A/n First. Thank you for all the birthday wishes. Another year down. I'm glad everyone still enjoys getting a triple update. They are always fun to do.
I apologize for not having an update last month. September got away from me and suddenly it was October. I will be taking part in NaNoWriMo this year again. So a November update may or may not happen. it will depend on if I can get a nice head start on the word count. I'm under the weather right now. Which sucks, I thought I would avoid the creeping crud that goes from one person to the next but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Alas, now I can sit back and work on this update since I'm not able to do much else.
Content warning for off-screen molestation.
Kaoru sat, mouth agape as the tall Earth man had to duck to get his head past the doorway. On his head sat a great crown of antlers. They wrapped around his head, interlocked with each other and two great six-pointed racks jutted out like a….
Kaoru glanced over to the altar where a bronze statue of the pregnant Goddess and her lover, the Horned God, a God with stag antlers. The statue was naked while the man in front of her only had a small sash tied around his hips. The material was sheer and did nothing to hide his body. His skin was not bronze like the statue but a warm honey gold, and unlike the statue, he had a short, well groomed beard. His hair was also golden touched with strawberry hues, it hung down his back and shoulders, with countless tiny braids weaved with beads and bells and gemstones set in metal.
Unnaturally green eyes lit up with some strange inner light when he spotted Kaoru. "Ah, are we tae have a helper today?" He said as he nudged the door shut with his foot without looking and took two long strides to perch on the roots next to Kaoru. With him came a strange vibration of energy, a soothing warmth spread over her body.
"Oh, nae." Sano sat up from the tree with a laugh. "This is ma charge. She was who ah was protectin' tha' day."
"Aye, she's th' one tha' mounted ye tae save yer life. I remember." The man nodded, sending the tiny bells chiming softly.
Struck dumb by his handsome face and very undressed state Kaoru couldn't even flush in embarrassment, instead she could only nod, hoping that her mouth was no longer open.
"Yer overwhelmin' th' Lady." Sano gave Kaoru a surprisingly strong slap on the back to knock her from her stupor. "This is Silvan, High Priest o' th' Church. Silvan, this is Lady Kaoru Himura."
The High Priest! Now Kaoru understood his resemblance to the Horned God. He was supposed to represent him. Even the blue swirling body paint on his chest matched that of the statue. She dropped Sano's hand and pressed her palms together. "It's nice to meet you, High Priest, Silvan."
"Och, Sweet little Water Lady, just Silvan, formalities are only for ritual." He set his great hand on her head and then became as still as the bronze statue. "A Sacred Mother I see." the great large man wrapped one arm around Kaoru to settle his hand over her belly. The man was so large that his hand covered the entirety of the swell in her middle. Instead of feeling shocked or embarrassed at being handled by a naked man, she felt nothing but soothing warmth spread deep into her body. As if he was her most beloved lover and she nearly went limp against him.
"Growin' strong, fierce." the Priest said in her ear. "Strange for the gentle Water tae carry such."
"Well, her man is a Fire." Sano pointed out, doing nothing but grinning stupidly at her plight.
"Ah, even more surprisin'" Silvan noted. His palm on her belly moved in small soothing circles and Kaoru felt her limp body suddenly become alive. "Another will only add to the healin', what say ye Sacred Mother? Are ye tae join us in th' bed?"
Kaoru's eyes fluttered, she didn't care what or who she was joining, she just wanted more of this man.
She glanced over at Sano and watched as a brow arched high. "I cannae speak for ya." He told her. "But ah don't have a problem wit' it, ye already have Kenshin's babe in yer belly."
At Kenshin's name, Kaoru blinked furiously and sat up and away from the Holy man but couldn't bring herself to pull away from his soothing touch. "Ah, I think you mean to...to." She shot Sano a pleading look and despite his grin, he took pity on her.
"Yes, Missy. The best and fastest healing takes sex for us Earth types. Ya know this."
Yes, yes she knew this.
"Three is the sacred number, but this is no' a ritual, so four is acceptable. Th'more th'merrier I say!" Silvan removed his hand from her belly as he sensed her unease about the subject. With his touch gone Kaoru's mind cleared and her face roared with heat. It would be of no use to hide it from the Earth men so she didn't try.
"Four?" but there was only three of them.
As if summoned by her thoughts, the door clicked open again and in a flurry of sheer robes, and loops of beaded jewelry, a lovely woman graced the room. She shut the door and smiled at all of them. She too, was very naked and extremely pregnant. Earth's carried their babies for nearly a whole year resulting in large, robust and healthy newborns. This also resulted in giant round bellies that perfectly mimicked their Goddess. The ever constant spiral symbol that Kaoru saw everywhere was painted on her swollen belly, starting at her navel and working outward. She was also the color of sun-kissed gold, and her long chestnut hair was in three braids, three being their sacred number.
Countless bangles, beads and bells hung from around her neck, from her hair, hips, wrists and ankles. Her robe was white and very sheer so she may as well have been wearing nothing at all. Her eyes were big and the color of buckwheat honey.
"This is Nin, High Priestess," Sano said softly. "Nin, this is Lady Kaoru Himura, ma charge."
"Ah!" Nin glided over with chiming footsteps. And placed her hands on Kaoru's shoulders. "Th' woman who saved Sir Sagara, I am glad ta see that th'attack left little mark on ye, th' Mother blesses us all."
"Y-yes." Kaoru felt that same warm feeling settle over her and she just wanted to fall against the plump woman and take comfort in her embrace. Kaoru was acutely aware that the effect on her had something to do with their high level of spiritualness, and something more to do with the energy of the Earth lands. In her home she was calm, in the Fire lands her temper raged, in the Air lands she found acceptance and in Earth she felt love.
The goddess perched on the roots beside her and Kaoru suddenly found herself pressed between the bodies of the church leaders. Hard and strong at her back, warm and loving at her front and green Earth energy started to grow between them. Their arms embraced her and Kaoru felt the energy settle against her skin and she allowed it in. She gasped at the sensation of heat strong enough she thought it would burn her, but instead it soothed away her aches. The pain in her ribs and head vanished and as the power faded and absorbed into her body she felt a jolt of strangeness in her belly.
"Oh!" Kaoru gasped, her hands going to the new sensation. The two leaders set their hands over hers and the sensation returned, a pressure against her hand and the feeling of something more like bubbles in her belly.
"The life stirs and moves." The High Priestess said, her eyes shining even in the dim room. "Is this yer first time?"
"Yes." Kaoru breathed, looking down at the three sets of hands on her belly. The sensation was that of her baby moving? A thrill of excitement shot through her and she couldn't help the watery smile that broke her mask of calm.
"Oh, it's so wonderful when ya feel it for th' first time." Nim reached up with her free hand to rub the tears from Kaoru's face. "Yer baby is strong, I can feel it." then hands pulled away and Nim set both of hers on her ample belly "This is ma eighth. But it was still wonderful tae feel he or she move for th' first time." She smiled down at the swell. "Although I admit I'm impatient for this one ta be out o' me. Late stages in th' summer is difficult."
Fascinated, having never been so close to a naked pregnant woman before, Kaoru reached out and set a hand on the taut skin of her swell. "How much longer?"
"Oh, a few weeks yet. Although my milk has started tae come in so it could be at any time th' babe wants now."
The Water female couldn't help the first spark of excitement. She didn't know this woman and yet she felt hopeful and excited for her birthing.
"Now, will ye be joining us to heal this rowdy teenager of yers? That stubborn stab wound on his side willne heal. He was poisoned apparently and it has taken some work tae get it right. But ah think it's almost better now."
"Hey now, I'm no' a teenager, I've had ma twentieth name-day." Sano chirped, having gone forgotten from the encounter with the High Priest and Priestess. Nim rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh, ye're no older than my eldest boy." Nim returned with a laugh.
Goodness, she knew that Earths had long lives, but she didn't expect a female on her eighth child with one as old as Sano to look as young and lovely as Nim did. Perhaps it was all that spiritual power?
"No, I won't be joining." Kaoru gave a nervous little wave of her hand as she stood up from the roots. "I know nothing of such healing. I wouldn't know what to do."
Sano snorted from behind Silvan as the great man stood up.
"Tha' babe in yer belly says ya know exactly wha' tae do." Silvan said with a cheeky smile.
"Oh...y-yes. I guess that's true." Kaoru watched with wide eyes as the great man folded his large body in the bed of leaves, Sano moved down the bed so that the priest would be at his back, his great horned antlers clacked against the tree for a moment while he got comfortable.
"Ye're most welcome to watch." Nim set the chair back by the alter and indicated that she should sit.
"Oh you don't haveta stay, Missy." Sano said as Nin turned to the bed and, pulling the covers back, exposed a very naked Sanosuke.
Kaoru felt she should be scandalized by all the uncovered flesh, but this was their land and this was their laws and rituals and Kaoru felt nothing but curiosity and hope. "I want to stay."
Sano's warm eyes grew at her declaration but already the High Priestess was mounting him. He turned his attention to her, setting his hands on her belly while she reached back for the hands of Silvan. They grasped hands, forming a circle around Sano and the three of them started to chant in their flowing native tongue.
The door clicked for the third time and Kenshin popped in. His feet froze in their tracks at the sight of three undulating people in the bed and the orb of glowing green light that was forming around them. Kaoru pressed her finger to her mouth. Her Lord husband shut the door quietly and on silent footfalls, made his way over to her where he pressed his lips to her ear.
"Should we be here for this?"
Kaoru's eyes were rooted to the rhythmic way Nim was rocking against Sano and how the great tree of a man was holding on to the arms of the giant priest behind him as her power threatened to overwhelm him. She gave Kenshin a glance and again placed her finger over her mouth.
Kenshin got the point and turned to witness the sexual healing ritual. Their voices grew and the pulse of power from the tree started to come faster and faster. Sano looked helpless between the two rock steady and formidable pair. The circle of arms never broke, didn't even shake. Nim's and Silvan's eyes were alight with power, their voices rising. Bells chimed and beads clacked together as her hips danced.
And then as the light grew so bright it blinded Kaoru from seeing the three of them, she heard Sano cry out. At once the light sucked inward, plunging into Sano. He was arched back into Silvan, Nim pressing herself up against Sano as much as her belly would let her. Sano glowed with the dancing power. It sparkled under his skin slowly fading, leaving her giant bodyguard trembling and gasping.
... . . ...
"That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen," Kaoru whispered as Kenshin led her out of the hospital. Sano fell into a power induced sleep in which, Nim had informed them, he should wake from as healed and as healthy as ever.
"Earth healing powers are in some ways much stronger than your Water, that they are," Kenshin said. He set Kaoru back on his horse and quickly took her to a large building on the same lot as the church. There, Kaoru was reunited with her handmaids, her healer and even her poor mare. They had been put up in the inn which acted as a sort of shelter for people seeking help from the church. Kaoru very much wanted to replicate it back at her Keep. Often people travel from far away, and many don't want to leave their loved ones behind for lack of a place to lay their heads at night.
Their scout found them a large and nearly empty Inn, and Kenshin decided to move the group there. He did not want to take up space in the church inn when there could be others who could use the rooms.
Kaoru sat at the eating tables with her maids as the men stabled the horses, set their wagons and brought in their things to their respective rooms. Her maids were nothing but excited words and hugs upon discovering her now obvious pregnancy. Kaoru bowed her head, accepting the scolding from the eldest maid, a woman ten years her senior.
"I don't know how you kept this a secret from us for so long, but never do that again!" Her maid shook her finger at her. "Milinda would have my head on a roasting spit if anything bad had happened." She sniffed, sitting down and wrapping one arm around Kaoru. "Keeping the babe a secret, pish." She muttered as she hugged Kaoru.
The youngest maid gave them sidelong glances until finally, Kaoru leaned around the matron maid. "What's the matter, Cyan?" She asked softly.
The maid flushed and her neck vanished as her shoulders scrunched up. "Lord Himura's men." She whispered.
Kaoru blinked. "What of them?"
"I don't know if it's my place to say, My Lady. But I want to warn you, that they think the baby belongs to Sir Sagara."
The other two maids gasped scandalously. Kaoru's brows knitted together. "Why?" Kaoru asked.
The girl shrugged her already scrunched shoulders, her face growing redder by the moment. "They think you and he must be having an affair, that you laid with him after the attack so easily."
This time Kaoru gasped as the other two maids grumbled in agitation. "That was to save his life." Kaoru hissed. "And do you think I would be this far along having laid with him hardly more than two weeks ago?" Kaoru indicated to the small swell in her middle.
"I think they are belivin' that you two were together before that," Cyan warned. "I heard them listing off the times you two were alone together since the trip started. And they knew he was attached to you before the trip."
The four of them froze in silence, their various blue eyes following the large group of men as they marched past them with bags and chests.
Kaoru frantically thought of the times she and Sano were alone, and there were quite a few. Not to mention the very obvious time they spent at the lake. Even though it was just touching, it would easily have been so much more. The time didn't add up, not even for the Fire's quicker gestation times. But that wouldn't stop tongues from wagging.
Once the men were out of earshot she turned back to the youngest. "Do you think Kenshin knows about this?"
"Oh, no, my Lady. They don't dare breathe a word about it around him."
"I haven't heard a word about it." her other maid confirmed.
"I only heard because they were whisperin' it outside the wagon when they thought I was asleep." The youngest said in low tones. "I heard them say to not say anything to the Lord, otherwise they might lose their heads."
"They sure would," Kenshin said.
All four women jumped a foot into the air and whirled around to find the Warlord standing behind them.
"Please don't kill your men," Kaoru said quickly as her maids clapped their hands over their mouths and faces.
"Perhaps not right away," Kenshin muttered, reaching around Kaoru to grab her youngest maid by the elbow. "If you'll allow me to have a conversation with your maid, Lady Wife."
Kaoru turned to the girl who sat frozen in fear. She gave the girl a pat on the hand. "It'll be fine." Kaoru assured, glancing up at her husband as he gently coaxed the girl up out of her seat.
"There now, don't worry, come with me," Kenshin said softly to the girl as he led her away.
Kaoru turned back to the astonished faces of her other two maids. "Kenshin wishes to speak to her in private about the matter, that's all." Kaoru guessed, to ease their worries. "She won't be overheard by any of his men this way."
"How do you know, M'lady." One asked, earning an elbow in the ribs from the other.
"I know that face," Kaoru said gently. "I know this has been a worry of his for some time. Not many of his men approve of Sano. It would be a smart idea to not speak of this again." Kaoru said softly. The two ladies nodded. "Ears are open everywhere and it's not safe."
The three women sat in silence for a moment until Kaoru decided to pass the time telling her maids about the Air hospital she was in and the home of the general who was Kenshin's friend. She spoke until she noticed activity in the back kitchens starting to pick up. It was getting time to start preparing the evening meal, proving that some time has passed "Come." Kaoru said, standing from the bench. The other two maids followed and Kaoru made her way up the steps to the top floor where the room she and Kenshin would be staying. It sat with two other large rooms that sat empty for the moment.
Kaoru stepped up to the door and gave a knock as she turned the latch at the same time. Inside Kenshin was standing in the far corner of the room, his back to the wall, facing the door with her youngest maid standing before him. At once Kaoru could tell how cross he was. His eyes were glowing again, his arms were folded across his chest and his mouth was in a scowl. He motioned with a jerk of his head for her to come inside.
The two maids behind her burst around her form as she turned to shut the door and scrambled to unpack their trunks into the wardrobes. The youngest maid gave a sniff as Kaoru approached them. Kenshin reached out and set a hand on top of the small girl's ebony hair. "Thank you for telling me the truth. I know repeating such things was distressful for you."
The girl bobbed silently, jammed on the maid cap that she had been twisting in her hands back over her hair and turned to help the other two. Kaoru caught sight of her wild eyes and beet-red face.
"Did I interrupt? I had hoped I had given you enough time."
Kenshin shook his head. "She was just finishing up."
Kaoru reached out and set a hand on Kenshin's arm. He burned, muscles hard and so hot that she felt it even through his clothing. So hot was he that she jerked her hand back and wondered how his clothes didn't catch fire. The door opened and Kaoru turned to see her maids leaving and shutting the door behind them.
She turned back to find her husband a trembling mass of fire and rage. "You're not going to kill your men for talking rumors." She insisted.
"No," Kenshin spat. "The girl confessed to me something far worse than rumors. One of my men has been molesting her."
Kaoru reared back, her hands going to her face. She felt her heart drop and her face went cold.
Kenshin reached out and steadied Kaoru, as she started to sway. "Sit." He demanded. And Kaoru found herself on the bed.
"It's only been touches, but they are becoming more and more bold. That one I will deal with." Kenshin paced in front of her as she sat. "The girl had been awake to hear the gossip because she was afraid the man would come for her while she slept. It has been going on for some time. That was why she begged to stay with you after the Drow attack. She was afraid what would happen if you nor I were around."
So, the offending man was one of the men sent off with the maids and Sano. Kaoru tried to recall that night, but it was very much a blur in her memory.
"The poor girl, she's only twelve, and has not bled yet."
Kenshin made a sound like he was sucking his breath through his teeth. His face twisted and morphed into what Kaoru could only describe as the dragon pressing through, and then suddenly it was gone.
"Forgive me, Kiga. I brought the wrong men with me, apparently, that I have." He said as he continued to march up and down the room. "I will be screening my men carefully when we return home, especially those working near any women or children.
Kaoru gasped. Of course, it was possible something like this might be going on at the Keep. Misao had been running around with the blacksmiths for years. But they were Earth-Fire hybrids and their Earth blood would prevent them from doing her any harm. But there was also Fires down there, and there were Fire guards everywhere, with all the maids, kitchen staff, healers and their children. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." Kaoru pressed her hands to her face.
"Calm down." Kenshin's searing hot grasp was at her wrists, pulling her hands from her face. "I'm writing to Aoshi right now, he can get the process started. He will make sure no one gets hurt, that he will. I will punish this one myself. I will keep these men in line." he swore. But Kaoru could see the worry in his eyes. Those glowing, acid yellow eyes could not hide the doubt that her people would be safe from his people. But Kaoru had to trust him. She swallowed and nodded.
Kenshin took a breath to steady himself and he sat on the bed beside her "Thankfully no rape had happened, but the forced touches hurt her regardless. I will be taking her to the church, perhaps the Earths can help her. I already asked her, and she agreed to go."
Kaoru had been blinking back tears and she sniffed. "Thank you, Kenshin."
Kenshin shook his head. "Helping her and punishing that soldier is the bare minimum I can do now that the damage has been done."
... . . ...
When the evening came, a small troop of Earth soldiers appeared at their inn. Kenshin called for Jun. The trusted soldier hurried to their room where Kenshin was strapping on his sword belt.
"I want you to gather the men, and go with the Earth soldiers that are waiting outside," Kenshin ordered. Jun gave a tight salute and hurried away.
Kenshin turned in time to see Kaoru throw a cloak over her shoulders.
"I'm coming too."
"No, Kiga. This isn't something I want you to see." Kenshin shook his head.
Kaoru sighed and turned her eyes to him as she tied the straps of the cloak at her throat. "Kenshin, I've known Cyan since she was born. I know her parents. I want to look them in the eyes and tell them I saw justice for their daughter with my own eyes." Kaoru turned her gaze downward, her hands going to her middle. "It's what I would want...if she were my daughter."
Kenshin stood stone still. His face was unreadable. Then, finally, "Fine, if you must, you must." He turned on his heel and left the room. Kaoru rushed after him, quickly working the buttons of her cloak and drew the hood up over her head. Kenshin was already taping into the headspace he needed to be in. She could almost see the way his power was rolling under his skin. She caught up to him and stayed a step behind and to the side of him as he marched through the Earth city in the growing darkness. A tall city guard melted out of the crowd of people to fall into step beside Kenshin.
"We have grounds for punishments, yer men have been taken there. I will show ye th'way."
"Understood." Kenshin nodded.
The helmet, complete with short metal antlers turned and the man wearing it fell in to walk beside Kaoru. Kenshin glanced over his shoulder at her before turning forward again.
"Sacred Mother, are ye certain ye wish tae come along?" The soldier asked.
Kaoru tipped her chin up. "I'll be fine." She said.
The soldier gave her a nod before picking up his step to walk next to Kenshin again. He directed them back to the church and through its courtyard before taking a path that wound around the lot and into the mass of woods. The path was clean, and well-kept, almost as though it was a path in a private garden or park. It would have made for a lovely evening walk if it were not for what she was about to see.
What was she about to see? Kaoru had screwed her courage together, telling herself this was something she needed to see with her own eyes. That was the truth. But she had seen so many horrible things on this trip, she didn't really want to give her nightmares more fuel.
Kaoru swallowed and squared her shoulders. Tough, she thought to herself. War might be on the way and she was going to see far worse, far, far worse. She needed to get used to it. She was married to a warlord.
The woods opened up to an empty, circle covered in tall grass and wildflowers. An egg shaped moon was starting to rise above the treetops. Around the edge of the circle, wooden posts were sunk into the ground, on these were torches, already lit and casting the circle in a warm glow.
All around the soldiers both Fire and Earth stood. The Fire men grouped together on one side and chatted softly. Jun walked up as they approached.
"Sir, everyone is here and accounted for." The warrior seemed perplexed "If I'm not mistaken, the Earth fellows say this is a sacred place for punishment. If I may, Sir, what is going on?"
Kenshin looked out at the field before him and turned to the Earth that had escorted them. "I'll need a log, roughly this big around, that I do." Kenshin indicated with his hands the size of log he needed. The Earth tipped his head and vanished into the sentinel of trees. Only then did he turn to his most trusted soldier. "We are here to punish one of our own. A man I've discovered is molesting one of the handmaidens."
Jun blinked, his shoulders straightening. "You mean Dian?"
Kenshin tipped his head, regarding the man through the sides of his glowing eyes. "You knew?" his voice pitched low.
Kaoru clutched her cloak around her and felt herself take a step away from the flaring Ki that pulsed out from her Husband.
Jun rolled his shoulders under his armor in what Kaoru could assume was a shrug. "I've been grooming him for command. He said something about it. Is it really that serious? She's just a maid."
Kaoru snapped her head up and lunged forward. "She's twelve years old." She hissed.
Jun flicked his eyes at Kaoru but disregarded her words. Kaoru turned to her husband but her words died before she could form them. Kenshin's eyes churned and boiled from amber into flaming yellow, almost as bright as the torches around them. His jaw flexed and Kaoru caught the twitch in his eyebrow and she backed up a step. She didn't need to hiss at Kenshin about Jun's rudeness, Kenshin had witnessed it with his own eyes.
Kenshin sucked in a breath and it sounded like the great hissing of a dragon many times larger than the man before them. He turned on his heel, leaving Jun to stagger back and breathe.
The fire soldiers fell into formation as Kenshin advanced on them. They all balked at the face he must have had and tensed up as he reached into their group and snatched the guilty soldier by the back of the neck.
Kaoru marveled at how Kenshin could overpower a man head and shoulders taller and who outweighed him by plenty. The Earth soldier returned with a log of wood the size of a small tea table and set it in the center of the field. Then he and a second Earth soldier joined Kenshin and produced a length of rope.
"Dian." Kenshin stilled, causing the young man to freeze. He must have felt his life was on the line and that line was threadbare and being scorched each time Kenshin spoke. "You've been accused of molesting a girl of twelve."
Gasps and then cries of outrage rose from the Earth soldiers. Kaoru glanced over at the small group of Fires, none seemed very surprised by the news. Only one soldier's face twisted in disgust. He leaned over to the man beside him.
"I thought that maid he was rutting for was the older one, not the kid."
"Shudup." the other man hissed back.
"A girl who as she tells me, has yet to have her bleeding." Kenshin continued.
The Earth men paced around the circle, their outrage contained in their strangled voices and they struggled to remain quiet. The ground under her feet gave a soft tremble. A testament to their anger.
"Do you deny these claims?" Kenshin said in a deadly calm voice, pressing his face closer to the soldier. "Know that your superior didn't deny when he heard."
Dian's shimmering red eyes flicked upward to Jun before looking back to the ground at Kenshin's feet, too terrified to look his Lord in the face even though he was bent to perfectly match his height.
"N-No."
A wave of hissing came from all around. Kaoru whipped her head around but found no one in the darkness. Only the tree tops thrashed as if in gale-force winds, but the air hardly moved. She could only assume, earth and forest spirits had gathered to witness.
The two Earth soldiers tied the rope around Dian's right hand and two more Earths pushed from the raging group and clasped their arms around the Fire. Kenshin released Dian and stepped back as the men dragged him to the center of the open circle and forced him on his knees.
"What are you doing!?" Dian cried out.
Kenshin turned those glowing yellow eyes to the rest of his men. "Punishment. Those guilty of forced touches shall have their offending hand removed." The fire men froze in shock as Kenshin set his curved Air sword free from its sheath. The metal sang loudly despite the slowly growing chaos.
Kaoru clutched her hood at her throat and tipped her face up, forcing herself to take in every detail. The way Dian struggled when the soldiers pulled the rope tight, forcing his hand out over the stump of wood as the other two held him on his knees. The chanting from the men, the way the forest seemed to fall in their tempo. How the fire from the torches stretched and pulled toward the center, following Kenshin as he moved and positioned himself for the strike. Red Fire energy pulled from those torches and swirled around Kenshin as he lifted his sword in one hand, his hair and clothes waving as if in a vortex. Eyes wide and wild.
He swung down.
Dian's screams would have woke the dead, if the dead cared enough about him to stir. A spray of blood went into the air and then all at once, the Earth men were upon him, the rope was reapplied and pulled tight to stem the bleeding and then the men dragged the still shrieking soldier past Kaoru and back down the way they came.
An eerie silence settled over the clearing. It was just her, and Kenshin and his men. Kenshin moved towards them and they all fought the urge to jump back. A glowing red aura shimmered around the warlord. As he approached, he flipped his sword in his hand and slammed the hilt in the center of Jun's face. The violence was so tight and compact that Kaoru hardly felt the breeze of the swing, even though she stood only a step from Jun. As hard as she had made herself, the sudden burst of violence shocked her and she jumped back, her hands going to her mouth as she heard Jun's face crunch.
The soldier reared back, howling as his hands clapped over his ruined face. Kenshin reached up and pulled him back down. "My most trusted man." Kenshin hissed in a viciousness that left Kaoru trembling. His voice lowered and yet grew in volume with every word until they could feel as well as hear his words. "If I ever hear that you hid or failed to report crimes from me again, I'll take your head."
Jun nodded frantically as blood streamed from between his fingers.
"And if you disrespect my wife again, I'll make sure you get a good long look at your insides before I let you die." Kenshin shoved the man away, and the great soldier flew as if he had been pushed by a giant beast. Kaoru caught sight of the men beside them and she was sure her face mirrored their looks of horror.
Kenshin rounded on them, causing each one to involuntarily leap back a step. The flickering red aura grew around him and morphed into the shape of great dragon wings on his back. "And this goes for each one of you as well. This is your only warning."
Kenshin whipped around and snatched Kaoru from where she was frozen. He found her hand and clamped it tightly in his own. His skin burned, he burned so hot that her Water powers rushed to the site, determined to counter his powers and steam started to rise from the contact. He marched away, sword still in hand as the blackness of the forest at night swallowed them.
A/n I'm glad Kenshin took care of that right away. He must be feeling pretty bad about his men doing something like that right under his nose and not even informing him about it. I have to say it again, that Earth's are fun to write. Their culture is wonderful and pretty close to how I would want to live.
Thank you for reading! Reviews are loved.