Chapter Text
A soft round of applause echoed across the field, and one white brow raised slightly, displaying a watchful ruby gaze, its pupil dilated in curiosity. Though it had only been a few minutes, every second had felt like an aeon to the wanderer, who rejoiced at the harmony of iron and heavy breaths.
He'd seen plenty of combat, so try not to misunderstand this as the wonder of a young man sheltered from the world, but this fight was different.
It was no composed and calculated battle, with oafish stumbling and uneven gasps, though it seemed as natural as the waves rolling on the tide. It was so familiar that Kazuha could have listened to it while bathing on a sun-baked rock and fallen asleep soundly. The wind radiated from the hero's sword, and the ground trembled as he navigated the clearing, but most importantly, stars fell from his skin and swept in the breeze.
To smell the stars would make any individual seem like they belonged inside a psychiatric ward, though many claimed it nevertheless. Kazuha described the fragrance as a clean one, with woody undertones and the complimentary salting of the ocean. It was as though every element and every being had composed into one perfume, divine .
"Well?" A tanned hand sheathed a sword, its metal worn and rusted from use. A glimmer of sweat decorated a flushed face, framed with golden locks. "Do you think I did it right?"
It was far from right. If the goal had been Celestia, the boy had been in the abyss. Every attempt to replicate the samurai's sword skill had failed painfully. Yet, the wanderer found that he couldn't bring himself to announce the failure, and instead, he let out a hearty chuckle.
"There's plenty of time to practice, Aether," Kazuha smiled, placing a hand firmly on the other shoulder. "Pleasurable fall, a singular soft leaf falls, betrayed by the tree. You shouldn't rush."
"Bard-to-hire," Aether rolled his eyes. The samurai's musings were pleasant and calming, though they often failed to connect any meaning to the situation at hand. "Are you hungry?"
A fish darted in the shallow water, kicking up a ripple with its fin as it toiled about amidst rocks. Its fins reflected through the liquid, reflecting the sun and casting a small rainbow. Kazuha had noticed several things since being around the traveller, one example being that he often missed what was right before his eyes.
The samurai's blade shot through the air, with a swift arch of wind, the metal point slashed through the water, piercing the flesh. A small pool of crimson diluted the stream, pumping from the skewered corpse of the fish, its beady eyes fogging over.
"Oh," Was all Aether could muster up, having only ever caught fish with his bare hands and now feeling stupid.
"Are you not a fan of fish?" Kazuha flicked the blade up, the severed corpse now displayed in the air, thrashing about as it expelled the last drops of life. "Trust me. Try my cooking, and your mind will change as fast as the seasons come."
"I-, Well, you see-" Now, it wasn't that the traveller didn't like fish or lack cooking skills. But a lump formed in his throat, completely lost in a haze of adoration for this newly acquainted youth. Ather nodded, jaw slack as he trailed after the fish killer.
The Inazuma vagrant was an odd boy, and the traveller could not deny the slight shiver that ran down his spine upon seeing him. His face maintained a constant state of calmness, brows relaxed and a slight curve on his lip, always watching, so carefully. The calm remained even when fighting, and when blood decorated his robes and screams echoed in the night, an aura of relaxation emitted still.
Kaedehara Kazuha was confusing. Once, he'd recited a haiku while on a late afternoon walk collecting sweet flowers, reciting each syllable with the utmost care as though it to be a sacred text.
"Airy break of day
A noble sentiment hides
despite the despair."
It had become apparent then that the vagrant was sorrowful, so deeply masked behind the gentle disguise he wore, and Aether couldn't help but wonder what else lurked beneath. Was he angry deep inside too? He'd spoken faintly of a friend, long parted from mortality, and his smile disappeared and his eyes glazed. Did he feel guilty about it?
"What're you pondering?" Kazuha's voice jumped him from thought, leading him to the realisation that he'd followed the man into a deep woodland.
"Nothing, sorry. I must have zoned out," Aether shivered, the leaves rustling alongside a cold gust of air. He felt weak and inferior when stood beside the white-haired fellow, who despite, his thin layers of cloth, never seemed to falter with a goosebump or chill.
Kazuha eased himself down to the floor, finding a clear patch amongst a littering of bushes and fallen twigs, folding his legs neatly under himself. His pale skin became tinted with a gruesome pink as he pried the long-since dead fish from the tip of his sword, fingertips deep in small guts and raw flesh.
"When one is on the sea, fish is the only meal to be eaten," The former pirate began, slowly peeling scales off as though it were orange skin. "Therefore, it is best to make it as tasty as possible with a variety of options, or else you'll grow sick of it. I, for one, can't stand rushed meals either."
The traveller kicked through bundles of twigs to form his own clearing, slumping down with a deep sigh. He watched the scales drop to the floor in a neat pile beside the blood-stained sword of the other. Kazuha's fingernails worked through the skin, carefully sectioning it from the pink flesh with the expertise of a top chef.
"If you cannot pick
What stares at you from the plate
Cannot be real food."
Another spontaneous haiku filled the silence, and a stream of dawn sunlight shone orange through gaps in the trees above, basking leftover warmth on the pair. The moon rose in the opposite direction, and almost iridescent stars freckled the sky as though rushing the sun away.
Aether found himself questioning just how long he'd spent training the "Kazuha style" today and just how long he'd trailed after his teacher for the day that it might now be almost evening.
Being with the samurai, the man who had not an ounce of 'rush' in his bones, made you slowly unaware of the time too. It could have been months, years, centuries since their meeting. He'd no idea.
"We can sleep here tonight. You trained hard today. Surely your bones must ache," Kazuha held the dismantled fish in one hand, lazily drawing small sticks and twigs from around him, moving them to form a cluster between the two. "We can work on your swordsmanship tomorrow if you'd like. Perhaps we can take on a new approach?"
"Thank you," Aether leant up against the body of a Cuihua tree, watching the fire come to form, the steel blade of Kazuhas blade striking against rock and twig. He allowed his head to lull, jaded eyes wandering across the canvas of stars, more apparent than before as darkness overtook the sky. "You know, somebody once told me this sky was false, and the stars too."
The sound of steel grinding came to a halt. The fish dropped to the floor, mud, leaf, dust and gravel coating the wet flesh in an instant, rendering it inedible. The traveller snapped forward, fearing the worst, only to find his travelling companion wide-eyed and mouth agape.
"Kazuha?" Aether moved to the hilt of his sword, listening attentively as if expecting an ambush of sorts. "Are you unwell?"
"Who told you that? Of the stars and the sky?"
"A harbinger passing through a few seasons ago. Though for the obvious, we never got the chance to talk properly. I'm not the harbingers biggest fan, see?" The traveller let out a small laugh, forced and nervous, as he scratched at the nape of his neck. "If I recall correctly, he was a vagrant from Inazuma too-"
After all this time. After all those letters sent wrapped tightly in bottles. All those hours searching shorelines for replies or days spent waiting for an insignia sent in reply. You've been here all along.
"Kazuha? Are you okay?"
"Late yearning autumn
An intimate, fast friend hunts
at the perfect leaf"