Title: Seduction is a Fine Art - Part 2

Rating: PG-13 - O_o?! I wrote something that's rated PG-13?! *faints*

Series: Yoriden Samurai Troopers/Ronin Warriors

Characters: Sh'ten/Anubis and original. Still need ideas on her name... Kassanda fits her very well as does Rue, so it's a tossup at the moment. Or it could be Arion. Just 'cause it's a guys name, doesn't mean anything *smiles*

Notes: The translation for the song is at the bottom of the mail. If you want to see the literal translation, which is beautiful in it's own right, then email me and I'll ship it towards yah. If you get the chance, check out the song Kishinda Kakere (Two Small of Pieces) from Xenogears. ^_^

Chu is Shuten/Anubis' Bishido virtue: Loyalty. Meaning he has devote and utter loyalty to his master.

Sh'ten/Anubis's true name, before joining Argo/Talpa, was Koma Toshitada. He was born around Kyoto. ^^

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Seduction is a Fine Art

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I look at the land around me, taking in the trees and the small clearing.

I know this place very well. The trees are tall, gently raising their leafy boughs to the azure sky above as they rain blossoms down upon my head. The grass is soft beneath my bare feet as I walk further into the clearing of golden trees. 

With the secluded shelter of the arching branches, lay a pool inlaid with black granite stones. It rose about a foot into the air, and held within was bright blue water. It was barely three feet wide, but it was beautiful nonetheless. 

As the wind blew my hair away from my face, I looked around to see if anyone else had come here.

I suppose the gods would be true to their word, but I am cynical by nature when it comes to people in authority promising me things.

I could hear the birds chirping in the trees above me, beautiful flashes of blue and red within the golden nests, and I could hear the soft rustling of the silk that enclosed my body. 

Slowly, I sat down at the edge of the well, my feet tucked under my rear and my hands upon the cool granite.

It warmed to my touch as I leaned forward, a few strands of my hair slid from the intricate coif to fall in my face.

My right hand reached out, the fingertips gently touching the center of the water within the well.

"Show him to me," I whispered. "Please."

The water within the well shimmered and became as translucent as ice. It was then I saw a scene flashing within.

At first, it was fuzzy, but then gradually came more and more into focus. I had done this countless times, always checking in on him when he thought I was gone.

I smiled as I saw him for the first time in what seemed like many months.

His helmet was gone; I had seen that the archer broke the leering face, saw the blood that trickled down his face. His hair whipped in the winds as he stood there on the bank of a lake with two of the Troopers.

I was slightly shocked to see that he was wearing the Kaosu's robes, and even more so when I saw how calm and placid he was. It was as if he were at peace.

A smile widened my lips as I saw the homespun cloth around his scarred hands. White against tan was always a lovely combination. 

I had never seen anything nobler than my ver in the monk's clothes. I saw him as he watched the two Troopers out of the corner of his eye before he placed his hat back upon his head, securing it with the tie under his chin.

His teal eyes gazed out upon the lake as he walked away from them. He was lost in thought and, as I watched, he sat down on a rock, his feet barely touching the water.

I watched as he leaned forward, the shakujo rested between his knees, his cheek pressed against the cold metal, and his arms wrapped around the staff. His eyes closed and he sighed heavily. 

"This is too hard for one person to do, Kaosu. I am fumbling in my duty to you. I am not fit, nor worthy to wear the monk's habit." His eyes closed tightly, his eyelashes spreading delicate shadows across his cheeks.

The pain was clear in his voice as he spoke, and I longed to reach out and gather him up within my arms. Thanks to fate that would never happen. I'd never again touch that strong face and know his love.

With a sigh, he looked out across the lake. "They took away what was most dear to me, and yet I am supposed to sit back and tolerate it. This is supposed to be my penance for things wrong." He laughed slightly. "I suppose you enjoy this. Do you enjoy seeing my heart ripped open and bleeding? Of course you do, otherwise, you would have let me die already."

Another humorless laugh escaped his lips. "Then again, you understand nothing. It is she who changed my mind. It is she who caused my heart to see the truth of who and what I was. I am Koma Toshitada, son of a warrior who died bravely in battle. It was through my folly to control everything that I was brought to heel beneath Argo.

"I was born on May fifth, fifteen fifty-one and am over four hundred and thirty-seven years old. I was lucky enough to see the blossom of Kyoto, be around her might, and be born into her favor."

His voice took on a softer quality, one of infinite sadness. "My mother is the one who named me Shuten Doji. I was always her redtop child. She died not long before I gave into Argo. She was frail and took sick. Nothing could be done to save her, and she only wished to look upon her only son one last time. I was the only gift left after my father died in battle."

He sighed, his eyes opening and looking across the lake. "It is strange. I barely remember her. All that I can is that she was a small, delicate woman with long red hair. She was brought from the West, far away she said, as a gift to the emperor who gave her to my father. 

"I remember she always used to laugh when I glowered at the snow, telling it to go away. She always told me to love the snow for what it was, water in disguise. She said that snow protects the innocent seeds yet to sprout, hardens them into fine plants, that I was to be like snow and keep the innocent safe."

His eyes turned skyward as I watched him in his soliloquy, pouring his heart out stronger than he had ever to me. "I am chu, loyalty. I always have been thus."

I watched as he shoved his hat back, falling to hang by the cord around his neck.

"I just whish that she were here. She always had time to stop and understand, even though she was the Mistress of Death. Never was she demeaning to any of us Dai Masho, even though at times we deserved scorn."

He closed his eyes tightly, a tear falling down his high cheek.

I could feel his pain sting my own heart as I watched that lone tear travel his face, and softly, without knowing why, my voice picked up in a long forgotten song of ages past. Singing to soothe his mind and his heart. I could not hold him, yet I hoped that my voice might hold him, as my arms could not.

"Hyakuoku no kagami no kakera / Chippoke na inochi no tomoshibi / Toozakaru natsukashii kodama yo / Dakedo anata to watashi dake ga / "Kotae" o mitsukedaseru, itsuka / Gin no michi wa dokomademo massugu nobite / Hasshite yukeru - sekai no hate made mo.

"Itetsuita honoo mune ni daite / Aoi yo no soko o tadayou / Itoshii itami ni hikisakare / Anata no na o hoshi ni sasayaku / Akatsuki no beni ni somatte umareta musume.

"Tenshi mo urayamu, ougon no aki ni mau / Jiyuu to akogare dake ga kirameku houkan.

"Hyakuoku no kagami no kakera / Chippoke na inochi no tomoshibi / Toozakaru natsukashii kodama yo / Dakedo anata to watashi to nara / "Kotae" o mitsukedaseru, kitto / Gin no michi wa dokomademo massugu nobite / Hasshite yukou - ashita no mukou e mo. 

"Futari wa kiri no ashita ni deai / Yo no shijima ni wakareta / Oreta tsurugi ni saketa tate / Kobosenai namida wa shinzou o sashita mama.

"Subete o oshiyaru, kuroi nagare / Kamigami no chinmoku ga sekai o ooi / Demo anata no sakebi o daremo kikanai / Daremo kikanai.

"Kaze wa susurinaki, umi wa mi o yojiru / Hoshiboshi wa kishimi, toki wa hajikechiru / Mihatenu yume wa itsuka owari / Sou, ai wa eien nanka ja nai. 

"Keredo...
Hyakuoku no kagami no kakera / Chippoke na inochi no tomoshibi / Toozakaru natsukashii kodama yo / Anata to watashi dake ga / "Kotae" o mitsukedaseru, itsuka /Gin no michi wa dokomademo massugu nobite / Hasshite yukeru - sekai no hate made mo / Hasshite yukou - ashita no mukou e mo."

My last note fell into the empty silence, and my head fell into my hands as I wept.