Don't ask where I came up with the idea for this at. I guess I have a
morbid imagination or something... Thumbs up to whoever knows the translation
of the title! (I do! I do!) And yes, it is relevant to the story.
RK story. AU timeline. The Revolution failed. All of the Japanese upper class (samurai and up) are kyuuketsuki (vampires) and they lower classes are composed of humans. Some of the rogue bands of traders and such are kyuuketsuki, but most of the bandits are human, as well. Some of the Lords disliked the way the humans were subservient to the vampires, and were known as Hunters for their disposing of corrupt Lords.
** The Bakumatsu took place between the Hunters and the Lords, though history never remembered that fact. All the historians saw was the conflict to return control of Japan to the Emperor.
A young red-haired boy ran across a small space in front of a hut, carefully watched by a kind old man. The boy didn't smile, didn't laugh. All he did was throw a ball up into the air and catch it. He couldn't have been older than five, but with his quiet demeanor and shadowed expression, one would think he was twice that, despite his small height. A close look at the background showed two small graves, marked only by stick crosses and a few dead flowers. Most likely, they were the resting places of the boy's family.
As Shinta missed the ball, it bounced and rolled to a spot right next to the path leading to the Lord's manor. The small boy bent over to pick the errant ball up, and when he straightened, he was looking up into the rotted mouth of a slave trader.
"Well, well. He's a pretty one. He'll fetch a handsome price at the market, wouldn't ye say, Taro?"
"Hai, Taicho." [1]
"C'mon, gaki [2]. We're takin' you with us."
Shinta took a couple of hesitant steps back, only to run into a different trader. Soon, he was surrounded by them. When they moved away, all that was left to remember them was a ball on the ground.
Within Shinta's first week of captivity, he was left at a small brothel near his old home for training. The women there were kind to him and taught him various things of their trade. He didn't understand at the time, and they weren't going to explain it to him. Being so young, he couldn't work with them, so they were all too happy to take a day off to be surrogate mothers. But, every good thing also has a bad to balance it. While the prostitutes would shield him, the pimp behind the outfit would ingrain certain behaviors common to "loose women."
Soon, the same band of dorei-no-bainin [3] came back through, and took the small boy with them again. This time around, he was the Haku's (the taicho) personal slave. In fact, because of the way he looked, he was rarely beaten. Most of the men thought he was a demon from the hair and eye color, so he was left alone. The one time he was publicly raped and beaten was when he helped a young girl escape. All in all, he was treated better than the regular field slaves, if you could consider Haku's testing of those "skills" better.
When Shinta was around eight years old, Haku and his gang were slaughtered by a human hidan [4]. Even the slaves, including the child's only three friends, were slaughtered. The only reason the heihi [5] hesitated was the same reason for the boy having been alive this long: his red hair and amber-flecked violet eyes. That hesitation cost them their lives as a tall swordsman showed up, killing any foolish enough to attack him. Which was all of 'em...
"Be happy you lived, boy. Though, no one will blame you if you kill yourself," Hiko Seijuro told Shinta before leaving, long legs carrying him across the make-shift battlefield.
Shinta merely watched him with wide eyes, admiring his strength. Slowly, he climbed to his feet and set to work burying the fallen. Doggedly, he kept at it, until each corpse was buried. The next day found that same swordsman back at the site, where the boy knelt, offering prayers to the dead. Before the day was over, Shinta no longer existed. In his place was the deshi of Hiko Seijuro XIII, Kenshin.
)(.)(.)(.)(
Well, there's the quick overview of Kenshin's past this time around. I didn't want it to take too long, cause I seem to jump years quite a bit. I guess you could say that this is the first prologue. Next will be a scene or two from the Bakumatsu. See ya then.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
1. taicho - - captain
2. gaki - - brat (I've seen this so many times as vampire, so it's kinda a pun)
3. dorei-no-bainin - - trader of slaves, slave trader.
4. hidan - - bandit gang
5. heihi - - bandits
RK story. AU timeline. The Revolution failed. All of the Japanese upper class (samurai and up) are kyuuketsuki (vampires) and they lower classes are composed of humans. Some of the rogue bands of traders and such are kyuuketsuki, but most of the bandits are human, as well. Some of the Lords disliked the way the humans were subservient to the vampires, and were known as Hunters for their disposing of corrupt Lords.
** The Bakumatsu took place between the Hunters and the Lords, though history never remembered that fact. All the historians saw was the conflict to return control of Japan to the Emperor.
A young red-haired boy ran across a small space in front of a hut, carefully watched by a kind old man. The boy didn't smile, didn't laugh. All he did was throw a ball up into the air and catch it. He couldn't have been older than five, but with his quiet demeanor and shadowed expression, one would think he was twice that, despite his small height. A close look at the background showed two small graves, marked only by stick crosses and a few dead flowers. Most likely, they were the resting places of the boy's family.
As Shinta missed the ball, it bounced and rolled to a spot right next to the path leading to the Lord's manor. The small boy bent over to pick the errant ball up, and when he straightened, he was looking up into the rotted mouth of a slave trader.
"Well, well. He's a pretty one. He'll fetch a handsome price at the market, wouldn't ye say, Taro?"
"Hai, Taicho." [1]
"C'mon, gaki [2]. We're takin' you with us."
Shinta took a couple of hesitant steps back, only to run into a different trader. Soon, he was surrounded by them. When they moved away, all that was left to remember them was a ball on the ground.
Within Shinta's first week of captivity, he was left at a small brothel near his old home for training. The women there were kind to him and taught him various things of their trade. He didn't understand at the time, and they weren't going to explain it to him. Being so young, he couldn't work with them, so they were all too happy to take a day off to be surrogate mothers. But, every good thing also has a bad to balance it. While the prostitutes would shield him, the pimp behind the outfit would ingrain certain behaviors common to "loose women."
Soon, the same band of dorei-no-bainin [3] came back through, and took the small boy with them again. This time around, he was the Haku's (the taicho) personal slave. In fact, because of the way he looked, he was rarely beaten. Most of the men thought he was a demon from the hair and eye color, so he was left alone. The one time he was publicly raped and beaten was when he helped a young girl escape. All in all, he was treated better than the regular field slaves, if you could consider Haku's testing of those "skills" better.
When Shinta was around eight years old, Haku and his gang were slaughtered by a human hidan [4]. Even the slaves, including the child's only three friends, were slaughtered. The only reason the heihi [5] hesitated was the same reason for the boy having been alive this long: his red hair and amber-flecked violet eyes. That hesitation cost them their lives as a tall swordsman showed up, killing any foolish enough to attack him. Which was all of 'em...
"Be happy you lived, boy. Though, no one will blame you if you kill yourself," Hiko Seijuro told Shinta before leaving, long legs carrying him across the make-shift battlefield.
Shinta merely watched him with wide eyes, admiring his strength. Slowly, he climbed to his feet and set to work burying the fallen. Doggedly, he kept at it, until each corpse was buried. The next day found that same swordsman back at the site, where the boy knelt, offering prayers to the dead. Before the day was over, Shinta no longer existed. In his place was the deshi of Hiko Seijuro XIII, Kenshin.
)(.)(.)(.)(
Well, there's the quick overview of Kenshin's past this time around. I didn't want it to take too long, cause I seem to jump years quite a bit. I guess you could say that this is the first prologue. Next will be a scene or two from the Bakumatsu. See ya then.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
1. taicho - - captain
2. gaki - - brat (I've seen this so many times as vampire, so it's kinda a pun)
3. dorei-no-bainin - - trader of slaves, slave trader.
4. hidan - - bandit gang
5. heihi - - bandits
