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Til Death Do Us Part

Intro: In the 1700’s, thousands of settlers came to New England for a new life. Raging Moon (Saix) is part of an Indian tribe that is pushed farther away from their lands because of these new settlers, and soon becomes a slave to one of the richest men alive: Xehanort. --All Organization members are included!

The Nogari tribe had once lined the beaches of their lands gathering fish from the deep seas, believing that there were no other humans out there amongst the sea. As years went by things had been peaceful and quiet, only quarrels amongst tribes themselves.

One day the Nogari tribe had witnessed what seemed to be something moving on the sea, as if unaffected by the giant waters. It was a large boat with thousands of settlers on it ready to explore the New World, which they have claimed as New England.

And as the years continued on the Nogari tribe was pushed farther inward where fishing slowly turned scarce and they had to switch from gathering loads of fish to hunting giant beasts. It was a hardship that burdened them every day that they lived. If they did not comply to the settlers needs their people began to die. It was a cruel way to get things done, but the settlers would stop at nothing to have the land.

Raging Moon (who you know as Saix) was part of the Nogari tribe, he was once a highly regarded warrior but was demoted to hunter after having a child with another girl that he had not bought. Women were property, so it only took a few pots and pans or perhaps several animal skins to get one. Raging Moon, though, did not have what the father wanted. He offered many things, from inks and books to furs and bones. The settlers items did not satisfy the father enough, and his normal tribal things were too common for him. So instead of paying for her—as he should have done—Raging Moon took her as his own.

Her name was Unforgotten Death, a rather tough girl when she needed to be, but sweet nonetheless. It had angered everyone in the tribe that they both had committed such acts without the proper arrangements. And her father would now refuse to ever accept Raging Moon’s offers to buy her. The chief had lowered his rank, and the whole tribe didn’t want to bother with either of them.

It was after the child was born that things really turned worse.

A rather well-built Indian known as Tall Truth had offered up expensive items for her even though there were many girls for him to pick. He had always had a grudge against Raging Moon, and this was his way of paying him back—by taking his girl. The father easily accepted the offer and Raging Moon would no longer be able to see Unforgotten Death.

It was their last night together before things were made final. A full moon hung high and gleamed down a bright light on them. Both had been utterly silent as they were grieving what was to become the future. Never seeing each other…it was something unthinkable.

They spoke softly in their native tongue:

“Raging Moon, I’ll miss you greatly. I had a feeling this would happen to us…only because my father didn’t like what you offered. I wish we could have waited to have Little Owl…”

“Do not regret the past, I am proud that we have had a child even when we should not. Little Owl will grow strong and will understand that we loved each other; you can’t buy that with material objects.”

“Thank you…for being so kind to me.”

“How could I not? You are the only person I love here, along with our child.”

“I…have something I have to tell you.”

Unforgotten Death sighed and let her eyes go to the moon; they gleamed with tears before she could look back at Raging Moon. She was in great pain, she didn’t love Tall Truth and she couldn’t bear to be without Raging Moon. But there was something much worse than that.

“Tall Truth says I must get rid of Little Owl, he does not want him. He has the power to disown everything I have. Please, Raging Moon, take our child in so he does not die. I cannot bear to think that I have had him so close to me and now will never be able to hold him again.”

Raging Moon nodded, “I’ll take him in; you do not need to worry. Little Owl will forever be safe in my arms.”

Unforgotten Death smiled at him and pulled off one of her necklaces from around her neck. She quickly fastened it to his.

“Remember me.”

“I’ll never forget you.”

With that they never spoke to each other again. Little Owl was set out in front of Raging Moon’s teepee and he took him in.

A few more years had passed, the tribe moved farther inward past the vast forests scrounging for good land while the settlers spread out more, demanding their land like savage beasts. They hungered for everything they had, and so far they had gotten in.

Raging Moon, of course, refused to move his tent. In fact, many of the Nogari tribe had not moved from their spots. It was their land that lay underneath their feet and it would not be taken away so easily.

Threats came out to them. Those who got the rebellious tribe members could do what they wanted with them. Many were heard to be scalped and some were taken in as slaves. It was hard to understand why they were mistreated, but in all it brought terrible rage from the remaining tribe members.

Fire Cat, one of Raging Moon’s remaining friends, had been the one to tell all what was going on. He was good at getting information from the settlers since he spoke English rather well. Fire Cat even taught the remaining group part of the tongue so they could better understand what their enemies were saying.

One day Fire Cat approached Raging Moon, “I hear some Englishmen are coming through this area later today. Hunting with sticks that shoot fire. I think we should lay low and surprise them.”

“What are they hunting for?”

“Animals I believe.”

“What if they’re after us?”

“Then we should attack. They shouldn’t be on our land anyway.”

“Who all is helping you?”

“Four others, the rest are hiding. You should send Little Owl with them, he shouldn’t participate in this.”

“I’ll decide what he should see and not see.”

Raging Moon stood up and called Little Owl over. The child had black hair like his mother’s and yellow eyes like Raging Moon’s. He was still rather young and couldn’t hunt very well.

“Little Owl, I’ll be out hunting today—“

“May I go with?”

“No, this is different hunting. I don’t want you getting hurt. Run over to Soaring Dove for now, I’ll come get you when I’m done.”

Little Owl pouted, “What kind of huntin’ are you doin’ that I can’t go along with?”

“Dangerous beasts that fight back with fire. They kill everything in their path and take over our possessions. I do not want to see you killed at such a young age.”

Little Owl nodded, “Come back soon, okay?”

He pet Little Owl’s hair back, “Of course.”

The child ran off and Raging Moon prepared with the others. They had their bows and arrows ready, knives made out of bone, paint to blend in to the tall grass, and their pride. They moved closer to the settlement areas where the trees barricaded the town inside. It wasn’t very long for them to hear the loud noises from the hunters.

Their boots crunched about on the leaves and broken limbs, they talked rather loudly, and both held guns ready to fire at an animal that stood still.

“Not much luck out here. Damn savages got the best of our lot.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and find one out here? He’d make a nice rug.”

They laughed heartily and moved about some more.

Raging Moon nodded at Fire Cat and he dashed through the forest to a better spot, a soft rustling noise which startled the hunters.

“I heard something.”

“Food I hope.”

They pulled up their guns ready to ignite the string that was sticking out. A bird call came from Fire Cat and the group moved closer, the two men unsure of what they were facing.

“Sounds like a turkey.”

“Fine eating…”

Their backs were to Raging Moon. He pulled out an arrow slowly and stung it through the bow, pulling it back cautiously as he aimed at one of the men. Another call came from Fire Cat, and he let it go. The arrow impaled the man through his throat and blood came out as he gagged for air. Soon he dropped to the floor while the other man tried to help him.

“Oh s**t! Savages!”

As one man lay dead the other pulled up his gun and ignited it, aiming to where the bow seemed to have come. Another bird call came out from Fire Cat and the settler went over to see what it was this time, gun aiming right at Fire Cat.

Down swooped another Indian who killed the man instantly. The gun dropped and shot off smoke everywhere causing the rest of the tribe to move over in wonderment at such loud noises coming from a stick.

“Is everyone alright?” Raging Moon asked. Everyone looked fine.

“I thought the stick would do something…that didn’t even hurt.”

“Maybe it’s just a ruse?”

“Perhaps. Let’s take what we want and head back.”

Together they picked about at their clothes and items. The men didn’t carry much of anything that they could use. Their knives were rather interesting, though.

“This isn’t bone.”

“It looks the same as the stick.”

“The white men seem to use this material a lot. Pots and pans look exactly the same as this.”

“How do you shape it into so many things?”

“I don’t know…”

A snapping twig made them tense up and scatter quickly. A shot fired off again just as loud as the first time, birds from above soared around and squawked at the noise.

“Where are you, savages? Come out! I saw what you did!”

Raging Moon strung his bow again ready to kill but couldn’t find where the man was at. Everyone had fallen silent waiting to see if he’d appear into the clearing. A loud scream came out and another fire was shot with more yelling. Raging Moon dashed through the forest and soon found Fire Cat wounded with the settler preparing his gun again. Anger welled up inside him and he pulled out his knife, swooping it across the man’s neck completely killing him. He went over to Fire Cat and saw the amount of blood coming from him.

“The…the stick…it works…”

“Don’t talk, we’ll get you back home and get your wound wrapped.”

“Hurry…I saw more of them coming.”

Raging Moon whistled and everyone came back, gathering up Fire Cat and headed toward home. Once they returned they made a fire and sealed Fire Cat’s wound with it.

“It felt like someone stabbed me clean through with a knife and yet all that came out was smoke! Extremely painful…I don’t understand how they made such a thing.”

Raging Moon looked at the items they had collected, the gun being one of them. He curiously lifted it up and tried to see what all was needed to use it, but couldn’t find anything worthwhile.

“You should rest for now, the rest of us will be on guard for the day. If any settler comes into view we should kill them.”

The group dispersed taking turns watching out for settlers. As the day progressed they had no more troubles though.

A week passed and the group had believed they successfully caused the settlers to stay off of their lands. Raging Moon had decided to celebrate by taking Little Owl out hunting and gathering. The boy needed to sharpen his skills.

“It is best to lay low against the earth, like the way the felines do when stalking prey.”

“The grass tickles my belly.”

“Good. Be sure you do not move too quickly or you’ll move the grass around you and the animals will run. It is best to find paths already created by animals. Flattened sections make it easier to hide.”

Little Owl giggled and crawled on his belly to a nice wedged area where some grass was bent over and compacted to the ground.

“Look, father! I found something funny looking!”

Raging Moon moved and frowned as he saw a trap. It was a metal circle with sharp edges poking up and something in the center. It was somewhat covered in leaves, but obvious to see for humans.

“Don’t touch it.”

Little Owl frowned at Raging Moon, “Is it…dangerous?”

Raging Moon picked up a stick and poked the center. A loud snap came as the jaws clamped down on the stick and broke it in half. Little Owl gapped and looked at his father, “What kind of animal makes those things?”

“White people. Come back this way, Little Owl, this area is not safe.”

They moved through the tall grass slowly to a place closer to the tribal area. Though he was still edgy about the trap they found he wanted to relax and not have Little Owl begging to know what was going on.

“Can I put beads in your hair?” Little Owl asked with a big glorious smile. Raging Moon couldn’t help but grimace.

“Yes, I suppose you can.”

“Okay! I’ll make sure it’s pretty, so don’t think you can take them out.”

Little Owl pulled out the string holding back the long top part of Raging Moon’s hair. It was a vibrant blue color and all one length; long and straight. The child grabbed the front part of his hair and started to bead it with small, quick fingers. It didn’t take very long to put the beads on along with a feather weaved in. Little Owl had the biggest grin on his face, “You have to see it! I like it!”

“Then let’s go to the pond, shall we?”

They moved off to the water area and Raging Moon looked at the beaded strand with the feather. It did look really good for something a small child could do. He grabbed the top part of his hair again and pulled it back, tying it so it was out of his way. The beads and feather fell nicely into spot and looked good in its new position.

“You did very well, I’ll keep it in.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

A shout from someone caught his attention and the sound of a horn echoed through the air. It was a warning, settlers were coming their way.

“Little Owl, we need to get out of this area.”

“Why? What’s going on??”

“Hush for now, I’ll explain later!”

Raging Moon picked up Little Owl and dashed back to the small group. He hadn’t time to even pick up a weapon when he heard the shots ring through the air. Someone screamed in agony as they fell to the ground. He went past the teepees and headed deep into the thick grass areas. If they could make it to the other forest they should be safe.

An odd noise came from behind them and his eyes whipped back to see a horse crying out as its rider held on, a gun in his hand.

He dashed forward, but didn’t travel in a straight line. It’d take great aim for them to shoot him. The horses hooves beat down heavily against the ground, it’s breath getting heavier and louder as it neared him. The man screamed noises at him as he aimed his gun, shooting and missing each time.

They came close to the forest, the safety area only a few feet away. Something sharp clamped onto his foot and he fell, Little Owl fell out of his arms. He made contact with the ground heavily and felt the sharp object pull at his skin. His eyes went down to see he fell into one of the traps that they previously had seen. Quickly his eyes went back to Little Owl, the child was crying.

“Run! RUN! Hurry, Little Owl! Get out of here!!”

“No, I don’t want to leave you!!”

The child grabbed onto Raging Moon and he could feel the tears falling on him.

“Please, Little Owl, run to safety!”

“I can’t! I can’t!”

“I’ll be fine, just go!”

The man on the horse came up and grabbed Little Owl roughly by his hair, another man soon joined them.

“Look, it’s this man’s kid. What should we do with him?”

“Kill him of course, we don’t need their kids growing up and trying to rebel against us.”

The man got his gun ready as Little Owl dashed for safety. Raging Moon screamed at him to move faster, to get away, to do something. The shot rang out loudly and Raging Moon felt as if the whole world slowed down. Little Owl fell to the ground and didn’t get up.

“One down, this one left.”

The man prepared his gun before the other waved his hand, “Hey wait, look at his ankle. He’s stuck in one of John’s traps.”

“Really? Damn. I was hoping I could kill this one, too. Better knock him out and take him back.”

Raging Moon snarled and moved out of the way from being hit, his hand whipped out a knife from his pocket and he sliced at one of them, ready to fight to his death.

“Whoa! Calm down, indy or we’ll have to just kill you.”

“Let Raging Moon go,” he snarled in English making both of the men jump back slightly.

“You speak English? Who’s Raging Moon? That kid over there?”

“No.” He patted his chest, signaling it was him.

“Throw the knife over here and we’ll get you out of that trap.”

Raging Moon did, knowing he had another one just in case, and the two men carefully released him from the trap. He stood up to his full length, towering over them, and he started to move over to his kid.

“Hey! You’re not going anywhere!”

“Not like he can run with a hurt foot.”

Raging Moon went over painfully and knelt down to his kid, seeing that he was in fact dead. His hands carefully lifted up Little Owl’s body and he put his cheek against his forehead. First he lost his high position, than his girl, and now his son. He didn’t have a tribe left to go to, and now he was being taken in by heathen white men.

“My Little Owl…I’m sorry I couldn’t save you…”

The two settlers came over and saw how Raging Moon was mourning. Perhaps they shouldn’t have killed the child?

“We must go, hurry up!”

Raging Moon glared over at them and they both had pulled up their guns ready to fire. He only stood up, though, and moved over to the forest. Slowly he laid Little Owl down into the crook of some tree roots. He covered him up neatly with the shirt he had been wearing and he whipped out his other knife. The men watched him cautiously ready to fire at him if he did anything odd. But Raging Moon only carved something into the tree before replacing his knife and coming back out of the forest.

“Come on, get over here. You hand over that knife you have or else I’ll shoot you.”

Raging Moon pulled it out and held his hand out with it in hand. One man snatched it up quickly while the other held him at gunpoint.

“Come on, this way. John’ll want to sell you mighty quick.”

He followed silently along the path they had created and found the horses sitting there waiting for them. They mounted and made him walk between the two beasts.

It was a long walk, and he was unprepared to see all of the buildings and people within the city. Many people watched as he went by and started to chatter quickly away, most weren’t even speaking in the same language.

They soon stopped near an odd area where people were gathering. It was what most white people called a ‘town square’ or something of the like. There were boys all around selling papers or asking to shine people’s shoes, and there were entertainers and thieves swindling about the crowds.

A man that looked rather haggard and skinny stepped up in front of Raging Moon and smiled, “Is this what I caught? He’s a beaut, I’m sure he’ll sell instantly!”

“He speaks some English, John, and he doesn’t seem to disobey commands.”

“Ah, that’s good! He’ll make me a fortune.”

He grabbed Raging Moon by the arm and pulled him over to a stand. They were up high and everyone gazed up at him in wonderment. He was another Indian to them, one that should have been killed instead of being sold.

It was at that time that Xehanort (known to you as Xemnas) was walking through the marketplace. He had been there for quite awhile conversing with the group of people around him. There was the blacksmith, the baker, the undertaker, some of his richer friends, and even the accountant bustling about today. It was nice to see so many people, but he normally didn’t like talking to them. He was a rather depressed man who had the most money in New England. Money obviously couldn’t buy happiness.

His servant was with him, Lumaria (known to you as Marluxia) that had been keeping up most of the conversation for Xehanort. He was one who always had to snap Xehanort out of his anti-social ways and get him to go out and get some fresh air.

At the moment the two had finished talking to one of the men selling fish when Xehanort saw Raging Moon up on stage. He turned rather interested in seeing an Indian in town. It was somewhat rare since most were killed.

“Come one and come all! John’s Slavery Emporium has a new Indian on the market! He’s from the—“

He paused and asked before nodding, “The Nogari tribe! A strong and fierce warrior! But fear not, he obeys all commands and speaks English! He may look like a killer but he’s as cute as a puppy!”

Lumaria tsked several times, “What a lie! Look at that barbarian standing up there! He looks like he’d murder all my ancestors.”

Lumaria was from a Spanish descent and often rattled things off in Spanish to confuse Xehanort. He was the talkative type that had no boundaries and was very proper when he needed to be.

Xehanort, of course, was a Frenchman. He didn’t like small talk and wouldn’t take compliments, and he certainly didn’t like spending his money on silly things.

“He doesn’t look that bad, Lumaria.”

“Oh please, I bet everything John is saying is a total lie.”

“Let’s start the bidding on this fine creature! Anyone?”

The crowd was silent unsure of whether to bid on him or not. Finally one person spoke up, “One pence.”

“ONE??” The crowd laughed as John exasperated, “I need a bit more money than that! You have no idea how valuable this man is!”

“Why don’t you show us how grand he is?” Another person barked up.

John felt rather struck before he nodded and pointed at Raging Moon, “Show us one of your…uh…voodoo trick things that you normally do.”

Raging Moon glared at John. These people…were heartless. He had just lost a son and now they were using him as entertainment.

“Raging Moon will not do tricks,” He snarled at John and the crowd laughed at the response.

“Come on, you fool, I’m supposed to get really good money off of you. Start acting like you’re good now so I can at least get some money to keep my kids fed.”

“Raging Moon does not care about white man’s children!”

The crowd hooted some more while Lumaria rattled off Spanish words that did not even come to Xehanort’s attention. He was too busy watching the Indian.

“Five hundred pence!” Xehanort shouted before even thinking about it.

Lumaria gapped at him in an appalled manner, “You can’t be serious!”

The crowd went silent as John smiled, “Anyone else? Come on! Does anyone want to take this man for more than 500?”

It was still silent and John counted for five seconds before stomping his foot, “Then he’s sold to Xehanort, our great patron!”

The crowd clapped while Lumaria rattled some more in agony. They made their way to the stage and Xehanort handed over the money before looking at Raging Moon.

“Follow me, please,” Xehanort said and Raging Moon followed while Lumaria continued in Spanish about how disgusted he was.

They arrived at a nice house that seemed to take up quite a lot of room. Raging Moon stared at it and did not enter.

Xehanort turned to him, “Come inside, it’s where you’ll live now.”

Slowly he entered and stared about at all the new things. There was so much stuff that he could hardly take it all in. He didn’t touch anything and stood there glaring around wondering what it was all used for.

“Your name is Raging Moon, right?”

Raging Moon glared at him, “Yes.”

“I am Xehanort, your new master—at least that’s how everyone else will put it. Lumaria here is my servant and takes care of my house. You’ll do about the same things he does—“

“Raging Moon is not your servant.”

Xehanort gave him a rather offended look, “Well…no of course not.”

“Do not think that Raging Moon will obey you.”

Lumaria tsked, “TOLD you he’d be a difficult person to handle! Why did you buy him? I’m sure there are other ones out there that could shut up and just do the job the right way.”

“Lumaria, please…stay silent. Raging Moon…you see I bought you—“

“Raging Moon has no price. Objects only buy women, not men.”

Lumaria gasped, “Oh! What a heathen thing to say!”

Xehanort hissed at Lumaria before pulling Raging Moon to a chair and sitting him down. The Indian looked at it like it was uncomfortable and glared at Xehanort wondering what he wanted now.

“You’re a slave, Raging Moon, that’s how I bought you. Don’t worry, I’ll treat you well. I do not mean to come off as a terrible man.”

“All white men are terrible.”

“I apologize, then.”

Lumaria snorted, “What a barbarian!”

Xehanort waved Lumaria to stop talking before looking at Raging Moon, “You’re from the Nogari tribe?”

“Yes.”

“How far is that from here?”

“Not far. This is Nogari land. Settlers steal land from Nogari.”

“I apologize once again. What was your job in your tribe?”

“Job?”

“Uh…what did you do? Hunting? Gathering?”

“You see this?” He put his hand in front of his face and let it slide down, “HUNTER.”

Xehanort stared at the motion somewhat confused and nodded, “Oh I see.”

“Raging Moon was once warrior.”

“Why aren’t you one anymore?”

“Raging Moon lost title.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

“Raging Moon did not buy girl, just had child with her.”

Lumaria frowned, “Buy girl?”

Raging Moon nodded, “Unforgotten Death. She was Raging Moon’s though Raging Moon had nothing to buy her for.”

Xehanort gave a curious look, “You have to buy your women?”

“Yes.”

“So…you said you had a child. Is he safe?”

Raging Moon stared at Xehanort before looking away, “Little Owl is dead.”

Lumaria gasped, “How terrible!”

Xehanort leaned forward, “When did that happen?”

“Today.”

The two men fell silent while Raging Moon watched them. They were interesting creatures. They seemed to relate to what he was feeling and thinking, though it was hard to understand some of the things they said.

“I am sorry to hear that about your child,” Xehanort mumbled.

Lumaria looked at Xehanort, “Shall I…prepare a room for him?”

“Yes, please do.”

As Lumaria went off Raging Moon looked over at Xehanort, “Does Xehanort have children?”

“Me? Oh no, I’m not married.”

“Married?”

“Ah, it’s like…the way you buy your women. We offer this thing called marriage to a girl before we have kids.”

“Why not buy her with pots and pans?”

“Uh…well her parents probably already have plenty of pots and pans.”

“Then use furs.”

“We do things a bit differently than your tribe. At a wedding—“

“Wedding?”

“Yes, it’s the event at where you get married. You dress fancy—“

“Fancy?”

“Um…very decorative?”

“Decorative…?”

“Nevermind about the clothes. You exchange vows—“

“Vows..”

“Words. And you put on rings—“

“Rings….”

“Metal bands on the fingers.”

“What’s metal?”

“A type of material that we use to make objects.”

Raging Moon stared at Xehanort and pointed at a fancy pin that he was wearing on his rather funny looking shirt, “Metal?”

Xehanort looked down and smiled, “Yes! That’s made of metal.”

“Why does Xehanort wear it?”

“It’s to make me look rich.”

“Rich?”

“Like I have lots of money. Of course I do, so I can afford wearing all of these things.”

“Money?”

“They’re these round pieces of metal that can buy objects.”

“Like a girl?”

“Um…well if it was your tribe with the money, than yes.”

Raging Moon thought it over and frowned, “Why not buy girl with money?”

Lumaria came in and frowned, “That’s revolting! Buying women is called prostitution, and only desperate men stoop so low to do such things.”

“Prostitution?”

Xehanort sighed, “We’ll explain later. Why not look at the room you’re to stay in?”

Raging Moon stood up and followed them down the hallway and into a room. The door top almost touched his head. The room was rather big with a bed and other odd objects.

“Why do white men have so many things?”

“What do you mean? Oh, I forgot that you live out in the grass,” Lumaria simpered somewhat thinking of how disgusting it would be to get dirty.

“Nogari sleep in teepees. Very big and nice.”

“I’m sure they’re not as wonderful as a room like this! Now perhaps he should wash up? He’s probably covered in dirt.”

Xehanort nodded, “Help him use the bath and give him some clothes. Perchance we’ll see how well he knows household chores afterwards?”

Lumaria nodded and pulled on Raging Moon’s arm, “This way.”

Raging Moon followed Lumaria into the bathroom. It was white and large with wooden floors that were polished. The faucets were made of gold and the tub had a silver shine to it. There were more little decorations and flowers all about the place. He still did not understand the concept of having a bunch of flowers about inside the house, although he wondered if they had some type of medical use. Perhaps he’d take some later on and try to smoke them?

“Come on, remove your clothes,” Lumaria said as the faucet was turned on and water came shooting out.

Raging Moon stared at the faucet curiously. He had never seen such a thing before. Slowly his hand touched the faucet curiously while Lumaria stared at him like he was crazy.

“What is this?”

“A faucet.”

“Faucet?”

“Yes. Only the rich can afford running water! Now come on, we don’t have all day to watch how these things work.”

Raging Moon gave Lumaria a curious look, “What?”

“Get undressed! You’re to bathe! Do you know how to wash?”

“Wade in water?”

“No no, wash! Scrub?”

“Scratch?”

“Noooo.”

Lumaria rambled off sudden Spanish as if he was in terrible agony. He grabbed at Raging Moon’s trousers and began to undress him.

“We’re going to get you clean!”

Lumaria sighed and took off his butler coat and rolled up his white sleeves. He moved Raging Moon into the tub and finally got him to sit.

“Do you have a nickname?”

“What is nickname?”

“A shorter version for saying your name. As in since I’m Lumaria people sometimes call me Lu.”

“Why not Maria?”

“Because that’s a GIRL’S name.”

“Raging Moon has no other name.”

“Oh please. Let me think of one for you, okay?”

“Why not call Raging Moon by name?”

“Because ‘Raging Moon’ is a really long name and in this household it sounds rather ridiculous.”

“Lumaria not like Raging Moon?”

“Oh no, I don’t dislike you or anything, I just want to pronounce your name easily instead of barking out heathen words.”

“Raging Moon is not a heathen.”

“Uh-huh,” Lumaria simpered as he grabbed a bowl and filled it with water. His eyes caught Raging Moon’s hair.

“How’s about we take out the beads? You can put them back in after we’re done.”

Raging Moon glared, “The beads stay.”

“I didn’t say you had to get rid of them…”

“Raging Moon will keep beads in hair.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Little Owl put beads there. Raging Moon promised to keep beads in.”

Lumaria gave a sad look, “Oh..I didn’t know…”

He gently pulled out Raging Moon’s hair tie and started to clean his hair. It was rather hard because Raging Moon was absolutely no help. He sat there and asked questions while Lumaria worked away. He felt more like a slave than a servant! Heavens, and when it came to cleaning the rest of him…that took longer than the hair!

“You’re not much help!” Lumaria grumbled as he was working away at Raging Moon’s foot, the final appendage that needed to be cleaned. The water was disgusting by now, but Raging Moon hadn’t even noticed.

“Help?”

“Yes.”

“Help.”

“Oh, you’re hopeless.”

Raging Moon nodded, “Hope.”

“Oh…heavens.”

Lumaria finished and pulled him up, “Well…at least you look a bit cleaner than you did. Come on out, let’s dry you off.”

Lumaria wiped him down as Raging Moon waited wondering what the point was of getting wet when he had to just become dry again.

“Okay, now to get dressed. Come on, I know you know how to dress yourself.”

Raging Moon and Lumaria started to put the clothes on but Raging Moon pushed the shirt away.

“Raging Moon does not want shirt now.”

“What? You can’t walk around without a shirt on! It’s indecent and exposes yourself!”

“Lumaria make big deal of nothing.”

Raging Moon moved on out of the bathroom and left Lumaria to clean up the lovely mess left behind. He went out into the hallway to check the other rooms and found the doorknobs and doors interesting. He was used to flaps and ties. He had snooped around for awhile until he found Xehanort’s room.

It was large and decorated with some animal skins and other things. He could buy a girl with these things…

Make that many girls!

Lumaria had finally finished cleaning up the bathroom and began to yell at him in loud Spanish words. He could only assume that meant to stay out of Xehanort’s room.

“Have you no decency?”

“Raging Moon might. What does decency look like?”

“Ugh! It isn’t an object! It’s a mannerism! This way, you lug.”

“What is lug?”

“Never you mind.”

Raging Moon followed Lumaria into the kitchen where Xehanort sat. The man’s face brightened slightly when he saw Raging Moon.

“Ah…I see you’re almost done dressing.”

“He doesn’t want to wear a shirt.”

“Oh? Well no matter, no one is around to see him.”

“You’re only giving in to his wants! We should force him to obey!”

“Oh please, Lumaria, let him ease into this. He’s had a very different life than our own.”

Lumaria muttered some more things under his breath while Xehanort pointed for Raging Moon to sit.

He did awkwardly sit down, unsure of whether he really trusted these chairs or not.

“Now let’s start with something basic. Raging Moon…hmm…what a mouthful.”

“What?”

Lumaria pointed at Raging Moon, “See? Your name is too much to say! I suggest changing it into something simple. He is a slave after all, we can do what we want to him.”

Xehanort thought it over and nodded, “I suppose we could give him a shorter name to go by.”

Raging Moon glared, “Raging Moon does not want new name.”

Xehanort patted his shoulder, “It isn’t exactly getting rid of your name, it’s just something we’ll use around the house.”

Raging Moon crossed his arms over his chest, “Raging Moon does not like this.”

Lumaria chirped up happily, “Oh, I thought of a good name for him. What about Asi? It’s short and easy to remember.”

Xehanort nodded, “That’s good enough for me.”

Raging Moon shook his head, “Raging Moon does not want name. Name only can be given by father.”

“And your new master, therefore you have to obey what Xehanort says. So stop complaining, Asi, you’ll have to get used to this.”

He fell silent while Xehanort watched Lumaria put him in his place. It was interesting to see.

“Alright, now let’s start with something simple.”

Xehanort put a loaf of bread in front of his slave and nodded, “I want you to cut me three slices of bread.”

Slowly he reached out to the bread. Three? One less than four and one more than two. Why did he have to cut it, though? His eyes went to the decorated knife that gleamed next to him. What was the point in using the knife? Was it even sharp? Half of the objects in the house were decorative little things.

He snapped it into three pieces, rather large ones, and pointed at it, “Three.”

Lumaria gave an aggravated exasperation before pointing at the knife, “You’re supposed to cut the bread!”

“Knife too fancy. Knife is fake.”

“The knife is REAL!”

Raging Moon picked it up and touched the ends. It was actually sharp and he drew some blood, “Why is knife fancy, then?”

“Because when you’re rich you can afford nice looking knives. Now look what you’ve done. Don’t touch anything!”

Lumaria grabbed some cloth and put it around Raging Moon’s finger. Xehanort had watched the whole thing rather speechless. This man was rather interesting.

“Asi, be more careful, will you?” He said softly before moving one of the ending slices to him, “Here. This time cut the bread into three slices but try not to cut yourself.”

Raging Moon glared as he was called Asi and soon grabbed the knife, cutting the bread as best as he could. The crust was pretty solid and the knife was made odd.

Xehanort nodded, “Yes, that’s good. Move the knife back and forth while you’re cutting the bread, it makes it easier.”

Raging Moon did so and soon cut a nice piece off. He did it again and another nice piece came off. He did it a final time and stared at the pieces.

“That was excellent. Now pick it up and eat it.”

He grabbed the piece of bread ready to just eat the whole thing but Lumaria shook his head, “No no! With manners! Watch.”

He picked up his bread elegantly and took a small bite.

Raging Moon stared at them like they were crazy.

“Raging Moon will starve if he eat so little.”

“Who’s Raging Moon?” Lumaria remarked.

Raging Moon stared at him and touched his chest. Of course, him. How could he forget so easily?

“No, you’re Asi.”

“No—“

“Yes! We’re not going to continue until you understand that.”

Raging Moon glared, “Lumaria angers Raging Moon!”

Xehanort frowned at this. A fight already? He knew Lumaria could be rather pushy and annoying at times…but he had never seen Rag—er..Asi in action.

“Mind repeating that, Asi? I didn’t hear you.”

Raging Moon got up and towered over Lumaria.

“Raging Moon has been stripped of title, girl, tribe, and child…and now white man wants Raging Moon’s name. You cannot have Raging Moon’s name!”

Lumaria stared at him somewhat fearful before he looked at Xehanort for some help. Finally Xehanort got up and grabbed Raging Moon by his arm.

“Understand that you have no one left except for us. We are here to take care of you, as well as you to take care of us. You used to be part of a different life, but now you must live a different one. Things change and you have to adjust to them. Your life is no longer outside and being free. You’re in here and you’re a slave.”

Raging Moon stared at Xehanort like he had just stepped on his father’s grave. He slowly pulled his arm away.

“You call Raging Moon a heathen…but it is you who is heathen to Raging Moon.”

OoOoOoOoO

It had been several hours that Asi had sat in his room. It made Xehanort curious. Had changing his name really been that much of a prideful thing? Not that he couldn’t stop his own demands but it had to be done. The townsfolk had their certain ideals about men who owned slaves. If you owned one you had to show claim to them. A name change was very proper to do, and made things seem easier on the owner’s part.

“Perhaps we’ve been a bit harsh on him? He’s suffered quite a lot during this day…”

Lumaria scoffed at Xehanort and shook his head, “Do not get soft with him! These Indians know how to sneak within the mind and cause disruption! If you don’t show your power he’ll overtake you! And then one lonesome night I’ll wake up and you’ll be dead!”

Xehanort gave Lumaria a rather confused look, “I highly doubt that’s even true. No human has the ability to dive into another’s mind and cause them to think different.”

“Pah! You Frenchmen don’t know anything about these Indians.”

Xehanort glared, “Watch your mouth or I’ll strike you.”

Lumaria fell silent, he had said too much.

Xehanort stood up and went to Asi’s room, opening it up to see where he was inside. The place was dark as no one had lit a lamp and he noticed that the window was open…

He escaped??

OoOoOoOoO

It was, in a different perspective, normal for Raging Moon to go outside to think things through. To be inside and to be encased around walls that weren’t normal to him caused him great homesickness. Of course, he hadn’t known that he wasn’t supposed to leave.

All he was doing was standing outside to stare up at the beautiful sky. It looked as if it would soon rain.

His heart ached terribly at the moment. Things were happening quickly around him and he was in an environment he didn’t understand, nor did he want to be in it. Why hadn’t he been killed instead of his beloved Little Owl? The child was so young…had potential…

And now…nothing.

He felt the soft rain begin to come down and lightly touch him. It felt nice, though he’d have to go inside soon before anyone noticed that he had slipped out.

That was, of course, when he heard yelling. It was his new name being yelled loudly through the window.

“Asi! Asi! What are you doing outside??”

His eyes went to Xehanort who looked perplexed that he would ever step foot on the ground.

“Thinking.”

“Come inside right now.”

The rain continued to pelt him slightly, “Raging Moon—no…Asi is coming…”

Xehanort blinked. He had…used his new name.

Asi, without difficulty, came in through the window and looked at Xehanort, “Asi likes outside.”

“Yes…well…you scared me.”

“Scared?”

“Never mind, just don’t go out unless you ask!”

His eyes glanced at Asi’s bare chest. The man still had refused to put something on.

“You should put a shirt on at some point today…”

“Lumaria and Xehanort keep telling Asi this. Why?”

“Well…as ‘white settlers’ we have more mannerisms and etiquette than Indians.”

“Is more good?”

“It all depends on the people that are around us. Now…how would you like it, Asi, if we taught you better English?”

“Is Asi not good with English?”

“You’re doing fine, but you could always become better.”

“Xehanort should learn Nogari tongue.”

He smiled slightly, “I don’t know if I’d be good at speaking it!”

“Xehanort do fine, Asi knows.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Xehanort has patience.”

Xehanort nodded, he did happen to have more than most people did. Lumaria found it irritating at times…but then again Lumaria was always impatient.

Lumaria entered and gave a slight bow to Xehanort, “Supper is ready.”

Xehanort nodded to him and looked at Asi, “Perhaps we’ll have this talk later!”

He moved to go eat while Asi stood there somewhat lost. Lumaria told him to stay in his room for now.

When he came back he grabbed the shirt Asi was to wear and nodded at him, “Let’s get this on you, shall we?”

“Must Asi wear shirt?”

“What’s so wrong with this shirt?”

“Asi not wear shirt unless on hunt.”

“Pretend you’re hunting, then.”

Asi sighed and let Lumaria put it on him. It was really annoying and made him want to rip it off. They went out into the dining area and found Xehanort eating delicately. Asi watched curiously before Xehanort looked up at him wondering why his slave was glaring down at him.

“Sit down and have something to eat.”

“Asi must wait to eat. Xehanort is master. Master like chief. Chief eat before Asi.”

Xehanort nodded slightly, if that was how he was used to eating he wouldn’t object.

“Well…at least sit down for now.”

Asi sat next to Xehanort and watched as the man ate sparingly as if he couldn’t bite off more meat. It was interesting to see someone eat as if they were already full.

“Why not eat more?”

“Remember…manners.”

“Are different…”

“Yes.”

Asi continued to watch him until Lumaria set a plate in front of him and sat down himself to eat. They had small talk while Asi waited for Xehanort watching how much he ate so that he wouldn’t eat more. It was part of the way his tribe used to work. When he broke off from that he remembered going by who was eldest that had stayed. He wondered if Xehanort and Lumaria were old.

“Excellent as usual, Lumaria,” Xehanort complimented Lumaria on his cooking. The servant only smiled, he knew he was a good cook.

Asi stared at the utensils beside the plate of food. He picked up one curiously and then looked at Xehanort wondering what he was supposed to do with the stupid thing.

“Use your fork to eat.”

Asi looked at it, “Fork?”

“No, that’s a spoon. That’s a fork.”

Asi put the spoon down and picked up the fork, “Fork.”

“Yes! Now use it to eat.”

Lumaria had slowed down from eating to see Asi try and use a fork. It was almost comical how he hadn’t the slightest clue to use the thing. He jabbed a few pieces and ate them.

Xehanort smiled, he looked like such a barbarian.

“Try to hold your fork more like this,” Xehanort reached over and adjusted the way Asi was holding it.

He stared and jabbed the food again angrily before looking at the others. They were trying not to smile.

“Asi do wrong?”

“Well..you could be a bit more gentle when you’re getting the meat on your fork.”

Asi gently poked one of the pieces of meat and watched as they both nodded at him in approval.

He ate his meal with them giving him some etiquette tips. It was so odd to have to learn just because he was a slave now.

After supper was done they sat within one of the lounge rooms. At the moment they were setting up a plan for when Asi would do certain things. It was basically everyday he’d learn how to have better manners, English, and habits. Once he began to do better at those things they wanted to get him into the habit of acting like a real slave.

“In good time you’ll be like everyone else! We’ll hardly know that you’re an Indian,” Lumaria said happily while he began to pick up the tea cups they had been using.

Asi watched slowly and sadly. Soon…he’d hardly exist to anyone. He’d be like these people who he did not find interest in. They acted weird and drank really odd beverages. The clothes were itchy and nothing was comfortable. Everything felt so foreign to him..so…disgusting.

“Tomorrow I’ll be taking you out with me to get food for the day, understand? So you’ll need a good night’s rest. I’m sure some of our friends will be interested in seeing you,” Lumaria mentioned before getting up and leaving the area to put the tray away.

Asi looked at Xehanort pitifully, “Asi does not want to meet people.”

“They’re nice folks, I’m sure you’ll like them. Perhaps you’ll meet someone that is in the same situation as you?”

Asi shook his head, “No one is like Asi.”

Xehanort nodded and stood up, “Come on, you should go to bed…maybe tomorrow you’ll see one of my dearest friends?”

Asi looked at him as if not terribly interested, but only brought attention to Xehanort because he was a kind man.

“She’s a girl, very pretty.”

Asi thought it over, “One you can buy with pots and pans?”

“It’d take a whole lot more than that.”

“She must be very very pretty.”

“Yes, she is.”

“Asi would like to see her.”

“I promise you will sooner or later.”

They arrived at Asi’s room and Xehanort bid him goodnight. He stayed inside but did not prepare for bed. The first thing he did was rid himself of the stupid shirt. It was annoying.

Slowly he watched the rain hit the window. His hand touched it and watched as it fogged around his hand somewhat. Then he let his eyes rest on the mirror. He saw the beads in his hair.

Little Owl…how he missed him.

Finally he got into the thing they called a bed and found that it was extremely soft and comfortable. Within minutes he fell asleep.

oOoOoOoOo
OoOoOoOoO

((This is a continuation from the above post!))

“Asi smoke leaves, they are very good.”

“You’re hopeless. Now put the pot back. Do it!”

Asi glared and set it back in its spot, “Why not smoke?”

“My flowers will not be devoured by you.”

“Asi not eat flowers…”

“Heavens your grammar gives me a headache. Tomorrow we’re going to work on correct pronunciation and first person.”

“First person?”

“Yes, like saying ‘I’ and ‘me’.”

“I…and…me.”

“Yes, it’ll be nice to hear you speak normally, though that will probably take months..”

Lumaria gave a sad sigh as he thought of all the tortures of trying to teach Asi proper English. It wasn’t even his native tongue! He wondered if it’d be easier to teach him Spanish? Ah, but then Xehanort would want French taught, and that would just cause more problems for Asi than he already had. Best to let the man learn something he already had an understanding of.

He put his ear to the door and listened to hear the conversation going on, but he still didn’t hear much. Xehanort, make a move or something! Had he froze up once he was alone with her?

Asi wasn’t interested in Xehanort’s affairs, he was busy looking outside and noticed that the moon was starting to appear in the darkening sky. The sun would be completely gone, soon.

“Asi is hungry, Asi hopes that Xehanort eats plenty.”

“I can’t even tell what they’re doing in there, Asi, so we’ll just have to wait until later.”

“Why not go see?”

“Hmm…yes I’ll go fill some cups up and make sure everything is fine. You stay in here and don’t touch anything, all right?”

“Yes.”

Lumaria exited and came in, smiling at them both as they were eating dinner, “Does anyone need their drink refilled?”

Dona smiled, “Yes, that would be lovely.”

Lumaria smiled and grabbed the teapot and poured it in from beside her, his eyes flashed over to Xehanort as if to say ‘do something besides eat!’

Xehanort stared at him and stopped in mid-chew trying to figure out why Lumaria was glaring at him. Did he say something wrong? They were talking a few minutes ago in-between bites…

Oh, maybe he needed to talk more, about something better?

“So, Dona, how are the horses doing at your father’s ranch? I hear settlers are in to buying horses.”

“Oh yes! They’re doing wonderful, my favorite chestnut colored horse had her first filly. Absolutely gorgeous thing. One of these days you should come out and visit, perhaps you’ll find a horse that you like?”

“I’m not really a horseback rider…”

“They’re not frightening at all! I know how you are around new things, Xehanort, you try to stay away from it at all costs. Believe me, once you’ve ridden a horse you’ll want to have a ranch, too!”

Xehanort smiled, “Perhaps, I’d just hate to make a fool of myself.”

“Oh that’s all right, I’ve fallen off plenty of times. Hmm, maybe you can take Asi up with you? Lumaria too, of course.”

Lumaria laughed a bit, “That sounds wonderful!” He glared at Xehanort to say yes.

Xehanort got the hint this time and nodded, “Well then it’s a date. When would that work best for you?”

“Tomorrow? Or is that too early for you?”

“Tomorrow is fine with me.”

She giggled, “Oh this will be exciting! My father has been waiting for you to try your hand with the horses.” She blushed slightly, “He says I can only marry a man that’s as good at them as he is.”

Xehanort gave a surprised face with a smile, “Oh, well I suppose I should get better?”

She blushed again, “Perhaps?”

Lumaria smiled, SUCCESS!

He happily went back in to check up on Asi and found him halfway out the window. Quickly Lumaria went over and pulled him back, only to see he was smoking again.

“Augh!! You!”

“Would Lumaria like a try?”

“No! What are you thinking? My poor plants…”

Asi shook his head, “No, Asi pick from outside.”

Lumaria glared, “Those are still MINE.”

Asi looked out and saw only a few flowers missing, “Will not be missed!”

“You barbarian!”

Lumaria went into a few rants in Spanish about Asi while the Indian puffed on his pipe a bit, blowing the smoke outside. Gorgeous night with the cool crisp air settling in. He could tell that the trees would lose their leaves soon and the colors would change dramatically. It would almost be time to start the traditional dances with a giant feast commemorating their thanks to their earth for providing them well. Not only that, but to give the spirits a warm welcome before they slumber for the winter.

Lumaria came over beside him and watched as he seemed relaxed and peaceful, “What are you thinking about?”

“Festival when color of earth turn, leaves bring memories, spirits say goodbye.”

“I love autumn, when it isn’t too hot or too cold…and the trees are brilliant colors. When we were kids back in Spain my family and I would gather up leaves and dive into them.”

Asi smiled and looked at him, “Nogari tribe normally hide in forest, see who is quiet and who is not.”

“Leaves do make quite a lot of noise.”

“Almost like cracking fire.”

“Oh! Yes, I never thought of it like that. Ever burned leaves before? I like the smell of it.”

“Burn leaves many times to kindle fires. Nogari keep wood and leaves during winter, prepared for worst.”

“That makes sense, we normally didn’t have to have such things in Spain, at least where I lived.”

Asi blew some smoke out and raised an eyebrow, “Spain across ocean?”

“Yes! That’s where all of the white settlers came from.”

“Asi…would like to be on ocean.”

“Sailing?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe if you ask Xehanort nicely he’ll take you out on a ferry, those rides are mighty fine.”

“Ferry?”

“Yes, it’s a different type of boat, very smooth and there’s no rocking…at least from what I noticed.”

Asi thought about it and could not picture a boat, let alone a ferry. He had been canoeing before, of course that was rather easy for him.

“Asi is still hungry.”

“You big baby, they’re almost done. Would you like to go out now and ruin their intimate moment?”

“Yes, food will get cold.”

“Pah.”

After a wonderful meal and more talk Dona went home before it was completely black out. Xehanort looked over and saw how Lumaria was smiling.

“What?”

“Oh!! I can just see it now! You two are practically made for each other!! It’s just absolutely wonderful!”

Lumaria went off in Spanish, after that, and left both Asi and Xehanort staring at him make exaggerations with his hands.

“Buy woman yet?”

Xehanort smiled, “Uh…no, Asi, I didn’t ‘buy’ her. Tomorrow the three of us are going over to her father’s ranch and are going to try horseback riding, how’s that sound?”

“Wild horse?”

“Um…no.”

“Wild horse fast and strong.”

“These ones will do, they’re more of work horses and show horses.”

“Show horse? Show horse what?”

“You show it off.”

“Off?”

“To others, make them envy your steed.”

Asi thought about it and nodded, “Asi not wear shirt tomorrow.”

Both men sighed, “Asi!!”

“Asi not wear shirt while riding horse, only wear shirt when hunting. Horse not hunt, so Asi need no shirt.”

“You are…hard to get through…”

Their argument soon came to rest as they went to bed and awoke early. Lumaria was out and about as usual preparing some food and talking to Asi in trying to talk better when Xehanort came into the room. He looked better this morning, more relaxed and healthy.

“I hope you’re hungry! We made pancakes and syrup.”

Xehanort smiled, “My favorite.”

Asi watched as Lumaria gave him an odd expression, “Your favorite!”

“Yes.”

“I favorite?”

Lumaria sighed, “No, so my.”

“My favorite.”

“Yes! That’s better.”

Xehanort smiled, “He’s getting better.”

“I…am…getting better.”

Lumaria smiled, “Oh I’m so happy! It’s like every time he speaks I can actually listen without wincing.”

Asi glared but didn’t say anything, he was waiting for Xehanort to eat. The man took his precious time and Asi sat there ready to gorge himself once the man finished.

“You know, Asi, you really don’t have to wait for me. In fact, I DEMAND that you eat when you’re hungry, understand?”

“Eat…when…I…am hungry?”

“Yes.”

Asi thought it over, he really didn’t want to break tradition but…

Oh those pancakes looked delicious. They were probably as good as smoking those flowers.

He started to chow down happily, glad that he decided to give up that tradition. Wasn’t like it was that important, was it?

Lumaria coughed and glared at Asi, “You should use your utensils to eat, Asi…”

Asi looked at the others as they were eating theirs delicately. He had grabbed one, with his hand, and eaten it. Not like he was using syrup on his.

“I….need no tools?”

“No, it’s ‘I do not need tools’, and my answer to that is ‘yes, you do’.”

Asi grumbled a bit and finished off his pancake like it was nothing. What was up with these people and being afraid to get dirty? He wondered how they’d do in horseback riding if they were too scared to even eat with their hands.

He grabbed his cup and downed the whole thing, setting it down and saw both men staring at him like he ate a bug or something.

“Hmmph..”

Lumaria winced at his grunt and pointed at him with his fork, “Be a bit more graceful with your drink. Now use your napkin.”

“Napkin?”

“Yes, take it and do this!”

Lumaria picked up his own and wiped his mouth, but he did it gently and quaintly. Asi looked down at his napkin and grabbed it, wiping his mouth roughly before throwing it back down on the table top. Lumaria gave him an appalled look while Xehanort was trying not to laugh.

Lumaria’s eyes turned to Xehanort, “Don’t laugh, you’ll encourage his terrible behavior.”

Xehanort raised an eyebrow as he was smiling and trying to pretend that he had not even uttered a chuckle.

“Go now?” Asi questioned. Those horses were going to get some REAL work on them once he got to the ranch.

“Say ‘When are we going?’”

“When are we going.”

“Soon, I have to finish the dishes and water the garden.”

“Asi…er…I can water garden!”

“No no, say ‘I can water THE garden.”

“The garden.”

“Yes. And no, you’ll behead my petunias.”

“Petunias taste good.”

Xehanort smiled, “What does it taste like?”

“Flower.”

“Really?”

“Flower with bite, good bite!”

Lumaria shook his head, “I swear…if I catch you touching my flowers one more time I’ll take that pipe of yours away!”

“My pipe.”

Lumaria glared and sighed, “They’re MY flowers! You keep your hands to yourself.”

Asi thought that over, he made it sound like he stole more than just some flowers. Hmm, wonder what made him think that?

“I….offered you pipe.”

“Yeah, to smoke my flowers.”

Xehanort laughed again and smiled, “You two fighting is rather entertaining.”

Lumaria gave him an icy glare, “This isn’t funny! Flowers take awhile to grow back!”

“Then give him some grass to smoke, or weeds or something.”

“Why can’t he do that?”

“Maybe he doesn’t know where they are?”

“Hmmph!”

Xehanort shook his head and stood up, “I am finished.”

Asi smiled, “We go now?”

Lumaria shook his head and then got an idea, “Xehanort, why don’t you teach Asi to wash dishes? That way I can get the gardening done quickly.”

Xehanort didn’t like doing dishes, he just found getting his hands dirty rather disgusting. He was more to himself and would rather not touch anything. Though, if he wanted to stop Asi from asking when they were going it would be best to get the chores done.

“Why don’t I teach him how to garden instead? That’s a lot less…”

Gross.

“Messy. He might splash water all over if I teach him how to do dishes.”

Lumaria nodded, “All right, but don’t let him behead any of my flowers! And try not to drown any of them, either.”

“I know how to take care of flowers…I’m French.”

Lumaria laughed and stood up, “All right, all right…”

He grabbed the dishes while Xehanort got Asi up and out of the house.

“Grab that watering can and fill it with water.”

Asi stared at the odd contraption and frowned at Xehanort, “How does it work?”

“You have to fill it up first, here…let me help you.”

Xehanort went over to one of the wells that had been put in the alley. He put the bucket down and let it go down to the bottom, grabbing up water and brought it up again. Asi watched with interest as Xehanort poured the water into the big hole in the watering can.

“Now we grab this right here and walk over to the flowers…”

He went over to some and began to tilt the can, the water came pouring out in streams. Asi made a few noises and nodded, “Watering flowers!”

“Yes, but you don’t want to overwater them so you need to move after awhile.”

Xehanort began to move slowly, watching the soil as it turned a dark color when the water hit it. Asi kept watching wondering how this was difficult.

“I try?”

“Of course.”

Xehanort handed the can to him and Asi stared at it a bit before watering some plants.

“Simple, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

It didn’t take that long before Lumaria came out and watched them with approval.

“Wonderful job.”

Asi looked over at him and ended up watering the cobblestones. He tilted the can and watched it stop.

Xehanort smiled and held out his hand, “I’ll put it away.”

Asi handed it over and Xehanort poured out the water before setting the can back in its spot. Asi was watching Lumaria wondering if he’d look away so that he could grab a handful of flowers. His eyes, though, were locked on Asi as if he was a dirty little thief. Hmm, it’d be tough to sneak them now.

“I suppose we shall get a carriage and head out there now,” Xehanort muttered and fixed his coat and hat before taking his cane from Lumaria.

Asi followed Xehanort and Lumaria to the streets and watched as they only had to stand there before a carriage came up to them ready. Xehanort paid the man and got in, the three of them fitting inside nicely.

Asi felt the thing jolt and they started to move. Heavens!

He looked out the window and saw the people go by. He noticed that redhead beggar talking to that Edmy kid. Looked like he was trying to get a few coins from him. Hmm..taking from a kid? That was pretty sad.

The carriage bumped a bit and Asi looked around at the inside of it before looking at Xehanort and Lumaria in front of him. Both were sitting straight and looked proper and delicate…the way white men always looked. Asi wanted to pull his feet up and sit cross legged, but he doubted that either of them would like that.

“How far is it?”

Xehanort looked out the window slightly before returning his eyes to Asi, “I believe 15-20 minutes.”

Asi wondered what minutes were. Maybe it was like feet or something? Or horse lengths? Hmm…he should ask but he didn’t want to bother with them, especially when they weren’t even talking. Were carriage rides supposed to be quiet?

He sighed at how boring these two were at times.

“Something wrong, Asi?” Xehanort asked.

“Carriage ride is boring.”

Xehanort smiled, “Well if you want to talk just speak up.”

“When will Xehanort ask Dona to marry him?”

Xehanort frowned and looked away, knowing Lumaria probably secretly set him up to ask, “I don’t know…it’s a bit sudden to be asking so soon…”

“How long have…you known Dona?”

“Known??”

Both men stared at him like he was taking off his shirt. What did he say?

“Yes?”

“I’ve never KNOWN her…Heavens, why ask such a thing?”

“Asi is lost.”

Lumaria thought it over and laughed, “Oh he means how long have you been acquainted with Ms. Dona, not….well…”

Asi gave him a confused look, “What?”

“To KNOW someone means you’ve…been in bed with them.”

Asi wondered how he missed out on learning that. At least they caught it now, “Oh.”

Xehanort sighed and smiled, “We’ve been friends for a few years now.”

Asi grunted, “Should ask soon, woman be asked by other man.”

“I know that! But…hmm…” Xehanort didn’t finish his sentence.

Lumaria chided in, “You can’t say you’re not ready, you two obviously work well together. Why put it off?”

Xehanort shook his head, “Let’s change the subject, please.”

Asi tried to think of something else and then brightened up as he saw Xehanort’s cane, “What’s this?”

“My cane.”

“What’s that?”

“The top?”

“No…”

“Oh, it’s a head of a horse, Dona’s father got it for me.”

“Hmm…he buy you with cane…”

Xehanort gave a confused look before nodding, “Something like that?”

“I see?”

Xehanort handed it over and Asi looked at the detailed gold handle. It looked realistic and beautiful.

“Metal?”

“Yes, that’s metal.”

“Wood?”

“Yes, that’s wood.”

“Why use cane?”

“Decorative accent to go with an outfit…”

Asi frowned, “More decoration…”

Lumaria giggled, “Well Xehanort uses it sometimes for real problems. He’s got a bad knee.”

“Bad knee? Why is it bad?”

Xehanort shook his head, “I don’t know, because I’m old?”

“How old is Xehanort?”

“I’m 22.”

“Not old, very young.”

“Well…when our average lifespan is 45 it makes me rather old.”

Asi gave an astonished look, “45? Nogari live to 60.”

Lumaria brightened up, “How do you live to be so old?”

“Smoke good flowers.”

Lumaria scowled, “Oh please!”

Xehanort and Asi laughed at Lumaria’s instant anger on the issue. Though…it was rather interesting why they lived longer…

They finally arrived at the ranch and Asi happily got out…even though the carriage was still moving. Both Lumaria and Xehanort shouted at him but the man was too busy walking around and looking at everything. As the carriage stalled and the two men came out, Dona and her father had greeted them.

“Oh, I see Asi is all ready for adventure! How wonderful!”

Her father snorted, “What’s this? Who?” he fixed his glasses a bit to see what was happening.

“Asi, their new slave! He’s an Indian!”

“Hmmph, ah…I see that. Is he that blue-haired man? Looks like he’s taking his shirt off.”

They all turned to see Asi throwing his shirt on the floor and jumping over the fence to see the horses. Lumaria exasperated into so much Spanish it didn’t even sound like anything was really coming out besides gibberish. Xehanort turned to Dona and saw her shocked face, “Ah, I’m sorry, he’s just used to..um…”

Crap.

She covered her eyes and blushed a bit, “Well…it’s all right, he must do that a lot.”

“Y-yes, it’s part of his culture.”

Oh God, why did Asi have to be so…so…barbaric?

Asi, of course, hadn’t noticed they were yelling at him. Instead he slowly went about each horse and spoke to them in Nogari tongue, watching them turn their heads and go over with curiosity. He had about three surrounding him within minutes, and they all were pleased to be petted and talked to.

“What’s your name? Star Gaze? Very well suited for you,” Asi muttered to one of the horses and looked at the other one beside him, “And you must be Chestnut. Yes, I think I’ve seen your brother out in the wild.”

Xehanort frowned slightly, “What’s he doing…?”

Dona smiled, “I think he’s talking to the horses! That’s so cute, maybe he thinks they understand him?”

Lumaria gave a somewhat displeased look, “Of course..he thinks everyone understands him.”

Dona giggled and looked at her father, “Do you think anyone is going to be able to handle Storm?”

He made a few noises as he continued to watch Asi, “Well…if anyone can I bet it’s that slave of theirs…he seems ‘one with the horses’.”

Xehanort gave a slight frown, “Storm?”

Dona nodded, “Oh yes, he’s our fierce wild horse we acquired one day. Pretty possessive of the girls and very territorial but sweet as a thing once he warms up to you.”

Xehanort nodded and looked back over to Asi who now had two more horses around him, “I suppose Asi would be good at something far stronger than himself…”

Dona grabbed Xehanort and Lumaria’s arms, “Well then, let’s go see which horses are prepared!”

They moved on out, Dona’s father watching from the distance. He was waiting to see how good Xehanort was at horseback riding. If he failed to pass this test he’d find a real man for Dona.

His eyes went back over to Asi. He seemed like the perfect type for her, really. Strong and well accustomed to the horses. Hmm…if he wasn’t a slave he’d rig him in. Ah…but wouldn’t that be interesting if he could get him?

He began to plot.

Asi rode over on one of the horses bareback and stopped near the fence where the other three had been. He slid down easily and patted the horses back with his right hand.

“Horses are very nice. Well treated.”

Dona smiled, “Thank you. Now would you like to see a REAL wild horse?”

“I…have seen many wild horse!”

“Oh good! Than you’ll love Storm!”

They went over to the barn area where a few horses had been saddled and ready for riding. Dona beckoned Asi to follow her and the group admired a giant black stallion before them. It snorted a bit as it saw the three men and his ears laid back.

“Aww, don’t be jealous, Storm, they’re not going to take me away! Now we’ll have to get him saddled up befo—“

Asi shook his head, “Wild horse needs no saddle.”

“But you’ll hurt yourself if he bucks!”

“Asi knows how to handle self.”

Xehanort backed up a bit from the large black beast and looked at Lumaria, “As long as I don’t have to ride it I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Lumaria chuckled and nodded, “He is rather frightening!”

Dona shook her head, “Only to newcomers. Now let’s get riding! If you think you can handle him, Asi…I’ll leave him in your charge!”

Asi nodded and watched the others get ready while he started to talk to Storm.

“A wild horse such as yourself should not be locked up in this place. I am in your spot, too, for I am stuck with people who are not like myself. I can see it causes you great anger and sadness to be here when you should be free.”

Storm’s ears perked up and he gave a few grunts.

“Of course I’ll let you go where you want to go, do you think I’d try and control you? That wouldn’t be the right way to ride a wild horse.”

The stallion bobbed its head up and down and stamped its feet a bit.

“Good, I’m glad we both see it that way. Now let’s get you out of here.”

Asi opened up the door and brushed Storm’s back and mane before hoisting himself up onto the stallion. The others were already outside sitting straight up in their saddles trying to learn how to maneuver a horse. It was an interesting lesson to watch, especially since Xehanort’s horse liked going backwards.

Lumaria saw Asi on Storm and gapped, “Now how did you do that?”

“Spoke softly.”

“You spoke to it?”

“Yes, horse understand Nogari tongue.”

“Wouldn’t a horse only understand…horse?”

Dona giggled at Lumaria’s response, “Not necessarily. Horses react to speaking. If you yell than it reacts negatively, you speak nicely it reacts positively. Asi means that when he talks to Storm it calmed him down because of how he was speaking. A wild horse doesn’t necessarily understand a given language.”

Asi pet Storm’s neck and spoke to him in his native tongue, “She doesn’t think that you can understand me, maybe she doesn’t think you’re smart enough?”

Storm grunted and shook his head a bit, “No? You think she just doesn’t understand? Possibly, she doesn’t know these lands as well as you and I do.”

Xehanort stared at Asi in surprise, “I’ve never heard you speak like that before.”

Asi looked up, “Xehanort does not speak tongue, no point in speaking it.”

Lumaria smiled, “I speak Spanish all the time! There’s a point in speaking your native tongue,” he paused and looked at Xehanort warily before looking back at Asi, “it’s so others don’t hear what you’re saying. In case you need to curse at least they’ll only think you’re blabbing to yourself!”

Asi shook his head, “Lumaria must curse often.”

Xehanort thought it over and couldn’t even count the amount of times Lumaria had spoken in Spanish. That probably wasn’t a good thing.

“I would rather keep quiet than speak aloud,” Xehanort commented on Lumaria’s behavior, “you never know who might be listening.”

Lumaria sighed and started to rattle off Spanish as his horse started off on its own epic adventure. Dona giggled and glanced over at Xehanort, “Ah, but French is very romantic, if you spoke it more often I’m sure the women would come over just to hear you speak.”

Xehanort didn’t respond, he was rather flattered and embarrassed that she’d point that out. He watched her horse trot by him to follow Lumaria’s and looked down at his own horse which wouldn’t move for the life of him.

Asi glanced over and saw that Dona’s father was still watching, taking mental notes on their ride. He led Storm over to Xehanort and spoke to his horse.

“Stop being stubborn, he’s in love with that maiden. Give him a good ride so that her father will like him more.”

The horse grunted at him.

“Fine, a few tricks, but don’t break him, he’s fragile.”

The horses both whinnied before setting off for the others. Xehanort, of course, was absolutely clueless what Asi had just did to his horse. He held onto the reins tightly and watched the horse move itself. Oh heavens, he was terrible at this! The thing had a mind of its own!

Storm started to run and n** at the others to challenge him to a race. Xehanort’s horse decided it’d be worth the whole expenditure and bolted causing the man cling to the horse for his life. He was NEVER going horseback riding ever again.

Storm gained onto the running horse and watched as they were coming up to a hedge. He smiled and slapped Storm’s side, “Jump over it! Show us something to envy.”

Storm strode and launched over the hedge landing perfectly and continuing his stride to another hedge. Xehanort saw the hedge and frowned, “No no! What are you doing?? Slow down!! Slow down!! Don’t juuuummpp!!!”


The horse launched over and almost lost Xehanort.

Lumaria and Dona were watching fearfully making those gasping noises and slight screams thinking the boys were going to be demolished whenever the horse pulled off a stunt.

“Poor Xehanort! He’s not made for that type of riding!! He’s going to be bedridden for days!”

Dona frowned, “Really? I thought he was feeling better! Oh, now I feel bad for making him do this!”

Lumaria had slipped up, Dona wasn’t supposed to know that Xehanort was still weak, “Oh well…he’s not THAT bad, I’m sure if he stays on the horse he’ll be fine! Just a tad shaken!”

“Really? I hope so, I don’t want to scare him away so quickly.”

Lumaria brightened, “Oh, of course not, he’s too interested to be scared away so easily. I’m sure he’d come back everyday if it pleased you more.”

Dona blushed, “That would be rather nice…” Her eyes went to Lumaria, “He’s really interested in me?”

Lumaria nodded, “Darling I think he has it bad for you.”

Dona giggled and covered her face, “I’m so embarrassed!”

“Don’t be, though…I think he likes it when you blush.”

She blushed harder, “Does he? I didn’t know! My father…he was the one that asked me to bring him out here to see if he’d be good with the horses. He’s always waiting for that one man who is so talented that the horses would do anything for him. I haven’t seen such a man before, it’s almost heartbreaking to think that he might not…”

“Say yes to Xehanort?”

She nodded, “Yes! Though I’ve told him every night how wonderful he is, so I believe he’s warming up to the idea.”

“I’ve told Xehanort he should ask soon. He’s just shy.”

“I know it’s rather cute in a way.”

They both laughed and watched as the horses had rounded back and were coming their way.

Xehanort’s horse had no rider and it was the only one that came back.

Both frowned and went off to find what had happened. It was rather difficult to see through the trees and bushes, but they soon found him with Asi close by, Storm off munching on some fresh grass.

Dona got off her horse and rushed over to him, “Oh my God, Xehanort! Are you all right? You’re bleeding!”

Xehanort looked at her like she was someone he had never met, “Oh, hello Dona..I’m fine.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

Lumaria came over and pulled out his handkerchief and started to dab at Xehanort’s head wound, “What exactly happened?”

Xehanort thought it over, “Well…we had turned at some point in time, I hadn’t noticed because I had my eyes closed in fear that I was going to die by the time I got back, and Storm decided to pull a wonderful maneuver on my horse. I ended up flying off, but my hand was caught in the reins, so I just fell in front and smashed my head on a rock. After that it dragged me from oh…I’m guessing that tree stump back there to here before I came free.”

Dona stared at him in horror, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t think that would happen! I hope you weren’t trampled or hurt too much!”

“Oh no, the horse didn’t step on me. I think I would not be talking too much if that happened.”

Dona pouted a bit, “Are you sure you’re all right? Let’s get you back to the house so you can sit and get that fixed!”

Xehanort shook his head, “I don’t think I should move.”

Asi bent down, “Break something?”

“Doesn’t feel like it—“

“Then Xehanort is fine.”

Asi grabbed Xehanort and pulled him up.

“Ow, okay maybe your pain and my pain is a tad bit different—“

“Xehanort will heal.”

Asi picked him up and sat him on Storm. Xehanort gave a terrified look, “This horse is out to kill me!”

Asi jumped on behind him, “Storm likes you.”

Storm began to walk calmly as the others mounted and followed.

“I am really sorry, Xehanort! I thought it would be fun to just watch the horses graze about and go on a trail…not have them race and try to hurt you.”

“It isn’t your fault, Dona…I’m just not made for…anything that requires a lot of strong, powerful things about me.”

Dona laughed and covered her mouth, “I shouldn’t laugh, but you are taking this so well. I would think that in your situation there would be anger!”

“Like screaming and cursing? No, I don’t do that…Lumaria can do it for me.”

Lumaria smiled, “Perhaps when we get back home.”

They arrived back at the house and Dona’s father gave them a curious look. So Xehanort had failed his horse test. Asi, though, what a brilliant creature. Perhaps he should ask Xehanort if he could have him? Possibly buy him from the boy?

“Did you fall off?”

Dona decided to speak for him, “Actually Storm cut Xehanort’s horse off and caused him to launch off, but other than that they did beautifully!”

Dona’s father wasn’t buying it, “Ah, of course. The maids have tea ready.”

They moved inside, Xehanort slowly made his way to a nice spot and sat down. He had kept his composure the entire time which made Asi rather surprised that he’d go through such pain to impress everyone. It seemed unnatural to put up such a fake guard.

“Would you like it if we called Dr. Even over?”

Xehanort shook his head, “That will not be necessary, it’s just a few scratches.”

Dona gave a small smile, “All right, Xehanort.”

Dona’s father came in and situated himself into a seat and snapped his fingers, the maids and butlers all vanished out of the room.

“Asi did a wonderful job with horseback riding if I do say so myself. How much was he?”

Dona frowned, “Father, that’s not very nice to say!”

“Oh hush, Dona, its natural curiosity.”

Xehanort looked at Asi as the man was still not wearing a shirt. Where did he put that thing?

“I bought him at the town square for a rather low price. The fashion for having Indians is not common.”

“Ah, I wonder how many others are like him, though?”

Asi turned his head to Dona’s father, “Like me?”

“Do all of them speak English?”

“Not all.”

“Are they good with horses like you?”

“Yes.”

“Are you married?”

Asi looked at Xehanort before looking back at Dona’s father, “I have no one.”

“No one? Ah, a shame, you are quite the perfect boy. If you weren’t Indian I would ask you to marry my daughter.”

Everyone practically choked at that. Xehanort was offended, Lumaria alarmed, and Dona embarrassed and ashamed of her father.

“Father! Please, don’t speak like such. Asi is a wonderful person in every aspect he holds, but I have hardly been acquainted with him.”

“I was not acquainted with your mother when I met her and we worked out perfectly fine.”

“Times are changing, father.”

“Not for the best! Too many prostitutes and fatherless babies that way.”

Dona shook her head and looked at Xehanort as if to apologize with her eyes. He only nodded back at her in understanding, it was not her fault that her father was a bit crude.

“I suppose that is the main reason you came down here, Xehanort!”

Xehanort looked at him confused, “Pardon?”

“You are going to ask me to marry Dona, are you not?”

Xehanort was speechless and opened his mouth to answer but wasn’t sure how.

“Well? Don’t choke up so soon, boy, you haven’t even formed the words!”

Lumaria looked at Dona’s father, “He’s just shocked that you would bring the subject up so easily in front of your own daughter.”

The man stared over at Lumaria, “Ah? I thought they had probably already talked it over and planned it all out to surprise me. Nothing is a surprise anymore! Xehanort, you are a wonderful man…even if you are terrible at horseback riding…I suppose I could accept your offer!”

Asi perked up, “Xehanort bought Dona?”

Lumaria hissed, “No, Asi.”

Xehanort still sat there while Dona smiled slightly, “Oh, father, it might help if he asked first.”

“Nonsense, you said times have changed, why do I have to wait for him to ask?”

And besides, if Xehanort marries his daughter than perhaps he could get his hands on Asi? A wonderful horseman that could probably get other Nogari members to help.

Xehanort rubbed his head slightly and saw it was a bit bloody, “Um…”

The first word that he had uttered was not audible. Lumaria felt Xehanort’s head and found it rather cold.

“I think Xehanort’s lost a bit too much blood, perhaps we should get him home?”

Dona stood up and nodded, “Oh yes, that is perfectly fine!”

Dona’s father nodded and pointed at Dona, “Why not go with them to keep an eye on your lover? I am sure that will cure him.”

Dona stood there speechless and looked at Xehanort and then Lumaria. Lumaria nodded, “Oh yes, she’s welcome to stay over and everything. Asi, help him to the carriage, will you?”

Asi, without further instruction, picked up Xehanort like he was a small child and carried him out to the carriage. He set the man in and looked him over carefully.

“Xehanort did not ask for marriage…is he regretting?”

Xehanort shook his head to Asi, “No.”

“Why so sick?”

“What if Dona does not want to marry me?”

“Dona likes you. I am…sure of it.”

Lumaria came in with Xehanort’s cane and hat plus he had Asi’s shirt. Dona came in, too, with a small bag with her.

“I hope this is not much of an inconvenience!”

“It is not, you are fine. Xehanort, I’m going to get Dr. Even once we arrive home.”

“I feel fine, just a bit light-headed—“

“That is bad! You will rest and see what Dr. Even can do for you. Dona, you can stay in one of our spare rooms. Asi, put your shirt back on.”

Asi frowned but did not listen to his orders. The ride went relatively quiet with only a few words passed from Dona to Xehanort. Around the time that they had finally arrived back Xehanort was extremely pale and did not look well.

Dona and Lumaria moved out of the carriage and waited for Xehanort to move his way to them. He didn’t get very far before his eyes rolled back and he passed out in Asi’s arms. He had been thinking about the marriage. All he could hope was that Dona would like him enough to go through with this. Not that he did not trust her into accepting the marriage, but he was afraid that he was not right for her.

His mind had wandered to Asi in thinking that someone else could have taken her away if Dona’s father hadn’t proposed the idea….

Why hadn’t he asked himself? Was he that weak?

With that last thought was when the entire place went black.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

I wanna go horseback riding with Xehanort.

This is the most unique AU idea I think I have ever seen! I'll have to remember to keep checking back here when you update. I always forget about the subforums. sweatdrop

Lumaria backed up a bit as Asi came at him slowly, eyes glaring at him. As soon as he got into the hallway Asi slammed the door and turned away from it, the anger he built up turned to sorrow. There was not a day that passed that he remembered his poor child being killed like he was some animal to eat. How could they do that to a small child? Was that even normal?

With slow motions he went back to his place and sat down, fingers touching the beads in his hair. That was all he had left of his Little Owl…

The door opened and this time it was Dona standing there staring at him with pitiful eyes. Had she been here the entire time? She probably wanted to run away much like himself.

“Asi, oh you poor thing, I feel bad for you having to sit inside all day. You must be terribly bored…”

“No.”

“I understand. What are those?”

Asi picked up the carved wood pieces and held them out for her. She picked them up carefully before smiling, “Oh these are so beautiful, I didn’t know you were a craftsman!”

“It is a hobby for all who are shut away.”

She lost her smile again and gave him another depressed look, “Asi…they are trying to teach you a lesson.”

“Starvation is not a lesson in anything but to tell one to hunt.”

“Well…for us it is to show that you are not fed unless you act good.”

“I am punished for nothing, I acted as I would.”

“Why?”

“Ael has a brother that is sick and they need the money, why not help them? Would you like to see his death?”

Dona frowned, “Oh no, I would never wish that upon someone…”

“Then why take back something so minimal? Xehanort has plenty of items. One thing gone…to help one life! But no, here people are taught to be greedy.”

Dona shook her head, “Oh…no…if you talked to Xehanort he would understand—“

“No, he will not listen, nor Lumaria. Both do not want to help anyone. They only want to have things for themselves.”

Dona stared at Asi, “Do you…really think that?”

“I believe it.”

Dona nodded and grabbed Asi’s hand, wiping at the blood carefully, “I did not know they were selfish…”

Asi gave her a curious look as she pulled out a different handkerchief and tied it on Asi’s hand, patting it gently with her delicate hands, “Perhaps I should talk to them? You do not deserve to suffer this much…”

Asi shook his head, “You do not have to—“

“It will make me feel better…if I at least helped you.”

She kissed his forehead before rising and leaving the room. Dona found Xehanort easily gazing out the window curiously as if he could not step outside to enjoy it.

“I think both of you have misjudged Asi’s attempt in giving away your things. He just wanted to help out Ael’s brother, he’s terribly sick and it struck Asi at the heart.”

Xehanort looked over at Dona and shook his head before looking back out the window, “We all know Ael’s brother is dying but we cannot give him items to help out. He needs to pick himself up and get a job.”

Dona stood there silently for a bit, “Would you even call that fair? That Ael’s brother must die just because he cannot get a job? What if he cannot be hired because he does not look good enough? Does this mean that the boy is destined to die?”

Xehanort looked at the floor, “Are you only confronting me on Asi’s behalf?”

“He was trying to help someone out, that is something that all of us should learn from! Why turn him into a monster?”

Xehanort looked over at her and then back at the floor, “Are you…leaving today?”

Dona sighed, “Yes, I’m leaving today. I suppose I have to see my father about a wedding. He will probably contact you later along with my mother.”

She put on her gloves and grabbed her hat, fixing it upon her head. Xehanort stood up and came over to her, “I…will stop the punishment…and see that Ael gets out.”

Dona looked up at him and gave a small smile, “Really?”

“Of course, it bothers you and I do not want you upset before you leave here.”

Her smile widened, “You’re too kind.”

He escorted her out of the house and watched her disappear into the carriage, soon that disappeared from sight down the street. Slowly Xehanort entered back into the house and looked over at Lumaria.

“Asi has been punished long enough.”

“But—“

“No, Dona is right. We shouldn’t drag this out longer than it should have lasted.”

Xehanort went to Asi’s room and entered finding the man sitting on the floor near the window looking somewhat depressed. He came forward and stared down at him waiting for Asi to acknowledge him. As soon as he looked up Xehanort spoke.

“Your punishment is over.”

“Your punishment is stupid.”

“Pardon?”

“Starve an animal and it leaves no trust left.”

“Are you saying you cannot trust me now because I punished you?”

Asi got up and stared down at Xehanort, “Xehanort never thanked Asi for providing medicine.”

Xehanort opened his mouth before closing it, “W-what? Oh…um…well. Thank you?”

“I have more if you would like some.”

“Oh no, it was wonderful the first time but I do not need to get addicted to it.”

Asi grunted and moved out of the room, Xehanort following him. He found Lumaria and held out his hand, “Pipe.”

Lumaria stared at him and frowned before shaking his head, “No, I told you there will be no more smoking in this house…”

Asi clenched his fist and hit him with the back of his hand, grabbing onto Lumaria’s collar ready to hit him again. Xehanort grabbed onto Asi’s arm, “Asi! What are you doing??”

Asi shoved Xehanort back with one arm and he fell to the floor like he was too weak to take the blow. With that out of the way he slammed Lumaria hard against the counter and punched him, blood coming from his lip.

“Put up a fight!”

He threw Lumaria to the floor without much trouble. Together the two were like fighting a small child.

Lumaria wiped at his lip as he tried to scramble away from the crazed Asi. His foot was grabbed and with ease he was dragged back. Asi grabbed something out of his pocket and threw it at Lumaria, the dust getting into his eyes. He began to cough and continued to try and get away blindly, but Asi snapped a chair leg off and hit Lumaria with it.

“Be punished for crossing me!”

He brought his arm back to hit Lumaria again and felt his arm get caught. He glared at Xehanort as the man was holding onto his arm.

“Asi, please! Stop this madness!”

“Xehanort does not know what he’s getting into! Get OFF!”

He slammed Xehanort into the table and bit his arm so he could be released. Xehanort shouted in pain and slapped Asi, “What are you, a beast?”

Asi snarled and hit Xehanort back twice as hard sending him to the floor once again, “No one betrays Asi!”

Lumaria had stood up and moved to a safer place, “Why are you acting this way? If you wanted your stupid pipe I’ll give it back to you!”

“It is not the pipe that matters, it is how you treat me! You have disgraced my dead child and my tribe! You disgrace my beliefs and force your own on me! Asi will not have it anymore!”

Xehanort had gotten away, too, and stood beside Lumaria, “Stop fighting us, Asi, please…we did not…mean anything by it all…”

“You will not lie to me—“

“We’re not! Please, Asi, calm down…please…let us settle this a better way!”

Asi growled and watched them back away from him, “I will settle nothing with you,” he threw the chair leg down and moved to leave but Xehanort grabbed his arm.

“What…have we said that has upset you? Was the punishment really that bad? I did not know…I…”

Asi pulled away from Xehanort, “Lumaria insulted Asi and his child! Saying that he could care less about his kid being dead.”

Xehanort glared over at Lumaria, “Please tell me you really didn’t—“

“I did! It is exactly how I feel, too!”

Asi was enraged again and moved at Lumaria but the man quickly moved away.

“Asi!! Stop! You are acting irrational…just calm down. It is Lumaria, he cares about nothing but himself, you have to understand that—“

“No!”

“You cannot harm everyone who disagrees with you! Sit down and take a deep breath…”

Xehanort got him to sit down in a chair and sighed as he rubbed at the spot where Asi had punched him. The man was extremely powerful…

“Do not be bothered by what people say…what they think does not matter. You know that you loved your child more than anything and that is all that matters. You did everything in your power to keep him safe and to raise him well. If you remember that then it would not matter if I or someone off the street said anything about your child. Remember that…”

Asi glared at Xehanort and sighed before letting his eyes slide over to Lumaria, “Some people should not be allowed to speak like that…”

“Yes…well…we cannot pick who that can be, though.”

“You two are terrible fighters.”

Xehanort frowned slightly, “We are gentlemen, not fighters.”

Asi looked up at him, “I…wanted a real fight.”

Lumaria snorted, “I cannot believe you! Were you just getting upset over something so small just to fight with us?”

“You would not understand…”

“How?”

“Because once…I had a different name…”

Raging Moon.

Lumaria fell silent before giving a slight whine, “What? Raging Moon? What? Is that it? Because of your name??”

“It is much more than that, but Lumaria does not understand a thing about Nogari. And as far as I am concerned, you will learn nothing of it.”

Lumaria snarled before walking off to his room giving up on both of them. Xehanort watched him walk off and straightened his shirt a bit before letting his eyes go back onto Asi.

“You should not have fought with us like that. I know you must be used to doing those types of things when you get upset, but…we could have gotten hurt!”

“That is the point of fighting.”

“Yes…well…if you had killed one of us—“

“Asi would not have killed you.”

“Right…well breaking my chair and trying to kill my servant with it is a bit out of my league of acceptance! You owe Lumaria an apology—“

“He owes ME an apology! If he ever has a child I would never cursed it like he did mine.”

“He did not mean to get you this upset, he is used to shooting his mouth off and not thinking about what he says! Forgive him this time, if it happens again you may…rough him up a bit I suppose.”

Asi perked up a bit, “Really?”

“Yes, but not too much! You have beaten him enough this time to make it seem like he killed your whole family…”

Asi frowned before standing up, “I…am sorry for hitting you.”

Xehanort shook his head, “No…I am fine…talk to Lumaria…”

Asi sighed and looked at the hallway before looking back at Xehanort, “Do I have to?”

Xehanort gave a disbelieving look before nodding, “Yes, it will not kill you to tell him you are sorry for trying to murder him.”

Asi groaned and walked off to talk to Lumaria. This was stupid, whenever he fought before they always told each other how good they had did in trying to murder the other. Here he was apologizing for hitting another man! It was as if he slapped a woman or something! With some loathing he opened Lumaria’s door and looked around to see where he was at. After closing the door behind him he watched as Lumaria walked out of the bathroom holding a cloth to his lip. They both made eye contact before Lumaria broke away and moved to continue what he was doing.

Asi grabbed his bicep, “Lumaria.”

The man stared at him before giving him an icy glare, “What?”

“I am sorry for hurting you.”

Lumaria scoffed, “You could only wish you were!”

Asi glared, “Why are you being stubborn?”

“Me? You were the one who hit me!”

“I apologized!”

“Yes, well you don’t mean it.”

“I mean it!”

“No you don’t.”

Lumaria fiddled with his shirt and pulled it off after awhile, seeing the red mark left where he was hit with the chair leg, “Oh…look what you did!”

“It will heal.”

“I cannot believe you! Monster.”

“Me? If it hurts that much you would have fought back.”

“I do not fight!”

“I am sorry your father was incapable of teaching you the necessary skills.”

Lumaria glared at Asi, “Do not talk about my father that way.”

“Then you should not have talked about my child.”

“All right! We’re even now! Are you finished bothering me?”

Asi turned to leave and stopped. As if this was actually a good enough apology. He looked back at Lumaria, “Would you like leaves for that?”

Lumaria gave him a haughty glare, “No, I’ll be fine.”

“What about a smoke?”

“…No.”

“Fine.”

What a stubborn person. He exited Lumaria’s room and Xehanort gave him a questioning look.

“I would rather deal with a rock,” Asi grumbled and Xehanort gave a slight smile knowing that it went over the way he expected it.

The day passed with tension about everyone after Asi’s interesting communication skills. They sat at the table in silence as Lumaria served out food to them on less decorative plates than usual. It made Asi wonder if it was because they thought he’d attack them again. Well, if he felt like becoming rowdy he might, just to give them a scare.

They didn’t make eye contact with him either as they stared down upon their food as if it were more interesting. He watched them carefully before eating his own food. He did it without manners, too, he found that he should show them they didn’t have complete control over him.

After Asi finished his meal he slammed his fist on the table which made both men jump at the noise. He held his hand out to Lumaria, “Pipe.”

Lumaria stared at his hand and remembered what happened last time he had said no. He stood up and grabbed the pipe where he had hid it and handed it over. Asi gratefully pulled some of the weed out from his pocket and stuffed it in the end, lighting up and noticed that Xehanort even seemed keen on the idea of smoking again. After he puffed a few times and felt that good feeling soak in he offered it over to Xehanort.

“I really shouldn’t.”

“Smoke!”

Xehanort winced at his tone and took the pipe, taking a few puffs before handing it back. Asi smiled and looked over at Lumaria who hadn’t even looked up from his plate as the ordeal went over.

“Lumaria. Smoke.”

Lumaria looked up at him and shook his head, “Oh no, I’m not smoking—“

“You will smoke.”

“Asi—“

“Take it!”

Lumaria took it slowly and looked over at Xehanort wondering if he should even be obeying the slave. But Xehanort was smiling slightly as his thoughts were off somewhere else. Lumaria sighed and took a puff before coughing a bit and frowning, “Oh that tastes horrible.”

Asi laughed, “Does it?”

Lumaria nodded before handing it back over, getting the calming affect over him. Asi stood up and motioned for them to rise, “Let us rest somewhere else!”

Xehanort nodded, “Yes…that would be niiice.”

Lumaria stood up and didn’t even clear the table, just followed the other two to the lounging room where they ended up sitting on the floor. The three of them smoked more ‘medicinal’ weed until they could hardly even remember their names. Of course, Asi was used to it so he was the one who at least had some of his mind about him.

He watched as Xehanort had easily passed out after awhile and Lumaria was staring at the walls as if they were interesting. Asi laughed a bit before shoving his foot into Lumaria’s side.

“What is on your mind?”

Lumaria slowly looked over at him and shrugged, “I’m not sure.”

“Maybe you should get some sleep?”

“I don’t know if I am tired.”

“You are, you are very tired.”

“Ohh….ohh…I..I didn’t know…”

“Get some sleep.”

Lumaria nodded and started to find a nice place to sleep on the floor while Asi got up and left the room. When the morning came he was the first to wake up and check on them. They were completely sprawled out and weren’t moving.

Asi bent down and shook Lumaria awake, “Lumaria, you have overslept.”

Lumaria stared at Asi and nodded, “Oh…no. Did I??”

He jerked up and stared over at Xehanort and then back at Asi, a glare finally setting in, “I cannot believe you drugged us!”

“I did no such thing, you accepted to smoke.”

“You forced me.”

“Pah.”

Asi got up and nodded over at Xehanort, “Should we wake him?”

Lumaria stood up sorely and shook his head, “Let him sleep some more…I need to get some food ready..”

Asi grabbed onto Lumaria’s shirt collar and Lumaria gave him a frightened look, “W-what? I didn’t mean to offend you!”

Asi pulled his shirt up and looked at the mark. It was severely bruised by now and looked like it was terribly painful.

“I will give you something for bruise.”

Lumaria shook his head, “Oh no…you don’t need to…”

“Yes, I feel bad for hurting you.”

“No you don’t!”

Asi shrugged, “No, but I must do something for you to make up for it.”

“No…no there is nothing that you can do that will make up for it.”

Xehanort groaned and they looked down at him as the man started to awaken. Lumaria went over and helped him sit up while Asi just stood there and watched.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes…I think so…”

Lumaria helped him stand up before getting a smirk on his face as he sneered at Asi, returning his pity look to Xehanort, “Oh, are you going to let Asi continue to do this to us?”

Xehanort gave him a questioning look, “Do what?”

“First he drugs you, then he beats us, and then drugs both of us! You ARE the Master here, aren’t you? Do something! Show that you are in charge or else you will be cleaning up after him!”

Xehanort thought it over and looked at Asi, “I…suppose I should…”

Lumaria smiled, “Of course you should! And he wouldn’t dare fight back…would he?”

Asi snarled at Lumaria, is that how he was going to play? Fine, he’d take whatever punishment that came his way.

Xehanort thought it over, “Perhaps I should take him to Dilan?”

Lumaria gave him a curious look, “Why him?”

“Well…he has wild animals everywhere for a hobby, I’m sure he has to whip them once in awhile.”

“Oho! I see what you are thinking now. I suppose we should get ready for the day first before stopping over at his place.”

Asi watched them move on out without even talking to him. It was as if once they were together they were against him, but when it was one on one it was like they were his friends. He did not understand it at all.

He had waited as the two got ready to go out. They acted as if he was not there until it was time to go. Xehanort beckoned for him to follow and they moved out of the house and into the streets, crossing over quickly before heading down the cobbled sidewalk. They waved to some people they passed and tipped hats to a few. So unusual. Asi did not comprehend any of it and he still was unsure where they were taking him. It was after a few more stores were passed that they came past a corner and were soon admiring an interesting house that had a large field behind it. Asi frowned as he saw some odd animals hiding here and there but was pulled by Lumaria to continue onward. Once they entered into the mansion they were told to wait while Dilan was fetched.

Asi turned his head to the odd animals and frowned as they were all caged and looked…well…depressed. He felt very out of place here as these animals were so familiar to him. The foxes, the wolves, the ferrets, and even the chickens that rustled about and made noises to get out. The trapped feeling seemed to come over him, too.

“Xehanort, I hadn’t expected you to visit me today.”

“I was not expecting it either, but we happen to have a very large problem that we wondered if you could solve it.”

Dilan looked at Xehanort curiously as he noticed Asi. Dilan was taller than him by only a few inches, but his build was much larger. He was dressed extremely fanciful, though not as elaborate as Xehanort. Glasses sat upon the bridge of his nose as his brightly colored eyes loomed over them as if summing them up as beasts.

“It depends on what you want me to do. What is your problem?”

Xehanort motioned at Asi, “I bought this slave several days ago.”

“Ah, yes I remember.”

“The problem is he happens to be rather violent and pushy. Yesterday he attacked Lumaria and myself.”

Dilan frowned, “Oh, I do hope both of you are all right.”

Lumaria didn’t respond, only gave an irritated face while Xehanort nodded, “Yes, nothing was broken…well besides a chair.”

“So you brought your slave here to be straightened out?”

“Yes, we understand that you are rather good at…taming ‘beasts’.”

Dilan smiled, “Of course. I can take him to the barn and fix him, though it will be a bit of a mess. Whipping is a bloody thing.”

Xehanort nodded, “We will watch no matter what, just in case he gets violent again.”

Dilan laughed, “You think he can overpower me?”

“He has a powerful punch…”

“Ah, well that is fine, I just hope that the two of you aren’t the squeamish type.”

They exchanged looks warily before shaking their heads as if they had to reassure themselves that they could handle a whipping. The group went out to the barn area where a few horses were standing along with other exotic creatures that Asi had never seen before. His eyes went around curiously at the place before Dilan grabbed onto his shoulder and directed him over to a pole. Dilan grabbed some leather strips and began to wrap it around Asi’s hand.

Asi watched as his hands were tied together on the other side of the pole. Well, this didn’t seem like that bad of torture.

Dilan then went to one side of the barn where there were all types of odd contraptions hanging on the wall. He easily picked up one and checked the ends of it before letting it unravel.

“Have you done any other type of punishment?”

“Just rationing…but right after that happened was when he attacked us.”

“I see. Well, a whipping should bring down his attitude.”

Asi watched Dilan come over and pull his hair out of the way. Curiously he wondered what he was doing since he couldn’t turn around to watch Dilan. It was then that the crack of the whip struck across his back which made him snarl.

“Do you have a preferred amount of lashes?”

Xehanort shook his head, “Continue until you see fit.”

Dilan smiled and cracked the whip again, another deep slash went into Asi’s back. He bit his lip and winced each time it hit him, though he did his best to not shout out in pain. Sometimes he’d feel the ends curve around his side and leave marks almost on his stomach. Twice it hit the back of his arm, a rather tender area on him. Asi pulled on the leather bindings trying to get loose, anything to get away from the whipping. It was making him feel sick, as he could imagine this man beating the poor animals he had forced into cages. With hate he struggled some more to get loose but found it utterly useless.

Soon Asi could hardly stand as the pain doubled each time he was hit. Slowly he found himself kneeling against the pole, head down as the cracking started to lighten up, and then stopped.

Dilan came over and grabbed his hair, pulling his head back to see his face. Asi was glaring at him.

“Hmm…maybe you want more?”

Asi smiled up at him as if to dare him to continue.

Dilan laughed, “This man is crazy, but I’d hate to let him walk away thinking I’m an unjust man.”

Xehanort frowned, “He…really wants more?”

“Yes.”

Lumaria gave a disgusted look, “Oh my.”

Dilan moved back to his spot while Asi had pulled on his necklace and unhooked it, letting it drop and come to his hands. He started to use the rocks on them to tear at the leather while Dilan began to strike at him again. After a few more swipes Asi broke the bonds and quickly turned around.

But it had to have been the worse time to do it.

The whip came down and struck his face. Blood got into his eyes and he tried to wipe it away but felt several people grab him.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” Dilan grumbled as he held Asi down. Lumaria searched for a handkerchief and pulled one out, wiping at Asi’s bloody face.

“Asi, are you all right? Why did you do that?” Xehanort asked.

Asi didn’t respond to Xehanort. He was currently in too much pain and too blind too even think about anything else right now.

Dilan snapped his fingers at a workman, “Fetch us some water.”

The kid dashed off and soon came back with a bucket. Dilan snatched it up and poured some water onto Asi’s face, the blood washed away and slowly started to bleed again. Lumaria pressed the handkerchief against the wound while Dilan sat him up more.

“I’ve never seen a slave break leather so quickly.”

Asi pocketed his necklace before pushing Lumaria’s hand away, glaring at all of them, “I am fine.”

Xehanort gave a surprised expression, “Are you certain?”

“Why whip me if you do not want me hurt?”

Xehanort scoffed, “Hitting you across the face could blind you, striking your back is better since it will heal.”

Asi frowned, “Why let an enemy heal?”

“You’re not my enemy!”

Lumaria sighed, “He really is thick.”

Asi snarled at Lumaria but winced as Dilan tightened his grip on his wounded arm, “Calm down, you beast, you were whipped because you acted out against your master and his servant. Be good and you will not have to be struck ever again.”

Xehanort stood up and the others did, too, “I suppose that is enough for today…”

Dilan smiled, “He’s quite the character. Keep him in line by hitting him, it isn’t that hard. If he fights back then it just means he wants to be killed.”

Everyone gave Dilan a scared expression, “What??”

“A slave who disobeys is better off DEAD. Or you can trade him back in for a better one, you didn’t pay that much for this man.”

Xehanort nodded slightly before he was handed Asi, “Yes…I suppose if it gets that bad I will have to do something.”

Dilan nodded, “If you ever need more help I will gladly come to your aid.”

Xehanort nodded, “Thank you, we will be leaving now.”

They headed back home and got some rather interesting looks as Asi was walking around with a rather bloody scar on his face and a whipped back. Once they got inside Asi moved to his room and went to the bathroom seeing in the mirror that his scar was rather long and went across the bridge of his nose, up, and stopped above his eyebrow. Gently he touched it and hissed as it stung.

“Would you like help with that?”

He turned and saw Lumaria standing there with a jar in his hand. Asi stared at the jar before looking back at Lumaria, “Help?”

“Yes, we don’t want your back getting infected. I know the whipping wasn’t that well deserved, and once you were hit in the face it even made me feel sick. So…I’ll make sure that you get properly healed.”

Asi nodded, “If Lumaria wishes to help…”

Lumaria smiled and beckoned him over to the bed, pointing for him to sit on the floor. As he got positioned he felt Lumaria grab his hair and put it up with a few twists and turns. The stuff in the jar was cold against his wounds and made him tense up at the feel of Lumaria’s fingers swiping over them. After awhile it started to burn and then cool off and burn again. He bit his bottom lip as it continued from his shoulders and slowly down his back.

“All right, turn and face me.”

Asi stiffly moved and watched as he grabbed up some of the goop onto his fingers and wiped it on his face. Asi winced slightly as he knew that was going to bother him all night.

“Don’t give me that look, sugar, I know you probably like it.”

Did Lumaria just call him sugar? Wasn’t sugar sweet? He did not know that he was sweet…

“Why do you say that?”

“What?”

“Sugar?”

“It’s a nickname.”

“How do you get sugar from Asi?”

Lumaria laughed, “Not all nicknames come from your name.”

Asi frowned, “I do not understand nicknames…”

“They’re just other names to replace your regular name. It shows a more…friendlier relationship between people.”

“You are friendlier with me?”

“Yes, of course, I may be mean to you sometimes but I do not hate you!”

Asi nodded, “Then I will be friendlier to Lumaria.”

Lumaria chuckled a bit before standing up, “All right, we are done. Xehanort says that you should try and get some sleep, he says he has something fun for you to do tomorrow.”

Asi nodded, “All right…”

Lumaria left the room and Asi sighed as he sorely closed his curtains and laid down to sleep for the night.

What…could Xehanort have planned for him?

OoOoOoOoO
OoOoOoOoO

It was a bright morning as cascades of the light slipped through the curtain crack to shine into Asi’s room. Just the small sliver had made the entire room seem to gleam brighter than it should. Asi hid his head under the pillow as he tried not to move, his back tightened slightly as he could feel each and every wound seem to pull at his skin. It wasn’t long that he got to lie their in the silent morning. Lumaria had entered and pulled the curtains wide open, the room turned extremely bright and made Asi groan as he could tell his eyes were going to hurt if he moved his head at all.

“Asi, time to get up! You’re normally up in the morning, what’s wrong with you?”

Asi shifted in his spot and let his eyes loom over to Lumaria, they squinted as he was even wearing a white shirt which magnified in the sunlight, “Asi does not want to get up.”

“Grammar, Asi!”

“I feel pain.”

Lumaria ripped his blankets from him and slapped his hip, “Come on, time to wake up.”

Asi groaned as he tried to move from his position but found the pain on his back too much. He settled back down and watched as Lumaria loomed over him.

“Asi!”

Asi grabbed Lumaria by his collar and pulled him down hard making him fall onto the bed.

“Asi!!!”

Lumaria struggled to get up as Asi threw blankets over him. Xehanort entered wondering what the commotion was about and saw what was going on.

“What are you two doing?”

“Sleeping,” Asi commented, “you should join.”

Xehanort smiled slightly as Lumaria had continued to struggle while Asi kept entangling his poor servant in the blankets, “I believe you should be getting up and joining us in eating; we have quite a lot of things to do today.”

Asi sat up finally as he stared at Xehanort, “What are we doing?”

Lumaria pulled the blankets from him and fixed his hair, “Xehanort is taking you out for a bit…to get out of my hair.”

Asi grabbed Lumaria’s hair, “Asi is not in Lumaria’s hair. I would not fit.”

Xehanort smiled at how Asi switched his talking on and off, “It’s a figure of speech, Asi.”

Lumaria nodded before glaring, “Are you going to let go of my hair?”

Asi played with it a bit, “Hair is thick. Would bead very well.”

“What?”

Asi pointed at the beads in his hair that Little Owl had put in. Lumaria nodded in understanding, “Oh I see…”

Asi slowly got up and rubbed his arm where it had been whipped, “I hurt.”

Xehanort nodded, “I could believe it. Perhaps Lumaria will help you cover your wounds after we have some breakfast?”

Lumaria got up and straightened his clothes and started to fix the bed, “I suppose I can.”

Asi moved to the door, “Then let us eat!”

Lumaria finished making the bed and came to follow him, “Calm down. You act like such a child at times, you know that?”

Asi thought it over, “Child…”

He took a seat and pointed at the broken chair, “Should I fix that?”

Xehanort entered and sat down, “Oh…no, I’ll have another one made.”

Lumaria served out the food and Asi tried to remember his manners. The whipping had made him somewhat afraid in a way. It wasn’t just because it had been painful…but because of what Dilan had said afterwards. He could be killed for misbehaving. That was the last thing he wanted…to just die without living for his son and his friends…for his tribe.

For his love, Unforgotten Death.

Asi ate without talking, completely ignoring the other two around him as he thought about his tribe. He wanted to show these two what being a Nogari was like. Shouldn’t they experience his culture at some point since he would have to adopt theirs for the rest of his life?

And he was going to live longer than them thanks to his smoking habits.

Xehanort noticed Asi’s silent behavior. He was so used to the table area being chatty ever since they got him; he was somewhat put off by his good manners. Was it sad that he wanted Asi to misbehave? Lumaria would probably throw a fit if he said anything, though. Especially since Asi was acting so WELL right now. Tsk, why did he care what Lumaria thought? It was his household, after all.

“I haven’t told you what we’re doing yet, Asi, but I believe it’s something that you will enjoy very much!”

Asi snapped from his thoughts and looked over at Xehanort, “What are we doing?”

“I’m taking you hunting with a friend of mine.”

Asi brightened, “Hunting! I am a good hunter.”

Xehanort smiled, “Maybe you can show us some of your tricks?”

“And Xehanort will show me to use gun?”

Xehanort blinked. Asi wanted to be taught how to shoot things?

“Well I suppose I could show you…though guns are very dangerous to fool around with.”

Asi nodded, “I know…”

A gun killed his child; he knew they could kill others.

Xehanort remembered that fact and nodded slightly; almost forget how sensitive the subject was for Asi. But he didn’t want to say anything, just let it go.

“So what normally do you hunt with?”

Asi shrugged, “Depends on what is being hunted.”

Xehanort thought it over, “So you use different things if you’re hunting a deer than if you’re hunting ohh…bison?”

Asi paused in eating before looking at Xehanort, “Nogari do not hunt bison.”

“You don’t?”

“Bison in this area are sacred, as is eagle to Harte tribe.”

“Oh, so each tribe has its own animal they worship?”

Asi nodded, “Yes, but we hold all things dear to us. You have things to worship to, yes?”

Xehanort nodded, “Yes, we go to church to pray to God.”

Lumaria frowned, “Which reminds me, Xehanort, you need to visit the church more often! You should not be shirking your duties in visiting God. And perhaps get Asi over there to be baptized? Oh, and then maybe we can finally get him to be a bit more gentlemanly? Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we could take him to church on Sundays?”

Xehanort laughed slightly, “I’m sorry that I am not a holy man as yourself, but I never feel good enough to leave the house to visit God.”

Lumaria ticked, “What a terrible thing to say. It must be God’s punishment on you for not visiting him.”

“Well if God wants me to visit he’d stop causing me such grief in trying to get to church.”

Asi watched them argue before setting his utensils down, “I am finished.”

Xehanort nodded, “Good, now what do you normally wear when you go hunting?”

Asi smirked, “Depends on the hunting!”

Xehanort laughed, “What if I said we were just going out for fun and not hunting anything in particular?”

Asi frowned as he thought it over, “Then I would not wear good hunting shirt.”

Lumaria laughed, “Oh heavens.”

“What do you wear when hunting?” Asi asked Xehanort this time.

Xehanort shrugged, “Oh…nothing too fancy, something easier to walk in.”

Asi nodded, “So without clothes on?”

Xehanort gapped, “Heavens no! I meant the same style of clothing just less decorative.”

Asi frowned, “Oh.”

Lumaria giggled a bit, “Please don’t tell me you actually hunt without clothes on!”

Asi smiled, “Depends on the hunt.”

Lumaria shook his head and picked up the dishes, starting to wash them carefully, “Well I hope you don’t do it this time, I would hate to hear the stories from everyone in town.”

Asi thought it over. Could they be bad stories if all he did was hunt? These people were weird.

Xehanort stood up, “Get ready, Asi, and come back out when you are done.”

Asi got up and went to change. It wasn’t long for him to come back out ready and followed Xehanort out the door, Lumaria waving goodbye to them. They didn’t have to go very far until they met up with Rould. Asi stared at the Englishman as he had not seen him before.

“So, Xehanort, it’s about time we got this hunting trip in. Who’s this man with you?”

Xehanort looked at his slave, “Asi, he’s a Nogari Indian I bought awhile back.”

Rould looked him up and down and clicked his tongue a few times as he saw some of the backlashes, “Is he troublesome?”

“Not terribly, he asked for more lashes actually…”

Rould tilted Asi’s chin down, “Did he ask for that, too?”

“Oh that one was on accident.”

Rould smiled a bit before tilting his head, “Well let’s get going, shall we? Asi, is it? I’m Rould, one of the richest fellows you’ll ever meet. Ah, not as handsomely rich as your Frenchman here, but slowly getting there, eh?”

Asi looked at Rould curiously, “Rich with coins?”

Rould laughed, “What else would I be rich with?”

Asi frowned, “There are many things you can have that make you rich.”

“Really. What, perhaps, would that be?”

“Character.”

“Rich with character. Hah, I like how this slave thinks. Is he a good hunter?”

Xehanort looked at Asi, “He tells me that he is.”

Rould gave a smug smile, “Really? All right, Asi, want to have a little bet?”

Asi brightened, “Bet?”

“Yes, a little one on one. If I beat you in finding and killing the first animal then you have to do a small job for me, but if you beat me in finding and killing the first animal—“

“I can have your gun?”

Rould laughed, “Ooooh, I like this risk! All right, Asi, but you better be prepared, I’m a great hunter myself.”

Xehanort shook his head at those two. He was a terrible hunter, that was why he always had Rould come with him. The man was definitely a sharpshooter.

“So what will you be using to take down an animal, Asi?”

Asi looked around as they had walked the distance into the forested area, knocking on some of the trees and touching the low branches, “Bow and arrow.”

“And I’m assuming you’ll be making them as you do not have them with you?”

Asi shook his head as he knocked on another tree before climbing up it and coming back down with a bow and some arrows, “Well placed by tribe.”

Rould laughed, “Tricky, I see. You’ll definitely be quite the challenge.”

Asi shrugged as he looked around at the ground and found a nice mud patch before getting down into it. Xehanort frowned in disgust as Asi was coating himself with mud from head to toe. Even Rould watched in surprise.

“Mind I ask what you’re doing?” Rould mumbled.

“Preparing for hunt.”

Asi got out as he was now the same color as the mud, with a few patches of blue hair showing. He grabbed up some dirt and muttered in his native tongue while tossing the dirt all around him and then over his shoulders. After that he nodded at Rould that he was ready.

“All right, slave, I suppose Xehanort will be our marker. Return to him with your animal.”

Xehanort watched as the two went off. This could be rather entertaining. He wondered who would win? Not that he didn’t believe Asi could do it, but Rould always had some type of trick up his sleeve. He wasn’t really one for losing.

Asi slinked through the winding grasses and intertwined trees, past lush flowers and bushes filled with ripened berries. With experienced movements he got down like an animal and slipped through the forest like an animal. His eyes watched for animal tracks or droppings and soon spotted what he was searching for. A paw print. He came forward and touched it noticing the mud was soft, the print was fresh. Asi continued onward, quietly moving like a panther in the jungle. Soon he stopped as he had come to a clearing within the forest and he ducked into the prairie grass. He strung an arrow silently and moved upward ever so slightly, eyes hardened as they caught his prey. The bow made a soft squeaking noise as he pulled back, but it was so quiet the animal did not notice. As it reached full length Asi breathed in deeply and held his breath before letting it go. With precision and accuracy the arrow sliced through the air and struck the animal down completely paralyzing it. Asi went over and watched as it twitched slightly before he pulled the arrow out and replaced it with the others after quickly wiping it clean.

A thunderous noise went off in the woods and Asi grabbed up his kill, heading back to Xehanort curiously wondering if Rould had even killed anything. He had returned first and noticed Xehanort was by himself curiously looking in the direction that the noise had gone off.

“Back already?”

Asi nodded solemnly as he had his animal slung over him; it was a wolf. It seemed to be the runt of the pack just because of how light it was. Asi wondered whether its group had abandoned it.

They waited for several more minutes before Rould came back empty-handed, “Seems you beat me.”

Asi nodded, “Did you not catch anything?”

“Shot a ‘coon but it vanished off somewhere. Probably dead by now wherever it crawled off to.”

“You should get it; it is wasteful to kill animals without using them.”

Rould smiled, “If you find it I’ll let you have it.”

Asi frowned, “I do not want to take a kill that is not mine, it is not right.”

“Say it’s a gift from me to you?”

Asi glared at this, “Gift? Animal as gift?”

Rould began to lose his charming air, “Is there something wrong with that?”

“Shows that you think I cannot hunt well! Very rude.”

Xehanort shook his head, “He doesn’t mean that, he is saying that he’s giving it to you because he likes you.”

Asi glared a bit more before looking back at Rould, “Why not make a bet?”

Rould smirked, “What kind of bet?”

“If I find animal first then I get that,” Asi pointed at Rould’s decorative brooch he was wearing.

Rould looked at it before smiling, “And if I get it first then you’ll have to make me something nice out of that wolf of yours.”

Asi nodded, “Deal.”

He set the wolf down at Xehanort’s feet before grabbing up some more dirt and praying a bit. Rould gave a small snort as he handed Xehanort his gun and started to walk off to find the raccoon.

Asi finished his prayer and walked off to find where Rould had gone and noticed where the man had shot a tree. He pointed, “You make that?”

Rould nodded, “Yup. He’s around here, chap.”

Asi looked at the ground and then slowly up the tree seeing where the blood was at. He winced slightly as he noticed a few tufts of hair on a branch. It looked like the raccoon jumped to a different tree. His eyes went to the tree it most likely would have gone to. Carefully he walked over and continued to look at the tree while Rould poked around bushes and looked up the tree before poking at the ground again.

Asi paused before he thought he saw something. He grabbed onto the tree and started to climb, grabbing onto a limb and hoisted himself up.

Asi saw the raccoon sitting there in the branch beside him. His arm reached out slightly and it hissed angrily, blood gushing from it. Asi pulled back and caught his balance before wincing as the stretch made his back hurt. Stupid lash marks…

“You find it, slave?”

Asi turned his head down to Rould, “Yes, it is still alive.”

“Hmm, thought I got a better shot on the thing than that. Ah oh well. Maybe we should leave it—“

“Animal is suffering; you cannot leave it like this.”

“All right, all right, kill it then.”

Asi sighed and turned back, though now the raccoon was already dead. He carefully moved over to the right branch and snapped off a twig from above to poke it just in case. After a few pokes he picked it up by its tail and noticed it definitely had been shot. The feeling made him sick as he remembered Little Owl.

“Come on down.”

Asi tried to push the thoughts away as he slid down the tree and held out the animal for Rould, “Your kill.”

Rould stared at the blood thing and gave a somewhat disgusted look, “Hold on to it for me, I uh…still have to give you my brooch and all.”

“And gun!”

Rould glared, “Yes, that too.”

They made their way back to Xehanort who noticed the bloody raccoon, “Did Asi win again?”

Rould nodded, “Yes…of course. He’s quite the hunter, I greatly underestimated him.”

Asi nodded, “I have gun and brooch now.”

Rould undid his brooch and handed it to Asi, “Yes, you can have them now.”

Xehanort frowned slightly, “Oh do you really want his gun, Asi, it is a bit dangerous for you to have this weapon…um…since you don’t know how to use it.”

Asi grunted, “You teach me how to shoot.”

“Oh I’m terrible at using guns, though.”

Rould laughed, “Happens when you’re French.”

Xehanort gave an offended look, “That was unnecessary.”

“Oh it was only a joke, don’t get so sour. Asi, I’ll teach you how to shoot if you let me keep my gun.”

Asi thought about it and nodded, “Okay.”

It wasn’t that hard of a session and Asi picked up firing skills quickly, though each time he fired at something he could feel a little bit of himself fall apart. Sadness seemed to wear on him before Rould even called it quits.

“Perhaps that’s enough?” Xehanort said as he had run low on gunpowder.

“Yes, I think I’m out of bullets,” Rould mumbled as he had none left.

Asi didn’t say anything, just handed the gun over before picking up his wolf, “Do not forget your raccoon.”

Rould picked up the mangled thing, “Oh yes, could hardly imagine forgetting this thing.”

They walked back with their kills before they bid Rould good bye.

“Rould is interesting man.”

“Isn’t he? I am surprised you beat him both times, normally he never loses.”

“Rould is not smart hunter, he does not think of what he does.”

“What do you mean?”

“Gun makes loud noises, makes all animals run. To hunt one must be quiet and sneaky.”

Xehanort smiled and brought Asi over to a small wooden shack on the side of the house. They hung up the animal to let the blood pool out.

“Now you really need to bathe, you’re covered in mud.”

Asi looked at the mud on himself and smiled, “Good hunter.”

Xehanort shook his head and came in only to find Lumaria with Dona over. He looked at Lumaria as if to say ‘why is she over here??’ but Lumaria didn’t get the look as he was too busy exclaiming at Asi’s appearance.

“Heavens what have you done to yourself, man!? You’re absolutely covered in filth! No no, come outside we have to get some of that off first before you come inside!”

Dona started to laugh at how Lumaria pushed Asi outside. Xehanort only bowed his head to her slightly almost embarrassed that she was seeing him in hunting gear. It wasn’t like he looked terrible in it, either.

Asi grumbled as Lumaria had pushed him to the well and started to get water.

“What were you thinking??”

“I was hunting.”

“You muck yourself over and call that hunting?”

“I caught wolf for us to eat.”

“How wonderful. You didn’t have to play in the mud to get a wolf!”

“It is to cover scent and blend into surrounding area. Lumaria has not hunted before?”

“Not like you! Heavens, you’re so grotesque, you know that?”

Asi shivered as the cold water was thrown at him, “If you do not want me to hunt then tell Xehanort not to take me hunting!”

“I will tell him more than that!” Lumaria dropped the water on Asi’s head and he shivered some more, “You’re like a dog, you know that? You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

Asi glared, “I am not trouble! Lumaria does not appreciate my help.”

“You are hardly helpful.”

Another bucket of water hit him and this time he let his teeth chatter which only made Lumaria smile.

“Is Lumaria done?”

“Hold on,” Lumaria went inside and after awhile came back out with a towel, “Take your clothes off and we’ll go straight to your room and get you thoroughly washed. Ugh.”

Asi looked around, “Take clothes off out here?”

“Oh now what, are you embarrassed?”

Asi thought it over before shaking his head and stripped. Lumaria quickly covered him with a towel and pointed for Asi to pick up his dirty clothes.

“This way, come on.”

Asi went inside and Dona looked over at him before she covered her face, “Oh my!”

Lumaria pushed Asi to go faster, “Sorry, Dona!”

Asi slowed down, “Why is Dona hiding her face?”

“Keep moving, you ogre!”

Xehanort had looked away as the whole incident occurred until the door closed, “That was intriguing.”

Dona finally looked up, “Oh my, that was so embarrassing!”

“At least he was covered.”

“But still, that was something a woman should never see unless it is her husband.”

They looked at each other before looking away slightly embarrassed on the topic. They heard a few screams from Lumaria before Xehanort decided to speak up, “When should I come over for the wedding arrangements?”

“Oh…well…if you had time tonight perhaps? And then you could stay over?”

Xehanort saw her rosy cheeks and smiled, “I should talk to Lumaria and Asi once they get out here. Let them know that I will be gone.”

“You could bring them along with.”

“I would hate to have Asi…pull something odd on your parents, or have Lumaria rearranging your furniture. I think leaving the two here would be fine.”

Dona smiled, “All right.”

As this quiet conversation was going on Asi and Lumaria were having quite the wonderful one themselves.

“Asi! Stop moving so much, you barbarian!”

“Why do you say such things?”

“Because I can!”

“You are a very crude man.”

“Oh am I? Coming from the person who has no modesty.”

Asi snarled as Lumaria scrubbed his back, “Painful!”

“Good!”

Asi grabbed Lumaria’s hand roughly and made the servant give him a surprised look, “Don’t.”

Lumaria tried to pull his arm away but Asi’s grip was too strong, “Let me go!”

“Why does Lumaria not like me?”

He had said it in a whisper as if someone was outside listening to them. Lumaria opened his mouth but shook his head, “I don’t dislike you.”

“Why so mean?”

“It’s in my nature, I suppose.”

“Your nature is odd.”

Lumaria scowled a bit before shrugging, “You should learn how to do this yourself; you’re a full grown man.”

Asi smiled, “But you are good at it.”

Lumaria gasped and threw the soap at him, “I’m finished with you.”

Asi kept his smirk on, “I am not clean yet!”

“Clean yourself you terrible brute!”

“Why? You started this you finish it.”

Lumaria’s eyes widened as they landed on him, “I cannot believe you.”

Asi got up, “Well then I am done—“

Lumaria pushed him back down, “Okay, we will finish this! But from now on you will bathe yourself! Got it?”

Asi nodded and held out the soap for Lumaria to continue. Lumaria sighed and took it before working on Asi again.

After Asi was cleaned and clothed they came out to join the other two who were chatting softly. Asi had actually walked out without his shirt on, Lumaria still chasing him to get it on.

“Asi you need to cover up in front of Dona!”

Asi came in and the girl giggled slightly at how he was only half dressed before she noticed the scar on his face. How did she miss it earlier?

“Oh my! Asi, how did you get that scar on your face?”

Asi sat down before trying to register what she meant, “Same as I got the others.”

She got up and went over and noticed he did have them all over his back. With a few gasping breaths she glared over at Xehanort, “You beat him?”

Xehanort nodded, “We had Dilan do it.”

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“He was misbehaving,” his eyes landed on the broken chair in the corner of the room before looking back at her, “so we set him straight.”

She gave him a disbelieving look, “Because he broke a chair?”

Lumaria smiled, “He broke the leg off so he could beat me with it.”

Dona gave an astonished face, “You wouldn’t really do such a thing, would you, Asi?”

Asi thought it over, “I already did.”

She shook her finger, “You shouldn’t do such things! Look at yourself, you poor creature. That scar is not going to heal very well,” her hand touched his chin as she stared at the one on his face.

Xehanort watched and felt almost jealous that she was treating him so wonderfully. Why was he getting so much attention? Oh heavens, she was just concerned, he shouldn’t even think this way.

Asi just smiled at her, “Dona need not be worried about me,” he thumped his chest with his hand, “I am tough.”

She giggled and finally sat back down, though this time next to Asi, “What did you do today? Xehanort told me you went hunting!”

Asi nodded, “Yes, I killed a wolf! And got a brooch from Rould.”

Dona’s giggling continued, “Let me guess, he was playing bets again?”

“Naturally,” Xehanort interjected.

“He’s such a risk taker. So why were you so dirty, Asi?”

Asi smiled, “I covered myself in mud to go hunting. It is great way to hide scent and to blend in. If Dona goes hunting she should do same.”

She blushed, “Oh my.”

Lumaria gave Asi a small slap, “That is hardly acceptable to say to a young woman.”

Asi ignored Lumaria, “Maybe I can make something for you from wolf bones?”

Dona’s eyes lit up, “Oh, what would you make me?”

“Necklace and bracelets. Maybe hat? Wear skull of wolf on head with fur and wear bones as shirt and skirt, then dance to awaken and thank spirits!”

She was blushing again, “Oh I don’t know, that outfit sounds a bit flashy for me.”

“Flashy?”

Lumaria sighed, “She does not want to walk around naked, Asi.”

Asi thought it over, “That’s what animal furs are for.”

Xehanort coughed a bit, “Hardly acceptable attire.”

Asi noticed that both men did not like the idea, and even Dona was a bit embarrassed. He had forgotten that they were sensitive about showing skin. Boy, were these people so weird.

“Dona can keep outfit as souvenir, then.”

Dona giggled happily, “I will.”

“Maybe I should teach you Nogari dances? Very nice in large groups!”

Dona’s smiled stayed on her face, “Does everyone participate in the dances?”

“Depends on dance.”

“I should teach you how to ballroom dance, wouldn’t that be splendid? I could borrow him for a dance and see how the girls fawn over him. A lot of my friends like the tall ones.”

Xehanort wasn’t amused at all but gave a fake smile, “That would be interesting to see.”

Asi nodded, “Is ballroom dancing fun?”

Dona laughed, “Depends on your partner! Sometimes it’s fun but a lot of times it’s a bore. The best part is when a man asks you to dance. It shows that someone likes you!”

Asi gave her a curious look, “You have to be asked?”

“Well who else would you dance with?”

“The crowd.”

“Ha, no no, this is a two person dance! You can’t just join someone.”

“Two person? How odd.”

Lumaria laughed, “Hardly. I think you’re just used to groups of people dancing in circles and howling.”

“It is not howling, we call out to the spirits—“

“How wonderful.”

Asi glared at Lumaria and huffed a bit, “I bet Lumaria does not have any good dances.”

Lumaria brightened, “Actually the Spanish are well known for their dances.”

“Are they?”

“Of course! But I’m not going to show you how.”

“Is it because Lumaria does not know how to dance?”

“I know how to dance, I took classes.”

“You need classes to learn how to dance?”

“Yes, we’re not all stuck under one tent like you. We have civilized homes.”

Dona shook her head, “Oh don’t be so bitter you two.”

Asi smiled, “It is part of Lumaria’s nature.”

Lumaria glared, “Thanks a lot.”

“You are welcome.”

Xehanort chuckled at Asi’s manners, how he used them even when joking around. It was silly.

Dona touched Asi’s arm, “You are so funny when you use manners, it seems so odd from you. I’m so used to seeing you say what you think!”

Asi gave a tender smile, “Is it bad?”

“No, I think you are quite cute with manners.”

Asi turned to Lumaria, “Dona thinks I’m cute.”

“So I hear.”

Xehanort noticed how her touch lingered on him. He was irked at that. Why was she so close to him and why was she even touching him? It was…just…disgusting. Asi was a slave and she was a young woman engaged to HIM.

“Asi, Lumaria, I was thinking of staying over at Dona’s tonight to talk with her parents of the wedding.”

Dona released her soft hands from Asi and put them in her lap, her face returning to its soft composure. It was almost as if she mirrored whoever talked to her.

Asi blinked, “Stay over at Dona’s?”

“Yes, you will stay here and be good, won’t you?”

Asi nodded, “I will. What else does Xehanort plan on doing with Dona?”

Xehanort gave a ‘WHAT’ face, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You stay at her house, you must be up to something!”

Lumaria slapped his arm, “How barbaric!”

Asi thought it over, “How is it barbaric? Having—“

Dona was blushing a deep red, “Asi, those types of acts are not done before a wedding. That’s scandalous.”

Asi thought it over, “I did it without marrying.”

Lumaria nodded, “Yes, and we find it very offensive.”

Asi looked at Lumaria, “Why? I took care of my child well.”

I love how everyone is loving Asi. It's cute.

And Xehanort and DONA's fight was really interesting! For some reason I think that was my favorite part, it actually added more of a plot into the story.

And everyone over to eat towards the end was cute.

The fight between Xehanort and Dona was weird. I can't imagine Xehanort ever getting into an argument- ...I am talking like the people in the story, aren't I?

It's a talent of mine, I suppose.

Anyway, it's sad how Dona likes Asi more than Xehanort, and Xehanort is all emo about it.

It's a good story. <3
It's interesting what you can do with history class.

The whole whipping thing made me feel sorry for Asi, tho.

The whole convo where Asi almost got undressed in front of Xehanort made me lolz. xD

UGH. Both of the stories ended with the main characters passing out. >> I wanna find out what happens...