Their departure from the orphanage was a cheerful affair, with lots of handshaking, children hugging them and directions to the nearest town. The sky might have been colored gray, but there were few signs of it starting to rain soon. All in all, it was a day for leisurely traveling.

One of the many things that freaked out miss Rue was the scuttling of animals in the bushes. Even rabbits managed to scare her into a fit. While she didn't exactly grab Jack's arm, she did venture as close as possible to him. The samurai feared he was developing his own gravitational orbit at this rate. Added to her rather easily frightened nature was the tendency of her feet to operate autonomously from the rest of her body. They seemed to willfully map out the road they traveled by looking for cracks and then really committing to investigating those.

The third time she tripped he managed to keep her upright by clasping her upper arm. "Sorry," she told him in a breathy way that suggested she had been really trying to not screw up this time. "I don't think I'll ever get used to traveling."

"Perhaps you could sketch more as we walk?" he suggested, hoping it would have the usual effect of tempering her straying feet.

Disconsolate she pointed ahead of them. He followed her finger, seeing the rickety rope bridge spanning a chasm. He nodded understandingly and braced himself for the next step in their journey. Although precognition wasn't exactly a warrior skill, he considered himself to be quite adept at guessing what might happen. Anyone who had a vague understanding of gravity and miss Rue could deduce what would undoubtedly happen.

He tested every part of the bridge carefully, stepping on it before she did. It was slow moving, but Jack found it more preferable than his companion falling through and getting killed. With every step they took the bridge creaked treacherously. Every few steps a splinter would break loose or a withered vine crunched. Jack found that miss Rue's knuckles were white around the coarse ropes that served as handles. But everything went smoother than expected. She merely copied his movements, placing her feet where he had placed them.

A bird flew up from the opposing bushes. Behind him miss Rue grabbed the rope railing further while Jack set down his foot harder than intended. Something snapped and the planks beneath him gave way. It was reflexes that saved him, grabbing one of the planks and saving him a long fall.

Above him miss Rue knelt on one of the planks. "A-are you okay?"

Jack grimaced at the question. "Yes."

"Can I help?" she asked him, sounding unsure of her capacities in that regard.

"Check the planks first. It wouldn't do for you to fall as well," he suggested, briefly trying to pull himself up. The board he held creaked treacherously. Any additional pressure on that thing and it would snap cleanly in two. Above him miss Rue tapped the planks, putting pressure on them as he indicated.

When he seemed to be satisfied her head popped back in view. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, as if trying to sort things through. Her dark eyebrows came together in a neat frown as she looked down on him. Then she closed her eyes as if signing a death sentence and lowered down a hand. Her silver necklace dangled down, reminding him of the existence of gravity more poignantly than he was already aware. The locket glinted in the sunlight, nearly blinding him. One day he would have to ask her if it was significant in any way. "I just pull you up now, don't I?"

He nodded, raising his free hand carefully. He reached past her smooth palm, and gripped her slim wrist tightly. She reciprocated in kind and nodded once fiercely. The planks underneath her made a noise that turned her white in the face, but she didn't let go. When Jack was standing on the bridge again she sank to her knees, gripping the vines around her.

"You did well," he assured her. She nodded, slightly green around the nose. "Let us get off this bridge now, for our own safety."

They reached the other side without any more incidents. Once there miss Rue threw her hands around a skinny tree, holding on as if it was the only thing that might keep her upright. "I didn't know it was possible to dislike bridges. It would appear I have been proven wrong."

"Things could have been worse," he told her, before from somewhere above them an animal screeched wildly. He unsheathed his sword and turned around. He would have to be careful with his words, because somehow this sort of thing always happened.

When the battle was done miss Rue knelt down next to the dead animal. The way her lips pursed it was clear she thought the whole organic business to be distasteful at best. When he asked her about it she squinted down at the beast, which judging from the anatomy descended from earlier-time baboons. Her answer was slow, as if she wasn't quite sure. "The claws, I guess. And the fur. I mean, all animals seem to have that in common, and I'm not quite sure just why nature would devise creatures that way. WE don't have fur and claws, and our teeth aren't all pointy. And they always seem to attack."

"Not all animals are like that, miss Rue," he explained while cleaning his sword. It would seem tonight's dinner would be monkey. He'd had stranger in his education. "Some are quite affable. I mean, take cats for example-"

"You mean the ones with the forked tongues and claws?" she asked for clarification.

"… the tongue is a new aspect, but yes. Cats are quite affable creatures. Dogs as well. In my time people often kept dogs as pets."

"The animals with the really big canines? Descended from wolves?"

Jack realized he was now dealing with the prejudice that stemmed from being raised in an environment that had never hosted any live creature. He had a strong suspicion that even rats probably steered clear from the area she had worked in. "If you wish, I shall teach you which animals are safe to approach and which are not."

|Rue|

Rue concentrated on the samurai's nature lessons, if only because it distracted her from a more pressing matter. She had aided him on the bridge. She could have killed him, she thought. The plank he had been hanging from had sounded as if it was near snapping. It would have been easy.
But then she'd looked down at the long fall and imagined going that way herself. Jack was kind, and she hadn't had the heart to go through with it. The poison would probably be quicker. Perhaps he would never know what hit him. That's what she hoped for anyway.

As they walked he pointed out several animals which were all very benign. Rue observed the rabbits and deer, animals which tended to run as soon as they saw a human approach. He described other creatures to her, making sure she did follow her natural instincts should she ever encounter, for example, a bear. Judging from the description and her natural tendency to even regard bunnies as a threat, she suspected she wouldn't lack motivation to run.

As evening fell she looked down on the notes that littered her sketch book. There was actually a lot of useful information in here. Throughout Aku's reign her people had lost their connection to a natural environment, and all of them considered even a mouse a huge threat. She wondered what the general opinion would be when she sent these papers, assuring everyone that some animals considered people a threat. He had diffused the 'common knowledge' that small rodents were extremely venomous.

Jack had encouraged her to approach one of the rabbits around their campsite. As he pointed out, it would help her sketching and they were absolutely safe. She might even pet one if she worked up the courage. The fire of their campsite would keep away any predators that could be considered threatening. She'd obeyed, wandering about but still keeping the fire in her field of vision. If something happened she could scream and the samurai would save her.

That last thought was even more troublesome than wild rabbits.

A hissing sound stopped her dead in her tracks. Vaguely she wondered what kind of sound rabbits did make. Then her eyes landed on a low-hanging branch, where a creature coiled around the thick tree limb. It resembled, she thought, a kind of thick, green rope, like a vine. But it moved slowly and didn't seem inclined to attack.

Rue considered the animal. As it yawned she saw no sign of sharp teeth, which made it infinitely more preferable than a dog. The tongue seemed to be forked, sampling the air around it, but this was a trait it shared with cats. The samurai had assured her that generally speaking cats were safe to approach. And it did not seem to have any claws or fur. That obviously made it far better as a practice partner than say a bear or a wolf.

After some consideration she termed it to be a snake, though she didn't know what species exactly. Jack had mentioned that she should steer clear of brightly colored animals since those were poisonous. This snake was colored in green and brown and black, all colors which were generally deemed to be natural. Bunnies and deer were brown and black and white. So honestly, there wasn't that big of a difference. And trees were green, as was grass and moss. She doubted a tree had ever killed anyone.

So it was with a show of more courage than she had felt ever before that Rue approached the snake.

|Jack|

He fed some twigs to the fire and slowly turned the monkey on the fire. The forest was quiet, but it was the good kind of quiet, where bugs made their noises and owls hooted in the distance. Usually the presence of one of Aku's minions was precluded by a silence in the natural world. The only thing that would attack them now was an animal, and those were hardly ever a problem.

A rustling to his left alerted him to miss Rue returning to the campfire. He wondered if she'd been able to find a rabbit to sketch. His primary aim had been to show her that animals would generally attempt to avoid her, and that there was no need to panic around them. If she was to become a shaman at some point it was rather vital that she learn how to at least co-exist with animals.

"Sir samurai?" she called out to him. "I found an interesting animal, but I would like you to take a look at it first." In response he stood up, ready to come to her side. Her voice halted him, as she came closer and closer. "Oh, don't bother standing up. I brought it with me. It really is quite docile. I hadn't expected an animal to be this amiable to being touched."

Now this was a strange turn of events. Miss Rue actually working up the courage to touch an animal was something he hadn't anticipated to happen for weeks. It gave him an odd sense of satisfaction to know his unofficial pupil was willing to trust in his word so much she'd go against her natural instincts. "I am very curious to see what you've brought."

Miss Rue stepped into the light of the fire. Jack forgot how to breathe for a second. He had expected a tiny little mouse, perhaps a young and frightened bunny. Instead she had a full-grown constrictor draped around her arms and neck, the snake slowly winding his way down her waist. It seemed to be rather unhurried, as the prey showed no signs of escaping.

Jack swallowed and reached for his sword. "Miss Rue, kindly stand very still."

She cocked her head to the side, pursing her lips. "Why? I think it's rather cute actually. I mean, once you examine it up close. I have to admit I was frightened at first, but it really is quite sociable. It even hugs. I didn't know animals could do that."

"That is a constrictor, miss Rue. It doesn't so much hug as… constrict. It is trying to strangle you to death," he explained slowly. He had to be careful in his aim. He had no doubt miss Rue was as innocent as they came and so his sword wouldn't cut her, but he had the idea that she wouldn't take kindly to being attacked head-on by a sword.

Her eyes grew bigger and she looked down at the snake in a panic. At this point it had reached her hips, tongue flickering out to taste the air again. Its fat body glistened in the light of the fire and it seemed to be very determined to make a meal out of her. Jack could see miss Rue put one and one together before she arrived at a conclusion she did not like.

"Oh… uhm… very dangerous, are they?" she asked, licking her lips. If she opened her eyes any wider they might just pop out of her head.

"Quite so," he agreed with her.

"Th-th-they eat people often then?" she asked again, teeth chattering. Her knees wobbled together.

He lashed out with his sword, the steel cleaving the air with a whistling sound. Miss Rue screamed, the snake contorted. Then a spotted head rolled over the ground, the forked tongue trailing the dirt. The now limp body rolled from her shoulders, tangling in a heap around her feet. Her blue puffy pants swayed in the breeze as she took a deep breath. "Th-thank you."

With a smile he held out a hand to her. Tentatively stepping over the snake her fingers closed around his. Her eyes met his in a worried frown. He kept the smile on his face. "Miss Rue, please don't worry. You were merely trying your best."

She nodded, following him as he led her around the fire. With a deep sigh she sank to the ground where he took a seat next to her. Her eyes never left the dead snake opposite of them. "The world is a much more complicated place than I imagined. It all seemed so much easier in the logs."

Jack realized he was still holding her hand and let go, instead turning his attention back to their dinner. "Well, I would say so far it is quite successful. You are still alive after all."

"Mostly thanks to you," she said. When he looked at her their eyes met. The light flickered in intricate shadows on her face, but there was no mistaking it was him she was regarding. "I don't think I would make it out here for a full day without you."

Flustered Jack turned back to the fire, raking up the fire with the first branch he could find. He had been down this road before once, when Aku had taken the form of a woman. He was certain miss Rue was no such creature of darkness but he couldn't allow himself to make the mistake again. "I… eh." What was he supposed to say now that would keep both of them out of an entanglement that was more than just being friends? "Your praise of me is too high, miss Rue."

She shifted next to him, and he was uncomfortably aware of her presence. A chance gust of wind blew the scent of exotic parchment to him. "I don't think anyone could praise you too highly. If there is anyone with even a chance of defeating master Aku, it's you."

"I will defeat Aku," Jack said, grasping for the familiar territory she offered him. "I will defeat him and go back to my own time. That is my solemn promise."

Miss Rue also grabbed a thin branch, poking the fire in much the same manner he was. "I'm really starting to believe you could. I think that's why he fears you so much. I've never even found a mention in the records of people he feared. There are gods that can stand against him, some even living today. But nobody ever came close to killing him."

Jack placed a hand over his sword. "Your records seem so extensive, yet you know almost nothing about the land."

She shook her head. "Our records only deal with all that is Aku, his subjects and his opponents. Everything else… all history… there are no records left. All my people has left from our blood debt to Aku are notes started under his command. He only started to keep records after he had us."

Jack considered this. There was a chance, he decided, no, more than a mere chance, that Aku had falsely produced those documents. From what miss Rue had told him, her people only followed Aku because of the blood debt. If he could somehow prove that their bond to him was a fabricated lie, her people would be free.
He appreciated her. About that much he was honest. Anything more he attempted to suppress, if only because he had nothing to offer a woman. Nothing but pain, fear and an early widowhood, should the worst come to pass.

"Where did those first records come from?"

She looked up at the sky. "It was… a small town, at the foot of the mountain ranges to the west from here. Master Aku left nothing standing there. It is said he did not want enemies to find anything they could use against us."

"If you wish to become a shaman, perhaps a visit to the origin of your people might be what is necessary to begin your journey."

Rue glanced at him. "What about your own quest?"

He smiled, handing her a portion of roasted monkey. It would seem their breakfast would be grilled snake, so there was no need to hold back either. "I am chasing rumors. Whether these go east or west makes little difference at the moment."

In case anyone wants to know, I'm currently drowning in assignments. The only reason I can upload something is because I wrote this months ago T.T

If you'll excuse me, I need to dodge life responsibilities by writing Levi fanfiction.