Chapter Text
Bright red stained the fluffy white snow. It spread away from Takato's body flowing like water down the slight incline melting the frozen water beneath it, thinning as it ran. His sword was still clutched in his fingers. His light brown hair was steadily growing wet in the swirling storm.
Akihito sat next to his body, the pain in his side unfelt, the blood pooling at his own knees unnoticed, and the battle around him muted to his hearing while his focus centered on the ever expanding pool of watery blood around one of the only two friends he had. He knew no words were coming from his mouth but his mind was screaming. Get up! Get up! Takato you have to get up! From the distance his name was yelled. He couldn't find the strength to even look around.
A strong hand gripped his right arm, "Aki, you've got to get up! Come on!" Akihito looked up into the face of Kou; his only other friend was dragging him insistently up the side of the small hill all the while spiting instructions at him. "Pull yourself together, Aki! We're being overwhelmed; you've got to do something."
The pair topped the small hill. It had a narrow top and the ground beyond slopped almost immediately downward again. Kou threw Aki to the ground and stood over him ; his katana raised as he faced the oncoming group of marauders.
Time had slowed for Akihito. He could almost see each individual flake that fell through the tall cedars in the early winter storm. He could clearly delineate the participants of the battle and easily identifying the fallen members of the caravan Kou had signed them up to help guard. Of the twenty armed men that had settled in the clearing earlier only he and Kou still breathed. It did not sooth his mind that only ten of the forty bandits remained.
Kou looked over his shoulder at his friend. They'd taken this trip for him. Takato and he had been certain they'd be able to keep Akihito's social status hidden on the long trek from the capital and through the mountains. Until today things had gone exactly as planned. The dye applied to his friend's hair had only just started to fade and Aki's habit of looking at the ground and refusing to meet anyone's eyes was easily explained by his constant need to 'study' the large tome he'd carried. So they'd foolishly believed they'd be able to get Akihito out of Consortium lands and into the Republic of Vehnä. Now ten blood thirsty bandits stood between them and their destination.
His friend looked totally lost. He'd never been in combat before; never seen the gore of battle nor watched as comrade and friends fell around him. He didn't understand it was the loss of bodily functions as someone died causing the terrible stench of urine, feces, and bile across the narrow clearing.
Kou stilled himself; he had enough strength to protect Aki, but only Aki could defeat the men coming up the hill. He growled and then shouted at his pallid friend, "Pull yourself together! You've got to pull something out now, Aki!" He shot a glare at the young man, "Don't make Takato's sacrifice be in vane!"
It was the sound of steel on steel that actually roused Akihito from his stupor. Kou beat back a tall bearded man and the sparks from their blades glowed in the shadowed glade. Aki looked up at his remaining friend, swallowed, and began to sing.
Kirishima glanced at the sky again. The swirling snow was getting thicker and the clouds showed no signs of thinning. He shook his head and pulled his cloak tighter about his shoulders. He caught Suoh doing the same from the corner of his eyes as he looked behind him. Both men were looking at their leader. The raven haired man had paused on the trail. He was also looking at the clouds.
It took only seconds before he sighed, "We're not going to make it much farther today." He looked at Kirishima saying, "The cave should be just another couple of hills ahead. Let's make for that." He looked at the sky again, "it is a better place to hole up than the valley. This is turning into an early blizzard."
Kirishima and Suoh nodded, "Aye, Asami-sama." The three men trudged on. Going slower and slower as the snow piled up on the narrow path. They were exposed on the cliff edge and soon enough Suoh, the taller and wider of the three had to take the lead.
Things grew easier as they got below the trees, the blizzard higher up the mountain not yet having reached the lower hills. They were only twenty to thirty minutes from the cave they were making for when the sounds of battle rose up the sides of the steep path. They paused to watch at the top of a rise.
It was clear who the winners would be. Brigands had obviously overcome a small merchant caravan. Considering it was still early in the evening, Asami guessed the raiders had waited until the wagons had just reached the small clearing. The caravan leader had probably intended to utilize the tall cedars to break the winter wind and aid in keeping the heat from their fires from escaping fully. It would normally be a good plan. However the small valley below was also perfect for raiders. The tall narrow hills on the peak side of the valley were perfect for hiding behind and the large grouping of trees muffled any sounds larger or more open spaces would have allowed to travel.
Next to him Suoh shook his head, "They didn't stand a chance."
Kirishima nodded, "Though it looks like they gave as good as they got. There are more bandits downed than caravan guards." He pointed at a hill to their left, "Look two of them still stand."
Asami glanced away from the carnage to the two people at the top of a nearby hill. One was tall with raven locks much like Asami's though shorn in the typical Consortium military style. He held a katana and had just successfully fended off the brigand that had reached the top of the hill ahead of his comrades. Even Asami could tell the man wouldn't be able to fend off another attack.
The other appeared smaller and was crouched behind the taller one. For the first few seconds Asami watched it appeared as if the smaller one had no offensive abilities at all. He clearly held no weapon and was all but folded in on himself with his face clearly seeing nothing. Then the young man, and young he was to Asami's eyes, gathered himself and started to sing.
They couldn't understand the words from where they stood, but a high tenor rose from the hillside and all but echoed across the small valley. The brigands just below the warrior's feet smiled at each other. Clearly they believed the smaller man had lost his senses. Asami and his companions knew otherwise. They watched as the magic built, each note drawing the primal essence of the universe to the boy. It built and built until Asami was certain the youngster would explode from the pressure.
Explode it did. A bright white light tinged at its edges with gold burst from the young man's hands. Flowed down the hill and engulfed the bandits. It was an almost completely uncontained burst of magic. It was raw and primal as it burned the now screaming men turning them, their clothing, their skin, and even their bones to white hot ash.
It didn't stop there however; what if any control the boy had exerted over it was lost as he slumped, clearly unconscious, to the ground. The gathered magic became completely wild burning cedar and undergrowth alike. The hitched horses screamed as the magic set the wagons and the surrounding ground ablaze. The trees behind and above them lit the morning sky.
Asami frowned and took a deep breath before raising his arms and chanting. His deep baritone raised above the horses screams. A whirlwind of snow rose from the surrounding hills and plunged into the trees. Moments after the magic the boy had loosed started turning into a forest fire it was smothered by the controlled strands of Asami's will.
Only steam rose from the clearing as he led his two most trusted men down the steep incline of their hill through the wreckage of the caravan and up to the two survivors. Kirishima knelt next to the raven haired man first and mentally reduced the survivor list to one. He glanced where his leader knelt next to the young boy before saying, "he wasn't fast enough." He rose and gestured to the sword embedded in the young raven's leg. "His last attacker sliced open the femoral artery."
Asami nodded as he gathered the remaining boy to his chest and pulling off his small pack. "Get the other one," he said nodding towards the pack on the dead raven's back. He passed the boy's to Suoh and pulled apart the young man's tunic and pushed the boy's cowl above his exposed nipples. There was a long bleeding slice over his left ribs. It started at the shoulder and split the skin down across his chest nearly to his right hip. It was only the shallowness of the cut that had prevented it from killing the boy.
Asami ripped the tunic free from the boy's body using it to wipe away the worst of the blood. He let go of the breath he'd not known he was holding as the clean skin revealed no exposed bones. The boy's chest was bloody but the slice had not done more than mar the skin, it had only reached muscle at the shoulder. With proper care the boy would survive.
Suoh knelt next to him. Neither were true healers. However, Suoh had trained in the rituals of combat medics and given the time could muster enough magic to seal shallow wounds. Asami left him to the task. Glancing at the thickening storm clouds he made his way to Kirishima's side. The man had rifled through the younger raven's pack. Below a whet stone with oil, a fire starting kit, and several days' worth of dried rations, wrapped in a small, thin, woolen cloak was a thick leather collar and leather wrapped parchment.
Kirishima stuffed everything but the parchment back in the pack. Other than the lack of cloak, collar, and parchment, the living boy's pack was filled with the same things. Kirishima handed the protected parchment to Asami and repacked the other things he'd pulled out, "They look like regular guards."
Asami glanced at the small body Suoh was working and grunted, "That kid is no solider." He untied the string keeping the leather bound closed and unrolled several pieces of parchment. One was the decommissioning papers of a sergeant by the name of Hamasaki Kou from the Consortium army. The other two papers were a bill of sale and the ownership papers for a slave. Both were clear forgeries.
Asami read through the bill of sale and then the ownership papers. They were good enough to fool anyone that did not deal with the system regularly. The ownership papers described a young male between fifteen and twenty with white blonde hair, green hazel eyes, and slight build. The identifying mark for the slave could be found tattooed along the right side of property's neck. It would be the Kanji for 'koneko'. Asami glanced at the young boy again before rolling up the parchment and sticking them into his own pack.
Suoh rose, "I've done what I can but he'd already shivering. I suspect he'll have a fever before night fall."
Asami nodded before kneeling, pulling his cloak off and wrapping it about the boy's body. He stood with the boy in his arms ordering, "Kasumi, lead the way. Kei, bring both packs with us and the sergeant's sword."
The three men climbed the tall hillside they'd descended from and soon were settling into a deep cave and thought still cold it was significantly warmer under the earth and the entrance to the smooth sided cavern was long and narrow preventing all but the most determined of wind from reaching the area though the sounds of the storm could still be heard. Along the back was a natural fissure traveling up the side of the wall towards the roof. The three men knew from experience it created a natural chimney. Nearby this was a large pile of split logs and twigs and a large wooden chest.
Suoh set about starting a fire from the supplied wood as Asami settled his burden near the crack and proceeded to strip the boy entirely. Red light soon bounced off hairless pale skin. Kirishima crossed to the chest and pulled several large bearskin rugs from the top. He layered two in front of the fire now warming the cave and Asami move the boy onto them after pulling the last of the wet clothing from him. Clearly visible along the right of his neck was the Kanji for 'koneko'. Inked in dark indigo and outlined in startling gold. Asami ran his thumb over the mark in contemplation.
Kirishima pulled three large glowing crystals from the chest and set them about the cave spreading their light evenly. Next he pulled a box of cooking gear and a box of root vegetables and several cloth wrapped items. After setting up an ingenious folding table, Kirishima passed Asami a large rectangle and a small square both made of cotton and hemmed around the edges. He pulled out a metal bowl filled it with water and set it near the fire.
While Asami waited for the water to warm he used the small square to rub the first layer of dampness from the boy's neck, chest, arms, and legs. The boy's limbs and chest were covered in small white scars only visible now they were in a well-lit area. It was clear from their positions the boy had been lashed on numerous occasions. Asami turned him over grimacing at the crisscross pattern of permanent welts someone had left on his lower back, buttocks, and thighs.
Kirishima watched as anger curled through his boss and paused to pull a sheet of parchment from his own pack along with quill and ink. He wrote for several seconds before placing the written work into the bottom of the chest and closing the lid. When the water started steaming Kirishima added a small amount of cold water to it before passing it to Asami, "I sent for some warmer clothing to replace his ruined items."
"Thank you," Asami muttered as he started wiping the boy clean. He spent several minutes ensuring the dirt and grime, from what had to be several weeks of travel, had been cleaned from his body. Before he extracted the extra wool shirt his pack contained and pulled the garment over the boy's head. The shirt hung to the boy's knees, off one shoulder, and had to have its sleeves rolled several times before Asami found the young boy's hands again. He then laid the boy down, pillowed on a folded cloak, and covered in several thick blankets Suoh had pulled from the chest.
While Asami tended to their unexpected guest, Suoh had set up three additional palettes near the fire and hung two thick blankets across the narrow cave opening. While little wind could get in he preferred the heat from the fire to not travel out. Kirishima, after handing Asami the warmed water set about placing a large pot of ham and potato stew on the fire. Soon enough the three men were seated near the boy blowing on spoons and discussing the day. More specifically Asami was talking while his two trusted aides listened and took note of any orders he may have or questions he might ask.
The conversation didn't start until Asami had consumed over half of his bowl of stew which took longer than normal due to his continued vigil at the boy's side. Every other bite interrupted by the boy's breath hitching as his body warmed. Finally he handed his bowl to Kirishima waving away the offer of a second helping and spoke, "An untrained magic user and slave?"
Kirishima pulled open the parchment and reread the falsified paperwork, "According to this the boy was originally sold to pay off a debt. If any of this is true then he was ten at the time."
Asami frowned, "He would have been showing his powers soon after." He gently moved the boy's light brown hair from hanging over his closed eyes. "Unless he's a late bloomer his first owner should have given him over to the guild soon after."
Kirishima read through the record again, "He's been sold a lot according to this. It looks like only the last part of the document is actually forged the seals are all correct until his purchase by the sergeant three months ago." Kirishima looked up, "He's nineteen and named Akihito after his hair color, if the notations are correct. He was born in early May."
All three looked at the boy's hair; Asami ran his fingers through it chanting and smiling as the dull brown faded under his magic to nearly white silver. The hair was very soft, fine, and the primary color was almost striped with the gold highlights like a ginger cat's fur. "A run away."
Kirishima nodded, "Perhaps the sergeant was trying to help him reach the republic. As long as he made it past the border guards he could have been free."
Suoh grunted, "It would have been a hard sell, those guards are trained to spot falsified paperwork." He glanced at the seal notarizing the boy's most recent 'purchase'. "I doubt this would have passed muster."
Asami nodded, "Kei, I'll need you to fix it. Replace the sergent's name with mine and ensure the date is set for the last time I was in the Capital." He pulled the thick leather collar Kei had sat beside the sack and fingered it. "I want thinner softer collars for him too."
Kirishima nodded but frowned. Asami raised an eyebrow at him asking, "You don't like the idea of me owning him? You know I can't just let him run loose. He's an untrained magic user. There are reasons for the guild laws."
"I understand not allowing him to run free sir. It is just…" Kirishima trailed off but then swallowed and plunged on at his boss's glare, "You aren't returning to the Consortium capital for pleasure. Taking an untrained mage with you could put you in significant danger. The pass is only two weeks away, Suoh or I could take him over the border and entrust him to Master Arbatov."
Asami's glare deepened into an outright scowl, "I wouldn't trust Arbatov to train a dog properly, much less a mage capable of pulling as much power as this boy did." He glanced down at the boy again and ran his fingers through the boys hair a second time.
Suoh spoke then, "You're thinking of what Master Ichiori said as we left."
Asami nodded, "He did say I should seize the light I found on this trip."
Kirishima sighed, "I will instruct Sion's quartermaster to prepare what is necessary."