A series of small continuations that I've decided to include. I'm not sure how many I will add, but I will keep this story marked as "Completed" because of the uncertainty. Hope you enjoy. 8)

Origins:

Kuu & Kuon:

He understood. He understood completely why he wasn't allowed to attend the birth of his son. He was merely a lowly slave. He had been as such since he was taken from his tribe years ago, before the markings, before the laws, and sold to the High Mistress Juliena a little more than a year ago. He had resigned himself, when he saw them slaughtered by slavers, to the fact that he would never see his mother and father again and that this foreign land, was now his permanent prison. Granted that his Mistress, somewhat cherished him and fed him, but it was still a prison. There were no animals to talk to, save for the caged birds that she kept and her horses.

He didn't discover that he had a son until days later when he had been allowed to visit his mistress. The child was beautiful and had the glow of a very powerful Shamanic Mage. Kuu couldn't help, but think that the boy looked a little like his Great Father Kuon. He had murmured the name and the mistress heard him. Instead of flying into a rage, as she usually did, she nodded to him and allowed him the honor of naming his son. Something that would have never happened had the child been a daughter. He suspected if it weren't for the slip, Kuon wouldn't have received a name at all until he was given to his future mistress. Such was the world that they lived in.

It saddened and irritated Kuu that his little Kuon had been immediately removed and wet nursed. He hadn't witnessed the births or the raising of male children much in this society. He had been raised in a tribe with loving and caring mothers. As soon as his son had been weened, he was given to Kuu to care for, full-time. It was a blessing to him and he would have done it over and over if ever asked. It was during that time that Kuu had discovered the Kuon had the blessings of their ancestors. Sadly, he had to teach him in secret and the things he was only able to teach him were minor healing skills and how to live with the tamed animals that High Mistress had on her estate.

The years rolled by and both males knew that their time together would come to an end once Kuon was of an age where Juli would consider Kuon useful. If she gifted him as an infant, he would be a burden to the Mistress; if she gifted him in puberty, he would be uncontrollable. So, he was promised to the mother of Kimiko and Tina for some beautiful property near Mistress Yayoi's lands.

She was envious of the woman, to the degree that she wanted to pull her hair out. Somehow Mistress Yayoi had acquired the permission to take in a magic user. Although, when Juli discovered the child had raven-black hair and was very willful, her envy dissipated. It would have been far better if the child had been with lighter hair. Black was so drab and the color of darkness. She didn't want the child corrupting her surroundings with her presence.

Finally at the age of 10, Kuon was fed, dressed and given to Kimiko. He had tried to escape, but was found quickly near the little stream that Juli had just purchased with him. It had been a small ordeal to remove him from the area. The little magic user had tangled the servants sent to retrieve him in vines. Had Mistress Yayoi not come to stop the child, the frightened servants would have made the mistake of killing her and that would have been a mess to explain. The death of a female magic user came with a heavy price that she wasn't willing to pay. For some strange reason, that day and for many days after, there had been severe flooding, ruined crops and sickness in the area.

At the age of 12, Kuon met his friend Rick. Rick had been purchased by Mistress Slaver Tina and he and Kuon were as close as brothers. Rick had taught him how to endure the treatments of his mistress and hide his dissatisfaction over the lives they were living and Kuon healed the wounds that Rick would receive for being willful on occasion.

At 15, Mistress Slaver Kimiko began her shameless pursuit in trying to convince her mother that a bond would be favorable between them. She tried, he avoided her. She was 11 and still a child in his eyes. In one of her attempts, she had pretended that she had injured herself while crossing a road. A team of horses that had been fed up with the abuse of their owner, broke free and ran. Kuon tossed her out of the way and Rick pushed him from the danger, giving his own life for his "little brother". For this tragedy, Mistress Slaver Tina blamed Kuon for everything, stating that it was he that caused the horses to become restless and fully intended for them to trample her and Kimiko. Kuon was sent to the mines as punishment, because of his affinity to calm animals when they were out of control, the powers that be, believed the lies.

For almost seven years he endured, until the day he collapsed. He had finally snapped and let his anger control him. He fought until they beat him into submission. He was slapped in irons, collared and put in a cage like a wild animal. They fed and watered him minimally, took him to the farthest city they could find and there he would be sold at market to anyone that could find use of him. If after two weeks they couldn't sell him, they would fight him against others as entertainment until he failed.

Many faces passed that day. The most important face that he would see, belonged to a very proud young woman. She was stunning. She had raven-black hair with blue highlights and tiny braids on one side. Her barely covered body was decorated in strange markings from her thigh to her arm. She wore a red mask of makeup around her enchanting golden eyes. She covered her breasts and loins in fitted fur. Her loincloth was of a rich dark silk. She wore a headdress of feathers, small bird bones and a small animal skull. She was armed with a small hunting knife at her hip and finally a knotted wooden staff that carried a large, glowing green stone at the top. To him, she glowed.

He watched quietly as she spoke to the small Mistress that had brought him to market. He thought that it was strange that the one that beat him regularly would fear and shy away from the dark female. How terrifying must she be for something like that to happen? He saw how she shook her head and glanced at him then gave the slaver more than he knew that the woman had asked for. She approached his small cage and her voice boomed in anger for his release. He looked down, not daring to lay eyes on his new Mistress, then felt her soft hand take his face and tenderly turn it to look at her, after she had removed every piece of restraint on him. He watched her eyes as they took in the sores and scars that covered his body.

"Unconscionable." She murmured angrily.

For seven years, there hadn't been a day to go by where he didn't feel some kind of pain or endure some type of injury. He could only heal himself so much. His father hadn't been able to teach him more. For the first time in a long time, he felt almost completely free of pain as her gentle hands ran meticulously over the wounds, new and old. The relief was like a great weight that had been lifted from him. It shocked him further as he felt a strange prickling feeling slowly creep up from his fingertips to his shoulder and almost to his neck. He then watched in amazement as little tattoos and runes appeared on him as though they had been there his entire life.

"Your name is Kuon..." He heard her say. He looked up at her in shock. "H-How..." Did you know? She had shushed him as the small blonde slaver observed them. She then informed him of the tasks they had yet to do and that they would then be going home. She bought pants and boots for him, forgoing a shirt to leave the wounds on his back to breathe in the open air. She shared her midday meal with him, taking only a very small portion for herself and gently prodding him to eat the rest, claiming that she only wanted the apple that she had brought, leaving him with a small loaf of fresh bread, half of a roasted chicken, a potato that had been roasted and salted and some fresh greens that had been seasoned and kept crisp. Never had anyone fed him in such a way.

His first days with her were a haze of memory. All he could remember of them had been almost like a dream. Her distant voice sang a soothing song. Her soft hands caressed his sore body and what he thought, his filthy hair. He felt the gentle tugs as she cleaned his hair and trimmed his beard. He felt the soft caresses and heard the murmurs as she washed away the blood and filth from his damaged and injured skin. He would occasionally let out a sleepy sigh of contentment. He vaguely remembered being propped up by pillows and furs and eating food that he equaled to something that was worthy of offering to the ancestors, if they chose to return and feast. He actually thought that he had died. So, the day that he awakened in the nude, covered by the furs on her bed and bandages, he was actually quite surprised and confused to find that he hadn't.

Over the months, Kyoko, Spirit, Nightfang, Lory, Yuki, Reino, and Sayou trained him in the art of Shamanism, The Wild, Illusion, The Elements, The Spirit World and in Healing. Just as Kyoko, he was equally as talented. Over time Yuki and Kyoko expanded his education in what Kanae and Yuki called "the basics": Math, Reading, History, Music and Literature. At one point, he thought his head would explode from so much information. Yuki assured him that it wouldn't.

The most cherish memories of his lifetime were with and because of her. The night their bond was made, witnessing the birth of each and every one of their seven children and finally the wonderful, worrisome and terrifying night that she arrived with his father on the back of her horse. In the end, if he had to do it over to get to her, he would do it again happily. The life that they finally shared had been more than worth all of the hardships.