Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin isn't mine, but I could do a better job than whoever did the Christian Arc.
The frantic pace of the day before had been worth it. Though the entire household had stopped all their work to sit down to a leisurely supper together, and the muffled sounds of packing (as well as other strange noises) had continued far into the night, Misao still woke Kaoru before dawn with a mug of sweet tea and a packet of bread and cheese. For once, the bubbly girl looked exhausted. When Kaoru saw her pale, drawn face, one look from her was enough to provoke an explanation.
"We transferred the excess baggage back to the Keep last night," she whispered, careful not to wake the two young apprentices that Kaoru was sharing a room with. "I was one of the helpers—my "sending" gift, you know? I was just lucky that Aoshi was there to help with the brute-strength aspect of the magic, I'm just not that strong yet…" She realized she was babbling. "Anyway, we've got to get going. Sano brought the horses in from the forest." She padded over to the other beds, swigging her lukewarm tea. Kaoru rolled out of bed—she hated mornings—and pulled on the travel clothes that had been set out for her. If she had been any more aware, the deep blue tunic and creamy trousers would have shocked her, but as it was she simply pulled the soft, homespun clothes over her head. Buckling a belt snugly around her trim waist and tossing a forest-colored cloak around her shoulders, she was halfway out of the room before she realized a leather rucksack had been prepared for her and waited at the foot of her bed. She grabbed it and continued shuffling out of her room.
The rest of the group was in the courtyard behind the house, each person wearing a rucksack identical to her own. She could spot Misao and her icy mentor, and Kenshin's bright hair was visible on the other side of a dappled horse. Megumi, the doctor she had spoken with at supper, was packing rolls of bandages and pots of ointment into a pair of saddlebags. Yahiko and Tsubame, the two youngest members of the group, Fall and Spring respectively, were practicing their lessons by juggling small balls of light between their outstretched hands. Finally, a tall, rough-looking man she had not seen before was leading horses into the spacious courtyard. He had strange, spiky hair held away from his face with a scarlet ribbon, and his grin seemed feral and wild. In all of this chaos, Misao was the one to notice her first, and, seemingly recovered from her exhaustion, scampered over to lead her into the center. She came face to face with a horse, nearly bumping into it. Luckily, the horse was a placid old mare that didn't startle.
"Have you ever ridden before, Kaoru?" her friend asked, patting the horse on the nose affectionately. It sneezed at her. Kaoru eyed the animal nervously. The teeth were huge!
"Umm…no," she said hesitantly. "In fact, I think I'll just walk…" She began backing away from the horse.
"Oh, no, you can't do that," Misao said breezily. "Anyway, Specter of Immanent Doom is an absolute sweetheart!" It took Kaoru a minute to realize that Misao was talking about the horse.
"Specter of…Misao, just what kind of horse are you trying to give me?" She was nearly wailing. Forget hostile mages taking over her mind, this horse was truly terrifying!
"Jeeze, Kaoru, relax…Sano over there," she pointed at the rough looking man. "He's the one that named all the horses. He's bloody minded. I'm riding Compound Fracture and Aoshi, though he won't call him by his proper name, is riding Crotch Rocket." She saw Kaoru's mystified expression. "Sano was, ah…very taken with a fireworks display, and managed to learn all the terminology. Apparently it's something that goes 'boom' and makes bright lights. Anyway, here's the mounting block! Alley oop!" And in a dizzying whirl of limbs, Kaoru was thumping into the saddle. She tensed for the bucking, kicking and biting she knew would come, but the grey mare simply whickered and bent her neck to crop at the sparse grass. Kaoru had just started to relax when Kenshin, seated on a gangly roan stallion, clucked softly. All of the horses, including her own, ambled into motion behind him.
It was strange to right through the modern city on horseback, creeping out like thieves (which, she supposed, they were) at the break of dawn, dressed in rough, simple clothes that would fit more in the previous century. Misao rode beside her, giving her pointers on controlling her horse (who was called Darla affectionately, 'Specter of Impending Doom' being too much of a mouthful), and telling her about the Keep they were headed to. The morning passed pleasantly, with Kaoru relaxing to the sway of the horse and beginning to learn how to maneuver the beleaguered beast. It was lucky she was a fast learner, because around midmorning, Kenshin sent word down the line of horses that Kaoru should join him at the head of the group. With no small amount of trepidation, Kaoru wheeled out of the loose group and attempted to trot up to the front of the group. The Mages themselves schooled their features expertly to keep from laughing at the city-breed girl, but she was sure that the horses were laughing at her. The burning embarrassment from her lack of skill, coupled with her nervousness around the leader of the mages, had her pale and wide-eyed as she joined him at the front. She noticed Aoshi wheeling back to take her place beside Misao, but her eyes were only for Kenshin. He was a striking sight in the morning sun, and though his deep blue shirt was of the same archaic cut as Kaoru's, he made it look natural and elegant. His hair was swept up into a high tail and tied tightly with a thin strip of leather, and the early sun seemed to linger on it, luxuriating in the color and bringing out every fiery highlight. He wore nobility and power like a second skin, and Kaoru was almost afraid to be the focus of his attention. Of course, he noticed her. He noticed everything.
"Ah, good morning, Miss Kaoru," he said politely, nodding his head in a half bow. Some trick of the light had turned his eyes to a deep lavender, and somehow that gaze was easier to bear than the molten gold of the day before. She mumbled something about an early morning rather than a good morning, and awkwardly lapsed into silence once again. She would be more than content to slip back beside Misao, but a glance behind her showed her friend deeply entranced in a mage-lesson. Not only did she not want to disturb her, but she was still vaguely unsettled by the idea of magic.
"Miss Kaoru, I was hoping we could take this opportunity to begin your lessons," he said nonchalantly. "After all, traveling cross-country can be tedious…" He looked at her expectantly.
"You're to be my teacher?" she spluttered nervously. "But, surely…you're the lord of the Keep, you must have better things to do than instruct me, and I'm sure to be a slow learner, and…" she trailed off, her face burning. She couldn't face this man every day, he would drive her crazy! Still, he was undeterred, and turned on her with slightly confused eyes.
"Of course I'm to be your teacher. We have no Summer mages, and a Fall mage is the best option to teach you quickly. Of course, there's also the tradition of the mage being taught by the one who discovers her, particularly in cases where they are of compatible seasons. I thought we could begin your lessons now?" His voice was light, but Kaoru could tell that he would not be deterred. "Besides," he continued, "You need a Warrior's training, and since Aoshi simply can't train a Summer properly, I am your only option," He sounded faintly pleased with this. Kaoru felt like storming off and glowering at the infuriating man behind her bangs, but not only was that simply not done to a lord of any sort, even a mage-lord, it was also extremely difficult to accomplish on horseback.
"If there's no other teacher, my lord, I suppose that I must beg you to surrender some of your precious time in my instruction," she said smoothly. Deltographers were supposed to flow in the highest levels of society, and though she had despised her etiquette classes, she grudgingly thanked her teacher mentally…but stopped when Kenshin started chuckling under his breath. Was she really that obvious? The lord quickly sobered, gold filtering through the violet of his eyes.
"Miss Kaoru, there is something we Warriors all must know, before we begin our teaching." His voice took on a distant tone, and he looked down the road as if seeing back through the years. "There is something in us…that is profoundly Other. There is something in us that, when freed, will fight mercilessly, wildly, and…joyfully." He looked over at her with haunted eyes. "You will fight. It may be in defense of your own life, in defense of the lives of others, it may be for an ideal, for love, for a nation…I don't know what will call it out in you. But you will fight, and exult in the blood of your enemies." Kaoru stared at him, shocked. Her face was pale, and her lower lip was savaged by her teeth. She looked the very image of the pure young maiden, shocked by the older, roguish rake of a soldier, but he could see something flickering in her eyes, shards of silver, answering his call. She shivered, and the spell cast by his words was broken. She stared at him dumbly, barely feeling the horse shift under her, but feeling something struggling in her breast. There was something in there, striving to get free, to get what it wanted and needed.
"I…you…What is happening to me?" she whispered, the words barely making it out of her dry mouth.
"That's not something you need to worry about quite yet, Miss Kaoru," he said, stuffing the glimpses of his other self back into the deepest cellars of his mind. "Now you need to concentrate on learning your magic,"
He was amazed. It had been a stretch to mention what being a Warrior was to her, who had just joined their ranks. He was not sure he would have tried to explain it to Misao, even, though the girl had lived with them practically since her birth. Still, he had not been disappointed. To already see the hints of what she would be, so early…she would be magnificent. Any doubts he had about the girl, which were few and far between, had been relieved by the flickering of feral silver in her eyes. She wouldn't gain her potential for a while yet, though…and he must teach her.
"Seasonal magery isn't anything like Deltography. Learn that now and get over it," his voice took on the stern, but kind, tone of a born teacher. "You have no specific cantrips to learn, no spells, arcane words; you need nothing besides your own will and strength." He glanced over at her. Though she was still faintly pale, she appeared to be listening with interest to his lesson. "Seasonal magic is…instinctual. That's why not everyone can learn it, why it's a rare skill. When you use it, you tap into a deeper level of yourself that some people just don't have. Your power moves through you and directs your will, and as long as you have your goal clearly visualized, your will sharpened, and enough strength to do the job, nearly anything is possible. Some things," he admitted, "Do take a bit of a knack, and every Season has its own personal strength, but, in a pinch, you can work another Season's magic. Any questions yet?"
Something occurred to her, so simple and basic that she knew she should have asked it long before. "Kenshin, you've never told me exactly what exactly the specialization of Fall mages is…"
He looked over at her, considering her silently for a moment. "I did that for a reason, Miss Kaoru. You should know that the powers of a Fall mage are the most closely tied to those of a Warrior. Fall magic is wild and uncontrolled. It is tied in closer to the woods and the wilds than any other magic. I can call animals to my hand, to fight for me, even. At some level, I can become an animal…but I don't often do that. It's hard to describe, but when we stop for the night…" he hesitated. He was about to make an offer he had never made before, never even considered making. "When we stop for the night, if you wish, I will let you into my mind, the way I went into yours to speak with you." For some reason, he desperately wanted her to accept. "That would give you a better idea of Fall magic, almost better even than a demonstration," he glanced over at her, his strange eyes attempting to see into her soul. Kaoru blushed. No man had ever paid attention to her before, at least, not as a woman. She had always simply been an intellect or a talented Deltographer…but, she supposed, she had never been anything other than an intellect or a talented Deltographer before.
"I think I'd like that," she said softly, her hands clenching around the reins. Inside, she was torn between emotions. There was fear of this man, fear of the learning she knew she needed, but at the same time there was a wild excitement surging through her veins. The road was stretched out in front of her like a ribbon from a peddler's pack, and the wind in the trees smelled like cool water. It wasn't proper, and it certainly wasn't normal, but something in her wanted to dig her heels into her horse's sides and take off down the road, reveling in the wind and the sun and the earth. Instead, she shifted in the saddle, sitting up a little straighter and looked Kenshin in the eye. "Tonight, then?"
AN: Well, this is certainly longer…and though still not much is happening, I like it much better than the last chapter (which I'm considering revising anyway). I hope this satisfies all of you that want to know what exactly Fall mages do, but I'm still holding a little back. I promise, the first Fall fight scene should be pretty fun!
Oh, yes…this is the last update from Malta. My flight goes out on Wednesday quite early, but I'm not complaining. I'm quite ready to get back to the states after over four months abroad.
See you all next time!