A/N: Nope, I have nothing to do with Rurouni Kenshin, concepts borrowed from Inuyasha, or Mercedes Lackey's wonderful world of Velgarth. Only the plot bunny is mine.

:Kenshin! NOOO!:

Startled out of a blessedly sound sleep wrapped around Eldan, Kerowyn hit the floor with sword in hand. Her lover was already scrabbling for his own boots, clothes, and weapons - not necessarily in that order. Mindspeech might not carry the full emotional charge of Empathy, but there was no mistaking a Herald in pure, desperate terror.

:"Kaoru-dono!": A young man's voice; a flash of red cloth and flame-bright hair, carried on Kaoru's fear. :"Hold on! You've got to hold on, that you do!":

Projected terror was easing, wearing away with every gulp of air. :I've got to hold on... that I do...:

"Kaoru Kamiya," Eldan identified the young woman's voice, tossing a stray boot Kerowyn's way. "You remember, the girl with that odd island style."

Right; the young Mindspeaker who worked with the Haven City Guard. Good swordswoman, if unseasoned, with a defensive style that suited her well taking down the Yamato idiots she ended up dealing with. "Who's he? A lover?"

Eldan gave her a quick grin. "Not that I know of. But that accent-"

Straight from Yamato, no question. Though it didn't sound quite like Kyotoko or Edoko. Yanking on the bare minimum necessary to ride, Kerowyn headed out the door. :Sayvel? What's going on?: No point in asking the girl herself, not when she was so rattled she was projecting to half the Heraldic Mindspeakers in Haven. There was a feeling of constriction in Kaoru's Mindspeech, as if the young woman were still fighting for air. :Someone tried to strangle her?:

:Not exactly,: her Companion said grimly. :Hang on, I'm still trying to get some sense out of Megumi. Bastard had her Mindspeech locked down along with Kaoru's, she couldn't call for help-:

Kero broke into a run, hearing Eldan match her pace a few steps behind. "Someone blocked a Companion?"

:Seems they've had some trouble here while we were with the Skybolts.:

Kerowyn threw open a door to looming whiteness, cinching down the simple saddle Sayvel had coerced some stable groom into tossing on her. She could catch the edge of other Heralds reporting in, the problem - whatever it was - would probably be handled before she could get there, and yet... something just didn't feel right. "And everyone just forgot to mention this when we got in this afternoon?"

"The Yamato aren't a military problem," Eldan pointed out, eyes losing focus as he checked in with Guards heading toward the disturbance.

"Yet," the former mercenary and still Captain of the Skybolts said darkly. Whether or not they were a military problem, any large group of new immigrants in Valdemar could quickly become a military problem. Especially given they'd apparently been suicidal enough to risk the insane mix of magic and Mind-Magic that had flung them all here in the first place.

And blood-magic at that. Kerowyn's eyes narrowed. I can see why desperate people might turn to it - the major magics are still unsettled after the Storms, the Tayledras say it'll be a century before someone can build a stable Gate, and Lord Yamagata swears their two clans were facing extinction down to the last child... but I. Don't. Like it.

:You don't like not having the chance to interrogate one of their blood-path mages before they died,: Sayvel said dryly.

:That, too,: Kerowyn checked the girth. :All their so-called hitokiri dead in the Jump. Convenient, don't you think?:

:Very.: Sayvel snorted.

The ghost of odd smoothness touched Kero's thoughts, as if the backs of curved nails stroked her cheek. Another flash of warm arms, seeping in confidence and reassurance like warm rain. :"You'll be all right now, that you will.":

:Yes. I'm all right now, that I am.: Relief washed through Kaoru's projection, with a dawning hint of something else. :Kenshin...:

:"Oro?":

Sayvel snickered.

"Oh, Havens," Kerowyn groaned, pulling herself into the saddle. "Puppy love. That's all we need."

Sayvel's sardonic reply was lost in a thrill of fear. The clear image of a madman's green eyes, blue-gray hair floating in the wind. A black-clad right arm dangling limp and shattered, useless... but in the left hand, a gleam of deadly steel.

Violet eyes never looked away from Kaoru's, though the young man's hand moved to his odd sword on the grass. :"Stop it, Jin-e! A wakizashi and only your left arm - you've no chance, that you don't! I suggest you let the Guard take you peacefully, that I do.":

:"No.": The madman's voice was oddly triumphant. :"I haven't lost yet. There's still one thing left - that I must do!":

And the image cut off, as Kaoru hid her gaze against Kenshin's shoulder. But not before Kerowyn saw the gleam of steel, the bright spurt of heart's blood.

Eldan whistled.

"Saves us the trouble," Kerowyn said flatly. "Blessed Agnira, this is going to be a mess-"

Light bloomed on the horizon.

Eldan stepped back. "Was that-"

"Final Strike. Gods!" :Elspeth!: Never mind that Elspeth and Darkwind were supposed to be heading out tomorrow for Hardorn on yet another diplomatic mission. They needed Adepts, now.

:We're on it, Kero.: The Herald-Mage's mind-voice was breathless as she rallied her fellow mages to handle what was no longer a mere Guard matter. :We're lucky - I think most of it got turned in on itself somehow.:

"I don't believe in luck," Kerowyn swore. :Kaoru. Herald Kamiya!:

:Weaponsmaster?:Fear pulsed, steadied into practiced calm. :I'm all right. It - didn't touch me.:

Kero arched a skeptical brow. You couldn't lie mind to mind, but what people didn't say could paint greater deception than a ton of lies. :And Kenshin?:

:He needs a Healer- Oh! Sanosuke!:

:Sanosuke's taking Kenshin to Healer Ogumi Gensai's clinic,: Sayvel relayed. :Kenshin knows him; that should let Sanosuke keep the man there until we can talk to him. Megumi says Kaoru's all right, just shaken; she'll stay and report to Elspeth. But Kenshin took most of the blast. He says he's fine, but Sano doesn't believe him.:

"Sanosuke?" Kerowyn cast a look askance as Eldan grimaced.

"Friend of Megumi's. One of the odder Companions we've got on the Field," her fellow Herald informed her. "Long story."

"Over breakfast."

Eldan smiled. "Done." His smile slipped. "A mage that suicides rather than be captured. We still don't understand these people. I just wish-"

"We do not need one of those sword-swinging idiots to get Chosen, Eldan." Picking up the reins, Kerowyn started for the chaos somewhere in Haven. Reports were placing the battle... ah. There. Huh. Old shrine. Why there?

:Apparently, Jin-e wanted a duel,: Sayvel reported. :Kaoru was just bait.:

Bait. A Herald for bait? Gods. Kyotoko, Edoko, Yamato - Yamagata's people were crazy.

"Kerowyn, they're just people," Eldan broke into a jog as she headed for the Collegium gates. "Everyone deserves a chance."

"Eldan, 'may you get exactly what you deserve' is a curse where I come from." Kerowyn shook her head. "Be careful what you wish for."

"Itai. Itai. Itai!"

The white mouth only clamped down harder on the tail of fiery red hair. :Yell all you want. I'm not letting go.:

"Sanosuke-"

:You. Are. Seeing. A Healer!:

"Sessha doesn't need a Healer," Himura Kenshin muttered, making his impeded way to Gensai-isha's examining table.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that, young man." The gray-haired Healer smiled professionally, pulling back Himura's bloodied red gi. "This would be easier if you took your teeth off him, Companion-"

:Sanosuke,: the white creature in the shape of a horse filled in. :And he Fetches. If I let go, he'd be gone.:

"Fetching, hmm?" Gensai Ogumi didn't turn a hair as he started cleaning the wound in Kenshin's shoulder. "I should have guessed. And you must be quite good at it; Ayame and Suzume said you had that little cat out of the gutter in an instant yesterday, and Kaoru says living things are the hardest to move..." Brown eyes softened at his patient's silence. "It's all right, Himura. This is Valdemar, not Edo. No one fears the Gifted here. Although I think you should let young Kaoru introduce you to some Heralds-"

"Gensai-sensei." Kenshin shook his head, mindful of the large teeth gripping the ends of his hair. "Sessha doesn't want to be noticed, that I do not."

:A little late for that,: Sanosuke put in.

"Sessha's heard you're not supposed to be talking to strangers," Kenshin muttered.

:Huh. I'll BeSpeak who I want. Check him carefully, Healer. This idiot was ground zero at a damn blood-path mage's Final Strike.:

"My word!" Gensai dropped his sponge. "Are you sure?"

:Megumi Felt him take it protecting Kaoru. I can't Feel any damage - but with shields like his, I'm not sure I would.:

"Shields?" The elderly Healer frowned. Let his eyes lose focus, studying his patient.

There's nothing to see. Keeping his ken-ki as low as he could, Kenshin projected innocence, weariness, the simple aura of a weary swordsman with one unexpected Gift of mind. I'm only a wanderer. Nothing to be afraid of... nothing to look twice at...

"Hmm. Simple stab, that's good... bled a bit, though, didn't it? Hold onto the table, now. This will sting."

Kenshin hid a sigh of relief in his gasp. It did sting.

It'll do worse than sting if they know who - what - you are, the part of him that was Battousai reminded him sharply. Kaoru heard, but even if her father was Edoko, she grew up here, in Valdemar. She doesn't really know.

I know, Kenshin thought regretfully, tamping the last of Jin-e's death energies away from casual Sight. And once she does... she is a Herald. Sessha will not give her the grief of causing my death.

"Within every fiber of your being, you are in truth a hitokiri," Jin-e had whispered, life slipping away with his blood. Magic building with every faltering breath, every drop of crimson onto sword-torn ground. "Another hitokiri tells you this... it cannot be a lie..."

No, Kenshin had wanted to shout, feeling Kaoru's tears soaking his shoulder. She wasn't looking. She couldn't See. No, don't do this, don't-

Blood streaked the mad grin. "Keep saying you're a wanderer. I'll take you both with me... into the depths of hell..."

And the fires broke free.

He'd pressed Kaoru against himself, parting the hell-flames with one swift blow of his blade.

It won't be enough. You know it won't be enough-

And violet eyes blazed amber once more, as Hitokiri Battousai tore the death-energies away.

It's done, Kenshin told himself bluntly now, head low so his red bangs would hide any stray gleam of amber in his gaze. Curling the tips of his fingers in and under, as had become his habit these past two years; Gensai-isha didn't mind, surely, but the local gaijin tended to have... irrational reactions to hanyou. Almost as bad as their response to hitokiri. You can't return the energies to the earth now, Gensai would notice. And if he didn't - I don't know exactly what Companions are, but they live and breathe magic. Sanosuke couldn't miss it.

Not to mention that every reflex his shishou had hammered into his head through years of training cringed at the very thought of relinquishing one spark of magic under these conditions. He was alone. Wounded. With no backup, and an unknown number of hostiles likely to soon be closing on his position...

Heralds. Heralds who know magic. One of them must have ki-sense. Focus, you baka!

One breath. Another. Kenshin pictured the movements of a slow kata, finding the stillness that was his lifeline. Center. Ground. Store the energy. Don't let it rule you.

With a mental crack like a stiff neck easing, the blood-magic flowed into its proper place.

Che', I'm out of practice. Kenshin winced at the slow glow of warmth from within, as empty reserves filled with the glittering strength of death. Shishou would give me five hundred swings, then pound me through a few rocks for good measure.

He'd wanted to get out of practice. He hadn't wanted to touch death ever again...

"Well, nothing seems to be too wrong here." Gensai touched a hand to his shoulder just above the wound, feeling at the prominent collarbone under pale skin. "Tch. Weeks here and you still need feeding up. You really weren't eating well, were you?"

Kenshin gave him an abbreviated shrug. "Sessha had been wandering a while."

"And the local diet made just about everyone sick when we first Jumped here," Gensai said matter-of-factly. "Heavy meat, heavy breads, hardly a familiar green in sight. Not to mention this cheese Valdemarans like so much. It looks like tofu, you'd think it'd stay down like tofu..."

Kenshin winced, thinking of that first farmstead meal after he'd found his way out of the mountains locals called Pelagirs. The aftermath had almost been enough to drive him back into the wilderness. "Aa."

A silver hoof stamped on polished wood. :So can you help or not?:

"Patience," Gensai wagged a finger near sapphire eyes. "Any magical damage will have to wait until the Heralds get here. But I can help with the rest, if you'll let me." Brown eyes roamed the other faint scars on his patient's chest. "You're a swordsman. I assume you've seen a Healer before?"

"Hai," Kenshin admitted. "Just, not often." Usually I Healed myself; there was more than enough energy on the battlefields. But Kaoru had to report the circumstances of his wound, which meant the Heralds knew he was wounded. For his shoulder to Heal without aid - it would raise questions. Too many questions.

And you might need that energy to run, Battousai pointed out coldly.

True. Too true.

"Just stay still, and try to relax." Gensai placed a palm against his forehead. "Calm your ki, and let me mend its tears..."

:It's all right, you know.: Sano's rough mind-voice had a wry, tolerant edge, casting an image of his own white knuckles on his sword's hilt at him. :I'm between you and the clinic door. Nothing's coming in here without going through me first.:

Kenshin blinked. "You would do that for sessha?"

:You saved Kaoru.: There was curiosity in that touch of mind, and wonder. :Which means you saved Megumi. And they're both friends of mine. I owe you one.:

And minds didn't lie. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to close his eyes. Just for a moment. Just for... a moment...

"So this... hitokiri Kurogasa, Jin-e Udo, laid a compulsion on you and Megumi, and carried you off down-river," Herald-Mage Elspeth stated.

Kaoru nodded, torn between duty, the desire to be anywhere but under the older woman's gaze, and the nagging need to go find Kenshin. Elspeth might claim to be "just another Herald", but she was a Herald-Mage. A creature out of legend. A woman who'd found and brought back other legends, who'd traveled all the way to the Shin'a'in Plains, gained the aid of the Hawkbrothers in stopping the Mage-Storms, and even made a treaty with the Grand Duke and now new King of Hardorn. And more important, one of Kerowyn's best students.

The Weaponsmaster's going to rake me over the coals for this, I just know it. Talia asked me, I was trying... I didn't want to get the rest of the Heralds involved, not after Kenshin trusted me! He didn't have to help the Guards with Jin-e - he thought the hitokiri would come after him, not me-

No excuses. Just the facts. "It happened so fast... Jin-e just clamped down, and I couldn't MindHear or MindCall at all. I saw Megumi fall, and I couldn't help her." Kaoru suppressed a shiver. "It was like being wrapped in an iron blanket."

:Kenshin pried me up off my side before he took off, or I'd have been one sorry horse,: Megumi said dryly, leaning against her Chosen so the warmth of white hide seeped through Kaoru's embroidered tunic. :I know he's stronger than he looks, but some of that had to be Fetching.:

"Fetches and magic-resistant." Elspeth nodded slowly. "Interesting."

"Begging your pardon, Herald," Guard Chief Tostig nudged up his glasses as he walked into hearing range, "but Himura said what this bastard was using wasn't all magic. Shin-something-"

"Shin no Ippou," Kaoru nodded. "One side of the soul." She gave Tostig a smile, relieved to see the man she usually worked with handling Yamato-related problems in Haven. His short dark hair was unruly, his blue uniform less than pressed neat, and he looked worn at the edges, but he was in one piece. Gods, I wish I'd been there that night. But Tani doesn't trust Heralds, Sanosuke said he'd go with Kenshin, and...

"Sessha has a suspicion, that I do," Kenshin's voice echoed out of memory. "If this one is correct - one who hears with the mind would be doubly vulnerable, Kaoru-dono. Sessha cannot Hear or Call, and Sanosuke lives as a mind alone. But you and Megumi, you are two woven together. Please. Stay here and wait for me."

Kenshin's smile had never changed, still that quiet, rurouni smile that seemed to say anything while it hid everything. But there had been a shadow in his eyes.

A shadow that had clenched at her heart, when a bloodied Sanosuke came back to her dojo to say Kenshin wasn't coming back. A shadow that had driven her to the river where Kenshin was trying to lay a trap for Jin-e, only to find herself trapped instead.

He promised. He still has your ribbon. He promised he'd bring it back!

But... if Jin-e pushed him too far... if what he did makes him feel so guilty that he can't stay, that he has to go wandering again...

Then I'll just have to track him down, thump him with my bokken, and tie him up until Megumi and I can make him see sense, Kaoru thought fiercely. And the quickest way to do that is to get this mess straightened out. "Some kind of coercive Gift," she finished. "Only so strong. I've never felt anything that strong."

"Last night, when we were protecting Lord Tani - Kurogasa just looked at us and we froze," Tostig went on, hand nearing the hilt of his sword at the memory. "We could see him coming, we knew he was going to cut us down - but we couldn't move."

"Sounds like a cold-drake," Elspeth muttered. "They use Mind-Magic, too."

Tostig shrugged. "You'd know more about that than me, Herald. All I know is, I and all my men were literally scared stiff. Even Companion Sanosuke could barely pick his feet up. But he was moving, so Kurogasa went after him... and that's when Himura jumped in." He whistled. "Bastard tried it on Himura, too. But Himura just yelled something-"

"Kiai," Kaoru filled in. "It's not a spell, Chief. Just a way to focus your energies in a fight, Gifted or not. Of course, you don't want to do it if you're trying to be sneaky," she finished hesitantly. Her father's sword-fighting techniques hadn't gone over well with most of the Collegium's Weaponsmasters, and Elspeth was known for having an even shorter temper with anything not quick, clean, and efficient. Swords killed. That was all.

But Kamiya Kasshin Ryu's not meant to kill, Kaoru thought. It's meant to focus your Gifts. To protect. We're Heralds. Isn't that what we're all about?

"Anyway, Himura was sweating a little, but he was still moving," Tostig picked up the story. "That's when he said it wasn't magic. More like a battle of wills." He rubbed at the back of his head. "We tried, Herald Elspeth, but until Kurogasa let us go, there wasn't a one of us who could get loose besides the Companion. Think I'm starting to see why Lord Tani's so scared of the little guy."

"Lord Tani's frightened of this Himura?" Elspeth studied the Guard with Kerowyn's own critical eye.

"It might go back to Kyoto." Tostig shrugged. "When we were trying to set up the extra guards around him, Tani said something odd..."

"'Gaijin swordsmen and a no-name thug... do you think I need your help, I who lived through the forest of swords and rain of blood-fires of the Revolution?'" Kaoru quoted. "Sanosuke told Megumi," she added at Tostig's start. Maybe I stayed behind, but there was no way I wasn't getting updates!

"She's right," Tostig nodded. "And that's when Himura walked in. Funny way of talking, he has... right." He half-closed his eyes, drawing on the trained memory that let him quote circumstances of any crime he or his Guards had handled in court to the letter. "'Tani-dono's become a very big man. Quite different from the man who was under my constant protection through the forest of swords and rain of blood-fires. It must be frustrating to have gaijin swordsmen and a no-name thug as guards. But perhaps you could endure it. Just for one night.'" Tostig grinned. "Tani folded like wet paper. Now, just between you, me, and the Companions, Herald, the man doesn't have much in the way of spine on his good days... but that's new."

"Really." Elspeth raked Kaoru with a frown. "Darkwind?"

"There should be more damage." The Hawkbrother Adept stepped through the battlefield like a whisper of wind, green and brown-patterned scout's outfit blending into the shadows before dawn. "If he was a blood-path mage, as the evidence indicates, the remnants of his power should be scattered over this ground." He looked up, ice-blue eyes troubled. "There are traces, but nothing near what there should be."

"That was a Final Strike," Elspeth said bluntly.

"It was." Darkwind shifted his shoulder, as if he missed the weight of the massive hawk that usually rode there. "But only the outermost edge of his magic was set loose. The rest is gone. As if..."

"Yes?" Elspeth drew out the word into obvious impatience.

Hand toying with one of the feather-tied thongs on his outfit, Darkwind started to speak.

Kaoru listened, but couldn't catch more than a word of what was obviously a long, technical mage-to-mage discussion. Mou, I wish I spoke Tayledras! But her skills with Yamato had been more needed in the new western edge of Haven. Talking to people, listening to people, sorting out the major and minor clashes of culture and law between her father's people and their newly adopted home; she was the only Herald who had any clue how different Valdemar was from Yamato, and sometimes she felt like she had to be everywhere at once. There wasn't time to add a new language on top of everything else.

"Forgive me," Darkwind said, meeting Kaoru's gaze. "I was saying, there is a - flavor, to the traces of magic, that reminds me of what a very... sharp friend did once."

"Only Need used the magic then and there, she didn't take it away after she transmuted it," Elspeth started, giving her partner a look askance.

"Kaoru!" Yahiko thumped into her like a yellow-and-green shinai, ten-year-old hands fisting in her tunic before he remembered he was too grown-up to need an "older sister's" comfort. "I looked after Megumi like Kenshin's note said - she got up and ran off, and she didn't say anything! I had to find her by looking for the Guards-"

"Breathe," Kaoru said fondly. "Herald Elspeth, Darkwind k'Sheyna, this is my student, Myojin Yahiko." :I know it's odd, but he didn't have anywhere else to go. His parents are dead, he's not quiet enough to fit in at a shrine, and given where Kenshin and I found him - he has to be somewhere safe. And I couldn't ask an ordinary Guard's family to take on the yakuza.:

:He was a criminal?: Darkwind's expression was studiously neutral.

:A pickpocket,: Kaoru admitted. :He's stopped.:

:That's all right, then.: For the first time this night, Elspeth smiled. "Can I see this note, Yahiko?"

Wary, Yahiko held out the inked page.

"In Yamato," Elspeth grumbled. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Kenshin's handwriting is lousy anyway." Kaoru took the page and started reading. "Yahiko, Sanosuke..."

Kurogasa has used the Shin no Ippou to bind Megumi-dono within her own mind, and taken Kaoru-dono. As I suspected, the technique is even more effective on those with what those of Valdemar call "Mindspeaking" than on those with no Gifts at all. Please look after Megumi-dono. She is frightened and afraid, but she can hear you.

Do not try to break the trance. Kurogasa will sense it, and he will slay Kaoru-dono in a heartbeat.

Kaoru is alive. He will not kill her - not until he has satisfied himself with a duel. She will be safe until I meet him at the appointed time and place. The "stray hitokiri", Udo Jin-e, will keep his word. In this, at least.

If the hour past midnight has come and gone and Megumi-dono is still not free, please rescue Kaoru-dono with the help of Guard Chief Tostig.

Himura Kenshin

Elspeth glanced at the inked characters. "He was ready to die, wasn't he?"

Kaoru bit her lip. "Kenshin didn't want to fight. Jin-e forced him to."

"With you in my power, Battousai will be enraged," a madman's voice echoed in her mind. "Rage will turn him back into the hitokiri he used to be. The demon of Kyoto, the killer whose name froze the blood of men... uhu-hu-hu. It will be the best killing."

No. Not Kenshin. He's not like you. He's not a killer!

Unbidden, amber eyes glowed in her memory.

:Gwena, tell your Chosen Himura had to pick the best of bad options,: Megumi said tiredly. :Jin-e would have sensed any Guard within half a mile. And any Herald who could Mindspeak at all would have wound up just like we did, unless they could summon enough mental force to break the compulsion.: She nosed Kaoru's shoulder. :Good work.:

Kaoru blushed. :I had to, Megumi. He wanted peace so much-:

:And you love seeing him move.: Megumi sent her a private, giggly image of a Companion with kitsune-ears, snatched right out of a recent Yamato children's book. :Can't blame you; I want to know how he Fetches like that, too.:

:It's probably because youkai were mage-crafted,: Kaoru shrugged. :Like gryphons.:

:Gryphons don't breed with humans, Chosen,:Megumi pointed out yet again, worrying at one fact that had bothered her ever since they'd found out hanyou weren't stories at all.

:'Tousan said they were "born of magic". What else could they be?:

:Nothing else I know of,: Megumi acknowledged. :And I suppose if the Star-Eyed can make it so every Hawkbrother is born with at least a little Mage-Gift, making their "children" compatible with humans wouldn't have been an insurmountable problem for Yamato gods...:

Kaoru shrugged. Let Megumi worry about the Healer-type details. They had more immediate problems. :If Kenshin used his Gifts to kill...: She swallowed, mouth gone dry. :The Circle would lock them down. Permanently. It would kill him!:

Comfort reached back to her. :Just hold on, Chosen. And don't tell any Herald-Mages anything you don't have to. Sanosuke says he has an idea.:

Don't tell the Herald-Mages? Sanosuke had an idea? Kaoru fought the urge to beat her head against a handy tree trunk. We're doomed.

Elspeth cleared her throat. "Like the Shin'a'in say, if it's stupid and it works... what I want to know is, what made your swordsman think he could take on a blood-path mage?"

"Jin-e wasn't fighting like a mage, he was fighting as an assassin," Kaoru objected. "A hitokiri - we'd say manslayer-"

"Right. That nasty little profession Yamagata and Shimazu don't like to talk about. Use your eyes, Kamiya." The Herald-Mage swept a hand across, indicating seared ground. "This was a blood-path mage, Yamato-style."

Kaoru paled. "What?"

A long, low whistle spared her whirling mind the battle of mustering a coherent reply. "Hellfires, someone held a dance and forgot to invite me!"

"Kero." Elspeth waved at the approaching Weaponsmaster. "We left the body so you could take a look."

Kaoru swallowed, carefully not glancing that way. The lingering scent of blood was more than enough.

"Huh. Took himself out, that's for sure." An odd crackling sound carried to Kaoru's ears. "Nice. Shattered the elbow, tore the ligaments... even with a half-dozen Healers, I'd lay even odds he'd never have held a sword again. Not a sword-blow, though..."

"Double battou-jutsu," Kaoru stated, trying to quiet a queasy stomach as her imagination painted a vivid picture of Kerowyn handling the body.

"Battou-jutsu?" She could hear the frown as Kerowyn tried to place the word. "From what I recall, your father's style didn't have anything by that name."

"Because it's a one strike kill. Miss, and you're dead." Kaoru sent the Captain the clear image of Kenshin in that unmistakable sideways stance, sheath pressed up against his left arm, right hand hovering over the hilt. Utter stillness, no warning-

A blur of motion and fury-

Steel slicing out, sped by pressing against the sheath, too fast to see.

"Good gods."

"Kenshin knew he'd dodge the sword," Kaoru shrugged. "Jin-e didn't count on the sheath."

"And your folk use those odd iron sheaths," Kero observed. "Saya, hmm? Nasty. Let's see." Boots and hooves swished through grass, Sayvel circling in her Chosen's wake. "Looks like Jin-e brought you in this way... damn, he was good, wasn't he? Barely a trace on the ground."

"Until that point," Darkwind angled a nod toward torn and seared grass.

"And all hell breaks loose." Kerowyn was silent for the next several minutes, stepping carefully through the fire-blackened clearing. "All right. Where's this Himura now?"

Kerowyn unlaced her boots and left them at the clinic steps, eyeing the fresh scuff-marks even the most careful Companion would leave on wood. Other marks marred steps farther down the veranda, where the long building went from being Healer Gensai's clinic to the late Koshijirou Kamiya's salle; dojo, as Yamato called it. "Been looking after the place, hmm?"

"We manage," Kaoru smiled brightly, keeping a good grip on Yahiko, who seemed torn between running ahead of them and wanting to pry at every last detail of Sayvel's tack. "Healers need room to work sometimes, too. And Healer Gensai says it's... nice... living somewhere that reminds him of my father."

A man I truly would have liked to put under Truth Spell, Kero thought ungratefully. Sixteen years in Valdemar without ever breathing a word that why he was really here was to plant an anchor for a Jump in case things went wrong for your clans.

Which they had. Spectacularly, from everything she and other Heralds had put together. Not that they'd put together much; like Koshijirou, Yamato didn't talk to outsiders if they could help it. And those diplomats who would talk were all too familiar with shielding themselves from Mind-Magic.

Now that's something I never expected to find outside Valdemar, Kerowyn admitted to herself. A whole people with a horde of little Gifts. Nothing strong enough to be Chosen-

:Or nothing we can find,: Sayvel grouched from the garden by the front gate. :I swear, they must train their children to shield before they can talk!:

Wouldn't surprise me. What they'd seen of the Yamato spoke of a culture in which honor and loyalty were valued above love, yet treachery and assassination were almost as common as in the Eastern Empire. Witness Koshijirou, who'd been an honorable and loyal Guard for Haven, raising a daughter with the strength and character to be Chosen - and who'd arranged for a mass, if peaceful, invasion of the land he'd sworn to protect.

Though to be fair, the two clans - not to mention the odd fragments of families and troops that ended up transported with them willy-nilly in that massive Jump two years ago - had apparently been aiming for Valdemar's untenanted western edge. They'd meant to drop themselves in empty borderlands, not near smack in the middle of Haven.

They'd missed.

:Oops,: Sayvel snickered. :But there's something else bothering you.:

:Kaoru's hiding something.: Kerowyn kept her suspicions off her face as she followed the young Mindspeaker inside. As usual, she tried not to think too much about what one Fire-Starter or a mage with a bad temper could do to all these paper walls. Though granted, it did tend to eliminate eavesdropping of the conventional kind.

:Doesn't mean it's something bad, you know. Young love can make 'spies' out of the best of us.:

:That's what I'm worried about,: Kero said dryly. :When we dragged the details out of Chief Tostig, didn't he call this Himura a "wanderer"?:

:Rurouni, yes...:

:So where did he wander from? Maboroshi? Tostig would have noticed; hells, we'd have had half a dozen Guards leaping to tell us that!: Selenay herself had been struck dumb when Yamagata had petitioned to settle his clans on the edge of Valdemar's western border. The very idea that people would want to live in the magical morass Tayledras called Uncleansed Lands... brrr. Anyone coming out of Maboroshi was regarded as odd, brave, and quite possibly as crazy as a Shin'a'in. :And if not Maboroshi - any Yamato coming to this part of the world would have had to get off those islands, across the Salten Sea, and Chi'in, and the Eastern Empire, and all the little kingdoms between. In one piece. There shouldn't be Yamato anywhere but here!:

Unease filtered back from her Companion. :That... is not a pleasant thought.:

No. Not at all.

"Kenshin! Are you okay?" Yahiko half-wriggled out of his gi, trying to squirm loose from Kaoru's grip. "Busu, let me go-"

:Don't startle him, kid.: Sanosuke's mind-voice was rough as any back-alley tough's, even if it was kind. :He's had a bad night.:

Big, Kerowyn realized, almost walking into the wall of white hide blocking the doorway. Very big. Sanosuke wasn't any taller than, say, Sayvel, but where she had graceful dancer's curves, the scarred Companion had a blacksmith's muscle. Blocky head, deep hindquarters and chest... reminds me of Alberich's Kantor. Wonder if they're related?

A flash of red caught her eye, and the odd speculation was lost. "Healer, you've got a-"

No. Not a fire. Just a flow of blazing red hair, tied back with a leather thong as its small owner nodded in sleep.

Red hair. Kerowyn pried her jaw off the floor. But... Yamato all have dark hair!

Unmistakably red, she saw, stepping inside as Sanosuke moved back. Habit made her take a quick look around; from the tables of various heights, the horse-farrier equipment, and the rough-barked piece of firewood left on a counter for cats to savage, this was Healer Gensai's beast-treatment room.

Good call.

Even in Haven, people had livestock to take care of, and a room like this was far easier for a Companion to get treatment in than a stable. Not to mention safer for a Herald to get treatment in, when all that might be holding him out of shock was the grip of his Companion's mind.

Hate to think what it's like trying to get hoof-prints out of this floor, though.

The gray-haired man in the Edoko variant of Healer Greens didn't seem worried about it, holding up a cautionary hand. "You left the mages outside?"

"They're not happy about it," Kerowyn said dryly. "Neither am I." She cast a measuring look at Kaoru. "But our resident expert says mages and half-awake samurai are a bad mix."

"Is that all she said?" Yahiko's grumble floated in from the hall. "K'so. Heralds-"

:Watch your language, kid.: Sanosuke stomped a hoof, eyes narrowed. :You want to stay? Be quiet.:

"All right, all right. Pushy."

:Pushy, hell. Ayame and Suzume are just down the hall. You want to scare them awake? They listen to you, kid. Think about that before you start turning the air blue.:

"Mages' ki is rather unmistakable, yes," Gensai replied, ignoring the brewing brawl between kid and Companion with a long-suffering air. "And for centuries the only reason mages have come to Yamato is conquest. It's hard to override generations of training." He sighed. "He can sense you, Herald, and he has a very strong will. I can't hold him under long."

"And you haven't let him wake up because?" Kero prompted.

"There's a few things you should know," Gensai said matter-of-factly. "And he is skilled at battou-jutsu. I want to be sure he's awake before you're in range."

"Battou-jutsu?" Kero arched a blonde brow Kamiya's way. "So you've seen him spar?"

"No," Gensai said, after an almost-imperceptible hesitation. "I've simply been around quite a few swordsmen in my time, Captain. You all have a good sense of balance, but those who've mastered sword-drawing have... well, an extra edge."

"So to speak." Kerowyn took a second look at the small young man sleeping against the wall.

It's not just the red hair. He's not Yamato. Not entirely.

Oh, the clothes were right; a dark red long-sleeved sort-of tunic the Yamato called a gi, an off-white set of the loose riding pants called hakama. Even more than the clothes, the set of his body said Yamato; Kerowyn had seen enough kingdoms to get a feel for how their citizens' movements differed, and that graceful stiffness had never been born in Valdemar. But the shape of Himura's face was different from other samurai she'd seen, wide-eyed and sharp-chinned. She could swear she even saw a hint of freckle on that pale skin.

Huh. No wonder Kaoru fell hard. He's caught between, just like she is.

Foreign. Seemingly fragile. And yet...

Dead asleep, sitting up. He barely looks eighteen, but - we've got an old campaigner here.

With that, a host of other details fell into place. The sheathed sword resting against his shoulder, ready to draw or strike with the hilt if an enemy got that close. Worn and patched clothes that were still of good Yamato silk, tough and long-lasting as fine leathers. A frame as lithe and limber as any Sunhawk skirmisher, fisted hands leading to arms muscled in a manner that told her this man breathed swordwork.

And a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, blatant testimony that Jin-e was far from the first man to try to kill him.

"Skilled as in deadly," Kerowyn said bluntly, putting a hand on Kaoru's shoulder when the girl made an abortive move toward Himura. "Consider me warned. What else?"

"He hasn't had an easy time, these past two years. I had to clean out a lot of his channels. Some of them are still ragged; he'll probably be skittish until they heal-" Gensai started. "Damn!"

Mages. Danger. Protect-

"Kenshin!"

Warmth. Small hands, callused like his own, holding back his hand on the blade. He could force them back, break her grip.

No. Not Kaoru. I won't hurt Kaoru.

"I didn't know his range was that great." Gensai's voice, breathless. "K'so - did we ask you to come in here?"

"We could have waited for the explosions." An unfamiliar Valdemaran woman's voice, tainted with anger. "There's blood-magic in here, Kero. I can feel it."

Kenshin struggled to open his eyes, fighting the reflex to leap and strike. There was the problem; an over-enthusiastic healing sleep, pressing on his mind and body. Gensai wanted me out. I trusted him!

:Back. Off.: Sanosuke growled, a sound Kenshin had never expected to hear from something that looked so much like a horse. :You think I'd let an assassin like that Jin-e anywhere near Megumi without stomping him? Put that energy down. Now!:

"I believe he is serious, ke'chara."

Kenshin fought free of the trance in time to place a face with the voice; one of the odd folk Valdemarans called Hawkbrothers. White hair patterned with dyes into a semblance of falcon feathers, eyes bleached blue, an absence of obvious weapons besides the dagger at his belt... one of their mages, then. Which meant the man's relatively young face could be deceptive.

Or not, Battousai murmured quietly, taking in the thick white streaks magic had left in the dark hair of the Herald-Mage in fancy Whites vibrating beside him. She can't be older than I am, and they're a definite pair.

Holding sleepy innocence on his face, Kenshin looked past them toward the calmest ki in the room. Blonde hair just starting to gain streaks of gray, caught back in a white cloth headband. Cool aquamarine eyes above what looked like a modified set of Herald-Trainee Grays, watching him with pure, calm curiosity. Sword-worn hands rested on her hips a measured distance from her sword's hilt, far enough to not be an immediate threat, close enough to make it clear she did consider him a worthy opponent. A warrior, born and bred as any samurai.

"Herald-Captain Kerowyn," she inclined her head. "Darkwind k'Sheyna, Herald-Mage Elspeth. Stand down, people. I think I know what the problem is." The calm glance moved to his side. "Kaoru. What's the proper way to ask for a look at that?"

Kaoru? Kenshin stifled the urge to jump. How had he not noticed she was right there?

You noticed. How could you not notice a ki so bright, so fierce? She'd just fit there, so perfectly, warm hands molded to his own. As if-

No. No, I will not allow that to happen. Not twice.

"Anou... well..." Kaoru squared her shoulders, bright face set and formal. "Rurouni, may we examine your blade?"

"As you wish, Captain." Kenshin kept his gaze quiet, naive. And most of all, away from Kaoru's. "Though sessha does not know what you believe you might find..."

His sakabatou sang from its sheath, and the captain regarded the reverse blade in her hands with wide eyes. "That," Kerowyn said bluntly, "is one of the oddest things I've ever seen." She shrugged toward the mages. "Is this what you're sensing?"

The Hawkbrother blinked at the blade, obviously doubting the sanity of any swordsman who would carry such a creation. "I think it is." He extended a finger near the temper line, not quite touching steel. "A reversed blade. A blade meant not to kill. Facing blood-magic, that would be a very primal magic in and of itself."

"Just the thing for parrying the first strike of a spell," Elspeth said thoughtfully. "Throw that off, and unless he was at least Master-class, the rest can't find a target."

"And it did not," Darkwind noted. "Though I would have thought..."

"First impressions aren't always right," Elspeth shrugged. "If he was just a Journeyman, using the power to boost his Mind-Magic - well, you saw the grass out there. The energy must have just burned up as heat." She smiled wryly. "You're not as dumb as you look."

"Oro?" Kenshin gave her a wide, clueless, violet blink.

"I think," the mage said under her breath.

"And just what's that supposed to mean?" Kaoru blazed.

"Kaoru-dono, it's all right." He shouldn't touch her, he shouldn't - but he could sense her ki boiling with anger. She was a Herald; she'd have to live with these people after he had wandered free of Haven. Just a touch. That's all. Just a brush of fingers over the shoulder of her tunic... oh kami, her hair felt like spun silk over his skin. "Elspeth-dono is a very important person, and sessha is just a rurouni." He smiled. "Sessha's only glad they know there is no problem, that I am. Sessha will be going now-"

"No! You can't!" Her hands caught his, squeezing painfully. "You promised!"

"Oh, right. Your ribbon." Kenshin patted at the shoulder of his gi, missing the soft weight against his skin. Where had Gensai put it?

"A casualty of the night, I'm afraid." Gensai plucked a dripping bit of indigo from the sink. Even dark with water, the bloodstains were clear. "I'll do what I can, but no promises."

"That was my favorite ribbon, Kenshin!" Blue eyes narrowed with irritation, leftovers from all the horror of the night. "I could strangle you!"

Kenshin laughed nervously. "Could we not speak of strangling?" Kaoru's face swam in his mind, pale as she fought the compulsion that paralyzed her lungs.

But she was fine now. He'd see that, if only he raised his head. And he wanted to, so badly.

No! Don't look!

"Kenshin, you jerk..." Annoyance faded into bewilderment. "Why won't you look at me?"

Must. Disentangle. Hands. She meant well, he knew, hiding what might betray him with her own flesh, but her care itself could draw gaijin eyes. And that might be disaster. "It will soon be dawn. Sessha would like to get some sleep before breakfast, that I would." A quick burst of speed would do it, but he did not want to interest these mages any more than he already had.

"Honestly, Kenshin! I'm just asking you to-" Ducking as he tried to sidle away, blue eyes pinned violet.

Oh. No.

He didn't move. He didn't dare breathe.

Kaoru surged into his arms like a tsunami, warm and welcome and home.

Oh, hells, Battousai groaned, in that last lucid instant before the link of ki to ki wove itself from finest gossamer to a sword's steel. Should've run - shouldn't have let Sano get close enough to stop me - shouldn't have let Gensai near my ki, curse it, he cleaned out all my channels-

Including those delicate rivulets every ronin and rurouni held blocked, so they would not injure a clan's honor by binding where they were not wanted. As Kaoru apparently did want him, ki held out like an open hand - as it should not be, gods, never for him-

The old man set me up-!

He tried to hold onto the anger - but it slipped away, lost in the press of a warm body against him, the tickling drift of blue-black hairs over his skin. Kenshin breathed in her scent, knowing it was useless to avoid it now. Knowing he should have left weeks ago, even days ago; left while this was still just a dojo, and not a place and family his heart longed to care for.

But he had stayed, and now blood and caring and battle-jangled youkai instinct had made the decision for him.

My territory. My pack. My Kaoru.

I am so dead...

Violet. The world was nothing but violet.

Warm as spring flowers. Restful as summer twilight, folding about her after a long day's work. Playful as the colored lanterns her father's people hung at the moon festival, shot with bits of amber like the fireworks that were danger and joy in one...

Kenshin.

Kaoru drew in a breath of herbs and the hint of steel, feeling as if someone had hit her over the head with a bale full of feathers. It didn't hurt, but something felt - different.

:Well, let's see,: Megumi pointed out, amused. :You're wrapped up in a nice pair of warm arms; about time, what are you, a virgin Spider-priestess? Mmm, those red bangs tickling your neck really are as soft as they look, aren't they. And Kenshin's... swearing?:

Almost too low to hear, with more numb resignation than real anger. Kaoru didn't know all the words, but the tone was unmistakable. "Kenshin? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Kaoru-dono." It wasn't quite a sigh. "Don't worry. Sessha's not leaving."

He wasn't? But she'd seen - she'd thought - oh, never mind. "Good!" Kaoru stepped back, already missing the warmth of silk over her tunic. "Because if you did, I'd have to hunt you down, tie you up, and drag you back here!"

"Good for you, Kamiya." Kero's smile glimmered with mischief. "You'll make a Shin'a'in barbarian yet." She cast a significant glance at the mages. "Unless you can think of something else, you two had better get some sleep. Diplomatic missions shouldn't start late. Gives people the wrong ideas."

"One moment more." Darkwind stalked gracefully toward Kenshin. "I need to examine your scar."

Kenshin tensed. Nodded slowly. "Aa. Sessha expected that, that I did."

Kaoru moved closer as the Hawkbrother touched impersonal fingers to the long slash along Kenshin's cheek. Damn, damn... didn't anybody listen when I told them about Yamato? You never touch a samurai's face! Never! "Why?"

"It was made by a great hate," Kenshin said quietly. "Many years ago."

"A death curse," Darkwind stated bluntly. "Elspeth says Yamato has no healing mages. I'm surprised it didn't bleed you to death." Tanned fingers traced the smaller, crossing cut. "Though I would have thought your priests could come up with something a little more efficient to break it."

"She... was not a miko." Violet eyes were distant, fathomless. Kaoru fought a sudden urge to cry. "Only an honorable woman who-"

Love. Betrayal. Grief.

"-knew she was dying," Kenshin finished.

What was that? Kaoru thought, oddly chilled. It wasn't me!

:Kenshin,: Megumi said privately. :He is tired. And he - trusts you. So he's leaking a little.:

Kaoru felt her heart lurch, even as she wondered why Megumi had hesitated over her choice of thoughts. :He's an Empath?:

:Sanosuke thinks so.:

"She used blood-magic?" Elspeth's eyes narrowed. "So that's why you smell of it."

"Elspeth-dono." Kenshin's voice was level. Calm. But violet eyes had taken on the same blue sheen Kaoru had seen when he faced the yakuza; hot and dangerous as mine-gas flame. "It was many years ago. Nothing to speak of now, in these peaceful times."

:He's warning you off, Elspeth,: Kaoru said privately. :He's trying to be polite about it. He knows you're gaijin. He's assuming you don't know how deeply you just insulted that woman. But if this were Yamato and you were a samurai, he'd have cut you down by now. From the sound of it, she died an honorable death, and used that death to make sure he would live to carry out his duty. For a samurai, that ranks her up there with King Sendar and every Herald who's thrown himself between Valdemar and doom.:

:Do all Yamato kill first and ask questions later?: Elspeth said dryly. :Your stray may not be the sharpest knife in the armory, Kaoru, but I doubt he's dumb enough to attack an Adept.: "You should let Darkwind work on that. Tayledras have a knack for Healing dark magic."

Kenshin slipped out from under the Hawkbrother's hand, stance relaxed and ready. "Do not trouble yourself, k'Sheyna-sama." He smiled, the fierce blue gone as if it had never been. "Sessha has carried this mark many years. It is... honorable... to recall a brave lady's sacrifice, that it is."

"Honorable." Darkwind looked as if he could think of far less flattering terms.

"Remember what your distant cousins say, Tayledras. You can kill a man with a handful of maggots, if you must." Kerowyn made shooing motions. "Out, out. It's a long ride to Hardorn, and Tremane won't like it if he has to deal with grumpy ambassadors." A quick grab, and she had Yahiko by the hair. "That goes for you too, Myojin. I know your teacher. I guarantee she's not going to go any easier on you tomorrow just because you spent last night chasing assassins."

Yahiko batted at her hand, stopped at a measured aquamarine glance. "Che'..."

:Tell me if Kenshin gets out of hand, Kaoru,: Elspeth sent her with flavors of a private grin as she matched her partner's gait out the door. :Oh... and you might want to see Talia. It was a tough night.:

Kerowyn waited until the chime of Gwena's hoof-beats faded down the street, then turned a level gaze on Herald, Healer, Companion, and swordsman alike. "All right," she said flatly. "Himura. Why don't you drop the innocent act and give me the real story?"

-dono - a very high honorific.

-san - a less formal honorific, along the lines of Mr. or Ms.

-sensei - can be used as "Professor" or "Doctor".

-isha - Healer.

Kyotoko, Edoko - "Citizen of Kyoto", "citizen of Edo". Historically Edoko (or Edokko, depending on your source) were considered a "breed apart", much as Americans often think of New Yorkers.

Hitokiri - "manslayer".

Itai - "Ow".

Sessha - "this unworthy one".

Ken-ki - "sword-spirit", the focussed energy of a swordsman.

Ki - energy, spirit.

Gaijin - foreigner.

Hanyou - "half-demon".

Shishou - "master", traditionally in very old sword-styles.

Maboroshi - illusion, chimera. In this case, the name of the new Yamatoko settlement in the Untamed Lands on the western edge of Valdemar, not far from Lake Evendim.

Baka - idiot.

Kata - patterned movements of a martial art.

Youkai - "demon", supernatural creature.

Che' - "Darn".

Aa - informal yes.

Bokken - wooden sword.

Busu - ugly.

K'so - "Damn."

Anou - um.

Miko - shrine maiden.

Yamato - imagine these isles as off the eastern "edge of the map" in the Valdemar Companion.

Guard - in Valdemar, they wear blue uniforms and are the local constabulary, especially in Haven; they also form a large part of the army.

Heraldic Circle - regulates the use of Gifts in Valdemar, and may block those used by an unethical person.

Tayledras - also, Hawkbrothers. Distant relatives of the Shin'a'in, they live in magical areas like the Pelagirs, working to make them safe for ordinary people.

Shin'a'in - horse-riding nomads of the Dhorisha plains well south of Valdemar; Kerowyn has family in one of their clans.

A/N: Fair warning - it's still effectively 1878, the 11th year of Meiji, but Revolution history will be bent to fit into Velgarth. Though there are some bits of real history that "could have gone" the way this AU's history did.

First point (and one of the main impetuses for this story): in 1876, there was an abortive rebellion against the Meiji government that Saigo Takamori almost got involved in. He wrote that he would have joined them, except that they started their fight about a month too early. If they'd struck on the Emperor's birthday instead, Saigo felt that there would have been mass uprisings all over Japan and he would have launched himself and his followers into the fray. Given the personal charisma and resources the man could bring to bear, that would have made a significant difference.

Second point: in actual history, the leaders of that rebellion consulted an oracle before they went forward. Translate that to the world of Velgarth, where there are oracles who can ForeSee the future, and they might well have waited until the Emperor's birthday.

Third point: As Raijuta pointed out in RK Volume 5, master swordsmen were known as magicians; "users of the whirlwind". So in Velgarth, they really are...