Deviation Actions
Description
This is a fantasy Kaito x Gakupo story.
Original beta was l-est, no longer in DA.
See below for chapter list.
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I
The column of smoke rose above the trees, a deep grey stain in the clear skies. It looked completely out of place, a cruel lie to the senses. Nature wisely ignored it: the birds still chirped, the flowers by the trail remained as vibrant and perfumed as before. Only the man in worn dark clothes, until that moment trekking in silence across the wilderness, stopped and stared fearfully.
As soon as Kaito saw the smoke, he knew it was pointless to continue towards the encampment. Still, he pulled the hood over his dark blue hair and left the trail, hoping to be able to approach the site unnoticed by blending in the foliage.
Avoiding the spots where sunlight shone through the treetops, he carefully crept closer. Thankfully, the enemy didn’t even bother to place look-outs around the hideout, confident that nobody would dare oppose them. Soon, Kaito began to smell the stench, and hear the screams. Some of those voices belonged to people he had known for years, others were a mystery to him. All the while, part of him tirelessly repeated inside his head why there was nothing he could do: as skilled as he was, one man against many attackers was without question a lost fight. They had already defeated the rest of the band, and he was weary from the long journey.
And yet he continued. If nothing else, he had to see his friends, one last time. He would fix their faces in his mind, to remind him of what he must do next.
***
The Eto that Kaito used to visit in his mother’s nighttime stories had white cities and fields of ripe grain, merry festivals and roads frequented by caravans of merchants and troupes of minstrels and mummers. It was the Eto of the past: the great unified empire that spanned the archipelago and a sizable portion of the mainland, the nation that was the beacon for the entire world.
The Eto he lived in was a different thing altogether, a land in constant war for as long as he could remember. In fact, he had been told once that the land had not known a full year of peace ever since the death of the last emperor, decades before he was even born. The twelve biggest city-estates alternatively formed alliances and fought each other, and were besieged in turn by warlords. Peasants were oppressed by anyone with a modicum of power, and had to contend with monsters and wild beasts. The wide roads of old had fallen in disrepair, in many places without the number of guards and outposts that would dissuade animals and bandits from threatening the travelers.
Some people had no choice but to travel, however, and oftentimes paid a heavy price. Many years ago, Kaito’s family had to reach the town of Shirakaba, for some reason that the young boy couldn’t quite grasp. It didn’t matter all that much, either: they had lived all his life in a tiny farming village, and he was eager to see what lied before the low hills and thick forests. All the images of his fantasies, nursed by his mother’s tales, seem to suddenly lie beyond him, ready to be discovered. He eagerly gathered the few things he owned, and helped his parents pack.
Soon, the day to say goodbye to his old village came. His mother’s brother joined them as they reached the outskirts of the village, and they set off laughing and singing. Even the birds seemed to join in, chirping and dancing in the skies.
Kaito rode on top of the many boxes and bundles in his father’s cart, enjoying the trip, until they came to a place where the trail met a bigger road paved with small, regular stones. Soon after, a group of men intercepted them. A word with no meaning to him had been uttered: deserters. Long after, a now teenaged Kaito had understood who they were: soldiers running away from the latest skirmish between the cities of Mi no Ariake and Ne Irie.
Kaito could no longer remember what was said between the deserters and his family. In his mind’s eye, there was barely any transition. And no justification for what had happened next.
Quickly and casually, those strange men had slashed the throats of his father and uncle for the family’s meager supplies. Dark pools of liquid began to pool around their heads, soaking the ground, as Kaito stared numbly. A moment later, his mother was pushing him away and ordering him to run. In a haze, he had obeyed her, with her cries and the grotesque laughter of the deserters ringing in his ears.
He walked for a long time, sometimes on the hard, dusty stones of the road, sometimes by its side, vainly looking for something to palliate the hunger gnawing at his insides. He knew nothing about surviving in the wild, and the few farms he passed by had been grazed by the armies of one city or the other, and had nothing to offer. He didn’t even know how to return to the old village, where someone might actually help him. He continued on for hours and hours, wandering without knowing for certain what he hoped to reach. He would have died; another body unwanted and unnoticed, simply rotting by the wayside, if it hadn’t been for Tane and Mio.
Tane and Mio were husband and wife, and the leaders of a small band of bandits and thieves. Most of the band consisted of their own extended family, and various stragglers who couldn’t for some reason or another return to life inside a city-estate.
That day, Tane and a couple more bandits were heading back to their hideout when they ran into Kaito, half-delirious with thirst and hunger. By then, he had no way of escaping them. His destiny was completely on their hands.
And those pariahs, shunned by everyone else, had shared their water and food with him, and nursed him to sleep. Instead of ignoring him or finishing him off, they had carried him back with them, to the safety of their hideout.
And Mio, rough and scarred, had embraced him immediately, as if he had always been destined to be her child. She was very different from his day-dreaming, delicate mother, but she had loved Kaito, as best as she could, and so did Tane.
Kaito had learned much in the years that followed. They were, unmistakably, uncouth criminals, and everything Kaito now knew was a reflection of that: fighting with bare knuckles, knifes and swords, lock-picking and sniping, stealth and subterfuge. And yet, there was a certain code of conduct that governed their actions, a basic morality that allowed the shadow of the escaped boy to survive inside of the adult with icy eyes. He never killed any peasants, and tried to avoid robbing them whenever possible. Now, the military class and the rich merchants that supported them, keeping Eto in constant conflict? Over the years, Kaito developed a certain joy in depriving them of their superfluous trinkets and excessive luxury. It was as much justice as could be expected from this world.
And yet the world eventually struck another blow against him, leading him to that horrible day, and the tall column of smoke sullying the skies.
The doom of the band had come from their reduced numbers, and their unwillingness to bow to any power. Even as they watched other bands get swallowed or exterminated by the growing hordes under the command of the warlord Yu, Tane had stubbornly refused to move away to another region of Eto. They were on the way, and Yu would sooner or later make an example out of them. Still, they had clung to the usual haunts.
And the day had come. The hideout was wrecked, the trees of the orchard burnt to a crisp. Before the ruins, a line of corpses waited neatly for him. Everyone he had ever loved was now gone, and Kaito was once more running away alone. This time, however, he had the skills to take vengeance for his fallen family.
***
It was easy enough to join Yu’s forces. Immersed as he was in his campaign to rule over all of southwest Eto, Yu had a constant need for hired swords. Kaito just traveled south to Yu’s headquarters, a rapidly expanding fortress being constructed in a hill overlooking the town of Koume, and joined the latest group of hopefuls being ushered into an inner courtyard to be tested. In other circumstances, he might have been impressed by the frantic activity both in Koume and the fortress, the buzzing and cutting and smelting...It truly was a fine crimson city, strong in military might and commerce, blossoming under Yu’s stern hand. But in his mind’s eye, his second home was still burning, and with it, the corroding hate he felt for the warlord and his soldiers. Still, his face betrayed nothing as he waited for his turn to fight in front of the officers standing in a corner of the courtyard.
Any doubts the recruiters had about letting the young and unremarkable man join had been summarily dispersed by the time Kaito made the third meathead in a row fall to the ground during the trails. They cared little about his background: any man wanting to join the ranks was likely to be escaping the law of the city-estates, in any case, or a clueless farm-boy looking for some adventure.
He was assigned a place in the barracks, some basic equipment, and told where to report the next morning. It was almost disappointing in its simplicity, really. How could Yu be winning so much territory with practices this sloppy? Were the city-estates so stagnant and corrupt that a barely competent army like this could take their lands without punishment?
Getting closer to Yu wasn’t so easily accomplished. Kaito observed and studied the situation carefully, but soon the futility of a direct attack proved obvious. The warlord was well protected, always surrounded by his more loyal officers, or off to some battle or another. But the weeks passed, Kaito noticed something odd. There were days when Yu suddenly and inexplicably disappeared, leaving all his usual retinue behind. Wherever he went, it was a place he trusted no one to follow. There were numerous rumors among the ranks as to where Yu went, and Kaito finally culled from them what was the most likely explanation: Yu had a mountain retreat, where he kept his most prized treasures, and he liked to go there to unwind in a setting fit for a king.
An idea began to form in Kaito’s mind. At first, he had thought of nothing but ramming his knife through Yu’s chest. But now, the idea of raiding the warlord’s hideout had a certain appeal. Imagining the warlord’s rage at seeing his prized collection scattered and ruined, all the stolen items stolen in turn not by an invading army, but by a single lone thief, made Kaito feel a cold amusement.
As Yu disappeared randomly, it wasn’t possible to predict when he would next go to his mountain retreat. And watching the warlord so closely as to be able to spot him the moment he left would likely attract unwanted attention. In any case, Kaito reasoned, there was another way: Even if the mountain retreat was hidden, it would still need to be well stocked with food and beverages to make it a pleasurable place to rest. All of that had been transported there at one time, and would need replenishment. It was just a matter of finding the person responsible for maintaining the place in good condition.
The man in question was a sallow little thing called Akano; a mousey book-keeper permanently standing in the shadows as Yu and his lieutenants discussed one thing or another in the fortress’ dining hall. Kaito had vaguely wondered once or twice what he was doing in the middle of an army of thugs and muggers: Akano looked like he would be much more at ease behind the counter of a dinky store inside of a city-estate, or pouring over books in a musky library. Like most in Yu’s army, he probably had made one too many mistakes.
As soon as he started considering approaching the man for info, Kaito realized Akano had taken some kind of interest on him as well.
The very first time Kaito noticed it, he had been helping move around crates of weaponry. He paused for a moment near the place where Yu and his officers were discussing the latest attack on Bou, pretending to be tired. In actuality, he hoped to overhear something useful. As he stretched and wiped his brow, he felt someone observing him. He turned to see Akano watching him from behind a heavy tome, to which the meek man promptly returned after their eyes met.
After that, Kaito often discovered Akano staring at him from a window, or across a courtyard as he stood guard or did some menial work. At first, Kaito worried the man was suspecting something. Then one day, as he was asking for a bottle of wine at the soldiers’ cantina, Kaito saw the reflection of Akano’s face, watching him from the back. Ah, so that was it. All the better: Kaito was no stranger to charming information out of people, and having the man attracted to him made things all the more simple.
It turned out to be one of easier missions he had ever taken. A few drinks and some caresses later, he had the location of the retreat. And the best part was that Akano couldn’t tell on him, without condemning himself as well. Kaito considered his options, as he looked without pity at the man sprawled in bed, snoring drunkenly, and made a point of stealing Akano’s money pouch. He wouldn’t be collecting his last salary, after all.
***
At first, Kaito was disappointed in the size of Yu’s retreat: A simple but luxurious house nestled in a wide crevice between two crags of the mountain, accompanied by a small shed or storage and surrounded by a small garden and orchard, with a high wall closing off the entrance. Sure, the scenery around it was nothing short of breathtaking, but the home itself was just what a wealthy landowner would have, nothing more. Still, with the afternoon’s sun beating hard on his head, the garden looked rather appealing with its paths of stepping stones shaded by a couple of flowering trees. All in all, the retreat was certainly nice, but hardly worthy of deserving the attribute of kingly. Nevertheless, he could still have some enjoyment out of robbing and torching the place.
From his vantage point, half hidden behind a rock formation, he had a nice view of the whole complex. With the rope and hook in his hand, he could climb down to the roof of the shed without much trouble. But he waited and watched for a while. As far as he knew, Yu was busy attacking Bou at the moment, but there might be a servant or two around.
His patience was rewarded some time later, when a robed figure exited the house with a basket of something or another in its hands.
It wasn’t a servant, definitely. Although the figure’s face was obscured by the large shawl over its head, it was slender and graceful, and the fabrics covering it from head to toe were colorful and delicate, embroidered with gold threads and crystals. It walked slowly, with some difficulty, and Kaito was soon realized the reason: a heavy chain connected the figure’s ankles together, and two similar lengths of chain connected the figure’s hidden neck to its wrists.
Now this was interesting. Had Yu abducted some nobleman’s daughter? In a way, this explained his need for secrecy: if he was so infatuated with the girl, he wasn’t likely to trust any of the apes he surrounded himself with to leave her untouched. Instead, he came here from time to time and played house. Kaito was tempted to laugh.
It would probably be difficult to get back the princess where she belonged, even if her parents still ruled whatever place Yu had taken her from, but the potential reward seemed very well the effort. If not, he could always drop her off in some town, or even make her into his apprentice. He was a gregarious sort of man, and starting his own band of bandits seemed like the next step after he finished his work there.
The figure approached the shed, with the chain making an irritating sound as it dragged over the stones on the ground. Kaito briefly considered just stepping out of cover and calling out at her, but immediately rejected the idea. He had seen cases of people kidnapped who actually ended up helping their captors, out of some twisted attachment. The chains were a point against that notion, but he wasn’t about to take any chances. And there was always the possibility of someone else left inside the house. Instead he slid down silently when the figure entered the shed, and waited until she came out, knife at the ready.
A moment later, she exited, no longer with the basket in hand, and in a whirlwind of motion, Kaito grabbed both her wrists with one hand and pushed her against the shed’s wall, knife pointing at her-
...at his face.
The shawl had slipped off his head and shoulders, falling to the floor and releasing a cascade of vibrant purple hair that now framed a delicate but boyish face. To make matters more obvious, his chest was bare, aside of several expensive looking necklaces; quite likely, the boy was unable to wear the upper portion of his robes comfortably due to the chains constraining his arms.
Kaito at first estimated the young man to be a couple of years younger than him. Looking more closely, he quickly rectified the guess to around five years younger: He was tall, but the face was too childish to belong to a fully grown man. His eyes, a mixture of blue and green and shockingly bright, looked at him with more curiosity than alarm.
He was easily the most beautiful person Kaito had ever seen.
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Chapter List:
Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10 / Chapter 11 / Chapter 12 / Chapter 13 / Chapter 14 / Chapter 15 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 16 / Chapter 17 / Chapter 18 / Chapter 19 / Chapter 20 / Chapter 21 / Chapter 22