16Secrets: Suiko's Captivity
Chapter Five
By: Valandra
A/N: On a bright note, we are finally to the chapter I've been waiting for! This one was "mostly written" in the sense that the (very) rough draft for it had been written during Secrets, when Shin had one of his flashbacks to this day. It…got kinda out of hand; like, a two or so paragraph flashback into a five page story kinda outta hand…. I think it was also a major, if not the major push to write this back-story.
Due to this, I've pretty much had to scrap the chapter and rewrite it multiple times, because I've not been satisfied with the outcome. Too much of "I don't wanna change anything," even though the characters and flow have changed up to this point. Writers' struggles. So I apologize if the characters feel off. I've done my best to adapt them to the current flow. I've lost track of how many rewrites it's received at this point. Please let me know! And please do enjoy my friends!
Naaza would have called it pure stubborn pride, that allowed Rajura to maintain his steady grace past the chamber arch into the torch-lit hall. Five yards down the dim, blue-lit passage, a small, relieved breath escaped through bloodied, unwilling lips as the sound of that chamber's heavy doors secured themselves shut behind him. The force of it sent vibrations through the stones beneath his feet. Once he turned the corner, his natural grace failed him and he staggered almost drunkenly through the remaining halls.
Were it not for the self-imposed command, his focus would not have remained split between where he was going, and the maintaining of his shields. Just as he would not allow his shields to falter and affect his brothers during his…audience, he would not allow them to fail now, while the results of that audience still racked him. Now, whether or not he could maintain his efforts once sleep claimed him…he could not be certain.
Once he reached the residential halls, he had little thought for the chamber he entered. Only that it was familiar, and contained the source of a faint pulse that pulled at him. Need…comfort…were they his own, or the faded snow-blue glow his mind's eye presented to him? Were his body and spirit not still racked with pain and weakened by Arago's recent…displeasure, he might have realized something was odd. Neither of his brothers were so innocent; not even Naaza, before the yoroi had claimed his soul….
Arago…. Whatever pleasure the demon had at the capture of one of the Masterless Ronin, was worse than destroyed with the news that the youth was on death's door. He had already lost one piece of his armor to Sh'ten's desertion and death; the demon would not tolerate the loss of another. And with Badamon there before him, obviously not out of favor….
Rajura's need for rest and recovery won out over his desire to wash himself of the grime of Arago's throne room and his own sweat. He did however, discard the top of his training Gi on his path towards the bed; with his sandals near the entrance, he was left in only a pair of hakama and tabi. Habit alone allowed him to pull down the top sheets before he crawled clumsily in. He had scarcely managed to shift onto his backside before unconsciousness claimed him, denying him so much as a glimpse of his bed-partner.
ooOoo
Stepping out into the halls, Anubis covered a yawn with a curious sound. He'd retired after Naaza, after assuring the healer that he would mind the wards. He'd simply had too much energy, he'd explained, to retire until a few hours ago. And after he'd managed to get Naaza to relax in the baths, he wasn't willing to steal the small peace the healer had found, by laying restless beside him. "How is he?"
Rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, as if to rid himself of a tight muscle, Naaza shrugged and gave the elder an odd look. "You assured me your wards would alert you to any…complications. Did something happen that you neglected to wake me for?"
Confusion marred Anubis' expression before he shook his head. "I meant Rajura," he clarified, refusing to respond to the mild baiting.
It was the healer's turn to look confused. "…He didn't seek you out?" The answer was obvious and therefore left unvoiced. 'Though he shielded his punishment from the both of us, we each felt him retire last night, felt his shields relax. Surely he didn't think to sleep alone. I don't care how long he took the brunt of Arago's punishments before Sh'ten became General, even he could go mad without living contact and anchoring afterwards.' In his growing frustration, Naaza failed to notice his own lack of pain at the almost absent thought of their lost brother.
Anubis released an aggravated breath and waved Naaza on. "He's asleep, regardless. I'll look into his rooms, you go check on the boy."
Naaza frowned faintly, though he said nothing; he hesitated for a moment, but still complied. By all rights, Anubis' words were the logical course; Rajura was sleeping soundly and would continue to survive without immediate attention. The Ronin's fate however, was still undecided. Even so….
He entered the sparse chamber silently, only to stop a few feet from the bed with a sigh. ~You might as well join me. I think you might even appreciate the picture they make more than I.~ Naaza shook his head as he watched the two sleeping forms, ignoring Anubis' curiosity and an unfamiliar, almost unnoticed sense of disgruntled confusion. He turned his attention to Rajura then, thinking that perhaps his eldest brother was already waking.
~Unlikely, given his usual aversion to mornings,~ were Anubis' bemused thoughts as he entered the chamber. He stopped beside the healer, and allowed his lips to twist into a grin. Rajura lay on his back near the edge of the bed, no doubt exactly how he had first laid upon the bed. Save for the arm wrapped around the young man sleeping curled into his chest, neither Ma'Sho believed he'd moved since sleep had claimed him.
'Were his hair any redder, it would be nostalgic. As it is, it's rather…endearing.' Shaking such unusual thoughts away, Naaza moved around the bed to take a seat on the empty edge, after having folded the sheets down. Leaning over, he gently pulled the child-Ronin from Rajura's embrace, bemused in-spite of himself when the youth resisted more than the man.
With a quiet frown, Anubis bent over to retrieve the discarded Gi top and silently made his way further into the room. Though small, such a mess was generally beneath Rajura. He draped it over the end of the bed as he continued around to the elder's side. His frown deepened upon seeing the mess of sweat and blood still staining Rajura's face. As Naaza tended to the boy, he set about cleaning their elder brother up. Given the man's deep-rooted distaste for mornings, he wasn't too concerned when Rajura didn't stir.
Pulse and body temperature were checked, with consideration given to the second body's additional warmth, or general lack thereof. The healer was pleased to see the apparent progress in the youth; a much better morning check-up than the last. However, when he peeled back eyelids to check his patient's pupils, the mild irritation stirred in the back of his mind. Only to grow and blend with the confusion he'd noticed as those too brilliant eyes blinked free of his fingers.
"You're awake now?" Naaza questioned, more to judge the boy's lucidity than anything. The confusion grew to an alarming level in his mind, matching aqua eyes locked with his own and stirring his own panic.
~I'm dreaming still….~ The whispered words sent a shiver down Naaza's spine; he blamed Anubis' sharply drawn breath for his own flinch. Somehow, this was far different than any scenario he'd imagined for Suiko's waking.
A groan stirred the air, and something far more frightening than the unfamiliar touch to his mind occurred. Rajura's dulled violet eye squinted open before the man stirred and rolled over onto an elbow. 'Awake before mid-day and of his own free-will no less. Frightening.'
~Yar yar,~ Rajura's drowsy voice murmured within their minds. ~Behave or you'll frighten the youngling.~ The bed shifted as Anubis joined them in the space Rajura had made, and aquatic eyes narrowed upon the trio.
"Wha-" Suiko's voice cracked, parched and irritated throat sending him into a coughing fit. Moving once more, Rajura sat up and eased the youth up against him, while Naaza filled the waiting clay mug from the bedside.
"Slowly," Naaza cautioned, despite being the one controlling the mug. Suiko had brought a hand up to it as well, but the youth was trembling too hard to manage on his own.
Drawing in a deep, careful breath once he'd finished, Suiko eyed the trio warily. "What…." he tried again, his voice low and scratchy, his words slow and cautious. "Is happening?"
"What do you recall?" Naaza asked instead, watching the youth's reactions keenly. He certainly seemed lucid enough. And though there had been a respectable amount of fear in battle, here the youth seemed more uncertain and cautious than frightened. He found it…intriguing.
Wary eyes grew guarded, shuttered even with their ill-brightness. "My defeat and imprisonment with the spirits. But…beyond the first day or so is a painful blur." Anubis was impressed with the boy's…calm acceptance and admittance of his defeat, even as he took note of the lingering pain Suiko sought to hide in his voice. He couldn't imagine the same from the youth's regular partner, Kongo, or even his own regular opponent Korin. 'He's cautious, but from Korin the most we could expect would be an icy silence. And zero tolerance for Rajura's continued aid.'
Naaza nodded as he set the mug back upon the table. When he turned back to Suiko, he reached out to loosen and push aside the youth's upper robe. Rajura's hands tightened on the youth's shoulders when he instinctively flinched away from Naaza's touch. Suiko pressed his lips tightly as two nails, clearly sharper than he'd thought possible for a swordsman, traced a new scar over his left pectoral. And yet…there was still no sense of unbridled fear. Nor was there the shame of a defeated warrior that would lead to death, or even the subtle defiance of a rebel. 'His psyche is still healing as well. Give it time,' he reminded himself.
"Your compassion, as I've warned, was nearly the death of you. When you deflected that final blast, drew it to Suiko to be purified, your yoroi and spirit were at their limits." The healer lifted his eyes from the scar he traced, to lock with sickly-bright aqua. "Instead it went straight into your heart." The youth's sudden pallor, combined with the tightening around his eyes, told Naaza what he needed. The boy more than understood the implications. And finally, there was a hint of honest fear in the youth; how odd, to feel a small wisp of it as well.
Though he noticed Anubis' tension, Naaza didn't look away from Suiko. "You were with the spirits for three days before we realized something was wrong. Your heart was already failing when we dispatched the spirits and released you from the chains." Rajura's voice so close to his ear gave Suiko another start; it took him a few seconds to force himself to calm and relax between them. His efforts didn't go unnoticed by the trio, he realized with mild surprise, as he met Naaza's steady gaze.
"You…removed the poison?" Cautious confusion; he was very careful to keep from being insulting.
Naaza's lips twitched, impressed and yet he'd expected nothing less of his compassionate adversary. "Indeed," he confirmed with the faintest incline of his head. "But between the venom and Spiritual Drain, the damage was done. If Rajura were any less skilled in the Astral Realm, your soul would be long pass."
Something shivered and shrank in the back of the trio's minds, but before any could think to investigate, Suiko straightened beneath Rajura's hands and shifted his eyes so that, after briefly catching Naaza's own, he wasn't looking at any of them directly. "From Captors to Saviors then. My life is…indebted," he spoke softly, but no less soundly.
Anubis arched a brow, no less impressed than his brothers by the oath, but the first to recover. "Does your life mean so little, that you swear it away so easily? How do you know we are not merely deceiving you?"
Silence stretched between them, and Naaza found it curious how silent those small, unfamiliar brushes of emotions had become. The silence was broken when Suiko sighed and shook his head. "I've heard more truth in these last few minutes than I have in the months since the wars first started." He paused for a moment, then glanced side-long to Rajura beside him; the Ma'Sho was still supporting him. "Besides…I can recall the feel of your mind. …I thought I was dreaming, hallucinating." Rajura arched a white brow, but before anything more serious could be said, Anubis shattered the somber mood with quite laughter.
"Not the most pleasant of…dreams, I dare say." Anubis laughed at the elder's expense. Rajura merely gave him a flat look and withdrew his hold on Suiko, only to slip back down beneath the sheets.
"Far too early to deal with your play," the white haired man grumbled, turning his back to the antagonist even as it left him facing the two silent ones. Eye closed, he shifted so that both hair and sheets concealed him. "Away with you lot."
Naaza's laughter sent a shiver down Suiko's spine; he'd never heard it so…care-free. "You forget who's chambers you are in, brother. Now be still, you're jostling my patient." Something muffled about "bloody healer," floated up through sheets and hair, but the man stilled.
Rather than appear confused, Suiko seemed more resigned than anything. Not at all the reaction the healer had expected, from one accustomed to a yoroi that healed one of his venom. Brow arched questioningly, to which the youth had the gall to actually smile, though faintly at him. "My mother…has a weak heart." Anubis gave no reaction save curiosity, but Naaza's expression became incredulous. And though he wasn't looking, he was fairly certain Rajura had stiffened beside them.
"Your mother?" Naaza repeated, his tone sharp for the first time since Suiko woke. "And still you took up this path?"
Suiko shrugged as if truly careless, and remained silent while the healer checked his pulse through his wrist. There was also a carefully neutral silence, where small bursts of curiosity and amusement had been flaring not a few heartbeats ago. The healer offered up the mug of water, and caught a hint of relief and gratitude as he once more held it for Suiko to drink from. "My elder sister showed no signs of inheriting it. Until now, neither did I. Besides, the Legends didn't give any indication of a choice."
Naaza looked far from pleased, but could scarcely say anything. He knew better than any, that the yoroi took no consideration for whether or not its bearer desired it. "It's been not quite a week since your heart stopped. This is the first time you've been lucid, and to be perfectly honest, I'm surprised you've not fallen asleep on me. You've still a long path ahead of you."
Without any support and in light of the healer's words, Shin realized he was resting all of his weight against the headboard and pillows behind him. He hadn't realized how tired he was until it was pointed out. "Will I be permitted to reach the end of that path?"
Naaza's eyes brightened with amusement, once more impressed with the youth's strength; yet Anubis' derisive snort cut off anything the healer might have intended to say. ~He's not going back.~ His piece shared, the dark-haired man stood from the bed and left the group rather abruptly.
Exasperated, Naaza rolled his eyes before he stole a side-long glance at Suiko, curious to the youth's reaction. He was surprised to find a touch of mildly guilty amusement in the youth's small smile. ~Mindful brother, he's catching on that you're naught but a soft-heart.~ Naaza laughed when naught but a wordless snarl was his response.
Suiko stifled his own laughter as he watched, unaware of the violet orb watching him in return. Curiously, that unfamiliar spot of coiled confusion in the back of Naaza's mind was…not relaxing, but was unwinding, and hinted at its own curiosity. "As much as I'd rather you have some honest sleep, I've still a few questions."
Suiko didn't look nearly as surprised as one with a new, drastic heart condition should have, but he still sighed quietly. "I'm…not sure what's expected after…well, after. My chest feels tight, strange…but…nothing that feels…off. Physically. I feel as if I'm more coming off the end of a bad cold."
Naaza arched a hairless brow before reaching out to tilt the youth's head, silently tolerating Suiko's flinch while being impressed by the speed with which he honestly relaxed immediately afterwards. He applied light pressure to the healing puncture in Suiko's throat and watched for any reactions. "Any discomfort?"
Suiko swallowed beneath the pressure with a grimace, then nodded slightly. The fingers on his throat shifted with varying pressure, testing for swelling. "Lay down proper," Naaza instructed as he shifted back on the bed to give the youth room. He took careful note of the strain Suiko couldn't hide while he moved unassisted this time, and of the faint wheeze to the youth's breath. Before he could even get comfortable, Naaza was already applying pressure to his chest.
Pressure over the parasitic addition drew a sharp, hissed breath and caused Suiko to spasm as if he'd intended to grab Naaza's hands only to have stopped himself. The healer made a sound of approval in the back of his throat. "Swelling is going down. No more midnight strolls, understand?"
The confusion was back, though it wasn't tainted by fear this time. "Huh?"
Naaza chuckled, then smirked when Suiko failed to hide his surprise. "You were still feverish. Just stay in bed. Sleep, Anubis or I will wake you for breakfast."
Suiko nodded, a glimmer of bewildered confusion in his eyes. But to his surprise, Naaza didn't take his leave after slipping from the bed and adjusting the sheets. Instead, the healer rounded the bed to Rajura's side. The white-haired Ma'Sho didn't so much as flinch when Naaza pressed a wrist to his forehead.
~Sleep is the best I can do for now. Tend to the necessary matters Naaza, I'll still be here when you return.~ Violet eye closed, he could feel the healer's frown.
~Don't think you're safe, simply because he woke. I'm only allowing you to stay for my own convenience.~ With that, the healer gave the two a final once-over, and took his leave.
ooOoo
Time passed and exhausted though he was, Shin found it difficult to fall asleep. The room was comfortably warm despite the castle structure, and the bed wasn't anywhere as hard as he might have expected, once he actually thought about it. And that was his sleeping problem, he couldn't stop thinking. It hadn't taken long for him to conclude that the white-haired man sleeping not two feet from him, was in all likeliness the Gen Ma'Sho. And, as far as Shin could tell, the man was honestly sleeping; but then, considering the soul-deep exhaustion he could feel from him….
'And that's just another ball of oddness. After learning Sh'ten was human, we assumed the rest of them were too. Just further corrupted by the demon. But this just now…it's kinda like when they worked together to capture Sh'ten, but just…not evil? More…normal? This is…really confusing.' Shin sighed quietly and shifted about in the bed, as if seeking physical comfort for his mental upheaval. He winced and clinched a fist when it pulled at his healing chest and the strained muscles there. His eyes closed as if the simple act would aid in calming his thoughts.
His thoughts…he hadn't been lying earlier when he'd admitted to recalling the feel of the Ma'Sho's mind. The fact that he knew which one to address that to…was because he could still feel that mind. Not the emotions and sense of self, not what he'd fought so hard to learn and understand so deeply, so instinctively that he could identify his fellow troopers from a room (or two on a good day) away. No, this was already so much more, and he was shielding himself as best as he'd learned how to.
He gave a start, but wouldn't admit to any sound, when he felt an arm slip under his shoulders and pull him against a body he hadn't felt move. He stiffened and instinctively brought up his unpinned hand to brace against the chest he was now laying against. He remained tense even as the arm that moved him settled over him, and grit his teeth when he felt the man's blatant amusement.
"You," that startling un-metallic, sleep-heavy voice spoke softly above his head. "Are suppose to be sleeping."
Shin shifted against the older man, but found that he couldn't push himself out of Rajura's hold. He shifted a bit more onto his side to get comfortable, before settling with a sigh, his head resting on the elder's chest and shoulder. "This is…more than a little disconcerting," he quietly admitted.
The fingers on his shoulder curled and he felt the burst of air in his hair, from the man's laugh. "Oh?" Rajura prompted. He hid a flinch when the youth's shifting put pressure against a damaged rib. He didn't think anything of it when Suiko settled, but was surprised when the youth laid a hand lightly against his side, just below the pain's source.
"Sorry," Shin murmured when he felt the elder flinch. He ignored the sympathetic echo in his own chest, and instead focused on the unnatural flairs of heat and pain beneath his touch. "How were you able to sleep?" he wondered out loud, quietly shocked by what he was sensing.
White brow arched, Rajura tilted his head to better see the youth's antics. He brought his other hand up to rest over Suiko's own, stilling it's movements. "A better question would be, how are you doing that?" Despite the youth's lingering fever, his touch was spreading a cooling peace, causing the lingering pain from Arago's punishment to recede.
Though he could feel Rajura's gaze on him, Shin kept his eyes lowered; they were already half-closed in concentration. "It's…not much, I know. A few years ago…I started to pick up on it." He hummed quietly in amusement. "Never had many reasons for practice, until recently."
Rajura frowned faintly and tightened his arm around the youth briefly. "If you've nothing for comparison, then how might you claim it to be nothing much?" His lips twitched when he felt only a mild irritation from the youth.
"I can't heal the cause," Shin started, only to stop when the man rapped his fingers over his hand.
"You touch the psyche and spirit more than the physical source, boy. That is not something to belittle, particularly when it is self-taught." Rajura sighed and replaced his hand over Suiko's own. "However, for now, it might be best to reserve your strength. Your own recovery involves more than the physical. Though I do appreciate both your effort and thought." He shifted his hand up from the youth's shoulder to run his fingers through reddish curls. "Sleep now. Soon enough you'll be eating, and Naaza will poke and prod at me till his heart's content."
With a quiet sigh, Shin closed his eyes and tried to relax. "I'll try," he consented.
Rajura's lips twitched. "There shall be plenty of time to talk later," he promised in turn.
TBC….
A/N: I've always had mixed feelings about authors apologizing for delays, however I acknowledge that this was a massive one. I've gone through a few ups and downs, particularly these last few years, but such is life. After I settled into my own place (no more roommates, that was both good and bad), and took two nights to revise my draft, and then expand upon it for this chapter. Then rewrote it completely, only to realize I still hated it; I have been revising ever since. Shin and Rajura's one-on-one interaction is my attempt at a longer chapter than what is typical for this story, and to even out my displeasure. If any of the characterizations feel off, please let me know. I'm still not particularly happy with Anubis at the moment either.
I've never set regular update dates, because I write as the story flows for me. I am very hopeful for the renewal of my muses' energies. And finally, I do apologize for leaving all of you hanging for so long. Thank you for returning, and I look forward to our next chapter.
