Ronin

by CSHayden

A prequelcontinuation of "Tengu", Kirin goes from a clanless wanderer to the unlikely suitor of a carefree thrillseeker.

5. Part V

Ronin

A TGS-based story

by C.S. Hayden

Disclaimer: Gargoyles is the property of Disney and Buena Vista Television. Characters from "Yama's Path" by Kimberly Towle appear by permission. All original characters and plot are the creative property of Christi Smith Hayden.

Author's Note: The next few chapters will overlap events that occurred in Tengu but will be presented from Kirin's POV.

Part V

From the journal of Kirin, teacher and weapons master, formerly of Ishimura

KobeJapan --2015

After that night, my relationship with the Tengu changed. They still considered me an adopted member of the clan and welcomed me back with open arms when I returned but it was an uneasy homecoming. Gossip had done its job in my absence. Miza and Goro both apologized profusely to me but the damage had been done; the easy camaraderie that had been between us was gone. I sequestered myself in the schoolroom so that I would not have to watch as Miza's pregnancy progressed. Every time I caught sight of her swelling form, it was like a vise squeezing my heart. When the weather cleared in early spring, the Three and I went down the coast to harvest the salmon run. By the time we returned with salted, smoked, and fresh fish, all of the breeding females had successfully laid their eggs. I never learned how many eggs Miza laid nor did I ever want to know.

The years passed and my students made the transition to adulthood but even then, they still looked to me as their teacher. We formed a patrol wing when human activity began to encroach on Tengu territory. The elders wanted to retreat higher into the mountains but Takamatsu's health had begun to fail and no one wanted to risk such a large scale move and endanger him. I knew that there would come a time when the Tengu will not be able to hide in the shadows and my young warriors would need to know how to deal with it.

The evening patrol through the peaks and valleys of the Rojo Mountains had been uneventful but as they came closer to home, Kirin began to feel uneasy. A strange scent was adrift on the warm summer wind. The Three had been flying in formation but one by one they all began to glide closer.

"I don't get it," Takakura said finally. "All the humans are bedded down for the night. The construction vehicles at the highway are locked up tight. There's nothing going on so why do I feel like my skin's crawling?"

"Lice?" Tancho suggested lightly. "You were awfully friendly with those chickens at that farm the other night."

"Shut up!"

"O-tama has a vermicide powder that works wonderfully on feather mites," Mozu offered helpfully. "It really will relieve your itching."

"I am NOT itchy!"

"That's enough!" Kirin said firmly before the fight could really get going. "I swear, the smallest irritation sets the lot of you off these days. O-tama needs to dose you all with one of her special tonics!"

"Ugh," Tancho said, wrinkling his nose. "Couldn't we all just get drunk instead?"

It was a tempting proposal but before Kirin could agree or disagree, they crested the top of Mount Maya and were greeted by the shocking sight of a stranger hiking up the overgrown trail that led to the old Tenjo temple site. It was only by luck that they had approached on the downwind side of the mountain. Taking cover beneath the tree shadows, they could see that the newcomer was dressed in human clothes – a sleeveless black shirt and khaki shorts – but that was the only thing human about it. The red skin, horns, wings, and tail clearly identified it as gargoyle.

"Who is that?" Mozu asked wonderingly. "Is someone from Ishimura, sensei?"

Narrowing his eyes, Kirin murmured, "I do not know. This one doesn't look like anyone that I remember."

The stranger edged around the shard-strewn circle where past leaders of the Tengu stood frozen in stone sleep. Pausing at the rim of the ravine, moonlight glinted off of the metal staff that the red-skinned gargoyle was carrying.

Mozu's beak dropped open and he pawed at Kirin's arm.

"Neh?"

"Sensei?" the feathered Tengu asked breathlessly. "That's a female!"

"What?" Takakura started to look for himself but Kirin jerked him back down before he could break their cover. Fortunately, the stranger heard nothing as she looped up and over through the ravine to neatly land on the giant granite boulder known as Tengu Rock.

"Fool boy," Kirin growled softly, "think with your head, not that thing between your legs!" He narrowed his eyes and squinted along Mozu's line of sight but in the end, he had to trust the younger gargoyle's keener eyesight. "Are you sure? It could just be a male with long hair."

"No, sensei! When she turned to look downriver, the moonlight was shining on her front and, well…" Mozu cupped his hands out in front of his chest. "No male is shaped like that!"

"Trust featherhead and his hawk eyes to get the first look," Takakura said ruefully. "What are we waiting for, Master Kirin? Let's go make introductions!" His grin was a shining knife blade in the dark.

"We must cast our net carefully," Kirin said softly. "You and Tancho stay downwind but spread out. Mozu and I will circle around to keep her from going skyward."

Takakura started to protest but Tancho interrupted. "I see what you're thinking, sensei," he said, "you two will flush out the bird and we will catch her." He clapped a hand on his long-nosed brother's shoulder. "She will not get past us, neh?"

"Yes," Takakura nodded, a wicked smile on his lips. "She'll be in good hands with us!"

Mozu rolled his eyes. "I'll take the far side of the river, shall I, sensei?"

"Stay below the treetops if you can," Kirin agreed. He didn't need to worry with Mozu; the feathered flyer was far more stealthier than his rookery brothers, both on land and in the air. "I'll come around the sojobo circle to the base of Tengu Rock to confront her. If she flies, you'll have to head her off." He glanced at Takakura and Tancho. "Both of you be ready for anything."

"What if she stands her ground?" Takakura countered. "I saw the way she was twirling that metal staff of hers. She looks like she knows what she's doing."

"In that case, I will keep her attention while you three move closer." Kirin stared back in the direction of the intruder and huffed. "She doesn't look like she'll be that much trouble."

Kirin approached from downwind. It was infuriating the way the strange gargoyle was perched on Tengu Rock like a sightseeing tourist, and he fully intended to punish her for desecrating one of the Tengu's most sacred landmarks. He waved Mozu back and crept closer, melting into the dark green shadows of the forest.

The irreverent creature was grooming her hair, using a selection of implements from an unrolled bundle. Kirin shook his head in disbelief; surely, she couldn't be so unaware of her surroundings not to have sensed their presence. She switched from a wide-toothed comb to a finer one and then to a soft-bristled brush. Her long dark hair took on a glossy sheen that reflected the moonlight like ripples on the river rushing through the gorge below.

The beaked female tilted her head to one side as her hands performed each stroke with a grace worthy of a geisha. The draping of her wings completed the illusion as if she were wearing robes of dark red silk. She closed her eyes and she seemed totally at peace with the world, basking in the simple task of brushing her hair. Kirin found himself holding his breath to keep from breaking the spell.

Something snapped upwind; probably Tancho stepping on a dry branch with his enormous feet. Her beak pointed in the direction of the sound, she quickly put away her things and took up her metal bo staff in an efficient manner. She swiveled to survey the area and Takakura had been correct; she might be female but she carried herself like a fighter. Walking towards the tree line, she struck a wary pose and spoke. "I know you are there. I mean no harm to this place. I am traveling from the lands of the Ishimura clan to seek the Tengu."

She spoke perfect Japanese but with a curious accent that he couldn't place. Her words were formal and proper but the cocky self-assuredness beneath them rubbed him the wrong way. Kirin answered her gruffly, "You travel a long way, young one, if you have come all the way from Ishimura."

"It is a journey worth the risk," she replied, "and I am not afraid of danger."

"Indeed." He circled around her as she entered the forest. "Why do you seek the Tengu?"

"I seek their wisdom."

It was the most cliché thing Kirin had ever heard. He wondered if the foolish creature had read one too many historical romances. "No, you don't – no one comes just for wisdom," he snapped hotly. "Speak plainly – you come because you want to hide from the world. I've seen it before, foolish hatchlings like you who think that they're too different, that they're too ugly, and that no one will ever love them." He came closer – he could see the beads in her braided sidelocks and count the hoops and studs in her over-decorated ears. "The Tengu have no use for warriors that don't have the heart to face their own destinies! Go back home, girl – I have no time for you!"

Without warning, she whirled and she lunged at him with her bo staff, the blow catching him across the forearms and forcing him to go on the defensive. Kirin had the greater strength but it was a worthy opponent that could catch him off-guard. Her fighting style was a flurry of techniques that used her speed and agility. Scarlet fire flared in her eyes.

"You know," she snarled, "I'm getting really sick and tired of people talking to me like that." She leaped up, twirling around her staff and kicking him in the chest. "If you think I'm going to take that from you, think again!" Her backswing caught him on the side of the head with a rattling crash.

He stumbled and drew his tachi – a curved long sword nearly half his opponent's height. "You show spirit," Kirin said bitingly. "But can you show skill?"

The impudent wench actually smirked. "Hey, do gargoyles duel in the woods?"

With those words, a duel in the woods soon turned into a brawl that resonated throughout the hills. I found myself being challenged by a slip of a girl half my size and I liked it not at all. She danced and weaved around my moves, further infuriating me until I struck at her with all my strength. Imagine my surprise when she succeeded in blocking my move! I forced my hand and broke her bo staff, but this proved to be an disadvantage; she became a force of nature, furious red whirlwind of fists and feet that I was hard-pressed to counter. In the end, I forced to resort to less honorable means to subdue her.

Unfortunately for me, she had no scruples in retaliating in kind. I do not know what hurt worse – my barbels being yanked off my face or my testicles being rammed to my ears. Needless to say, I was not in a charitable mood by the time we brought our unexpected guest back to the village.

"What is this?" O-tama called, scurrying forward with Mozu on her heels. "My apprentice says you have hurt her."

"Just a simple nerve pinch," Kirin grunted as he touched down. He waited a moment while O-tama checked the unconscious female in his arms. "She's a wild one, this. She gave me a good fight and then she took out the Three."

"All of you?" Takamatsu said, coming to the front of the gathering crowd. The old raven-headed clan leader leaned heavily on his staff as he peered curiously at the newcomer. "She even defeated you, Kirin?"

"Not exactly."

His students snickered and long-nosed Takakura spoke up. "She kicked him right in the stones." He sobered up when Kirin glared over his shoulder at him but his eyes danced. "Well, she did!" He and his rookery brothers laughed and a few of the adults joined them.

O-tama put a hand on his arm. "Are you all right?"

Kirin shrugged. "Nothing's hurt but my pride," he admitted grudgingly. "Where do you want her? She weighs practically nothing but I'm not going to carry her around all night."

"This way," the healer said and led the way to her personal hut. She spread a padded futon out on the floor and Kirin laid the stranger gently down upon it. He paused to brush a strand of hair from her face. He had been too busy fending her off to really look at her before. She wasn't that bad-looking as gargoyles went; her waist-length hair was dark and lustrous and her skin was a coral-tinted terra cotta red. Her beaked face was a bit of a disadvantage but he'd hardly noticed when they had been battling.

"Do you know her name?" O-tama asked, busying herself with lighting a brazier.

"It never came up," he replied. "She was too busy kicking my tail." He noticed a bulge in one of the flapped pockets on her shorts and checked it. "Well, well," he said as he took out a slim metal pad. "Computers have come along way, I see." He patted down her other pockets as well, turning up an aerosol can. "Pepper spray -- this is a fun girl. She also had a stunner that gave Tancho quite a shock."

O-tama was digging through the stranger's bag. "Here's something," she said handing over a bound sheaf of papers. "This is a book, I think. The elders will want you to examine that. Otherwise the rest is just clothes and personal effects. She's got a very nice yukata in here. Perhaps I should hang it up."

The stranger moaned and shifted, rolling onto her right side. Kirin frowned at the device on her left arm. "What's that?"

"An ornament of some sort?" O-tama suggested.

"No, it's electronic. That's a LED display." He lifted her arm and carefully slid the arm band off. "Strange."

"What?"

Kirin smiled absently, turning her hand over in his. "How can she hit so hard with hands as soft as these?"

O-tama rolled her eyes. "You are turning into a dirty old man, thinking such things! She's barely left the rookery!"

He shrugged. "You wouldn't know it by the way she fights. Someone started training her right out of the egg."

Nudging him aside, the silver-haired healer began her examination by checking her patient's pulse points. "Her chi is in good balance," O-tama said, nodding approvingly. She passed her hands gently over the young female's body. "Her muscles are well-defined. She is older than she looks, I think, but she has not had a breeding season yet."

Kirin raised an eyebrow. "How can you tell?"

"Her hips are still quite narrow." O-tama demonstrated by placing her hands on the stranger's body. "A breeding female's hips become widened by the passage of the egg through the birth canal."

He winced. "Sounds painful."

"Well, you did ask," O-tama said with a playful smirk on her lips. "You are very curious tonight, Kirin-san. One would think you are interested in our visitor."

"Only in her prowess as a fighter," he huffed indignantly. "Whoever she is, it's quite possible that she cracked my ribs." He rubbed his side in an effort to gain some sympathy.

O-tama merely shook her head. "I daresay you gave as good as you received," she said simply. "Go take these things to Takamatsu and the council. I'll be along as soon as she's awake."

Our mysterious visitor turned out to be none other than the daughter of a living legend. The records of both the Tengu and the Ishimura clans mentioned the twelfth century exploits of Lady Sata and her mate, the Timedancer. When I spoke to Kai last, he had mentioned that the Ancestress had returned with her family, I was intrigued but never expected to encounter them. The records speak highly of Lady Sata's grace and poise as well as her deadly skill with the sword, often describing her as a flower with steel blades for petals. Her daughter, Ariana, inherited much of her mother's talent but wielded it with the brash impetuousness of youth. I had sparred with her twice, once at Tengu Rock and again the following night as a formal match witnessed by the clan. She did not fight like anyone that I have met before – just when I had her style figured out, she would abruptly change to counter me. I enjoyed the challenge she presented – but I despised the prospect of losing to her. I will never allow anyone to get the better of me again.

"She's doing this intentionally," Kirin muttered as he followed Ariana as they glided over the human hiking trail below. The irritating female was wearing one of Mozu's tunics but the way she wore it! His heart had nearly stopped at the sight of her. She'd cinched it with a colorful obi that accentuated her slim waist and tucked up the skirt so acres of sleekly muscled leg were showing. Poor Mozu had been left in a catatonic stupor. Kirin was simply trying to focus on flying and ignoring the persistent ache in his loins that hadn't troubled him for years.

She flipped her tail up as the wind shifted. Kirin whimpered under his breath. The first time she'd did it, he had nearly flown into a tree. On closer examination, he realized that she wasn't bare-bottomed; she was wearing tiny red underpants that matched that scandalous midriff top. Despite of the insult he'd delivered earlier, she was an attractive female. If she were anyone else, he would have caught up to her in mid-air and --

"Stop that," he muttered to himself. "Keep your mind on your duties." When they finished checking out the survey markers that Ariana had found, Kirin vowed to have a long talk with O-tama. The Tengu healer had been subtly mending the emotional wounds he'd suffered in Ishimura. At first, he'd been unaware that she'd been doing it but over time, he'd come to realize that O-tama's talks had not been without purpose. She had even encouraged the other females to tend to his more intimate needs, although he'd eventually tired of that and preferred now to be celibate.

Still, he admitted privately as he glanced at Ariana now gliding besides him with her pony-tailed hair flying like an ebon banner in the wind, he could understand why O-tama wanted Ariana to have a chaperone. If he was having these thoughts, he could only imagine what his students might be thinking. The Three had never been around a female of their own age before – Ariana would represent the ultimate temptation. He snorted ruefully – if there was trouble on the wing, it was the Timedancer's wayward daughter.

In the course of checking out the survey markers that Ariana had found near the Tengumichi Path, we discovered a man planting strange devices in the ground. Ariana proposed a distraction by taking a joyride on his motorcycle but it only proved that the strange human was not working alone. Another one engaged Ariana in a dangerous motorcycle chase that twisted through the mountains like a snake. If Tancho had not caught sight of them, I would have not been able to overtake them in time. The foolish wench had the audacity to try to jump across a chasm using the vehicle's momentum combined with her own wingspan. It was a glorious yet foolhardy endeavor and the truly galling thing was how unrepentant the creature was about her behavior. She actually began to lecture me as if I had been the one acting recklessly! I had to put her into O-tama's charge before I did something regrettable to her.

"Who does she think she is?" Kirin muttered as he dropped the sake jars on his worktable. "How dare a hatchling half my age tell ME that I've forgotten what being a gargoyle is all about?" He tossed the Wariguri papers next to them and fetched a cup from the storage chest.

The audacity of the girl – didn't that slip of a female know how his heart had stopped when he saw her take that motorcycle across the ravine? His wings still burned from the exertion of catching up to her – it was no surprise that she'd overstretched herself. Kirin kicked over a cushion and flopped down in a huff. He unsealed a jar and poured himself a full cup of sake.

"Reckless wench! Not one word of thanks, not one!" He drained the cup in two swallows. "I shouldn't have bothered fixing her wing!" Refilling his cup, he slowed in his drinking as he smelled the faint trace of rose oil on his fingers. She'd been nestled against him while he'd been working on her. Eight long years had passed since he'd decided to be celibate among the Tengu. He closed his eyes and sighed bitterly as he rotated a shoulder.

"I'll be feeling this for a while, stone sleep or not -- first that fight and now this." She was a damned good fighter, he admitted grudgingly. He'd been holding back initially when they had fought earlier but by the end of it, he'd been battling full out just to match her. The only other female that had been able to give him a fight like that was – Kirin downed his drink in one gulp and reached for the bottle.

Some time later he became dimly aware that he had company. He glared across the table blearily. "What have I told you about sneaking up on me?"

"Not to contradict you, Master Kirin," long-nosed Takakura said with his head at a rakish tilt, "but you were looking straight at us when we walked in the door."

Tancho swung a string of jugs off his shoulder. "Besides," he said jovially, "we thought your wine jars must be getting empty by now."

Kirin gestured for them to sit. "So they are," he commented. "No doubt that wench has given you cause for drink as well." The youngest members of the Tengu had been his students for twenty years. Although they were considered adults, the Three still looked to him for guidance. Their companionship was a welcome distraction.

"Actually, Ariana was going over the menu for tomorrow's tea ceremony with O-tama and Miza." Mozu leaned in and sniffed, making a face at his brothers as the apprentice healer assessed their teacher's condition. "The food that they were making smelled very good. Why don't I go get some and we can have our meal here?"

"That's a great idea," Tancho agreed as he opened one of the jars and passed it to Takakura. "We'll stay here and keep Master Kirin company."

"I don't know what you're so upset about, sensei," Takakura commented, playing host as he poured sake for all of them. He was the undisputed leader of the Three, well aware of his own self-worth as Takamatsu's heir. Clever and devious, he knew just how to manipulate people. "She's just a female, after all, and not all that attractive."

"Hah!" Kirin snorted. "Are you blind? There's more to beauty than a perfect face! Did not the crimson fire in her eyes stir your blood?" He gave a low growl and tossed back his drink. "A female with spirit is worth more than all the complacent, biddable bedmates in the world."

"Her hair is pretty," Tancho said, settling down cross-legged on a cushion. "We were watching her comb it out after her bath." Since he had none of his own, he often admired long hair on others and as a hatchling used to beg for the honor of combing out Kirin's own tangled locks.

"Oh, yes!" Kirin sighed. "Beautiful, and slippery as silk."

Takakura laughed. "Just how much sake have you had, Master Kirin?"

"Not nearly enough!" He motioned at Takakura to fill his cup.

"I wonder how you kiss a girl with a beak," Tancho mused. "It must be awkward."

"Not so," Kirin answered. "It is a matter of patience and practice. Gargoyle beaks are not hard like bird beaks, Mozu can tell you." He squinted and looked around the schoolroom. "Mozu? Where is he?"

"He went off to get some food, sensei," Tancho replied. "You should really have something else in your stomach other than sake."

Kirin smiled drunkenly. "Beaked females are wonderful lovers," he mused as if he were thinking out loud. "Miza plays the most amazing jade flute. Exquisite." He gave a long humming sigh.

"'Jade flute?'" Takakura mouthed at Tancho.

Tancho answered by making a fist and thrusting it towards his mouth several times. He rolled his eyes expressively.

Takakura snorted and hid his laugh behind his hand. "That's very interesting," he commented. "Do you suppose Ari-chan is musical as well?"

"Who can say?" Kirin shrugged, slopping sake over his hand. "She speaks excellent Japanese but she was raised in Manhattan, not Ishimura. I do not know what their ways are there." He smirked, narrowing his eyes. "I daresay that she could carry a tune. Most females can."

Footsteps approached and Mozu appeared in the doorway, carefully tapping his feet against the step to shake off any dirt from the path. He was carrying a tray with several covered dishes. "How is he?"

"Oh, sensei is in rare form tonight," Takakura said good-naturedly. "We've gone from depressed to lyrical and we're only on the second bottle."

Mozu gave their drunken teacher a baleful look. "Your second bottle, his fourth or possibly fifth," he murmured as he set the tray down. "He threw the empty ones out the window."

"A-ha!" Tancho dipped out some miso in a dish and neatly exchanged it for Kirin's cup. "Here, sensei – put a little of this in your stomach. Too much sake is bad for the digestion."

As Kirin slurped up the soup, Mozu leaned in and whispered to Takakura, "This is so unlike Master Kirin. Why do you suppose he's drinking like this?"

Takakura narrowed his eyes and looked down his long nose at their teacher. "I don't know," he said quietly. "He's kept away from the females for a long time now. That's the sort of thing that can affect a male, or so they say."

"I think," Mozu said in a hesitant whisper, "he admires her." When Takakura snorted, Mozu continued, "No, think of it! Did you not see how he was watching her on the practice field when she was going through the sword exercise?"

"Yeah, he's got a point," Tancho added, sliding over to join the conversation. "You didn't see the look sensei gave her during the fight, right before he threw her into the mud because he was turned away from you. He actually grinned – he seldom even smiles any more but when she drove him back with that crazy move of hers, he was having a good time."

"Maybe." Takakura frowned. "He was certainly being protective of her when we were out this evening -- perhaps because he is twice her age."

"She is a guest after all," Mozu said reasonably, still speaking in a low voice. "You said that she did some reckless things. I'm sure that he probably felt responsible for her and that's why he's upset."

"I think there's more to it than that, I wager." Tancho looked back over at their teacher and laughed. "Oh, this is good. Sensei is asleep in his soup."

Sure enough, Kirin's head was leaning against his arm as he slumped over the table. Mozu clicked his beak as he deftly moved the food and drink to the far side of the table and fetched a light blanket to drape over the sleeping gargoyle. "We'll let him rest a bit," he said, "before it's time for stone sleep." He shook his feathered head. "I wouldn't want to be sensei when he wakes up tomorrow night."

The sound of the raindrops drumming on the roof pounded like hammers on the inside of his throbbing skull. Kirin was having a miserable night and he had no one to blame but himself. He'd been grateful that the Three had taken him to a clearing not far from the schoolroom instead of their usual spot by the rookery. His first act upon waking was to heave up the sour sake left in his stomach. Alcohol was one of the few substances that didn't convert during stone sleep, a fact that he never seemed to be able to remember while he was consuming it. Soaking in the hot springs helped somewhat but it had left him chilled and shaking once he'd returned to his quarters. He'd asked Mozu to bring him something to ease the symptoms but that irritating creature had shown up in the apprentice healer's place.

Kirin glared at the intruder in his personal space. Ariana had been surprisingly contrite; after some initial bantering, she'd merely asked to stay and read while it was raining. He gave in with a poor grace under the guise of having to take O-tama's tonic and made a show of ignoring her. It irritated him that she seemed to take absolutely no notice.

As his headache eased and his stomach settled, Kirin's curiosity began to get the better of him and he couldn't help stealing the odd glance at her. Ariana had slowly shifted the cushions into a haphazard nest around her. She was twisted around on her side with her shoulders propped up on the pillows and her knees pointed towards the wall. It was a contorted pose more suited to a cat than a gargoyle and it made his back ache just looking at her

The intense concentration she was giving the book intrigued Kirin. Most of the Tengu were barely literate in Japanese, and except for his students, few of them ever read books. Ariana seemed to be enjoying herself -- every so often she would give a soft chuckle under her breath. She was so engrossed in her reading that he began to wonder what she thought of the book. After a while, he finally worked up the nerve to start a conversation. "You must like Brontë. You haven't said a word in over an hour."

"It's been years since I've read this one," she said absently. "Graeme and I were home-schooled. Our clan leader, Goliath, and his daughter Angela supervised our literature studies."

"Where in the story are you?"

"Jane and Mr. Rochester are flirting," Ariana said with a smirk. "I will never understand why he had to play games with her. It must be a Victorian thing."

"He was afraid," Kirin commented. He stared at the papers on the desk, trying to order his thoughts. Since the Three had left their schoolroom studies, he seldom had the chance to discuss literature. "Rochester was afraid of wanting something that he couldn't have so he kept trying to push her away."

"But why Jane? 'Small, plain, Quakerish Jane?'" She laughed as she rolled over and sat up to face him. "He could have kept the nutcase in the manor and stayed in London with the hot society chick."

"After a certain age, Ari-chan," Kirin said wryly as he resumed writing, "a male realizes that a mate's qualities as a companion are more important than transient things like sex appeal. Jane's intelligence, spirit and wit made her beautiful to Rochester."

"Yeah, right." Ariana shook her head and marked her place in the book with a leaf that had blown in through the door. "If he respected her, he would have been up front with her from the beginning." She carried it over to the table and began to dig through her backpack.

"He wanted a fresh start," Kirin countered. "Think of it, married all those years but no one to share his life. He saw the future in Jane because she knew nothing of his past." He gave a long huffing sigh that make his fish-like whiskers swing in circles over the table. Without meaning to, he was reminded all too well of his own loneliness. He'd always found a kindred spirit in the character of Mr. Rochester.

"Speaking of the past," Ariana asked, still sorting through her bag, "how's your head?"

"Better," he admitted. "O-tama makes very effective if nasty-tasting tonics." He scowled at the empty bottle on the corner of the table. "I should really have better sense than to drink like that."

"Why did you?" She sighed and looked down. "I can't help thinking that I had something to do with it."

"Why should you care?" he asked brusquely. "You hardly know me."

"Sometimes words hurt," she said simply. "I know how bad I feel when someone is careless enough to say something I might not want to hear, whether it's true or not." She sighed again and twisted her fingers. "I've never driven anyone to drink before and, well, it bothers me."

Kirin stared at her in disbelief. Everything about her spoke of her sincere regret – Ariana seemed genuinely contrite. He swallowed hard, barely wincing at the sour taste that the hangover cure had left in his mouth. It had been years since any female other than O-tama or Miza had been concerned over him. His heart flip-flopped in his chest. It was shocking to think that Ariana might actually care about him, especially after how ill-mannered and rude he'd been to her.

She tilted her head and looked back at him. "What?"

The kindness in her eyes was more than he could bear and he looked away in shame. "Nothing," he lied and he quickly steered the conversation away to safer topics by drawing her attention to the papers that they had taken from the survey crew. It was clear that the Wariguri company had a vested interest in the area. It was something that he and the Three should have noticed and it was disturbing to realize that Wariguri had been doing it under their noses for some time. When no comment from Ariana was forthcoming, he glanced over at her to discover her devouring something. "What are you eating?" he demanded indignantly.

Ariana twirled the cookie stick in her mouth around to the other side of her beak and slowly crunched it down. "Pocky."

Kirin's empty stomach growled in spite of itself. "Not… chocolate pocky?" He had been quite fond of the popular snack during his ronin years in Tokyo.

"Double chocolate. I'm starving – the tea hostess doesn't eat during the ceremony, you know." She glanced at him and her mouth quirked up as if she was trying hard not to laugh. It was then that Kirin realized that his lower lip was protruding. He probably looked like a begging dog. "Poor Kirin-san," she sighed artfully as she pulled another stick from the foil pouch that she had been hidden on her lap beneath the table's edge, "you've got a hangover. You probably wouldn't want any."

He whimpered before he could stop himself.

She licked some of the frosting off. "Mmmmm…. Yummy."

He drew himself up indignantly. "Heartless wench."

Munching, Ariana merely commented, "Funny, I wouldn't mind sharing if someone were to ask nicely."

Kirin growled, "Lady Ariana? May I please have some pocky?"

Slowly Ariana drew a chocolate-coated cookie stick out of the pouch and contemplated it briefly before handing it to him. It was just as good as Kirin remembered as he twirled it from one dangling barbel to the other, the creamy sweetness of the frosting yielding to the crisp, darker flavor of the cookie. He closed his eyes rapturously as he consumed the last of it and carefully licked his lips for the last miniscule specks.

Ariana shook her head. "Okay, now I know why you're always grumpy. You've got a sweet tooth!"

Shrugging, Kirin tried to put on a show of indifference but he couldn't help smiling self-consciously. Not that he would ever admit it, but chocolate was one of the things that he missed most living with the Tengu. He was surprised that she didn't tease him more; instead, she offered him another from the open pouch and set the pocky box on the table between them. Her demure manner was merely a cover as she made her next move and bribed him with a chocolate bar in order to use her computer. Privately, Kirin had been trying to figure out how to use the thing himself so he put up a gratuitous show of resistance while she used her powers of persuasion on him.

Meeting her brother via the internet was a startling revelation – Kirin had known that computers had advanced but to have video networking on such a small, handheld unit was astonishing! Graeme, after some initial brotherly posturing that Kirin understood entirely, turned out to be friendly and easy-going but it was clear to see that while Ariana was impulsive and adventuresome, he was studious and intellectual. Kirin liked him immediately. Graeme made quick work of some of the things that they'd found puzzling in the Wariguri papers and offered to do further research on his end, freeing them up to do their own websearch on the palmtop.

Intrigued, Kirin watched closely as Ariana opened a web browser and tapped in a search request. "Hmmm ..." she muttered, "Wariguri is into lots of stuff, it seems."

"Interesting." Shifting around for a better view, Kirin moved closer. Her long hair brushed the front of his robes. It had a light, fruity fragrance that smelled delicious but he forced himself to concentrate on the computer instead.

If she was disturbed by his proximity, Ariana's only reaction was to drape her wings over her elbows like a shawl to get them out of his way. Picking a file at random, she opened it but promptly pouted. "Oh, bother – it's in Japanese. I can't read this!"

"Luckily, I can," he commented. "Hold it still for a moment."

As Kirin leaned forward to read the computer screen, his barbels slid over her bare shoulder like a pair of skinny snakes. Ariana shuddered. "Eeeeuw, you're dangling on me."

"Sorry," Kirin said absently. He hooked first one, then the other barbel with his tongue and sucked them into his cheeks and upper lip with a long, drawn-out slurp. It was an old habit of his since childhood; Kirin hardly gave it a thought until Ariana gave a snorting chortle and collapsed in a fit of hysterics.

Blinking in disbelief, Kirin stared at the giggling gargoyle girl literally rolling on the schoolroom floor. The way Ariana threw back her head and laughed was utterly fascinating; Japanese gargoyles were quiet and reserved. Her laughter ranged from tittering giggles to gut-rending guffaws but throughout it all, there was an infectious joy that made him smile in spite of himself. "Weally, Awi-chan," he commented in a distorted voice, "id's nod dat funny."

"Jalapeña!" Ariana squealed. "Stop it! I'm dying here!" Her giggles turned into hiccups as she rocked back and forth on the floor, holding her ribs.

Spitting out his barbels, Kirin turned his head away from her but even he couldn't deny that his voice had sounded funny. He began to chuckle quietly and before he knew it, he found himself laughing with her, even as Ariana's laughs became punctuated with hiccups. Kirin felt like an errant schoolboy as he grinned shyly at her. It nearly made his heart stop to see her smile back at him, her hair scattered haphazardly on the floor as her giggles died down.

"Honestly," he chided in a curiously gentle tone, "we will never get anything done if we keep this up."

"Just keep hic your whiskers hic out of your mouth," she commented, "or I won't ever hic be able to hic stop."

When it became apparent that Ariana's hiccups were not about to stop on their own, I sent her to see O-tama. The schoolroom seemed empty without her. I put away the little computer and straightened the room before I changed clothes. Her scent lingered on the pillows and cushions. Strange – I was so miserable before and yet after being with her for only a short while, my heart was light. Perhaps I was wrong about her – I decided that I should not let my prior experiences with females influence my opinions. Ariana was clearly not hatched from the same egg.

We headed into Kobe with the Three to check out the Wariguri offices. Their security system was formidable so the decision was made to swing by Green Stadium to see the remainder of the Blue Wave baseball game. On the way, Ariana chose to foil a robbery at a noodle shop – without consulting the rest of us – and in return, the shop owner gave her the bandits' own takeout order. It was a rash act done totally on impulse, but that only served to give the food extra zest.

Leaning back against the ventilation unit, Kirin licked the last of the soy sauce off his fingertips. He scolded Ariana severely for her little side-trip to the noodle shop but even he had to admit that the owner's reward had been worth it. It had been ages since Kirin had had takeout food – normally, they filched it secondhand from people at campgrounds. He was still feeling his earlier hangover but the lemon soda had settled his stomach enough so that he could manage to eat his share of the udon noodles and cabbage pancakes.

Ariana was wedged between Mozu and Tancho at the roof's edge watching the Blue Wave game going on below. If there was one thing that she could have done to win over the Three, her overpowering enthusiasm for baseball was it. He, Makino, and Goro had been taking the three younger Tengu to this stadium and the one in Osaka for years. Some of the elders were aware of this blatant breech of clan law but had chosen to overlook it. Before flying had become too difficult for him, even Takamatsu himself had been known to join them for a ballgame or two.

A crack of the bat and Ariana was bouncing on her toes in excitement. Kirin couldn't help smiling at her; there was something infectious about the way she enjoyed life. Such passion! – Kirin closed his eyes and forced away those thoughts as his smile died. He had deliberately put some distance between himself and the younger gargoyles so that they could interact more freely with each other. His students never had the opportunity to be with females their own age and it had taken some time for them to work up the nerve to approach Ariana.

Takakura, of course, had tried to impress her with his high status in the clan and was still smarting from her lack of response. He was shooting jealous glares at his rookery brothers as Mozu pointed out something to Ariana on the field. Good-natured Tancho wasn't trying at all; not surprising, since Kirin knew that he was the only one that was sexually active. Many Japanese males experimented with manly love in their youth and Tancho was no exception, having become Goro's apprentice in more ways than one. It was only natural, however, for him to share his brothers' curiosity in their female guest. Kirin could tell that Ariana was more at ease with Tancho's camaraderie than with Takakura's arrogance.

Ariana looked back and grinned at him over her shoulder. Kirin nodded and smiled back, fighting the irrational surge of jealousy as action on the field made her seize Tancho's arm in excitement and squeal in girlish enthusiasm. She honestly didn't know how appealing she was. Kirin had known a number of females in his lifetime, some good, some bad, but it was a rare thing to find one who was so totally unaware of her own beauty.

It felt good to smile again.

To be continued in Part VI of "Ronin" …..