Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin isn't mine. I am only borrowing them and giving them sparkly fun powers.
Night fell softly like velvet over the landscape before they stopped, but Kaoru barely noticed. She was sore, tired, more than a little sick of being jostled and her legs felt like they were going to fall off, but the same fey mood that had caught her earlier had only become stronger as the night wrapped the land in dark arms. The sunset had been fantastic, with wings of indigo and scarlet sweeping over the sky, and now all but the faintest traces of the sun had faded below the horizon. They were still ambling over the wide prairie, but Kaoru could see the dark smudge of forest on the horizon. The campsite that Kenshin had eventually picked was little more than a hillock on the wide, flat plains, but it gave them a fine view of the surrounding countryside. General camp duties were something new to Kaoru, since it was always assumed that the graduates of the Academy could stay in hostels or inns. Misao had told Megumi enough about her that Kaoru wasn't going anywhere near the cook-fire, and since she didn't have the skills or subtleties to hunt for game or set the wards around the camp, the horse-master, Sano, showed her how to curry the mounts, then stayed to help her complete the long job. Kaoru, by the time she was finished with the horses and had helped get them water and feed, was barely able to stagger back to the campsite, where she was grateful that Megumi and Misao had already pulled together a traveler's stew over a campfire. The fire itself was strange--instead of acrid smoke it released a gentle perfume, and though it was placed on top of a few small logs, she got the feeling that they were just window-dressing, and the fire was burning up something else entirely. She glanced around the camp, and, seeing Kenshin leaning up against his saddle and packs, she began to cross over to the far side of the fire. She wanted to avoid the uncanny man. However, as soon as she took another step, his eyes flashed open and caught hers. She wouldn't escape him that easily.
"Miss Kaoru, I believe that we had scheduled a bit of a lesson for you tonight?" A half-smile played on the man's lips, and while he was meeting her eyes frankly, Kaoru just knew that he was hiding something from her.
"Well, I'm feeling a bit tired…" she trailed off as he stood, taking her hand, and sitting back down. It was, of course, natural for her to follow him down to the loamy turf.
"Surely you're not too tired for one simple exercise," he said, and his voice was oil and honey, skipping her brain and encircling her legs and arms, pulling her closer, into a posture of attentive listening, as if he had the wisdom of the ages to impart. He was fascinating, but she hated him for what he could do to her without even trying. "Now, entering someone's mind is not to difficult, especially if both of the people are mages, but only if both participants are willing. When I entered your mind earlier, you were not willing, but it was the only way that I could speak with you without running afoul of that compulsion that was put on you--that's what we had to use the opium, and I still feel…rather guilty about resorting to those tactics." Kenshin was showing his discomfort, though Kaoru was certain he could have masked it. A penance, for her sake? She was sure he hated to show weakness like that. "Now, I said I would teach you how to enter someone's mind willingly, didn't I?"
The lessoning was quick, and easy, for linking minds with another Seasonal Mage seemed to be mostly instinct for one born with mage-gifts. It was no more than a simple exchange of invitation and acceptance, then what Kaoru thought of "clasping hands" made of magical energy. In fact, it was almost disturbingly easy to slip into Kenshin's mind.
Kaoru 'arrived' in Kenshin's mind before he did, and was startled by the similarity that their minds showed. The most glaring difference was that the trees of Kenshin's forest were all painted in the glorious colors of high autumn, rather than the lush green of Kaoru's mind. An achingly blue sky arched above her, and the faintest impression of a full harvest moon hovered in the corner of her eye. Kaoru took all these things in, drinking down the rich colors and the crisp scent of the wind and the leaves. As she was peering deeper into the recesses of Kenshin's mind, trying to see through the dense foliage of the forest, her eye caught something that had definitely not been in her mind. Stark, slate-grey walls reared up through the trees, their ramparts thrusting up out of the treetops. The rest of the landscape was vibrant, but these stern battlements were harsh and cold in a way that brooked no resistance. Caught with childlike fascination, Kaoru took a step closer, then another, until she was at the edge of the glade. She was ready to start pushing through the underbrush to explore those forbidding walls, and perhaps even find a gate, when Kenshin appeared at her elbow.
"I apologize, Miss Kaoru," he said lightly. "Aoshi required one last thing of me before your lesson." His hair was the same color as the brightest of the trees, Kaoru thought. "Now, the most difficult part of the lesson is accomplished--would you care to take a stroll through this, if I may say it, lovely park?"
"Wait, Kenshin…" She colored a little as she realized how familiar and informal she must sound, but she really didn't know what else to call him. The red-headed enigma, however, simply looked satisfied as a cat curled up around a saucer of cream. Kaoru did her best to stifle the reactions her body had to that satisfied look. "What are those walls? I know it's your mind…so why would there be parts of it walled off? You…" She trailed off awkwardly. Kenshin stiffened, and when he responded, his voice had lost none of its rich, smooth quality, but it seemed like something integral was missing that left his words hollow. The satisfied look was so far gone that it seemed like Kaoru had merely imagined it.
"I'm afraid that I can't tell you that, Miss Kaoru." He looked straight through her, his eyes laying her soul bare for him. Something wild-seeming in him was measuring her for malice, and it left her shaking. "I told you that there were things in me that were neither proper nor seemly, and I do not think it right for them to be thrust upon you the moment you enter my mind." The suspicious look left his eyes as he offered his arm to her, but through the tour, Kaoru couldn't shake the feeling that she was being tested, and it was extremely uncomfortable. As soon as she could, she pleaded exhaustion and slipped out of Kenshin's mind, seeking refuge in her bedroll at Misao's side. The younger girl was already asleep, or feigning it, but Kaoru wasn't in the mood for companionship. She curled up on the ground, remembering her dormitory bed wistfully--something she thought she never would never do. Though the thing had been narrow, hard and lumpy, it was never quite this hard, and never made her think that a thousand miles of cold and damp were all trying to crowd into her sleeping gear. She hated the cold and damp.
Her bed at school never had roots sticking up out of the mattress, for that matter. Or sticks…well, except for that one time, and that had been Misao's fault. She felt an ant crawl up her leg, and shuddered. There hadn't been bugs, either. Still, it was the best she was going to get, so she might as well relax and try to get some sleep. Enjoying this was beyond her. Her stubbornness would have to get her through one uncomfortable night, and hopefully the beds at the Keep would be more comfortable. Strangely, though, the longer she lay on the cold, uncomfortable ground, the less cold and uncomfortable it became. A sweet, spicy scent wafted past, and she curled her fingers in the soft, springy grass. She was almost completely asleep before Aoshi and Kenshin jolted her back awake.
She was only aware of them when Kenshin stooped down near her head to examine the grass. She was still groggy from exhaustion, and could only wonder stupidly what was so interesting about the grass, until she noticed the darker green splotch spreading out from around her body. From there, it wasn't too much of a stretch to connect the grass to her own magic, though it was decidedly strange to think that she had created grass unconsciously.
"Kenshin…" Aoshi's voice was both cold and dry, and Kaoru thought she would be annoyed if she were more awake. "Your student seems to be leaking. Do you think that you can control her, or do I need to put a freeze on her powers? We are traveling through…sensitive territory." Kaoru couldn't see well in the gloom, but she thought Kenshin was grinning.
"Aoshi, I think I'll remind you that your student first showed her power by stealing not only three of Saitou's best maps, but also his favorite lighter, and that we only found out about all of it when she set one of the maps on fire because 'fire is sparkly!'." Kenshin smiled at her and led Aoshi away, chuckling softly. Kaoru went to sleep confused.
Authors Notes: Argh. Just…argh. I'm so sorry that it took me this long to get another chapter written. I was going through one of those phases where you keep thinking that "nothing I write is any good, so I just shouldn't write and hope no one notices". I know, it's stupid, but it's really hard to write with an attitude like that. Anyway, I did my best to force it out, and I've got a much better sense of exactly where I'm going with all of this. I hope y'all like Enishi, because he's certainly my favorite sociopath. I'll do my best to get some writing done over camp, but you all know what happens when I make promises. Until next time (whenever that may be), have fun and good reading.