Disclaimer: No. No matter WHAT bull RurouniNikkitch13 feeds to you, we DO NOT, in any way shape or form, own Kenshin or his friends. But I, I patent the name Fuzzy-sama. I love my Fuzzy-sama!
Author's Notes: WAH! Thanks for the reviews, you are all so wonderful! This chapter would have been out a lot sooner, had it not been for my (Crystal Renee points to self) lack of writing. Yes! BLAME ME! You can throw all the eggs you want at RurouniNikkitch13, but it is still my fault. I have a feeling I should grab her an umbrella, yes!
Colors of Love: Crimson and Ebony Trails
Chapter 4
Kenshin blinked in the sunlight, rubbing his eyes to reflect the grogginess back into his body. Every single muscle within his body screamed in pain from sleeping in an odd position all night; although, of course, as forgetful as he was, he couldn't remember how he had fallen into it. Stretching to relieve some of the stress within his body, he sat up, looking around the room.
And then there it was, at insistent itching. At first Kenshin attempted to ignore it, standing and donning a deerskin, beaded shirt he noticed lying in a neatly folded pile next to him. The more he moved the deeper and farther the itch spread across his sensitive skin. He moved his hand to the left to lift up the matching pants, and shoved them on over his bare skin as well. Once all his clothing had been changed, Kenshin's eye began to twitch.
'Stupid……… beard……… I will cut this off someday, that I will!'
Just like that, his hand buried itself once more amongst the locks of blood, scratching fruitlessly at the skin of his irritated chin. Finding he was not improving the situation, Kenshin's other hand lifted up close to the shaggy hair before diving in next to its counterpart, attacking the same invisible enemy. Kenshin stumbled backward with the force he allowed his hand to use in its quest of entering his beard, and found himself tripping over the buffalo pelt blanket he had been sleeping on.
When the sound of his oro and thud finally stopped echoing, Kenshin found his arms spread out beside him, and his beard still itching like always. Grumbling to himself, he stood again, searching for the doorway to his new dwelling. Lifting up his arm, he finally realized through his sleepy haze that the clothing he now adorned were not the same as they had been when he first arrived in the small Indian village the day before.
"Mountain man!" came Yahiko's voice from outside the tepee. "You need to hurry if you are not going to miss your wedding!"
'Wedding? Oro!' Kenshin thought, mentally slapping himself. He had completely forgotten about the raven haired, azure eyed beauty he had met the day before. Everything had been occurring so quickly he hadn't taken the time to store all the new information into his data bank.
Finally discovering the opening to his tepee, Kenshin emerged, blinking back in the sunlight.
"I need a bath, that I do!" Kenshin mumbled to Yahiko as he attempted to find the boy. "I do not believe your sister would want to marry someone as stinky as I."
Yahiko jumped out from behind the tepee, startling Kenshin into another stumble over a rock and into a frozen, emptied fire pit. Fitfuls of laughter erupted from his throat as he observed his soon to be brother-in-law attempt to shake the soot off his clothing, face, and beard. Kenshin turned to face Yahiko, a pleading look in his eyes.
"I do believe I need a new change of clothing and am in desperate need of a bath, that I am." Kenshin sighed. "I cannot be married like this, even if it is against my will, that I can't!"
Bounding out from his hiding place, Yahiko took a hold of Kenshin's sleeve, inspecting the damage done to the new clothing. His eyes searched up and down the cloth, over Kenshin's face, and back down the other side. Fidgeting nervously under the gaze of the younger boy, Kenshin attempted to pull away. The grin that was forming over Yahiko's face frightened Kenshin a great deal, and even the hair of his beard was beginning to stand on end.
Yahiko laughed. "You're good enough for busu. Besides, it's tradition to marry after you've fallen into a fire pit!"
As the boy led Kenshin away, a long stream of oro's was heard all around, scaring away any animal or human in their right minds. Yahiko continued to weave Kenshin and himself through the throngs of wooden huts and pelt covered, triangular buildings until they were in front of a longhouse with smoke barreling from the single smoke stack added to its sod roof. Kenshin looked around, feeling rather odd that not another person was outside at the time.
The doorway to the longhouse opened, revealing Chief Kamiya in an extravagant headdress, smiling profoundly at Kenshin.
"My boy! I see you have followed tradition! The soot over your clothing shall prove well worth the trouble later in the ceremony!" he stated, patting Kenshin roughly upon the back. "I say, Kaoru is waiting inside quite anxiously!"
"Really, Chief Kamiya, I do not beli………"
"Nonsense!" He bellowed, pushing Kenshin inside forcefully. "I will not allow your pre-wedding jitters to take you away from Kaoru! You deserve her after saving Yahiko!"
Kenshin sighed and allowed himself to be pushed toward his inevitable fate as he was shoved into a kneeling position next to Kaoru. Taking the opportunity to glance over at her, Kenshin took in the way her body was bent over and her hair cascaded down her shoulders as she prayed to some god Kenshin had never heard of. The gentle smile that had fallen over her war-painted face brought forth a calm within the vivacious girl that Kenshin had not realized existed. In spite of himself, he was finding it hard to pay attention to his part in the ceremony.
An old, wrinkled and bent over elder walked forward, placing his hands upon Kaoru's skull and Kenshin at the same time, chanting some words in a tongue Kenshin didn't understand. Kenshin was somewhat happy he couldn't understand a single word that was being spoken around him, but at the same time he felt odd, knowing Kaoru understood each word being spoken and he was as oblivious to the forthcoming sentence as a rock.
"Hey!" Kaoru hissed. "Pay attention!"
Kenshin glanced over at her, jumping slightly at the fire embedded deeply in her cerulean eyes. "I……… Sessha does not understand what is being said………"
Kaoru sighed, scooting slightly closer to Kenshin. "The elder didn't say anything of importance yet. You don't have to say anything, just pretend to pay attention."
Nodding, Kenshin put his attentions on the elder. The words began to form around the room, creating an odd haze as medicine women threw various herbs and weeds into the fire pits around them. Kenshin felt lightheaded, but forced himself to stay focused, even as a burning ember found its way into his beard.
Was that burning hair he smelled?
Taking the chance to look down, sure enough, Kenshin discovered his beard to be on fire. Swatting the offending object as quickly as he could, the singed ends fell to the floor and withered away. A deep sigh escaped his lips until he felt his body being spun toward Kaoru. She shook her head at him before whispering to him.
"You're supposed to take the soot on your face and draw three lines on my forehead. They stand for love, prosperity and……… fertility." She blushed. "So go on with it."
Nodding quickly, he ran his fingers over the soot that adorned his skin and then made the first line above her eyebrow. An Indian word was spoken by the elder directly afterward, and then Kenshin made the next line just above the one he had finished making. Another word accompanied that stroke, and then Kenshin completed the exchange with the final painted line and the words of the elder.
Kaoru bowed to Kenshin, taking his hands and then pulling him into a standing position. Confused, Kenshin simply tightened his grip upon her palms.
"And now we are wed." Kaoru stated quietly.
The door on the opposite end of the longhouse opened, and Kaoru led Kenshin out of it. There was a horse tied to a small corral, adorned with a feathered blanket and food supplies.
"We get the horse?" Kenshin asked.
Kaoru nodded. "We're supposed to find a home now, away from the village."
Kenshin led Kaoru toward the horse, helping her mount it with a grace he had not expected from her. Finding himself mounting directly in front of her after untying it from the post, he instructed for her to hold onto his waist while he attempted to direct the horse away from the corral. The horse backed up before stopping before the Chief.
Chief Kamiya placed a ring of blue paint around the horse's eye before looking up at Kenshin.
"Himura, I'm glad this has gone so well! You are off now to find your own form of shelter. I expect you to take good care of my daughter, and make sure the next time you return to the village you bring with you many grandchildren for me!" he exclaimed.
After blinking a few times, Kenshin said the first word that popped into his dense skull. "Oro!"
Author's Notes: Okay! I apologize so much for taking so long with the chapter! Crystal Renee (that'd be me) had a family crisis--- my great grandmother (who I call grandma, because that's really what she was) started having medicial problems, and then she passed away on June 10th. In other words, I have not been in the mood to write, so I hope this chapter is up to your standards.
Please, leave a review!
Love and hugs---
RurouniNikkitch13 and Crystal Renee
TBC…
