Nascent
Disclaimer be in Part I
Author's Note: Yo! How you doin?
Ayumu(Osaka)-like comments aside, it looks like Nascent is starting to get off the drawing board. I just wrote out some EXTREMELY sketchy story outlines last night, and you're gonna love what I've got waiting for you. Kaze fangirls (and fanboys) will enjoy what I'm going to be doing with the Magun, and events in the far far future will shock and scandalize you. Perhaps even scar you for life. Unless, that is, you have an open mind. Bwa ha ha. And just you wait till the meeting with Bahamut-sama...
This isn't going to be a story centralized around just one or two of the characters (I hope). Each of them has his or her own secrets to hide and realize, and I -WILL- try to keep Kumo-chan from stealing the spotlight, as he tends to do because he's my favorite. (It's not like he'd steal it on purpose... I shove him there... you know him, he always acts like "Everyone else is more important than I am" and means it, sincerely, without rancor or jealousy... he has a Colette complex.)
Today's pluggy story is... (drumroll) "Memoirs: His Brother and His Homeworld" by XiaoBai-sempai! Once again, it's a prime example of Kumo-centric angst. It takes a look at XiaoBai-sempai's theories about Kumo-chan's past, which are quite different from what I usually portray (I go by the show's statement that Kumo-chan and Kiri-kun are Taoist and use that religion's values as a basis for their lives, while sempai seems to have created her own version of things, which is actually quite interesting). While I have no idea where sempai dredged up the name that Kiri goes by in "Memoirs", it's still a very good story and deserves readers' attention.
Oh, and FYI: I did not make up the fact that the boys are Taoists. Square gave me that. The translation of Kiri's title, "Madoushi", is "Demon Taoist" (or "Magic Taoist" depending on how you translate the "ma" prefix). Believe me, I know -tons- of random and potentially worthless information about those two (from their title translations to the meanings of their names to their dominant hands to what their design differences say about them), all dredged up from Episode 18, which I have watched so many times that I can recite it scene by scene, line by line from memory. I swear. And I will sometime. I love having almost the entire run of FF:U on DVD.
Hakushaku wa nanto nanto bakana!
Review plz.
(Kiri)
Even though we've been walking for an hour, I still feel half-asleep. Man, I hate this early-morning journey shit. In case you can't tell, I am NOT exactly a morning person!
I want to complain, but I have a bit more sense than that. Since Kaze and Aura and even poor beat-up Lisa are being stoic, I'd just look like an idiot if I did. So I won't.
And as for my brother...
Kumo is quiet, even more so than usual. He's staring fixedly ahead with a slightly worried expression, his mouth in a tight line, dark streaks beneath his eyes. He's been up all night... he tends to look like this whenever he does that. But even so... he's in worse state than he'd be for just a little insomnia.
I slowly head over to him, wait to match my walking rhythm with his, and put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close to me. "You really scared me yesterday," I tell him honestly. "For a moment I thought I'd lost you..."
He nods, just a tiny bob of the head that one of the others might not catch. When he replies, his voice is hoarse. "I thought I'd lost me, too."
I knew that was what had been bothering him. "It's okay now, though." I lower my voice to nearly a whisper, speaking into his ear. "You're alive... you're alright. Lisa managed to get you out of that situation in one piece. Even though the whole thing took ten years off my life."
Kumo smiles. It's a small smile, and very strained, given with eyes both weary and afraid, but it's a smile. I return it and ruffle his hair.
"You have got to stop doing stuff like that. When you were really little, you were always sick, then when you were better you were either nearly breaking something cause you were so curst klutzy, or getting lost. Those were the days... I had to chase after you like my life depended on it."
The smile widens, and Kumo ducks his head, both embarrassed and laughing softly at himself. When he looks back up, he leans over and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Niisama."
I really hope I'm not blushing. "Yeah, yeah. Just don't do that ever again, okay? I want to have some of my life to live with my ototo... if you keep scaring the years out of me, I won't have all that many left." We both laugh at that one. "You were just so cute back then, you know? I'd always want to start complaining about what a pain in the tail you were, but then you'd look at me with those big eyes and I just couldn't anymore."
"Did I really?" Kumo's still laughing, and blushing a little too. I'm just glad he's stopped angsting. "I can't remember much of that."
"Oh, yeah. Little tagalong that you were... all it took was sad eyes and the way you'd look up at me and just say 'Oniichan...' I couldn't resist that face." I shake my head. "You were really manipulative... hey, by the way, you never call me that anymore. Any particular reason why?"
Kumo sighs, his smile becoming wistful. "I guess... over the years, we just grew too far apart... 'Oniichan' feels too informal, and I've gotten used to saying 'Niisama'..."
I take his hand and squeeze it tightly. "It's okay. Besides, we've been fixing all that. The disagreement we had... it's all behind us."
Aura looks back over her shoulder with a slightly irritated look. "Hey, lovebirds! Knock it off with the mushy babble already, you're going to make me sick. There's a cave up ahead... we're going to take a break there, if that's alright with you."
"Yeah, it's perfectly fine," I tell her, a little irritated. "Kumo-chan doesn't look too good, anyway. I think maybe he needs a rest... Lisa too." The girl was sweating and stumbling; she didn't seem to be having too good a time there.
"We'll be there in a few minutes, so no more of this lovey-dovey crap. You're gonna make me barf."
When she turns away, I point a certain gesture at her back, to have my hand slapped by Kumo, who disapproves of that sign, though I can't imagine why.
Yes... rest!
The cave, instead of being dark and dank like the party had expected, was actually well-lit and seemed almost to have been polished clean.
After they'd been sitting and resting for a few minutes, Aura finally stated the obvious. "Someone lives here."
"Nooo, ya think?" Kiri retorted in a biting tone. He still hadn't forgiven her for making fun of his relationship with his brother. "What would we do without you, Lady All-Seeing?"
"Shut up." Still looking around, Aura frowned. "It seems like this is a woman's place."
"How can you tell?" Kumo wanted to know.
"Simple... even if you'd need to clean a little to keep the place sanitary, no guy would take such care to place these torches at such even intervals. Or sweep up the floor to make sure nothing nasty stays around. Nine out of ten guys are slobs, but ninety-nine out of a hundred women care about keeping where they live presentable."
"You're stereotyping," Kiri accused.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you. You sleep in the dirt, wear the same clothes for a week without washing them, and never do anything with your hair. Oniichan's every bit as bad."
Kiri glared, his face flaming. "I do not! And anyway, Kumo doesn't act at all like that."
"He's one of the ten percent of guys who care about cleanliness."
"Enough," Kaze said flatly, and both of them promptly shut up upon seeing the annoyed look on his face. Kiri, grimacing, turned to his brother.
"You feeling better?" Kumo nodded. "What about you, Lisa?"
The girl made a face. "I'm alright, I truly am. I just got a bit tired, that's all."
Aura, meanwhile, was consulting a map. "Well, we aren't far from the nearest town... it's a seaport called Pravoka, and it's close enough that we should reach it before sundown." She stood up and folded the thick rice paper away. "So should we go on ahead, do you think, or pay a visit to whoever lives here first?"
Kaze, too, stood. "Let's go. Social trivialities aren't that necessary."
"It's only polite to say hello after we've rested here," Kiri replied. "Besides, maybe the person who lives here knows something about this supposed crystal?"
"That's a good point," Kumo said softly, slowly getting to his feet. "We don't have to stay long."
"Only if she invites us to," Aura added with a nod, smiling a little. "And if she does, then it means we're sleeping in the dirt one less night. Ugh, I need a bath. A nice, long, hot bath."
"O for some soap and new clothes," Lisa agreed, standing with a groan.
"You're outvoted, oniichan," Aura informed Kaze, sauntering deeper into the cave. "Let's go."
With a grumble, the tall brunet followed, the others trailing after him.
The center of the cave was a well-lit, well-furnished area indeed. While a pair of enchanted brooms skirted around the chamber, sweeping away, an old woman fumbled around, hands brushing against the floor, as though she was searching for something. The five travelers looked at each other dubiously, then Aura headed forward and put a hand on the woman's shoulder.
"Who's there?" she asked venomously. "Blast it, I can't see a cursed thing without my crystal eye! How could I have lost it?"
"Is that what you're looking for, Obaasan?" Aura asked, kindness and respect in her voice. "A crystal eye... I don't think it's here, is it?"
"I knew exactly where it was until that young man came in here," the woman grumbled. "I hate to think what he did with my things while my back was turned! Oh, I never should have let him in!"
Aura bowed slightly. "Obaasan, my friends and I will listen for any news of a crystal eye that's been stolen. If we find it, we'll bring it back here... I promise." She walked off, heading back down the corridor. The others followed her, trying not to listen to the sudden stream of curses from the old woman's chamber.
"What exactly is a crystal eye?" Lisa wanted to know as the five of them got back to their journey.
"It's a magical artifact that allows even the blind to see," Aura explained. Lisa got the feeling that there was something she wasn't mentioning, but since she couldn't place the sensation, she kept her mouth shut. "Naturally, it has a lot of power, so serious sorcerors usually keep one to tap when they need it. Unfortunately, that sort of defeats the eye's original purpose... magi of old created it as a cure for blindness, back before the psychics began to teach the art of seeing with your mind."
"Oh." Lisa pulled a face. "So, then, that woman was..."
"Probably blind, yes," Aura finished for her. "She most likely depended on that eye. I wonder how she got it in the first place. Most of them have been destroyed."
"You seem to know a lot about this," Lisa said slowly, frowning.
Aura smiled (was Lisa imagining it, or did it seem more crooked than usual?) and shook her head. "Oniichan and I had to learn about magical artifacts, since we use these." She tapped the miniature cannon at her belt. "You've probably never even seen one, have you? It's called a gun; they were used very commonly a long time ago. I use mine to cast spells with; Kaze just uses normal bullets." At the confused look on Lisa's face, Aura shook her head and went on. "I'll explain more about it later, when we have more time. Casting a gunspell turns your weapon into a magical artifact of sorts... we got curious, and learned more than our tutors normally would have taught us." When Aura stopped speaking, Lisa knew that the conversation was firmly over. There was something funny about all this.
"We're here," Kiri announced. The girls looked up, a little surprised.
The town they had arrived in was a seaport, all right. It was built almost right on the water, and was mostly taken up by the large harbor at the south side of town. There were a lot of people, but it didn't seem as though the bustle was as loud or boisterous as it should have been.
"What say we head for the inn and get some rest in real live beds?" the red-clad swordsman asked. "We might even be lucky enough to use a washbasin... you never know, do you?"
"Yes, let's." Aura groaned and stretched. "I need to get all this filth off my skin and actually brush my hair for once. It's probably in permanent waves now from being braided for so long."
"Please," Lisa seconded. And from the look on Kumo and Kiri's faces, there was no question about it. They would be staying the night before they even did any asking around.
The night had been sweet and relaxing after walking for so long.
Upon entering the room he shared with the other boys, Kaze promptly stripped naked beneath his cloak, collapsed onto the nearest bed, and was instantly asleep. No one had the heart to wake himor in Lisa's case, the courage. She wasn't exactly sure if she really wanted to see what tall, scarred, forbidding Kaze looked like sans clothing, though the others almost certainly had by now (Aura being his sister, the other guys being, well... guys). Not wanting to reveal her shyness, Lisa said nothing about the matter, not even when Kaze slept straight through dinner (crab cakes, lobster, and grilled shrimp, the inn specialties).
It turned out that the inn itself had not just a washbasin, but a room with a wide bath, used by tapping the seawater and an underground spring. Aura and Lisa could not get enough of the little room, and washed their hair until Aura's was perfectly straight and Lisa's soft and shiny.
After the girls were finally dislodged, Kiri and Kumo went in. They didn't only take the time to soak; Kiri also used the opportunity to help his little brother change the bandages wrapped tightly around his waist, which bound the flesh wound that was all that remained of the fatal blow he had been dealt days before. He did so with a sweet and gentle tenderness that people other than Kumo rarely saw, words of comfort accompanying every movement.
Lisa, tucked tightly into her bed, had a quiet, restful night, free for once of worrying for her safety or the others'. There was no sound other than her breathing, Aura's, and the soft moaning of a nearby pair of lovers, apparently making the most of their stay in what Lisa fervently hoped was a private room.
This town truly seemed to be a wonderful place.
However, in the morning...
The hushed, worried countenance of the townspeople was more apparent than ever. They seemed to skitter about like frightened mice, keeping their heads and voices down as if hoping to avert some great calamity about to fall upon them.
"What's with these people?" Kiri mused under his breath. "You'd think they'd feel safe in their own city..." Aura, standing next to him, elbowed him with an angry look on her face, but Kiri shook his head. "It's true, you know. You'd think they'd at least show a little backbone..."
"Would you, if you were in our position?" a young man who'd been passing by asked him snappishly.
"What position?" Kiri asked him, planting both hands on his hips.
"The pirates!" the youth exploded, seeming both embarrassed and furious. "The ones who are leeching all the life out of our city!"
Kiri's eyebrows went up and down once, and after a short pause, he gave a slow smile that made him seem positively demonic. "And tell me, then... where are these pirates of yours?"
Catching some idea of what he meant to do, Lisa gaped at him. "You can't be serious! Pirates will tear you apart if you even try to fight them!"
Kiri gave her a look and she shut up. "I think we'll be the judge of that when we get there, shall we?"
Despite Kumo's reassurances to everyone that his brother was truly quite capable of dealing with a few hired thugs, Lisa and the young local still looked doubtful. However, after a short dispute, the boy finally caved in, pointing over to a large building in the northwest corner of the town.
With another vaguely demonic smile, Kiri cracked his knuckles and headed off towards the indicated area. The rest of the party exchanged exasperated, helpless, and bemused looks, then slowly followed him.
By the time they got there, it already seemed that Kiri had succeeded in setting off the "thugs", for a man with a bushy red beard was already shouting for his hangers-on to jump the lone swordsman. Lisa let out a short cry, but Kumo put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
"Niisama knows what he's doing," he told her for the eighth time. "Just watch."
The eight junior pirates had formed a ring of snickering cutlasses and yellow-toothed jeers around Kiri, who slowly unsheathed his crimson broadsword.
"Can't you fight like decent men at all?" he taunted, waving the tip of his weapon in the air as if to tease them. "Come on, one of you come out here and just try to take me down... if you're not afraid, that is."
Two pirates reddened and growled, launching forward out of the ring.
"Guess not," Kiri said ruefully, shaking his head. As the two grimy thugs came pelting towards him, he planted his feet shoulder-width apart and held his sword before him as though it were a shield. Just as they leaped, the crimson blade flashed in a swift perfect circle, leaving both of them groaning on the ground, clutching bleeding chests laid open to the ribs. Kiri, smirking coolly, bowed to them, propping up his sword on his shoulder. "Ittenju-jutsu style Ryu-Kiba no Yubiwa. Come on... I expected you to be better than that."
The wounded pirates scooted away, but three of their fellows came dashing up in their place.
Kiri shook his head tragically. "They never learn," he said with a wry grin at his brother. He dashed at them and suddenly seemed to evaporate into a red haze; the only way to tell what he was doing were the broad stripes of crimson and the spilled blood scattering around the area.
The red swordsman emerged from the maelstrom unscathed, touching down almost delicately and looking over his shoulder at the pirates. "Ittenju-jutsu style Aka-Arashi no Ryu-Kami. You are a decidedly lousy bunch. I don't know why I'm even bothering dealing with you. Enough of the bumpkins who live around here could finish you on their own."
Another pirate danced forward just as Kiri stopped speaking. This one seemed to have some skill; the two of them locked blades for a few moments, and Kiri smiled briefly... not mockingly, but as though he was enjoying the fight. Then, he flashed forward, spun the unsuspecting pirate, and carved the man's sword out of his hand, smacking him dead in the head with the flat of his blade.
"Ittenju-jutsu style Ryu-Tsume no Kizuna," he said with a smile. "It's been a while since I used that one. For a second there, I thought you'd block me." Turning back to the head pirate, he plastered a cheeky expression on his face and held up a V-for-victory sign. "Well? You got any..ugh!" The sole remaining pirate flunky had snuck up behind Kiri with a small dagger when the swordsman wasn't paying attention, and slashed him across the back. Caught off-guard, Kiri crumpled, cursing.
It happened in a white flash... no one was clear of what had happened until a few moments after, when they began to grasp that Kumo, breathing raggedly, stood with a bloody sword over the shredded body of the treacherous pirate.
Quietly, the fifteen-year-old slashed his blade in the air and resheathed it at the back of his belt, looking down at the dead man almost scornfully. "Ittenju-jutsu style Shi no Shiroi-Ryu." Anxiety spreading across his features, he turned and knelt beside his brother. "Are you okay, Niisama?"
"Yeah..." Kiri winced, looking up into Kumo's panicky jadeine eyes. "It's not much more than a scratch, and he didn't hit anything important. I'll be fine. That was stupid of me..."
The pirates' leader was staring at the brothers as if they had suddenly revealed themselves to be the gods of swordsmanship. "I-I... I... I... I'm sorry!"
Kaze, Aura, and Lisa made their way down to their companions, forming a protective circle around them. "You should be," Aura growled.
"I, er..." The pirate bowed his head. "I'd... I'd like you to take me ship fer yer troubles. C-can ye find it in yer heart to fergive an old pirate?"
"Why should we-" Aura began, but Kumo, standing, cut her off, smiling.
"Of course!" He bowed to the red-haired pirate captain, practically glowing with sheer innocence and purity. "Thank you for the ship... it will certainly help us in our journeys. Just remember to stay on your new path!" He bowed again, then went back to aid Kiri in his efforts to stand up.
"Naturally, we can trust your word?" Kiri asked wryly, using Kumo's gentle pulls to lever himself up.
"O course!" the pirate said, looking like he meant it. "Me mates and I'll buckle down an' be the hardest workers in town! Ye'll see!"
"Good," the swordsman replied. "Now... do we have any bandages left over? I'm ruining my shirt."
Aura shook her head and spread her hands wide. "You are hopeless!"
"Thanks ever so much," Kiri replied. "Bandages."
(Kiri)
I try not to flinch as Kumo gently smears antiseptic on the long cut across my back. He's being careful, but it still stings like hell. I don't want to go weak; after all, it was my fault that I got sliced.
Finished with the cream, my little brother wraps soft bands of linen around my waist. The irony of the moment makes me smile bitterly... I was doing this for him, only last night.
"Your swordsmanship is so beautiful," he tells me with a sigh. "I hope that I'll be able to strike like you someday soon."
I can't help but smile. "I may have the power, but you're the one who's graceful. You should see yourself when you fight... you look like a dancer. Father would've been so proud."
Kumo sighs and gives me a gentle hug from behind. "It still hurts," he whispers into my shoulder. "Even though I can barely remember him, it still hurts."
He's right; there's still an ache, an empty space left from our father's premature death. Left maimed from a fight with powerful monsters just after Kumo had been born, he'd finally succumbed to his injuries a little more than ten years ago. Even so, I can vividly remember Father's dark flashing eyes, his painful smile, his pride and confidence in our abilities.
"I know, Kumo-chan. I know..."
"Kiri?"
I can't help but be a little surprised, feeling my heart jump almost unpleasantly in my chest. Rarely does my brother ever call me by my name without the honorific attached; he didn't even do that when we were young, before... everything happened. I turn carefully so as not to strain my wound, and put my arms around Kumo, who is staring at me with large, wistful eyes.
"Kiri?"
I put a finger to his lips to quiet him, then hold him as tightly as I possibly can.
Our hearts are beating in perfect rhythm.