Well I posted on depressing thing so this isn't that. But rather the continuing adventures of Sosuke in Halkegenia. Merry Christmas all.
Louise dreamed, of frozen mountains that climbed higher than she had ever seen. The ice and snow covered them like clothing really, and she almost thought she saw faces in them. The bitter wind blows and in spite of herself, she wished for a blanket or something to cover her.
Then a bare chested man, (A well built, attractive bare chested man, a distant part of her notes) dives off a cliff face, he almost seems to glow for a moment...
Starting out of her bed, Louise holds a hand to her chest, her heart beating rapidly. She had been sure he would die, what kind of dream was that?
In the corner, her yojimbo, she guessed was the best term, slept sitting up. The massive club he seemed to carry everywhere resting against his shoulder.
Louise shook her head, and looked out the window. What would her mother make of this she wondered? To kidnap a noble from another land and still not have a real familiar, it was...failure in every sense of the word. On some level, Louise supposes she should have expected that, to fail, after all they called her 'the Zero' for that very reason. Runic names were usually derived from a specialty of the mage and granted by their parents.
Her mother had never seen fit to give one to a daughter who could not cast magic. Louise can't blame her really, but leaving it to her classmates...
that did hurt.
It didn't matter, she was a scion of the most noble house in the land and...she was completely alone, even Cattleya was writing less as her sickness took a turn for the worse. The Princess was the Princess and had to serve not spend time with a girl who couldn't even do magic. Louise the Zero, how apt.
Louise notes in her head to get the ceiling fixed again, the water on her clothes was just unseemly.
As she looks up for the leak she knows is there, Sosuke looms over her. His massive form covering the window completely.
"GAH!"
"Louise-sama..."
"What?"
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine you don't have to worry about me."
Even if on some level, it was nice he did.
"Louise-sama, it is a yojimbo's duty to protect their charge in body and mind as best they can."
"What do you care?"
"I am Samurai I do not fail my duty."
"So? Nothing is wrong."
Sosuke looks on her for a long moment before nodding to something. As if he has made a decision. Gently he picks her up and begins to rock her.
Louise scrambles for a moment trying to maintain her dignity to do something, but...he does feel so warm, and soft, slowly the rocking motion soothes her a little, and she stops fighting too much. She'll punish him later, yes that's what she'll do.
In a surprisingly soft baritone, Sosuke begins to sing.
"Come now ye young child, rest your eyes
Deny the night all your cries
For come tomorrow ere the sun rise
Your dear family shall protect your lives
Come now ye young child, sleep
And let your father keep the peace
For come tomorrow you will be well
No matter what evil the night for tells
Come now ye young child, to dream
And let your mother make them clean
For come tomorrow there will be hope
For on the Wall there we stand for those
Like you my child, so rest well, I will be here tomorrow as well."
Louise found the song awkard, but still the tone and gentle rocking, gradually shifted her to sleep, feeling for once that she was not alone.
Sosuke looked down at the tiny young girl that was his charge. It was...shameful for how long he had taken to realize it, but perhaps that was just more strange thing of this land?
His tiny shugenja was still a child, and he as her protector had a duty to protect her until her gempukku, at least until he could return home. Yet underneath the sadness he saw tonight, there was steel, hard as any in the Crab, Sosuke mused about her becoming a Kuni, strange and scary as they were, Lousie-sama's talent at explosions would be invaluable.
As the girl began to snore, Sosuke allowed himself a small smile, she was rather cute for a child.
"Rest well, Louise-sama, your yojimbo will keep you safe."
