Echoes of Humanity

A/N: Everyone has the right to hate me right now. I understand completely. This fic will be finished, and soon. It is a promise I make to everyone who actually likes this story. I had a summer w/o a computer, a laptop that died with a dramatic death, and some family problems, all of which seemed to stack together and make writing impossible. That, however, is not an excuse. I apologize profusely for being a terrible member of fandom.

Part VI


In some ways, Shaka regretted not interrogating Mu on what had happened on the same night the Aries Saint had walked, dazed, from the Scorpio Temple. But he hadn’t, and now there was a tension in the previously indifferent relationship between Milo and Mu that had left the rest of the Gold Saints speculating as to its origin. Shaka only knew what he had heard, when a feeling of dread had suddenly ripped him from his own temple after the very man he had sent to Milo in the first place.

Mu had said nothing to him when they returned to the Virgo temple, and had only stayed there for a moment before returning to his own home. Shaka had not had the desire nor the will to ask what had happened at that point, and after that, there had really been no reason to bring it up, other than simple curiosity.

So time had gone on, and Athena appeared to have made her decision, as the few remaining Silver Saints and even a few Bronze Saints began to spend more time in Sanctuary, supposedly under various orders. Some of those orders seemed so inane that Shaka doubted the actual need for them. In addition, the Gold Saints had been sent from Sanctuary, surveying scarred training grounds and searching for new ones. The orders had caused more movement in the past month than had occurred in Sanctuary in years, all at the order of Athena and Saori Kido.

But, when everything was, for the first and possibly only time, peaceful in Sanctuary, there was this one thing. It was frustrating. Shaka had also been surprised to realize one night, while considering the situation before bedtime, that he was concerned. Mu seemed ready and willing to ignore the situation, indeed, seemed to be acting towards Milo in the same way he always had, unless perhaps with more concern than usual. Milo was the one that was acting odd. Still, Mu had been avoiding Sanctuary, taking assignments outside of the boundaries as often as possible, and spending time in Tibet, as well, training his student and studying ancient texts.

For that reason, Shaka was more than surprised to see the Aries Saint standing in the door of his temple. He looked hesitant, almost.

“Do you need an invitation?” Shaka asked quietly, “Or are you just scared of me?”

“Actually, I have a favor I wish to ask of you.” Mu replied. Shaka raised an eyebrow. This was relatively unexpected, and the tone of the pink-haired man’s voice made him wary. He inclined his head in Mu’s direction.

“Then you should.” He said with a slight smirk to hide the rather uncomfortable feeling he had. Being enigmatic was fine. Beating around the bush was a completely different matter altogether for the Virgo Saint.

Mu apparently understood. “I was wondering if you would spar with me.”

Okay. So that was definitely not quite what he’d been expecting. Shaka felt the corner of his mouth quirk up in a slight smile. This was odd, but not quite as dire as he’d been thinking, when the Aries Saint had been so tentative about the request.

“May I ask why you chose me?” He asked. Mu looked thoughtful, as though he didn’t quite know himself.

“I’ve been uncommonly restless,” He replied after a moment, “and training Kiki has become somewhat repetitive. I would like to have a different opponent, and I imagine that you are as different from my student as I can find here.”

Shaka paused, considering the request seriously. He wondered just what kind of sparring Mu wanted. “What did you have in mind?”

“Pure hand to hand.” Mu said instantly, “I just have some energy that I would like to burn off.”

Shaka didn’t say anything for a long moment. He was restless, for certain. Perhaps getting out would be a respite to the four walls of the temple and the constant barrage of the self-reflection that had become so utterly stressful to him in the past few weeks.

“Give me a short time to prepare, and I will join you.”

Mu looked relieved. “I thank you.”

A half hour later, Shaka made his way up to the arena. He had changed into a light tunic and leggings, the traditional clothes made for ease of movement and freedom. The thought crossed his mind that Mu might have been expecting them to fight in their Cloths, but Shaka doubted that. Without the aid of Cosmos, the armor could come close to being cumbersome, and Mu had made his intentions for this bout clear.

The Virgo Saint was surprised, however, to meet Aiolia, passing him the other way on the mountain. He hadn’t had a lot of chances to speak with the younger Saint alone, and when he had, he could never quite bring himself to apologize for the way he had treated the Leo Saint. Aiolia, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten the entire thing. The young Saint had become gradually more open as the weeks passed, and had become second only to Aldebaran in his support to his comrades.

Now, the Leo Saint smiled at him, cocking his head slightly. “What’s with the outfit?” He asked curiously, “It’s rare to see you in anything other than your Cloth or meditative clothing.”

Shaka nodded. He agreed with Aiolia. He’d had to search to find the clothes, after all, and they did have a rather musty scent about them.

“The Aries Saint has requested that I spar with him.” He said.

Aiolia blinked. “You and Mu?” He asked, surprised. “I don’t suppose you’d like an audience?”

Shaka shook his head. “I don’t see why it would be a problem, if you’d like to observe.”

Aiolia nodded contentedly. He imagined this would be an interesting fight, and he was rather curious as to what the two most stoic of them would look like in combat together. He might have some first-hand knowledge with Shaka as a Saint, but simple combat was a completely different thing. Without another word – he’d figured out quite a while ago that Shaka detested small talk – he fell into step behind Shaka, following the Virgo Saint to the arena.

Mu was already there when they arrived. To Shaka’s relief, he too had removed his Cloth, wearing a simple light colored robe, belted tightly around the waist, and loose white leggings. He was on his knees, hands resting on his thighs in the posture traditional to many of the Asian forms, and his head was tipped back against his shoulders. He had braided his hair back tightly out of his face, and he looked both serious and relaxed, lost in apparent meditation.

Behind Shaka, Aiolia made a sound of surprise.

“He looks so…different.” The Leo Saint murmured. Shaka figured he wasn’t supposed to hear, so said nothing. Silently, he agreed with Aiolia, though. The Aries Saint, when he was unguarded, had a quality and wisdom about him that could only be considered remarkable.

At their approach, however, Mu opened his eyes and gracefully rose to his feet. He greeted Aiolia with a slight smile, and gave nearly the same response as Shaka when the Leo Saint repeated his question. Aiolia nodded and walked away to sit on the edge of the arena.

Looking Mu over, Shaka suddenly realized he had no idea what discipline the Aries Saint had been trained under. Knowing what he did about the race, he doubted the pink-haired man had been taught anything particularly heavy-handed, and knowing Mu as he did, he imagined the Aries Saint would be much more comfortable with the more subtle and graceful forms. He couldn’t quite see Mu using anything less. Most likely Lama Pai, then, or possibly one of the more common Asian forms. The clothing Mu had chosen to wear seemed to indicate that he would not be using a western technique.

Shaka shrugged mentally. It wasn’t like he knew enough of the forms outside his own training to be able to adapt to it specifically, anyway. He would just have to act and react to Mu’s movements as they came.

Still, he hated starting blind. “Have you warmed up?” He asked.

Mu shook his head. “Not yet. I was beginning to do so when you arrived.”

Shaka nodded, already beginning to gather information from the answer. Mu was one who would follow method with something of this nature, and if preparing for the form involved mediation, then that narrowed it down slightly. “Shall we take a few minutes to do so, then? It would be unfortunate were we to injure ourselves.”

Mu smiled. “I was about to suggest the same thing. It will also give us a chance to observe each other’s style, making it far easier to have a productive bout.”

Shaka sighed, and didn’t say anything as he tipped his head to Mu, stepping back a few paces and straightening, grounding himself in preparation for a slow and straightforward set that he’d long ago chosen as his preferred routine for warming up. This may be a simple bout between allies, but he wasn’t about to lose because he’d exposed too much of his intentions to the Aries Saint.

Mu stepped back as well, putting several feet of space between them, and adopted a similar posture, although his fingers were laced, and the muscles of his back and neck were tensed.

Slowly, the two Saints began to dance through the set patterns of their respective forms, each pretending to be lost in their own world, and each sneaking covert and brief glances at one another as they tried to feel each other out; to size one another up and see what they would be up against in a few minutes. To each, it was a battle with their curiosity and the clearing of mind that would truly be their advantage against one another.

It took about ten minutes before they both came to a stop, and Shaka realized he really knew nothing more about the Aries Saint than that he was exceedingly capable and talented in his manipulations of his own body. Shaka hoped that he had revealed as little.

Mu inclined his head as Shaka came to a halt. “Shall we begin, then?”

Shaka nodded. “I see no reason not to do so.” He said, moving back a few feet from Mu. The two men hesitated for a moment, and then bowed in unison.

For several moments they stood without moving, watching each other warily. It was Mu who took the first initiative, gliding forward into Shaka’s territory with a movement that was not quick, but perfectly executed. As the Virgo Saint easily evaded the attack, Mu slid to the side, leaving his only open area the relatively insensitive edge of his shoulder. Shaka stepped backwards, adding enough space to get his hand under Mu’s arm, his own leg keeping the Aries Saint from executing any kick of his own, twisting the shoulder back as his other arm instinctively moved to attack Mu’s chest. Mu took the attack, rotating to prevent its full brunt for slamming into his solar plexus, and immediately countered back, using his momentum to get behind Shaka and try to disable him from behind. Shaka simply dropped to the ground, rolling as the force of the Aries Saint’s attack sent him forward, and regained his feet a few feet from the other man. Mu raised an eyebrow and gave him a look that Shaka thought was probably his version of a challenge, and from that moment neither Saint quite knew what they did. Instinct took over as they contacted each other again, and fierce attacks alternated with calculated risks as each tried to adjust for the others abilities.

As they became aware that neither had superior ability, both Saints began to adjust for their own attacks, and their Cosmos grew as they fought. The increase in energy brought curious onlookers, as well as a few slightly paranoid individuals who assumed that Sanctuary must be under attack. By the time they had finished – with Shaka pinning Mu to the ground, arm twisted behind his back and completely helpless – forty minutes had passed and a reasonable crowd had formed. When Shaka released him, Mu stepped back, taking deep, controlled breaths, and retook the position from which they had started. He inclined his head, then snapped upright and bowed. Shaka following suit.

Stretching out, trying to feel if any of the muscles in his body had taken abuse that they shouldn’t have, Shaka realized that he was glad Mu had chosen him for this bout. Even with the aching in various tissues that would inevitably become bruises in the next few hours, he felt refreshed, and the blood pumping through his veins seemed almost cleansing. Meditation, introspection, and drilling in both combative and non-combative martial arts all served to increase his awareness and peace, but there was something both fresh and revitalizing about matching wits and body against a willing, skilled partner. Slowly, he followed the pink-haired Saint to the edge of the arena, to where their audience had grown to include almost all the Saints currently in Sanctuary. As he approached, Aldebaran cocked his head, Aiolia smiled and the corners of Milo’s mouth twitched up. Aiolia leaned over to the Scorpio Saint, quite possibly because Milo was the only Saint there who would find any humor in the statement.


“If I didn’t know better…” He trailed off as Mu stepped in front of him. “You’re good.” He added, addressing the Aries Saint.

“I’m glad you think so.” Mu said, pushing several strands of hair out of his face. Shaka realized quite suddenly that most of the carefully constructed braid had been released from its bindings, and Mu’s hair was ruffled and messy, hardly the well groomed and virtually perfect picture he had come to expect from the Aries Saint. The realization made him look down, and he suddenly had an idea as to why the other Gold Saints looked amused. They had pushed each other hard for nearly an hour and looked the part. Shaka sniffed, suddenly a bit irked; annoyed that any of the Saints felt like they had the right to laugh at him. Aiolia, if anything, smiled wider. He leaned back, looking up at the Virgo Saint with an expression that fell somewhere between mischievous and brazen. Shaka mostly thought it was annoying. He looked around at the gathered Saints curiously.

“Were we really that great a form of entertainment?” He asked, slightly amused. Aiolia shifted his gaze so he could grin at Shaka, instead.

“You were quite impressive, but we were also enjoying each other’s company.” He said.

“We were?” Milo asked, a strange combination of amusement and honesty in his voice.

“Of course. We don’t often get decent conversation.” Aiolia countered, and was met with a snort from Shaina.

“I don’t think,” The Ophiuchus Saint said. “That you are a good judge of decent conversation.”

Aiolia turned to her. “I was doing fine with everyone else. You’re the one that couldn’t follow through.”

Next to Shaka, Mu shook his head slightly, still mostly focused on his body and the rather obvious twinge he could feel forming in his shoulder. It wasn’t bad, neither he nor Shaka would have allowed any sort of serious injury, but it would hurt for the next few days. It was the first time he’d had felt like he’d actually challenged his body in a long time. He continued to listen to the conversations out of one ear while he stretched out, taking advantage of the warmth of his body and muscles. Shaka seemed a little more focused on the group, a strange sort of curiosity in his behavior as he watched the interactions between the other Saints.

After several minutes, Aiolia and Shaina seemed to have finished their argument, and were standing, watching each other. Well-trained not to scrutinize her too closely, Mu still wondered briefly what the expression on the young woman’s face might be. That bit of drama over, though, Mu took in the rest of the Saint’s in presence. He was surprised to see two Bronze Saints there. He was of the opinion that most of them had returned to their masters, mistresses, or were working on repairing the decimated remains of their or their friend’s homes. Noticing his look, Bear Geki bowed his head. Mu nodded back.

“It is good to see you well.” He said, but the big youth said nothing in response, simply looking at the ground. Mu had to admit that there were times when he actually appreciated Kiki’s respectful, yet never overboard defiance of, well, life. Speaking of his student, Mu suddenly realized that he hadn’t heard or spoken to his own in quite some time. He made a mental note to check in with the young trainee at some point. Glancing up at the sky, Mu noted, with surprise, that two things had changed. First, it was nearly evening and, second, large storm clouds were beginning to form on the edges of the horizon. Predictably, it began to rain. As the first few drops hit their heads no one really moved, then the Saints slowly came to the realization that they should relocate. Shaina nodded towards the Gold Saints, and walked away without a word, Aiolia looking after her with a look that indicated he did not feel that their conversation was yet complete. He hesitated for a brief moment, and then followed after her. Mu hoped that the Leo Saint would not try and live up to his reputation. But Aiolia’s judgment was generally better than it sometimes seemed. He had proved on several occasions that he knew more than he let on; was older than he appeared. Mu once again wondered on the distinction he made in their ages. Although they were only a few years older than Aiolia, he often felt that there was a gap between the Leo Saint and himself that seemed to span a decade.

“I believe the weather is trying to tell us that we must go inside.” Aldebaran remarked as the rain turned heavier. “Shall I see you later, perhaps?”

“Soon, I’m sure.” Mu replied distantly, several moments after Aldebaran walked away. Shaka looked at him curiously, but it was Milo who spoke.

“Are you well, Aries? You seem distracted.” The Scorpio Saint asked, and there was a slightly sarcastic tone in his voice that seemed out of place. Mu jumped.

“I guess I am still contemplating my fight with the Virgo Saint.” He replied.

“Good. I think you already know that thinking too much can be dangerous.” The statement was tinged with ice, and completely serious.

“I assure you,” Mu replied. “That there was nothing hazardous in my thoughts.” His tone had become almost defensive, yet at the same time guarded.

The rain reached a nearly painful level while the two Saints watched each other carefully, then Milo turned away. “I’m afraid you will have to excuse me,” He said, “For water is not my favorite thing, except when it is contained by walls and accompanied by a cleaner.”

“I agree.” Mu replied, but he made no move towards leaving, simply watched the Scorpio Saint walk away. The tenseness in his body dissipated as soon as Milo was out of sight.

Indeed, looking at the Aries Saint, Shaka couldn’t help but think that Mu looked calmer than he had in long time, despite the sad expression in his eyes as he watched the path that the Scorpio Saint had just left by. Shaka sighed, frustrated.

“I don’t suppose you want to tell me what just happened, Aries?”

Mu looked at him, nothing in his expression belaying no defenses on his part. “What are you talking about?”

Shaka raised an eyebrow. “We’ve had this conversation before, Mu. Don’t play at ignorance. Something has been disturbed in the relationship between you and the Scorpio Saint, ever since Athena’s visit.”

Mu stared at him for a long moment, obviously not intending to answer. Shaka said nothing, letting the Aries Saint think of a decent response, and instead pulled his own hair out of its band. When Mu still chose to say nothing, however, Shaka sighed.

“Mu, you haven’t earned the right to play a game like this. I know you wouldn’t have let him hurt you; I don’t think he could have even if he’d wanted too. But it has been two weeks, and you two are tiptoeing around each other. This relationship is bad for Sanctuary.”

Mu flinched, and Shaka couldn’t bring himself to feel badly. This was their life, after all. They didn’t have social lives, nor did they have personal wellbeing. They had lives as Saints. What was bad for the individual was bad for Sanctuary herself.

Mu looked at him for a moment longer, then glanced at the ground. “He talked, but I didn’t listen very well.” He said, and then looked back up at Shaka, his expression sincere and, for Mu, relatively open. “I thank you for the match, Shaka. You taught me much about myself today. But now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get cleaned up.”

Shaka paused. “Of course.” He said quietly. Mu had already stated, quite plainly, that they were nothing less than equals. But as Mu had used it to refuse his being a better man than Shaka, the Virgo Saint could not order Mu to do anything. Instead, he waited until the Aries Saint was out of sight, and then began walking towards his own temple. In some ways, he enjoyed the rain. It was, however cliché, refreshing, and served to reduce the frustration, and even the slightly baffling annoyance he felt towards Mu at the moment.