http://clampfix.fanworks.net/re-fix/bftwo-5.txt </head><body><pre>Between Friends 2 Part 5 by Kristin Huntsman The journey to Earth was a wrenching pain for Eagle, tearing at his insides, and it /hurt/ like he'd never believed anything could. But it was mercifully brief and he stumbled back to his feet, gasping for breath, the moment the pain receded. "Eagle?" Hikaru asked, voice and face concerned as Lantis steadied him. "Are you all right?" He smiled at the two of them. "I'm fine," he reassured them. "It just took my breath away. The last time I was here it wasn't that bad." "Ferio and Ascot didn't feel anything when Fuu-chan and Umi-chan brought them to Earth," Hikaru said worridly. "And Lantis didn't feel anything just now, did you, Lantis?" "Oh, I think it's just maybe that I'm not fully recovered yet," Eagle said with a smile. "Or maybe it has something to do with that I nearly died the last time I was here in Tokyo. Who knows?" Lantis looked at him with concerned eyes, and Eagle just smiled at him as well. It was all right, really it was. Best to take care and not let Hikaru and Lantis know there was anything wrong. They'd worry over him too much. "Well, let's go, then!" Hikaru said, turning to face the dwelling before them. Eagle assumed it was her family's domicile; she had said that she'd practiced opening the path between Cephiro and Earth there, and that it had worked before. "Okaasama! Oniisama-tachi! Tadaima!" Once inside the building, they had to leave their shoes behind. A cute Earth custom, Eagle thought. His sister would love to come to this world and study it. And Toyota would love to accompany her, to study the architecture of this building. "Ara...? Hikaru-chan, who're they?" A dark-haired young man who Eagle assumed was one of Hikaru's brothers regarded them suspiciously. Hikaru paused. "Umm... Kakeru-niisama, I want to tell everyone at once. Where are Okaasama-tachi?" "They're in the living room, waiting for you." He looked at Eagle and Lantis even more suspiciously. "Satoru said you'd be bringing guests; I thought he meant Umi-chan and Fuu-chan." Eagle studied the young man, his manner and clothing, and decided he would have to ask Hikaru to teach him more about Earth customs. Hikaru's brothers were soon going to be *his* brother-in-laws, after all. He smiled innocently as he was glared at. Kakeru suddenly turned and lead them to the "living room," the three of them following him as he kept casting suspicious gazes back at Eagle and Lantis. They turned into a room on the right, where two other of Hikaru's brothers sat, along with a woman who was utterly unlike, yet somehow still reminded Eagle of, his sister Corona. He and Lantis seated themselves slightly behind and to the sides of Hikaru, in the Earth style ("seiza" style) of sitting they had been taught was polite by Fuu and Umi, legs folded underneath themselves, sitting on their heels. Eagle always found it uncomfortable after a few moments, but endured stoically. He wondered if Ferio and Ascot had yet to master sitting like this as well. The three men and the woman studied the two of them intently. Eagle had no doubt, seeing their eyes, that the eldest man (he would be Satoru, from Eagle's recollections of Hikaru's recitation of her family) and the woman (Hikaru's mother, without a doubt) knew what he and Lantis were to Hikaru. Her other two brothers didn't seem to share in that knowledge. "So, these are your two young men, are they, Hikaru-san?" Hikaru's mother asked finally. "Hai, okaasama," Hikaru replied quietly, sounding subdued. Eagle could feel the slight tension in her, though it had to be nothing compared to Lantis'. But Lantis was a master of disguising what he felt, so Eagle could only guess on that point. "Hmm," Hikaru's mother considered, tapping a fan against her lips. Then she smiled. "Well, they seem nice enough gentlemen, Hikaru-san. Why don't you introduce us?" "WHAT?!" Kakeru was outraged. "What do you mean, 'fiances'?!!" Hikaru-chan bit her lip and tears started to dew in her eyes. Her cute little cat tail and ears came out. "Uh- um..." she stuttered, trying to find a way to explain the unthinkable to them. "Well...." "You're NOT allowed to get MARRIED!!" Masaru agreed with him. "We have to protect you! You can't even start dating until your sweetheart has defeated the three of us in combat, and then you have to start by exchanging diaries!!" "But--but--" Hikaru protested. "And furthermore..." Masaru continued, turning his anger upon this 'Eagle' and 'Lantis,' "I don't know WHO you think you--" "Masaru," Satoru said sharply, breaking through Masaru's enraged speech, "We have heard enough of your sentiments to know your opinion, and presumably Kakeru's as well, on the matter. That will be enough. You will not insult guests in our home." Satoru's calm dark eyes turned to regard the three of them, Hikaru huddling nervously between Eagle and Lantis. "However, Masaru does have a certain point." "Oh?" Lantis asked, his voice velvety quiet. Which usually meant he was on edge. "We have not yet determined if the two of you will be appropriate husbands for Hikaru," Satoru said, a warmth in the back of his eyes that likely was a more subtle form of a smile. "Are the two of you trained in swordsmanship?" "Yes," Eagle answered, comprehending now what plan was in the back of Satoru's mind. <Lantis and I fight Masaru and Kakeru, to let them work their aggression out, and they'll accept us. Satoru will make sure of that.> He glanced at Lantis, and saw the same understanding in his eyes. Eagle smiled a bit. "Well, then," Hikaru's mother said, "shall we repair to the dojo?" "Dojo," Lantis found out, was an Earth word for a training hall. It was strange what differences there were between Cepherian, Autozamian, and Terran languages: though they all seemed to be identical, there were occasional terms that were definitely unique to each culture. "Marriage," for example, could be compared to the year-and-a-day Cephironian handfastings, or Autozamian "joinings," but it was not truly like either. Nor was it comparable to the courtship system of Fahren, where interpersonal relationships were absolutely fluid and romantic love frowned upon, or the caste system of Chizeta, where each woman was expected to have seven stages of lovers in her life, and each man five. Lantis frowned slightly, thinking of all that; one thing he did have in common with Corona was an interest in the social structures of different cultures. In the center of the floor, Eagle held an Earth-type blade. It was sharpened only on a single edge, and gleamed in the light as though it was made of energy rather than metal. It looked to be light, sharp, and quite deadly. Elegant. Just Eagle's style. After a moment of his getting used to the grip of the weapon, Eagle followed Masaru's lead and bowed first to the dojo, and then to Satoru. He took stance. Eagle never fought so much as he danced. His usual charming clumsiness vanished entirely in battle, where his concentration honed and refined itself to a single point, to a sphere. The blades sang as the combatants moved, dressed in clothing that did not restrict their moves, graceful as two shadows. And Eagle was the better of the two; his moves more precise, his effort less wasted, his technique that slightest bit the superior. Lantis let himself feel pride. But the tactics he saw confused him. There were openings, too many, that Eagle should not have been leaving. There were chances, moves that he did not take. It shouldn't have been that Eagle was still weak from his Deep Slumber; Lantis had sparred with him since then, and had supervised his sparring with others, and knew Eagle was fully back up to par. Eagle was fighting with the intention of losing. Why? Just as Lantis' mind turned on that question, Masaru found one of Eagle's many (too many) openings, and used it, sliding his blade through the gap in the defence and cutting Eagle in the arm. Time paused for a moment, slowing to a trickle of dust for Eagle, stilling as he examined the wound in his left arm. It was deep, but not so deep as to be threatening to his life. He looked up and smiled at Masaru, who was staring at him quite disbelievingly. Eagle bowed politely in concession of the match to his opponent. "EAGLE!!" Hikaru's scream broke the silence as she rushed over to him. "You're hurt! Oh, I have to bind this, it's bleeding--" "It's really alright, Hikaru," Eagle tried to say, "It's not even that dee--" "Oniisama!" Hikaru rushed on, glaring at her brother, "how could you!? He's my fiance!" A firm hand on her shoulder distracted Hikaru from her tirade for a moment. "Hikaru," her eldest brother said, with a significant glance at Masaru, "why don't you have a word or two explaining to Masaru-kun the exact significance of damaging his sister's choice of husband? I'll take your fiance and tend to his injury." It was spoken in the tone of utter reason as Satoru relieved Eagle of his sword. "Hai, Oniisama," Hikaru replied, turning back to glare at her two other brothers as Lantis stepped beside Eagle. "Is it all right?" Lantis murmured in ancient Autozamian. Surprised a little that Lantis still remembered what they'd both learned of that dead language while at Accord University, Eagle smiled and replied in the tongue, "I'm fine. Don't worry!" Eagle followed Satoru, pressing a hand against his wounded left arm. Behind him, he could hear Masaru murmur, "He was better than I am... so why did he let me win?" Eagle smiled. </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>