Blood and Irises (Chapter 8)
Title: Blood and Irises
Characters/Pairings: George Weasley and Eve Blackmore (with possible appearances by other HP characters)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 873
Warnings: violence, torture, angst and partial nudity
Disclaimer: George Weasley and any other HP characters are the property of JK Rowling. I don’t own them. I only wish to play with them, for a little while (okay, so I’d like to play with Fred and George a lot, but can you blame me?). Eve Blackmore, her family, etc are the product of my brain. Some may remember her from Haunted Chambers. In fact, I’ve kept much of her background from HC, with only minor tweaks here and there (though she would probably argue the term “minor”, in some instances, but she’ll go along with them, like the good little warrior she is…)
Summary: In the five years after the war… One struggles to find his place in a world that’s no longer funny. The other struggles with her own actions, during the battles. Two who were once close must find their way back to each other…
Author's Note: The dialog for this chapter should be entirely in Japanese... However, since I only speak about a dozen words of Japanese, it is written in English.
“Relax your shoulders.”
“Hai, Sensei,” Eve replied, adjusting her stance. Her shoulders dropped. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. She changed the grip on her bokken. Eve took another breath and lowered her sword, in opening.
Her opponent came at her. She sidestepped the downward slash and blocked, perried and perried again. A moment’s hesitation caused her opponent’s bokken to come dangerously close to smashing Eve’s fingers.
“Focus!”
Eve’s circled out of the way, executing a perfect block of a thrust attack. The form took them in a circle, around one corner of the mat. They battled back and forth, one giving up ground and then the other. Eve let herself sink into the movements, her eyes never leaving the man opposite her.
However, that nagging sensation began to creep through her, again. Eve faltered, nearly tripping over her own feet, as she dodged an angled slash. She recovered quickly, however, her sword came up to her head and down, towards her opponent’s head. But he was no longer there. He blocked, knocking Eve’s sword off it’s path, leaving her open for a final slash to her midsection.
A clap from the master signaled the end of the session. Eve and her opponent each returned their swords to their left hips and bowed to each other.
The master turned to kneel in front of the dojo’s alter, signaling the end of her class. Eve and her fellow students quickly straightened their gis and knelt in a line, behind them. They all bowed, to the alter, then the master turned and the students bowed to him, as well.
“You are distracted, Zen’ya,” the master said later, as they folded their hakamas. It wasn’t a question. It was unusual for the master to insist on folding his own hakama. And it was really only when he wanted to speak “privately” to one of his students. “What troubles you?”
“I don’t know, Sensei,” she replied. “I just... I don’t know…”
“In the five years you’ve studied with us,” the master stated, “you’ve become one of my most promising students. Your dedication to our art and to the other disciplines you study has been honorable. Toma-Sensei speaks highly of you. But there is more to life than study and discipline.”
“Hai, Sensei,” Eve replied, bowing her head.
“Five years is a long time, to ignore that which came here to forget,” the master continued, “it is time you dealt with your past.”
“And if there are evil things, in my past?” she asked. The master didn’t look up from his folding, but she could tell that he was waiting on her. “Before I came here, I did… things…”
Even after five years, Eve was unable to talk about the things she’d done, during the war with Voldemort. The things she’d come to Japan to put out of her mind were still there. The blot on Eve’s soul would never go away, she knew that. But she’d learned to live with it, hadn’t she?
“You speak of the war, in your homeland,” the master observed.
Eve looked up, startled. The master had never said anything to her, about being magical… But then, neither had Uncle Kubungo, for many, many years. It was only by coincidence that Eve knew at all. Again, Eve was reminded of how - not integrated, that wasn’t the right word - how well magical folk, here blended in with everyone else. It wasn’t uncommon, in Japan, for one to walk around a corner and find a wizarding marketplace, hidden, in plain sight, from “Muggles”.
“Forgive me, Sensei,” Eve stammered, bowing deeply, “I didn’t realize…”
The master waved off her apology. “Whatever you did, during the war,” he told her, “it is in the past and cannot be changed. It is time you learned to live with it, rather than pretend it did not happen.
“Go and live, for a while,” the master smiled. “We will be here, when you return.”
Eve didn’t speak, at first. As the master spoke, her world had narrowed to the old man’s voice and the ties of her hakama. Had she really been ignoring her past all this time? Hiding from the things she’d done, in martial arts and meditation? And if so, why was it distracting her now?
This was her life now… What else was there?
“I will try, Sensei,” she finally replied, bowing to the master.
The master returned her bow, stood and walked off the mat, leaving Eve to finish on her own. She packed up the rest of her things and left the dojo. As she stepped outside, she paused to take in her surroundings. A breeze picked up, sending a flurry of cherry blossoms swirling around her feet. And though she should be at peace, Eve was, again, filled with a sense that something just… wasn’t… right.
She stood there, attempting to figure out what was wrong. But she couldn’t. And to make matters worse, now the master’s words were added to her sense of “wrongness”. With a heavy sigh, Eve shouldered her bags and started down the dojo’s steps. As soon as she was out of sight of the general public, she apparated back to her hut, in the mountains.
Characters/Pairings: George Weasley and Eve Blackmore (with possible appearances by other HP characters)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 873
Warnings: violence, torture, angst and partial nudity
Disclaimer: George Weasley and any other HP characters are the property of JK Rowling. I don’t own them. I only wish to play with them, for a little while (okay, so I’d like to play with Fred and George a lot, but can you blame me?). Eve Blackmore, her family, etc are the product of my brain. Some may remember her from Haunted Chambers. In fact, I’ve kept much of her background from HC, with only minor tweaks here and there (though she would probably argue the term “minor”, in some instances, but she’ll go along with them, like the good little warrior she is…)
Summary: In the five years after the war… One struggles to find his place in a world that’s no longer funny. The other struggles with her own actions, during the battles. Two who were once close must find their way back to each other…
Author's Note: The dialog for this chapter should be entirely in Japanese... However, since I only speak about a dozen words of Japanese, it is written in English.
“Relax your shoulders.”
“Hai, Sensei,” Eve replied, adjusting her stance. Her shoulders dropped. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. She changed the grip on her bokken. Eve took another breath and lowered her sword, in opening.
Her opponent came at her. She sidestepped the downward slash and blocked, perried and perried again. A moment’s hesitation caused her opponent’s bokken to come dangerously close to smashing Eve’s fingers.
“Focus!”
Eve’s circled out of the way, executing a perfect block of a thrust attack. The form took them in a circle, around one corner of the mat. They battled back and forth, one giving up ground and then the other. Eve let herself sink into the movements, her eyes never leaving the man opposite her.
However, that nagging sensation began to creep through her, again. Eve faltered, nearly tripping over her own feet, as she dodged an angled slash. She recovered quickly, however, her sword came up to her head and down, towards her opponent’s head. But he was no longer there. He blocked, knocking Eve’s sword off it’s path, leaving her open for a final slash to her midsection.
A clap from the master signaled the end of the session. Eve and her opponent each returned their swords to their left hips and bowed to each other.
The master turned to kneel in front of the dojo’s alter, signaling the end of her class. Eve and her fellow students quickly straightened their gis and knelt in a line, behind them. They all bowed, to the alter, then the master turned and the students bowed to him, as well.
“You are distracted, Zen’ya,” the master said later, as they folded their hakamas. It wasn’t a question. It was unusual for the master to insist on folding his own hakama. And it was really only when he wanted to speak “privately” to one of his students. “What troubles you?”
“I don’t know, Sensei,” she replied. “I just... I don’t know…”
“In the five years you’ve studied with us,” the master stated, “you’ve become one of my most promising students. Your dedication to our art and to the other disciplines you study has been honorable. Toma-Sensei speaks highly of you. But there is more to life than study and discipline.”
“Hai, Sensei,” Eve replied, bowing her head.
“Five years is a long time, to ignore that which came here to forget,” the master continued, “it is time you dealt with your past.”
“And if there are evil things, in my past?” she asked. The master didn’t look up from his folding, but she could tell that he was waiting on her. “Before I came here, I did… things…”
Even after five years, Eve was unable to talk about the things she’d done, during the war with Voldemort. The things she’d come to Japan to put out of her mind were still there. The blot on Eve’s soul would never go away, she knew that. But she’d learned to live with it, hadn’t she?
“You speak of the war, in your homeland,” the master observed.
Eve looked up, startled. The master had never said anything to her, about being magical… But then, neither had Uncle Kubungo, for many, many years. It was only by coincidence that Eve knew at all. Again, Eve was reminded of how - not integrated, that wasn’t the right word - how well magical folk, here blended in with everyone else. It wasn’t uncommon, in Japan, for one to walk around a corner and find a wizarding marketplace, hidden, in plain sight, from “Muggles”.
“Forgive me, Sensei,” Eve stammered, bowing deeply, “I didn’t realize…”
The master waved off her apology. “Whatever you did, during the war,” he told her, “it is in the past and cannot be changed. It is time you learned to live with it, rather than pretend it did not happen.
“Go and live, for a while,” the master smiled. “We will be here, when you return.”
Eve didn’t speak, at first. As the master spoke, her world had narrowed to the old man’s voice and the ties of her hakama. Had she really been ignoring her past all this time? Hiding from the things she’d done, in martial arts and meditation? And if so, why was it distracting her now?
This was her life now… What else was there?
“I will try, Sensei,” she finally replied, bowing to the master.
The master returned her bow, stood and walked off the mat, leaving Eve to finish on her own. She packed up the rest of her things and left the dojo. As she stepped outside, she paused to take in her surroundings. A breeze picked up, sending a flurry of cherry blossoms swirling around her feet. And though she should be at peace, Eve was, again, filled with a sense that something just… wasn’t… right.
She stood there, attempting to figure out what was wrong. But she couldn’t. And to make matters worse, now the master’s words were added to her sense of “wrongness”. With a heavy sigh, Eve shouldered her bags and started down the dojo’s steps. As soon as she was out of sight of the general public, she apparated back to her hut, in the mountains.