Chronicles of Tesselle

Part 2

Because of the dangerous terrain and the fact that it would make tracking them more difficult, the party was not going to use horses. While it made the trip much slower, it also made it safer.

It was something Nen made his duty to complain about constantly.

Whenever he did so, Shikishi would only smile like always and say, “It’s not as though we could have afforded horses anyway.”

This, of course, did nothing to make Nen feel any better. He still felt that he would become a hunchback from all the weight he had to carry. Admittedly, Shikishi had taken up the (far) greater part of the supplies. But Nen, because he was, after all, very protective of Shikishi (and didn’t want to seem weak), refused to let Shikishi carry any more. He pointedly did not notice the fact that although Shikishi carried the greater weight, he was walking easily while Nen was struggling over the flat terrain.

Nen was thankful Shikishi didn’t mention the fact that they were still on easy terrain. When they reached the hills, Nen would probably be forced to give up his attempt at being (somewhat) macho.

But it irked him to see the eight-year-old of the family was carrying just as much stuff as himself and was having a much easier time of it.

Shikishi reminded him that the child had lead a life that was much more dependent on physical labor than Nen. Likely, in order to keep up with the taxes, the parents had had no other choice but to enter their children into hard labor—the only type that would be willing to take up such young children.

At this, the blond man, who had remained to himself, had looked their way. If Nen had the strength to care, he would have noticed the flash of emotion across the man’s face. But he was too busy grumbling about his lot in the world.

Shikishi couldn’t have noticed as he still was completely unable to sense the man. This was one of the reasons why he kept close to Nen. It wouldn’t do if he accidentally ran into the man because he didn’t know he was there.

Of course, Shikishi was also still worried about their fellow travelers. Given Nen’s focus on lugging his share, he likely would not be too focused on making sure his hood completely covered his face. Shikishi didn’t want to find out how the others would react to Nen’s tattoos.

The trip was fairly quiet as the morning progressed. People mostly kept to themselves or to the groups that they came in. The four slavers made sure that their captive was between them at all times. They never said a word, not to each other or to anyone else.

The highlight of the morning occurred when one of the three fugitive men made a rude comment about the merc. He stated that the merc couldn’t fight and only succeeded because he used his pretty face to lure his target into bed and then killed him during the act.

The next thing the man knew, he had a dagger between his teeth. So perfectly did the merc time his throw that the man finished his words just in time for his teeth to close down on the dagger, preventing it from slicing off his tongue. The merc then smoothly went over to the stunned man, retrieved his dagger, and said in his naturally low and husky voice, “Sorry about that, my hand rather slipped. You know whores—their weak combat capabilities mean they don’t have very good control over sharp, pointy weapons.” With a smirk he moved away again and continued on like nothing had happened. After that, the man didn’t make any more comments about the merc’s abilities.

When they finally stopped for their noontime meal, everyone was guarded against everyone else. The family of four, in particular, had distanced themselves from the others. Likely, none of them had any experience in fighting and were at a disadvantage since many of the others in the group at least seemed to know how to fight. Bear made it his duty to remain near them to give them some protection.

The next ones who seemed to be the least capable of fighting were Nen and Shikishi. While Nen could admit that his competency in physical combat was not very high, the same could not be said about Shikishi. While Nen was aware of Shikishi’s battle skills, the others only knew that Shikishi got around surprisingly well for a blind person.

Apparently this oddity inspired quite a bit of interest, most noticeably from the blond and the merc.

Then another interested person revealed himself in the form of the blue-eyed cloaked figure. As Nen and Shikishi were eating their luncheon, he gracefully settled himself next to Shikishi, earning himself a jealous look from Nen. Shikishi, however, continued eating as though he didn’t notice the added presence.

The blue-eyed man watched him for a bit before beginning on his own meal. The three of them ate in silence, the only thing that could be heard from them was the chewing of their food. Nen continuously sent suspicious looks at the man but the man appeared not to notice, so intent was he on eating his food. Nen doubted the man actually cared about his food but he didn’t have anything to accuse the man of so he said nothing.

This silent eating went on for a bit before Nen, in a fit of childish manners, got up and wedged himself between Shikishi and Blue Eyes. Shikishi continued eating calmly, though if one inspected him very closely, one would notice that his smile seemed more genuinely amused than normal. Blue Eyes on the other hand, stopped eating and tilted his head down at Nen. Nen met his eyes challengingly.

“It seems your little lover is very possessive of you,” the man said casually to Shikishi in a musically lilting voice.

Nen sputtered as Shikishi proceeded to ignore them both. “He…I…we…we’re not lovers!” Nen finally got out. He flushed when his outburst caused every head in the group turned to look at them curiously. There was a smirk on the merc’s face. Bear raised an eyebrow.

Shikishi finally laughed out loud, very entertained by the situation. His laugh was soft and musical, like little bells.

Nen hunkered down and tried his best to will the others to look away.

Blue Eyes simply nodded to himself before returning to his meal. Eventually, the others lost interest as well and the pressure of their eyes left Nen.

Once again there was silence.

“I’m Tsenxie,” Blue Eyes suddenly said, breaking the silence.

Nen jerked his head to look up at the man. Brilliant blue eyes twinkled down at him.

He blinked. “Er, Jahn…zay?”

Blue Eyes—or rather, Tsen…whatever—laughed lightly. “Tsenxie—it’s pronounced something like ‘zahn-SHAY’. I’ve heard it’s rather difficult to truly pronounce.”

Nen blinked again. “Oh, uh, nice to, uh, meet you…Sahnshee.”

“You’ll get it eventually,” Tsenxie declared as Nen struggled to form his mouth around the name.

“Sure,” Nen didn’t feel so sure…not that he cared or anything. He inadvertently yelped when an elbow inconspicuously jabbed his side. He glared at Shikishi who was calmly eating, as if he hadn’t just bruised Nen’s side with his elbow. “Right,” he grumbled. “I’m Nen.”

The striking blue eyes crinkled slightly in a laughing manner before turning to Shikishi. “And you are?”

Shikishi at last turned his attention to Tsenxie. Though it wasn’t visible beneath his hood, his lips were still curved in a smile. “I am Shikishi.”

Nen butted in insolently “It’s pronounced ‘Shihk-shee.’ ‘Shihk-shee.’”

Tsenxie seemed amused by this. “I do believe I got it the first time.” Then he turned to “Shihk-shee.” “It is a pleasure to meet you Shikishi.”

Shikishi tilted his head forward. “I hope that I can say the same.”

The blue-eyed man laughed.

“Damn bitch!”

The attention of the three instantly turned to the group of slavers and slave. One of the brown-eyed slavers, the larger of the two, was wiping off what looked like porridge from his face. Obviously, while force-feeding the beautiful crimson-eyed slave, the slave had rebelled the only way he could—by generously returning the food to the giver by means of spitting it all out. The scarlet red color of the man’s face and the bulging veins of his neck showed that the man was extremely close to violence.

Then the slave, despite his helpless situation, smirked.

The slaver threw himself at the slave, a cruel hunting knife in hand and a manic gleam in his eyes.

Nen leapt forward, desperate to intervene but he could tell he’d never make it in time. Even if he did cover the distance before the blow landed, he wondered what he could do.

Then it was all over.

Then man was on the ground, struggling to stop the flow of blood from his now injured hand. Above him stood his fellow black-eyed slaver with his own knife out, now red with the blood of the other.

“Control yourself, Arge,” the man said in cool, clipped tones. “You know that scarring will bring down it’s value greatly.”

Nen bristled when the beady-eyed man referred to the slave as an “it.” A gentle hand on his shoulder relieved some of the tension in his body. It was times such as these that he wondered what he would’ve done if he had never met Shikishi.

Arge growled something incoherent before getting up and stalking away, but not before sending the slave a scathing look. The slave met his eyes without backing down.

The beady-eyed man calmly returned to his seat near the slave, paying no attention to the others who were still watching him.

Shikishi slowly eased Nen back to his seat. Tsenxie’s blue eyes watched Nen blankly, without the normal sparkle in them. Nen was too disturbed to notice.

After Arge returned, looking less angry, the group cleaned up and resumed their journey.

Rather than walk with Nen and Shikishi, Tsenxie began walking next to the merc. Nen wondered how far the blue-eyed man would get with the dangerous green-eyed man. From what he could see of the conversation, the merc was not interested in conversing with Tsenxie. Far from it—he actually seemed rather irritated.

Nen could definitely understand that.

Nonetheless, he felt a strange sense of concern for the recently met blue-eyed stranger. For the merc did not seem like the type of person who tolerated nuisances for long.

Shikashi, all-seeing in spite of his lack of sight, knowingly nudged him. “Worried, hm?”

Nen steeled his gaze. “No, why should I be worried about someone? You’re delusional.”

Shikashi only said, “I never said that you were worried about a person, now did I?”

Nen huffed and stormed ahead. /Why did Shikishi have to know everything?/

Yet he didn’t stray far. He knew better than that. But sometimes it was too hard to be near his friend. Not that Shikishi was annoying or anything. /Shikishi can’t be annoying!/ It was just, there were times when he wanted to distance himself from the blind boy. Perhaps, Shikishi just understood him too well. So by distancing himself physically, Nen felt somewhat more at ease, as if physical distance meant emotional distance as well. He knew that it wasn’t true but it still made him feel better.

It was when he realized how close he was to Shikishi that Nen felt fear. He was afraid of losing his friend, just as he had lost everything else he had ever cared about. It was a silly fear, since Shikishi was more likely to outlive Nen since Nen’s thoughtlessness and weakness were likely to be his downfall. But thinking that didn’t change the fact that he was afraid.

His concentration on understanding his feelings was broken when he felt an unfamiliar gaze settle on him. He tensed, ready for an attack.

Nothing happened.

Cautiously, he looked up and met intense pale green eyes. The blond man was watching him from where he walked several feet away. Nen blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that. Nor had he been expecting the challenge in the man’s eyes. It was as though the man considered Nen a threat…but to what, Nen had no idea.

When the man’s stabbing gaze didn’t leave him, Nen slowly allowed himself to drop back next to Shikishi, using the blind boy as a shield to the man’s scary gaze.

Shikishi turned his head towards Nen. At first it was odd when he did so—as if he could see through his eyelids. Eventually Nen learned from him that it was his way of showing he was giving his attention to someone. He just turned in the direction he could tell that the person was.

“What is it?”

Nen shook his head, then leaned a little bit forward so that he could peek out from behind Shikishi at the blond man. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the man was no longer looking at him. Then he tensed again and his eyes narrowed.

The man was now focusing his gaze on Shikishi…and it didn’t have the threatened look that it had when Nen was its object. The look was no less intense, but it was different…intrigued.

Well that explained it! The blond man was interested in his Shikishi and considered Nen to be a threat. Of course Nen was a threat, after all, Shikishi was…well…he was Nen’s…Right?

Nen felt his confidence ebb. Sure, he and Shikishi were very close friends, but he didn’t really have a claim on the other. While Shikishi had never entered into a relationship during the time Nen had known him, it didn’t mean that they were anything but friends. Nen had been (regrettably) truthful when he had told Tsenxie that he and Shikashi weren’t lovers.

…Did he even want to be Shikishi’s lover?

Shikishi was awe-inspiringly beautiful (though the blond man couldn’t have known that…odd). And he was extremely intelligent. And he was very kind. But he was Shikishi. Since Nen was trying to be honest with himself, he could admit that he had never wanted Shikishi. He was jealous of his company and his attention but…he wasn’t sure that he really desired Shikishi’s body.

/Aargh!/ When had life become so complicated? He felt like tearing out his hair!

“…Nen?”

He loved Shikishi; he knew he did. But did he really love him—as in love him in a romantic way?

“Nen.”

Yes…No…Maybe…How did one know if one was in love anyway? Was there some kind of message that just popped into your head saying: “You’re in love”? Or did one just have to define love and then show how what they felt met the definition?

“NEN!”

Nen yelped, tripped over his feet, and nearly fell face-first onto the ground. His motion was stopped by a strong yet gentle hand on his elbow. He looked up at the figure of his friend.

“Hi ‘Kishi,” he said lamely.

“Hi,” Shikishi said back. “Are you alright?”

Nen looked at him funnily. “Yeah, you did save me…again, after all.”

There was a pause. Then, “I didn’t mean if you were physically okay. You seemed a bit…distracted by something.”

Nen laughed in a blaringly false manner. “Me? Distracted? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been completely alert to the outside world.”

There was another pause. “Uh-huh.” Shikishi didn’t sound too convinced. “And that’s why you didn’t answer me those times I called your name?”

“Uh…yes?”

There was a sigh. “Alright, have it your way. But I’m not going to forget this. Something is up and you’re being mysterious.”

Nen bet his lip. “Shikishi, I love you.” The words sounded odd on his lip. He didn’t believe them—at least not in the romantic sense of the word.

“Uh-huh, sure.” Apparently Shikishi didn’t either.

Nen sighed and then retook his place at Shikishi’s side as they continued on. He caught the blond man’s eye and found the gaze unreadable.

/I guess I’m not a threat after all./