and possibly permission procured from your guardian, although since you're almost legal age for estrangement you should be fine."
"The old bastard?" Takuya queried, amused.
"Gennai." Kouji said, his tone of voice clearly indicating his opinion of the one in question.
"Oh." Takuya said, not really enlightened. "What if your guess is wrong?"
Kouji shrugged. "Then I glower at the lower Elves until I cow them into fetching whatever else we might need."
"… I see."
"Indeed."
"And here we are."
"Yes, indeed."
Takuya was whisked behind a curtain, where he was immediately surrounded with a mass of fine robes, the majority of which appeared to be some shade of red. Bemused, he picked one up, found far too many buttons for his liking, and stared blankly at it until Kouji began to speak again.
"Just try them all on," The Elf Lord said. "Find one that sits well and you like. They probably won't fit you perfectly, as we've had to borrow them from some of the Guard, but they should be close."
"I see."
"While you're playing dress-up, I'll keep talking."
"Oh."
"After you've found clothes that fit you, what's going to happen is this: I'm going to take you to some place without too many people who can interfere and give you a basic run-through on exactly what kind of training you've landed yourself in. You sign a waiver. I keep the waiver. I'm going to give you some pre-training and that's going to take a rather long time, so you'll probably want to take something edible along with you. I don't actually know how long I have to spend with you, because they keep having to call me fore to help navigate, but we should have a good hour or so."
Takuya yanked himself out of a robe that had been rather too tight and caught his breath.
"Do I see you tomorrow?" He asked.
"Not before we land," The Elf Lord replied curtly. "I have to help in the landing process."
"And I'm going to do what?"
"I'll send someone along. Probably Izumi – she's a friend of yours, no?"
"Yeah, sort of."
"We'll be landing hopefully just before noon tomorrow. Izumi will come get you, and then we will all disembark, and what happens next is very much an uncontrollable variable."
"A whatnow?"
"Kulodis has ridiculous safeguards," Kouji explained. "They change often, and it's annoying to keep track of. The way they carry on, one would think Zenith was about to send armed troops from its sparsely populated, rocky caves to invade."
"Is Zenith going to send armed troops from its sparsely populated, rocky caves to invade?"
"They're too smart to do that." Kouji said shortly. "They'd never win. We outnumber them in population and the old bastard is about twice the age of their Eldest. At the moment, the power balance definitely falls in favour of Kulodis."
"I see."
"Does that fit you?"
"Sort of."
"Close enough. Change back and come on out, now. We have to train."
"For what?" Takuya finally asked, sliding his arms into the sleeves of his shirt.
"You're a Firestarter," Kouji said, as if that explained everything.
"I'm a Firestarter," Takuya muttered. "Yeah, yeah, I know, everyone's been telling me. No one'll tell me what I'm supposed to do with it, though."
"Really?" Kouji said, sounding surprised. "Well, we have to start somewhere, I suppose."
"No, really …" Takuya grumbled, trying to coax his hair back into its usual shape and finally giving up. Following Kouji onto the deck, he settled for flattening it as much as he could with the hand that wasn't trying to button his collar. "Where are we going?"
"Roof," Kouji said succinctly, and Takuya blinked in surprise.
"The roof …" Realization dawned. "There?"
"Yes, there," Kouji said, hoisting himself up onto the mentioned area. "Come on. We won't be interrupted, which is crucial."
"Oh. Oh, good." Takuya pulled his irritated body up after the Elf Lord with considerably less grace. "I'm stuck here for Lady knows how long with a positively laconic Elf Lord who's going to teach me about my apparent pyromania. Joy. I couldn't have asked for more. Asbard, you bastard of a guardian, why did you do this to me?"
"Because you're an extremely valuable weapon, and if people find you now, you can be turned to any purpose." Kouji said shortly. "Thus, it is in your – ah, who am I kidding? - our best interests to keep you and train you for us."
"I'm a what?" Said Takuya for what seemed like the millionth time in less than a week.
"Firestarter," Kouji began, and held his hands out. "Take my hands."
"What?" Takuya sputtered, flushing. "Why?"
"Images are easier to understand than words, Takuya," Kouji said, pronouncing his name in the undetectable yet clear Kulodis accent, consonants unusually pronounced. Takuya shivered. "I can transfer images into your mind if we have contact. And I am not in the mood to draw pretty pictures with a stick and parchment just so you can play cooties."
"I'm not!" Takuya said defensively, grabbing Kouji's hands rather too tightly to emphasize his words. "It's just – weird, is all."
"Ka'I," Kouji said, and all of a sudden the boat's roof and the water disappeared, and the world was plunged into darkness.
Where am I? Takuya blinked hard, and saw, for a moment, a glimpse of the white of the boat's roof. Kouji's voice startled him back into the black, emanating not from just in front of him but from inside him – as if the Elf Lord was inside his mind.
Pay attention, Kouji said. Or rather, he seemed to emanate – as if Takuya was receiving pure feelings and thoughts from the Elf. If you lose concentration after this point you could be lost in my mind.
Okay, so maybe Takuya was the one in Kouji's mind.
Lost?
It's my mind, Kouji emitted in what felt suspiciously like an exasperated tone. You don't belong here, and it's never a good thing to go unguided into any other person's mind.
I see, said Takuya. So, where're we going?
In response, Takuya suddenly felt Kouji's hands again, this time yanking him insistently forward.
Just keep up with me, Kouji said, and the world burst into colour.
Or flame.
Gah! Takuya yelped, jumping several feet and almost crushing Kouji's hands. Warn me if you're going to do things like that!
Shut up, Kouji said firmly. And pay attention.
tms
words: 6760
paragraphs: 279
sentences: 663
tms
I have just realized that, for some reason, I have stuck three of the most obstinate Digidestined into one group: Yamato, Ruki, and Kouji. Between the three of them, sarcasm will melt the air and the sheer vitriol will be enough to bring any offender to their knees … what a dangerous group. n.n;;
Anyway:
Important A/N:
TMS is killing me. In terms of inspiration, I do know where the story's going. But I can't bring myself to actually write it unless I have an extremely detailed outline. I ended up cutting this chapter off earlier than I planned because A) I don't have an outline to force me to write it and B) it's really ridiculously late. I'm sorry.
So I'm going to see if I can try something new: co-authorship. Anyone who's checked my author bio will know that I have had this up for a bit, and I've had two responses, although I'm not sure that they're interested anymore due to my terribly late responses/updates.
Basically, co-authorship will involve a lot of outlining and beating out of plot. I have a very skeletal outline of the plot, and I can type this into a chapter-by-chapter form, but it will be up to the co-author to work out fine details and put together the plot so it runs smoothly and sensibly. Then I will take the detailed outline and write the chapter.
As you can probably see, this will involve a lot of outlining on the part of my co-author, and also a lot of fine-detail plot stuff. So, I'm looking for someone with incredible patience and/or beta-type skills, and someone who is good with putting a plot together in a cohesive fashion.
I'm desperate! I love TMS with all of my heart, I really do, but there's no way I can maintain a regular update schedule the way my life runs right now. I'm terribly sorry, again. Please, please, please, someone respond to my cry for help.
Email me at or contact me at my livejournal: or leave your username and/or email/contact information in a review of this chapter. I will try to contact you as soon as possible (this may be anywhere from the next day to the next week – I'm not online very often.)
If I don't get any offers of help, I'll keep struggling along, but TMS will have to very sadly go into "Updated Irregular" mode. I'm sorry, but I simple don't have the urge or push to write it.
Thanks, everyone, so very, very much. And again, I'm sorry. So sorry.
Replies to Reviews:
Dreamer – Well, now you know :) And the journey was the simple part …
Sailor Enyon – I'm glad you did find it! Thank you. I'll keep writing to the best of my ability.
Chatay – I finally updated! Reviews cheer me on, as do people who actually bother to go places (e.g. lj, email) to talk to me or ask me questions. I lose hope every once in a while and sink into fic-writing depths of depression … But I'm glad you liked the chapter. It seems most of my other readers didn't like it; at any rate they didn't review it … not that I'm really affected by it or anything … (as if! I'm just trying to appear macho …) Thank you so much for emailing me and stuff. It makes me happy.
takuya – I'm sorry you had to wait, for both chapter 5 and 6. I really truly am. :( If I had my way everyone'd be able to read the story straight from my mind – kinda like continuous beaming of images and words. But then the words'd be jumbly and probably ungrammatical …) well, anyway, sorry for the wait. Thanks for reviewing all this time::hearts:
Kenzy-Chan – Thanks for reading! I'm super happy you like it XDDDD ß my super happy face appears to have four mouths, O.o. And huzza, an uber glomp! YAY! Please keep reading, since I've done more. And say hi and thanks to Kouichi too. You're awesome!
Natasha AKA: Tash – Can I just go by 'Tash', then? Lol, if you don't like it I won't do it :) I think we all think Kouji and Takuya are meant for each other. And they ARE kawaii. Of course they get together! I don't know that I could write a story where they don't … :shifty eyes: loko is a helpless Takouji fangirl, and she speaks of herself in third person.
Dragi – Thank you so much for your continued reading of this story. You're soooo awesome to have reviewed every chapter from chapter one! Huzza for my most constant reviewer! And I cannot thank you enough for expressing concern on this story over email. It is immeasurable how encouraged I was after realizing that people really DO want this continued. THANK YOU::hearts:
Ryo-chan – I have only apologies to offer on how slow everything is going. I mean, there's TMS going at a snail's pace, and I'm still supposed to be editing your Inu-Yasha fic. I've had it for so long it's ridiculous … I'm so incredibly sorry. If you still want the edits at all, I'll be happy to email what I've got so far to you, but I really don't think I can continue … I'm so sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.
aishiteru-ayu – I've been through some KouKou too. I guess every true IV-er has to indulge at least once. But I'm glad you still enjoy this! Please keep reading! (There actually are brother-complexes in the future. Oh dear.)
Again: thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed this so far.
More reviews are more than welcome; they're begged for! Even if they're flames or beatings with sticks to make me write on my own bloody power!
Arigato gozaimasu –
lokogato enterprises inc.
1:19 PM
01-05-05
