Heirot

Shinobu followed him, able to keep up with him better than usual because he was wounded. They ran through the night until they came to a small clearing that sat long a rivers edge. It as bumped up against a clay cliff that lead up to higher ground. Clear spring water trickled out between the cracks in the clay and splashed into the river that passed from beneath it.

She dropped to her knees near the water and washed the blood from her hands until they were nearly pristine, and she waited for the bloody water to wash down stream before she bent to drink from it.

"Should we stop for the night? I don't hear them..." She turned her eyes to Kyosuke.

As they ran, Kyosuke could feel so very many of his muscles protest with each step he took, each movement he made. It's a miracle they managed to outrun them, but it seems they didn't have trackers with them, and it was dark enough that their trail ran cold before too long. When they reached the stream, Kyosuke was ready to collapse, and he in fact did so while Shinobu washed her face. He was too tired to care about washing up.

"Yeah, I think we're far enough," he said, looking back in the direction they came. They had run far enough that the soldiers wouldn't make chase for random, unimportant escapees.

Shinobu went back to Kyosuke, and brushed the tips of her fingers across his forehead and through his hair. "Thank you," she told him, scooting to lie next to him in the tall grass. It was cold. She balled her hands up and put them under her folded arms. "Are you hurt badly?" she whispered tiredly, though there was no reason to whisper.

"Just some bumps and bruises," Kyosuke replied, looking over at Shinobu. "It'll all be gone in a few days." He somehow avoided breaking any bones... though he looks at the river. He should take care of his knee, and he reluctantly rolls himself away from Shinobu. "I should soak my leg though, keep any swelling down." He removes his sandals and socks, then rolls up a pant leg, before dipping the injured leg in the river."

Shinobu moved to sit next to him, drawing her knees up to her chest. She felt dirty, covered in the blood of the man who'd attacked her. She smiled if smoke, and was caked in dirt and soot. Her long silky hair was disheveled and tangled. "Should we build a fire?" she asked him softly.

The sound of the spring water trickling out from the cracks in the clay cliff was soothing, a stark contrast from the screaming that she'd heard earlier.

"I'll go gather some wood..."

"Not tonight," Kyosuke said, reaching out to grab at Shinobu's sleeve. "I don't think they're following us anymore, but a fire might alert them if they are." They would have to stay in the dark tonight. Of course, he still can't help but break out in a big smile. "But we got out of there though."

Shinobu nodded. "We did," she admitted with a sigh. Shinobu sat quietly next to Kyosuke for a while as he soaked his leg. She couldn't stop thinking about the blood, and the dead man, and the face she was covered in it. After a little while longer Shinobu shifted to kneel.

"Would it bother you... if I bathed?" she asked him softly, glancing at him.

Kyosuke shook his head, though it's all but invisible in the darkness. "Go ahead. You want me to turn away?" He could understand Shinobu's disgust, aware of what she's been through today. In fact, he could only imagine what he looked like after everything. He... could probably use a bath himself really.

Shinobu swallowed. "It is dark..." she whispered, though there was little patches of light filtering in through the gaps of the canopy above them. "You don't have too... If you feel you need to then do so, but... I don't mind." Her fingers fiddled with the fabric of her clothes.

She stood up and slowly started to pull off her clothes until the cool breeze caressed the smoothness of her pale bare skin. She held the dirty clothes in her arms and carried them with her into the cold water. She moved slowly, allowing her body to get used to the water. When the water reached her chest she sank to her shoulders and started to wash the blood from the fabric. When she thought she'd managed to get most of it out she swam back to shore and draped it over a rock to dry. Then, Shinobu returned to the water to wash her hair and body.

Kyosuke swallowed as well. He wasn't looking in Shinobu's direction as she disrobed, but there's still something... erotic about the sound of clothes being removed. Most likely because it leaves everything to his imagination instead. It doesn't help that the samurai doesn't look away either, when she slides into the water.

It's dark enough yes, but they've been running in the dark long enough that their eyes have adjusted, and he can make out her outline. Another gulp, and he wiggled a little by the waterside. It... probably wasn't appropriate to look, but he also can't bring himself to look away.

Shinobu ducked under the water to wash the blood from her long hair. She pushed it back off her forehead as she rose up out of the water. The temperature felt better now that her body had adjusted to it.

She looked over her shoulder to Kyosuke, feeling a rush of heat. It had been a long time since a man had seen her undressed. It had also been a long time since a man had touched her. The last being her late husband nearly five years before. Maybe it was the rush of being in trouble, or loneliness, but she wanted that connection... She just wasn't sure what Kyosuke wanted, or if it was even right to want that from him.

They would definitely be crossing lines that she thought would be frowned upon.

So Shinobu stopped thinking, and just let the water wash over her to cool her mind. When she felt clean she went to leave the water, only to realize that they hadn't brought any bags with them... and she had no warm dry clothes to change into. It was dark though....

Shinobu slipped from the water and went to the grass nearby Kyosuke. She fell back into the softness of the grass that grew tall beneath the opening in the trees.

Even after Shinobu got out of the water, Kyosuke's gaze followed her. Of course, the fact that they don't have their bags with them doesn't occur to him until just then either. And it was obviously too late already. He sat there, leg in the water in awkward silence, as a chilly wind picked up. That couldn't be good for Shinobu. "Aren't you cold?" he asked.

Chill bumps had spread over her damp skin. She was quite for a few seconds as she thought of a way to remedy the situation. "Yes," she finally replied softly.

Kyosuke swallowed again. Silently at first, he motioned her to come closer. If she doesn't react or can't see it though, he'll say, "Come over here, I'll dry you off with my clothing a little." Of course, with the dried blood and acrid smell that drifted off his clothing, he would probably get her dirty again. But at least she wouldn't be cold.

Shinobu shifted closer to him slowly. "I'll be warmer when I air dry I think," she whispered, looking down at her body before meeting his eyes. "If I make you uncomfortable I'll put my wet clothes on... I'm sorry I didn't think about not having anything dry to wear after washing my clothes." Her dark eyes flickered to the river and then to meet his gaze.