Meeting By Moonlight (Vash/Kurai/Anguo)

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I waited for the other two beneath Mothers' light, soaking up the power that came from her rays and replenishing my own strength. I'd pulled the barrier down, though my blessing still lingered partially in the ground. I was ignoring Kerrian's snarks on the matter, simply drinking in the invigorating light.

Ketuluna was nearly full tonight, the time when Lunar is at its strongest. It was a good thing; the best time to train a new initiate, such as Anguo.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned towards them.

[Zhen Anguo]

"Hey!" 'Guo said with a big grin and a wave as he approached Vash. He had his White Moon Dragon with him, he was taking his duties of protecting this growing aid station very seriously, and the young boy was never seen without the large halberd in tow.

He felt strong and rejuvenated tonight, he couldn't quite explain why, but he did all the same!

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I smiled.

"You look energized tonight," I said, smiling. "No surprise; Ketuluna's full." I cocked my head at him, trying to find a way to phrase what I had to ask without sounding weird. Giving up, I sighed, then looked back at him.

"This is gonna sound really weird," I said, "but I've got an important question. Tell me - do you have a strange birthmark? One that looks like either a full or crescent moon, somewhere on your body. One that doesn't look like a birthmark at all, more like a tattoo." I paused. "A tattoo... or a mark."

[Zhen Anguo]

"How do you know?!" 'Guo asked as he raised an eyebrow at Vash. It was true, he had a small black circle on the back of his left shoulder, his father and brother had never really thought anything of it and as such neither had he.

"I mean, well, wait, what does that have to do with anything?!

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I nodded.

"I had to make sure." I took a deep breath, then sighed, looking up at the heavens.

Brother, help me?

You're asking my advice. On dealing with people.

I sighed. No, you're right, bad idea.

"I don't really know how to say this well, but... Zhen Anguo, that mark means you've been chosen to receive the powers of a Lunar Knight. There are too few of us left; the old bloodlines all but wiped out. The Lunars have had to look elsewhere for knights, and it appears one of them has chosen you. Normally, your predecessor would have found you as a child and trained you so that when he died, you wouldn't be overwhelmed by your burdens or powers; but..."

I closed my eyes; twenty years ago it may have been, but I remembered that day all too well.

"When Lunatopia was destroyed, all but one or two Lunar Knights were killed. You have no predecessor to train you."

[Zhen Anguo]

"I-... I see..." 'Guo said with a small nod before squatting down and placing his weapon on the ground before staring at it intently. As a monk he had a great respect for all aspects of nature, including the moons, despite not knowing they housed powerful spirits and chose warriors to house that power, but either way he would need to respect that decision. He could not forsake his ways now.

"So what happens?" He asked "If I don't have a predecessor? Do I train myself? Do I just live a normal life? Does the moons strength drive me insane?" All were valid questions in his opinion as he did not look up from his spear.

"Worse, am I trained? Shackled to a life and destiny I may not want? Do I now need to forsake my ways, my pilgrimage and such for this power?"

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I sat down in front of him, placing my hands on my lap.

"Yes, you must be trained - but I don't have the right to ask you to shackle yourself to any course of destiny you don't want for yourself." I took a deep breath. "You can feel it, right? The energy, coming from the world around you. The moonlight, entering your soul and giving you strength. That's the soul of a Lunar Knight's power - soaking up that light, that energy, and storing it for a time of need. Untrained, that power can burst out of you in unanticipated ways - you might think it had driven you temporarily insane. Some Lunar Knights use that kind of burst as a berserker frenzy in combat, but it is never a good idea to let yourself be taken by it, unprepared." I shook my head. "Kurai and I will train you, help you master the basic self-control you need to keep that from happening. After that, what you do with your life is up to you."

I heard a not-so-discreet cough in the back of my head.

"...of course, at that point, you'll be in contact with the Lunar who chose you. He might have some things to say about it, but ultimately, he cannot force you to do anything against your will."

[Zhen Anguo]

'Guo nodded almost in acceptance "I see." At least he had the choice of freedom, but how could he decline a responsibility such as this, now? He had been given the opportunity to learn and master a great power for the good of the world, how could he now turn that responsibility down and instead go out for life on his own? If they were giving him the opportunity to train him, then he needed to take it. So far, everything Vash had said had been correct, now that he thought about it, he did always feel stronger when the moon was up...

"Okay." He said with an affirmative nod "I know what I am going to do."

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I smiled at him; I knew what his decision was.

"Good. We'll begin your training tonight; if we don't," and I laughed, "you might cause some problems for Kurai and I. The nature of Void is that it fills itself - Void magic draws on other forms of Mana naturally, pulling it in and converting it to power. A Lunar Knight also draws on other power subconsciously, the power that comes from the moons. Until you learn to regulate that flow and pull, especially since you have an incredibly strong connection with this land, you won't be able to control what you're taking in... or where you take it from."

Which would be a problem, if he was going to be spending a lot of time around me. Especially if I were going to be working without limiters. Human shell or not, I was a Lunar - and that meant that Anguo would draw off my energy like a sieve if he contacted it. Not only would that be bad for my disguise, but it would be bad for me, too, seeing as I needed that energy to be of any use at all.

I chuckled. "You might have noticed yourself taking strength from me earlier..."

[Zhen Anguo]

"Wh-what?!" 'Guo said, taken aghast. He stood up, grabbing his spear as he did so and started bombarding him with masses of apologies and such, although that explained why he always seemed so much stronger when he was around Vash, and now he felt like a dolt and a fool for accidentally draining his power. It just goes to show how much training he needed to undergo.

"If this is the case! I must start training! Right away!"

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I laughed. "Don't worry about it," I told him sincerely. "Honestly, I'm not upset." I thought for a moment. "You likely won't have the same problem with Kurai, though; I'm a little... 'special'... among Lunar Knights." I shook my head. "For now, try not to touch me if you can help it - that should minimize the effect." I paused, and my face became serious. "And, if you should ever see my Cross by itslef, never, ever touch it, and don't ever unwrap it. It... it would be bad for everyone involved."

I had to get that across to him, if I were going to train him. My Cross was the focus of my power, as well as one of my limiters.

[Zhen Anguo]

"Okay! Don't touch you, and never touch your cross! Got it!" He sat, bouncing lightly on the heels of his feet like an excited school boy "Those are the rules? Okay! I've got 'em memorized, now, what's first?!"

[Kurai Horo]

"Control and regulation would be a good place to start." Kurai said as he walked silently past 'Guo and turned to face him once he was next to Vash. He had his book in hand and was silently reading as he talked to the young Lunar Knight. Looking up from his book for a moment he spoke to Vash.

"How is it looking? If he's anything like Eli then this shouldn't take at all long, a few days at most before he's ready to start dabbling on his own? And Eli was only trained by myself and Seth, he didn't really have that much of your help in his training, so having you on board is sure to be a bonus, plus we won't have Seth being a Mr Grumpy Gills."

[Vash, the Angel's Moon]

I frowned slightly.

"Eli was the kind of natural talent that comes along once a lifetime," I said, "and likely, he had... other help with that. Seth, also, seemed to train Eli well, despite his.... other flaws."

Seth Dezari was an uncomfortable subject for me. THere was a reason it had be me who had gone to Unda.

"Still. Anguo!" My mood brightened. "You said you were a monk, right? You know any kind of meditation at all?"

[Zhen Anguo]

"Do I?!" 'Guo said with a big grin.

"What sort of monk would I be if I didn't know any meditative techniques?! I know plenty!"