Reunion

I
Albion is a peaceful country. It has its share of malcontents and ne'er-do-wells, its share of troublemakers and hooligans. It does, after all, play host to a large guild of warriors who fight Shadows and anyone who gets in their way - and that does a lot for peacekeeping.

In a street in the center of Baskerville, the capital city, a busy street market is underway. Trader's stalls line the pavements, crowds bustle and shift like shoals of fish, bunching around one stall or another. The air is filled with steams and scents, shifting on the breeze. Every step takes you through another set of senses- sight, sound, smell and even taste shifting like currents in the water, bringing you another set of pleasures.
In the middle of this morass of humanity are a couple. They are fairly non-descript in appearance, a boy and a girl. The boy has messy brown-blond hair and a look of wonder in his deep brown eyes. He drifts through the market, easily distracted, his eyes flitting from one thing to another. He nearly walks into people once or twice, but he is always saved by his companion. She has spiky black hair and a lean, tanned face. She's strong looking, but there is something dark in her eyes. She is enjoying herself too, but quietly.
The two are young, only in their teens, but their eyes are a little older. They've both been through something, and they move with the cautious grace of people who have had to run a long, long way and aren't sure they can stop.
They move through the throng with a curious sense of purpose. They know where they're going. You get the feeling that this isn't an idle pleasure trip, a shopping run, a date.
The girl taps the boys shoulder. He nods. They move forwards towards a particular stall, a little recessed. The crowd is thinner around it, everybody passes this place by. There are whispers and murmurs as people look at it. Some people give it a scowl, a look of disdain, a frustrated glance of hatred. It's shabby, too, and the merchandise looks like it's just for show.
They adopt a nonchalant air, as though they were just out on a wander. The girl loops her arm through the boys and leans her head on his shoulder. He tries not to look scared but ignores it. They approach the stall, suddenly a happy couple out shopping. The stall keeper, a tall man with broad shoulders and a tanned face, engages them in conversation for a moment and then moves away to serve another customer. The girl drops the boys arm as though scalded and moves away from him. She quietly slips behind the stall and creeps up behind the man, whilst the boy moves innocently towards the client. They catch each others eye and nod.
The teenagers spring. The stall keeper is a burly man and he fights the girl off as best he can but she's fast. In seconds she has him writhing on the ground in pain, his nose spurting blood. Undeterred, he struggles up and grabs a wicked looking blade from under the stall. The girl calmly draws her own weapon, and with a flash of light and a process you can't quite see, she's holding a sword at his throat. He gulps and drops the blade.
Meanwhile, the boy is struggling with the customer. The man turned to run when he saw the girl, but bumped straight into her accomplice's arms. The boy quickly takes him out with a right hook to the jaw, and with a wail of pain the rat-faced man collapses.
The entire process took less than ten seconds.
The couple stand and look around. The stall is knocked over by the trader's struggles and his blood is spattered across the street. People hurry by, not looking, not their problem, don't get involved, but the crowds are stirring like a school of fish ahead of a shark and there are murmurs and hurried movements that tell the teens that the official force is on their way.
When they arrive, they find a smuggler with a broken nose and a vile temperament and an unconscious slave trader with concussion, both bound, gagged and all-too-willing to tell the police exactly what they want to know.
And nothing else.
Albion is a peaceful country. The unseen watcher nods. She's the one.

Kako slipped through the market crowds, silent. A few people turned to watch, but in this part of town you don't look too hard if you don't know what it is you're looking at. Not unless you have no particular use for your eyeballs.
Ren was following behind her. He was not having an easy time of it. Where the crowds parted to let Kako through, they closed again just in time to obstruct him. He finally caught up with Kako outside an inn. For the standards of the area, it was upmarket. All the windows were made of glass, for one thing, and the dark interior of the pub exuded an air of happy brain-death, as opposed to an air of bodily fluids of various descriptions, which filled most of the pubs around the market.
Kako turned to him.
'Want a drink? It's a hot day. Go on, but no alcohol.'
'They wouldn't serve me anyway, would they?'
'Pubs around here don't exactly follow public health laws.'
Ren nodded and hurried inside. The ceiling was low and the cool room buzzed closely with chatter. Ren wrinkled his nose a moment at the smell of alcohol and made his way bravely to the bar. Kako leaned on the polished wood and rapped her knuckles on the bar. The barman drifted over, polishing a glass with a rag.
'Yes, Himitsu?' he drawled.
'Water for me and,' she paused to look at Ren, 'do you have any fruit juice?'
'Only the fermented kind,' the barman said lazily.
'In that case, two waters.'
Ren glanced sharply at her.
'You know this guy?' he hissed.
'Of course. The Jester's Head is a good place. Seedy, but safe.'
'Safe? Here?'
'Well, once they get to know you.' Kako grinned, lazily. Ren gulped. He had an idea of what that might mean, one which probably broke several laws on assault. Kako was not a good person to antagonize.
The barman returned with two glasses of water. Ren sniffed at it and cautiously took a sip. He regretted it.
'Kako, this stuff's foul.'
'Of course it is,' she replied, 'this is a tavern. It does excellent beer, wine and other spirits.'
'So why did you order water?'
'Because I'm really not sure I want to see you drunk. And I don't drink on duty.'
'But we aren't on duty, and I don't get drunk that easily,' Ren replied. He was a country kid, yes, but he was used to ale. He was allowed half a flagon every day back home from the village inn, and the only time he'd ever managed to get drunk had been his brother's 16th birthday. Ren had woken up the next day with a blinding headache and some fuzzy but not-too-pleasant memories. It had taken him three pints to get that drunk and he'd resolved never to do it again.
'The ale here is a lot more potent than you're country stuff. But if you think you can handle it, fine.' Kako called over to the barman. 'Hey, Thom! Half a flagon of ale, please.'
The barman drew the measure with a grin.
'Your date thinks he's tough, huh?' he remarked. Ren shrank in embarrassment and slowly turned a prize shade of red.
'My friend here thinks he can handle city beer. I think it could be amusing,' Kako replied, flipping a coin to the barman.
Ren groaned into his drink. She really could be sadistic at times.
He took a sip of the liquid. It was fairly strong, but not much more than what he was used to. He swallowed, feeling the fiery drink burn down the back of his throat. He eyed it warily. It was good enough to taste, true, but Kako had an annoying tendency to be right about things… Oh well. He took another draught. It was quite nice.
Kako watched her friend as he ventured further down the path of intoxication. He was in for a shock, that was for sure. She stretched lazily and turned back to the barman.
'So, Thom. Anything I should know?'
The barman tapped his teeth thoughtfully.
'We-ell, there is ol' Redcoat. He's been back in town and flashing some money, and you know what he does…'
Kako smiled grimly. 'Funny you should mention him. He's a little indisposed at present, he won't be back for… a while.'
'Is that so?' Thom eyed her suspiciously. Kako smiled with the innocence of one who knows that the subject of discussion is in a police holding cell some distance away, and probably still unconscious from her negotiations.
'And there's… well, I'm not sure what, really.'
Kako leaned forwards. If Thom wasn't sure, something was a major mystery.
'What?'
'Well, there's a… gentleman askin around for ya.'
'There's… what?' Kako put her hand on her weapon, her body tensed. She glanced around. Ren was happily sinking deeper into the wonderful amber-tinted world of the drunk, and the other clientele were going about their… not-so-legal business.
'Not… not like, bad. At least, I don't think so. He just came in here, two nights back, and booked a room.' Kako tensed further. 'And he asked me if I'd seen a girl, fifteen or so, with spiky black hair and angry eyes.' The barman laughed. 'He said he wanted to talk to you. Well, I didn't tell him, but he came back the next day and he'd obviously been out looking 'cause he asked me straight out where he could find Kako Himitsu.'
Kako nodded slowly. 'Is he here right now?'
Thom looked embarrassed. 'I don't rightly know. I reckon he's in his rooms, but he mighta gone out the back…'
'I should-' A thought struck Kako. 'What… what did he look like?'
'He wore a hood most of the time, but when he was in his rooms, well I took a look because I thought it's as well to know who's coming after the captain. He had black hair, but it was odd, think he must have dyed it or something, cause coming from the roots he had this one white streak-'
Kako went white.
Ren was only half listening to their conversation. He wasn't drunk, but he was getting there. The tavern was a little bit fuzzy and loud. He saw Kako react, though, and it almost sobered him up completely. She was pale and if he hadn't known better he'd have thought she was trembling. He stood up so fast he banged his knee on the bar and stumbled backwards, tripping over his stool. Kako shot out a hand to catch him mechanically, and he thought he saw it shake. She closed her eyes a moment and when she opened them she was completely calm. The whole episode had happened so fast that Ren was already beginning to doubt the evidence of his eyes.
'Thom,' she said, when Ren had returned to his seat, 'what else can you tell me?' Her eyes were intense. 'How old was he?'
'About… oooh, he'd be a little older than you. In his early twenties. He looked like… like he felt older, though.'
Kako  was gripping the edge of the table. 'Did he have any… any other distinguishing features? Any injuries?'
'Funny you should say that, actually…' the barman ruminated, rubbing his chin. Kako was burning with impatience. Ren glanced at her sharply. What the hell was going on? He'd seen her fight Shadows and robbers and murderers, grown men twice her size, demons, but he'd never seen her scared. Even before a battle she was always completely calm. When fighting, she burned with an almost malicious joy, moving and fighting like she was born to do it. But she wasn't ever scared and without question that was what she was now. He didn't understand what was going on, but his mentor and friend was scared and that scared him. Who could this man be? He must have been more powerful than an army of Shadows.
The barman's voice brought him back to reality. 'He had a limp. Right leg. Only a little bit, mind, but a proper limp. Don't reckon he was faking it. And… he had a scar.' Kako was really pale now, and Ren felt like his world was flipped upside down.
'Where?' Kako whispered hoarsely.
'On his face, just down the side of his-' the barman paused. 'Say, Himitsu, you OK? You're looking a little pale.' Ren ground his teeth. What kind of an idiot-
'I need to see him,' Kako said. She stood up smoothly, with her usual catlike grace. Ren saw her hand clenched upon Yume's hilt so hard that her knuckles were white.
Thom noticed too. 'Uh, Himitsu, could you do it outside? Just in case, you know. I don't want my room trashed.'
She nodded tightly. 'I'll be in the courtyard.'
Thom sighed in relief. 'I'll tell him.'
The moment that the barman had vanished, Kako turned to Ren, gripping his shoulders tightly.
'Ren? Are you still semi-conscious?'
'I swear to drunk I'm not God.'
'Oh, for goodness sake, not now-' She paused and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. 'Good to know your sense of humour has not deserted you, but now is not the time.'
Ren hung his head in shame. 'Sorry.'
'Good. Right, I need you to stay here, understood? No, wait, scratch that. I need you to go right back to the Order.'
Ren raised his head in shock. 'I'm not leaving you!'
'Why ever not?' Kako had a dangerous glint in her eyes, the 'Do NOT argue with me' look. Ren gulped.
'Because… because you're scared! And I'm not… leaving you… alone…' his voice petered out under her glare.
'I,' she hissed, 'am more than capable of dealing with… with anything that might happen. And you aren't. So go.' She took a breath. 'And what exactly do you think that you could do if someone got the better of me?'
Ren thought about that and decided it was better to ignore that point.
'Even so, I'm not going to-'
'Ehhm…'
The barman was back and awkwardly trying not to get in the way. Kako and Ren both swivelled their heads sideways. They were standing by this time, face to face.
'Not to… ehhh… interrupt, but he's waiting. Um. Ma'am.'
The man bobbed away, a sheen of sweat covering his face. Ren spared a moment to wonder what exactly Kako had done to him.
'Thank you for worrying, Ren,' Kako said. His face snapped back to hers and he took a step back as he realized how close she was standing. 'But I'm fine. Now, go.' Her tone brooked no arguments. Ren went.

However, he only went as far as the front door. Kako said something to the barman and left via a back entrance, and Ren went straight back inside the pub and followed her.
The barman thought about this, and decided that it would really be a good idea to be polishing glasses in the corner so that if Himitsu asked, he had seen absolutely nothing of the boy with the tousled hair and innocent eyes. The other people in the pub also decided that not having seen him was an excellent career move and took an advanced course in table-studying.

Out in the courtyard, the sun was blocked out by high buildings. Washing lines were strung between them, and buckets and barrels were scattered across the cobbles. The shade was cool.
Leaning against a wall on the other side of the space was a figure in a dark blue cloak. The hood was up over his face.
Kako entered the courtyard with a seething pit of trepidation roiling in her stomach. Her hand was gripping Yume's hilt so tightly that pain was beginning to enter her fogged mind, and she took a moment to consciously loosen her fingers, holding her hand by her side and flexing the digits to bring life back into them.
She planted her feet wide and looked up at the sky for a moment, steadying herself. Then she brought her gaze down, straight ahead.
There he was. He was leaning against the wall. Her heart stopped for a moment as the memories flooded back, but she fought them down and kept her voice steady.
'Who are you?'
'You must know by now.' The voice was the same too. 'You would never walk into a confrontation with an unknown enemy.'
'Times have changed.' Her voice was hard, but it shook a little. He pushed away from the wall and strode towards the middle of the courtyard. She took a few wavering steps forwards as well. They stood a meter apart, Kako's gaze trained steadily on the hood.

Ren was watching too. He had snuck through the door and concealed himself behind a barrel. His heart was in his mouth as he saw Kako walking forwards. He heard her talking and poked his head out cautiously. Who could this man be?

The sun beat down on Albion but it didn't reach the shadowed enclave where the drama was being played out.
Ren watched in horror as the man tipped back his hood.
Kako watched in a frozen jumble of emotions as the oh-so-familiar face was revealed.
Kako's back was to Ren but he saw her stiffen, saw her muscles tensing.

And then Kako ran forwards, right at the stranger.