4
Wild Boy

Kaoru tried to keep a cheerful thought as she carefully washed her aunt's favorite navy blue kimono, but she was so weary. She had always hating laundry more than anything else, and now she had to do every single item over again because Aunt Urei had been displeased with the way Kaoru had washed one of Uncle Shiji's shirts.

It was so hot, and she longed for a swim at the lake.

Thinking of the lake brought the red-headed man to mind, and she wondered if he was still there and what he was doing. Did he hate felling trees and moving rocks as much as she hated washing clothes?

She could hear her aunt chatting with a neighbor. Kaoru slammed the wash onto the board, her movements quick and angry as she squeezed water from the fabric. Aunt Urei always had time to visit with her friends because Kaoru did most of the housework and all of the washing, ironing, mending, and gardening. About the only thing that Urei ever did was cook dinner, and that was because no amount of punishment could improve Kaoru's miserable attempts at making edible meals.

After the washing was finished for the second time and drying on the line, she wandered into the house to see what else her aunt wanted her to do, and found the guest was Nara, sitting with Aunt Urei smiled at her. "Good afternoon, Kaoru. We haven't seen you in town much of late."

"No, Ma'am," Kaoru said.

"You should try to get in more often, dear. There's going to be a fair within the next day or two. My husband and I are going to attend. Could we pick you up, maybe the day after tomorrow?"

Kaoru glanced at her aunt.

"If Kaoru decides to go, her uncle will take her," Urei said. She frowned at her adoptive niece over the rim of her cup. "We'll discuss it later. Why don't you take O-Tsuyu to the lake and give him a bath? I think you've done most of the inside chores for today."

"Yes, Ma'am," Kaoru answered, carefully measuring out false meekness that would keep her aunt in good humor. She bowed politely to their guest, pasted a stiff smile on her face, and left the room.

It would be wonderful to go to a fair, to meet and talk with people her own age. To wear nice clothes for a change, arrange her hair in a more becoming style, listen to music. Fun.

Fun, a dear and missed tickle in her belly, lightness in her heart, laughter in her throat.

But there was to be no visits to the fair for Kaoru. Instead, it was to the lake to bathe O-Tsuyu. She had never been very fond of her aunt's dog. A huge beast, a male dog with a feminine name Aunt Urei had chosen for whatever reason, the mongrel had long hair that had to be painstakingly brushed after he was bathed.

But, Kaoru thought, brightening, it would give her a chance to go for a swim.

Leaving her sandals and tabi where her aunt couldn't see and object, Kaoru called the dog and ran off toward the lake. O-Tsuyu trotted at her side, his long pink tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth. He was, Kaoru had long ago decided, perhaps the ugliest dog she had ever seen.

By the time she had bathed him, she was soaked to the skin, but she didn't care. The water was cool against the heat of the day, and after tying the dog to a tree where he couldn't roll in the dirt, she slipped out of her clothes and went for a leisurely swim. By the time she stepped from the lake and redressed, the dog was asleep, legs twitching in his dreams.

She hesitated yet again, looking out over the lake. She was here. Close to where the prisoners worked. Her heart fluttered a little, but surely another quick look would hurt nothing?

Her indecision only lasted another moment and she found herself making her way toward the hill, stepping from tree to tree so she wouldn't be seen as she made her way down the slope.

She spotted he red-headed man immediately, saw as he wrestled with the stump of a tree, trying to dislodge its bond with the earth. His thin shoulders and slender arms were taut with the strain, his build so slim, but well-defined. Sweat coursed down his bare back, and Kaoru found herself a little short of breath as she watched him.

His eyes were closed in concentration as he summoned his strength, and she marveled at the beauty of his profile, held her breath as he gave a mighty shove that belied his slight form, and felt like cheering as the tree stump toppled sideways to the ground, its roots splayed out with clumps of earth flying.

For a moment, the man stood there, breathing heavily, his arms hanging at his sides, legs slightly spread.

One of the road bosses called for a rest break and passed among the prisoners carrying a bucket of water. Kaoru frowned when he passed right by the red-haired man without giving him a chance to drink.

She sat there for a long while, forgetful of the time. In spite of his suffering, he was such a joy to watch. His every movement was graceful, beautiful to behold. She marveled at his endurance, at the sight of naked male flesh. Just looking at him filled her with feelings she had never known and couldn't identify, strange and pleasant sensations that fluttered in the pit of her stomach and made her heart beat fast. She saw him gaze into the distance, saw the longing that flared in his beautiful violet eyes as he stared at the faraway mountains. Intuitively, she knew he was thinking of home.

The second road boss herded the other prisoners farther up the road, disappearing from sight around the bend. The first boss fastened a short length of chain to the iron cuff around the redheaded man's left ankle, securing the other end to one of the heavy, iron-rimmed wagon wheels. Then he moved out of the shorter man's reach and tossed a hand saw on the ground at his feet and gestured at a large stack of logs, obviously wanting him to cut the pile. The redhead didn't speak, only stared at him for a long moment before he stooped and picked up the saw.

Kaoru found herself wishing it was possible for him to use the saw to remove the wheel from the wagon and maybe try to make a run for it, but she could see the foolishness of the idea. He wouldn't get far with his feet shackled and dragging a wheel that weighed close to a hundred pounds.

Watching him, Kaoru found herself yet again admiring his easy strength and economy of movement, the play of muscle and sinew beneath his smooth skin. Twice, he paused, his eyes lingering on the water bucket that hung from the tailgate just out of reach.

Before she knew what she was doing, Kaoru slipped out of her hiding place and ran down the hill, darted across the road toward the wagon, and scooped a dipper full of water from the bucket.

She started toward the man, footsteps slowing as she felt the full force of his gaze on her face. His eyes, large and beautiful as they were, were widened further in mild surprise. Pausing in mid-stride, she held the dipper out toward him.

"Water," she said. "Would…would you like a drink?"

He nodded warily, and she wondered if maybe he thought she was teasing him.

Squaring her shoulders she stepped forward and stopped again. Seen up close, the man seemed so strange and wild, and had the most intense, piercing eyes she had ever seen on anyone. She felt a little jolt of fear of him, sudden and unexpected. "You won't hurt me, will you?" she asked softly. Perhaps it was, again, those eyes, so much more alive and aware than any others she had ever met with her own, that made her believe that his answers would be honest ones.

The man shook his head and Kaoru wondered if he could speak. She had never heard him say anything or seen him talk to anyone, but he obviously understood. Still, she remained where she was, wondering how she could hand him the dipper without getting any closer.

Her eyes met his and she felt a quick heat suffuse her from head to foot. Almost, she changed her mind, but then she saw him swallow, saw his tongue slide over dry, cracked lips, and she knew she could not refuse to let him quench his thirst.

He didn't move as she slowly closed the remaining distance between them. Perhaps he sensed her fear because he, too, moved slowly, as if to avoid startling her, He reached out and took the dipper from her hand, and emptied ladle of its contents in two long swallows. He closed his eyes as he drank. Kaoru knew the feeling well, the mercy of cool water on the throat and lips in this unforgiving heat.

"Would you like more?" Kaoru asked, her eyes intent on his face. How beautiful he was… Her stomach fluttered as he licked the last drops of water from his lips. "More?" she asked again, her voice coming out a little deeper.

He nodded and gave back the dipper. His fingertips brushed her hand and for the space of a heartbeat they stared at each other. Kaoru was the first to look away. Her whole hand seemed to be on fire from his touch, and she was hardly aware of walking toward the bucket and refilling the dipper.

She offered him the ladle a second time, her mind whirling with his nearness, her eyes never leaving his face. How could a man be so beautiful?

At last he spoke. "Thank you," he said, voice low and smooth and as pleasant as anything else about him she had observed.

"You're welcome," Kaoru replied softly.

He smiled again at her, the same sad and gentle one she had seen before from the slope.

The slope… Time! She was late again, she realized in dismay. Abruptly she spun around and dashed toward the wagon. She thrust the dipper in the bucket where she had found it and ran back up the hill and back to where she had left the dog.

O-Tsuyu's tail thumped the ground as she fell to her knees beneath the tree. She glanced up at the sun, groaning. She had been gone for so long and the dog wasn't even groomed yet. Aunt Urei would be furious. Working quickly, she began to brush the dog's thick coat, tears of frustration welling in her eyes when the beast refused to stand still.

Her aunt was waiting for he on the porch, face stony and eyes blazing. "Where have you been, young lady?"

"The…the lake," Kaoru said.

"It does not take over two hours to bathe O-Tsuyu. Kaoru, I have not been pleased with your attitude or your performance as of late. If you don't mend your ways, I'll be forced to punish you."

Kaoru felt cold. She had been whipped several times by her aunt. Times when a dish was accidentally broken, for impudence, for forgetfulness.

The cold became anger, and then the anger evaporated as the unbidden memory of the redheaded boy's gentle smile rose in her mind. The smile…it was calming to her, but more than that… She would not be able to sneak glimpses of him--guilty as the idea made her feel--if she was locked in her room as additional punishment.

"I'm sorry, Aunt. I'll do better," she said in a tone of promise, eyes on her bare feet.

"See that you do. Hurry up inside. It's time for dinner."

"Yes'm."

Kaoru was especially cautious at dinner that evening. She sat up straight, took small bites, chewed thoroughly, and kept her eyes on her food. Her aunt was especially attentive, which meant that Urei was looking for an excuse to whip her. Kaoru would have to tread with care in the future.

Kenshin stared up at the sky, too weary to sleep. Instead, he thought of the girl… He saw her on the hill almost every day for over two weeks. He enjoyed seeing her, since she was a spot of brightness and innocence that had been missing from his existence for far too long, but he couldn't help but wonder what she found so fascinating about watching a man in chains toiling in the hot sun. Surely a beautiful young girl had better things to do than hide behind a tree spying on a bunch of shackled men?

And yet, unaccountably, it pleased him to know she was there. She was the first New Person to show him any degree of kindness. It had taken courage for her to help him. Likely she would have incurred scorn and derision from her people for giving water to him. She could have been punished for it. And yet, there was steel beneath the velvet skin and soft-spoken words. He admired that most of all.

Kaoru hastened through her afternoon chores, then ran to the hill. She could spare only a few minutes today, but she had to see him, had to known he was still there and that the road bosses had not harmed him too badly.

She couldn't explain it, how he had become so important to her. He simply was. From a tree, Kaoru watched him labor. She saw the lash bite into his back, saw him wince though he never uttered a word of protest or a cry of pain. She saw great rage in his eyes when he looked at the two men that tormented him, and she wondered how he had learned to keep such a tight control of his temper.

It dawned on her that they abused him more than the other convicts because they feared him. Like her, they sensed the power sleeping beneath his passive façade.

Occasionally, Kaoru saw him glance up the hill. Was he thinking of her, looking for her? Were his dreams haunted with her image as hers were haunted with his?

Nightly, his gentle features rose up before her, his eyes brilliant and strangely compelling, calling to her in ways that she didn't understand. She woke from such dreams feeling slightly breathless, her skin damp with sweat, face flushed like she was fevered…and she felt curiously empty inside.

One night this emptiness had moved her to slip from her bed and touch a match to her candle, and she had stood before the small, cracked mirror that hung on the wall. She studied her face, wishing she were older and wiser in the ways of men. Wishing her aunt had not so denied her this education.

And then, feeling unexplainably guilty, she had blown out the candle and crawled back into bed, only to lie awake thinking of him.

She stayed in her hiding place a moment longer, hating to leave, yet unable to remain. He had not managed to glance the right way this day, and couldn't spare his eyes from his work for the moment she needed to get his attention, but it was all right. She would try again tomorrow.

The knowledge that he was still nearby filled her with a sense of peace.

There was once a time when Aunt Urei and Uncle Shiji went into town for supplies, the fact that they never invited Kaoru to accompany them would have filled her with anger and regret. But not anymore. A glimpse of the town was no longer as important as it had been. As soon as her adoptive aunt and uncle were out of sight, she raced to the hill.

There had been a time when she had spent every moment she could spare at the lake, or in her secret corner of the loft with a book, but neither cool water nor written word held any appeal for her now. Not when she could see him. Her friend, to whom she barely spoken a few words. A friend whose name she wished she knew.

Kaoru heard the sound of the whip as she crested the hill. Her steps faltered, dread filled her.

Somehow she knew…she knew, before she came to a point she could see.

"Not him," she whispered all the same, quickening her steps. She didn't like the idea of any of those men being punished under the road bosses predictable cruelty, but most of all him. "Please, not him."

The words were a prayer for mercy, a softly uttered plea that died as they left her lips when she crept down the brush-covered slope, darting from tree to tree until she could see what was happening.

His arms were shackled to a stout limb high above his head. His feet barely touched the ground. The road boss was whipping the red-haired boy with steady precision, the lash rising and falling in a neat arc to land with cruel force. The smaller man's entire back was bloody.

Her top and bottom teeth warred with one another and Kaoru closed her eyes, clenching her fists. Her fingernails dug into her palms. The whip fell again, the sound of the lash as insidious and brutal as the sight of it slithering through the air to slice through flesh. She shuddered with each blow, her eyes filling with tears. She had received many whippings from her aunt, but this was vastly different. Her aunt never intended to kill her, but it was possible he might not survive such a beating.

A sob rose in her throat as the whip cracked through the air again and again. The effort to remain where she was and not run from her hiding place and down the slope to stop them was becoming unbearable. She knew she couldn't help, but she couldn't bear the pain she knew he was in. Memories of her own superficial whippings mingled with this moment, and her tears fell unchecked. A time that seemed like years passed before there was finally silence.

Taking a deep breath, Kaoru opened her eyes and peered down the hill. The young man's head had fallen forward. His slender body was limp and she knew he would have collapsed but for the heavy iron shackles that bound his arms to the tree.

When one of the road bosses started to release the prisoner, the other one shook his head.

"Leave him. Maybe it'll teach him a lesson he won't soon forget."

The other nodded. Swinging aboard their horses, the two men marched the rest of the prisoners down he road and around the bend that was too narrow to allow them to move their wagon closer to the day's work site.

Kenshin grit his teeth. His whole body felt as though it was on fire and he felt himself teetering on the edge of unconsciousness.

It was a stupid thing to do. He knew it before it happened. He knew it when it was happening. He really knew it after it happened.

He had endured the vindictiveness and mockery of the two Enemies, knowing that to fight back was to invite just such a whipping. It had been no difficulty guarding his tongue and keeping to himself since those things had come naturally to him. But today…

He closed his eyes, leaning toward the darkness that hovered around him.

The sound of a voice drew him back from the edge. A voice that was kind and soft and concerned. Slowly, he opened his eyes to find her standing before him. He gazed at her through a red haze of pain. Was she real, or has his own imagination found a way to torment him with the image of this little creature of mercy?

Her face was close to his, eyes full of pity and concern. He licked dry lips, unable to speak for the terrible pain in his back and shoulders and awful dryness in his throat.

She understood. Quickly, she went to the wagon and filled the dipper with water, came back as quickly as she could without spilling, and then lifted the big wooden ladle to his lips. He kept his eyes on her, watching the tears welling up in her eyes as he drank. She refilled the dipper again, and then a third time, and the cold water revived him. She was real, this angel who had come to help him back from the dark and show him such mercy.

She walked around him to get a closer look at his mutilated flesh. He felt her tremble, and Kenshin imagined there was a hardly an inch of his back that wasn't torn or bleeding or crisscrossed with ugly red welts.

"No," he admonished softly when she took out a cloth and started to wipe the blood from his back. "No, you must not."

With a nod, she drew her hand away. If she tended his wounds, they would know someone had been there to see him. "Why did they beat you?"

Kenshin smiled slightly, and without pride admitted, "I hit the one called Kamishi."

"Why?"

Kenshin shook his head ruefully. "I…" His face darkened with memory. "Well…today I just couldn't ignore them like any other day. My…my sister. They were telling me what they might do with my sister, if they had her here."

It was a fact, though, that Kamishi and his partner Shutaro had no idea if he had any sisters or brothers or a mother or father or any family at all. They were only fishing for things that would hurt and anger him, and they had found exactly the right mark by sheer chance.

"It was a foolish thing to do," he to her, his voice soft but not entirely regretful. He shrugged, grimacing as the move pulled on his torn back. "But when he called my sister a foul name, I hit him. And kept hitting him."

"Was it worth it?"

Kenshin grinned wryly. "I thought so at the time."

"And now?"

He considered her question seriously for a moment before he answered. He thought of the pain he was suffering, the renewed agony every time the whip cut into his back, and then he remembered how it had felt to strike the road boss, to lash out as his Enemy, to feel Kamishi's blood on his hands. "Once it happened, it had happened. I have no regrets."

"Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" she asked after a short silence. She looked helplessly at her hands before meeting his eyes again. "Anything at all?"

Slowly, he shook his head, his eyes never leaving her face. Her kimono was still that ugly, shapeless thing too big for her, and he wondered what she looked like beneath the mess of it. Immediately he chided himself for such a thought. She was only a child!

"Are you hungry?"

He shook his head. His back was a constant throbbing pain that overshadowed anything else. And now his arms began to ache from being stretched over his head for so long.

"I'd help you if I could," she said, close to tears. "I wish there was something I could do for you."

"You're here," he said, softening his eyes at her, and, though a little surprised by how much he meant it, he added, "That is enough."

Her face brightened a little at his words, and Kenshin shifted his weight from one foot to the other, wincing as the slight movement sent new waves of pain darting across his back and shoulders.

"I've been here every day," she told him.

Kenshin nodded. "I've sensed your presence even when I couldn't see you."

"Really?"

He nodded again. "Why do you come here?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I…I just want to be near you."

Kenshin forgot the pain in his back and arms and shoulders as he looked into her brilliant sapphire eyes. Even when he was very small, he had felt and understood the collective pain of his people for what the New People did to their kind, to their dragons, and to the land itself. And then, as a young man the pain had grown into hatred for the death of Sis. He had fought long and hard, trying to shield others from the same powerful grief.

And now this beautiful child of the New People came, with such compassionate eyes. With only her presence she cheered him, lifted him from the black despair that had covered him like a death shroud.

She returned his gaze, and how long they stood this way, gazing into each other's eyes, he didn't know, but a sudden sound spooked her, and she turned and ran up the hill to avoid discovery.

They left Kenshin in shackles overnight. His back was a swollen mass of torn flesh and welts. Kamishi tossed a bucket of salt water over his back the night before, roughly wiped away the blood, then doused the raw wounds with sake.

Kenshin nearly passed out from the pain as the fiery liquid seared his open flesh. Kamishi had laughed as Kenshin had shuddered convulsively, and then doused the wounds a second time out of pure cussedness.

"Wouldn't want to see those stripes get infected," he had drawled.

Now it was late afternoon and Kenshin's arms were still shackled over his head. Blood trickled from his wrists as the iron cuffs cut into his flesh. Sweat ran down his arms and back and chest. Flies came to torment him. Thirst plagued him, worse than the hunger that gnawed at his belly.

Closing his eyes, he imagined the many ways he would kill his captors if he ever got the chance…

In an effort to forget the pain and his desires to kill, he summoned the girl's image to mind, concentrating on the brilliance of her eyes, and the shine of her hair…

He ignored the time that passed, so that when he gave his attention to the world around him again it was almost as if she might have heard him calling. He sensed her before he opened his eyes and saw her standing before him.

She smiled shyly as she lifted the dipper to his lips. He smiled back before taking the water. He tried to tell his heart that he shouldn't be so pleased to see her. His heart ignored him.

"I brought food," she said, holding up a basket she had brought with her. "Are you hungry?"

He nodded, pride only warring a little with his hunger as she held up bits of beef and fed it to him. The meat was rare and tender, better than anything he had tasted in months. When the meat was gone, she offered him more water and some bread.

When he had taken all of the food, she took a deep breath, then stepped around to look at his back.

"Is it bad?" he asked when she came around to face him again.

"Yes," she said, "but I don't think its infected. I hope not."

Again, he smiled at her, touched by the compassion he read in her eyes and heard in her voice. He found her to be a very sweet creature indeed. "What is your name?"

She smiled back. "Kaoru."

"I'm Kenshin."

"Ken-shin," she repeated, as if tasting his name on her tongue. "That's a very good name."

"As is yours. How old are you, Kaoru-dono?"

"Seventeen. How old are you?"

"I've turned twenty-eight this summer."

She nodded, glancing up at the sky with a frown. Regret on her face, she turned back to him and said, "I've been gone too long. I have to get back. I'll be back tomorrow," she promised. "Watch for me."

He nodded, his eyes following her until she was out of sight.

Kaoru felt a moment of apprehension as she reached the top of the hill the following afternoon. The gang was working around the bend in the road. She could hear the sound of their axes striking wood, could hear the bosses filling the air with curses as they drove the men to work harder, faster. But where was Kenshin?

Moving slowly down the hill, she wondered if he had died. Or if they had killed him out of hand because he was unable to work. Where was he?

She moved cautiously toward the wagon, refusing to believe he was gone. And then she saw him, sitting with his back against one of the big iron-rimmed wagon wheels, his hands shackled above his head. Someone had placed a bowl of water beside him, cruelly leaving the bowl where he could see it but couldn't reach it even if he had cared to lean down and drink from it like a dog.

He opened his eyes at the sound of her footsteps, a now-familiar warm smile spreading across his face at the sight of her.

"I was afraid they'd sent you way or…or killed you," she said kneeling beside him.

His smile faded. "Death might very well be welcome," he said softly.

"Don't say that, Kenshin," she chided him, offering the familiar old dipper once again. "Drink this. You'll feel better once you've had something to drink. And I've brought you something to eat."

"Thank you, Kaoru-dono. But, why?" he asked, voice filled with curiosity. "Why do you do this? Why don't you hate me?"

She paused in her movements, genuinely puzzled. "Why would I hate you? You've never done anything to me."

"Kaoru-dono, I am one of those your people call 'Wild'. I come from the drake people in the hills and mountains. We have been at war for several generations, your people and mine." He cocked his head, and his tone grew quiet and penitent. "We are raised to hate each other, are we not?"

Stunned, Kaoru stared at him with new eyes. He was one of the savage dragon people that lived with the fearsome, fire-breathing creatures that could take on human shapes and forms as they pleased?

She rolled the realization in her mind for a moment, and then she nodded slowly, and turned back to the task of feeding him. "You and I aren't at war, are we, Kenshin?"

Kenshin's smile was a fast one this time, full of relief. "You're very wise beyond your years, Kaoru-dono."

"No, I'm not. It's just that I…" She lowered her head, cheeks heating.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I can't stand to see you in pain." She cast an angry glance in the direction of the voices of the toiling men.

"You have a kind heart," he said gently. "I hope your loved ones treasure you."

Kaoru laughed bitterly. Oh, they treasured her all right, but not because of her heart. They valued her strong back and her capable hands, and nothing else. She wasn't a person to her aunt and uncle, merely a servant who exchanged labor for room and board. They didn't care how she felt or what she thought or what she dreamed of; they were only concerned with how much work she could do.

They both heard the sound of hoof beats at the same time. Kaoru scrambled to her feet. Grabbing her basket, she fled toward the hill in panic, reaching the foot of the heavily wooded slope as Kamishi rounded the bend in the road.

"Hey!" the road boss hollered. "You, Girl, what the hell are you doing here?"

Kaoru halted in her tracks, willing her heart to stop pounding as she turned to the face the man who had whipped Kenshin. He was a tall man, with lighter hair and most and not unhandsome. She guessed him to be, like Kenshin, in his late twenties.

"I live up the hill," Kaoru said, forcing her voice to remain calm. "I was going for a walk when I saw that red-headed man, and…I've never seen hair like his before, so I wanted to get a better look."

Kamishi's eyes narrowed as he studied her, and she suppressed the urge to shiver under his scrutiny.

"You'd best stay away from here," he said. "I'm sure your folks wouldn't like the idea of you hanging around scum like this."

"No, they wouldn't," Kaoru agreed quickly, widening her eyes and trying to look innocent.

Kamishi grinned. "But I won't tell them. No, Ma'am. Trust me. I won't say a word." He eyes moved to her mouth. "It'll cost you, though."

"What do you mean?"

He dismounted, walking toward her. "I'll let you buy my silence with a kiss."

"A kiss?"

"You know, a kiss."

"I've never kissed a man," Kaoru blurted. She backed away, face aflame from the idiocy of the statement.

"Never?" he asked, his voice interested and strangely pleased.

She shook her head, wondering if this was how a rabbit felt when facing a fox.

"I wouldn't mind at all being the first."

"I don't think so!" She meant to spit the words at him, but they came out strained and frightened. Unwilling to aggravate the situation further, she turned and dashed up the hill as fast as her legs would carry her.

She could hear the road boss laughing at her headlong flight as she crested the hill and ran for home.