Hello everyone! This fanfiction (Blood and Roses but abbreviated with B & R) is being published originally in spanish, but Pazaror (a reader) and I decided to transcribe it or make the attempt. So, I apologize if some things aren't quite right. After having clarified the situation of this story, enjoy it.
Special thanks to Parazor, who was responsible for the translation. She deserves the sky and all the chocolate in the world.
-The words in italics are the thoughts of the characters.
Broken
The faint night drizzle, the bashful moon leaving only look half of her face to watch it all and that drilling silence formed the vast scenery around her, and it was like an endless tale in which the only thing for sure was the starting point.
But she didn't care about the hardness of the narrow path she was walking, neither had she any interest in the thick, natural bamboo walls that sheltered her and kept everybody away from what the outer world could hold; the only thing truly interesting for her pupils was the superb wheat field that welcomed her with its golden hue when she started walking through it.
But when did it all started to turn a thunderous crimson, and to break the train of her thoughts? What was supposed to be that beast that lied a few meters away, being attacked by those three hefty warriors and being annihilated by the violent lunge of an umbrella?
"...Abuto?" The name came out automatically, without even wishing for it. And she didn't, even for a moment, peel her gaze away from that old acquaintance.
"You look like you've seen a dead man back from his grave" He expressed with some mockery while he covered himself from the raging monsoon and let the water take care of cleaning the crimson dirt that had stained his weapon.
"The earth is too big of a place for us to end up meeting up again", she inquired with more serenity. Even a small sigh escaped from her lips. "I don't remember a fleet of such reputation having the time to make expeditions and going hunting for small wild beasts", she mentioned, crossing her arms.
"You should smile a little or your face is gonna chap." That mocking smile and such comment made a scowl appear in her face. "Come on, come on, calm down. I have enough work to do with having to protect the captain's ass to deal with something else."
"That's because you let him do what he wants", she pointed out without much interest. "I guess your path to extinction can't be avoided."
"Hey, hey", the best he could do was to tranquil her mood.
"Vice-captain, we need you to come immediately." Their talk was interrupted as soon as one of the brunet's subordinates approached them.
"And what's going on now? Don't you realize I'm trying to negotiate?", he complained.
"It's just… We've ran out of supplies. And their state is worsening", he notified, alarmed. Abuto simply stayed quiet.
"What are you supposed to be doing in Earth? He couldn't resist for any longer and came for that man's head?" It wasn't hard to predict the moves of the ex-captain of the 7th division of the Harusame.
"I remember your goodbye letter saying something like… you didn't want to know anything from either of us or our stupid captain anymore." He could have said it with true seriousness, but it was clear that this made him laugh. Especially for the contradiction between what she had said and what she was doing right now.
"Stop henpeck me", she snapped, somewhat annoyed, after turning around. "What kind of person am I if I'm incapable of keeping a promise like that? Tsk… Besides, why are they here? In this territory, they won't find anything more than…"
"…We were attacked, and we didn't come out so well from it."
"What did you say?", she faced him once more with her question clear in her unsettled ruby eyes. "Who could have enough strength to defeat a group of Yato like you? It sounds absolutely ridiculous".
"Why don't you see it for yourself, Oshin?"
She knew the places that are appreciated beyond the field of wheat and what hid so meticulously that monumental cascade of crystal clear waters and river stones. However, what she didn't have an answer for was the reason why they had sealed so magnificently well the entry to that steep, deep underground cave.
Not a word came out of her mouth. She allowed the rock blocking her path to be moved away by one of the men who escorted her to that place.
"But what… the hell does this all mean?". Her bewilderment was comparable to her growing confusion and the inertia of walking towards the entrails of that darkness poorly lit by a few torches. "What happened?". She turned towards the person who was supposed to give her answers.
"As I mentioned, we were attacked.
"That doesn't explain what I'm seeing here."
More than ten individuals remained lying on the floor, shivering and mumbling nonsense, barely audible to themselves. Nevertheless, what caught her attention the most wasn't their state of vulnerability, but those purple spots on half of their faces and the rest of their bodies.
"What supposed to be those blotches? What is happening?", she demanded to know at all costs.
"During the battle, a strange smoke started to invade the battlefield. All those who inhaled it started presenting those strange blemishes", he described walking towards her. Yes, he looked concerned and anxious about it. "If it were only those simple blotches, there wouldn't be a problem."
"What symptoms have they experienced?", she questioned after kneeling in front of one of the convalescents. She seemed to be checking his pulse and verifying if he had no fever.
"Since they breathed that smoke they began to feel weak, their senses started to fail and their strength began to diminish quickly. And by the moment the spots appeared on their bodies, something even worse happened.", explained who could undoubtedly be considered the medic of the crew. "The smallest amount of light causes them severe damage…". His words were confirmed the moment he moved the upper clothes from the patient the young woman was examining.
"…Their burns… they're pretty awful… It's like they've been exposed to the sun for too long."
"The sunlight wasn't even strong and they had thick clothes on", he uttered.
"… A poison as such is not, but… it's killing them slow and painfully…", stated Oshin with displeasure. "Who the hell did this airhead mess with now?", she casted a sidelong glance at Abuto.
"You're forgetting that part in which we literally became enemies with half of the universe." That's how it had been since they had helped the Kihetai in Edo and faced not only the Shinsengumi but the Yatagarasu as well. Yes, they had become the most wanted in the blink of an eye.
"That only tells me that there are too many people out there that wants to impale you and have your heads over their chimneys", she mentioned with a sinisterly black humor.
"I don't know who's behind all this. The only thing we know is that they've found a way to neutralize the power of the Yato", declared the brunet, irritated and with a strong desire to just leave and exterminate the culprit of such insolent assault.
"And by doing it, they're reduced to nothing more than small puppies with wobbly fangs."
"For the moment, I've found a way to reduce the effects of this strange syndrome. But it's not permanent. It's essential to find an antidote", said the doctor once more. "Sadly, most of the ingredients are running out due to the constant doses that I have to give them to keep them lucid."
"Just tell me what plants we're talking about and I'll take care of the rest", expressed the young woman after standing up. "My services are expensive, keep that in mind."
"I think that this will get a bit more expensive", he mentioned with mockery. "Your services will have to include keeping sedated our stupid captain."
Again, she followed Abuto's steps to the outside without saying anything. Her head was already occupied with thoughts that wouldn't bring her any benefit and that nevertheless bloomed one after the other, like they had their own autonomy, and like they didn't care that she didn't want to deepen once again in them.
She smiled briefly, so momentarily that her expression faded the instant that cold raindrop scurried down her cheek to the damp ground.
"Life must be ironic enough to make me meet again the person I'm trying to run from… What fascination do people find in those random events they call coincidences? And why did we have to run into each other?"
The smell of mildew, artificial light from those distant lamps, the coldness of concrete and those thick rusty iron bars that deprived her of her freedom, had turned from the first moment in her eyes abandoned the unconsciousness into her daily scenography, where the only thing that varied was the face of her guard.
She wasn't alone in her state of imprisonment. There were those who remained in the distant corners of the cell, those who stood in front of the bars and uttered insults to those who looked at them from the outside, mocking them. And finally, there also were those who accepted their reality and opted for saving their energy.
She was part of the third group.
"We're all wondering how we ended up in this place", mentioned one of the three men who were resting on the floor; he was the tallest, and with a body so broad one couldn't believe he couldn't take care of the shackles bounding his hands.
"It seems they caught us off guard and we ended up here… like cows without a mark, waiting to be sold", she observed those thick handcuffs and then looked at the dirty floor she was sitting on.
"And what's that thing you're carrying on your back supposed to be?" The curiosity of the second man showed itself.
"Like you can see, it's a chest of drawers", she pointed out for the questioners. "I take it everywhere because it's my…" None of the prisoners uttered another word. What she feared most had come.
"…I'm sure you'll find something useful in our recently acquired merchandise." The Amanto had become the worst enemy of human kind since the moment they descended to Earth and that violent war took place. "Or are you interested in something specific?", questioned the alien to his peculiar clients. "Kids to serve as bait? Work force? Mechanics? Or maybe… some fun?" His hand fit perfectly between the bars, making it easier for him to grab the woman, catching her by surprise. "We have for every taste."
"Get off, get off me right now!", screamed the woman, terrified.
"You should feel proud to be of use to our race. Especially to creatures so powerful like the Yato", shouted the man, smiling.
"Neither women nor children are of our interest", said melodiously his client, a vermillion-haired young man. "If I followed you it's because I thought you had something truly interesting to show us. But I see you've only wasted our time." That smile looked charming, but it hid a sinister and obvious wish.
"N-N-No, of course not, Kamui-dono!" He took it back quickly. "In this cell, we have many interesting things. What do you think of a member of the Dakini Clan as a personal pet? A professional medic? Or maybe some kind of… apothecary?"
"I highly doubt a bunch of mercenaries needs the services an apothecary can offer."
The rest of the prisoners paled the instant that woman opened her mouth, capturing the attention of the one that had indirectly condemned them to never know the term freedom anymore. Did she not realize what she was doing? If she continued talking she'd get them all killed down there, under the look of their captor.
"Correct me if I'm wrong." Her simple answer was directed to the two Yato.
The ruby-red of her gaze suited the white of her skin and made it the most prominent feature of her physical appearance. Then, there was the long, straight jet-black hair she kept loose, hanging down her shoulders and back.
Jeans, long brown boots, a white simple blouse and that aviator hat were the only clothing she was wearing and was enough to go around practicing that particular profession.
"In a certain way, you could be useful to us", intervened Abuto, thinking about it. "Thanks to a certain stupid captain of ours, our doctors on board have more work than usual."
"I'm starting to think you don't precisely know about what I do", she murmured to the brunet, who apparently put her in the category of a doctor's assistant.
"Mmm… If you say so." Kamui didn't really care. He was bored. "She looks kind of frail though. She could break easily." That totally sounded like a passive menace.
"In that case, all you have to do is get rid of her, Kamui-dono." The malicious slave trader went along with him. "What you are seeing here are not more than disposable objects. You shouldn't worry whether one of them breaks or something."
"Can this be considered as good luck or a death sentence?" She didn't understand that feeling of envy she perceived in those who hadn't been chosen by those barbaric men. For her, the only thing that had changed was the name of her owner and the cage in which she'd be locked.
She was taken out from her jail cell, allowed to take with her all her belongings, as well as those oppressive pieces of metal numbing her wrists. Without having time to object, she found herself following quietly those who had become her new owners.
The exterior of the ship was as depressing as the inside decoration. But what could one expect from a group of men dedicated to fight across the universe? And how was that they could live amongst such a mess?
"You'll live here from now on", said the one who had been responsible for giving her a quick tour around the inside of the big ship. "If you want a long life, I recommend you not to anger our dumb captain."
"For him to be so feared, you don't seem to take it easy with the offensive adjectives towards him", said the black-haired woman with her lips twitching into a half smile.
"You'll start to discover how he is." For someone like him, destroying those shackles by only pressing them between his hands was enough to turn them to junk." Done."
"Thank you." She truly felt better now that she could move her hands freely. "By the way, I'm an apothecary, not a doctor. I just make the medicine the doctors prescribe."
"That sounds like someone who could envenom a person without a problem", he joked.
"I could do it if I wanted", she stated with an even tone. "But that shouldn't worry a Yato like you. According to what I know, they're highly resistant to powerful venoms. And in any case, if I wanted to do it, I'd be killed by one of you even before I can think about it."
"You have a sharp tongue, child." The truth was that he wasn't expecting her to talk to him so freely about a potential murder, much less if it was directed to their species.
"If I'm a child, then you're an old geezer", she pointed out viciously. Even that serious face gave place to a mocking gaze and a small smile.
"Geezer?!" First his dumb captain, and now this stranger. Nobody seemed to respect him.
"Besides, I don't know why you see me as a kid." She crossed her arms, letting that pair of attributes shut the Yato up completely.
"Ah, well… I take that back…"
The rules inside that ship were simple, and consisted basically in not getting in the way of any of the members of the crew, and in carrying out the tasks that let them continue being useful individuals. And for that simple reason, she didn't understand exactly why she had been demoted from her profession as an apothecary to being another waitress who had to bring food as quickly as possible for those men with an appetite as scary as their physical strength.
"Oshin-chan, you should smile more. If they don't like your attitude, they could kill you." The black-haired had gone still, waiting beside two other waitresses until they were called.
"I'm sorry, but I don't like to falsely smile to please anybody", she criticized severely. "If I do my job well, they don't have reasons to kill me."
"We're telling you this for your own sake, because you're new and don't know how things work here", said the second one making her company.
"I appreciate your advice, but I don't need them", she informed them with a neutral tone. "The only thing I'm wondering is how they can gobble down so much food like they were human vacuums."
"Oshin-chan!" The pair reprimanded her.
"Doesn't it smell like something's burning?"
The black-haired woman wasn't going insane. A real chaos was starting inside the kitchen, and it didn't look so well. Not with all that black smoke starting to leak to what could be called a dining room.
However, the problem wasn't the small fire starting to spread, but what came after that.
"What happened to her?!", screamed one of the young women, horrified, as soon as she saw her comrade lying on the floor, foam coming out of her mouth, and her gaze totally lost.
"Keep quiet and don't inhale any of it until we get out of here", ordered Oshin with a cloth covering her nose and mouth, while she ran toward the exit with the young woman following her steps." This is enough, give me your shirt as well."
"But what nonsense are you talking about!?" They had left to the dining room, closing the door immediately, locking all that smoke in that room and, with it, all the people who didn't manage to get out in time. "What are you doing!?" Oshin was using her shirt to cover any leaks. And she didn't seem to have the patience enough to wait for the woman to react. "But what…!?"
"You want to kill us all?", she asked, already with the garment of the other woman in her hands, to finish her job. "I'm surprised that something capable of killing a human could do this to a Yato."
"I think… we have a problem", she called the red-eyed woman as soon as she saw those intimidating men appear in the hallway, clearly with hostile intentions. And not only that, they were coming with someone else that she knew perfectly.
"I saw her myself last night, preparing that strange powder and then putting it in a small bottle… She was mentioning she was done with being treated as just an animal and that she'd personally take care of all of you." That earthling in front of them was the same holding the title of the ship's doctor and was now taking care of making false accusations.
"If that's true we don't have any more reasons to keep her alive." That Yato didn't know the word compassion, and found himself pointing his umbrella to the face of the accused. One movement was enough to pull the trigger and blow her head off right there.
"I'm not the person you're looking for", she affirmed, without taking her eyes from those of the man who could become her executioner. "And I'm going to prove it."
Her foot hit a small rock, making it roll away from her, showing her that she had spent enough time disconnected from the world to not notice having arrived at the most remote entrails of the woods, which could only be accessed by circling the waterfall.
Abandoned and worn out, the small shack was still standing despite the harshness of time and the passing of the years. It was well enough to be home to any lost traveler, tired after the long journey.
"Nothing good happens when you're quiet for too long." Abuto was shooting her a sideways glance, waiting for any reaction. The only think he saw was a woman, soaked by the rain, who wished to stay as much as she wished to leave.
"I was remembering useless stuff", she specified to the man watching her. "Have we arrived?", she asked without really having to, because it was clear that they had.
"Try not to kill each other", he joked, letting her in.
"If he's in the same state your other men are, little or nothing he will be able to do to me", she said, standing in front of the only door of the cabin. "A beast with so sharp fangs cannot be easily domesticated."
She opened the door without hesitation, focusing in the only thing she had came looking for. It was in that instant when her own words turned sour in her own mouth.
Her pupils shifted warily, incapable of believing what they were seeing so ridiculously close, and that nevertheless felt it was so far away it could be considered unreal. But sadly, it was all happening; she knew it as soon as what was left of those vivid orbs focused on their own.
"The effects in him took more time to develop, and for that reason he kept fighting until his own body made him stop."
"He's lost… a lot of blood…" The bandages covered in such precious liquid remained stacked in the farthest corner, so recent that they still kept that crimson hue." And his entire right arm… it's totally…"
Her steps were slow but firm. Her attention wanted nothing more than to turn away from that incomprehensible scene. The objectivity was dangerously slipping away from her; and that would do nothing more than slow down her job.
She took a seat by his bed, right beside the arm who had been painted entirely by that horrendous purple. Then she sensed his quiet breathing and saw the wounds that he had gotten all over his chest, which had been meticulously bandaged to stop the bleeding.
Therefore, it was that vague gaze that seemed to recognize her, but that at the same time didn't at all. Yes, that fiery gaze that she remembered so much wasn't there. The man she had known for an entire year had vanished without her even realizing it, and had left behind a shell she denied to accept.
"When he didn't immediately feel the effects, he kept inhaling more of that smoke and the consequences were much worse than the rest of the crew", he murmured as he was on auto-pilot. "Although now that I think about it, the result would have been the same even if he had experienced any symptom."
"It's hard to believe that the man lying here declared he'd become the strongest man in the universe. I'm sure he managed to not let anybody standing." She extended her right hand to his face, with caution, as if she feared him. Or maybe there was another reason for her caution.
"Hey, damn it, what are you doing!?", exclaimed Abuto as quickly as his senses allowed him. "Stop…!"
Her biggest mistake was to be reckless and lower her guard only because of his actual condition. She knew it instantly as soon as her wrist was hardly grabbed with enough strength to keep her quiet, long enough for the injured Yato to knock her down on the floor, smashing his free fist against her vulnerable abdomen.
The floor gave way beneath the power of the onslaught, and left the young woman half-buried between debris and dust.
"Only you can come out with stupid ideas like these." Abuto was holding tightly his out-of-control captain, saving the black-haired woman from a certain death.
"N-not… even someone like him can… tolerate that much… He'll fall asleep in a short time." That awful taste of iron didn't leave her tongue even though she had already spit all the blood that attack had made her cough. There was also the pain that numbed all that delicate area of her stomach.
"You and your unorthodox plans." He wasn't lying. A little dart with a powerful sleeping drug had been stabbed on the young captain's neck and sent him to the world of dreams. "I clearly told you not to kill each other."
"…Ungh… To be weaker, he still has a lot of strength." She wasn't in a hurry to stand up and, simultaneously, she wanted to catch her breath. "But I feel offended for not taking his best hit."
"You really are insane", he stated, smiling and with some delight.
"Didn't I tell you, Abuto? I hate this man, and all that he represents… I loathe him to the point that I want to kill him and save him at the same time."