All right, this is my first Rurouni Kenshin fanfic. I was actually inspired by the Disney movie "The Little Mermaid" (which I do not own as you should all know!) More like the song "Poor Unfortuante Souls" between Ursula and Ariel. You'll see when it in the story. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, but I wish I did.
Prologue
A young woman ran tiredly down a rugged dirt path, tripping over her broken sandals as she did. Pausing for a moment, she rested on her knees in front of a farmer's house. She stood up slowly, her wet hakama sticking to her legs, as she kicked off her sandals. She yanked out her favorite indigo ribbon from her soaked hair and threw it to the ground as salty tears mixed in with the fresh, river water present on her face. She wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand and began running again, just as the owner of the farm came down the path.
Noticing her drenched and ragged appearance, he asked, "Ma'am? Are you—" His sentence was cut short when he saw her run away towards the cliff. "Miss? Wait a minute! Miss! Don't go that way, its dangerous! Miss! Do you hear me?"
The young woman heard the man's warnings, but she ignored him. She didn't care where she ended up as long as the others couldn't find her. More tears filled to the brim of her eyes and slid down her cheeks as their faces appeared in her mind. I'm such a fool, she thought despairingly.
After a long, seemingly endless run up a tremendous hill, the young woman found her way to an entrance of a dense forest. She slowed to catch her breath, slipping in her socks as dirt clumps clung to the bottom. She tripped over tiny pebbles in the dirt and fell face first onto the path outlined by large scattered rocks on the side. For a moment she thought herself dead, but the trembling of her body synced to the rhythm of her sobs was the harsh reminder that she was yet alive.
What felt like hours later, she somehow found the resolve to stand up and continue moving ahead. She stood slowly, discarding her now dirt covered socks, and continued on through the trees.
Inside, it was a dark and very still, though her beating heart against her chest drowned out any silence that threatened to push its way into her ear drums. Her right hand grabbed the loose material that covered the area of her heart, trying to calm herself down, though it continued to beat unmercifully in her chest. Time stretched on as she blindly groped the space in front of her through the maze of trees she had entered. Eventually, she emerged from the dark asylum into a clearing of blinding rays the afternoon sun bestowed upon her, warming her icy shoulders.
Even though her vision was blurry due to the sudden rays of light, her body unconsciously led her further away from the forest and closer to the sun, begging for more warmth. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness, her ears picked up the unmistakable sound of waves crashing against each other. As her vision cleared, she recognized her surroundings - she was standing at the peak of a narrow cliff that plummeted into the sea below.
Without thinking, her legs lead her closer to the edge of the cliff. Her face peered down and saw the dark waved crash against the side of large, golden rocks submerged in the cold water. With every crash, the waved climbed higher and higher up the cliff, reaching out to her, promising to catch her in its icy grip and shun all of her problems away.
Tempted to thrust herself over the edge, her thoughts automatically turned to the faces of those who rejected her. Her tears slid off her face and the ocean swallowed them greedily. Her heart lost all reason for living; she just wanted to end it all. Why shouldn't she? Her life had no meaning in it anymore: Her friends no longer needed her and the person she could no longer live without hated her. Besides, she had true loved ones waiting for her on the other side. She cried out, not understanding why everyone in her life suddenly wanted her dead.
She couldn't bear the pain in her heart any longer. She took a deep breath and moved her left foot slowly over the edge of the cliff, the tiny rocks cutting into her sole as she did.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Young Miss," a deep, lovely voice played behind the woman.
She brought her quickly back onto the land and turned to face the person behind her. It was a beautiful woman with long brown hair and deep black eyes. She appeared to be as young as the as of 22 years. "Wh-who are you?" she asked with a broken voice.
The lady smiled gently, "Your savior apparently. Tell me, do you honestly intend to throw your life away from atop this cliff?"
The young woman did not respond with words. Instead, an uncomfortable shift in her body's position spoke loud enough for the woman to understand.
"Now, now it's all right. It seems like you just went through something terribly traumatizing." She observed gently. Stretching out a slender hand she said, "It's seems like you could use a shoulder to lean on."
The young woman looked at her hand then at the woman's face, who offered her a kind, disarming smile. She was about to take her hand, but stopped and inquired hoarsely, "What's your name?"
The woman remained frozen in her warm smile and said, "Just call my Saiyuki. And, if I may, what is your name?"
"K-Kamiya . . . Kamiya, Kaoru . . ."
"What a lovely name. Kaoru-dono—"
"Please! Just call me Kaoru!" she objected to the title strongly.
"Very well then; come, Kaoru. Tell me what's troubling you." Saiyuki withdrew her hand into her yukata sleeve and disappeared into the thick forest.
Kaoru watched her disappear before turning to looks down at the crashing waves below with living eyes. Gulping nervously, she turned back around and followed Saiyuki quickly into the forest.
