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“You’ve heard the rumors. Everyone’s given up. Decided he’s dead. They aren’t even trying anymore.”
“Can you blame ‘em? He’s threatened to enter The Wilds for the last three years, and suddenly he disappears without a trace? You know as well as I do he made good on his word.”
“…Old King Ukai can’t keep silent on the matter forever. There’s people out here who know he’s gone. People he wasn’t supposed to be hanging around.”
“Yeah, you can just say ‘us’, Yusuke.”
“It doesn’t matter if it was us or some other guild… Princes aren’t supposed to be mingling with Gleaners.”
“...It’s only a matter of time before regular folks start to notice. A prince can’t disappear without so much as a ripple in the pond. There‘s bound to be consequences.”
“I just hope he’s okay… wherever he is…”
— Nekoma City was a smokey metropolis of colossal white towers and disc-like glass highrises, bubbled up and stacked like rock cairns at the edge of a grassy plateau. The buildings were stitched across a tapestry of red cobblestones that stretched for seemingly endless miles, woven together with intersecting sky bridges and narrow catwalks. It skirted the rim of a massive, dome-like magic barrier, which protected Nekoma from the wilderness beyond. Roads caked with damp earth had become home to malnourished grass, with the occasional dandelion stubbornly unfurling its hopeful leaves towards tiny glimpses of sunlight. The only real contrast to the endless white was the warm-colored clothes that the citizens wore. Glossy leather coats, hoods, and bycocket hats; waist-length tunics and knee-length frocks; well-fitted trousers of cream, orange, yellow, and brown, bright and vivid as gouache, hovering over braided sandals or thick leather boots. The fashions were as colorful as the hearts that wore them, but the landscape itself was boring as hell. Rows and rows of white stone structures and endless clusters of residential glass disk towers, all jutting from the ground like horse teeth in a rabbit’s mouth, with little more to relieve the monotonous scenery than shirts and pants swaying like pennants on their clotheslines. Earth tones and sun tones and fire tones. But never blue. Or purple. Or green. Not unless the wearer lived among the rich and noble, inside the elite glass dome at the center of town. The Core . A place ordinary folk never even imagined visiting. Its boundary drew a hard line between the common and the powerful. The working class and the wealthy.It was exhausting to look at sometimes. The white stone structures and glassy monoliths casting grim shadows dotted with patches of light reflecting off the cairns. Dry, smoky air leached moisture from eyes and throats as the bustle of constant activity hummed like a discordant beehive on the verge of swarming. Hypnotic at best, and maddening at worst.From sunrise to sunset, Keishin Ukai wondered why the hell he’d ended up here , of all places.But as evening settled into night, the rough edges of his life in Nekoma were dulled enough to make things bearable.For a person like Keishin, bearable was enough to keep him stuck to the floor.And the easy cadence of Nekoma nights was the glue. When the sun went down, the city finally stopped to catch its breath.The hum and the bustle softened to a heady drone as the sun touched the horizon, and cooled to a low murmur at night. Farmers and ranchers loaded their wagons and headed back out into the farmland, stretching westward inside the protective walls of Nekoma’s magic barrier. Tents and awnings in the market districts were lowered for the day, while multi-hued city lanterns cast a rainbow glow against the drab white stone, or shimmered against the smooth glass, stripping the utter depression from the city’s flat makeup and bringing the entire world to life. Blue and yellow lightning bugs emerged from secret places to add their own sparkle, and a thin, silver mist rolled out slowly from the vents of The Core, skimming the streets like tulle on a bridal train.The mist would disappear into The Wilds by morning, when the city would shrivel back into a grim, depressing carcass, bleached by the glaring sun. By mid-morning, its harsh edges would work their way under Keishin’s skin again, leaving him feeling more than a little prickly.But, despite his ruffled feathers, Keishin would listlessly tend his pawn shop, and read news journals or short story booklets, and take smoke breaks, and get bored as hell, same as the day before, and probably the day after.It beat the alternative.The day would come full circle, and closing time would arrive at last. Keishin would pocket his earnings, button up the shop, and take the day’s first step into the night. The colored lights flitting about in the sky; the electric drone of drunken murmurs, cushioned by songs bleeding out the crevices of tavern doors and windows; the strange mist rolling through the streets; everything would erode the city’s sharpness into something just a little softer.Tolerable.And the generally apathetic Keishin would be glued to the floor once again.This particular evening began like any other. The sun was just descending towards the northeastern bluff, and the neighborhood lantern man was walking down the street on his tall stilts, moving from glass orb to glass orb along the path of the zig-zagging lantern strings. He would open a bulb and light the wick with a delicate breath of fire before moving on to the next one, and the next after that. A few early lightning bugs were testing out the quality of their flickering bodies, their wings buzzing periodically as they warmed up for an evening’s romp.Across the street, The Dragon’s Purse pub and inn had propped its door open to cool its broiling insides. Fiddle and mandolin notes came puffing into the red streets on gusts of hot steam and enticing aromas. A boy and girl danced to the music outside, waiting for their mother to finish her work in the laundry house next door.As the social landscape of the city began to shift towards night, Keishin drew the curtains on his day at the pawn shop. Pocketing his earnings and extinguishing the lanterns along the walls, he tied a pair of black, braided cords around his shaggy blond hair, and pulled fingerless leather gloves over his knuckles, squeezing and relaxing his fists to adjust the fit. He lifted his brown leather duster from the hook by the door and slid his arms through the orange flannel liner of its sleeves. His sword belt had already been buckled, but he double checked the strap at its side out of habit, finding the scabbard properly secured. Removing his simple house slippers, he pulled a pair of dark leather boots over the hem of his tan trousers, then rose to his full five-foot-ten height, brushing a few specs of lint and snack crumbs away from the front of his cream linen shirt.“Hey, Genius,” he said drily, holding out his arm. “Time to go.”A series of rattling clicks emanated from the back of the shop, and a moment later there was a flap of wings. Keishin’s pet crow landed on his arm and climbed up his sleeve to perch on his shoulder.“What? No attitude tonight?” Keishin smirked, reaching up and petting the crow affectionately. “Come on, I’m thirsty. Let’s grab a quick beer before playtime.”“Playtime, playtime!” Genius bobbed his head contentedly as he mimicked the word.Keishin took one more quick glance at the shelves and displays as he reached for the bottomless Everflask of water that was waiting on the table by the door.Everything seemed to be in order. He pocketed the flask before stepping outside and locking everything up from the front step with a press of his palm against the security pad that was mounted beside the door.There was a slight glow, and a flicker of the door and window before both disappeared altogether, leaving behind a flat slab of smooth, white stone, and a simple black and white plaque with his store’s name and hours posted. Ugly. Boring. Cold.Typical Nekoma City aesthetic.Keishin turned his back to the building and sighed.The air was still warm from the afternoon sun, but a refreshing breeze had picked up, weaving its way through the buildings and dragging its fingertips over Keishin’s clear, sharp features. He turned toward the street and looked out across the small courtyard, where a water pump and a trough for horses occupied the center of the cul de sac. Beyond was The Dragon’s Purse, and a laundry building beside it. The rest of the area was occupied by the sprawling Happie Cabbie—a carriage house and equestrian stable. Primarily a hub for public transportation, but the facility also offered horse rentals, shoeing, and general equine veterinary services. There were dozens of carriage houses like it sprinkled across the cityscape like confetti, but Happie Cabbie was one of the biggest and most reputable, situated on the north end of the city, a short twenty minute walk from the edge of the barrier.The aroma of fire-roasted meat and fresh baked bread drifted toward Keishin from the pub’s open door. But he only wanted a pint for the time being, since a meal would sit too heavily during swordplay. Running a pawn shop had him trapped in an environment too small and cluttered to practice his techniques without breaking something. And even if he had the elbow room, he’d probably scare the shit out of what few customers came around. So early evening had become practice time, when there was still a little light left, and the drunkards hadn’t yet gotten nosey or belligerent. Keishin didn’t want his skills to get too rusty, but he certainly didn’t want any random strangers picking fights with him. And they wouldn’t want that either, if they had any sense.So after a pint and a smoke, he would sneak off to The Playground , as he liked to think of it. A secluded little corner of the city, just right for training without the burden of prying eyes.As Keishin crossed the square, the two children stopped dancing and waved, smiling up at him.“Hey, Mr. Keishin!” the boy cried, pulling a brown wool bycocket cap off his messy shock of black hair. He was dressed in brown trousers, a simple beige half-slit shirt with a mandarin collar, and a dark orange jacket cut square at the shoulders and high at the waist.“Heya, Itsuki… Keiko…” Keishin replied as he slowed his steps for a moment.“H-hello, sir,” the little girl squeaked in an especially tiny voice, big eyes staring widely up at him as she smiled and curled her fingers around the hem of her yellow tunic.“You kids staying outta trouble?” Keishin's eyebrows arched slightly over his mock-stern slash of a mouth. He propped his hands on his hips and leaned forward, waiting for a response.“Of course, sir!” Itsuki said with a nod. “Don’t we always?”“Mama’s almost done,” Keiko added. “She said we get meat in our stew tonight, ‘cause she got extra bags of laundry from one of the hotels!”“Oh, that’s great!” Keishin said, his serious expression melting into a genuine smile. “You know what’s especially delicious with stew? A nice loaf of fresh baked bread.” He reached into his pouch and dug out a few coins. “And I happen to know they make a fantastic rosemary-olive baguette in the pub there.” Keishin held out the coins. “That should buy you a loaf. Enough for all three of you, plus a bit leftover.”Itsuki’s eyes widened, and his sister let out a hopeful little gasp as the boy looked down at the money, then back up at Keishin.“But sir…” Itsuki said hesitantly, looking eagerly down at the coins again. “I… I can’t take this… I didn’t earn it…”“Of course you did,” Keishin said, his smile softening as he nudged the boy in the shoulder then wiggled the coins in front of him again. “You’ve been looking after your little sister all day. Plus, you two put on a great show for everyone with all that dancing.” He reached down and took Itsuki’s hand, pressing the coins into it. “If it bothers your mum, tell her I have some chores for you at the shop tomorrow. Consider it payment in advance.”Itsuki finally wrapped his fingers around the coins, grinning up at Keishin excitedly.“Thank you, sir!” he said with a little laugh, a light blush of joy coloring his cheeks as Keiko jumped up and down excitedly.“Fresh baked bread!” she cried. “I can’t wait to taste it!”“All right, you kids enjoy,” Keishin said, gently ruffling the tops of their heads. “And give your mother my best, okay?”“We will!” they cried as they turned and darted inside the pub.Keishin’s smile faded as they disappeared. He turned his gaze towards the laundry, steam billowing from its open door. Inside, he knew they were stirring giant tubs of dirty clothes and linens with long, stiff paddles, while some of them scrubbed with washboards, and others wrung out the water and hung them out to dry. It was grueling work. Long hours of back breaking labor for a pittance, day in and day out.“God, I hate this city,” Keishin grumbled to himself as he headed into the pub.The air was about five degrees hotter inside, and Keishin reached up to loosen the shirt strings at his breastbone, teasing the slit open for a little air as he looked around at the familiar setting. To the left was the dining area, and to the right a small stage about six inches off the floor, brightened by paper lanterns and string lights dangling overhead beneath swags of cream-colored drapery. The stage was surrounded by straw cushions, with a few squat tables for people to place their mugs and goblets. A fiddle player accompanied the staccato strum of a mandolin, while a woman sang to the beat she was palm slapping and finger tapping on the cajon that doubled as her seat.From the far-left corner of the wall, the bar itself ran half the length of the room, its thick wood top waxed to a caramel glow by the millions of buttery fingers slapped down to demand another round. Keishin threaded his way through the crowd, his boot-clicks on the flagstone floors muffled by the music and conversation as he approached the bar and headed for the very last seat at the back of the dining room.Around him were wood paneled walls and square oak tables, oiled and stained dark with half a century’s baptism of suds and sauces. The tables had trays of silverware and cloth napkins in the center, and each was surrounded by simple, backless benches. Small porthole windows cast long lines of rainbow light across the room’s surfaces like fork tines, refracting off the glasses and tumblers lining the decaying brick wall at the back of the bar, and setting the bottles of spirits aglow.Keishin took a deep breath and sighed as he climbed into the stool at the back of the pub and leaned over the bar. He could smell the meat roasting in the back, and the gravy of the stew they were well known for, carried on the yeasty steam of bread just pulled from the ovens. It was enough to just barely poke at the walls that were keeping his appetite at bay. By the time he was finished with practice, he’d be starving.Genius’ stomach was miles ahead of his own, however. The crow tapped his beak into Keishin’s hair and made several rattling clicks, his feathers fluffing briefly, then smoothing out again.“What, you can’t wait for dinner?” Keishin grumbled, wedging his fingers in and gently pushing Genius’ beak away from his head. Genius let out a throaty caw, nipping at Keishin’s thumb insistently. Keishin sighed again.“Fine, I’ll get you a snack. …You’re insatiable, you know that?” He huffed, rolling his eyes. “...Damn hollow legs…”Even as he spoke, a mug of beer plopped down right in front of him, foam gliding seductively down its side.Keishin looked up at the man behind the bar. Incomparably tall and broad shouldered, with a thick chest and a square jaw reminiscent of an ogre. He had short, brown hair, and a sun-kissed complexion buried beneath a bright yellow tunic that hung open at the sternum. A white bar apron was tied around his beefy waist, somewhat wrinkled, but otherwise clean.“Keishin,” the barkeep said, his deep voice almost rumbling with constraint as he wiped away the dribble with a bar towel.“Hey, Kenichi,” Keishin replied, reaching for the mug and pulling it closer. He put his lips around the rim and tipped the cup without lifting it, taking a long pull before letting it rest as he licked away the foam.“Shop okay?” Kenichi asked, wiping his hands and tucking the bar towel into the strings of his apron.“Same ol’, same ol’,” Keishin replied with a shrug. He sat up and reached into his pocket. “Genius here needs a snack,” he said, dropping a couple of coins on the counter.“Little sky rat’s got hollow legs,” Kenichi replied with a smirk, scooping the coins into his palm and lumbering off.“That’s what I said,” Keishin muttered to himself before taking another pull from his beer and sucking away the foam mustache with his bottom lip.Two seats down the bar, a figure darkened Keishin’s peripheral. He glanced over to see a tall, rather weary looking man, with dark circles under bloodshot eyes, and deep creases in his brow. Even with an empty barstool’s distance between them, the weight of the man’s sagging shoulders and stony expression settled uncomfortably on Keishin’s mood. The stranger had close-cropped black hair and a sprinkle of growth on his square jaw. A gray fur pelt was draped across his shoulders, and he wore a thick leather jerkin over a tan shirt, its sleeves cut high at the shoulder, leaving his impressively muscled arms in full view.Keishin couldn’t help noticing the crosshatching scars up and down his arm, each at a different stage of healing, a few of them looking so fresh that Keishin could practically feel the sting of them himself. The man shrugged a pack off his shoulders and set it on the floor, its leather cover slipping down just far enough for Keishin to catch a glimpse of the purple mist swirling around inside the confines of a cylindrical glass cocoon.The man was a Gleaner.It was odd. Gleaners never came into this little corner of Nekoma. At least, Keishin couldn’t remember ever seeing one.But that didn’t mean he was unfamiliar with their rugged and self-governed customs. A kind of old familiarity, and perhaps a little nostalgia, vibrated faintly through Keishin’s chest as he studied the man covertly, taking another pull from his mug.Genius let out a deep, impatient croak, and nudged the tip of his beak into Keishin’s temple.“Ow!” Keishin hissed. “Stop it,” he grumbled, scooping the crow off his shoulder and setting him down on the counter, where the bird flapped his wings a few times and folded them behind his back again like a man trying to appear nonchalant after a monkey has stolen his hat.“Nice bird,” the Gleaner said.“Mm,” Keishin grunted, flicking his gaze in the direction of the Gleaner again before sitting up straight on the stool. “He’s a pain in the ass,” he replied, lifting his mug and taking another drink.“Seems to like you though.”“Well, he knows where his next meal is coming from, if that’s what you mean,” Keishin chuckled.“He also hasn’t stopped watching you.”Keishin raised an eyebrow, setting his mug down. “That so?”“Mm-hm,” the man nodded. “He’s following your cues.”“Well, mine are the only ones he’s ever had to follow,” Keishin replied with a shrug.“You raised him?”Keishin nodded. “Since he was just a few days old. The nest was near my flat, and I’d been sorta watching… but a stray dog made off with his mum, so I stepped in.”“You must care for him a lot,” the Gleaner replied evenly.“Well, sure,” Keishin admitted, his cheeks darkening a little. “Why the hell would I go to the trouble of raising it if I hated the damn thing?”“Mm,” the Gleaner replied, lowering his gaze to the countertop.Kenichi returned with a seed cake on a little white plate, setting it down in front of Genius and walking off to help another customer down the bar. The crow eyed the cake with interest, then hopped forward and dug his beak hungrily into the treat. Keishin watched him silently for several beats, fingers slowly spinning his mug on the counter.“I had a bird,” the Gleaner said. “An eagle.”“That so?” Keishin replied, glancing over hesitantly. There was something in the man’s demeanor, and the way his eyes dug deep into the bar, that left him a little uneasy. “...Where is it now?”The man swallowed slowly, massaging his leathery palm in his lap as Keishin saw the muscles in his thick jaw flex. A moment later, he brought an elbow to the bar and rested his head in his hand, looking over at Genius again.“The mist took her,” the Gleaner said quietly. “Four days ago. It took all of them.”Keishin’s eyes widened as he sat up in his seat, fingers tightening around his cup.“...All of them?”The Gleaner nodded, stone-faced. “The whole party. I’m the only one left.”“Fuck…” Keishin breathed, his stomach clenching nauseously. “I’m... I’m sorry…”The Gleaner shrugged. “They knew what they signed up for. We all did. We went in too deep, that’s all. …Got greedy…”“All the same…” Keishin slowly pushed his mug towards the stranger until it sat in front of him. “Here. You look like you need it.”The man studied Keishin for a moment before sitting up and slowly reaching for the cup, lifting it wordlessly to his lips. Keishin slipped a hand into his pocket for a tin of smokes and his Everflame as the Gleaner gulped down the entire mug in one go. He held the tin out to the man as the mug came to rest on the bartop again.“Smoke?” Keishin asked.The man shook his head, leaning into his elbows and tucking his hands under his chest.“I don’t smoke,” he said.“Suit yourself,” Keishin shrugged, lifting a cigarette to his mouth and opening the little metal box, where an eternal flame was stored. He lit up, then popped the lid back on the box, taking a hands-free puff and tucking his supplies back into his pocket. Smoke rose from his mouth like dragon’s breath as he spoke through the side of his lips.“Look,” Keishin said, leaning his elbows on the bar and plucking the cigarette out of his mouth. “Let me buy you dinner.”“Nah,” the man replied quietly. “...I’m not hungry.”Keishin sighed. “When did you get back into town?”“An hour ago.”“You’re lucky to be alive, you know.”“Yeah, no shit,” the Gleaner spat.“Listen,” Keishin said. “I’ve been out there." He slid into the stool that sat between them, keeping his voice low.The Gleaner silently flicked his sharp eyes in Keishin's direction, his hunched form still as granite.“People…” Keishin paused, mulling a few words on the tip of his tongue as he gathered his thoughts. “Townsfolk, farmers… anyone living inside the domes… They have all the superstitions and lore… but… they don’t understand. No one does… No one can . Not without entering The Wilds themselves.” He took another drag on his cigarette, filling his lungs and blowing the smoke away. “Breathing it. Hearing it… Seeing it change shape and swearing your mind’s playing tricks on you… it’s enough to drive a man insane.”The stranger swallowed slowly and lowered his gaze to the bar again.“They don’t understand the sacrifices Gleaners make," Keishin muttered. "Not really. All they know is what their parents told ‘em as kids. ‘Don’t go past the barrier, or the mist will devour you.’ Like a goddamn boogeyman story.” He huffed mirthlessly and rolled his eyes. “But they don’t really know. They don’t want to.”“What’s your point?” the man growled irritably.Keishin sighed. “This city—every city—would die without Gleaners like you, out there, harvesting mist to light up the damn sky. Keeping the elevators running... the machines powered up... It’s all ‘cause of you, and no one appreciates that. I just… I think that’s bullshit.”The Gleaner let out a huff, rolling his eyes wordlessly.“You say you got greedy, but I get it,” Keishin continued. “When you’re out there, you want nothing more than to get back to safety as quickly as possible, and to not need to return for as long as possible. So the more Dark Magic you gather in one expedition... well...” he gestured vaguely with a flick of the hand before sucking in another lungful of smoke and letting it bleed slowly from his mouth.The man hesitated, glancing sidelong at Keishin for several static moments. His throat bobbed on a dry swallow as he looked down at the bar again, gritting his teeth for a moment before the rippling muscles in his jaw faded.“So what, you’re a Gleaner, too?” the man asked quietly.“No…” Keishin chuckled mirthlessly as he tossed his head towards the other patrons. “I’m one of them. One of the idiots.”“But... you’ve been out there?” The Gleaner furrowed his brow.Keishin nodded. “That’s what makes me an idiot,” he huffed. “Me. A nobody. Thinking I stood a chance out there on my own…”“But... you made it back,” the Gleaner pointed out.“Yeah, they call that dumb luck,” Keishin replied, flicking his cigarette over the ashtray on the bar. “I completely underestimated the power of Dark Magic. Look... I already had a lot of respect for Gleaners, but it’s on another level now, since seeing it for myself.” He looked up at the man and gently nudged his elbow into one of the few unblemished places on his arm. “Come on. Let me buy you dinner. And a round for your friends. We’ll pour one out for all of ‘em. Let at least one of the idiots show you some gratitude, and a little honor for the ones you lost.”The man’s jaws tightened as he bowed his head, eyes glistening, then spilling over and dripping on the bar with a soft pit pat. Finally he nodded.“Good,” Keishin said, dragging in another breath of smoke and letting it out as he caught Kenichi’s eye and signaled from across the bar.Kenichi continued drying the glass he was holding as he walked over to Keishin and the man beside him.“Whatcha need?”“A bowl of stew and some bread for this gentleman,” Keishin said, looking over at the Gleaner. “What spirits did you prefer to drink with your friends?”“Sake,” the man said softly, eyes still glued to the bar.“How many, including you?”“Five.”Keishin looked up at Kenichi again. “And six cups of sake.”“What’s this all about?” Kenichi asked warily, his hand stilling on the glass.“He lost his party,” Keishin muttered.Kenichi’s brow creased as his eyes darted towards the man. “You’re a Gleaner?” he asked, his voice unexpectedly harsh.The Gleaner continued staring wordlessly at the bartop, his hand tightening on the empty mug.“Get out,” Kenichi growled.“Whoa, hang on—” Keishin replied sharply, sitting up and raising a hand to assuage Kenichi’s sudden aggression.“We don’t serve Gleaners,” Kenichi spat. “It’s bad luck.”Keishin’s breath hitched incredulously. He sized up Kenichi as if he’d never seen him before.“You can’t seriously believe all that superstitious bullshit,” Keishin hissed derisively, eyebrows low over his dark eyes.“What I believe is none of your business,” Kenichi said, eyes still boring into the Gleaner. “Get out.”The Gleaner gritted his teeth, swallowing hard, like he was trying to extinguish the fire beginning to smolder inside him. After a moment, he stood to full height and reached for his pack.“Wait,” Keishin said, standing and taking a step towards the man as he turned and began making his way towards the door. “Kenichi, what the hell!” Keishin snapped, his head whipping in the bartender’s direction.“If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to go,” Kenichi replied, his tone a little caustic.Keishin hesitated, eyes darting back towards the Gleaner as he ducked his head under the lintel of the front door and disappeared. Fury began to crackle in his chest as he rounded on the barkeep.“You’re a damn fool,” Keishin spat.“I do what’s best for business,” Kenichi said plainly. “If I let Gleaners in here, I’ll lose half my patrons. As long as people believe they’re tainted by the mist, they won’t go anywhere near—”“Oh, so that’s what this is about?” Keishin snapped. “Money?”“You’ve got some nerve,” Kenichi rolled his eyes, plopping the glass back on the bar. “I’ve got a family to look after, Keishin. Things may seem black and white to a single man like you, but some of us have to watch out for our own best interests a little more carefully than others.”Keishin’s breath hitched as he gritted his teeth, squeezing one hand into a fist as he snuffed out his cigarette with the other.“Genius, go after him.”The crow hopped across the bar and took flight, sailing over the heads of the patrons and out the door.“You’re too reckless, you know that?” Kenichi said, glaring at Keishin stonily. “That self-righteous, do-gooder bullshit is going to get you into trouble someday.”“Give me a bottle of sake,” Keishin replied stiffly.Kenichi let out a scoff. “You’re more than reckless, you’re a fool.”Keishin pressed his hands on the bar and leaned towards Kenichi.“Just give me the goddamn bottle before I make you regret it.” Keishin’s menacing voice was low, and his eyes were digging sharply into Kenichi’s face with smoldering anger, undaunted by Kenichi’s enormous size.Kenichi rolled his eyes, turning towards the back of the bar and reaching for a bottle. Keishin dug into his pocket and pulled out some coins, slapping them down on the bar as the barkeep slid a black bottle across the counter towards him.“Don’t bother coming back,” the barkeep growled.A scoff emanated from Keishin’s throat as his mouth contorted in disgust. “You really are a piece of work,” he spat as he snatched up the bottle and turned on his heel, darting through the crowd and out the door. The music faded into the background as he looked around, eyes scanning the courtyard. The same people were still loitering outside, chatting and laughing at an obnoxious volume. To his left, Itsuki and Keiko could be seen at the front entrance to the laundry, holding a long baguette wrapped in brown paper. Beyond, The Happie Cabbie’s stables and pasture sprawled behind tall wooden walls with shuttered windows, and a massive two-door gate flung wide open, carriages coming and going in a steady stream. Directly across the street was his pawn shop, secured behind the magic wall with the signboard hanging on the front.In the distance, Keishin heard the call of a crow, coming from the alley between the laundry and The Happie Cabbie . He dug his heels into the cobbles and jogged down the street towards the sound, cutting through the damp alley, careful not to let his boots sink into the leavings of stray dogs as he dodged litter and discarded crates. He approached another road and stopped, glancing around before he crossed. There was no sign of the Gleaner here. Just a lot of old warehouses, closed up for the night, with a couple of watchmen posted at their gates.Another harsh caw tore through the air. Closer this time.Keishin darted down the next alley, winding through even narrower gaps between clusters of buildings, until the space opened up into a dark street on the other side. There were no rainbow lights here. Instead the world was ignited with fiery red lights posted in the windows of dilapidated hotels and gambling parlors. Fancy young men draped in chiffon, and scarlet women wearing black and red lace frocks, lounged casually in smoky doorways. They watched Keishin as he passed, a few eager patrons hurrying inside, while others left with their purses as light as their steps, serenaded by the breathy cadence of ecstasy floating out the open windows.“Keishin! Keishin!” a copper-haired man called from the front of what looked like little more than a glorified shack. “Why are you always running by? I’d be happy to keep you company!”Keishin’s steps ground to a halt as he turned towards the approaching man. “Did you see someone headed this way just now?” he asked urgently, ignoring the man’s question altogether. “A Gleaner? Real tall, short black hair?”“Money talks, Keishin, you know the rules,” the man replied, his sultry warmth cooling to ice as he held out an expectant hand. “Nothing’s free here.”Keishin rolled his eyes. “Forget it,” he muttered, turning away and heading through the narrow street to the abrasive tune of catcalls and whistles and beckoning bodies leaning towards him, dropping silk from a shoulder, or inching up the hem of a frock. But Keishin ignored them, darting between customers of the pleasure district with a few shoulder bumps, and a number of sorry’s and excuse me’s .He heard Genius caw again and picked up the pace, his fist still tightly gripping the neck of the bottle. Rounding a corner, he caught sight of the back of the Gleaner, disappearing down another alley, with Genius close behind. The crow alighted on the crossbar of a lamppost and let out another series of raspy calls.“Hey, wait!” Keishin cried, his run turning into a sprint as the Gleaner stopped and looked over his shoulder. He arrived breathless, swallowing a dry throat and wiping sweat away from his temple.“What do you want?” the man asked, his face a stony mask, fist tightening around the strap of his mist tank as he looked down at Keishin.“I…” Keishin swallowed again, chest heaving for air. “I brought you that sake,” he said, still breathing hard as he reached up and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.“That wasn’t necessary,” the Gleaner replied coolly.Keishin stubbornly held the bottle out by its slender neck. “Please take it.”“Mister—”“Keishin. It’s Keishin.”“Keishin,” the man said, a little softer this time. He clenched his teeth as he looked down at the bottle, eyes wandering the smooth, black glass, with its scalloped edges and simple kanji lettering on the paper label. His lips parted briefly, but closed again, swallowing whatever it was that had been ready to spring from his tongue. Finally, he let out a slow breath and reached for the bottle, palming its broad base in his huge, meaty hand.“Naoi.”Keishin furrowed his brow. “Sorry?”“My name… it’s Naoi.”“Ah,” Keishin nodded. “Of course… Naoi…” He sighed. “Listen… I’m sorry about that back there. That bastard... he had no right...”Naoi shrugged. “I’m used to it.”“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s total bullshit.”“I know.”“Can I still buy you dinner?”Naoi shook his head, breathing a long sigh. “I’m headed back to the guild hall,” he said softly, bringing the bottle close to his chest. “There’s really no sense in putting it off. Gotta make my report and turn over the plunder. What little there is anyway...” A sad smile tugged at the corner of his wide mouth. “Don’t worry, they make sure we’re well fed.”Keishin nodded faintly, lowering his gaze to the cobblestones. “Right…”“But… maybe I’ll take the long way around…” Naoi said softly, gesturing with the sake. “Pour a bottle out for all of ‘em.”“Yeah…” Keishin hesitated before taking half a step forward and giving Naoi a hearty couple of pats on his arm, making sure not to touch his wounds. “Take care of yourself.”Naoi nodded. “Thank you,” he said simply, turning and heading down the alley again.Keishin watched him fade into the darkness, as Genius dropped down to land on his shoulder, his throat rattling in a series of clicks, snapping Keishin out of his spell. He glanced over at the bird and sighed.“Damn cowards,” Keishin spat under his breath. “Damn ignorant, superstitious bastards.” He turned and stalked northward up the cobblestone road, fuming and muttering under his breath. “Want all the benefits of purified magic, but don’t have the guts to look at what it costs.”With the heat of anger fueling his need for an outlet, he quickened his steps to a light jog, prompting a strangled squawk as Genius took to the air again, his perch no longer hospitable. Keishin worked his way toward the northwest end of town, the world slowly decomposing around him as the city grew increasingly worn down and neglected. Dulled and scuffed glass towers diminished to wooden stilt houses and ramshackle huts. Foot traffic was thin here, and the luxury of carriages nonexistent. His boots clicked on the road beneath his feet as he passed fewer and fewer people. Until, eventually, there were no people at all. The rainbow lanterns didn’t extend this far north. In fact, the area had become completely abandoned. It had once been a neighborhood steeped in poverty and left to fend for itself. Most doors and windows of the old bungalows were blocked off with stone and mortar now, overgrown with tall brown grasses and thorny weeds. Before long, Keishin arrived at a blockade of ropes, chains, and sandwich boards with warning and danger signs painted on their fronts. He ignored them, stepping over the cordon and continuing on.The cobbles of the road slowly turned black, as even the weeds around him faded and disappeared. Stone and charred timber stood in large, deformed piles to either side, some clearly moved by hand, others left in the chaotic shambles of something once resembling homes. All of it was completely deserted. The piles grew smaller and blacker and less recognizable, until finally he found himself in the circular remains of a giant, burned out courtyard.This was his practice spot. The Playground . A quiet, isolated environment, where no one would bother him while he let off some steam. A place to sharpen his skills and keep the last thread connecting himself to his past from breaking.In the middle of the cobblestone circle was a dried-up fountain, its center statue toppled and broken inside its own empty pool. All that remained of the surrounding buildings were piles of rubble and charred timber, half caved-in and crumbling under the weight of fragile decay. A low grid of stone walls, barely an inch or two off the ground at most, marked the outlines of some former buildings, while others still maintained their A-line structures of blackened beams and half-crumbled stone and mortar walls. Beyond, the barren ground spread all the way to the city’s magical barrier, about ten yards behind the last house. It shimmered a faint, translucent silver, but The Wilds could be seen beyond, vast and empty. The field outside Nekoma dipped low and out of view, with the occasional purple cloud hovering at ground level like a crawling specter, its edges rising along the film of the barrier, as if it were trying to get in.The area had been completely decimated by fire, and there was no longer any life here. Even if the neighborhood had remained intact, people preferred to avoid the barrier. Superstitions about infection and disease, or even possession by the mist itself, was enough to keep most people away from the thin line between civilization and the bleak, haunting wilderness.Whatever had happened to the homes here was a thing of the distant past. In the five years Keishin had spent in Nekoma, this burned out neighborhood had always been part of the landscape. No attempts to rebuild, no monuments or flowers left in memory of those who may have died. Even the city government seemed to be willfully forgetting that this little corner of the city existed at all.Maybe they, too, feared the edges of the barrier.Or maybe they just didn’t care.Still, despite the grim and somber aura of the place, the site had been a godsend to Keishin. An equal balance of open space and playful obstacles tucked inside the protection of the barrier, with no people in sight, and scarcely a thirty minute walk from the pawn shop.Lantern men didn’t come to this gloomy little corner to brighten up the place, but Keishin had set up lanterns of his own several years ago. They sat about the edges of the courtyard, or on the rim of the crumbling fountain, or suspended from the bones of ruined buildings, providing more than enough light to push him past sunset if he wanted to stay late.Keishin didn’t have access to purified magic like the lantern men did, but he did have the Everflame that he’d gotten for his thirteenth birthday. The same one he used to light his smokes. As he made the rounds to each lantern, Genius alighted on the ground near a pile of rubble and began picking through the bits in search of insects or other food items. By the time Keishin had the wicks ignited, the sun was touching the horizon. He headed inside the skeletal remains of one of the former houses. Here he had assembled a crude pell from small, flexible branches roped together into a long pole. He picked it up and stuck it in the hole he’d dug for it, about a foot deep, and gave it an experimental shove or two, observing its flex. It was getting a little stiff with age. He’d apply some softening potion next time, the same way he did with the pells back home to keep them supple.
…No! Stop.
…Five years gone, and you still can’t get it through your head? For god’s sake…
…It’s not home, Keishin. Not anymore.
Keishin frowned irritably as he shrugged off his duster with a sigh. His muscles were warmed up after his jog to The Playground, and the flannel-lined leather coat had him sweltering. He rolled it up and set it on the thigh-high remains of a stone wall, along with his Everflask . The evening breeze ghosting through the thin weave of his shirt was refreshing against his sweat-damp skin. He took a deep breath to smooth his frayed nerves, and released some tension in his chest and shoulders as he exhaled through pursed lips.It was time to begin his exercises. Keishin did a few stretches, jumping up and down and shaking out his arms to make sure his muscles were nice and loose. The low call of a night bird cooed softly in the darkness, and a few lightning bugs wandered aimlessly through the air around him. But other than the scattered wildlife, Keishin truly felt alone here.Some days that felt like a blessing. Others, a curse.He pulled his short sword from its sheath, the honey-gold lantern light glinting off its polished steel, sending streaks of reflected sparkles across the courtyard. It was far more ordinary than his old longsword, but it was of good quality, and it turned far fewer heads.For half an hour, Keishin practiced swift spins and lunges, landing gentle, controlled taps on the pell. Genius had eaten his fill, and eventually found a perch on the edge of a decaying well towards the back of the lot. He spent the time watching Keishin practice quick draws and precision cuts through the gaps in the wall while preening his feathers to an elegant shine. The sun had disappeared below the horizon, and the fiery sky cooled to gray and lavender, with deep blue silk above, melting into black velvet.Keishin sheathed his sword and headed for his Everflask , sitting on his coat as he caught his breath and wet his dry throat. He was drenched in sweat now. Even with the cool breeze, the evenings had been getting warmer with the onset of summer. Keishin removed his belt and peeled off his shirt, leaving him bare skinned from the waist up.“Alright… time to practice your footwork…” Keishin muttered, wiping moisture from his hairline and cleaning his dampened arm on the back of his trousers. “And… maybe stop talking to yourself like a lunatic…” he added with a sigh. After one last swallow of water, he set the flask down and wrapped a gloved hand around the hilt of his sword, freeing it from the scabbard once again.Keishin headed into the burned-out courtyard, where the ground was relatively smooth and even. He positioned himself in an opening stance, practicing a few wrist curls and infinity rotations before launching into more intense lunges and ribbon cuts. His flicks and whirls were economical, precise enough to trim the length of a foe’s bangs just as well as lop off their head entirely.Keishin’s movements grew more fluid and agile with each step. He expertly windmilled his sword on forward steps, then slipped spryly into defensive maneuvers. As the nearly full moon rose into a clear, star-dusted sky, Keishin leapt to the fountain’s edge, dodging his imaginary foe with nimble hops and skips. He jumped lightly to the ground again and shuffled back as he blocked, followed by a spin and a lunge. A somersault led him under fallen beams, and then he was leaping to his feet again, spinning and swinging his sword assertively. His chest was heaving with exertion, the flood of oxygen nearly intoxicating as it saturated his limbs and head with a euphoric rush. He lunged again, twirling his sword with ease before flipping off the edge of a half-wall and landing deftly in the courtyard once more, feet hopping lightly forward towards his enemy.A gust of cold wind whisked across Keishin’s bare skin as he lunged again, the crunch of his boots on the cobbles meeting discordantly with a faint crackle behind him. The air around him tightened with sudden intense pressure, and Genius let out a caw of alarm as Keishin spun around and whipped his sword in a deadly line to slice the sky in two.The blade came to a halt, its point just inches away from the terrified face of another man.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A curse of surprise broke from Keishin’s lips, rising to mingle with another raspy squawk from Genius. The crow flapped his wings and took to the air as Keishin stumbled back and instinctively whipped his sword across his body in a guarded stance.“Sorry! I’m sorry!” The other man nearly tripped over his own feet as he shuffled backwards and raised his arms defensively. Another caw cut through the night sky as the crow landed on a decaying lintel nearby, eyeing the stranger dubiously as he cocked his head to the side.“What the hell!” Keishin lowered his weapon and took an angry step forward. “Are you an idiot?? I nearly took your head off!”“I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry!” the stranger yelped again, retreating several more paces.Keishin’s gaze pierced through the figure before him, lips parted around deep gulps of air. His skin still tingled with the electric jolt of surprise he’d received moments ago, and his thundering pulse was far more ambitious than his activities had demanded. A moment passed before the stranger’s frightened eyes slowly opened from narrow slits as he cautiously lowered his arms and rose to full height.Which really wasn’t all that impressive.The man couldn’t have been more than five-foot-six. Certainly several inches shorter than Keishin was. He was thin and soft-featured, with short black curls, fair skin, and square-rimmed spectacles set on the bridge of a rather pert nose. Keishin was immediately struck by his almost angelic beauty. There wasn’t a single flaw in his perfectly balanced features, which was as alluring as it was unusual. A dark cloak was wrapped around him, and he pulled it tighter around his body as his eyebrows rose high over deep brown eyes.“You’re a swordsman,” the man said. His voice was light. Almost musical. And his wide eyes seemed to shift from frightened alarm to total fascination.A fascination that was rapidly blooming into something far more intense. Keishin couldn’t quite identify the sentiment behind those big, wide eyes and parted lips, and the dusting of pink suddenly adorning his pale cheeks. The man’s fingers tightened around his cloak as his whole body brimmed with pent energy.Keishin‘s face, already flushed pink from exercise, suddenly bloomed a deeper red. He fought back a wave of self-consciousness and let out a little scoff, eyes flicking briefly upward as he frowned. “Yeah, what tipped you off?” he grumbled sarcastically. “And... where the hell did you…” Keishin stared at the man, propping one hand on his hip as he wiped sweat from the end of his nose.
…For god’s sake, I didn’t even see him…
…I can’t remember the last time someone actually sneaked up on me like that…
“Sir…” the man said, taking a step forward. “Will you help me?”A beat passed as Keishin jerked his head back in confusion.“...Sorry, what?” he asked, furrowing his brow skeptically. Of all the questions the man could have asked, this was pretty far down the list of what Keishin had been expecting.“I need a place to hide,” the man replied, glancing over his shoulder nervously.A prickle of unease raised the hairs on Keishin’s skin. His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword, eyes scanning the courtyard apprehensively. But his sharp gaze encountered nothing unusual. No other signs of life, and nothing out of place. Just Genius watching them from the lintel, and the charred, ramshackle structures surrounding them.“...You on the run or something?” Keishin asked cautiously, turning his attention back to the stranger.The man hesitated before his lips parted over a stiff reply. “It’s a little complicated…”“Look,” Keishin sighed. “If you’re in trouble, you should go to the district sheriff.” Grit and charred detritus crunched beneath his heel as he turned, crossing the cobbles to his pile of clothes. “I can’t help you.”“No!”The cry of protest elicited a string of raspy caws as Genius flapped his wings again, unsettled. The crow hopped to the edge of the lintel, eyes following the stranger closely. The man's reply had been so desperate it brought Keishin’s head whipping back in his direction. His heart ascended into his throat as his vision consumed the figure before him. The man was looking anxiously around the courtyard again as his hurried steps brought him closer. As a reflex, Keishin took a step back, half expecting the man to reach out and grab him.But the stranger came to a halt a few paces away, glancing over his shoulder again. He opened his mouth to speak, but his words faltered on the tip of his tongue. Keishin began to feel the anxiety in the man’s slumping posture and wrinkled brow crawling under his own skin, shriveling his stomach and elevating his pulse.“I… I can’t go to the authorities,” the man said. “They won’t help me.”“Oh, so you are on the run,” Keishin said, eyebrows sinking low over his eyes as he sheathed his sword and set it aside. He grabbed his tunic, pulling it over his head and adjusting the hem.“You don’t understand!”“I understand perfectly,” Keishin said flatly.“Please!” the stranger begged, continuing to inch forward as he ducked his head deeper into the U of his hunched shoulders.“Why?” Keishin grumbled, reaching for his belt.“Because, I…” the man hesitated, eyes darting around the square again. “I can’t… tell you.”Keishin’s breath hitched as he rolled his eyes. “You can’t tell me,” he echoed.“It’s… it’s… complicated, that’s all,” the man replied haltingly. “But I need help.”Keishin wrapped his belt around his waist and slid the end into the buckle. “Well, the last thing I need in my life is something complicated,” he grumbled, raising his head until their eyes met. “I’ve spent too many years doing my best to un complicate my life, so I’m not about to—”“I can pay you!” the man pressed. “Please! Please, I…” His breath caught in his chest as his intense gaze searched Keishin’s face with marked urgency. “I can’t trust anyone, I—”Keishin’s eyebrows shot to his hairline.“What makes you think you can trust me??” he cried incredulously.“...Can’t I?” The man’s hopeful expression collapsed.“Are you crazy?” Keishin’s tone was surprisingly understated, considering the hairpin turn the evening had suddenly taken. The stranger’s brow wrinkled in reply as he hugged his arms tighter around his chest, still clutching the edges of his cloak like a little kid wrapping himself in a blanket. Keishin’s eyebrow twitched. He clenched his teeth, rippling the muscles in his jaw as he swallowed slowly.
…What the hell is with this guy?
“I… thought swordsmen were supposed to be honorable and just…” the stranger said hesitantly. “At least… that’s what I’ve read…”Keishin stared a moment longer, holding his breath as he tried to comprehend such a wildly naive statement coming from the mouth of a full fledged adult human.“...Yeah,” Keishin huffed pessimistically, turning and snatching up his coat. He snaked his arms into the sleeves and reseated the shoulders a couple of times. “ Supposed to be, maybe. That doesn’t always make it true. You can’t just take shit like that for granted.”“Well…” the man bit his lip thoughtfully, eyes searching Keishin’s face before he gave a little nod. “You’re certainly one of the good ones, then.” The lines in his brow faded as his tense features finally relaxed. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have warned me. Right?” His mouth curled into a hopeful smile.Keishin’s eyes widened slightly as color rose to his cheeks and his stomach fluttered nervously.
…What the hell…
…Okay, that was a little too cute… He dropped his gaze to the ground, feeling unexpectedly flustered. “W-what the hell do you even need me for?” he asked, reaching for the back of his neck self-consciously. “My swordsman days are behind me, I run a pawn shop now.”“But you seem to be comfortable wielding that blade,” the man pressed. “I don’t know much about pawn shops, but if running one means you’re not known for being a swordsman, all the better! That’s probably the last place anyone would think to look!”Keishin’s sharp eyes darted towards the stranger again. “Jeez, you’re… you’re actually serious, aren’t you?” he grumbled, hand sliding away from his neck as he folded his arms over his chest. “You crawl out of an oubliette or something?”“No, of course not!” the man cried defensively. “I mean... I... I did have a window…”“...What’s that supposed to mean?” Keishin asked hesitantly, eyes narrowing to slits under sagging brows. “You… broke outta someplace that isn’t prison?”The stranger’s eyes widened, and his mouth twitched in a faint grimace.“Look, are you going to help me or not?” the man replied, his tone a little more subdued. “I don’t need much… Just a place to hide. Please. Just for the night… I...”Keishin hesitated, sizing up the man a little more carefully; noting the tired circles under his eyes, and the anxious crease in his forehead, just above knitted brows; the powerful gleam in his deep brown eyes, like nothing else in the world mattered. Like nothing else had ever mattered before, or would ever matter in the future. Nothing but the help of a total stranger. How desperate did someone have to be to put their lives in the hands of some idiot they’d only met five minutes ago? As desperate as Keishin had been all those years ago, when he’d left the prison of his old life behind?No… Something told him this man’s desperation far exceeded his own.Keishin’s heart didn’t exactly break. But the stranger had found a chink in the armor, and it was slowly beginning to crack.
…For fuck’s sake, Keishin, you really are a soft touch.
Keishin let out a long groan, bowing his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. “This better not land me in hot water, you got that?” he sighed.“Of course!” The stranger stood a little taller as relief drew a smile from his tired face. “Thank you! Thank you, you really don’t know how much I appreciate this!”“Whatever, let’s just go,” Keishin sighed reluctantly. He stooped to pick up his flask and hurried to extinguish his lanterns one by one, already regretting his decision. “Have you eaten?” he said over his shoulder.“Er… no, not… not really,” the man replied as he hurried to catch up on silent feet, falling in step beside him as Keishin jogged to the next lantern.“I haven’t either. We should probably stop somewhere and grab a bite.”The man slowed his steps. “I’m not sure…”“Well, I haven’t got anything at home,” Keishin said, a third lantern going dark before he continued on. “And the market’s shut down for the night, so that leaves us with one option.”“I’m really not hungry,” the man said as he ran to catch up again. “Please, I just want to get out of here…”“Jeez, relax, would ya?” Keishin said, rolling his eyes as he stopped at another lantern. “What’s the point of having a swordsman by your side if you’re still gonna act like a frightened little mouse?”“I just don’t want to be seen, okay?” the man hissed nervously. He sighed. “Look, I’m very… distinctive . These clothes… Don’t you think I stand out a bit too much? I thought… well… Most people don’t dress like this, do they? At least… in… in books… I…” he trailed off uncertainly.Keishin hesitated, furrowing his brow and studying the man’s clothing more carefully. Initially, he’d really only noticed the dark cloak in the dim light, but now that they were standing close to the lantern, the man’s garments were more clearly visible. He wore a pair of white satin slippers. Rather nice ones, too, embroidered with curling green filigree winding across its surface like vines. Very high class. Probably not even meant to be worn outside. Definitely not the braided sandals or leather boots that peasants and laborers wore.Above the slippers, several inches of the man’s robes were visible. A shimmering silk brocade, sage green, with an intricate ivy pattern woven into it.The color alone was striking enough, in a city exclusively dressed in earthy yellows and browns. Green was a color of wealth. And the style as a whole was utterly luxuriant.“Ohhh…” Keishin groaned, stepping back and crossing his arms stiffly. “Oh hell… don’t tell me you’re royalty or something, I draw the line at prince-to-pauper bullshit.”“I’m not!” the man cried. “I swear I’m not! …I’m just… I’m not exactly common either…” he admitted reluctantly.“So what, you’re running away from home?”“I can’t explain. At least… not right now. Please, let’s just go!” The man took an urgent half-step forward.“Hang on a second!” Keishin raised a staying hand, his wary frown deepening the lines in his forehead. “I don’t wanna get arrested for kidnapping a member of high society!”“I’m not high society! Trust me, it’s not like that!”“Then what the hell is it like??” Keishin’s volume escalated slightly as exasperation began to simmer in his chest.“Look, I’m not a noble!” the man said hastily, glancing over his shoulder before bringing his gaze reluctantly back to Keishin’s face. “I’m… a commodity.”Keishin’s eyebrows snapped skyward, his pulse accelerating in sudden horror as color drained from his face.“You’re a slave?? ” he cried.“No, it’s not—”“What the fuck!” Keishin clutched his hairline in disbelief as his stomach shriveled into a queasy knot.“I’m not a slave!” the stranger hissed, looking around frantically. “Can you quiet down??”“Well you sure as hell aren’t anyone’s property either!”“It’s complicated!”“Apparently! What the—”“Can we please just go?? ” the man cried as he reached out and grabbed Keishin by the sleeve.Keishin looked down at the stranger’s hand.In the initial chaos of their meeting, he hadn’t noticed. And after the man had bundled his arms inside his cloak, he couldn’t have seen. But now the shackle around his wrist, with two heavy chain links still dangling from the cuff, was glaring up at him, the lantern light reflecting off its edges, worn dull with age.“Fucking hell…” Keishin hissed under his breath. He brought his gaze back up to the man’s face, throat bobbing on a slow, dry swallow.. “...When were you planning on showing me that?”“I… don’t know.” The man glanced away sheepishly, his long, dark lashes nearly dusting his cheeks. “...I didn’t think about it,” he added softly.Keishin let out a heavy sigh and glanced towards the bright rainbow of city lights in the distance. His jaw flexed visibly under the strain of clenched teeth as he fought to cool his blood. Rage wasn’t an ally here. What he needed was a level head.The man was right. There’s no way this wasn’t complicated. It might even be dangerous.But leaving him behind would be nothing short of cruel.
…What the hell am I getting myself into?
“All right, come on,” Keishin finally said. “Let me finish up with the lanterns. I’ll take you to my place. We can figure things out once we get there.”“Thank you,” the man said, voice skimming a whisper as he slowly released Keishin’s sleeve.“...Yeah, whatever… just... stay close, all right?” Keishin replied in subdued tones, nipping the inside of his bottom lip pensively.He took a few minutes to extinguish the last of the lanterns before they departed the courtyard and headed up the charred cobblestone road. An occasional throaty caw signaled that Genius was following, just like he did every night. As they got closer to the city lights, Keishin hooked his fingers around the stranger’s arm and pulled him towards a narrow path that ran between the ruins of two buildings.“Come on, we’ll take the back way,” he said. “It’s a bit longer, but there aren’t as many people.”
…Or hustlers eying a pretty new face.
…Something tells me taking someone this naive through the pleasure district would be a huge mistake.
“All right,” the man replied. He sounded exhausted. Like maybe the heightened stress had been what was keeping him going. Now that he’d found some reprieve, he looked ready to collapse. Keishin watched him like a hawk, but although he’d broken out in a sweat, he seemed to be hanging in there.The main avenues and thoroughfares were well lit with strings of colored lanterns, but the alleys were still fairly dark. Keishin carefully looked both ways before they emerged from each one, cutting from alley to alley as they wandered past open doors, where arguments or laughter could be heard tumbling outside to wallow in the discarded trash and piles of old, empty crates. They cut around the back side of Happie Cabbie’s huge pasture, bringing them into a residential district.“Here we are,” Keishin said, as they approached one of the many apartment towers that rose into the air. Rounded, disk-like glass units stacked one on top of the other, looking like a string of squashed pearls dangling from the sky.“I’m number twelve,” Keishin said as they approached.“Way up there?” the stranger asked breathlessly, his gaze following the rising line of the cairn-like building.Keishin sighed, grabbing the man by the arm and tugging him forward. “Don’t worry, there’s a lift.”They came around the side of the building, where a cylindrical shaft of pink light ran up and down the side of the tower. Keishin stepped inside it, looking back to find the man staring, wide eyed and uncertain.“Come on,” Keishin said, reaching for the stranger’s hand and pulling him into the beam. He held up an arm for Genius. The crow dipped low from the sky and alighted on his sleeve, walking up his arm and settling on his shoulder, just like he always did. “ Home, ” Keishin commanded. They began to slowly rise into the air, carried through the shaft of light on an invisible floor.The man let out a strangled cry of surprise, stepping closer to Keishin and clutching nervously at his arm with both hands. Keishin went rigid at the unexpected touch, feeling his cheeks warm a little as he glanced down at the strange man beside him.“I-I’ve read about this,” the stranger said, his voice trembling. “M-magic… it’s what fuels the cities… it’s sentient. The lift actually recognizes a person’s identity. That’s h-how it knows where to t-take you.”Keishin raised an eyebrow. “Yeah… that’s right…” he said, studying the man as they continued their ascent, the city lights spreading out beneath them in long zig-zags of rainbow glass. “You’ve… never seen one before?”The man’s cheeks bloomed pink as he looked away, shaking his head and nervously inching a little closer.
…This is too weird…
“Well, you can relax. Look,” Keishin raised his hand to the edge of the beam and tapped, his finger audibly encountering some sort of invisible wall. “It’s impossible to fall out. The magic protects you.”“Oh…” the man said. Still, he continued to cling firmly to Keishin’s arm, and didn’t step away as they looked out across the colorful city.Keishin sighed.
…What the hell am I supposed to do now?
…This guy is completely helpless.
…Did he crawl out from under a rock or something?
…How the fuck did he sneak up on me like that? And so quickly, too… there wasn’t anywhere for him to hide… He’d have to be an insanely fast runner… and impossibly quiet, too…
…What the hell is up with this night anyway? First that Gleaner, now this? I should just go to bed. Maybe I’ll wake up and find out it was all some weird dream or something...
As the lift came to a halt at number twelve. Keishin grabbed Specs by the shoulder and turned him around to face the building. There was a skybridge before them, about twenty feet long, that led to a small, arched portico containing a circular door. He placed his hand on the man’s back and gently pushed him forward.“Off you go,” he said, following after him. The man let out a nervous whimper as he glanced down, but brought his eyes forward again and walked across the bridge with anxious steps, clinging to the railing dear life as high altitude wind rustled his dark curls and sent his cloak flapping to the side. Keishin sighed as he followed close behind, until they reached the portico, where he stepped past the man and pressed his palm to the security pad by the door. The spiral sheets of metal twisted open from the center, and Keishin waved the man inside. Seconds later, he crossed the threshold himself, and the door twisted closed behind them with a shink of metal on metal. The loud gusts of wind and the clamor of the city disappeared behind it, leaving them in blessed silence.As they took their first steps into the room, the warm honey-gold light flickered to life where it hovered near the ceiling, powered by purified magic that seemed to somehow sense their presence. The exterior of the building had not deceived. Inside, the walls of the apartment bowed outward like a fish bowl, overlooking a city that was disheartening by day, and enchanting by night.To the right of the entrance was a cylindrical closet that curved into the room from the wall. Its door was open, revealing a few articles of clothing hanging on hooks or loosely folded on shelves. Beyond was a pile of giant, rust-red cushions, with several yellow blankets tossed atop it in a rumpled heap. A place to lounge or sleep, depending on one’s individual wishes. At the other end of the pile sat a long foot locker that seemed to double as a table, and triple as a headboard to the makeshift cushion bed. It was littered with dirty dishes, loose coins, hair bands, a hairbrush, and other sundries.To the left was another cylindrical closet, just large enough for a toilet, and beyond was a round Everclear tub, made of white polished stone. It was permanently full of enchanted water, which always stayed hot, and never became soiled, functioning as both a bath and a place to do laundry or dishes. When not in use, Keishin kept it covered with a fitted lid made of bamboo lumber. There was a thin rod above it for a privacy curtain, but Keishin had never bothered to hang one, since he lived alone. Instead, it had been repurposed as a clothesline for laundry day.At the back of the room was a kitchen area, with a fire pit and a hearth, its chimney feeding outward through the wall. There was a water basin, and shelves mounted from the ceiling full of dishes and other supplies. The features were powered by the same Evermagic that fueled his tub, flask, and lighter, providing an endless supply of flame and cold water.There was plenty of room in the center of the flat to accommodate couches or tables, but Keishin had left the place empty. It wasn’t like he ever had guests, and the cushions were adequate enough for himself. He viewed his flat as a waypoint. A place to sleep, eat, and bathe. Nothing more.Although it was impossible for those outside to see into the apartment building, the opposite was true for those on the inside. The floor and ceiling were of polished black granite, but the walls were transparent from top to bottom, offering a spectacular 360 degree view of the entire city.All in all, it was a functional apartment, but not the most inviting or homey place in the world. The indulgences of Evermagic items were splurges acquired with what remained of Keishin’s assets, simply to make his life easier. The one way he’d bothered to spoil himself.Keishin watched the stranger slowly enter the room, eyes roaming its surfaces as Genius launched into the air and flapped the short distance to the rod above the bathtub, where he settled down and began to preen. The man’s gaze lingered on the transparent walls, and the view of the city around them, before wandering the curves of the rumpled cushions, the sharp angles of the shelves, and the rounded edges of the bath and cylindrical closets.Keishin had never seen someone savor the sight of something so entirely ordinary before.“What’s your name?” Keishin asked, breaking the silence so suddenly that the man flinched, turning to face Keishin as his cheeks went a little pink.“I haven’t got one,” the man said, adjusting his glasses.Keishin’s voice hitched as he looked away. “Someone made the effort to dress you up like a porcelain doll, but never bothered to call you anything?”“Well…” the stranger said, “...I suppose he did call me You , or sometimes You There … or… or… Idiot… or… Useless… ” he looked down, twisting his fingers together.Keishin’s heart plunged into his stomach.
…For god’s sake…
“Did you ever live with anyone besides this loser?” he asked, swallowing dryly.The man shook his head.Keishin sighed. “All right… listen… I gotta be able to call you something, and I’m not about to start throwing around insults just to get your attention.”The man’s tangled fingers went still. “...Oh…”“But names are important. So you should take some time to think about it. Meanwhile… is a nickname okay? I could just call you... 'Specs' or something…”“Specs?” the man said, lowering his eyebrows in confusion.“‘Cause of the spectacles you wear,” Keishin said, gesturing at his face.“Oh… okay,” the man smiled, his cheeks blooming pink. “That sounds fine.”“All right, Specs, let’s get you out of those clothes.”“Excuse me??” Specs cried, pulling his cloak a little tighter and taking a step back.Keishin froze, eyebrows leaping to his hairline as his brain tripped over the implications of his rather poor choice of words.“No! Not like that!” he sputtered, waving his hands defensively as his cheeks went from light pink to flaming crimson. “I meant let’s find you something different to wear!”“Oh,” Specs replied, releasing a nervous breath as he loosened his grip on the edges of his cloak. “Right.”“We gotta go get something to eat, so you need normal clothes,” Keishin said, heading for the closet and rummaging through what he had.“I’m really not hungry,” Specs said quietly.“Well I’m starving, so we’re getting food,” Keishin replied gruffly, his embarrassment taking on the features of irritation.As he dug around, Specs walked up beside him, looking into the closet with innocent curiosity.“So what do swordsmen keep in their closets anyway?” he asked.“Uh…” Keishin hesitated, feeling his pulse quicken as Specs brushed up alongside him and poked his head forward. “Er… Just… normal stuff…” Keishin shuffled backward, reaching for the back of his neck. “Listen, why don’t you just pick something.”Specs glanced over. “Oh! Are you sure?”“Nothing special in there, have at it.”“...If you say so,” Specs replied, smiling as he leaned into the closet and began rifling through the clothes.
…Fucking hell…
…What is up with this guy?
“Er… I’ll just…” Keishin trailed off as he turned toward the cushions and grabbed one of the blankets. He headed for the bathtub and gently nudged Genius aside, to the tune of an irritated squawk and a brief wing flap before the crow hopped out of the way. Keishin draped the blanket over the rod, creating what he hoped was at least a modicum of privacy.“What about you?”“Huh?” Keishin said, turning away from his work to find Specs still looking through his clothes.“Do you have a name?”“Oh. …It’s Keishin.” He headed across the room and began clearing off the top of his footlocker.“Keishin.” Specs repeated softly.A new flush rose to Keishin’s cheeks at the sound of his name leaping delicately from the other man’s tongue.
…Oh god…
…Keishin, stop.
…Don’t even think about it.
…Just ‘cause he’s cute doesn’t mean…
Specs looked up and flashed a pleasant smile that warmly creased the corners of his eyes. He let out a little huff of nervous satisfaction as he straightened again, a number of clothing items draped over one arm.“I think I’m ready,” Specs said.“Right,” Keishin muttered, clearing his throat and swallowing. “You can go change behind the blanket there. When you’re done, we can hide your old clothes in my locker, okay?”“Sounds good,” Specs replied with a nod, turning and walking silently across the room, his slippered feet barely audible on the hard floors. Keishin’s eyes followed him a moment, glancing at his slippers as he nipped his bottom lip thoughtfully.“Where are you gonna go?” Keishin said, opening his locker, then fluffing a few cushions and having a seat.Specs poked his head around the blanket and dropped his cloak on the floor.“...What do you mean?” he said, an uncertain line creasing his brow as his mouth drooped. “I… I thought you said I could—”“No, I meant after,” Keishin said. “You can’t just stay in my flat forever.”“Oh…” Specs said softly, pulling his head back behind the makeshift curtain. The room brimmed with an uncomfortable silence, raising the hairs on the back of Keishin’s neck.Specs’ robe dropped to the floor with a soft shup before it was nudged aside. His slippers followed, then stockings, leaving his legs and feet bare.Keishin’s cheeks dusted pink, and he let out a sigh as he tried to keep his eyes respectfully away from the gap between the blanket and the floor. But not before he’d caught an eyeful of Specs’ pale, smooth skin, his dainty feet, and a rather pleasing curve along the back of his calves.Keishin felt a bead of sweat slide down his temple as he swallowed dryly.“I suppose I’ll have to leave the barrier…” Specs said softly.An icy shiver of dread ran down Keishin’s spine. His head snapped up, eyes darting back towards the curtain as his stomach wilted.“Are you out of your mind??”“What do you mean?” Specs asked.“Specs… do you realize what’s out there?” Keishin replied, softening his tone a little. “If you leave the barrier, you’re a dead man.”There was an electric pause as the tingling air stilled around them.“What makes you think I’m not a dead man if I stay?”Keishin’s breath caught in his throat.“...Wh… why would…” His voice hitched as his forehead wrinkled apprehensively. “Specs…”“I know what he has in store for me,” Specs said softly.“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keishin sat up straighter as his hands curled into fists.Specs let out a grim huff behind the curtain as Keishin saw him pulling on his trouser legs through the gap below the blanket. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I’ll be leaving, so it’s not going to happen...”Keishin turned his gaze towards the wall. “I don’t get it,” he said.“You don’t need to worry, really,” Specs said mildly, stepping out from behind the blanket. “There. I’m finished.”Keishin sighed anxiously and rose to his feet, doing his best to shake off the feeling of unease as he tried to focus on what needed to be done here and now. He took a few steps forward, appraising Specs with a critical eye. The man was still trying to work the leather ties at the sternum of a cream colored blouse, which left his own well-fitted crewneck undershirt plainly visible. The blouse was a little too wide on Specs’ narrow shoulders, and its hem fell to mid-thigh. The fit of his yellow ochre trousers was a somewhat loose, and they were definitely too long. In fact, Specs had folded the hem up to keep them from getting underfoot. His sleeves were too big as well, and Specs kept fighting to keep them from swallowing his entire hand.“We’ll have to get you some proper boots,” Keishin sighed, his tone as deflated as his current mood.“I could borrow some of yours,” Specs said.“Mine?” Keishin chuckled mirthlessly, looking down at his boots, then the much daintier line of Specs’ bare feet. “I don’t think they’ll fit.”“We could just stuff something in the toe,” Specs suggested, still fighting with the laces at his chest. Keishin reached over and batted his hands away, taking the laces up himself and cinching them closed.“You’d look ridiculous. It’s no big deal, there’s a lot of boots at the pawn shop. We might find a pair that fits you, okay?”“If you insist.”“Still…”“Still?”“Well, you can’t go out in those slippers when you’re dressed like this, people might think you stole ‘em.”“That would be… less than ideal,” Specs replied ruefully.“Did you find yourself a belt?” Keishin asked.“I did, but… it’s too big,” Specs replied, color returning to his cheeks as he held it out, his sleeve immediately slipping past the knuckles of his slender hand.“Nevermind that, I can punch a new hole in it,” Keishin said as he took the belt, eyes skimming the ends of Specs’ fingers where they protruded from the sleeves. Pale and delicate, with clean, manicured fingernails, and no calluses or rough spots, other than the slightly raised bump on his middle finger, where a quill pen would rest.So he knew how to write. Or draw, maybe. Not surprising, considering how much he talked about reading this or that in books. In fact, Keishin had to wonder if the man ever did anything else.“Um… you’ll have to go barefoot to the shop,” Keishin said softly, eyes lingering on Specs’ fingers a moment longer before he tore his gaze away and headed back to the cushions, where he knelt down by the open foot locker.“Won’t I look strange? Everything I’ve read about contemporary fashion—”“You’ll just look poor, it’s not a big deal.” Keishin cut in, his tone a little more clipped than he’d intended. But the prospect of Specs leaving the barrier had him feeling anxious. He sighed, making an effort to compose himself as he beckoned with one hand. “Bring me your old clothes.”As Specs wordlessly went to gather up his finery, Keishin reached into the footlocker and carefully pulled out a long, slender object wrapped loosely in brown cloth. He gently set it aside before lifting a blanket that was covering what remained of its contents. Among a tray of small tools, there were a number of books, a small lock box where he kept his savings, a pair of daggers, and a neatly folded sash bearing his family crest. It was an orange quatrefoil shield elegantly stitched on a black field, depicting a crow, a flame, plumes, and a laurel wreath.Keishin hastily slid a book over the crest before reaching for a small utility knife sitting inside the tool tray.He rose to his feet and turned to find Specs had been standing behind him. But he wasn’t looking at Keishin. The man’s eyes were latched onto the long object he’d removed from the locker.
“A longsword,” Specs said in quiet awe. Keishin glanced down. A bit of the cloth wrapping had fallen open when he’d taken it out of the locker, revealing the weapon’s black and silver hilt. Half of the smooth, expertly crafted handguard was visible, along with the black leather grip, and the sharp, diamond shaped pommel.The setting for a gemstone in its center was conspicuously empty.Keishin felt color rise to his cheeks as he silently took the clothes out of Specs’ hands and tossed them unceremoniously into the locker.“Come here a minute,” he said softly, uncoiling the belt.Specs continued to stare at the weapon as he stepped forward, allowing Keishin to snake the belt around his middle and cinch it to a comfortable tension, marking the position with the end of the buckle’s prong. He looked sharply up at Specs as he pulled the belt off again and slid the utility knife out of its leather sheath.“You know…” Specs said hesitantly, shifting his gaze towards Keishin’s face, then the knife, then his face again. “I’ve read that in some places… only nobles and royalty have the privilege of carrying a longsword.”“You sure read a lot,” Keishin muttered as he gently twisted the tip of the knife into the mark he’d made on the belt.“There wasn’t much else to do,” Specs admitted.“Right...”“Still… you don’t really talk like… like…”“Like what? Royalty?” Keishin huffed dryly, sheathing the knife again and tossing it into the footlocker.Specs cheeks went a little pink. “Well… I’m simply basing that on… on…”“On something you read?”“Yes.”“Yeah,” Keishin rolled his eyes as he took the prong of the belt and punched it through the scored leather. “Well… who knows? Some nobles might spend enough time around commoners to start picking up their manner of speaking,” he said quietly, wrapping the belt around Specs’ waist and through the buckle again. “And sometimes…” he slid the prong into the new hole and tucked the tail of the belt away, then lifted his eyes to meet Specs’ deep brown stare. “Sometimes a commoner just has a longsword.”“Oh…” Specs said, barely above a whisper as his cheeks darkened further.“Let me see your sleeves,” Keishin said, beckoning with his fingers. Specs silently raised his hands, holding them out for inspection.Keishin reached for Specs’ right hand first, making sure the sleeve came all the way over the shackle before cinching the drawstring tight to conceal it as well as possible. He did the same with the left, then stepped back, appraising the newly transformed stranger before him.“Better,” Keishin said with a nod. “No one will bat an eye at you like this.”“Good,” Specs said, smiling a little as he reached awkwardly for the back of his neck.“I’ve got a jacket you can wear. Let’s go get you some boots,” Keishin said. “Then we’ll grab a bite to eat.”“Right.” Specs smiled up at him, his head cocked hopefully to one side. “Thank you, Keishin.”Keishin felt heat rise to his cheeks. “You don’t need to thank me, It’s just some damn clothes…” he stammered awkwardly.“They’re nice. I like them.”“They’re not nice, they’re regular, everyday clothes.”“Well, I think they’re nice.”Keishin muttered a string of tight-lipped curses under his breath as he turned and stalked over to the closet, tomato red from the neck up. God, how had this complete stranger gotten under his skin so quickly?
…Pull yourself together, you dimwit.
…He might be charming, but he’s weird as hell…
…You don’t even know the guy, so just calm your stupid ass down…
He nervously pulled out a thick canvas jacket with numb fingers and tossed it in Specs’ direction. The jacket was dark gray, with brown leather on the chest, shoulders, and upper back. Its elbows were reinforced, and its leather collar was high and upright. On Keishin, the collar hit the top of his neck, and the bottom hem stopped at his waist, but the collar tickled Specs’ cheek as he pulled it on, and it hung down to his hip, while the too-big sleeves dropped low over his hands, the same way the shirt sleeves had.Specs looked down at himself as he tugged at the jacket’s opening, then looked up at Keishin and smiled.“See? Nice.”Keishin sighed, managing to keep from rolling his eyes. “Sure,” he muttered, heading back to the footlocker and kneeling on one of the cushions beside it.Keishin tucked the blanket over the locker contents again, then laid the sword across the top before closing the lid and latching it. He could feel Specs' eyes on him as he stood and crossed the room towards the bath, reaching up to scoop Genius off the bar.“Come on you little imp,” Keishin said, lifting the flap of his coat pocket. The crow poked his head in, then wormed his way inside, wiggling around until he was comfortable.“Well, that’s cozy, isn’t it?” Specs grinned.“It’s getting late,” Keishin admitted. “He’s tired. But he doesn’t like being alone.”Specs nodded, his smile fading a little. “I… can understand that.”Keishin let out a deep sigh. “Right…” He turned towards the exit and hit the security pad. The door twisted open, and the sound of the high-elevation winds filled their ears once again.
…Honestly, Specs… I gotta admit… I can relate, too…
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Keishin would have preferred the stew at The Dragon’s Purse . But after what had transpired earlier that evening, he wasn’t about to cross its threshold again. So they were sitting in a pub about a block away from the pawn shop. The Thorny Devil . Inferior atmosphere to match inferior stew, but it was a clean establishment, and the food wasn’t bad overall.The dining room was rather warm as steam billowed from the kitchen, carrying with it the aroma of spicy roast fowl and fried potatoes. Dark wood beams and floorboards matched the dark wood paneling underneath the chair rails. They worked to soften the austere white of the matte plaster walls, which seemed intent on draining the room of any semblance of comfort and relaxation. Yellow curtains had been drawn over the open windows, but gusts of cool night air were still puffing through the door occasionally, relieving some of the warmth that surrounded the inn’s patrons.Above the well scrubbed and polished wooden tables, perceptive light bloomed gently from floating orbs that hovered over the diners, intuitively brightening when a patron wished to eye their food a little more clearly, or dimming when a bit of sobering news was passed between friends. Keishin and Specs had managed to procure one such table, tucked away in the corner. It was somewhat apart from the noisier guests, whose voices were well lubricated by several rounds of beer by now. As they settled into their meal, Keishin felt a new surge of relief at having chosen the most private table in the room. Because what had begun as an immensely strange evening was rapidly turning into a deeply uncomfortable one. And the added weight of prying eyes would have simply been too much.“...Aren’t you gonna eat?” Keishin asked with a raised eyebrow, spoon hovering over his bowl of stew as his other hand gripped a thick slice of buttered bread.“I’m sorry?” Specs blushed nervously and lifted his gaze from his meal. Hands in his lap. Shoulders tensely hunched. His eyes met Keishin’s briefly before darting away to a shadowy corner of the room.“I said aren’t you gonna eat,” Keishin repeated, feeling a prickle of irritation at the back of his neck.“Um…”Specs looked at his plate again with nervous reluctance, hands balled into fists on the table’s glossy oak surface.Keishin lowered his spoon for a moment. “Would stew have been better? We can trade—”“No!” Specs cried, wide eyes snapping up again as he raised his hands in a halting motion. “No no… this is… fine…”“You sure? ‘Cause it seemed like you just kinda told me to order the first thing you saw on the menu.”“Not at all! This is exactly what I wanted!” Specs lowered his gaze to the silverware set to either side, nipping his bottom lip as he reached for the utensils with obvious uncertainty.Keishin raised an eyebrow, watching as Specs glanced sidelong at a neighboring table, where a bearded laborer was going to town on his pork chop. He studied the man for several seconds before looking down at his own serving of meat. Holding his fork and knife over his food, Specs flicked a brief glance in Keishin’s direction, stuck his fork into his slab of beef, and sawed off a corner the same way the laborer had, lifting the bite to his mouth.Keishin watched from the corner of his eye for a moment longer before he let out a sigh and rested his forearms on the edge of the table. He lowered his gaze and began digging into his stew, finally tasting meat and potatoes like he’d wanted to all evening.“Mm!”Keishin glanced up to find Specs shoving another enthusiastic bite into his mouth.
“Mm! So good!”“Er…” Keishin hesitated. “Yeah… I mean, they do all right, I guess…”Specs swallowed as he cut away another bite. “I’ve just never had it before! I had no idea!”Keishin furrowed his brow, sitting up a little straighter.“You’ve… never had roast beef?”Specs shoved another bite in his mouth as he shook his head.“For cryin’ out loud,” Keishin grumbled, his irritation digging in a little deeper. “Just… remember to chew your food, okay?” He let out a huff and scooped another bite of stew into his mouth. Another glance at Specs proved he hadn’t slowed down, shoveling in bite after bite with the excitement of an unfettered child in a room full of chocolate.“Jeez, what did they feed you back at… at wherever you're from?” Keishin vaguely waved a hand.“Hmm?” Specs hummed inquisitively as he glanced up, wiping a stray bit of gravy from his mouth.“Where you’re from,” Keishin repeated. “What did you eat?”“Supplements,” Specs replied, looking down at his plate again as he cut away another bite.“Supplements? What the hell does that mean?”“You know… like…“ Specs drew a tiny, somewhat vague shape in the air with the tip of his knife. “Umm… nutrients? You know, those little bits of… Er…” His face turned pink as he lowered his silverware.Keishin raised an eyebrow. “N… nutrient… bits?” He gritted his teeth as his appetite slowly began to wilt. Specs’ expression sagged helplessly. “You don’t…”“You’ve lost me,” Keishin said plainly.“Er, I mean, this!” Specs said hastily, fingers tightening around the handles of his fork and knife. “This! Meat and… and… vegetables… every day… just... not this kind, that’s all.” His shoulders sagged a little as he ducked his head diffidently.“...Okay…” Keishin replied with a sigh, lowering his gaze and pensively spooning another bite of stew. He knew bullshit when he heard it, but he was too tired to care anymore.
...This night can’t be real… I’m in a trance somewhere… I’m under hypnosis… I…
Specs swallowed another bite, then set his fork down and reached for his untouched beer mug, taking a deep swallow before nearly choking, his pink face turning deep red as several coughs erupted from his lungs.“Whoa! Take it easy…” Keishin said, just about ready to drop his silverware altogether. Specs nodded, but his lips were puckered sourly, and his glasses slid a tiny bit down the bridge of his nose on a sheen of nervous sweat that had worked its way to the surface. He reached up to quickly adjust them before covering his mouth with the back of his hand and staring at the pint as if it had insulted his mother.“You… drink this?” Specs managed, a frown of distaste wrinkling his chin.Keishin shrugged. “Well, I mean, it’s not anything special, but…”“But… you… you… like it?” Specs’ gaze flicked back and forth between the mug and Keishin’s face with deep skepticism.Keishin sighed, rolling his eyes. “You develop a taste for it, trust me.”“You do?” Specs’ eyebrows sank low over his eyes.“Knock back a couple of those and see how you feel. Tomorrow you’ll probably order twice as many.”“...How I… feel?”Keishin rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve never read anything about beer in all those books of yours.”Specs’ eyes widened as he sat up straighter.“This is beer?? You mean… alcohol?? ”Keishin’s voice hitched as he sat up straighter, plunging his bread into the bowl of stew irritably. “Jeez, didn’t you hear me order?” he groused. “I said two beers!”“I was distracted!” Specs cried, compressing his voice into a low hiss to keep his volume down as he glanced around the room. “It’s very noisy in here…”Keishin let out a groan, setting down his spoon and dropping his face into his hands. He let out a deep sigh.“Am I… going to fall down?” Specs asked nervously.“After one swallow? I hope not!”“But I’ve never had alcohol before!” Specs was a little louder this time. It drew a glare from the man at the next table, who promptly rolled his eyes and looked back down at his pork chop.“Keep your voice down!” Keishin hissed, eyes darting back and forth between Specs and the other man. “Goddamn… just… eat your dinner,” he huffed, picking up his spoon and bread again and digging rather aggressively into his stew. “For the love of…” he muttered under his breath.Specs leaned forward, red faced, his breath hissing in a whisper of dismay. “I’m sorry, Keishin!”“Forget it, just eat!”“Right… right…” Specs picked up his utensils and cut into his meat again, with a little less enthusiasm this time.But dialing back his excitement didn’t have the calming effect Keishin had been expecting to feel.Instead, he almost felt… guilty.
…Goddammit, Keishin…
…You really are a killjoy sometimes, you know that?
They continued to eat in awkward silence, Specs conspicuously avoiding what remained of his beer. Eventually, Keishin ordered a mug of milk with a sigh, and Specs drank it down with obvious gratitude.“It’s delicious! Sweet, but not cloying, and with such a lovely smoothness as it goes down…” “Most people just say it’s creamy,” Keishin replied, his voice a little tepid as he propped his head in his hand.“Yes, so I’ve read...” Specs nodded thoughtfully. “I just never really understood what it meant until now...”Keishin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. This constant onslaught of excitement over the mundane was understandable, given the man’s circumstances. But it was really getting exhausting.
…Nutrient bits? Seriously?
…And who the fuck has never even tasted milk before?
After what felt like an eternity, the meal finally came to an end. Keishin settled their bill, and they rose from the table and headed outside. Specs was wearing a pair of boots Keishin had procured from the pawn shop. They were still half a size too big, but they fit well enough. He’d simply tossed Specs an extra pair of socks from his shelves and told him to double up. It would have to do, given the circumstances.“Come on, follow me,” Keishin said, turning back in the direction of the cul de sac. It was only a few minutes’ walk at a brisk pace. The gentle breeze stirring the warm late-spring air cut a little too deep at this hour, and Keishin found himself turning the collar up on his coat and picking up the pace to ward off the slight chill. As they reached the courtyard, he could see it was mostly empty now. A few people were casually loitering at the entrance to The Dragon’s Purse , but they paid Keishin and Specs no mind as they walked by, headed towards the other side of the road, where The Happie Cabbie’s main entrance sat. Its gates were still open, and a two-horse carriage was just departing, as a smaller hansom cab was coming back in. The massive wood wall of The Happie Cabbie was bound with swirling bars of wrought iron, and intermittently punched with small square windows that served to relieve wind force during storms. Since the breeze was gentle today, however, the windows had remained shuttered. To the right of the giant gate, the wall ran about fifty feet before it butted up directly to the tall stone building beside it, with no gap or alley between them. However, the wall to the left ran another seventy feet or so before it came to a halt at the alley it shared with the laundry house. The same alley Keishin had gone down in pursuit of the Gleaner earlier that night. Now, Keishin beckoned for Specs to follow as he ducked down it once again, unable to resist the urge to glance over his shoulder to make sure they had gone unnoticed.It was dark here. The multi-story laundry facility was closed now, its lightless windows shuttered for the evening. Across from it, the high wall of the stable yard cast a long shadow over their path. Keishin trotted down the narrow cobbles on silent, nimble feet, gritting his teeth in irritation at the conspicuously audible sound of Specs’ clomp-clomping boots.
…For fuck’s sake, does this guy not know the meaning of the word stealth??
Keishin let out a cleansing breath as he came to a halt behind The Happie Cabbie’s massive stables. It was at least thirty yards away from the main gate. Hopefully no one would hear them at such a distance. He glanced at Specs and put a finger to his lips, gestured towards a service door a few feet away, then pointed up.Specs’ eyes followed Keishin’s finger to a small ventilation window about ten feet above them.“Listen…” Keishin said, his soft voice skimming a whisper. “That window’s way too small for me, but If I hoisted you up, do you think you could squeeze through and unlock that back door for me?”“Well, I could certainly try,” Specs said, curling his fists a little tighter and mustering a brave smile. “What for?”“I was looking around in the shop when you were trying on boots, but I couldn’t find the tools we need to get those shackles off,” Keishin said softly. “But I figure they will.”“Why?”“They shoe their own horses, and also repair their own carriages. I’ve seen smoke coming out of the yard. Pretty sure they have their own smithy. And a smithy will have tools.”“What about a locksmith?”Keishin stared at Specs silently for a moment, his mouth hanging open. Finally, he let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Specs…”“What? That’s what they do, isn’t it? Unlock things?”“But it looks a little weird, doncha think?” Keishin rolled his eyes. “Asking for shackles to be removed, like a goddamn prison escapee? Besides, if your so-called master is looking for you, they might ask around places like that…”“Oh…” Specs muttered, his shoulders deflating a little. “Yes… you do make a good point…” A moment later, he gave a resolute nod. “All right. Window it is.”“I’m not sure what it looks like in there, though,” Keishin said cautiously. “I’ve never been inside. So don’t just go tumbling through the window without taking a good look around, okay? For all I know, they’ve got guard dogs in there—or worse. People. So don’t be hasty.”“Got it,” Specs said with a nod. “I’ll be careful.”“Right,” Keishin sighed. God, he hoped he wasn’t about to make an enormous mistake. “Come here and steady yourself on the wall. I’ll give you a boost.” He crouched down slightly and threaded his fingers together into a step.“I… you… what are you doing?” Specs asked hesitantly.Keishin’s eyebrows shot up as he tried to squelch his growing impatience. “I’m giving you a boost! Come on, put your foot here.”“Oh!” Specs hurried forward and stepped into Keishin’s waiting hands, steadying himself on the wall as instructed. Keishin lifted him up a little until the man’s head was at window level. Specs pulled open the shutters, then curled his fingers around the edge of the window as he brought his eyes above the sill and looked down.“Umm… I don’t see any dogs or people…” he said softly. “But it is a little dark…”“How dark?”“Well, there are some lamps on the stable posts, but the ceiling lights aren’t lit.”“So, what do you see?”“Horses, mostly.” He let out a sigh of awe. “They’re so much bigger than I imagined!”“Well, they come in all sizes, you know,” Keishin replied, voice a little tight from the strain of holding up Specs’ body, despite the man’s slight frame. “These are carriage horses, so they have to be big to pull all that weight.”“Oh, I see,” Specs replied.“Is it a safe landing on the other side?” Keishin asked. “I can’t hold you forever, you know.”“Right, right… um…” Specs pulled himself a little higher and looked down. “Looks like… crates, and some tools. Shovels and buckets mostly.”“You think you can climb over and drop down without hurting yourself or being noisy?”“I think so… doesn’t look too far.”“Well you better do it quick, my arms are getting tired.”“Right!” Specs hissed. “Can you push me up a little higher?”“You gotta be kidding me!” Keishin sputtered.“I can’t pull myself up that far, Keishin,” Specs replied plainly as he looked down.“F-fine, step on my shoulder then.”“Maybe I should have taken off my boots,” Specs said ruefully. “I’m going to hurt you with these hard soles…”“I don’t care, just go!” Keishin urged.“Fine,” Specs sighed, raising his other leg and pushing himself up a little higher on Keishin’s shoulder. The thick leather of his coat provided a little cushion, but the sharp edge of Specs’ boot dug in all the same, and he winced a little as, with a few grunts and much squirming, the man wormed his way into the tiny window. He wiggled and shimmied a bit, until he was able to pull the rest of his body through, still clinging to the windowsill as he went. A moment later he disappeared, and Keishin could hear the heavy thud of boots hitting the ground.
...All right, so far so good.
Keishin reached up to rub the sore spot on his shoulder as he waited, listening to the click of Specs’ footsteps. A moment later, there was the shlock of a bolt being drawn aside, and the service door opened on silent hinges.Specs poked his head out and looked at Keishin. The honey glow of the lanterns inside shone on the man’s pink-dusted cheeks, soft lips drawn back in a grin as he waved Keishin over, eyes sparkling.Keishin’s stomach fluttered as he felt color rush to his cheeks. Despite the bizarre and generally frustrating evening he’d had, the charming purity of the man’s excitement was getting under Keishin’s skin again. And his big, warm smile was just a little too cute for him to ignore. He swallowed slowly, reaching self consciously for the back of his neck.
…Holy shit…
...Keishin, you might be in trouble…
At first glance, Specs’ flawless beauty had made him seem almost artificial. But that perfect form turned out to be harboring a very real soul that was starved for experience and the pure joy of living. His bright and curious personality was the realest thing Keishin had seen in ages, and, despite the moments of exasperation, Specs was breathing new life into Keishin’s tired old skin.In fact, Keishin hadn’t felt this much energy in years.He nervously glanced left and right, then hurried towards the door and stepped inside on feet that felt almost numb with the strange, giddy rush that had gut-punched him just a moment ago.
…Come on, Keishin, pull yourself together!
…This is not the time to be… to be… just… just stop it, okay??
“We did it!” Specs said in hushed tones as he glanced around. “This is so exciting!”“Huh?” Keishin raised an eyebrow, trying to brush away the web of his distracted thoughts. “You climbed through a damn window and opened a door, so what?”“I’ve never burgled before,” Specs replied. “I’ve only read about people doing things like that in stories.”“Right,” Keishin sighed, his cheeks darkening slightly. “Almost forgot… Can’t exactly say the same for myself,” he admitted, turning and letting his gaze wander the room.“Keishin…” Specs grabbed him by the arm and pulled him around until they were facing each other. “Are you a troublemaker?”“No! No… I mean…” Keishin grimaced. “I may have had a moment or two… but I was more interested in sneaking out than sneaking in.”“Oh…” Specs frowned, his rising posture seeming to unfurl with a new, and not entirely happy realization. “...Were you kept locked away, too?”“...In a manner of speaking,” Keishin sighed impatiently. “Come on, we need to focus.”“Right! Sorry...” Specs nodded, biting his lower lip as they both glanced around the stables.The work space was about forty feet across, and stretched interminably to the left and right. White painted stables lined both sides of the wall, some of them empty, others occupied by massive, dark steeds, nibbling their hay and chuffing softly.They seemed to be in a maintenance room, full of mucking shovels and stacked crates, buckets, brooms, wheelbarrows, and little pull wagons, all lined up and ready for use. On the opposite wall was a place for horse grooming, divided into five individual stations by three foot tall railings, each one outfitted with its own grooming supplies. The ceiling rose high above them, and the underside of platforms were visible in the rafters. Most likely a space utilized for further storage.“Come on, we gotta find the carriage house,” Keishin said in hushed tones, beckoning as he started jogging on quiet tip toes, down the long walkway that ran between horse stalls to the left and right. About half of them were open and empty, but they could hear the occasional heavy breath, or the clip of a hoof, or rustling hay behind closed stall doors. They headed towards a broad opening in the wall to their right, about a hundred feet away. Its gliding doors were wide open, allowing moonlight to pour into the stables, flooding the meticulously swept stone floor with a gentle silver glow.“All right,” Keishin said. “It may be late, but there’s still a lotta people here, so we need to be careful.”“Okay,” Specs replied with a nod.Across the open barn door was a row of hooks with work aprons hanging from them, as well as a few hats, with rows of muck boots lining the wall underneath. He glanced around the corner to find they were alone, whispers of gratitude spilling past his lips as he darted to the other side of the door and nabbed an assortment of garments before hurrying back behind the stalls.“Quick, put these on,” he said, shoving an apron and cap into Specs’ hands.“Oh! A disguise!” Specs grinned.“Yeah, barely,” Keishin muttered as he pulled a cap on and adjusted the bill. “I’d still rather not be seen, so just follow my lead.” He slipped an apron over his head and loosely tied the strings beneath his coat.“Right,” Specs replied, his smile sobering as he put on his cap, then lifted the apron strap over his head and turned to let Keishin quickly tie the strings in the back.“Alright, this way,” Keishin said, pressing his back to the wall of the stable and peering cautiously around the corner.They stayed close to the wall as they crept towards the open door, and Keishin poked his head outside for a covert look at the stableyard.A gravel path passed before the stable doors, with a broad swath of trim lawn beyond, its detail fading quickly in the darkness of night. But the brightly lit staging area was visible to the distant right, where the main gate of The Happie Cabbie stood. A few hansom cabs and carriages were lined up, waiting for drivers as their horses stamped impatiently. Maintenance men walked back and forth, checking buckles and fittings, and patting the horses as they wandered by.It would be a little risky, but under the cover of darkness, it was likely Keishin and Specs wouldn’t be noticed if they ventured out into the stable yard.Fifty yards or so across from them, Keishin could see bright lights inside the carriage house. Its front walls were pulled wide open, revealing spaces mostly empty, though a handful of carriages, cabs, and stagecoaches sat parked, either waiting to be used, or being repaired. To the left was a little shoeing smithy. It was too far away for Keishin to see much, but the chimney stack and broad anvil were unmistakable.His attention, however, was immediately drawn towards a person stepping out from the carriage house and heading straight towards them.“Shit!” Keishin ducked away from the door again. “Someone’s coming. Quick!” he hissed, nudging Specs toward the nearest stall. “Get inside!”As Specs ducked under the gap between the floor and the stall door, Keishin grabbed the bridle and lead hanging on the stable post and followed in a hurry.The gelding inside the stable let out a snort and backed away in surprise. Specs gasped, slamming his back against the stable wall, wide-eyed and mouth gaping as he stared up at the huge creature, utterly terrified.“Hey, big guy,” Keishin said in soothing tones, raising a welcoming hand toward the horse and praying it would calm down. The horse let out a wary blow, his hooves still dancing restlessly for a moment before he stilled, lowering his head and giving Keishin a curious nudge with his muzzle. “That’s right, you’re okay, er…” Keishin soothed, glancing up at the plaque mounted above the stall, “...Tiger?”
…What the hell kinda horse name is that??
Keishin rolled his eyes, pushing the thought away as he stepped closer to the gelding on slow, cautious steps. Tiger eyed him skeptically, but nosed forward just a little and breathed in Keishin’s scent. The blond laid a gentle hand on his white muzzle and gave him some easy pets.“There we go,” Keishin said softly, continuing to stroke the horse’s massive head as the creature began to relax. “See? You’re safe.”The horse nickered softly, widened eyelids falling slack again. He blinked a few times, flicking his white tail and pressing his nose into Keishin’s hand.“What, they don’t pet you much, buddy?” Keishin said, moving his hand down to Tiger’s neck, where his coloring changed abruptly to deep black. He continued gently stroking the horse, then gave him a few easy pats.“That’s amazing,” Specs said in a soft, quivering voice. “He calmed down so quickly.”Keishin shrugged. “He wasn’t angry, he was just surprised,” he replied in hushed tones.“Right…”“Come give him a pet,” Keishin smiled, tossing his head towards the horse.“Ah… are you… sure?” Specs whispered nervously, looking up at the enormous horse again.“Sure I’m sure,” Keishin said softly. “These horses are very docile and friendly. They have to be, since they’re around the public all day. Wouldn’t be good for business to have horses that bite or kick customers, you know.”“...Fair point…”Specs crept forward a few steps, reaching for Tiger’s head while staying at arm’s length. The horse turned his attention to Specs and lowered his nose, nickering softly and pushing his face into Specs’ palm for attention.“See?” Keishin grinned. “He likes you!”Specs giggled in awe as he rubbed his hand up and down the horse’s snout, taking another step forward.“He’s so… enormous…” Specs said quietly.They heard the sudden approach of boots on gravel, and Keishin put his finger to his lips. Specs nodded and backed further away from the door and out of sight.Keishin put the bridle over Tiger’s face and head, securing it over his long white mane and attaching the lead to the strap beneath his mouth, just as bootsteps began to echo through the open barn door,“Who’s there?” an unfamiliar voice cut through the quiet air, causing Specs to flinch.“It’s Saito, sir,” Keishin said casually.“Saito?” the voice replied, somewhat less certain, but still clearly skeptical.“The new stableman,” Keishin replied. “Remember?”There was a brief silence.“I don’t remember there being anyone new…”“Well, I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting yet,” Keishin said, hastily slipping off his coat and shoving it into Specs’ arms. He hurriedly rolled up his sleeves in a last minute—and rather pathetic—attempt to look the part of laborer before stepping across the stall and unlatching the door. “I just started today,” he said, leaning into his commoner accent as he inched partway out of the stall, carefully concealing the hilt of his sword behind his arm.The other man looked Keishin up and down for a moment, one eyebrow arched doubtfully.“Why aren’t you in uniform?”“Oh... well... they didn’t have my size, so they’re having some alterations made...” Keishin chuckled awkwardly. “Folks always tell me I need more meat on my bones, I guess maybe they’re right…”“I don’t care about your bones,” the man waved irritably. “Why are you fetching this horse? It’s resting today.”“Oh! No, sir, of course! I’m not working him, it’s just… the vet wants me to bring him over. Suspects he might be developing shivers , sir, but wants a closer look.”The man made a low scoff, eyeing the bridle around Tiger’s head, and the lead in Keishin’s hand.“Who hired you?” the man finally asked.
…Oh shit…
…Goddammit…
…Keishin, you’ve really stepped in it this time…
“Oh… er…” Keishin reached for the back of his neck in feigned embarrassment. “Well… I’m really shamed to admit it, but… I’m terrible with names, and I can’t remember…” he chuckled sheepishly, lips pulling back in a toothy grimace. “I was just… sorta waiting to hear someone else say it, but…” he ran a hand over the top of his head. “He’s tall, got dark hair… kinda… you know… eyes like this, and an oval face, like so…” he gestured vaguely in the air with a pointed finger.“Kirishima?” the man asked cautiously.Keishin snapped his fingers and pointed at the man with a grin. “Yeah! That was it!”The man’s eyes narrowed to slits as he stood to full height.“ I’m Kirishima,” he said coldly, placing a hand on the long dagger hanging at his belt. “Who the hell are you?”“Shit,” Keishin muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes as he reached for his sword. In one swift move, he had it drawn, and the pommel smacked Kirishima across the top of the head. A tiny oof of surprise moved past the man’s stunned lips before he crumpled to the ground in a heap.Specs popped his head around the door and looked at the man on the ground, then up at Keishin, eyes wide and mouth gaping.“Keishin, what did you do??”“I just knocked him out, come on, gimme a hand, quick!” Keishin beckoned as he dropped the lead and stepped out of the stall, scooping his arms under Kirishima’s shoulders. “Grab his legs.”Specs glanced both ways as he draped Keishin’s coat over the stall door. Genius poked his head out of the coat pocket, and a moment later, he wormed his way out, dropping to the floor with an awkward flap of the wings before hopping out of the way. Specs stepped out of the stall and hooked his arms around Kirishima’s limp knees.“Is he okay?” Specs asked, grimacing.“It was just a konk on the noggin!” “What does that mean?”“It means I hit him on the head, he’ll be fine!” Keishin rolled his eyes as he backed his way into Tiger’s stall, the horse snorting softly and stepping aside as they passed.Specs clenched his teeth in a tight grimace the whole way, a sheen of nervous sweat sprouting up across his forehead. “I hope you’re right…” he said as they laid Kirishima gently in the corner on a soft pile of straw.“Trust me, I know what I’m doing,” Keishin grumbled. He grabbed his coat and tossed it over one arm, then turned and reached for Tiger’s lead.“You know about konking people on the noggin??” Specs hissed.Keishin sighed. “You could say that, now come on. Er… grab a muck bucket or something and act natural.”“O-okay,” Specs said, wringing his hands nervously.Keishin clicked his tongue and led Tiger out of the stall. The horse followed obediently, and Specs brought up the rear, glancing around until he saw a saddle blanket draped across the door of an empty stall, and a broom leaning nearby. He hurriedly reached for them, slinging the blanket over his arm and the broom over his shoulder as he followed Keishin around the corner and out into the stableyard.“Stay close to me, and try to stay hidden behind this side of the horse,” Keishin muttered over his shoulder. “Don’t let them see your face.”“Right…” Specs soberly did as he was told, looking around carefully as they crossed the field toward the carriage house. Genius hopped after them for a few paces before taking to the air and perching on a tall lamp post halfway down the field. Keishin eyed him briefly before glancing covertly to his right, where the workers were speaking to the drivers, and one man went around lighting the headlamps on each vehicle. No one paid them any mind, too caught up in their own activities to bother with vigilance. Keishin had never seen any trespassers or other criminal activity taking place around The Happie Cabbie , and there had never been rumors of anything like that in the neighborhood. It had always been a quiet and relatively safe part of town. Perhaps the workers had grown complacent, and took for granted that anyone in the yard belonged there. Whatever the case, Keishin thanked his lucky stars when they reached the smithy, leading Tiger into the shoeing station between themselves and the carriage yard. The horse didn’t exactly conceal them completely, but it did provide some small amount of cover.“All right,” Keishin said quietly, draping Tiger’s lead over the station’s lead post as the horse snorted softly and flicked his tail. “Let’s see about those shackles.” Keishin began pulling on his coat once again, but Tiger nudged his muzzle into Keishin’s shoulder, begging for more attention. Keishin frowned up at the horse. “Jeez, do they really not pet you horses?”“Maybe they’re just a little too busy…” Specs said softly.“Okay, nevermind that right now,” Keishin grumbled, waving a dismissive hand. “We gotta focus.” Still, he reached up and gave Tiger a few more quick, affectionate rubs along the neck before looking at Specs again.Keishin hesitated, his stomach twisting nervously.Specs was looking as small as ever, like he had when they’d first met. Anxious and desperate, mouth pressed in a thin line as the creases in his forehead deepened at the press of worried eyebrows. He’d hiked up his coat sleeves, and was fussing with the sleeves of his shirt, loosening the ties and pulling them away from the shackles.Keishin couldn’t help but notice that his hands were shaking.
…“Specs… do you realize what’s out there? If you leave the city, you’re a dead man.”
…“What makes you think I’m not a dead man if I stay?”
Keishin swallowed, looking away as he tried to focus on the more pressing issue of removing Specs’ shackles. He’d need a hammer, and maybe a large chisel or something similar, though bolt cutters would be nice. No way his luck was half that good though. He hastily ran his fingers along the wall until he found a thick hammer with a broad, heavy head. But popping open the lids to several tool chests yielded nothing even remotely useful.“Shit!” he hissed under his breath, glancing around frantically.“Keishin, what about this?” Specs said behind him.Keishin looked over his shoulder. Specs was holding up a hatchet, eyes shining hopefully.“That should work, come here,” he said as he approached the anvil in the center of the smithy. “Put your arm like this so I can get the hatchet between the two plates.”“Like this?” Specs hunched down and put his arm against the side of the anvil, hooking the chained end on top to expose the thin gap between both ends of the shackle.“Exactly,” Keishin replied as he wedged the blade of the hatchet between the two sides. “Okay, I’m gonna need you to hold real still.”“Um…” Specs swallowed nervously. “You won’t miss, will you?”Keishin raised an eyebrow as he glanced up at Specs for a moment. “Of course not,” he said, looking down at the hatchet again.“You’re sure?”“I never miss. Ready?”“Um… I guess…”“You guess?” Keishin’s eyebrows arched high.“No! No, I’m ready! Go!”Keishin raised the hammer and brought it hurtling down on the back of the hatchet with a thundering clang , snapping the pin in the shackle so hard that one plate went flying across the smithy to ricochet off the wall and land in the barrel of quenching oil. Specs stifled a yelp of surprise as he pulled his hand away.“Now the other,” Keishin said, nervously leaning over to throw a quick glance behind the back of the horse. As far as he could tell, the workers were still focused on their tasks.
…So far, so good…
He turned his attention back to Specs, who had positioned his other arm, and was staring up at Keishin expectantly. Keishin hurriedly wedged the hatchet into the second shackle.“Ready?”“Ready!”Keishin raised his arm high and brought the hammer down again, snapping the latch in one blow. Specs raised his hand and peeled the final shackle away, then looked at Keishin with shining eyes.“I… I’ve—” he sputtered.“Oi!” a voice cried, cutting Specs off. “You there!”Keishin cringed as icy dread lance through his spine. “Shit,” he hissed through clenched teeth, leaning over to look past Tiger again, towards the brightly lit staging area some thirty yards away. The workers and drivers had now gone still, their eyes glued to two men Keishin hadn’t seen before. They were looking in their direction as Kirishima himself was clutching the top of his head with one hand and pointing straight at Keishin with the other.The matching red tunics and drawn swords of the unfamiliar men revealed their identities instantly, and Keishin felt the color drain from his face.They were deputies of the local sheriff.“Shit!” Keishin spat again, lurching back from the anvil and dropping his tools. “He woke up faster than I thought he would.”“You there!” one of the officers hollered, taking a step towards the smithy. “Come forward, at once!”“I thought you said you knew about konking people on the noggin!” Specs cried, his body rigid, arms tight against his chest as he took a nervous step backwards.“Well, every noggin’s a little different!” Keishin said defensively. “Come on!” He leapt over the anvil and reached for Tiger’s lead, pulling it free of the post. By the time Specs turned around, Keishin had hoisted himself onto Tiger’s back, and was reaching down towards him. “Grab my hand!”“Are you crazy??” Specs cried, as Tiger tossed his head and let out a low whinny, backing up a pace, then two. Still, Specs ran forward and threw his hand out. Keishin latched on and hauled him up onto the back of the horse. He plopped Specs down right in front of him and guided his hands down to the base of Tiger’s mane as Tiger’s hooves danced beneath them with uncertainty. Specs instinctively grabbed on as Keishin clicked his tongue and gave the horse a gentle but assertive nudge with his heels. Tiger turned at Keishin’s insistence and trotted out of the smithy. “Hold on tight, Specs…”“Keishin…” Specs said shakily, “...I’ve never…”
“Get down from there!” One of the officers shouted. Both began running towards them, their crimson cloaks flapping behind them as they rushed across the trim lawn at full speed.“Giddup!” Keishin cried urgently with another kick of his heels. Tiger neighed, ducking his head and charging towards the officers, earth and grass flying back from his thundering hooves. Specs yelped and curled his fists tighter around Tiger’s thick white mane, squeezing his eyes closed as they rushed by, the officers and employees stumbling out of the massive creature’s path with cries of dismay.“Oi! Stop right there!” one officer roared as the other ran after them.“Yah!” Keishin cried, urging the horse into an even faster gallop. They shot between two cabs and barreled out of the carriage yard, onto the red cobbles of the road with a spine tingling crack of hooves on stone. Their caps flew off their heads and disappeared behind them as the fast moving air whipped across their faces and tousled their hair.A woman in front of the pub screamed in surprise as an inebriated bystander lurched out of the way.“Keishin!” Specs cried, the terror in his voice raking down Keishin’s back like raptor claws. He gritted his teeth and slid one arm around Specs’ body, holding him tight as they flew down the road.“Don’t let go!” Keishin shouted as they galloped down the main thoroughfare for a good thirty seconds before slowing just enough to cut into an alley.“This isn’t the way to your flat!” Specs yelped as they picked up speed again.“We’re not going to my flat!”“Where are we going??”“We’re leaving!”“What??”“You wanted to cross the barrier, right??”“But you said—”Keishin leaned a little closer, until his lips brushed Specs’ ear.“We’ll be okay. I’m a swordsman, remember?”Specs went silent, his body finally settling into the horse’s rhythm. He felt a little lighter in Keishin’s embrace, like an enormous weight had been lifted from the shoulders. Keishin swallowed his dry throat, trying to ignore how close they were as they cantered through the city, skirting the popular districts and weaving their way through the darker parts of town.Keishin guided Tiger through the narrow alleys connecting avenues and thoroughfares, carefully avoiding any crowds they came across, and sometimes even doubling back to avoid being noticed. The occasional caw above their heads told Keishin that Genius was following. Eventually, the city lights grew distant, and the world around them darkened as Keishin slowed Tiger’s pace to a trot. They were heading for The Playground now. The burned out corner of the city, where Keishin liked to practice his swordplay. There wasn’t much there, but it would be better than nothing. And there was no way in hell he could go back to his flat. Not now.They’d seen his face. And they wouldn’t have to question many locals before discovering his identity. Surely he’d been recognized by someone. Hell, Kenichi would probably be frothing at the thought of turning him in.The sheriff’s men might already be ransacking his stuff. They would find Specs’ high-class robe and slippers. Not to mention Keishin’s longsword, and the sash bearing his family crest, and the colors of his homeland. Keishin felt a pang of regret at the thought of leaving his sword behind. Even if he had already gutted it, and had no intention of drawing it again. The gem had gone toward the expenses he’d needed to open up the pawn shop. But Keishin had a sentimental streak, and that sword represented a part of himself that he’d never been able to let go. Despite his inner reprimands, and his denial, and the way he locked away his old memories, yet still kept that stupid box right there, beside him where he slept. He’d never managed to snap those final threads.If he were honest, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever really planned to cut ties at all. Not completely.But none of that mattered anymore.The decision to finally leave this infernal city had been made for him.
…So what now?
As shabby buildings turned to rubble, charred timber, and flat, dead grass, Keishin brought Tiger to a halt at the edge of the cobblestones with an easy ‘whoa’ . The horse let out a heavy breath and lowered his nose to the ground.“Stay here a second,” Keishin said in Specs’ ear.“Wait! But—” Specs yelped.Keishin clapped a hand over Specs’ mouth. The man went rigid in Keishin’s arms, causing Tiger to let out a heavy snort and restlessly back up a step or two.“Shh!” Keishin whispered in his ear. “Keep it down! …I’d rather no one hear us, and you’re gonna spook Tiger, now relax.”Specs’ body eased a little, and Keishin lowered his hand, though he continued to keep one arm around Specs’ middle, the horse’s lead still clutched in his fist.“You gotta take it easy,” Keishin said softly. “Just sit still, and try to relax, okay? Horses can sense when you’re nervous, and it makes them nervous too, ‘cause they start to think something’s wrong. Here…” He gently took Specs’ hand and peeled his fingers open to release his grip around Tiger’s mane. “Hold this for a second,” Keishin said, as he placed the lead in Specs’ hand and closed his fingers around it.“What do I do with it?” Specs asked, as he continued to grip Tiger’s mane with his free hand.“Nothing. Just relax and stay calm. I gotta grab something, I’ll be right back. I won’t even leave your sight.”“O-okay…” Specs whispered, nodding as he took a deep breath to calm his agitation.“I’m taking your apron,” Keishin added calmly, pulling the strings and lifting it over his head. Making sure the lead was tight in Specs’ hands, Keishin slid off Tiger’s back and dropped to the ground with a soft thud of his nimble feet. He took a few steps forward, the horse raising his head and giving him a curious look. Keishin gently caressed Tiger’s face, giving the horse a little kiss on the nose and saying a few soft words to reassure him.“Thanks for the help, big guy,” Keishin said softly. He glanced up to find Specs staring down at him, wide eyed, his crimson blush visible even in the moonlight. The moment their eyes met, Specs stifled a squeak and tore his gaze away, biting his lip and staring doggedly at the horse’s withers.Keishin’s stomach did a nervous somersault, his cheeks warming as he turned towards the nearby ruins, feeling unexpectedly flustered.
…Fuck fuck shit fuck…
…Calm down, Keishin, the man’s just nervous about being on a horse.
…It’s definitely got nothing to do with you. The last thing he wants is—
—Nope! Not even gonna think about it!
Keishin batted the thoughts away and hurried towards an area where one corner of the former building was jutting knee-high from the ground. He reached for the heavy chunks of rubble and charred wood that had been piled up around it, and began to pull it away until he revealed the decaying edge of what was once a cellar wall. Digging a little deeper revealed a hole in the ground about two feet deep. The opening was small, but the space beneath was about three feet square. What little remained of the cellar had long ago caved in, but this little corner had somehow held steady.He reached into the hole and pulled out a knapsack he’d stashed there, shortly after arriving in Nekoma. His emergency stash. Something he hoped he’d never need, but he was certainly whispering thanks to his past self for actually bothering to prepare for the unexpected.Its contents were gathered in layers of linen and oilskin, stuffed inside a knapsack that he’d soaked with a preservative potion. He’d hidden it in a little nook at the top of the opening, where moisture wouldn’t collect when it rained. It was in surprisingly good condition. The potion had done its work, even after all this time. There wasn’t much inside, since he typically preferred traveling light. A small pouch of money, a long utility knife, some bandages and salves, an Everglow bauble, some fishing line and hooks, a tin of smokes, and a second Everflask. Hopefully it had all held up okay inside its thick, waterproof wrappings. Not that he’d have any time to really give it much of an inspection. They needed to leave, and they needed to leave now.Keishin glanced over his shoulder towards the city lights, as the temptation to wander deeper into town and make a few purchases grew stronger. Honestly, their chances of survival weren’t great, even if well supplied. Was it worth the risk? Having a few more supplies in a wilderness less forgiving than a pit of vipers, or getting captured and undoubtedly executed for what amounted to kidnapping some rich asshole’s rather perverse idea of a pet?Or was Specs more of a whipping boy? Someone to aim a boot at when in a bad mood?God, how long had he lived like that? Since he was a kid? His lack of experience certainly hinted at that. And the fact that he seemed to be highly well read suggested he had been kept chained and hidden away from the world for quite a long time. Enough time to devour all those books anyway. Specs was clearly a full-fledged adult, but it was difficult to gauge how old he actually was. Keishin figured anywhere in his twenties. But having been locked away in a room somewhere, unweathered by the elements, with porcelain skin free of any kind of damage from the sun, meant he could be even older. It all seemed too unbelievable to be true. Who on earth would bother dressing someone up in fine clothes and educating them like that, yet keep them nameless and in chains? None of it made sense.Unless Specs was lying.Which was certainly a possibility.But Keishin had a keen eye for deception, and not only that, but Specs had been honest about the fact that he either couldn’t tell Keishin certain details about himself, or else simply refused to share for the time being. If he had something to hide, he would have come up with a better story, right? Some excuse or lie to make his explanation plausible. Instead, he’d spouted the most ridiculous details that almost had to be true for the fact that he hadn’t come up with something better.God, the impossible logic of every angle was giving birth to a massive headache.Keishin sighed, rising to his feet and slinging the strap of his bundle across his body. He stripped off his own apron and shoved it in the same hole he’d gotten his supplies from, along with the one he’d taken from Specs. Whatever the truth might be, he’d already sealed his fate by stealing a horse, and he wasn’t about to stick around. Especially not in a city he hated to begin with.Taking a deep breath, Keishin headed back towards the horse, where Specs was patiently waiting.“All right,” Keishin said, looking up at Specs. “We need to get moving. Last chance to stay before we kiss this city goodbye, because once I leave, I’m not coming back.”Specs peered down at Keishin from atop the horse. In the dim light, he could see the man was worrying his bottom lip thoughtfully, fingers squeezing a little tighter on the lead.“To say it’s dangerous out there is a colossal understatement,” Keishin said grimly. “Our chances of survival are pretty damn slim.”“You speak like someone who’s seen it,” Specs observed quietly.“Yeah, that’s ‘cause I have.”“You’re not from Nekoma, are you?”Keishin shook his head.Specs studied Keishin a moment longer before his brow lowered soberly, and he gave a resolute nod.“I’m coming with you,” he said. “Nekoma is no home to me.”Keishin took a deep breath, not entirely sure if he was happy or disappointed. Either way, he gave a nod of his own.“All right, gimme the lead and scoot back a little,” Keishin said.“Pardon?” Specs asked, his brow knitting in confusion.“I need a little room to mount,” Keishin said, waving towards the back of the horse.“Oh,” Specs replied. He eyed the horse skeptically. “What if he…”“Specs, he’s not going anywhere, relax,” Keishin replied, rolling his eyes. “These are some of the best trained horses, and Tiger’s a good boy. Just put your hands on his back. You’re the size of a peanut, he probably doesn’t even realize you’re up there.”“Well that’s… rather blunt of you,” Specs replied, his expression a little pinched as he handed Keishin the lead.“Don’t worry about it,” Keishin said. “It’s not a bad thing,” he added, a little more softly, as he felt warmth rise to his cheeks. He adjusted the pack to rest on his back and reached for Tiger’s head, cooing softly as he brought the lead around the back of the gelding’s neck. He fed it through a gap between the bottom of the nose strap and the lead knot, then wrapped it around a few times before tying it off, securing the end to keep it from bouncing around and possibly hitting poor Tiger in the face while galloping. Not the most streamlined set of reins he’d used, but serviceable enough. They were riding bareback. Might as well go bitless while they were at it. Tiger appeared to have a good head on his shoulders, and seemed to have keen intuition regarding Keishin’s wishes. That getaway at the carriage house might have ended a lot differently if the horse hadn’t taken such a quick liking to him.
…Thank heaven for that, at least.
Keishin took the makeshift reins in one hand as he reached for Tiger’s mane, leaping and hoisting himself onto the horse’s back with expert, fluid movements. It had been awhile since he’d practiced any riding techniques, and he felt a little rusty. Not to mention the fact that he’d never mounted a bareback horse this tall before. But he was relieved to discover his muscles remembered well enough as he found himself settling in for the second time that night.“So, I’m riding behind?” Specs asked.Keishin’s eyes widened, and his cheeks bloomed scarlet as he swallowed a mouthful of choice words.“I can guide the horse better if you’re not in my way, just… scoot up and wrap your arms around me, we gotta go.”“...If you say so,” Specs replied, inching forward as instructed and wrapping his slender arms around Keishin’s stomach.“And be ready to hold on tight. It’s called The Wilds for a reason, and there’s no telling if we’ll have to go from a walk to a gallop, okay?”“...Okay,” Specs said.Keishin could hear the quiver in the man’s voice.What the hell had he gotten himself into? He couldn’t believe how quickly his night had turned to complete shit. How he’d been innocently wondering what he’d order for dinner just a few hours ago. What a goddamn mess.Keishin held out his arm and let out a sharp whistle. A flap of wings and a moment later, Genius came to land on his wrist. Keishin opened his coat pocket, and the crow crawled inside, curling up within the cozy little nook of Keishin’s clothes. He contentedly let out a series of throaty rattling sounds as he settled down. Keishin lowered the flap of his pocket and gripped the makeshift reins. Eyes forward, he clicked his tongue, giving Tiger a nudge with his legs. The massive horse nickered softly and launched into an easy trot as Keishin used the reins to guide him around the remnants of buildings and out across the black earth towards the edge of the city.“Seeya never, Nekoma,” Keishin muttered under his breath as they crossed the threshold of the barrier and headed into The Wilds.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Five years ago, Keishin had taken his first step outside the protection of his homeland’s barrier. A moment that had felt like a flying kick to the chest. Warmth turned to chill, and the pleasantly earthy scent of sunkissed flagstone and aging wood had been replaced by the must of dead grass and mold, and the sharp tang of rotting plants, tinged with a faint, cloying undertone of sulfur. Everything was a little less colorful here, and the air felt thick and wet.But it was the sound that had raised the hairs on the back of his neck, and tied his stomach into queasy knots, nearly convincing him to turn around and go home before he’d even started. The distant shouts. The faint music. The clang of dinner bells, and the clack of carriage wheels on pavement, drifting towards him on urban breezes. Even the soft call of night birds and the chirrup of crickets, or the occasional rustle of mice and snakes in the grass. All of it had disappeared in an instant, like a door slammed against a storm. And what took its place was bone chilling.This time, as Keishin and Specs rode to the edge of the barrier, the world around them was quiet. No one was anywhere near the playground. Like the necrotic phalange of a dying city. Black and dead and slowly decaying into ash. The only sound was the deep, earthy thmp of Tiger’s steps, and Specs’ trembling, nervous breath in Keishin’s ear.But crossing the barrier in silence was no less jarring than crossing the barrier in a cacophony of urban life.Because an all too memorable sound immediately filled Keishin’s ears again. One that, for the last five years, had revisited him in nightmares, and still tickled his mind when he was alone in the dark. A sound he’d hoped never to hear again. It was back. Pulling him full force into their current reality like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.It was the whistling breeze that sang unpleasantly in his ears, accompanied by the occasional hushed whisper. Words breathed too softly to be intelligible, but loud enough to be unmistakably spoken.“What was that?” Specs hissed, flinching in his seat as he half turned to look over his shoulder, where the shimmery film of the barrier was still visible. Tiger took several uneasy side steps, steam rising from his nostrils as he let out a low whinny.“Easy there, Tiger,” Keishin cooed softly as he placed a reassuring hand on the horse’s neck. “Specs, you need to try and relax,” Keishin said over his shoulder. “The last thing we need is a spooked horse.”“Sorry…” Specs replied, a sheepish quaver in his soft voice. “I was… surprised… that’s all.”“It’s okay,” Keishin kept his voice even and low as he nudged Tiger forward. “Anyway, it’s… it’s my fault for not mentioning what it’s like… that first step outside the barrier…”“Mm-hm,” Specs hummed meekly, pressing his cheek into Keishin’s back and giving a nod as his arms squeezed just a little tighter around Keishin’s middle. Keishin’s body went rigid at first, but he forced himself to relax. If he couldn’t manage his own nerves, the rest of his party wasn’t going to stay calm for long.But... he’d been alone for so long, he wasn’t used to someone being this close.
…Get a grip, Keishin…
…He’s just a little scared, and doesn’t want to fall off the damn horse.
Keishin swallowed slowly, measuring his breaths as he watched the landscape approach and pass beneath them. Tiger was being cooperative, much to Keishin’s relief. The idea of trying to outpace the Dark Magic on foot was not a pleasant prospect. In the thin veil of grayish-purple, Keishin could see the path to higher ground, and he guided the horse in that direction, clicking his tongue as the eerie whispers followed them. Specs’ cheek remained pressed to Keishin’s back, arms snug around Keishin’s middle as his fingers curled around the fabric of his doublet. Keishin’s heart began to beat a little faster.The air was cold here, and unpleasantly damp, droplets of evening dew coating the blades of scissor grass and the clusters of purple heather scattered across the heavily graveled earth. The path to higher ground meant dipping low at first. As they were heading downhill at a somewhat steep grade, Keishin’s nerves were far from easy.He knew all too well what liked to linger in the lowlands, where stagnant water seeped from the earth in shallow, murky pools.Within ten minutes of nosing their way down at a careful pace, the hard-packed earth began to soften as patches of grass and low-lying shrubs grew thicker around them. Already, Keishin could see the marshes spreading out ahead of them from right to left. What was once a flowing river was now a long, narrow wetland separating Nekoma’s plateau from the much safer high ground that Keishin was seeking.He could see denser clouds of Dark Magic now. A writhing, purple mist, growing more saturated the further down they went. And as the mist thickened, the whispers grew louder and more constant.The downhill slope leveled off into a flatland, and they began to pick their way through increasingly soft, mucky ground, water pooling around Tiger’s hooves in some places. Keishin urged him to slow down to a walk, eyeing the landscape with a discerning eye and directing Tiger around areas that looked darker than they should be. Whether they were pitfalls, or simply a trick of the moon’s long shadows was impossible to say, but he wasn’t about to press his luck.Keishin noticed the purple mist was growing thicker, clinging heavily to the earth in a shapeless, soupy fog about knee high. It seemed to favor the wettest areas, the coagulating density of its form rendering it nearly opaque when hovering over pools of stagnant water. But the further they went, the more difficult it became to steer clear of the Dark Magic. There was already a thin, almost imperceptible glow of smokey purple hovering around Tiger’s hooves.Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better.“What’s all the whispering?” Specs ventured softly.“...There are a few theories,” Keishin said after a few beats. His voice was low and steady, but even he couldn’t hide the uneasiness that sharpened the edge of his tone.“I’ve never seen anything about it in my books,” Specs observed. Keishin could feel the man’s fingers squeeze tighter around his clothes as another string of ambiguous whispers touched their ears.“...Well, there are some writings, but virtually all of them are stored in Gleaner archives, which the general public tends to avoid. Other than that, details about The Wilds are mostly oral history… You know… Anecdotes and such.”“Why?”“Some stories aren’t penned for a reason,” Keishin muttered. “People… sometimes they’re afraid of writing certain things down.”“But... but why? ” Specs repeated more insistently, raising his head from Keishin’s back for a moment. “Writing is wonderful!”“Well, a lot of folks think writing something like that is… sort of the same as a curse. They think if no one writes it down, then maybe it’s not true. Making a written record, in their eyes, is the same as making a fact out of something they’d rather just keep as a legend.”“...Do you believe that?” Specs asked. A genuine question, seemingly born of unfettered curiosity. It caught Keishin a little off guard, but his response lacked hesitation.“No.”There was a brief silence between them, filled with the eerie whispers and hisses of The Wilds itself, setting Keishin’s teeth on edge and causing his stomach to squirm.“So… what are these stories?” Specs asked at length. “These… these oral histories?”“I’m not exactly an authority…” Keishin said hesitantly. “I just know what I’ve heard.”“Who did you hear it from?”“Some old friends of mine. Pros. People that know The Wilds better than anyone.”“Pros?”“Gleaners,” Keishin replied, glancing over his shoulder briefly before turning his attention back to the soft, grassy moorlands.“You’re friends with Gleaners?” Specs hushed voice pitched suddenly in surprise.A pang of irritation shot through Keishin’s core, eliciting a crooked frown and a hitch in the rhythm of his breathing.“Yeah, contrary to superstitious bullshit and willful ignorance, they’re not bad folk,” he replied sharply.“...Well,” Specs said after a hesitant pause. “I’m sure that’s true if you say so.”“What the hell are you talking about?” Keishin snapped. “You hardly know me!”“Yes, but I can tell you’re a good person.”“How?” Keishin replied, rolling his eyes.“Because you came out here… for me… even knowing everything you know about such a… frightening place…”“Specs…” Keishin groused. “...People can do good deeds and still be bad people.”“But you’re not,” Specs said firmly. “I’m sure you’re not. I… I feel like you’re not.”“It’s foolish to just go by how you feel, you have to be cautious,” Keishin grumbled.“What other choice do I have? Out here… in The Wilds, with… with no one but you to trust?”Keishin breathed a deep sigh, feeling his cheeks warm and his stomach twist uncomfortably. He opened his mouth to reply, but couldn’t seem to scrape together the words to express his concern. Or understand why he felt any concern at all for this strange little man to begin with.“What did your friends tell you?” Specs asked again. “About the voices? The whispering?”The change of subject came as a huge relief, and Keishin began to breathe a little easier.“Well, some of them say the whispering is the, er… the voices of the dead. You know… people that lost their lives out here. Their fallen comrades.”“That’s… rather grim…”“I’d find it a little comforting, myself,” Keishin replied with a shrug.“Oh?”“Well… I just mean compared to the alternative…”“...What’s the alternative?”Keishin’s gaze flicked briefly over his shoulder before he looked forward again.“That it’s the voice of the Dark Magic itself.”Specs’ arms tightened around Keishin.“Look, there’s no evidence any of that stuff is true, it’s just a rumor, it doesn’t mean anything,” Keishin added in a rush.“You’re only saying that because it hasn’t been written down,” Specs muttered.“Don’t be ridiculous. I told you, I don’t believe in that superstitious nonsense.”“No?”“No.”Keishin felt some of the tension in Specs’ body unwind a little, though the man’s fingers still squeezed his shirt rather tightly.“Then… if that’s the case… what do you believe?” Specs asked. “Out of the two rumors? Which do you think is true?”The man’s words ran down the back of Keishin’s neck like a briar switch. It was a fair question. One Keishin should have expected. But he hated it. He’d asked it of himself many times, when he let his mind wander a little too freely—… What is it? What is it?... —Before he would push it away and ignore it, for fear of falling victim to superstitious thinking.“...I…” Keishin hesitated. “...I don’t… I don’t really have an opinion about it one way or the other,” Keishin finally managed. “You asked what it was, that’s all…”The space between their words was filled again with unsettling whispers, some of the syllables seeming to almost nip at Keishin’s ear a little too aggressively. He swallowed, gritting his teeth and measuring his breaths, for the sake of keeping Tiger calm, if nothing else.“I wouldn’t blame you if you took comfort in the notion that we’re hearing the voices of the dead,” Specs said softly. “I mean… there could be a sort of peace in it… if you wanted there to be…”“Oh?”“...But… I don’t think that’s what we’re hearing.”Even as Specs was speaking, Keishin felt fingertips lightly stroke his ankle through the leather of his boot. A sensation even he hadn’t anticipated. He flinched despite himself, and Tiger let out a low, nervous groan, his steps quickening for several paces.“Shh… it’s okay, buddy,” Keishin said softly, patting Tiger’s neck with a trembling hand.
…Goddammit, Keishin, don’t let it get to you…
“Can you feel it?” Specs asked softly.Keishin’s stomach rose and fell uneasily. “...Feel… what, exactly?”“The Magic,” Specs whispered.“You’re imagining things,” Keishin said. Although, he wasn’t quite sure if he was speaking to Specs or himself.“No, I felt it touch me just now,” Specs replied, sitting up and loosening his grip just a little. What remained of his nervousness seemed to be melting away, replaced with something calmer, and far less timid. In fact, much to Keishin’s confusion, the man’s fear had transformed into a new mood entirely.Specs was curious.A sudden swell of anxious nausea rolled through Keishin’s insides. What on earth did he think he was doing? Sure, he’d been through The Wilds before, and had actually been lucky enough to survive. But bringing someone as naive as Specs out here was practically a death sentence for both of them. When he’d crossed The Wilds before, he’d planned ahead. Made every necessary preparation, and had no one but himself to be responsible for. This last-minute foray into the belly of the beast with a tenderfoot like Specs was quite possibly the stupidest decision he’d ever made.Off to their left, Keishin saw the purple mist gather into a long, swirling probe, rising like a ribbon of smoke into the air beside them. There was another whisper, hissed directly in Keishin’s ear this time, as the probe split into three spectral fingers, combing roughly through the back of his hair.“Shit,” Keishin hissed between clenched teeth, his heart suddenly racing in his chest.“It’s okay, Keishin, I don’t think it means any harm,” Specs said behind him.“Yeah, it does,” Keishin growled, urging Tiger into a trot. “We gotta get out of these lowlands.”Specs tightened his arms around Keishin’s middle again, pressing into his back as Tiger picked up the pace. But as their speed increased, so did the volume of the unintelligible whispers, accompanied by little tweaks and tugs at Keishin’s skin by the swirling probes and their long fingers. To the left and right, he could see more of them forming, rising into the air to swirl around Tiger and Specs. But the ground beneath them was so unstable, the horse couldn’t go much faster than its current pace. Tiger let out a low whinny as he picked his way along the murky path, keeping to the thick layers of dead reeds and plant matter that formed a sort of raft over sinkholes and areas of dense, deadly muck.They were about halfway across the mire when Keishin saw the mist’s fingers grow long, sharp claws, just before slashing at the back of Keishin’s shoulder, his clothes somehow unscathed as spots of blood began to seep into the fabric of his undershirt. He gritted his teeth as he sucked in a hitching breath of pain, nudging Tiger to move a little faster.“Stop, that tickles,” Specs giggled, squirming behind him.Another slash of pain, this time on Keishin’s side, before the sensation of warm wetness bloomed across his skin, soaking into his clothes.Keishin winced, muttering a string of jumbled curses and guiding Tiger to the right, where the purple mist was a little thinner. They were nearly across now, recklessly moving through the mud at a canter as Keishin prayed they didn’t land in a sinkhole. Another swirling purple claw shot out from the cloud of magic, catching the back of Keishin’s calf just as the ground solidified into lightly damp soil. Hot, sticky wetness began spreading inside Keishin’s boot, accompanied by stinging pain.“Giddup!” Keishin commanded. Specs’ arms tightened around Keishin’s middle, and Tiger leapt to a gallop, the terrain rising gradually as they ran headlong towards the safety of higher ground. Keshin glanced over his shoulder, watching as the purple vapor chased after them for a few seconds before swirling back towards the wetland below.“Holy shit,” Keishin muttered, clinging to the reins as Tiger galloped as far as he could, but as the grade of the slope began to increase, they were forced to slow down. With the mist behind them, Tiger eased into a trot as he steadily carried them up the hill.“Specs, you okay?” Keishin asked grimly.“I’m fine,” Specs replied, sitting up and loosening his grip as he peered up at Keishin.“It didn’t hurt you?”“No... It was just a little curious, that’s all…” Specs replied softly. He sounded puzzled.“Wait… ‘that tickles’...? You mean…?”“Yes, it was sort of swirling around me, like... like it was trying to explore. I could feel its fingers on my skin.”Keishin’s brow dropped low over his dark eyes as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, accompanied by a rather unpleasant tingle of apprehension. He’d never heard anyone describe Dark Magic as curious before. And to plow through a swathe of it like that unscathed, was nothing short of miraculous. Hell, even Keishin was lucky with his three superficial wounds.“Specs… are you sure you’re unharmed?”“I told you, Keishin, I’m fine. I’m not hurt. Not even a little.” Specs hesitated. “...Did it hurt you ?”Keishin sighed. “I’m fine, just... nevermind. As long as you’re okay...”They crested the hill, finding themselves on a long, narrow patch of flat land, with another tall hill rising in the distance. The mist was so thin here, it was almost invisible, and the whispers had all but disappeared. There were a few stray clouds of it, but they would be easy enough to avoid. Ahead of them, about a hundred yards away, the ground rose once again on a steep incline, where grass and heather thinned, and the land grew more rocky. Clusters of boulders wedged together, half sunk into the ground, and whole sections of rocky outcroppings towered above, where a few scrubby, stunted trees sprouted here and there. In the distance to the northwest, Keishin could see a long line of thick, brambled trees and shrubs marking the edge of Ravenwood Forest. A place he knew was almost impenetrable this far down the mountain, where the Dark Magic gathered in thick clouds under the shelter of the trees.They would have to enter eventually, but not from here.He urged the horse forward, heading across the uneven mounds and hummocks at a trot. The lumpy ground beneath them was a little hazardous. Especially for an animal more accustomed to running on cobblestones. If Tiger hit the ground wrong and went lame, they’d be in trouble.Besides……It was Keishin’s fault the creature had left his cushy stable life behind. The last thing he wanted was a guilty conscience over the death of an innocent horse.They steered clear of the purple patches hovering over the ground where it dipped a little lower than the rest. Before long, the earth began to rise beneath them, and the grassy hummocks and giant patches of heather gradually thinned to small clusters here and there, sprouting up from the coarse soil between rocks and boulders. What little vegetation there was found itself occasionally sheltered by stunted black pine, and large coils of berry bushes, their dewy leaves and sharp thorns glistening a cool silver-blue in the moonlight.Before long, the rise grew too steep, and Keishin slowed Tiger’s pace once more as he concentrated on guiding them around rocky outcroppings, keeping a careful eye out for loose soil or gravel that could cause Tiger to lose his footing.“Listen,” Keishin said quietly over his shoulder, breaking the silence between them. “The chances of anyone following us out here anytime soon are pretty low. If this… this… so-called master of yours decides he wants to come after you, he’s gonna have a hell of a time finding anyone willing to go. If anything, he’ll have to hire Gleaners, and that’s gonna take a little time, and a lot of money. We should have a good head start by then.”“Money won’t be a problem,” Specs replied, his voice soft and thin in the eerie silence.“Yeah, I figured,” Keishin huffed. “Those were some pretty fancy robes you had on. Who the hell is this guy anyway?”“Doesn’t matter,” Specs said glumly. “He’s no one important.” “...Right,” Keishin sighed, almost to himself. Specs squirmed a little in his seat, and Keishin could feel his knees rise a little higher against Tiger’s body.“Look… Specs…” Keishin said, glancing over his shoulder. “Not to change the subject, but I gotta ask… you’ve really never ridden a horse before?”“Never.”“Great…” Keishin sighed.Specs pulled his face away from Keishin’s back. “You don’t sound very optimistic…”“Well, you’re gonna be sore, that’s all. Hell, so am I, I’m so out of practice...” he added with a grumble. “Normally I’d suggest a lot of breaks for someone new, but we need to get somewhere safer first, so we’re just gonna have to grit our teeth and be uncomfortable.”“But what if I need to… you know… visit the bushes for a moment?”“Just… try not to need that,” Keishin grumbled.“I’m okay for now. I just… my legs are getting tired of sitting up here.”“Well, get used to it, you’re gonna be up here for a while.”Specs was silent for a few moments before laying his head against Keishin’s back again.“I’m afraid I won’t be able to pay nearly enough for the sacrifices you’ve made for me, Keishin.”Keishin’s heart sank at the profound regret and loneliness in Specs’ voice. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Don’t worry about it,” he said softly. “I’m fed up with that city anyway.”“What brought you there in the first place?”Keishin shrugged. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s ancient history now.”“Oh…”“Listen, the path looks easier up ahead. I’m gonna get Tiger going a little faster and put some distance between us and Nekoma before we stop for the night.”“All right.”“Hold on tight now.”Specs’ arms wrapped tighter around Keishin’s middle.Keishin felt his stomach clench nervously, and his heart beat a little faster as he clicked his tongue, nudging Tiger forward and leading him up the hill at a steady canter. The landscape had grown a little less steep, and the ground was mostly covered in even, stubbled grass, with very few rocks or other obstacles. But although Keishin was headed for higher ground, he still made a point of keeping the edge of the forest in view. They’d have to enter eventually. Just like he’d done before. And if his memory served him, he had a pretty good idea how long it would take to get there, if he took their increased speed into account. If they could take advantage of the cover the forest would provide, that would go a long way towards making them harder to find. It was almost too much to hope that they would make it as far as Crescent Lake before stopping, but it was a goal worth reaching for.No telling whether or not anyone would cross the barrier and come looking for them at all, but if they did, it would probably be sooner rather than later.Something he hoped would simply never happen.But it was still difficult to really judge Specs’ true value to this lunatic.
…‘Commodity’ my ass.
Human beings were not property. It was the central truth that had driven Keishin away from Karasuno all those years ago. His life was his own, and no one was going to tell him what he could do, or which path he had to take. And it was no different for Specs, as far as Keishin was concerned. He had a right to decide where to go or how to live, or which people he wanted to be around. And he had a right to choose which people he wanted to avoid, for that matter.If that meant getting Specs as far away from this rich asshole as possible, Keishin would do everything he could to make it happen.Specs adjusted his grip as he squirmed in his seat for a more comfortable position, and Keishin’s stomach clenched at the reminder of just how close the two of them were. Still, he managed to maintain Tiger’s pace as the grade of the hill’s incline rose, and before long, they were encountering clusters of boulders and jagged rock formations once again, jutting out from the side of the hill like crumbling sconces. Tiger’s speed slackened in the rough terrain as they snaked their way around plateaus, and skirted what became taller and taller cliff faces, looking for switchbacks to ascend, and doubling back at times, when a dead end halted their tracks.Until finally, they found themselves at the bottom of a cliff so high that its top disappeared beyond view.“Okay,” Keishin whispered under his breath, a tingle of apprehension raising the hairs on his neck as his stomach fluttered with nervous energy. “Okay… shit… okay…”Specs lifted his head away from Keishin’s back. “Is everything all right?”“We’re gonna enter the forest, and… to be honest, I’m a little nervous,” Keishin admitted, glancing over his shoulder, then letting his eyes wander the rugged landscape of the hill they’d just spent two hours climbing. Trails of purple mist could be seen pouring off the cliffs to the distant left, rolling down the hill in rippling patterns, like smoke trailing from a pipe. They’d managed to avoid it up to this point. But there was no telling what they might encounter once they were in the trees.And then there was the question of what they would even eat while they were out there.If they managed to find high areas without any Dark Magic, they might be lucky enough to forage something edible. Luck being a key part of the calculation.But judging by the series of extremely unlucky events that had utterly plagued Keishin’s evening, things would probably get worse before they got better.Keishin sighed. “Listen… Specs…” He looked over his shoulder again as Tiger stamped his front hoof a little impatiently.Specs sat up straighter, and their eyes met. “Yes, Keishin?”“I know I’ve told you about how dangerous The Wilds are… but… as dangerous as it is out in the open, inside the forest it can get a lot worse. We need the cover of the trees, to hide from any of this rich asshole’s men, but… it’s not safe in there. Not even a little.”“Well… we’ve been doing okay so far,” Specs said, managing a hopeful smile.“That’s ‘cause I’ve been doing my best to avoid the Dark Magic, okay? We’re on higher ground, where it’s safer, and it’s easy to spot the mist out here.”“Oh…” Specs’ smile faded, but his unflappable optimism returned a moment later. “Well… don’t worry. I can help you keep a lookout for the Dark Magic while you guide Tiger.”“That’s the thing, though, Specs. Dark Magic tends to collect a little more… covertly in the forest. It doesn’t always look like itself in there, so you can’t count on being able to see it.”“Oh… I didn’t realize…” Specs’ features settled into something a little more pensive.“I’ll do the best I can to protect you, but you have to promise me to do your part, okay? Which means, if it gets too thick and we have to get down and walk, you don’t go wandering off like an idiot. Got it? Stay close, and don’t look away. Not even for a moment.”“Why would I go wandering off?”“How the hell should I know??” Keishin grumbled. “Just don’t do it, okay?”“I won’t. I’ll stay with you.”Keishin’s cheeks went a little pink as he broke eye contact, looking towards the treeline again.“Got any questions before we go?”“I wouldn’t even know what to ask…” Specs replied, his voice uncertain.“What, you?” Keishin smirked. “You’ve been full of questions since I met you.”“There aren’t many written records about The Wilds, so I don’t really have a place to start,” Specs shrugged. “Remember what you said? …People think it’s bad luck to write about it.”Keishin hesitated a moment before speaking. “You know… You never gave me your answer to the question.”“...What do you mean?”“The question of what you believe.”“About The Wilds?”“Yeah… what do you think? Do you believe all the rumors of curses? That writing it down is bad luck?”A few beats passed, and Specs squirmed in his seat a little, adjusting his position on the horse.“No,” he finally said.Keishin huffed, a smile playing at his lips. “Yeah, why’s that?”“Because, I’ve decided not to be cursed, and to make my own luck,” Specs said with a nod of finality.Keishin couldn’t hold back a scoff as he rolled his eyes and urged Tiger forward. Still, as he looked ahead, he couldn’t help the faint smile playing at his lips, and his pulse quickened with nervous excitement.Specs’ straightforward outlook was positively ridiculous in its simplicity. But Keishin couldn’t help finding his stubborn determination more than a little charming.
…Fuck… fuck fuck fuck…
…Keishin… please…
…Just… be careful, all right?
…Stay focused.
…You need your wits about you right now, you dimwit. So don't go getting distracted by…
…By…
…Nonsense.Keishin let out a sigh, aiming their steps towards the treeline. Thick snarls of low-hanging limbs and briar patches huddled around the bottom of towering cedars and clusters of stark white birch, so thick you could barely see past the front of them, which was more than a little unnerving. It would take some time just to find a break in the trees.“How’s that working out for you?” Keishin finally asked, fighting the tension in his chest with a deep, slow breath. “Making your own luck…”“I’d say I’m pretty successful so far.” Specs laid his head against Keishin’s back again.“Really? Stuck out here in The Wilds, where you’re probably gonna die?”“I won’t die. I’ve decided not to. Besides… I met you, didn’t I? That’s proof luck’s on my side.”Keishin swallowed dryly as his entire face nearly burned to ash. “...I’m not sure I’m the good luck charm you think I am,” he muttered.“Well, if I make my own luck, then I also choose what my good luck charms are.”Keishin shook his head, rolling his eyes as his breath hitched incredulously. “You really are nuts, you know that?”“Nuts?”“Yeah. I mean, how do you go from being a… a… ‘commodity’ , as you put it… to all this lucky charm bullshit, in just a few hours? Stuck out here in this death trap, waiting to be consumed by Dark Magic?”“Well… it beats the alternative,” Specs said quietly.Keishin’s heart dropped into his stomach.
…For fuck’s sake…
“You might sing a different tune once we’re in the woods,” Keishin said, his tone growing more serious.“I’ve got you to protect me, haven’t I?” Specs replied. His tone was pensive, but his voice was clear and even.“You’re putting an awful lot of faith in some random pawn shop guy…”“Maybe you’ve got it a little backwards.”“What’s that supposed to mean?”“Maybe you’re not putting enough faith in yourself.”Keishin’s pulse quickened as his stomach tumbled nervously, and a pang of irritation shot through his chest.
…Yeah, he’s definitely nuts.
It took longer than Keishin expected, skirting the edge of the forest, and occasionally dipping their toes in before being forced out by the heavy underbrush. But finally, it seemed like they’d found their way past the perimeter, and into the darkness of the forest.The canopy of leaves all but blocked out what little moonlight there was, and the overgrowth was so thick that it was nearly impossible to actually choose a path.A feeling Keishin hadn’t experienced in awhile, but one that was all too familiar.In fact, it felt an awful lot like they were being squeezed through a tube at someone else’s whim. Keishin was fairly certain it was the Dark Magic at work, shifting the trees and twisting their branches in subtle blockades. Paths that at a distance looked clear were suddenly overgrown and impenetrable. The constant switchbacks between dense groves, and the grueling gymnastics to find work-arounds when they came across tall outcroppings of forested rocks, had Keishin disoriented before long. Tiger was beginning to act nervous, and Specs was slumping lower and lower against his back.They needed to find a place to make camp soon.Keishin had broken into his supplies and gotten out an Everglow. A small bauble, about the size of a grapefruit, with a faintly glowing center. He coaxed its light a little brighter with a few strokes of his fingertips, then opened his palm, allowing it to spread its wings and float into the air where it hovered before them, lighting their path as they fumbled their way through the forest.The light seemed to calm Tiger down, which was some comfort at least. As a city horse, he almost certainly wasn’t used to such a dark environment. And the ground was gradually rising, giving Keishin hope that they were headed more or less in the right direction, even if the Dark Magic was making it difficult.After what felt like an eternity, and just as Keishin was beginning to think they’d have to just climb down and sleep in the bushes, the trees thinned out unexpectedly, and they found themselves on a long beach of hard-packed sand and fine pebbles.Before them spread a massive, still lake that had formed out of a crater in the side of the mountain. The meteorite that had fallen from the sky unfathomable years ago was still present on the far side of the crater, rising hundreds of feet into the air from within the body of water. Centuries at rest had given birth to a blanket of mosses, grass, and even clusters of trees, all across its lumpy surface. Its presence in the crater gave the lake a crescent shape as its waters skirted the pocked and gnarled stone. On the far right, where the meteorite had come to rest, a tower of jagged cliffs rose into the sky, with lush foliage spilling from ledges and outcroppings along its side. From the top, a shining waterfall dove down into the lake like thread pulled from a spool, stirring the open air into chilly breezes that wormed beneath Keishin's clothing, drawing a shiver out of him. The moon shining down over the mirror-still waters ignited the world around them in dazzling silver light. For how dark it had been in the forest, it might as well have been high noon.Keishin squinted against the reflection for a few moments as the tightening band around his chest finally snapped, and his body sagged in relief. The clean, cool air and openness was an enormous relief. He hadn’t realized just how oppressive the forest had felt until he’d stepped out of it.“Hey, Specs.”A soft snort and a muffled hum rose from the man behind him as Specs straightened in his seat rather abruptly.Keishin’s eyebrows snapped to his hairline.“You’re asleep??” he hissed. “Are you crazy??”“I didn’t…” Specs mumbled. “I didn’t sleep, I was just resting my eyes…”“For fuck’s sake,” Keishin huffed, urging Tiger forward with a click of the tongue. They trotted down the beach until he found what seemed like a suitable place to rest. A clearing sheltered by the trees, but with the lake still in view, and a high wall of rocks at their backs for added security.Keishin murmured softly to the gelding, giving him a few calm, comforting pets on the neck before glancing back at Specs.“Okay, I’m gonna help you down. Just grab my hand and slide your leg around, yeah?”“Uh…” Specs replied nervously, his fingers tightening around Keishin’s shirt.“It’s not hard, just trust me. I won’t let you fall.”“K-keishin, I—”Keishin’s breath hitched in exasperation. “Look, would your good luck charm let you sprain your ankle getting off a goddamn horse?”Specs hesitated a moment before his grip loosened.“Okay,” he said with a slight quaver in his voice. “You’re right.”“Yeah, I know,” Keishin said, rolling his eyes. “Now take my hand.”“Okay…” Specs said with a heavy breath. “Okay…” He slowly let go of Keishin’s clothes and reached for his outstretched hand, gripping him around the wrist as Keishin did the same. “Don’t let go,” Specs said nervously.“I won’t.”Specs took another deep breath, then hooked his leg over the back like Keishin had said, dropping to the ground with a crunch of soles on hard, gritty earth“See?” Keishin said, a smile brightening his features for the first time in what felt like ages.Specs looked up at him and grinned. “Thank you, Keishin,” he said warmly. “You’re right, it wasn’t hard at all.”Keishin‘s stomach fluttered nervously, and an awkward chuckle bubbled up from his chest on an exhale as he pulled his eyes away and reached for the back of his neck.“Oh.” A pleasant blush rose to Specs’ cheeks. His grin softened to an easy smile. “You have a very nice laugh.”At this, Keishin’s entire face flushed tomato red, all the way to the tips of his ears and the top of his head. An awkward, unintelligible string of noises fumbled past his lips as he slid off of Tiger’s back to land nimbly on two feet, trying to ignore his thundering heartbeat.“Er… we should get a fire going and warm up a bit,” he muttered.“Okay,” Specs replied. “What should I do?”“Why don’t you lead Tiger to the water for a drink while I gather up some firewood?”Specs grimaced, looking at the gelding skeptically. “Are you… sure? I wouldn’t know what to do if he gets spooked…”“I don’t think he’ll get spooked. It’s safer here, and he’s tired. After going through the marsh and the forest, he’s feeling much more comfortable than he was, so…”“You’re sure?” Specs asked hesitantly.“I was sure about dismounting, wasn’t I?”“...I guess…”“Come on. It’s late. The sooner we settle in, the more rest we can get.”“All right,” Specs said with a nod.“Come here,” Keishin beckoned, walking over and giving Tiger a pat on the neck, then a stroke on the cheek.Specs tiptoed over, eyeing the horse’s massive head as he made a wide berth.“Come on, Specs,” Keishin said, rolling his eyes. “You already petted him once, remember?”“He’s just… very big,” Specs replied sheepishly.“You just need to spend a little more time with him, you’ll warm up.”“I… I want to.”“Good. You’ll be around him a lot, so it’d be good for you to get better acquainted.”“Why don’t you need to get better acquainted?”Keishin laughed softly. “I have been.”“How?”“Just, you know, lots of affection and stuff, and talking to him. Plus, I probably smell familiar, since I’m his neighbor. I mean my shop is right next door to the carriage house.”“Hm… that’s true…”“And I’m comfortable around horses, so I make him feel more comfortable too.”“So if I start feeling more comfortable…”“Exactly.”“...Okay.” Specs stepped forward and held out his hand, the same way he did in the stall at the carriage house.Tiger eyed him for a moment before nudging his hand with the end of his snout and nickering softly.“Looks like he wants to get to know you, too,” Keishin said with a smile.“I guess so,” Specs said hesitantly, rubbing his hand gently along the horse’s nose and cheek the same way he saw Keishin doing.“Yeah, you’re a good boy,” Keishin muttered softly. “Thanks for the ride, buddy…” He stroked the gelding’s neck for a moment before glancing at Specs.The man’s cheeks were bright pink, and he’d dropped his gaze to the ground.Keishin raised an eyebrow. “What’s up?”“I… er… for half a moment, I thought you were talking to me…”Keishin choked down a laugh, his own cheeks warming as he looked out towards the lake.“I mean… you’ve been good, too… kind of amazing, actually…”“What do you mean?” Specs asked, furrowing his brow as he brought his gaze to rest on Keishin once again.“Well… you seem so… inexperienced.” Keishin brought his eyes to settle on Specs’ features. “Everything’s so new, yet… you’ve faced everything head-on with determination. It’s kind of… impressive, to be honest.”“Oh,” Specs replied, his cheeks darkening further as he turned to face Tiger again, continuing to stroke him gently. He leaned forward and planted a little kiss on the horse’s nose, a soft smile settling on his features. “He really is a kind boy…”“Yeah,” Keishin huffed, grinning. “He’s thirsty too, so go on and give him that drink.” He held out the lead. “Just hold the lead about here…” he explained, demonstrating as he held the lead a dozen inches away from the bridle. “And for the love of god, don’t walk in front of him, okay? He’d squash you like a bug if things got outta hand. So keep to the side.”“Okay.”“And if he starts to run, just let go, don’t try and stop him.”Specs frowned nervously. “Will he run?”“Doubtful. But you don’t wanna get dragged, and there’s no way a little peanut like you is gonna stop a horse of any size, let alone a big boy like him. Especially since you’re new around horses.”“...Are you sure you shouldn’t take him then?”“Come on, Specs…” Keishin sighed.“Well, you understand horses… you could stop him if he gets scared and starts to run, right?”“Not a chance,” Keishin chuckled. “If he got it in his head to run? Hell no. He outweighs me ten times at least!”“Right…” Specs reached for the back of his neck sheepishly. “When you put it like that…”“Tell you what,” Keishin sighed. “I’ll walk him down with you, make sure you’re both comfortable, okay? I can’t have you nervous around Tiger, this place is dangerous enough as it is without you both sending each other into a panic.”“Just ‘cause I’m nervous doesn’t mean I’d panic,” Specs pointed out evenly.Keishin’s breath hitched irritably. “You’re missing the point.”“Still, having you walk with me is a good idea.”“Yeah, I know.”“That way, if I have a question…”Keishin sighed, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes as he wordlessly held out the lead again.“...Okay,” Specs said with a nod, reaching for Keishin’s outstretched hand. Their fingers touched as he took the reins, and a soft smile curled his lips. He looked at Tiger and gave him another little pet. “Okay, let’s go,” he said.It didn’t take much urging to get the horse heading to the water’s edge. Keishin walked beside Specs as he watched them both carefully, noting Specs’ posture seemed to be relaxing. They reached the water, and Specs gave Tiger a little extra slack as the horse lowered his head for a drink. Keishin could hear Specs’ voice speaking softly, though it was too quiet to make out what he was saying. But he was gaining confidence with surprising speed. Keishin smirked a little as Specs reached out to pet Tiger’s neck. His eyes were shining now, as rising confidence gave birth to enjoyment.
…He’s a pretty quick learner… might make a decent horseman after all…
After a drink, Tiger showed interest in the tufts of grass and low plants growing along the higher banks beside the water. Keishin unfastened the reins into a long lead again, which he tied to an old fallen log, giving Tiger some room to move while he grazed.When Keishin expressed their need for firewood once again, Specs offered to stay behind with Tiger so the poor horse wouldn’t feel abandoned. With a nod of agreement, Keishin insisted he wouldn’t go far or be gone long, before he turned towards the forest and picked his way across the rocks and grass until he reached the edge of the woods. He was careful not to wander too deep into the treeline, and checked periodically to make sure the lake stayed within view.Keishin occasionally heard snatches of Specs’ voice as he continued his one-sided conversation with Tiger. Having the strange man behaving more confidently around their mount was loosening an ever present band of stress around Keishin’s chest that he hadn’t even realized had been there. For the first time since they’d met, Keishin finally felt his inner self beginning to calm down.Which, unfortunately, was making room for hunger to creep into his awareness.God, what he wouldn’t give for a bite of food. They’d had enough to drink from the Everflask in Keishin’s emergency pack—a bottomless flask of drinking water—but one thing he didn’t have was a food source. It was too late, and far too dark, to try foraging for anything edible, but maybe he could trap some fish in the morning, if he was lucky.
…Good thing I insisted on dinner…
…My last breakfast would be feeling mighty lonely by now without it…
Keishin sighed, his weary body beginning to stiffen up in the cold. An unpleasant ache was settling in his legs and back. He knew how to ride, but that didn’t change the fact that he hadn’t mounted a horse in years. Especially bareback. He might fare better than Specs, since he had technique on his side, but there was no doubt he’d still be feeling it.There was a good chance they’d need a day to recuperate, depending on how Specs felt in the morning. A block of time Keishin wasn’t sure they had. For all he knew, there were men already after them. If they were lucky, their pursuers would be scouring the farms and countryside within Nekoma’s protective barrier before considering The Wilds as a viable escape route.If they found the aprons, it wouldn’t take a genius to do the math, with the barrier wall as close by as it was. And, of course, there was the question of how badly his former master wanted Specs back.What purpose did he serve in this wacko’s life, anyway? Was he a plaything? A servant? And if so, why did it have to be him ? What made Specs so special? If the jerk was rich enough to own Specs, surely he was rich enough to own somebody else, so why not just find a replacement?Logic dictated that if Specs were viewed as nothing more than an object, he would be easily thrown away and replaced. So what made Specs so sure this freak would come after them at all?
...‘I know what he has in store for me…’
The knots in Keishin’s stomach immediately returned, as images of Specs’ shackled wrists and terrified eyes flashed vividly into the forefront of his brain again. He grimaced, fighting to tear the line of thought away as he continued his hunt for firewood.The moonlight began to fade a little too much, signaling to Keishin that it was time to head back, before he lost his bearings. He turned towards the water and started trudging back the way he’d come, a respectable bundle of firewood gathered up in his arms.As Keishin approached the treeline, movement at the water’s edge brought his attention away from the uneven ground he was trying to navigate. He looked up.It was Specs, standing in the water about ten yards away.Keishin came to a sudden halt and instinctively ducked behind the bushes, his mouth falling open in some bizarre combination of excitement, embarrassment, and total disbelief.
…Shit!
...Wait…
…Wait, hold on…
…What…
...What was...
Keishin silently peeked out from behind his hiding spot to make sure he hadn’t imagined it.Through the trees, he could see Specs had stripped off his boots, jacket, shirt, and undershirt, and was bent over the water, splashing his face and slender arms, and running his wet hands through his hair. His clothes were folded neatly on a nearby rock, with his spectacles resting on top, and his trousers were rolled to just below the knees.Disbelief struck like a bolt of lightning for the second time, when Specs turned towards his pile of clothes, blindly feeling for the rock where his things were waiting.In the center of his bare chest, just below the sternum, there was a faint purple glow in the shape of an upside down teardrop, about the size of his slender palm. As Specs bent down towards his clothes, the shadow of his body didn’t smother it, the way a reflection would have disappeared.
…No…
…Impossible...
The strange purple shape was actually glowing beneath Specs’ pale skin, with slender veins stretching out like tendrils. And those tendrils were moving. Squirming and pulsing with life inside the man’s body.As Specs reached for his glasses and stood tall again, Keishin could see the glow more plainly, the pointed end of its upside-down teardrop shape angled towards his stomach, smooth and white like marble. No flaws. No blemishes. And no navel to be seen.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
A nearly inaudible gasp moved past Keishin’s lips as he stared in disbelief at the glowing purple tendrils beneath Specs’ skin, splayed out from its central core in his sternum. Faintly writhing and pulsing with life as the glow seemed to wax and wane in intensity. Keishin sat back and rubbed his eyes, blinking his vision into clarity before looking across the hard packed beach at the bewildering man some thirty feet away. Half expecting to see an overwhelmingly normal figure. Like he hadn’t just witnessed something that completely defied any conceivable explanation.But, just like before, Keishin caught a glimpse of glowing purple beneath the smooth, porcelain chest. “Impossible…” Keishin whispered to himself, teeth clenched around the word like he was trying to hold it all in. Or maybe he was simply trying to hold himself together. This night really had been a lot, and he wasn’t in the mood for more surprises.The fleeting moment passed as Specs’ undershirt came down to cover his skin. As he pulled the blouse on over it and reached for his glasses, Keishin ducked behind the bushes again, his heart racing as he tried to make sense of what he’d seen.Had his eyes been playing tricks on him?He was awfully tired, and it had been one of the most stressful days of his life. Maybe he’d imagined it. Or the moon was somehow reflecting off the water and rippling over his skin in a strange way… Granted, he was facing the wrong direction for that to make much sense. Still, who was to say it hadn’t bounced off some other surface first and come to rest on Specs’ bare skin?But…Keishin had to admit, it seemed a little far-fetched, given the open environment and Specs’ position on the beach…Still, he couldn’t think of a better explanation that didn’t stretch his imagination past the boundaries of the natural world.Keishin swallowed his dry throat and ran a hand through his hair nervously, the leather bands holding his blond mop back slipping free and tangling in his fingers.
...Or maybe it’s worse than that…
...Maybe his stomach got messed up somehow…
...Maybe… maybe they were scars…
...Disfiguring scars, catching the moon's light and creating strange patterns across his chest and stomach…
Based on what little Keishin had heard of this ‘master’ back in Nekoma, physical abuse didn’t seem like a stretch at all. He was already an abuser just by withholding Specs’ freedom in the first place. The idea that he could have inflicted injuries on Specs that resulted in a disfigured body hardly defied imagination. And from this far away, it would be difficult to make sense of any scars or damage he might actually be seeing in the moonlight.
...Goddammit…
...If that’s really what happened…
Keishin took a deep breath to quell his boiling blood, fingers tightening around the leather straps. All of that was history now. He was never going back to Nekoma. This monster was a thing of the past, and if he did happen to follow them out into The Wilds, Keishin would gladly lop off the bastard’s head. So there was no point in getting worked up over him.The most important thing right now was surviving the goddamn forest, and finding safety in the city beyond.The city he swore he would never return to, all those years ago.What would happen after entering the barrier into Karasuno was a bridge they’d have to cross when they reached it. If they reached it.Keishin rose to his feet and hurriedly tucked his leather bands into the pocket of his coat. The warm body of Genius calmed him just a little, for no particular reason beyond the comforting reminder that he was in the presence of a familiar friend. The crow raised his head and clicked his beak in mild protest at being disturbed. Keishin gave him a pet on the back before withdrawing his hand and lowering the pocket's flap. He scooped up the bundle of firewood and stepped back onto the beach. The sound of his boots crunching on the hard, gritty sand felt deafening in the eerie silence, and the moonlight shining off the faintly rippling water added to the otherworldly, dreamlike headspace Keishin was finding himself in. How was this real? How was he not in Nekoma, settling into his cushions under his blanket, the fire crackling softly in the hearth to warm him as he drifted off to sleep? How was he out here, in the faintly chilly, damp air of The Wilds, getting ready to build a meager fire for them to huddle around? No food, no shelter, no bedding or supplies… just sprawled on the hard ground in front of the flames in a feeble attempt to stay warm as the night grew colder and colder.Keishin shook the overwhelming thoughts away. It wouldn’t do them any good, wishing things were different, or lamenting their current situation. He needed to focus on survival right now. Getting them through The Wilds and into a place of safety. One step at a time. One moment at a time. Down the shore a bit, Specs was petting Tiger on the neck, his soft voice carrying just enough to signal that he was speaking, but too soft for Keishin to make the words out. As he approached, Specs looked up and smiled, waving. He seemed far more relaxed around Tiger. That was something at least. One less thing for Keishin to worry about, and at this point, he’d take any positive he could get.As he approached, he shifted his bundle under one arm, flashing a casual smile as he reached up and gave Tiger a pat on the neck.
...Yes, Keishin...
...That's right...
...Just act natural...
...You totally didn't just see something extremely weird...
“You two seem to be getting along rather well,” Keishin said.“I’m feeling much more comfortable,” Specs replied with a nod. “He’s a sweetheart.”“Agreed,” Keishin nodded. “Um… I’m gonna build a fire. You’re welcome to join me.”“I’d like that,” Specs said, grinning. “I’ve never watched someone build a fire before.”“You’ve…” Keishin furrowed his brow.“Well, I mean, of course I’ve seen fire, but it was always there... it never went out…”“Ah,” Keishin nodded, realization easing his features. Of course. Some sort of magical fireplace. What rich asshole wouldn’t have a dozen of those all throughout his mansion?After all, back home, he…
...No.
...It’s not home anymore, Keishin.
...Remember?
...And don’t expect to be welcomed with open arms if you actually make it back.
“Um,” Keishin shook off his wandering thoughts. “Right. Come on,” he said, beckoning with a toss of his head before crossing the short distance to their chosen camp site.“Are you okay, Keishin?” Specs asked.“Just tired,” Keishin sighed. “Been a hell of a night.”“Oh… In that case…” Specs stepped out in front of Keishin, turning to face him as he walked backwards with a hopeful smile. “Why don’t I set up the tent? We can build a fire in the morning after we’ve rested.”Keishin stopped in his tracks as he nearly choked on his incredulity.“Sp… Specs… you realize I didn’t bring a tent, right? This isn’t some leisurely campout. We blew town with no supplies!”“I know,” Specs replied, the hint of a smug smile twisting the corner of his lips. “But I brought one.”Keishin blinked in astonishment. “Wha…?”“When I left my master’s estate, I may have pilfered a few things,” Specs said coolly, waving a hand. “Things I thought might be useful.”“Where?” Keishin cried. “You’ve got nothin’ but clothes on your back! My clothes at that!”“Not just clothes, Keishin. I also have this!” Specs stepped forward as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cube, about the size of a gambling die. It was sea-blue in color, with ornate copper clasps on its corners that faintly shimmered in the moonlight.“...What the hell is that?” Keishin asked, one eyebrow arching a little higher.“It’s a box,” Specs replied plainly. “But it can also be a lot of other things. A tent, for example.”Keishin’s breath hitched in exasperation. “Specs—”“My master didn’t like the inconvenience of luggage, so when he traveled to the various festivals and events in Nekoma’s countryside, he—”“Stop,” Keishin grumbled, eyes hooded irritably at yet another outlandish layer to his already completely fucked evening.“Where shall I put the tent?” Specs asked plainly, completely ignoring Keishin’s obvious discomposure.Keishin stood speechless, his mouth hanging open in absolute bafflement. Finally he let out his pent breath and vaguely waved a hand towards the rocks that skirted the clearing.Specs turned and moved forward several paces, tossing the cube on the ground before him and speaking a sequence of syllables Keishin didn’t recognize. As he spoke, Keishin swore the air around him went electric, like the static charge before a lightning strike. His hair rippled around his shoulders, and he felt a wave of energy hit his chest like a gentle shove.But his body didn’t have time to react to the sudden atmospheric shift before an explosion of light and canvas and color burst forth from the little cube, and in a single blink, a tent stood before them, with an outer canopy erected above the front wall. It was decorated with string lights and colorful pennants, and there was an inviting glow coming through the pale beige canvas walls. A curtain of red was hanging over the door, and a deck of soft furs were spread out before it like a large doormat, just begging for tired toes to sink themselves into its soft fluffiness.Specs gave a little cry of delight as he clapped his hands together excitedly. “Amazing!”“What the…” Keishin’s voice cracked on the muffled words as he stared at the cozy structure suddenly dominating their camp site.Specs tucked his hands behind his back as he turned a warm smile in Keishin’s direction. “Well? What do you think?”Keishin realized his mouth was hanging open, and he snapped it closed with a click as he stared at the extravagant shelter rather stupidly, the bundle of firewood tumbling out of his limp arms like a pile of pick-up sticks at his feet.“You know, he never did let me go inside…” Specs admitted. “I’ve always wondered what it’s like. Should we take a peek?”“O-okay…” Keishin stammered, still rooted to the ground where he stood.“Well, come on, then!” Specs insisted, grabbing Keishin by the arm and pulling him towards the tent. Keishin tripped over the scattered firewood and stumbled forward, but regained his footing quickly enough as they approached the tent’s opening.“This is absurd,” Keishin muttered. “Who the hell is this guy? This is royalty stuff, Specs.”“He’s not royal,” Specs replied evenly. “He’s just very, very rich.”“Right,” Keishin sighed, rolling his eyes. Specs leaned over and pulled back the curtain with one hand, nudging him forward with the other.Keishin ducked slightly as he crossed the threshold.The way his brain was having to shift from outdoor-campout-with-no-blankets to luxury-holiday-tent was happening so quickly that Keishin was entering with no expectations whatsoever. As a result, stepping inside was nothing short of bliss.He was in an open, squarish space, with a high, raftered tarpaulin ceiling. Soft golden string lights were fastened to the thin rafters, flooding the space in a soothing honey glow. The floor was covered in thick furs of deep reddish brown, covering every inch of sand like a plush carpet. In the middle of the room was a circular stone hearth, and a smokeless campfire of modest size burned cheerily in its center. It was warm, and the soft crackle of the wood was soothing.On the right side of the tent, a double-width futon was rolled out near the fire, buried lavishly in carmine red satin pillows and intricately woven, multicolored blankets stuffed with down. At its head was a low, square table of wood that was stained a sea-blue, its woodgrain still visible within its coloration. On its surface was a decanter, two wine glasses, and a board of bread, cheese, preserved meats, and dried fruit.The left side of the room was a workspace. There was a coat rack next to a writing desk, upon which sat a few books, some writing utensils and sealing wax, and a thick stack of stationery. A chair was tucked comfortably against it, its wooden structure cushioned with red leather upholstery.Centered on the wall opposite the door was a large wooden foot locker, stained sea-blue like the other wood furnishings. It was smooth on all sides, and was held together with ornate copper clasps, hinges, and joints. In fact, it rather closely resembled the little cube Specs had pulled out of his pocket just a few minutes ago.Another small fur was draped over the top of the chest, as well as an especially soft looking velvet pillow with gold tassels on the corners. Sprawled out beside this pillow was a fluffy, white cat.Its claws were tangled mid-play in the pillow’s tassel strings as its sharp blue eyes burrowed deep into Keishin’s being, bright with mischief, but shaded with a healthy dose of skepticism.Keishin felt Specs nudge him again from behind. In a slight daze, he sidestepped away from the door, and Specs ducked through the entrance, lowering the curtain behind him.“Well, this is cozy,” Specs said, smiling as he adjusted his glasses. “Oh! It already has a fire! I guess you gathered all that wood for nothing. I’m sorry, I—”Specs’ words died on his tongue when his gaze settled on the cat, who sat frozen, wild blue eyes piercing into him. Time almost seemed to stop for a moment, the flow of energy within the room suddenly snapping, raising the hairs on the back of Keishin’s neck. He glanced between Specs and the cat, suddenly feeling unsure, as Specs’ eyes widened in shock, and his eyebrows shot to the ceiling, mouth sagging open in absolute astonishment.“Shiro!” Specs cried, stumbling forward and holding out his arms. The cat released its grip on the tassels and leapt down from the locker, darting across the room with a meow as it approached Specs and bumped his head affectionately into the man’s outstretched hand.
…What…
…the fuck…
As if this entire scenario wasn’t absurd enough.Keishin stared wordlessly as Specs scooped up the cat and rose to his feet, burying his face into its soft, white fur as his breath hitched in a flurry of unfettered sobs.“Shiro, Shiro… I thought…”Keishin’s heart climbed into his throat, and his stomach tightened uncomfortably.
...Oh shit…
...Oh hell, is he… crying?
Several long moments passed, filled with the damp sounds of gentle weeping, and the crackle of the magic fire, and the deep, heavy purring of the cat curled up in Specs’ arms. Keishin stood there, staring stupidly at the absolutely inconceivable sight, petrified by his utter astonishment. Finally, with enormous effort, he peeled away his bafflement and stepped forward with some brief hesitation, laying a hand on Specs’ shoulder.“H-hey…” he said.
‘Hey?’
Really, Keishin?
The cat was kneading its paws as it continued to affectionately nuzzle into Specs’ neck and cheek.“My cat,” Specs said, sniffling as he finally looked up at Keishin, eyes spilling over and instantly welling up again. “...Well… my master’s cat… but he knew how much I loved him… one day, after he got angry with me, Shiro disappeared. He kept making little comments, you know? ‘I wonder where that cat is… the one that was always following you around… pathetic creature… I do hope nothing terrible happened…’ ’” His chin trembled as he looked down at Shiro again. “I thought he…”Keishin stared grimly at Specs, lips parting for a moment, but closing again as words completely failed him.
...This asshole punished Specs by taking away his cat and then making him believe it was dead?
...What a cruel, heartless, wicked thing to do!
...What the fuck…
...That monster…
...If I ever get my hands on this bastard, he’s gonna regret his entire life…
Before Keishin had a chance to indulge that particular fantasy, Specs simply plopped down on the floor of the tent right where he stood, tears still streaming down his cheeks as he hugged Shiro, legs folded beneath him to form a comfortable lap. The cat meowed again, curling up in the basin of Specs’ legs, then rolling onto his back as Specs buried his hand into the kitty’s soft belly-fur.“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Specs managed, hiccuping as he tried to swallow down his sobs. “I’m so relieved! I’m…”Keishin reached for the back of his neck and looked away, feeling an uncomfortable flush warm his cheeks. Watching people cry wasn’t exactly on his list of favorite pastimes. He never really knew what to do or say, and just standing there made him feel like a damn voyeur. At least it was happy crying. But still, the rage boiling up inside him was making him want to tear his skin off.
...Come on, Keishin.
...Calm down. It’s not like getting angry is gonna help anyone right now.
Keishin took a deep breath and let it out in a long, slow sigh, eyes settling on Specs again. The man was still showering the cat with affection, sniffling and choking down sobs, and muttering words Keishin couldn’t quite make out.The image of Specs standing on the shore half undressed, and that strange glowing shape seeming to writhe beneath his white skin, suddenly bloomed in Keishin’s mind. He blinked and shook his head to clear it, swallowing his dry throat as he tore his eyes away again.God, what a night.Nothing made sense.“I’m exhausted,” Keishin blurted on a heavy, defeated sigh.Specs looked up.“Oh! Keishin, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—” He hastily wiped his puffy, red eyes.“No, you’re fine,” Keishin replied, softening his tone and offering a sad smile. “Please, I didn’t mean anything… I’m… I’m glad your little friend is okay…”“Yeah,” Specs nodded, sniffling again and looking down at Shiro, still curled up in his lap.“Um… listen…” Keishin shrugged off his coat and hung it on the rack by the desk. “It’s your tent, so why don’t you take the futon. I mean… if you don’t mind me borrowing a blanket…”“No!” Specs replied, wiping away fresh tears. “No, please… you can’t sleep on the ground! The futon is big enough for two!”Keishin’s cheeks flushed a deep crimson as his mouth fell open, but the only noise that emerged was a faint croak of exasperation.“I don’t mind sharing if you don’t,” Specs added, his encouraging smile emphasizing the pathetic, tear-induced puffiness around his eyes.“Bu… I… Sp… the ground is plenty soft!” Keishin sputtered.“No it’s not, it’s lumpy and hard, I can feel it,” Specs replied, patting the ground beside him.“It’s covered in furs, that’s more than good enough for me,” Keishin pulled out the chair with a huff and sat down heavily as he peeled off one boot, then the other, muffled expletives oozing quietly past his lips.“You’re being unreasonable,” Specs said plainly.“Specs…” Keishin sighed. He tossed his remaining boot into the corner and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and bowing his head. “Do you… understand the impropriety here?”“Hmm…?” Specs furrowed his brow in puzzlement.“I’m talking about… about… look, beds aren’t only for sleeping, they’re a very… intimate space,” Keishin said, balling his hands into fists as his stomach twisted nervously.The confusion on Specs’ face quickly bloomed into realization. “Oh!” He let out a nervous laugh and waved a dismissive hand as a blush darkened his cheeks. “No no! That’s hardly what I meant, why on earth would you think that ??”“I wouldn’t! I’m just saying when a man invites someone into his bed, it usually means—”“Well this isn’t one of those times, so why are you making a fuss?”“Specs!” Keishin hissed, utterly confounded, his face so hot he felt like he might spontaneously combust.“Oh… Keishin…” Specs’ voice softened. Keishin glanced up, unable to make eye contact without a new burst of heat flooding his already burning features.“What?” he managed to croak.Specs furrowed his brow thoughtfully. “I haven’t offended you, have I? You know you are quite good looking… I certainly didn’t mean to make you feel—”Keishin let out a mortified groan, burying his face in his hands.
...God, how is this happening right now?
“Look,” Keishin sighed, palms sliding up his face to hold back his hair as he stared at the floor. “Sharing a bed with some guy you only just met is the pinnacle of recklessness, no matter what your intentions are.”“It’s all right, Keishin, I trust — ”“That’s exactly my point! You hardly know me—” Keishin sighed in exasperation. “...You’re not using proper caution.”“But Keishin… I wouldn’t be comfortable allowing you to sleep on the ground when there’s a perfectly soft bed right here.” Specs frowned, lowering his gaze. “Listen… you’ve done far more for me today than I had any right to ask… you’ve been kind and helpful, and… and if you were going to take advantage of me, there’s nothing I could do to stop you anyway, even if we aren’t in the same bed.” He looked up, locking eyes with Keishin. “Under the circumstances, you really are being very silly.”Keishin took a deep, slow breath, releasing it in a long sigh as he dropped his gaze to the floor once again.Maybe he was right. The circumstances were a million miles outside the ordinary. It would be one thing if they were still in the city, where bedrooms were a dime a dozen, and they were in the heart of society. But out here, in the middle of nowhere, just the two of them, what difference did it make if they made their own boundaries? Just for the time being?“Fine,” Keishin muttered with a pout. “Just… stay on your side.”“Naturally,” Specs shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to invade your space.”
...Why not? You’ve already invaded my entire life.
The intrusive thought was a little jarring. Keishin pushed it aside and rose to his feet, stepping past Specs as he began to remove his scabbard. He wordlessly set his sword on the right side of the bed, and dropped to his knees on the mattress with a sigh.“Are you hungry?” Specs asked as Keishin sat down on the futon and began separating the blankets so they would each have their own.“...A little,” he admitted.“It’s difficult to sleep on an empty stomach…” Specs rose to his feet and headed for the futon himself. He sat next to Keishin and set Shiro on the bed before peeling off his coat and laying it on the floor beside the mattress. The cat laid down, rolling over to snuggle up against Specs’ leg like a clingy child.Specs studied Keishin for a moment, and Keishin pretended not to notice as he continued making his side of the bed.“You seem tense,” Specs observed quietly.“Understatement of the century,” Keishin muttered with a sigh.“What about some wine? I’ve read that people find it relaxing.”Keishin’s eyes darted briefly towards Specs, his movements going still as a pensive frown deepened the wrinkle in his brow. But he finally sighed, nodding as he returned to his work. “Sure, I guess. Just a little though. I’d like to keep a clear head.”“Of course.”As Keishin finished spreading out his blanket, and putting up a wall of throw pillows between the two of them in a gesture as juvenile as it was excessive, Specs scooted closer to the table and poured two small glasses from the decanter. When he set the vessel back down on the table, it appeared to be just as full as it had been.“Oh,” Specs smiled, glancing at Keishin. “Bottomless wine, apparently. I wonder if the food is the same.”Keishin cringed, glancing at the wine, then at Specs. “You know that’s quite a bit stronger than beer, right? And I’m not talking about the flavor.”“I’m just... curious,” Specs admitted. “The swallow of beer didn’t make me fall down, so surely a small taste of wine would be okay.”“No more than a taste,” Keishin insisted. “There’s a time and a place for testing the limits of your alcohol tolerance, and believe me, you want your wits about you at all times here. I mean… unless you have a death wish.”“...Death wish?”“Yeah... you know… you wish you would die, so you do a lot of reckless shit and hope it happens naturally.”“Huh?”“It’s a figure of speech,” Keishin said, frowning irritably.“Hm…” Specs’ brow dropped low in concentration. “...That’s not one I recall ever reading.”“There’s a lot out there you won’t find in books.”“Yes, that much has been made abundantly clear tonight.” Specs lifted a glass and held it out to Keishin. A faint smile tugged at his lips. “It’s been far more exciting than I ever imagined.”“Yeah, well I could do with a little less excitement…” Keishin replied with a sigh. He let go of the bedding and sat down properly, taking the glass and lifting it to his lips. Wine was far from his first choice when it came to alcohol, but he felt like an overwound pocket watch, each of his cogs and springs right on the verge of bursting apart. A drink might be the ticket to a decent night’s sleep. Especially since he’d be sleeping next to another guy. Something he hadn’t done in… awhile.His mind’s gentle brush against the outer edge of more intimate topics brought a flutter of nerves and a faint warmth to his lower abdomen. Keishin hastily forced the thoughts away in alarm, taking another swallow of wine, feeling the tension in his chest crank a little tighter.The wine was deep red, and on the sweeter side, which didn’t suit Keishin’s palate. But it was objectively of good quality. Which wasn’t entirely surprising, knowing how rich this asshole must be. Bottomless top-tier wine. Magic tents. The man must live like a king on the daily if this is what his version of traveling looked like.
...Disposable cats. Human ownership. Disgusting.
Keishin took a deeper swallow, glancing up to find Specs choking down a swallow of his own, cheeks bright red under watery eyes. He stifled a cough grimacing at the astringency and cloying sweetness of the fermented drink.“One taste,” Keishin warned.“One is plenty, thanks,” Specs frowned sourly, setting the glass on the table and hastily reaching for a piece of dried mango. He popped it in his mouth and began to chew. “Mm... I like this much better...”In the empty place where the piece of dried fruit had been, a new piece of mango materialized out of thin air.It was all just a bit too much. Keishin had experienced plenty of luxury in his life, but this kind of decadence had always rubbed him the wrong way. The man couldn’t even be bothered to prepare a snack for himself? It was so unnecessarily opulent.But it was something he rarely encountered outside royal circles. And certainly never something casually pulled from the pocket of an ex-slave.“Specs...” Keishin said softly.“Hm?” Specs glanced at Keishin as he picked up a piece of semi-hard orange cheese and began nibbling the corner.“...Who is this ‘master’ of yours?”Specs paused his chewing briefly, lowering his gaze to his lap. “Um...”“I mean, this is the kind of stuff kings use, you know?”Silence pooled between them, the crackle of the fire sharply testing the tension in the air like the snapping of a taut cord, stretched to its limit. Specs set the piece of cheese down, folding his arms over his chest uncomfortably.“Well… not just kings,” Specs finally replied.“Then he must have a hell of a lot of money, which means he’s gotta be some high society freak,” Keishin grumbled as he rolled his eyes.“I mean... he is wealthy, but...”“But what?”Specs’ fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt, pulling it tighter across his back. “Sometimes... if... if you know how... you can acquire lots of fancy, luxurious things without needing a lot of money to get it,” Specs said quietly.Keishin’s brows dropped low over his eyes. He turned to face Specs a little more directly, legs folded under him.“That sounds... criminal...”“No, I don’t mean that,” Specs said, shaking his head. “I mean... where do you think stuff like this comes from? It originates somewhere, right? What if... what if you know how to make it yourself?”“Wait...” Keishin sat up straighter. “He made this?”“He made most of the things he has,” Specs admitted softly. “Even the frivolous stuff.”
...Oh...
...Oh shit...
Keishin felt the color drain from his face as his grip tightened on the wine glass.“Oh god…”“Keishin, it’s not—” Specs began, unfolding his arms and leaning towards Keishin. But his words were cut off almost immediately.“Are you telling me I picked a fight with a sorcerer?” Keishin asked, barely above a whisper.“It’s not like that,” Specs said hurriedly, placing a hand on Keishin’s arm. “...Well… I mean… sort of...”“Sort of??” Keishin hissed, flinching slightly at Specs’ touch.“Well, he was a sorcerer,” Specs explained, his tone carefully even. “But he lost his power decades ago. Now he’s just an old man with lots of money.”“Are you sure about that?”“Absolutely.”“Because I—”“Keishin.” Specs gave Keishin’s arm a reassuring squeeze. “I am absolutely sure. If he comes after me, it will be with men, not with magic.”“You’d better be right,” Keishin said, releasing a pent breath and looking away. “I may be handy with a sword, but...”“I know what you’re thinking,” Specs said, pulling his hand back into his own lap. “Without magical items of our own, we’d be defenseless. But I’m telling you, it won’t come to that. The only magic you need to worry about is the Dark Magic of The Wilds.”“Specs...”“Hm?”“How do you know all this?” Keishin asked skeptically.“I’ve been on the receiving end of many a monologue,” Specs said with a soft, humorless chuckle.Keishin stared at Specs, clenching and unclenching his teeth as anxiety pooled in his stomach. He was beginning to feel like he was in even deeper waters than he realized. Raising his glass rather woodenly, he swallowed down the rest of his wine in one go, along with a string of rather impolite language waiting on the tip of his tongue.“I’m going to sleep,” Keishin said with a sigh, setting the glass on the edge of the hearth and reaching for the laces of his tunic.“But... aren’t you going to eat something?”“I’ll eat in the morning.”“You’re sure?”“I’m sure.” Keishin released his belt and tossed it towards his side of the bed, where it landed on top of his sword. He reached for the neck of his tunic and pulled it over his head, leaving him in just his undershirt.Almost at once, Specs let out a cry of dismay.“Keishin!”Keishin flinched. “What?” he snapped irritably.“You‘re bleeding!”Keishin looked down. Although the parting gifts left by the Dark Magic hadn’t bled through his thick outer garments, the front of his normally white undershirt was stained a very conspicuous red.“Don’t worry about it, they’re just scratches,” he shrugged wearily. “From when we were in the wetland...”Specs eyebrows arched in surprised confusion.“...How…? Your clothes aren’t torn… What happened?”Keishin looked up. “It’s the Dark Magic’s doing. I told you, it’s dangerous.”“I thought you said it didn’t hurt you!” Specs cried.“No, I said I was fine, there’s a slight difference,” Keishin replied plainly.“Well, you don’t look fine!”“They’re just superficial cuts, it’s not a big deal.”Specs hesitated a moment, his jaw clenching briefly as he swallowed. “...How can it do that?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “It... it’s just mist... I don’t get it...”“It’s not that simple,” Keishin sighed. “It looks like mist, but it can take shape, and can even possess the things around you. It’s cunning and ruthless.”“...It... just... seemed curious to me...” Specs muttered softly, his expression pinched in total bafflement.Keishin rolled his eyes with a wry frown. “Look, I gotta admit, I’ve never met anyone who described Dark Magic that way,” he huffed. “It’s incredibly naive to assume it won’t hurt you, so be careful. If it didn’t hurt you back there, it’s because you’re lucky, not because the magic wants to make friends.”Specs took a measured breath, and after a pensive moment, he nodded soberly.“...Okay...” he said. His shoulders were sagging as he picked at the blanket with clear anxiety. “Are you... all right?”“I told you, I’m fine, they’re just a few scratches,” Keishin said, trying to soften his tone into something reassuring.“A few?”“It got me in three places. But it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”“We should treat them,” Specs said with a firm nod.Keishin’s breath hitched in exasperation. “I told you, they’re nothing, Specs, just—”“No, I’ve read about the dreadful things that can happen when wounds are left untreated,” Specs insisted. “Sometimes horrible sickness can devour your flesh and even kill you!”Keishin’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “That’s a little extreme, it’s not like my insides are falling out—”“No, I mean it!” Specs leaned forward into his words. “Even small, shallow wounds can get sick without proper care. Come, let me see,” he beckoned with his fingers.Keishin’s pulse quickened in alarm as he recoiled, fingers curling around his shirt protectively.“That’s hardly necessary!” he sputtered.“Keishin, I insist,” Specs said urgently. “Please, you’re important to me.”Keishin’s complexion turned several shades darker as his mouth hung open wordlessly.
...I’m… what?
“You can’t protect me if you’re not in good health,” Specs added.Keishin closed his mouth again, the grimace of alarm slowly fading as his shoulders sagged.
...Oh…
...He just means…
“...Yeah… I guess that makes sense,” Keishin muttered gruffly. Still… He somehow felt disappointed. Which really only worked to sour his mood further. But he swallowed down his frustration, taking a measured breath as he tried to calm down. It had been a long day, he was probably just a mess from being so exhausted and having his head fucked with all night.“Keishin...” Specs coaxed, ducking his head slightly to try and catch his eye. “Please... you’ve done so much for me already, let me help you for once.”“Fine,” Keishin sighed. He curled his fingers around the neckline of his undershirt, and slipped it off in one slow, smooth motion, his cheeks burning as he sat before Specs, now bare from the waist up. His embarrassment, he realized, was wildly irrational. After all, this wasn’t the first time Specs had seen him shirtless. So why did he suddenly feel so self conscious?
...Get a grip, Keishin…
...You’re a grown man, for god’s sake…
Keishin swallowed slowly and avoided eye contact as Specs leaned forward to inspect the wound. The man winced, sucking air through clenched teeth. “That does look painful...” he said softly.Keishin looked down at his side. There were three long gashes that ran parallel to each other, beginning just under the sternum, and slashing outward towards his hip, where it stopped just a couple of inches north of his beltline. Blotchy smears of dried blood coated his skin around the wound, and the cuts were still weeping slightly.“I’m so sorry, Keishin… I didn’t realize…”“Whatever,” Keishin managed to choke, his cheeks full red as he doggedly stared at the floor. “It’s no big deal.”Specs reached out and gently pulled at Keishin’s skin with his thumb, gauging the depth of the wounds. Keishin gritted his teeth as the slashes protested with a sharp stab of pain.“It doesn’t look too bad,” Specs said softly.“I told you, it’s just a flesh wound.”“You said it got you three times?”“Yeah,” he nodded hesitantly, his voice a little subdued. “Um… my stomach, the back of my shoulder, and my leg.”Specs silently rose to his feet and stepped behind Keishin. A moment later, Keishin felt a hand on his back.“This one seems a bit worse,” Specs said. He sounded a little worried. “It’s mostly stopped bleeding at least, but...” He pulled his hand away. “Let me see the one on your leg.”“Fine,” Keishin grumbled, resigned to his fate of utter humiliation. He pulled at the fabric of his left pant leg and peeled off his bloody sock. Three long gashes ran from the side of his calf down to his Achilles tendon.Specs came around and sat on the edge of the hearth, examining the final wound.“Aren’t you in pain?”“...I’ve kinda been a little distracted,” Keishin said impatiently, his face hot with embarrassment.Specs reached out and covered Keishin’s wound with his hands.Keishin winced, expecting to feel a sting at his touch, but the warmth of his hands—rather unexpectedly—eased the pain a little. It was only mildly soothing at first, as Specs’ hands created a buffer between his exposed nerves and the open air. But then his leg began to tingle, and Specs’ touch grew feverishly warm.Keishin’s eyes went wide as his breath caught in his throat.A light was glowing from beneath Specs’ skin, turning his hand a pale violet. Behind his spectacles, his eyes were squeezed shut, and there was a look of intense concentration pinching his features as his lips seemed to faintly move around inaudible words.Keishin’s heart began to race.
...What the hell...?
The violet glow faded, and Specs opened his eyes, pulling his hand away.Three thin, pink scars had taken the place of those open slash marks, neatly fused together on his otherwise unmarred skin.Keishin’s mouth fell open, but only a faint croak emerged from the back of his throat as he stared, speechless.“Keishin!” Specs squeaked, then covered his mouth with his fists, eyes wide and shining with excitement. Almost at once, he pulled his hands away. “It worked! I wasn’t sure I could do it!”“What the hell made you think it was even possible?” Keishin cried, scooting back a little on the bed as his heart began to race. “People aren’t normally able to do that!”“Yes, but remember how I said I was going to make my own luck?”“Huh??”“I decided maybe I should see how far my luck would take me!”“Are you out of your mind??”“I read about how people do it—”“Of course you did,” Keishin rolled his eyes.“—And I didn’t really know if it would work... but the only way to know is if you try, right?”“Hang on—” Keishin held up a trembling hand.“But isn’t this great??” Specs cried. “I—”“Stop talking!” Keishin snapped, leaning forward and pressing his fingers to Specs’ lips. “I need a minute to think!”Specs reached up and batted Keishin’s hand away. “What’s there to think about??”“ You can use healing magic! ” Keishin cried. “Maybe you don’t realize this, but that’s kinda special!!”“Well, I mean, I’ve read it’s pretty uncommon...” Specs shrugged. “But that doesn’t mean—”“Okay, stop! Just stop...” Keishin hissed angrily, eyes narrowing. He’d put up with a lot in the last several hours, but this was entirely too much.“Keishin... what’s wrong?” Specs asked hesitantly, frowning and leaning back a little. “I thought you’d be happy...”“No, just hold on...” Keishin insisted as he held up a hand and inched backwards on the futon. He swallowed his dry throat, trying to steady his breathing as he stared at Specs with newfound apprehension.Specs stared back motionlessly, expression sagging in dismay. For the first time since Keishin had nearly lopped off his head, the man looked genuinely uneasy.It only took a moment more for Keishin to realize he’d put his anger on full display in the form of a dark glower, jaw clenched, fists squeezed into white knuckles. ...Oh…
...Oh Fuck…
With monumental effort, Keishin slowly filled his lungs, relaxing his expression and measuring his breaths carefully as he tried to gather himself. Losing his composure out here, in the middle of fucking nowhere, was not just unnecessary. It was dangerous. For both of them.“Look…” Keishin’s voice crackled through the taut silence, barely constrained, but relatively neutral. “You’ve been deliberately keeping me in the dark. You dragged me all the way out here to protect you, and I came because I... I felt... I felt...” He hesitated, feeling color rise to his cheeks. “Just…” he let out a huff of frustration. “Look... You need to tell me the truth. Who are you really?”Specs’ shoulders slumped, and he bowed his head, his complexion turning bright pink as his nervous frown tightened in a sheepish line. He bit his lip as his vision crept back up towards Keishin’s face. But the moment their eyes met, he dropped his gaze to the floor again, looking even more disheartened.“...I... I’m sorry… really, Keishin, it wasn’t my intention to deceive you...” he said quietly. “...I was just... afraid that whoever I talked to outside... might turn me in to the authorities if they found out...”“Found out what?” Keishin pressed, his trepidation only intensifying.“Who I am… what I am… I…” Specs looked up, reaching for the back of his neck anxiously. Keishin just stared, his mind screaming as he forced himself to exercise a little more patience.“Tell me.”“Um... I...” Specs took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m... I... goodness, how do I...”“You’re not writing a damn poem, just say it,” Keishin said, gritting his teeth as his fists tightened to white yet again.“Well this isn’t the sort of thing you just say,” Specs observed with a wave of the hand.“It is tonight, now spit it out.”Specs sighed.“Fine…” He looked down at his hands where they lay cradled together in his lap. The thumb of one restlessly brushing the palm of the other. A pale and delicate figure. Big eyes a dark tempest of fear and doubt. Soft, pink lips caught in the anxious nibble of perfectly white teeth. Black curls a little wild and windblown, but somehow no less striking. Specs. The nameless stranger he’d met less than twelve hours before. A man of beauty so pristine, he almost didn’t seem real.“Keishin…” Specs said softly. “I’m not... human.”