Snow Driven
Title Picture

January 2002

~*~*~*~*~

He ran through the underbrush, bare feet making no sound on the stones beneath him. The contrast of his dark hair and pale skin was like the light and dark cast by the filtered sunlight through the forest canopy onto those rocks. He slowed to a stop, peering through foliage, the ruby orbs glinting.

With the sun just overhead, the pattern of light and dark in the forest was dizzying, but he didn’t need to see, there were other senses to aid him. If the best had known he was there tracking them he would have been a match for them, but these were unaware and they were going to stay that way. He had his duties, he was only to observe, no one was to know he’d ever been there.

And he had what he’d come for, so he left, as quickly and as silently as he’d come.

~*~*~*~*~

“You were right, Yotaka-san,” Tanji slid the tea room door shut behind him, going and sitting around the table with the others, “Augustine has his forces divided in two, one in Koorime and one in Saitennin, and the other camp of Shadow are more concerned about bickering with him than helping him.”

Kino wanted to reach out and touch him, make sure he was really there. Every time he vanished into Makai she had horrid visions something would happen and he wouldn’t return. But she had to chase those away and deal with the problem at hand, and remain respectful and dignified in Yotaka’s presence. “The Dragons still aren’t making any progress against them?”

Tanji shook his head slightly, “Augustine’s forces at Saitennin are very well entrenched.”

“That is why Saitennin remained free for so long, it had defenses… but still somehow he got through them,” Kesu gazed into his cup of tea.

Yotaka spoke softly, with the power and vibrancy of the young girl who sat before them but the wisdom of the old Temple Keeper they knew she was, “Saitennin doesn’t concern us this time. As much as I wish we could do something, that battle between Shadow and Dragon is as old as time and that city is merely a new front. It is Koorime that concerns us.”

Lane, standing at the tea room window, turned his head and gazed unfailingly at Yotaka, “You mean to…”

Yotaka nodded to his unfinished question, “We will do what we can, for your people or your home, depending on Fate.”

“Augustine’s army is evenly divided, the forces at Koorime aren’t any weaker than the ones at Saitennin,” Tanji’s soft voice offered.

“No, but the Shadow in Koorime have been there a year, merely surviving and not harvesting the land. LanEise has said the food stores contained enough to allow survival for a year if needed. If so the Shadow are now finding supplies in short order, and if Augustine is indeed commanding the forces at Saitennin…”

“He is,” Tanji nodded, affirming Yotaka’s statement.

“… then they are without leadership and may be easily removed from Koorime. Or at the very least the survivors snuck out if there aren’t enough to fight back.”

Kino had to be practical, as always, “If Augustine controls four of the seven Shadow Generals and half of those forces remain in Koorime, that’s still a formidable army of youkai… and we are just a small group.”

“Obliette said he will help. And it depends a lot on how many Koorime we can rescue and rally for an uprising. If food is short, moral may be low and the Shadow could go running to Saitennin. If they try to come back the Koorime will be back in their home and ready to defend themselves,” Kesu debated with her, like he loved doing.

“I know where any Koorime would be kept, and I know ways through shey quarters and passages the youkai probably don’t know,” Lane offered.

“No one is being forced to go of course,” Yotaka smiled at Kino.

“Well you know I’m going, any chance to kick ass!” Ty whooped.

Yotaka continued unabated, “And no one has to decide immediately. It will be a few nights until things are all prepared, supplies and final confirming scouting missions,” she nodded to Kesu and Tanji, who handled nearly all of the scouting into Makai. “Everyone get some rest and meditate upon this.”

Tanji was the first to stand, bowing to Yotaka and waiting for Kino to finish her tea and get up as well. The two of them stepped out of the tea room together, pausing just aside of the door, hands naturally interlacing.

“You don’t even have to tell me, I know you’ve decided to go already,” Kino sighed, radiating her youkai magic to envelop them both in an aura of heat that warded off the late January chill.

“It won’t be like November, we aren’t stumbling blindly. We know what we’re up against this time,” Tanji defended.

“And we’re up against impossible odds,” Kino argued, trying to stay calm.

“It has to be done. Reikai is leavin it up to us, and if we do nothing then… Kino this is an entire race of people, good people, if we can do somethin then we can’t jus stand by and watch them all get destroyed – like we have this whole last year.”

Kino shook her head forcefully, “You’re letting your friendship with Lane cloud the issue.”

“Of course I am! We can’t distance ourselves from this, we can’t ignore it, and we can’t ignore him because of it. He is the voice of his people, the only one they have, their only hope.”

Kino felt a tug at her heart. Tanji was so compassionate, so concerned. At first glance you would have thought he was a selfish boy, uncaring about the feelings of others, but he was amazingly self-sacrificing if the situation called for it. It wasn’t just to friends either, Tanji would help perfect strangers, albeit in subtle ways so as not to damage his image of not caring.

They’d suspected for awhile that Tanji was indeed the Dragon Prince, the heir to what was probably the largest force in Makai. It was hard to believe despite the suggestions and the signs, but Kino was seeing all the right traits for it to be true. He was strong, talented in fighting despite looking so small and weak, but he was still a child as well. And then there was this deep-rooted compassion, morals and values so strong, and a conviction to them that was just amazing. But none of this could readily be seen unless someone bothered to look, and Kino looked.

“You don’t have to go,” Tanji spoke softly, breaking the delicate silence around her thoughts.

Kino sighed, “Yes I do.” She couldn’t very well let Tanji go off on his own and try to save an entire race of people.

Both of them turned and looked as Lane exited the tea room, smiling at them. It was a genuinely friendly smile, but terribly weary, and they couldn’t blame him. A few weeks previously, Augustine had kidnapped Lane for several days. No one was sure if the vampire had meant to kill him or not, but he’d returned him and Victor had found him dead. Kesu had encouraged Lane’s natural healing process to bring him back to life, but Lane had spent a week in bed following that just trying to recover. Before that Aya had taken to sneaking into Lane’s dreams and raping him, not to mention the breakup with Tyger.

“You two want a ride home?” Lane offered softly.

Kino’s amber eyes darted back into the tea room, noticing that Ty was ready to leave but was stalling until – she assumed – Lane left. She was so avoidant it was pitiful. She glanced at Tanji and nodded to Lane’s question. No sense making Tyger stay later than she wanted to.

Tanji slipped into the passenger seat as Kino slid into the spacious back. Lane’s car had to be ridiculously large compared to most vehicles in Tokyo, but he loved it just the same, and Ty had liked it too. Kino shook her head, she needed to quit thinking about Ty in reference to Lane, that had been over for a month, and it was obvious it wasn’t going to get fixed. Lane was very happy dating Victor, as strange as everyone but Kesu thought that was.

Kino watched Tanji and Lane exchanging glances, but neither of them said a word during the entire drive. Tanji might have been telepathic, but Lane wasn’t, so it couldn’t have been that sort of communication. She went to the apartment door to unlock it, glancing back to watch Tanji ask Lane something. Lane nodded, smiled, and Tanji trotted up the stairs as the Koorime drove away.

She blinked at Tanji as he motioned her to go first through the door, “What were you talking about?”

“Jus wonderin if he was gonna want to come with me to the Temple morrow for training, he has been lately. You know you’re always welcome to come too.”

Kino smiled ruefully, “Now you know I can’t even begin to compete with your weapons training,” she settled on the arm of the couch.

Tanji locked the apartment door and maneuvered himself between her knees, placing his hands to either side of her and smiling up into her eyes. “Don’t say things like that, you know you can fight.”

“I can fight,” Kino just couldn’t say that any stronger, even if it was just for the sake of arguing, “but I can’t compete with you.”

He laughed softly, then kissed her almost as if hesitant. It was his way of seeing if she was interested, how she responded whether physical or verbal it didn’t matter, he could always tell her mood. When she slipped her arms around his shoulders he smiled, very pleased with that response.

~*~*~*~*~

Kesu pulled his hair back from his face, gathering it into a ponytail, bangs escaping and slipping back over his face immediately. His jade eyes flickered, following the motion of his two friends back and forth across the training room. Tanji’s motions were quick, precise, but still with a sort of gymnastic grace. Lane’s were no less graceful, but were more fluid, one melding into the other without Tanji’s abrupt changes of direction and tactic.

Lane was holding his own against the little fire demon, but Kesu could tell from Tanji’s motions that he was holding back to give Lane a fair chance. Tanji did the same with everyone he trained with, except Yotaka of course. She held back with everyone.

Finally Lane just got so tired that he made a mistake and Tanji tripped him up. Tanji could have ignored the mistake and continued, but the Koorime was exhausted and they’d trained long enough anyway. Lane had stamina, Kesu had dropped out of the sparring much earlier, but Tanji could train with both of them one after the other and still be ready for more.

Kesu got up and strode to Tanji’s side as the little fire demon put away the training staffs, glancing and smiling up at his friend. “Didn’t hurt you too bad, did I old gray?” he snickered.

“I’m fine, you little punk. Want to take a walk in the gardens with me?” Kesu suggested, hinting at something serious. Tanji picked up on it and nodded, turning back to Lane and motioning him that they were leaving, “You wanna go home it’s ‘kay, I don’t need a ride back.” Lane smiled and waved, stretching out beside the balance beam, “I’ll be here a little longer anyway.”

Tanji ducked out of the training room at Kesu’s side, securing his sword to his belt before shrugging on his heavy jean jacket. Kesu headed around the building, cutting between it and the tea room, to cross into the eastern garden. They walked a bit silently up to the meditation garden, a clearing set with massive stones that had been there for ages. It was where Kesu had first spoken with Yotaka, and where he and Amadeus had stopped and talked and gotten oh so close that first night they’d met.

Tanji waited patiently for Kesu to talk, sensing his friend wanted to say something, but was just searching for the words. But Kesu was having doubts about telling even his best friend, even Tanji, the boy who’s grandfather he’d loved, the boy he’d grown up with during this second lifetime, as if they were brothers. For as much as they fought, they were that close.

“Kes, I’m your best friend, always have been… nothin is gonna change that, and you know you can tell me anything,” Tanji sensed Kesu needed a little push, this close to talking about something that was bothering him, no sense allowing Kesu to hold that inside anymore than he had to.

“I’m thinking about having a child,” Kesu answered after a long silence.

Tanji blinked, trying really hard to recover from that one quickly, to say something. “But you’re… you and Amadeus…”

“With Amadeus,” Kesu added, helping his nearly speechless friend.

The options flitted through Tanji’s mind, “Ya mean, like with a surrogate mother or somethin?”

Kesu shook his head, long mane of silver waving in the light, the highlights catching and shimmering. “I mean, Deus as the father, and me as the mother.”

Tanji was shocked speechless all over again, wasn’t sure he could recover this time. “But… but… Kes…”

“And yes I am a guy, as much as certain people enjoy debating that,” Kesu shifted his weight to one hip, arms crossed over his chest, staring outward at nothing in particular. “From when I was born human, into this body that was meant to female, I retained that DNA code. With my kitsune shape shifting abilities I can use that code and alter minor things about me enough to carry a child.”

The poor little half demon blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of that. It made sense, in theory, but it was still weird. “Carry… okay… what about having it?”

Kesu took a deep breath, “That would have to be done cesarean, since there’s no way I could alter my external genitalia. Internal is hard enough, but I’m at the peak of my power and the energy of this human form. My kitsune form more than likely couldn’t do something like this until I had even more power… likely in hundreds of years, but not now.”

“This sounds like a lot of trouble,” Tanji managed to barely speak, trying to deal with all this rushing at him.

“It would be worth it.”

Tanji looked up at Kesu, standing there with a little smile touching his lips, hair shimmering and waving gently in the breeze. His eyes were so hopeful, so happy. Tanji had never seen his friend look more beautiful. He may have harbored a deep and irrational fear of homosexuality, but with Kesu looking so beautiful and so happy about just the prospect of this, Tanji couldn’t help but support him.

“You really want this that much.”

“A child of Amadeus and me… our child,” Kesu closed his eyes. “It would be a miracle and a blessing. Something that is ours, just ours.”

Tanji smiled, “You love him a lot, huh?”

Kesu looked down at his friend, “Like I’ve never loved anything else, and never will. Kokutan was right, I didn’t believe him back then when he told me I’d find another and be happier… but he was right. I found my true love.”

The little fire demon watched Kesu’s expression, concerned, “Amadeus is… very fickle… and I know he’s said he loves you…”

“He loves me now, and that’s all that matters. I’m his fox, I belong to him, and it feels so right and so beautiful I can’t compare it to anything else. So what if he can’t promise me even a mortal lifetime together, the time we’ve had has been precious enough to last me forever, and it would break my heart if he discarded me… but there’s just something… I trust him.”

Tanji scowled, “I don’t… and I don’t want him to hurt you. And it’s not a male thing or a gay thing or even a vampire thing… it’s just him and how easy you get hurt.”

Kesu smiled softly, “Broken hearts heal. I’ve lived nearly five hundred years, and I’ve loved three times. The two times before are nothing, even though at the time I thought they were everything. This, with Amadeus, is the best I’m ever going to experience. If he discards me today my life will be over, and Inari will be happy to take me, but as long as I belong to him I’m not going anywhere. If we have another year or a thousand years, then so be it.”

“Your mother isn’t gonna like you having a kid, and you know she’ll find out,” Tanji still fretted, even though he understood Kesu’s position.

Kesu shrugged nonchalantly, “She’s human, her son, the child she gave birth to is now eighteen, I have no obligation to her. I saved her life, she provided me with this body, we’re even.”

Tanji sighed, resigned to the fact Kesu was going to do this, and admittedly a little happy about it. “How are you ever going to convince Deus to this?”

A cocky grin lit up the kitsune’s face, “Deus knows the best when he sees it, and his fox has plenty methods of persuasion.”

~*~*~*~*~

“When are you going?”

There hadn’t been any talk of it since that night Yotaka had first mentioned it and Lane had come to relay the message. Victor hadn’t tried to encourage or persuade him, that wasn’t his way, but finally he’d gotten curious about something.

Lane looked up from brushing his hair, setting the brush down on the dresser, “In the morning, first thing.”

A flicker of some emotion passed across the vampire’s face, but it was rare and so quick Lane didn’t have time enough to gauge what it might have been. “That soon?”

Lane came to the edge of the bed and knelt there, drawing the covers back to slip beneath them, never taking his eyes off Victor. “We’ve been getting ready for five days.”

“And you’ve been anxious for all of them,” Victor spoke as if detached, accepting the slender koorime into his embrace and against him as easily as water was poured into a vessel. But he wasn’t detached, he couldn’t be, for some strange reason he still couldn’t figure out, when Lane was upset it bothered him. Because of that worry Victor had remained at Lane’s apartment a great deal.

“I’m sorry,” Lane’s cool lips brushed against his ear.

“You have no reason to apologize, this journey is important to you… there are things you have to know, and I respect that.”

Lane closed his eyes and sighed happily, wrapped up in that strong embrace and feeling as safe as he could at the moment. There was so little security to be found, he treasured that little bit. Returning to his home for the first time in a year, seeking out his friends, his mother… none of which he knew for certain if they were alive or dead. Things he had to know indeed, it was killing him to worry, quite literally.

“Just… come back,” Victor’s tone dropped to a mere whisper, gentler than Lane had ever heard it before.

“I promise,” Lane smiled and slept peacefully in that security.

~*~*~*~*~

Tanji crept up beside Lane, peering over the ledge with him. He was right against him, but with the severe chill in the air Lane’s normally cold body temperature even seemed warmed to the poor fire demon.

“Look,” Lane pointed, whispering, “you can see where they’re keeping their riding hawks.”

“Wow, they bred a lot of them to invade Koorime, I’ve never seen that many before,” Tanji blinked, then glanced up the mountain cliffs they’d been creeping along for a better part of the day, “We’re still too close.”

Lane looked upwards as well, “I know another vantage point with a shelter, we can stay the night there.”

“Yeah, and let me freeze,” Tanji shivered.

“I’ll keep you warm,” Kino crept up beside him, squeezing his arm for just a moment, “besides, we all could use some rest.”

Tanji gave one more look over the ledge, “Koorime really is huge… guess I never realized. How are we going to scout through all those houses for prisoners?”

Lane stopped his ascent, pressed against the cliff face, tiny strands of hair escaping the long braid and whipping around in the wind. “We’ll probably have to split up. Let’s just get to shelter, it gets much colder when the sun sets.”

“Great… much colder,” Tanji shivered again and waited for the others to pass him, taking up the rear of the group.

The little fire demon peered over the edge now and again, just making sure they weren’t within anyone’s sight, which they probably weren’t, he just had to check. Lane led the way up the cliff, knowing the way as if by instinct. Tanji had no doubts that seventy years of Lane living and playing in this area was definitely helping them. They had a plan if they got captured, but they really preferred not getting captured.

Lane was peering over another cliff edge when Tanji caught up to him, the rest of the group huddling down inside a fairly good sized crevice that Tanji assumed was their shelter for the night. A bit of a tight squeeze, but with Kino he didn’t mind.

From their vantage point, the boys could see the entire walled city and the youkai camp on the other side, which they’d been far too close to at their last stopping point. The ruins of the ancient High House were nearest to them, where they’d been kept prisoner the last time, and where Lane had been fatally wounded.

Tanji looked at his friend briefly and thanked every god he knew Lane was still alive. Mostly just for the selfish reason that Tanji really liked him, but also for the fact it was Lane’s information that was giving his people a fighting chance tomorrow. Lane nudged Tanji out of his thoughts and pointed downward to the wall that emerged from the ruins of the High House.

“We’ll start there, each of us go to a different House, and meet back there. See the road, it’s straight toward the Temple, the largest buildings are the seven Houses.”

Tanji nodded, his eyes following Lane’s description. It was easy. There were eight of them, seven Houses, they could each search one and go by the plan, meet back at the ruins and then go from there. If there was enough of a force and the rescued Koorime were in good enough health, they’d try and oust the youkai from their home. Tanji blinked at Lane when the Koorime sighed heavily, expression obviously worried. His mother might be down there somewhere, or maybe not, they’d find out tomorrow.

“I’ll explain the layout of the houses to the others and let you get some sleep. I’ll take up a watch and explain it again in the morning just to be sure, go in before first light,” Lane crept back toward the little shelter.

Tanji smiled slightly, Lane did have a tactical mind, he knew how to be strategic. He explained the layout of the Houses, which was basically the same for each, in the simplest of terms, making sure each one of them knew which House they were going to be searching. He was going to take the Jun House, his mother’s, and he gave Tanji and Kino the task of the High House, which had a different layout. He trusted Tanji’s memory the most to handle the complicated instructions.

As the rest of them settled down to try and sleep despite the anxiety of the situation, Lane crept back out onto the ledge and gazed down at the city that spread out beneath them, and prayed.

~*~*~*~*~

Tanji paused, he had to. The smell from the house reeked of Shadow youkai, nekojin, and kitsune besides Koorime. It was not the most pleasant mix when combined with the smell of the large riding hawks penned not far off, and the other animals the youkai kept. When sampled further, the air had an underlying and faint smell of… a vampire. Tanji scowled and pushed his way into the low corridor, glowing red eyes lighting the way with help from a small fireball Kino was kindling between her palms.

“Do you smell that?” Tanji whispered.

“My sense of smell isn’t as good as yours,” Kino whispered back, eyes darting behind them toward the lavish garden they’d snuck through to get to the little, near-hidden door.

“I smell vampire.”

“Augustine?” Kino asked worriedly, after all, reports had said he was in Saitennin.

“I don’t know… don’t know him that well and it’s not very strong. Smell Koorime too… getting stronger.”

“Prisoners?”

“I think so,” Tanji crept along a little faster as the corridor ceiling lifted enough for him to straighten up, noting the small notches now that opened doorways to rooms. A shey could peer through the opening and see if his services were being motioned for, but otherwise stay out of sight. Messages and food were also delivered through these servant corridors, leaving the halls uncluttered with servants, especially handy during social functions when lots of people were milling around.

Tanji noticed something out of the corner of his eye through one of the notches, and paused there. Kino blinked at him confused, but just waited.

~*~*~*~*~

Kesu smiled and nudged Aya on his way, having asked the younger kitsune to repeat the directions Lane had given him to get through the House. Aya darted off, ribbon of red hair flying out behind him, scampering his way skillfully into the garden of the target House. Kesu trotted up beside Lane, always wary of any youkai that might be awake this early. “Aya’s doing much better,” Lane noted quietly.

Kesu smirked, “He really is, his memory is a little shaky now and then, but with all he’s been through you can’t really blame him, but otherwise… we’re all learning to trust him I’ve noticed. Can you do this?” Kesu repeated what he had asked Aya a moment earlier to Lane, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Lane smiled and nodded, “I can… I want to, and I think I need to.”

“Good,” Kesu smiled back and darted off toward his assigned House.

Lane watched him go, then turned his eyes back toward his objective. The Jun House, his old home, where he’d spent seventy plus years of his life. He couldn’t help but wonder, if just for a moment, how those seventy some years compared to the one year he’d spent in the Ningen world. More importantly, if they succeeded in liberating Koorime, which was his home now?

He shook the thoughts away, glancing around for youkai before sneaking into the gardens. He ignored the memories that brought back, the feelings, and just found the half-hidden entrance to the shey level, taking one last look around outside before closing the door behind him.

Lane pressed back against that door, staring up the black corridor. None of the little light crystals were still there, well they probably were but had lost their light magic, they only lasted a few months and there wasn’t anyone to replace them. He reached to one wall and felt where he remembered the first light sconce was, nudging the dead crystal loose. He pressed his palms together around the crystal and infused with a gently glowing light, setting it back into the sconce. He knew the way by heart, he didn’t need the light, but if he sent anyone back through the corridor they might need that little bit to see by.

Then he moved forward, having to crouch down at first, but moving swiftly until the passage opened up. One by one he peered through each of the notches. He knew where he was going and this wasn’t necessary, but he wanted to. He wanted to see what had been done to his home. This was his House.

Fueled by anger at what he saw, he moved on even quicker.

~*~*~*~*~

“Here they are,” Tanji hopped down from peering into the room, inspecting the lock. As they had expected the lock did not belong on this door, like the locks had been when they’d been kept prisoners in the High House ruins in November.

Kino stepped forward and blasted the lock with a stream of fire magic, catching it before it could hit the ground and make any noise. She made quiet little exclamations about its temperature and set the lock on the ground as Tanji poked his head into the room.

Dozens upon dozens of Koorime were huddled in that room, packed together, most managing sleep, but a few turned weary and frightened eyes toward the door. Most of them were boys, shades of white and blue and pale skin mingled with what few rags of clothing they had left, an even blander scene than the low light gave excuse for.

Tanji whispered a greeting in Koorime as best Lane had taught him, telling them to stay quiet and calm, and that they were going to escape. The ones who were awake roused the others and passed the message along. Tanji managed to find the Koorime words for “stay quiet” and “follow me”. He noticed a few of them were supporting and some even carrying others, obviously beaten often and nearly starved to death.

“Okay, Lane said if we divert this way, we’ll find a room of weapons, arm them, and then go back to the ruins,” Tanji motioned Kino to go into the back corridor that way first, hanging back and waiting while the last of the Koorime followed her.

The skin on the back of Tanji’s neck prickled, so he stood there long after the last Koorime had ducked into the passage. He didn’t draw his sword, but he stood perfectly still and silent, listening. In a blur he moved.

“What are you…” the surprised voice was cut off by Tanji’s hand over his mouth, his hands clasped firmly behind his back.

Tanji peered at the catch. His eyes were wide and slightly frightened, his hair falling over half his face, and from what Tanji could see in the meager light, it was three colors and barely concealed two cat-like ears. More than that, he had the smell of vampire all over him. He wasn’t a vampire, he was obviously a Nekojin by the looks of him, but he’d spent a great deal of time around a vampire lately.

“You will not yell, you saw how quick I grabbed you, I can cut your throat with my sword in half that time,” Tanji warned, and removed his hand from his mouth.

“You let all of the slaves free,” the Nekojin noticed the slightly open door to the room where the Koorime had been and then the door to the back hallway, “and that is your escape route.”

“Your name?”

“Bastian.”

“You work for Augustine?”

“Yes. While he is away, I’m in charge of his armies.”

Perfect. “You’re coming with me,” Tanji answered, tearing loose a good portion of his arm wrap and winding it tightly around Bastian’s wrists, then around his waist so they were secured behind him.

Tanji shut the door where the Koorime had been held, replacing the melted lock and fusing it back together with a burst of his own fire magic. Until they looked inside, no one would be alerted. Then Tanji grabbed his cat demon prisoner and ducked into the back corridor.

Kino was just coming up from the other direction, the Koorime behind her now brandishing staffs and naginata. She looked worried, glancing at the Nekojin and asking him silently if they were in trouble. His look in return said everything was fine and motioned her to continue back towards the garden. Kino swallowed hard and nodded, moving forward again. The Koorime glanced at Tanji as they passed, following Kino like the perfect servants they were trained to be. Tanji took up position behind the last of them, pushing Bastian in front of him only once and the cat demon got the point and followed the crowd.

~*~*~*~*~

“LanEise!”

“Lane!”

Excited whispers greeted him the moment he slipped inside the room. Faces tired and dirty were suddenly bright and smiling. Bodies weak from starvation and physical abuse were immediately around him, hugging him. Lane fought back tears, looking at each and every face. They had changed, they’d been through so much, but he recognized them all, and he was sure he looked different to them – but no one seemed to care much about that.

“Din, Kai!” Lane’s heart raced when he saw his two closest friends, embracing them as long and as hard as he dared. It was like being reunited with long lost family, these were as close to brothers as anyone had ever been to him, and they were alive.

“We had thought you were dead,” Kai gathered Lane to his chest and held him.

Memories came rushing back. For that moment Lane was again a shey, broken and bleeding on the floor, screaming for the youkai not to take his mother. An eruption of pain as one of the guards had struck him, and then Kai had held him, Din right at his side whispering to him to try and calm him down. He’d been hysterical for days, crying, curled up in Kai’s arms, thinking he would go mad every day AralainShai was not returned to them. That was the last he’d seen or heard of her.

“I worried that you were dead as well… I’m sorry I took so long,” Lane buried himself against Kai like he had so many times before when he was upset or sick.

“How long has it been?” Din asked softly.

Of course, they’d had no concept of time, trapped in this room, never knowing when the guards would come for whatever reason, never knowing if they would come.

“It’s been a just over a year, fourteen cycles of the moon,” Lane explained.

“That’s not that long, in the scheme of things,” Kai’s deep voice was so smooth and comforting.

“So what now, what of the other Houses, the other shey?”

“And our ladies.”

Lane hushed them all with a motion and explained, “I have a group with me that are freeing the other shey. If there are enough of us when we escape here and get back to the ruins, we’re going to try and push the youkai out, at least out of the city. From there we can build up defenses.”

“And get our home back,” Kai nodded, his confidence rippling through the room. Kai had always been the dominant one of the Jun shey, the largest and strongest. His strength became everyone else’s strength at that moment.

“So… the weapons room?” Din asked.

“And then to the ruins, using the corridor to the garden and then out,” Lane nodded in answer.

Everyone around the room affirmed the instructions. Lane managed to pull himself away from Kai’s secure embrace, the three of them leading the liberated group silently through the House they now had to liberate.

~*~*~*~*~

“It wasn’t that hard, some of them actually spoke kitsune,” Aya quirked a grin at Kesu as they and the Koorime they had found picked their way to the safest spot among the ruins where they were hidden from view of the city.

Kesu mused, “I noticed that, I tried everything when I tried something in Koorime and they just gave me strange looks. I guess I hadn’t really been paying attention to Lane’s lessons. And you got something else there?”

“Yeah, along the way some of them asked about food, so we took a little risk and snagged some provisions. I figured, if we’re gonna make them fight and could get them weapons, we might as well sneak them some food too… cuz some of these guys look skinnier than Laney.”

“Yeah I noticed that,” if it hadn’t been such a grim observation, Kesu might have laughed, but Aya was right. It had been a good idea, feeding the starved Koorime before expecting them to fight.

Evidently the some of the Koorime that had been with Tyger, Obliette, and Dontae had had the same idea – they were already grouped up in the ruins nibbling on provisions and talking in whispers about battle plans. Aya and Kesu’s groups joined the others, many of them smiling and hugging, looking extremely happy despite the bad shape they were in.

“Who’s not here yet?” Kesu asked Obliette discretely.

Obliette thought a moment, “Lane, Tanji and Kino.”

“This is looking like a family reunion, with food and everything.”

“Well, they do need to get their strength back,” Obliette smiled casually, hematite eyes scanning the group. “There are quite a number of them.”

“Certainly enough to pose a threat to the youkai living inside the city walls, especially if they hit them suddenly before anyone knows they’ve escaped,” Dontae spoke over her shoulder, standing on a small rise and gazing back toward the city.

“Well if you’re optimistic then I think we can all safely bet that they’ll win,” Kesu grinned at her back.

Dontae gave no noticed she’d even heard the kitsune. “Here are the half breeds coming now.”

Kesu and Obliette strode up onto Dontae’s bluff and waited for Kino to come up beside them. The Koorime following her filed down into the ruins, mingling among friends with a whole new series of smiles and hugs, laying down their weapons and preferring food for the moment. Kino looked over the group of Koorime, then back at Tanji as he followed the last of them, still with the Nekojin in front of him.

Kesu blinked worriedly, “Tanji…”

“He caught us freeing the Koorime, I could have killed him, but he says he’s like August’s second in command, so I thought he’d be useful,” Tanji excused.

“Good thinking,” Dontae muttered, reluctant to admit the boy had done something intelligent – after all, that was rare!

“They’ll notice he’s missing before they miss any of the Koorime, we might have to accelerate our plans,” Obliette worried.

“Lane’s still gone?” Tanji observed more than he asked.

“Hope he didn’t decided to do something on his own,” Kesu sighed.

“Lane wouldn’t do that,” Kino offered the hope quietly.

“Lane would do anything if he was upset enough,” Tanji tried to find a spot to deposit Bastian so he wouldn’t have to worry about him.

“Here,” Obliette fashioned a set of shackles for the Nekojin’s wrists and ankles from literally nowhere, easing him to sit down.

Tyger joined the rest of them, gazing down at the Koorime. “Damn, why do all of them have to be as fine looking as…”

“As Lane?” Tanji snickered.

“I didn’t say that,” Ty snapped at him. “They just, they’re all so damn attractive.”

“Most of them are sex slaves, of course they’re attractive, they’re bred to be that way,” Kesu smirked.

Ty make the motions of talking back to him, exaggerated, and followed by sticking out her tongue at him. Tanji snickered and checked Obliette’s binding of the little Nekojin. Tyger kept glancing at him, kept trying to dismiss him as just a lesser kitty, but there was something… gah, no more of that, all those damn white haired skinny boys down in the ruins did enough of that.

“There’s Lane,” Kesu’s voice wavered between thrilled and relieved.

Tanji stood up and peered out across the expanse of rubble, “He’s got quite a group with him too… this is looking better and better.”

“I think our chances of succeeding here have certainly increased,” Obliette phrased what Tanji had said in his own way, but they were both right, this was much more than any of them had hoped to liberate.

Lane led the shey from the Jun House to the ruins where his friends were, nearly all of them carrying weapons, a few of them carrying food as well. He motioned the Koorime toward the others and started heading for his friends on the ridge.

“LanEise!” excited whispers ran through the crowd of Koorime already gathered, smiles nearly all around, the Jun shey mingling among them.

Lane smiled at his friends and bypassed them, trotting down into the group and veritably vanishing. Fluid and poetic words that made up the Koorime language flooded the ruins as quietly as the boys could be in their excitement. There were more hugs and quiet laughter. Lane sat with them and talked and laughed, eating with them.

“I suddenly feel like an in-law at a family reunion,” Tanji muttered, staring wide-eyed.

“You’re not alone,” Kesu shook his head.

As the dawn broke into a peaceful and pale morning, Tanji and Dontae settled down on the ridge facing towards the city, keeping watch for any movement that might mean they’d been seen or heard. Kesu took up talking with Bastian, trying to get information out of him, Tyger and Aya nearby listening, but pretending they weren’t listening. Kino sat down beside Tanji, but faced the gathered Koorime and watched them.

The sickest and weakest of them were given precedent by the entire group. For awhile they clustered, two fairly healthy Koorime feeding and comforting a weaker one. Once fed, their hair was combed through and braided, and they were made comfortable with what little they had of coverings to serve as blankets.

The clusters broke up slightly once that was done, everyone moving much closer together. About half of them would be nibbling at the foods while someone else braided their hair, and when that was done they’d switch. Lane was the one who was mostly speaking, prodded no doubt by many questions. Even the bit of the Koorime language he’d taught his friends didn’t clue them into the topics of the conversation, it was too basic to be of much help.

“Are you catching anything?” Kino asked Tanji quietly.

Tanji listened more intently, “Lane is asking different boys from each House about any information they might be able to use, but I can’t make out what they say… their accents are so much stronger than Lane’s.”

Kino nodded, “I noticed that, and they talk so softly. He’ll probably tell us when they’re done anyway.”

Kesu quit bothering the Nekojin captive and sat down at Tanji’s other side. “Bastian is really cooperative, I get the impression he doesn’t like Augustine any better than we do.”

“Heh, so why’s he stay?” Tanji was suspicious.

“I asked him that, he says Augustine saved his life more than several times and if he tried to leave, he’d kill him. He’s thought about leaving several times. And he mentioned a six-tailed kitsune several times, seems like she’s sort of Augustine’s female companion.”

“Is Augustine really in Saitennin?” Kino asked hesitantly.

Kesu nodded, “He is, with two of the Shadow Generals. Two of them are here, one in the Jun House and one in the Kulin House.”

“Kulin… wasn’t that the name of the girl Lane was spose to marry?” Tanji cast a look toward the group of Koorime.

Kesu sighed, “I think it was, but hopefully that won’t affect him too much. And Bastian said a few of the higher ranking officers of the Shadow stay in the city, but most everyone is out in the camp that Augustine didn’t take with him.”

“Sounds like they could take the city easy,” Tanji looked over the shey again. “But we need to move while we still have surprise on our side.”

“Agreed,” Kesu nodded, joining Tanji in trying to get Lane’s attention.

Lane noticed after a moment, talking with the other shey for another little while before weaving his way up to his friends and kneeling beside them. He tucked stray strands of hair behind his ears, “I’ve explained what we plan to do and they came up with a few ideas themselves.”

“Well I trust them to be the experts since this is your home,” Tanji smiled.

Lane smiled softly and ducked his head to hide a slight blush, “A group of the strongest of us are going to go up onto the mountain and gather an ice storm. This will hit the youkai hard and surprise them, and while they’re trying to deal with that, we can sweep through the city like we planned, and maybe even cause enough confusion in the camp to deal them a severe blow as well.”

“Sounds good,” Kesu nodded.

Lane drew a small and basic layout of the city in the dirt, “The youkai’s riding hawks are being kept here, and the aisailtarns are here. The youkai in the city might try and escape using the hawks, so protecting those is priority. I doubt they’d consider the aisailtarns, but they might.”

“I’ll take Aya and make sure of that,” Kesu tapped the ground where Lane had drawn the riding hawk paddock.

“I’ll take the other,” Kino offered.

“Tanji, Ty, Obliette and Dontae, I need you at the main gate in case the youkai in the camp realize what’s happening inside the city. If you can’t defend it, close it, but we want to keep the gate open until we’re sure we can’t go out and sweep into the camp,” Lane looked up at his friends.

Tanji nodded immediately, Ty shrugging nonchalantly, but everyone could tell she was thrilled about being at the forefront. Dontae was just eager to get going.

“What about the Generals?” Obliette asked quietly.

Lane looked down at the drawing of the city in the dirt in front of him, “The other shey can recognize the higher ranking officers, they realize when we take the city that we have to capture as many as possible, but we have to kill some – and they’re ready for that. I’m taking a group up the mountain now, the rest will get into place if they’re able to fight and will move when the storm hits.”

Everyone nodded and got up. Kino put her arms around Tanji and hugged him securely. He kissed her and smiled to comfort her, pulling away from her and drawing his sword. Dontae drew her sword and a dagger, the two of them racing off with Obliette and Tyger to the very left of the city, where the wall would keep them hidden until they reached the main gate.

Lane darted a glance back at his friends, then led a group of shey up through the ruins and along the mountain paths. Kino picked up her staff and looked around her as a great majority of the rest of the shey also picked up their weapons and moved to hidden places at the very edge of the ruins, ready to rush into the city.

Kesu laid a gentle hand on Kino’s shoulder, “Today is going to be a good day,” he smiled.

Kino smiled weakly in return and nodded. She followed Kesu and Aya among the crowd of shey to the edge of the city, rehearsing in her mind the way to where Lane had indicated those riding birds were kept. She had wanted to be with Tanji, but this task was also important, probably not nearly as dangerous, but still important. Tanji could take care of himself, she had to keep repeating that, she had to worry about herself.

~*~*~*~*~

“You have some very wonderful friends, Lane,” Din smiled, gazing down at the city beneath them as they raced up the mountainside. “To help us like this.”

“They are very wonderful,” Lane smiled back at his old friend, pausing at a ledge and deciding this was good enough. They were high enough to call a storm effectively, and still close enough to the city to get down there quick when the fighting started. And they were near the front gate, on the wrong side of it, but he was sure that wouldn’t be a problem, the youkai wouldn’t be able to organize faster than they could get inside.

“See the path down?” Lane motioned the way to everyone. “We call the storm and get into the city as fast as we can.”

The group nodded, gathering close together. They each put their hands forward, delicate and tapered fingers spread apart, laying their hands atop one another so their fingers made a sort of dazzling criss-cross pattern. Magic whirled around them, spiraling upward and outward from their joined hands, calling a storm.

~*~*~*~*~

Tanji huddled himself against the city wall as the ice began pelt down. Dontae motioned him to take the guard patrolling along the walkway over their heads, waiting for his nod before darting off to take the guard on the other side of the gate. He felt Ty and Obliette watching him as he vaulted up onto the walkway, cutting the youkai down quickly and silently, crouching there and looking over his shoulder at Dontae – catching the barest smirk on her face.

The youkai Dragon warrior leapt down from the walkway and dashed out through the main gate, sword whistling through the air. Tanji was a step behind her. Far to the back of the city, the rush of Koorime could be heard sweeping through the streets and into the houses to surprise those youkai there, releasing a few more Koorime in each of the smaller houses.

The Shadow camp was rousing slowly, much too slowly. Those closest to the gate were cut down immediately by Dontae and Tanji. Lane could be seen in the far right of Dontae’s peripheral vision, leading that group of white-haired boys down the side of the mountain and into the youkai camp.

Shadow fell before her left and right, some of them barely coherent before they parted ways with their life, very few managing to find a makeshift weapon, let alone a real one. None of them put up a decent fight, they were low level warriors for which she had no respect. They died quickly in battle, which was probably more honor than they deserved anyway.

To her left Tanji was fighting skillfully, almost as skillfully as her – almost. He moved with a speed that was just amazing even despite the ice storm, killing just as many of the Shadow as she did. That old woman had trained him well. He surprised her.

To her right, she was once again surprised when Lane came back into view, having fought his way through the awakening camp. He was graceful and precise, delivering killing blows with nothing more than a crude staff. His arcing movements were more like a dance than fighting maneuvers, but still effective. The other boys with him fought almost as well. These people knew how to train their servants, that was for certain.

The Shadow camp was in completely panic by now. The Koorime had swept through the entire city, twice as many finding weapons and joining the battle from all the minor houses and peasant quarters that had been occupied by Shadow lieutenants. Those beyond the front wall found themselves fighting side by side with increasing numbers of Koorime, mostly boys, but woman as well.

Lane worked his way slowly back inside the gate, noticing there was still some fighting in a few of the larger Houses. Dontae and Tanji joined him, noticing it as well. The Koorime could handle the youkai in the camp, they were still disorganized, without leadership, and pelted by that horrible ice storm, too confused to put up a fight. But in those Houses there were higher ranking youkai, Shadow that deserved their rank because they could fight.

“There!” Dontae pointed, taking off toward the fighting in front of one of the larger Houses, Tanji just behind her.

Lane hesitated, looking up at the House. That was his House, the Jun House. He raced forward, spurred by cries that among the resistance were the two Generals that were in Koorime, the two that hadn’t gone to Saitennin with Augustine. If they could take care of these two…

Some of the youkai were using Koorime females as shields as they fought. Lane recognized several of them, one of them was High Lady Kulin, mother of his betrothed, the woman who would have been his “owner” if the invasion hadn’t occurred. He didn’t see his mother, but there was a lot of confusion still.

Suddenly the confusion mounted. Dontae and Tanji had noticed a weak spot in the defenses and had pushed at the same time, causing the youkai to break and scatter. Tanji was caught up in a fierce competition with a lieutenant, Dontae found herself being suddenly overtaken by a huge Shadow General and lifted up off her feet and onto his shoulders. He and the other General and a few lieutenants ran as the other lieutenants keep most of the Koorime busy. Dontae roared furiously to be let down. Obliette slipped in the mud as he changed directions, totally ignoring the youkai who’d been trying to keep him occupied.

Lane sprinted after the youkai, noticing they were heading right for the riding hawks. Kesu, guarding the hawk enclosure, noticed it as well. He and Aya stood with staffs ready, wood clashing with swords.

The Shadow could hear Obliette and Lane coming up fast behind them, Tanji having dispatched the last of the lieutenants to give chase behind them. Aya and Kesu held their ground extremely well. The Generals bolted to the aisailtarn enclosure in a last ditch effort to escape, their underlings following an instant later when they realized their ranking officers’ plan.

The General not carrying the still furious Dontae drew his sword as he approached Kino, not slowing down in the least. Kino’s eyes grew wide, but she held her staff, charged with magical energy, and held her ground bravely. The General’s blow to her staff was so powerful the wood splintered immediately and his blade sliced deep into her flesh.

Tanji poured on a burst of speed to pass all his companions, skidding to a stop in the mud, sword clattering to the ground forgotten even as the youkai mounted the huge birds to escape. The tiny halfbreed clutched Kino against him with one arm, the other hand trying to quell the flow of blood from a wound four times too big for his little fingers to cover. He cried, shaking, anger bubbling within him like a volcano he couldn’t contain…

The phoenix shrieked, tearing its way from Tanji’s flesh in a whirlwind of flames and power. It spread its fiery wings and took to the air, streaking after the youkai that had hit Kino. The aisailtarn the General was riding panicked at the sight of the flaming bird chasing it and changed directly so abruptly its rider just couldn’t hold on. The youkai plummeted down into the nothingness beyond the island’s edge.

Tanji panted, drawing the phoenix back and fighting to stay upright. Lane had already vaulted over the corral fence and was mounting another of the large birds to chase the other who had escaped, Kesu running just behind him. The kitsune paused beside Tanji.

“Is she…”

“Just go! GO! Get the bastards!” Tanji pointed, shaking all over.

Kesu listened and vaulted over the fence, taking Lane’s hand and swinging up onto the riding bird behind the Koorime.

“Fortify the city!” Lane called out to his friends, encouraging the aisailtarn up into the air, readying a cross-bow-like weapon, Obliette mounting another and taking flight just behind them.

“It wouldn’t matter too much if they get back to Augustine, we have the city,” Kesu nearly had to yell over the high winds. “We just have to get Dontae back!”

Lane used his teeth to set the weapon, his other hand firmly in the neck feathers of the aisailtarn. He really knew what he was doing between the bird and the weapon, as he should have, all those years of training. He aimed carefully and let loose the projectile, one of the lieutenants falling from his riding bird and into the darkness of the forests so far below. Obliette kept his bird back beside Lane’s, watching as the Koorime set another projectile. He didn’t want to accidentally get into the line of fire.

Lane aimed again, taking great measures to make sure it wasn’t the General who had Dontae. He just had to get rid of the other youkai. He fired again and another Lieutenant fell, leaving the General alone with them in the skies.

~*~*~*~*~

The city was being fortified. All around him the Koorime were rounding up the last of the youkai within the city walls. Those Koorime who had ventured beyond the city walls were returning with more prisoners of higher rank and with a few Koorime that had been kept in the camp. The gates were shut with loud booming sounds.

But Tanji didn’t notice. He didn’t notice any of it, none of the sounds or the smells, or even the ice pelting into his numb skin.

He held Kino against him. She was so warm, in all that cold she was still so warm. He pulled her closer, her blood spreading between them and seeping into his clothes, against his skin, like a fire brand.

“Don’t leave me…” he whispered, squeezing his eyes shut.

Kino wasn’t breathing, her heart wasn’t beating. Even among all the chaos, sitting there in the half-frozen mud, that was all Tanji could focus on – the absence of her heartbeat.

“You can’t leave me.”

She still looked so alive, the colour to her cheeks, the beautiful glow of her skin, the radiance of her hair. And she was still so warm. She couldn’t be dead… except for the silence echoing in his ears. No heartbeat.

“You can’t… Kino… I’m so scared… I can’t make it alone,” Tanji nuzzled his cheek against hers, burying his face into her neck. “I can’t make it without you.”

Tears burned hot trails down his face and onto her skin, burning like the blood between them. It did more than burn, it almost tingled, almost moved.

“Please, angel… you saved my life… I owe you everything, my life is yours. Please… take me instead…” Tanji pleaded, not sure of who was listening, or if anyone at all was listening.

The blood between them grew hotter, seeping further than his clothes and actually into his skin. It twisted and burned into him, making him release Kino’s body slightly, blinking in confusion. It hurt, but not very badly, and it tingled. Rather like every single time he used the phoenix, right before it erupted and separated from him, when it was writhing and trying to get free from the magical bonds that held it within his flesh.

Tanji gasped, clutching at Kino’s body tighter, squeezing his eyes shut again, his tears wetting her cheek. The burning pulsed, spreading and warming his entire body. Tanji curled up even more, holding his angel closer, trying to do something with this sudden burning even if he wasn’t sure what.

Suddenly it exploded, like the phoenix from his back, pulsing outward with every last bit of heat and leaving him chilled. In his arms, Kino stirred. Her heart beat once… then twice… then onto a steady rhythm.

“Kino?” Tanji pulled back slightly, blinking in disbelief.

He looked down at the wound the youkai had made. It was entirely healed. The blood remained, soaking her ruins clothes and his, but the wound was gone. Tanji looked from the hole that remained in her clothing to her face just as she opened her eyes. Those sparkling amber eyes had never looked more beautiful.

~*~*~*~*~

Lane and Obliette encouraged their aisailtarns faster and faster, streaking after the Shadow General who was struggling with Dontae. Despite the dizzying speed and height she was trying to get control of the situation, hopefully by knocking the Shadow off the bird. It was slowing him down.

Outraged by the annoyance, the General shoved her off instead.

“No!” Obliette grabbed a fistful of feathers and jerked his aisailtarn downward, rocketing towards the falling Dontae.

Kesu held on tightly to Lane as the Koorime also diverted his bird. It occurred to him that if he didn’t keep up the chase, the General would be too far ahead for him to get close enough for another shot before the riding bird was exhausted, but if he didn’t and Obliette couldn’t handle his bird well enough to catch Dontae… she would die.

He was just another General, they could kill him later, but there was only one Dontae. All of this decided in an instant, and Kesu and Lane were bulleting downwards right behind Obliette.

“Get beneath her!” Kesu howled over the wind.

Lane dove down even further, keeping a very close eye on how close the forest was getting beneath them. Kesu turned slightly and blasted the falling Dontae with wind magic, slowing her descent dramatically. Obliette swooped in easily from the side and caught her at that speed without problem. Lane watched to make sure Dontae was securely on Obliette’s mount, glancing toward the fleeing General. There wasn’t a chance to catch him, but he had to make sure just in case.

Remorsefully, but also hopefully, Lane turned his aisailtarn back toward Koorime.

~*~*~*~*~

Lane stepped almost silently through the deserted halls of the Jun House. He was searching, clinging to a last few tendrils of hope. The General that had escaped had been Jenii, the First General of the Seven, and he had been married to AralainShai Jun.

High Lady Kulin was fine, as were several of the other High Ladies. But Lady Kulin’s daughter was dead. Lane’s betrothed had been killed before Lane had even escaped, in the first attack by the youkai. She was dead, knowing that he could deal with it, there was resolution.

His people were free, the city was fortified. The youkai in the camp beyond the city walls had fled, without leadership and confused. Most of them had died. There were a great many lieutenants left alive, kept in secure chambers, information would be gotten from them later. Until it was certain the youkai would not return, the Koorime would remain within the city, huddled defensively. It would take some time for the scars to heal over, for the peasants to go beyond the walls and work the fields and the orchards, but it would happen.

Lane paused at a window, looking down at his mother’s garden. No longer would youkai control them, and if the youkai ever returned, they would regret it. Plans were already being followed for better defenses, better training, better weapons. They would remain a peaceful and loving people, but they would be ready if the time came again. The paranoia was not unfounded, Augustine might try a retaliation, if he was angry and stupid enough… or perhaps that General who had escaped.

Lane moved on. Everything was fine except for one remaining thing. He took the steps up to his mother’s bedchamber, searching desperately for one last resolution, driven on by faith.

He stopped in the doorway, sensing the magical ward set up in the room, dispelling it easily. Lane stepped within, and his heart wept with joy. There was his mother, sitting in a suspended cage, her face brightening in the most wonderful smile he had ever seen in his life.

“LanEise,” her voice was like a dream come true.

~*~*~*~*~

Lane awoke, breath catching in his throat. His eyes flew open, afraid that he’d dreamt it all, he’d awoken from some marvelous fantasy of victory and completion to a nightmare of reality. But his body ached, everything about him just hurt immensely.

A strong hand at his chest eased him back down into the softness he was laying on. Lane’s icy blue eyes focused, the worry of the dream theory increasing. “Victor?”

“Good evening Lane,” Victor almost smiled. “Kesu requested that I come, you’ve been sleeping for nearly two days now, I suppose all that fighting exhausted you?”

“So… it was real?” Lane blinked rapidly, trying to clear his thoughts, to separate real memory from dream memory.

Victor looked a little confused, but explained, “You liberated Koorime, Lane, all the youkai are gone. This is your room in your mother’s home. She and I have spoken on many occasions since I arrived, she’s very worried about you.”

“She’s alive,” Lane laid back, closing his eyes and just feeling the relief washing over him, settling against him like a comforting blanket.

Victor’s gentle hand brushed back strands of white hair from Lane’s face, “Yes, she is alive… and so are a great many of your people. You collapsed right after you found her according to Kesu, but many of the others collapsed as well from exhaustion and have fairly much slept since then. Most of them are staying in guest rooms here, my brother and Kesu included.”

Lane smiled, eyes still closed, “Amadeus came here?”

“He was worried about his fox,” Victor sounded almost amused, easing himself down a little bit more onto the bed, there was no need to keep vigil anymore. He propped himself up against the pillows, Lane curling naturally against him, albeit a little slowly because of the obvious pain.

“You spoke with my mother?” Lane asked quietly after a moment of very content silence.

“Several times, she comes often to see if you are awake. Once she came during the day, so of course I had to explain to her why I am awake only at night. She is very intelligent and rational, she knows many legends, a few of which about vampirism I had to correct, but she accepted what I told her.”

Lane smiled, he knew his thenaia was everything Victor had said. She was very accepting, very smart, extremely practical – it was no wonder Lane loved Victor for his intelligent conversations and his logical and practical attitude.

“And she has a very noble bearing, so Amadeus isn’t having a problem fitting in here, except the fact he’s a male.”

“That’s easily overlooked,” Lane snickered softly, delighted when Victor laughed.

There was another long and comfortable silence where the two of them just laid there in the near perfect darkness, totally content just holding one another. Victor listened intently to Lane’s breathing, his heartbeat.

“You have a very beautiful home,” Victor mentioned at a low whisper.

“It’s not my home anymore,” Lane sighed, burrowing against his lover’s chest.

“Oh?” Victor was genuinely surprised.

Lane shook his head slightly, “No… this isn’t my home anymore. As much as I love it here and wish it could be… I don’t belong here.”

Victor couldn’t bring himself to ask Lane where he did belong, but he left that question to be answered by time, sensing he would be answered soon enough anyway.

~*~*~*~*~

Kino wandered slowly through the city. Her attention kept returning to the road and to the buildings. They’d been obviously well-maintained for years, perhaps even centuries, and the damage the youkai had done by not maintaining the city was slowly being repaired, and it was magnificent. It reminded her of ancient Rome.

The Koorime, to Kino, were an exceptionally beautiful people. Not just because of the way they looked, even though those of the ruling Houses were gorgeous, but because of their demeanor. It had been two weeks since the youkai had fled, no sign they were going to try and return, and still the small group from the Kiro Temple hadn’t worn out their welcome. Even Victor and Amadeus were still treated like honored guests.

They stayed because they’d been asked to stay, every one of them. It was still very much a celebratory period, even if there were anxieties about the youkai returning. Tanji and Kesu ran scouts to Saitennin, and Augustine’s forces there showed no hints of moving. Tanji helped the Koorime with repairing weak places in the outer wall and a few of the aqueducts that had fallen into disrepair in the last year. Dontae probably stayed for her own reasons, and Obliette with her. Everyone knew why Lane stayed.

Kino paused and gazed up at the temple. There were lots of little temples scattered around the city, but this was the largest one, where all the ceremonies were held. Lane had said the aqueduct Tanji was helping with today was near the temple, it was one of the last major projects left to be done.

Kino skirted around the beautiful building. Tanji was never hard to find, the shimmer of pure raven hair among the sea of white. She found him and settled down nearby to watch and to wait. It was nearly midday and as far as she knew he’d been out here working with them since before dawn. How ironic that Tanji hated getting up anywhere near morning, but he’d run down here to join the repair crews before dawn for two weeks straight. And they had a pace to their work which Tanji seemed to have picked up on, he was like just another worker among them the effort was seamless.

Tanji certainly fit in much better out here than he did back within the House. There those slender and elegant boys were cleaning just as hard as the lower classes outside the House walls, but it was different. In there it was quiet and calm, very reverent while the Ladies conducted business. Out here there was talking and laughing, and occasionally singing. Albeit Tanji didn’t understand everything that was said, but his Koorime had improved greatly and they chatted easily.

Lane worked so hard within his mother’s House now, as Kino was sure he’d done his entire life. He worked from before sunrise until sunset, when he and Victor would have time together. Kino wasn’t precisely sure when the poor Koorime boy slept, but he’d never seemed happier or more vibrant as long as she’d known him.

A loud ruckus from the work crew tore Kino from her thoughts. Tanji and another Koorime were perched up on the wall where the aqueduct emerged, loosing the reservoir gate. Everyone cheered and laughed as the water ran flawlessly into the Temple’s reservoir, a shimmering pool. When the water level in the pool reached a certain level, the gate by which Tanji sat was counterbalanced by some mechanism and it shut itself. The crew cheered again, helping Tanji and the other boy down.

Kino followed the group a distance behind as they went and rinsed themselves off in the shower from another aqueduct. The Temple’s water was collected from the high mountain and was far purer than the water used for the street showers, even though all of the water was amazingly clean – at least from the perspective of someone from Ningen.

Tanji stood there among the other boys, looking strange and out of place, but acting like he belonged there. He peeled off his shirt and wrung it out into the runoff that ran alongside the street in well designed little gutters. Kino caught a bit of the conversation, remarks about the fire across his back, how warm he felt when the others got close, if the air felt too cold to him. Which, after working for half a day, Tanji didn’t immediately mind the cold, but he usually got inside pretty quick anyway and found a nice fire to huddle up next to. The boys laughed and told him to get inside.

Tanji smiled and noticed Kino, slipping his soaked shirt back on as he wandered over to her, “Been waiting long?”

Kino smiled, pushing hair back off his forehead and straightening his headband, “Watched you finish that aqueduct, that was quite a project.”

“It was great,” Tanji grinned, double-checking the headband.

“They’re easy to work with, aren’t they? Very friendly.”

“Gods, they’re great. I’ve never met a nicer bunch of people. Hard to believe they’re demons and this is actually Makai. It’s just, unreal.”

“And it’s a highly magical atmosphere, you can feel the energies here. With them being so nice and this land being so beautiful, you wonder why they’re so closed off and isolated.”

“Yeah, this place can definitely show you magic you didn’t know you had,” Tanji murmured, seemingly intent on studying the road.

“Tanji… what?” Kino had a sense he’d just said something important, hinted at something, but he acted like it was nothing.

“Better get back inside ‘fore I freeze,” he snickered, wandering back toward the Jun House. Of course Kino wanted to ask him what he’d meant by that, but she didn’t. She wasn’t sure, something just told her to leave it alone, something about his tone. This wasn’t the normal, shy and reserved Tanji who was just bashful to talk about things, it sounded more like something he couldn’t talk about yet.

“I heard Kesu mention we’ll probably be going back home soon.”

“Yeah, the Koorime appreciate what we did and all… but they are a very secluded people. They’re stable and all, that project was the last big one, I think we could go home,” Tanji took her hand in his as they headed back toward the Jun House.

“All of us?” Kino inquired softly.

Tanji chewed on his lip, he knew exactly what she meant. Lane was still, his society, in –this- society, a child. He had temporarily been allowed back into his home, wearing the shey tunic, performing shey duties, but it was only temporary. Once a Koorime left the island they usually weren’t allowed to return, they were outcasts. But Lane’s situation was definitely different.

“I know Laney… he loves it here, and he loves his mother… but I don’t think he’d choose to stay.”

“Will she give him that choice though? Because of their traditions, she technically owns him, and he is her only heir.”

“Yeah… I was avoiding that,” Tanji sighed.

~*~*~*~*~

“Come on, Victor, wake up,” Lane smiled, brushing bangs out of Victor’s face.

The steel gray eyes slitted open just slightly, regarding him, then slipped back closed. It was not after sunset yet, vampires were irritable. But Lane wasn’t deterred. This – he thought – was when Victor was his cutest. The elder Damien would make intelligible noises, scoot and burrow to get away from Lane, and occasionally cuddle in the most submissive of ways – usually when he’d had a very good night before.

Lane lounged on the pillows beside him, fingers playing in Victor’s hair and tickling his ear every now and then. Victor quit trying to scoot away from him and scooted toward him instead, the response Lane had been hoping for. The barely awake vampire curled against his chest, nuzzling in little motions, arms draping loosely around Lane’s slender waist.

It had been a very good night, a very good week of nights actually. After Lane’s exhaustion had passed and his injuries healed, he and Victor went out every night and Lane showed him something different. The first night Lane had been still rather uncomfortable going too far, so he’d taken Victor to the Temple library, which was open to him because he was the first son of the Third House – otherwise it wouldn’t have been open to a male. Lane had watched Victor scan nearly everything, and expected him to ask to go back the second night, but he didn’t.

So instead Lane had led him around the city, explaining how old certain buildings were, their history, and around the ruins eventually. The night after Victor was perfectly content to walk around the Jun gardens, still asking questions and listening about Koorime society and politics, but simply being with Lane toward dawn. The next night Lane gave Victor a tour of the Jun House itself, explained how the shey moved back and forth through the corridors, how they’d liberated them, what the routines were. That night ended early back in Lane’s room, and so had all the nights following it.

This one was going to end differently, Lane could just sense it, and it wasn’t in a bad way either.

“Enough sleeping, nights are too short not to get an early start,” Lane smirked and managed to get his hand enough between them to get hold of Victor’s shirt and push it off one shoulder, detangling the nearly leaden arm from the sleeve. “You’re impossible.”

Victor made an unintelligible noise, his arm falling back across Lane’s hip naturally, barely feeling anything as the Koorime lifted him up from the bed enough to steal his shirt entirely away. This had awoken him enough to realize Lane was without any clothing, which roused his curiosity, so he was forced to wake up a little bit more.

“What… are you doing?” Victor asked softly, burrowed back into place against Lane’s neck. It was just so comfortable there… and vampires were supposed to sleep during the day.

“Need a bath,” Lane answered with all innocence.

“Go take one,” Victor’s logical mind retorted automatically.

“With you,” the Koorime excused his struggles of removing Victor’s pants. “It’s important we… we just have to.”

“Oh,” Victor tried to force his eyes open. There had been a subtle tremor in Lane’s voice, this was important, and Victor’s being stubborn was bordering on threatening that. Strange how he could perceive that all from a tremor, but he could.

A task that had seemed impossible, getting Victor’s pants off him, was easily completed with just a little help from the drowsy vampire. Lane wrapped something infinitely smooth and silken around the two of them and slowly coaxed Victor from the bed, supporting him for the most part.

Victor forced his eyes open a little more, glancing to the side to see what that was around them. It was something like a sheet, only pure silk, like the fabric of the tunics Lane had been wearing lately, and it was thicker. It fluttered around their feet as Lane led him to the bath chamber between his room and his mother’s. Victor hadn’t been in this room, he’d been told to use the guest bath chamber if he wanted to wash himself, which was what Lane did as well.

The room was lit with a single ice crystal, just the perfect luminance for Victor, and there were no windows to worry about. Lane had drawn the bath awhile ago, warmer than he usually took, expecting the difficulties Victor had given him, so it was the perfect temperature as he dropped the silk covering and led the way down into the water.

Victor was almost content to just close his eyes and doze back off, but the way he settled against the smooth tile warranted a look. The curve fit a body perfectly, probably too perfectly for as tired as he was, it made it all too easy to fall back asleep.

“Silly,” Lane smiled as Victor relaxed and closed his eyes again, stretching across him to reach what he needed.

Victor listened to the soft movements of the water, smiling softly as the silken skin of the Koorime brushed against him. Lane’s willowy fingers first wetted and then washed Victor’s hair, only gentle touches required to get him to tilt his head the way that was needed. Lane was thorough in washing him, moving slowly, almost always silently, and taking his time. When he was finished sunset was near enough so that Victor could finally shake off those grips of sleep just a little bit.

Lane reached back and released his hair from its braids. The white cascade fell down, then pooled around him as if each of the strands was dancing just beneath the surface of the water. Lane arched back in a graceful manner, back bowing over the water until his hair was entirely submerged and it tickled the skin of his forehead. He pulled back up, Victor accepting him against him.

He closed his eyes while Victor washed his hair. While it was certainly no small task, it was one Victor had found he enjoyed. The way the strands played and fell was infinite in combination, each one beautiful, the movement through his fingers different every time. It was simple, but wonderful.

Victor took a good look around the room while Lane arched back and rinsed out his hair. It was very beautiful in a simple manner, like the entire house. The bath was at the center, sunk beneath the floor several steps. There was another door opposite the one to Lane’s room, Victor assumed to his mother’s bedchamber, and a much more discrete little door, half hidden behind curtains, that he probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been looking for it. A shey entrance, no doubt Lane’s mother had servants attending her even while bathing.

His attention was drawn back to Lane as the Koorime reached to the edge once more, retrieving a slender glass cylinder. Before opening it he cradled Victor’s jaw in one hand and kissed him, deeply and gently. They savored the kiss, lingering there before finally parting.

Lane tipped the vial against a finger, nodding toward Victor, “Open your mouth.”

Victor wanted to ask, but didn’t, parting his lips slightly. Lane placed the drop of fluid on the center of his tongue, handing the vial to him. Victor again didn’t ask, inspecting the vial a moment before tipping it against his finger and repeating the process in return. He watched Lane close his eyes for a moment, head bowed, and tried tasting what was on his tongue. It was very very close to being flavorless, and he was curious what it was and what that had meant, but something still told him not to ask.

Lane let the water release, standing and reaching for the silk he’d wrapped around them earlier, motioning Victor out first and wrapping them in it once more. The silence at this point was almost ritualistic. Back in Lane’s room their clothes were laid out neatly on the sitting bench, the clothes they’d each arrived in Koorime the first time in.

Victor blinked and kept silent still as Lane took the large sheet of silk and dried Victor off completely, dropping it onto the bench in favor of Victor’s clothes. Victor thought it strange the Koorime so silently and carefully dressed him, but still sensed this was something that had to be done, and with that silence intact. Hesitantly, when Lane was finished, Victor reached for the silk and repeated the same actions back to his lover, as he had with the vial of fluid in the bath, drying him off and dressing him.

Once dressed, Lane’s hands when to his hair, gathering and braiding the strands at an amazing speed. Victor watched those fingers nimbly capture every hair into at least a hundred tiny braids. Those braids were braided, and then those together, tied halfway down his back loosely.

He looked beautiful.

Victor stood there captivated, totally unaware of time or the room or anything else, any of the strange motions he’d just gone through as if they were habit for him. This creature, the one standing in front of him, was just beyond words. Elegant, graceful, slender, beautiful… they barely touched the reality, they were just trivial words, how could they even hope to describe anything like this.

And it wasn’t that Lane looked any different than normal. He was wearing pale, faded jeans and a deep blue button up shirt left half way undone over a white tank top, fairly normal and conservative by Lane’s standards. Except for the intricate braids, there was nothing really different.

Before Victor could ask what was going on, Lane smiled and gently slipped his hand into his, leading him out into the hallway. Victor followed him to a spacious hall on the first level. He looked around, noticing everyone from the Kiro and his brother were either already there or just arriving. They were each dressed in their own clothes, Tanji and Dontae had their swords, and Kesu and Kino had their staffs nearby. From the clues, Victor deduced they were ready to leave Koorime.

But Lane was wearing his Ningen clothes as well. Did this mean…

Victor couldn’t complete the thought process, his attention immediately focused on the back of the room where AralainShai entered. She was well dressed as she often was, a shimmering white gown with a collar of netted silver set with sapphires.

Lane stepped away from his group of friends and approached his mother, kneeling in front of her. She still owned him, the devotion was easily seen, perfectly executed. As strange as the feeling was to him, at that thought Victor felt an urge to grab Lane and hold him tightly, possessively, and refuse to let him go. Even Amadeus seemed to sense it, shifting his gaze from his brother to the Koorime boy kneeling there and back again.

“LanEise Jun,” AralainShai spoke softly, and yet for as gentle and kind as she seemed, she demanded respect, “Koorime owes you a great deal.”

She spoke not in Koorime, but so the Victor, Amadeus, and the group from Kiro could understand her. She was well versed in Ningen culture and language, after all, she’d taught Lane. It was slower, not as fluid as when she spoke Koorime, but probably of more use to those in the room who hadn’t yet quite learned or bothered to learn the Koorime language.

“Koorime’s debt to you has not been weighted lightly in our discussions of late. How do you answer to this?”

“This shey answers as one who loved his people and honored his House, and wished only to restore them, for the honor of the Teshnei,” Lane answered, knelt there with posture proud and tall, head held high, but eyes looking down to the floor.

“You have left Koorime, and spent a full year not only beyond Koorime, but beyond Makai. What does this mean?”

“It means this shey is no longer as pure as the mountain water and should not have returned.”

“But you did return. Answer.”

“This shey returned for the love of his people, his House, and the Teshnei.”

“This is not before the Council, LanEise, answer honestly,” AralainShai’s tone softened slightly.

“This shey returned for the sake of his mother and his friends.”

“Honestly. Again.”

“I returned,” Lane corrected, eyes squeezed shut, “for the sake of my mother and my friends, that I might not have lost what I had known and loved all my life.”

“You answer selfishly, but honestly. You are in balance in this. You cast off your shey robes and lived in Ningenkai for over a year, but you returned and we are now indebted to you. In this you are in balance. Our tradition states that one who has left should not return, and we forgive your return, but we cannot forgive your remaining. However, because you are the only heir of the Jun line, you can be forgiven.”

Lane’s body moved slightly, tensing. That was something he hadn’t expected. AralainShai moved from where she sat and stepped down, standing right in front of Lane and gazing down at him.

“You are my beloved child, my only, my cherished son. As your thenaia and Teshin it is my place to have final ruling in what becomes of you. However… because of my love for you, my son who should not have lived, I find myself unable to make that decision.”

Lane gazed at the floor, a small tremble running through him. He could feel the weight of everyone’s gazes on him.

AralainShai reached and gently touched Lane’s forehead, back over the braids in a loving touch, “I know you are not yet of mature age, but you have always excelled beyond your years… and I leave the decision to you, LanEise.”

After a long silence, Lane’s soft voice replied, “This shey loves his thenaia deeply, and honors his House and the Teshnei, but my faith tells me I cannot take upon myself the robes of the shey now that I have discarded them.”

AralainShai closed her eyes, sighing and nodding her head very solemnly. Her eyes were shimmering when she’d composed herself enough to open them. From her side she produced a long, thin dagger. She bent and grasped his braids where they were tied loosely together at about waist level now, “Then, LanEise Jun… I release you,” the dagger’s quick blade cut through the hundreds of braids, the ends fraying slightly in the wake of the cut, leaving the thick braids of at least a third of his hair in her hand.

It was obvious Lane didn’t know what to do, and it made sense. He’d lived his entire life as a shey… and now he’d been released from that. At his marriage she would have cut his hair and handed it to his betrothed to signify she now owned him, and when he’d come of age his wife would have cut his hair again, as it was being cut now, the braided ends gently falling to the floor from his mother’s hand. He was free.

AralainShai turned her attention to the rest of the group, especially Victor, “Koorime does not often welcome outsiders, but you are welcome here. And you, my Lane,” she took his hand gently as he stood and kissed his cheek, “you are no outcast to me, you are always my son.”

The delicate Koorime woman guided Lane’s hand to Victor’s, smiling as they naturally entwined. “He is still a child in some ways, care for him for me, will you?”

Victor nodded solemnly, “I promise to care for him as he needs it.”

“I wish you all a safe journey back to Ningenkai, and on behalf of the Koorime Council, thank you for what you have done for our people,” AralainShai smiled at each member of the group, and finally back at Lane. “Farewell my son, I love you.”

“And I love you, thenaia,” Lane kissed her cheek, smiled softly, and slowly turned away.

~*~*~*~*~

“Just… one more thing before we go home,” Lane picked his way up the dark mountain trail, his hand in Victor’s leading them upwards. The darkness of the stones contrasted so sharply with the snow on the ground reflecting the moonlight more than normal. It was a new snow, there were still a few flurries coming down now and then, but mostly they were stirred up from the ground. Victor couldn’t remember seeing whiter snow, it was just pristine and wonderful. The entirety of Koorime seemed to be that pure and natural and untouched. It was so pure he was almost happy they were leaving it before their presence did something to effect the innocence of the place or the people. But at least… he got to take a part of that back with him.

“What was that you put in my mouth earlier?” Victor had finally shaken off the sense of needing to be quiet after awhile of trekking up the mountain, which allowed him to ask all the questions that had been bottled up since Lane had first awoken him.

“Extract from that flower which grows up here, the same which I told you grew in my nursery and only wilted when taken from where I lived. We believe it purifies the… “road” that words travel from the heart – where they are true and honest – to being spoken. It cleanses that, so that the words aren’t distorted.”

“Ah,” Victor thought on that. “And the bathing, that was also ritualistic?”

“Yes, purifying oneself to be new and innocent when crossing into a new phase. To start off a phase and to not be pure… well that’s just a bad start,” Lane scowled at himself that he couldn’t put that anymore eloquently, but continued on along the path.

“Of course,” Victor understood, and that made Lane brighten and smile immediately. Victor was still amazed by his effects on the Koorime. “So you will go back to your apartment and continue working in that.. .dress store?”

“Yes, I like to work there. I’ll just live. Because of Yotaka I have all the necessary Ningen paperwork, license and birth certificate, and I like Ningenkai. When there’s not the joy of working… there’s the joy of you,” Lane paused, standing so beautifully on a small stone, his fingers linking him to Victor, small strings of hair escaping those hundreds of braids, now slightly shorter than before.

Victor just shook his head a little bit, following as Lane finished their climb and settled down on a ledge.

“I promised you a while ago I’d show you the stars in Koorime,” Lane waited until Victor sat down beside him, and then pointed up.

Victor looked… eyes tracing across the entire sky, mouth falling open slightly. “It’s like… you could almost reach out and touch them, even if that is logically impossible…”

Lane smiled and laid his hand atop Victor’s, his head upon his shoulder. “I’ll miss them, and I’ll miss my mother and my friends… but that doesn’t mean I can’t move on and grow. I think I can and… I want to move on now…”

Victor pulled Lane close, listening to that gentle heartbeat, the soft breathing, relishing in every sensation of their bodies meeting. Lane just fit perfectly against him somehow. Perfectly… so perfectly there was a part of him, which at first had been so quiet he couldn’t hear it, but up here, beneath the bright as gem stars he could almost reach out and touch, he could hear it – he wanted him there against him always.

“I want to move on… with you.”

Victor kissed into his hair, nuzzling and holding him tighter, “I will be with you, Lane. Let’s go home now.”

Lane nodded and stood, gazing once more at the stars. Victor looked around at the mountain around them, partially hidden beneath the snow. He smiled softly when he noticed it, a small blooming flower. Carefully he drew the white and blue bloom from its safety between the stones, standing and tucking it perfectly in Lane’s hair. Lane smiled, his fingers interlacing with Victor’s, their bodies melding side by side. Lane didn’t need to say anything more, and neither did Victor. Together they moved on into something new, driven by the love between them and as pure as the newly fallen snow.

~*~*~*~*~

Index
Flurries