Through the Cracks Ch1 bit – Precautions

~ crossovercreativechaos

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.”

12 thoughts on “Through the Cracks Ch1 bit – Precautions”

  1. Yeah . . . when Kenshin is tired and hurt and not entirely awake, it is not a good idea to be something he might consider a threat.

    Unless you’d like a very fast and very fatal demonstration of just how quickly he can draw that sword.

    (Kerowyn will probably get to see battou-jutsu at some point and likely be grateful for Gensai’s caution)

    Kenshin doesn’t want to kill people anymore and does his best to avoid it but when people are tired, hurt, and half-out-of-it, they tend to instinctive. and between the youkai blood and being hitokiri, Kenshin’s instincts are attack first, do it hard and fast, ask questions never.

    Heck, depending on how out of it he is, it might be safer for everyone else to be well out of range when they wake him up.

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    1. This is why it’s a good thing it’s Kerowyn – she has a fair amount of experience with that “Ask questions later if ever” mindset from mercs and clan training. Elspeth, not so much.

      (Which really, really makes me headdesk at canon sometimes, because back in Vanyel’s time we know the Taylesedras were in “ask questions of the corpse” mode… and then Elspeth gets to walk in on them centuries later and not get punctured. Hmph.)

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      1. This is why it’s a good thing it’s Kerowyn – she has a fair amount of experience with that “Ask questions later if ever” mindset from mercs and clan training.

        *nods*

        Elspeth, not so much.

        To be fair, you’d probably be hard pressed to find one who is amongst the relatives of the Monarch and other highborn Heralds.

        The problem isn’t so much that particular ignorance but getting her to admit that particular ignorance means she isn’t qualified to handle this?

        Kerowyn knows what she is doing for the most part.

        (Which really, really makes me headdesk at canon sometimes, because back in Vanyel’s time we know the Taylesedras were in “ask questions of the corpse” mode… and then Elspeth gets to walk in on them centuries later and not get punctured. Hmph.)

        Errr . . . . A lot can change in centuries?

        OTOH, the reason Friends Across Borders got started was because fic writer was crying foul at how quickly Karse and Valdemar were getting along after centuries of enmity.

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      3. >>(Which really, really makes me headdesk at canon sometimes, because back in Vanyel’s time we know the Taylesedras were in “ask questions of the corpse” mode… and then Elspeth gets to walk in on them centuries later and not get punctured. Hmph.)

        If I recall correctly, there were some leshy’ae Kal’enedral* involved in that situation. (The spirit-Swordsworn wear veils.) So, yeah. Divine intervention is a thing. (As well as the fact that she was directed to the k’Sheyna by their Shin’a’in cousins.)

        *I think that’s the right plural for “leshy’a Kal’enedral”. It’s been a while.

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  2. I’m kinda surprised you are writing a Valdemar fic if you dislike DI and Greater Plans. Unless you are planning a fixit? Those books are awash in god calls. Gets worse the further along in the series you go too. I finally stopped reading at Mags and Amily (what can I say – I have a *high* pain tolerance for series I like).

    Actually the thought of a fixit made me grin. There has to be an evil deity somewhere in that universe!

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  3. Big fan of the FAB series and Valdemar, though I haven’t read that many books (just the LHM). But yeah, there must be an evil deity in there…unless that thing with Mornelithe Falconsbane counted? In which case the bad god died. 😛 I’m thinking of writing a Noblesse x Valdemar crossover though, so I look forward to reading the opinions on this fic. 🙂 I wish you the best of luck on your writing!

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