Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. How sad. RurouKen is owned by Watsuki-sama and various companies, etc., etc. Used without permission. I'm not making a cent, which makes me a little sad. (misaoshiru is uber-broke.)
I know what you're thinking: "zomg, misaoshiru, writer of 'Vampires and Time Travel and Bad Fanfics, Oh My!' is writing a fic with vampires as a plot device? What's the world coming to?" I can assure you that this is not your typical vampire fic. In fact, the whole vampire thing will be a fairly minor element as the story goes on. I just wanted to see if I could do something interesting with this tired old concept. We'll see if it works.
For the record...I am well aware that I am hideously bad at completing chapter fics. However, I have a (loose) outline of what's going to happen in this fic, which should help. Such things helped me to complete the few chapter fics I've managed before, after all.
Legend of the Weavers
by misaoshiru
Chapter One: The Hunter Elder
The copse was bathed in shades of gold and green, the sunbeams filtering through the canopy painting over the small clearing ahead in lush colors. She lifted the hem of her long skirt an inch to keep it from snagging on the spiky leaves of a low bush and pushed onward, wiping beads of sweat from her brow with a graceful hand. Spring had only just begun, but the sun had already shifted to near the incandescence of summer. It would be a good year for the farmers, she idly noted, as long as there was some more rainfall before the autumn harvest.
With some difficulty, she pushed aside a large branch and came into the clearing, her eyes scanning the undergrowth. Ah, there - a flash of sanguine amidst the earthier browns and greens. Her quarry, if he could be called that, was not what she had expected him to be; he was young, even more so than herself. He was very petite, though not fragile (there was a certain litheness to his form, almost like a cat's,) and he appeared even smaller curled up against the bough of the branch on which he perched, asleep.
"Good morning," she said, suppressing a chuckle when the boy started, practically falling out of the tree and fumbling for his sword.
He cursed softly, but she heard and had to fight laughter again - such language from one so young! "Who are you? And why..."
His confusion was no surprise. "Why can't you sense my presence? Is that what you were going to say?"
"Yeah. How...?"
"You have not already guessed? I am a Child of the Blood." Half-vampire, half-mortal, with a presence intangible to either.
His eyes - the trademark honey yellow of a Hunter, though a touch brighter - narrowed. "I should have known you were an Empty." The term stung, and she flinched imperceptibly; Children of the Blood were known for their vacant expressions and equally empty lives, exacerbated by the discrimination by both mortals and Truebloods. "What is it that you want?"
"What I want?" She blinked. "All that I desire is to talk."
"Words are meaningless," he said, reclining against the tree once more. "They say actions speak louder, anyway."
She gave him a small, almost wry smile, though the action was wasted. "Even those of the Hunter Elder?"
The boy jolted, sitting up once more. "You know Katsura-san? How?"
"As you say, words are irrelevant. And in any case, his explanation would be superior to any I could give."
"What, may I ask, does Katsura-san want from me?"
"He wishes to meet with you. I do not know more than that."
"And...where is he?"
"I have orders to lead you to him."
He quirked an eyebrow. "Why should I trust you?"
She turned around, gazing at her sandals for a brief moment, then glancing back to say, "Is the trust of Katsura-san insufficient?"
He groaned before jumping down from the branch, landing on his feet with feline grace. She was certain he trusted her no more than before, but it did not color his tone of voice, still impassive. "Lead, then."
He followed the strange woman silently, left alone to his thoughts. Since when had Katsura-san employed Empties as messengers? He hadn't said anything, afraid to sound unfaithful to Katsura-san, but he kept a hand steady on the hilt of his sword, just in case he was being led into a trap.
'She is graceful,' he reluctantly noted, watching her navigate the brush with some level of ease. 'More than most Empties, even.' That wasn't the only odd thing about his guide. Her eyes were dark but had a brightness to them that surprised him. The way she had looked at him, studied him…made him nervous, though he'd die before letting her know. 'Nervous of what?' he wondered. 'I'm not afraid of her.' But he had no answer.
Her clothing was unusual, too; instead of a short, brightly colored tunic like those eagerly donned by most women her age, Empties included, the moment Spring Festival was within sight on the calendar, she wore a light, loosely fitting silk gown dyed in a pastel rose…he thought it looked like it belonged to some old ceremony or another from before their time, though he couldn't be certain. It was well made, if a little ragged, and probably valuable; it would be a shame for it to tear.
That thought was what made him move a few seconds later, when the woman's sleeve snagged on a low branch. He loosened it, careful to keep the delicate fabric from tearing. At her confused look, he turned away, cheeks heating a little. "Didn't want it to be ruined," he muttered.
"Thank you. This gown was a gift from my mother."
" 's nothing." He was not blushing. More to the point… "Are we there yet?"
A normal person wouldn't have heard the Empty's stifled chuckle. In that moment, he cursed whatever god had decided to make him not normal. "Not quite."
"Damn it."
They eventually came to a mid-sized house in the densest part of the forest, just as night fell. It was made almost invisible by thick ivy that coated the entire building, and the boy was did a double take when his guide said, "This is it." On closer inspection, he noticed that it had few windows, most of which were shuttered or blocked off, and was made from crumbling brick beneath the ivy. All in all, it looked more like the hideout of an Empty or a reclusive Vamp than the home of a man as respectable as Katsura-san. Just what was the Hunter Elder thinking?
Unless Katsura wasn't here at all and this was all just a trap, a possibility that had occurred to him many times over the course of their walk and that had been tamped down on many times in his eagerness to see his boss. Katsura Kogorou was a man of mystery who hadn't been seen even by his own men in nearly a month, and rumors were floating around that he'd died, or worse, become a Vamp. The boy didn't believe a word of them, or he hadn't, but… 'What if he isn't here at all?' he thought, unconsciously gripping his sword's hilt with his right hand. 'Or worse…what if the Katsura-san here is no longer…?'
The Empty rapped the door three times with a repulsive bronze knocker carved into the shape of some terrible writhing creature that he did not recognize. There was soft metal clanging as someone inside unbolted the door, and Katsura-san appeared in the doorway before them. He had dark rings under his eyes, his hair was scraggly and unkempt, and he'd definitely lost some weight, but he seemed to be as healthy as could be expected, and his aura was as human as ever.
"Katsura-san!" he said. His excitement must have been obvious, for Katsura-san gave a weak chuckle as he beckoned him and, surprisingly, his guide inside. "It is good to see you."
"I am glad to see you as well, Himura-kun. You've grown, I see."
He blushed. "Maybe a little. More seriously, though…"
"I am staying here on invitation of an old friend of mine, although he is out at the moment. I helped him out of a tight spot some years ago, and he was gracious enough to do me this great favor. It is not the ideal situation, I am afraid, but with the Vampire Rebellion gaining strength every day, I had little choice. There were attempts on my life almost daily, and I am little use to the Hunter Alliance if I die. I feel a coward, though."
"But why…" He trailed off, glancing significantly at his guide, then turning away when she curiously stared back.
"It can be unwise to judge someone based on the circumstance of his or her birth," Katsura-san said serenely, and Kenshin stared – this was a bizarre thing for the Hunter Elder, who had always risked his life to fight anything that might threaten humanity, to say. "I have reason to trust Yukishiro Tomoe-kun completely."
Kenshin wasn't so convinced. "But she's…an Empty."
"No. That is a crude word. She is a Child of the Blood; you should use the proper term."
"Child or Empty, it doesn't matter. How can you trust her?"
His superior was gracious enough to ignore this borderline insubordination. "As I said, I have my reasons…how much do you know about the Weavers' Prophecy?"
He raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you took stock in old legends, Katsura-san."
"Not ordinarily, no. But this is a special circumstance. Kindly answer the question."
"Eh, I know the basics. Supposedly, some great evil, worse even than the Vamp Rebellion, comes to threaten existence, and a human and an Empty—"
"Child, Himura—kun."
"Child, whatever. Anyway, they team up. Real likely…humans and Children have hated each other since the first Child was born."
"Not necessarily. Children of the Blood and humans lived harmoniously for some time before one side started, for whatever reason, to do harm to the other."
"But Emp—Children eat…"
"Yes, they exist off aura. However, Children have always been outnumbered by humans, and often have abilities that we do not. In the old days, it was not uncommon for humans to offer a small amount of aura to a Child in exchange for some sort of favor. For at least one hundred years, the relationship between our races was almost entirely symbiotic."
"Maybe." He was still doubtful. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"I believe – although I could be mistaken – that the foretold evil is upon us, and the human and Child mentioned in the prophecy are you and Tomoe-kun."
To be continued...