Disclaimer: I do not own RK.



Dome of Heaven -Hideki-



"Talking"

¨Talking¨

*Thinking*





Chapter 7. The Renegade



See the outlaw stands alone beneath the burning sun

The raging badlands now is his home

There's no sign of victory, he lost his liberty

and the only woman that he loved



Hammerfall - Renegade (Album : Renegade)







They walked down the street and the cloaks of Yuuki's people flapped with the wind. They stepped forward without any hesitation in their steps. Yuuki walked ahead of them with Hiko and Saitou while Kenshin and Sanosuke were satisfied to stay behind.

After a lot of arguing Yahiko and Kaoru had been left behind. They had argued quite loudly even though they both knew that they were no match for people like Hiko and Kenshin. Finally Kenshin had ordered them to stay behind for their safety. They had not liked it one bit, but Kenshin's serious look had stopped their protests.

Yuuki had talked with her people for a moment and something happened beyond their understanding when all of them closed their eyes and suddenly pointed at the same direction. Then Yuuki had nodded and said that that was the way to Hideki. Then they had left for this walk.

Sanosuke had not bothered to ask them where they were going since they hadn't been very talkative to begin with. Yuuki was only slightly better than the others who had not said one word. There was something about her that bothered him, some familiarity that kept bugging him to no end.

"Kenshin." He said quietly trying to keep sure that they would not hear their conversation. The red-haired man raised an eyebrow at Sanosuke. "What?"

"What do you think of Yuuki?" Sanosuke asked, not really knowing what he was after. There just was something about her that he had missed.

Kenshin was silent for a moment before answering in a silent voice. "I don't really know yet. She seems like an honest and kind person, but there is... We don't really know anything of her. She was separated from shishou since I met her only as a baby. That would mean that she was also cut from her people. I think. Or they stopped her from coming here. But whatever it is, there is something very familiar about her."

"I agree with the familiarity." Sanosuke said as they turned around a corner and continued. "It feels like I have met her somewhere before."

Kenshin nodded. He had felt the same as he had looked at her. "I have met her as a child, but somehow I think I have met her after that. Though I may be confusing her with her mother since those two look alike."

"I guess that's possible, but doesn't explain why I would feel that I know her." Sanosuke complained.

Kenshin nodded and the two continued their walk in silence.

They were nearing the shore and the dock when Yuuki slowed down and continued her walk along with Kenshin and Sanosuke. One of her people did the same.

"If there are problems or you have something to say, this is the person I wish you would present your problems and questions to. Her name is Senritsu." Yuuki said and pointed at the woman beside her. She took down her scarf and revealed her face.

"Remember her." Yuuki said before she moved quickly to the front.

The green-eyed woman stayed behind and gave the two a friendly smile. "As she said, I am Senritsu. As I understand you are Himura Kenshin and Sagara Sanosuke, right?"

Kenshin nodded. "Yes. Pleased to meet you Senritsu-dono."

The woman blinked. "Dono? What does that mean?"

At this it was Kenshin's turn to blink. Sanosuke simply stared at her. "You don't know?" He asked.

Senritsu shook her head.

"So you are not Japanese, at least you don't live here." Kenshin half-asked. They looked Japanese enough for him and they did speak fluent Japanese.

"No. We live elsewhere and our culture differs from yours. We have adopted some of your culture, but we are still unfamiliar with some aspects. Dono, is it some kind of honorific like -sama?" Senritsu explained leaving their actual living place hidden. Kenshin noticed this, but chose to remain silent about it. Instead he answered her question.

"Yes. It is one kind of honorific. Do you use -sama?"

Senritsu nodded. "Yes, but only with the queen. She is the only one who deserves to be called with -sama. Other honorific we are not familiar with. But we have arrived, so perhaps we should concentrate on the matter at hand." Her eyes turned cold and her face deadly serious.

They had stopped before a large warehouse.

Saitou was speaking with Yuuki as they approached. They finished soon and Yuuki turned to Kenshin and Sanosuke.

"In this building are six men with wings. I will handle their leader and my people will take care of the rest. If someone charges at you, dodge and run for cover. Father will take protect you until one of us comes to help." Sanosuke opened his mouth to protest when she looked at him and continued. "Don't argue with me. This is for your own good."

Then she turned and walked to the door leaving a fuming Sano behind her.

"Who does she think she is?" He muttered and Kenshin smiled.

They followed Senritsu as they walked inside. The warehouse was larger than it had seemed from outside and even though the sun was hiding behind the clouds, enough light shone through windows to lighten the room. There were large wooden boxes on the floor.

There was no one they could see.

Yuuki walked almost to the centre before she stopped and shrugged of her cloak. "Hideki. Do you really want to play hide-and-seek now? Come out and face your punishment."

Suddenly as if out of nowhere men appeared. Flying with wide black wings they created hostile shadows. One man flew forward before he like other landed. His wings were large and so was he. He was tall and muscular, yet not like Hiko. He was pale and his eyes were empty.

"Hideki..." Yuuki whispered so silently that no one heard. Her voice was sad and resign tainted it. She knew what she had to do, why she had to do it and yet she was unwilling. She would have to return him to his kind only to kill him. He would die today and his blood would taint her hands.

"Hideki!" Hiko yelled and threw aside his mantle. His black shirt was skintight and revealed his superior muscles. Light cast a shadow over his face and suddenly he looked like the messenger of death.

The tall man didn't really seem to be too impressed. He gave Hiko just a quick look and then turned to look at Yuuki once again. "Stay out of this." He threw at Hiko with his eyes staring at Yuuki.

"Be calm, father." Yuuki stated with a calm and chillingly cold voice. "This man will taste steel before this day is over." Her face was a mask of furious coldness. Her hold around the katana tightened. "He will pay. You take care of Himura and Sano." She continued and drew her blade. Hideki mimicked her actions.

"Today I will accomplish my work." He stated flatly with cold voice.

"The hell you will!" Yuuki bit out and pushed out her white wings. With a jump she pierced the air and her wings flapping she flew higher. "Let's finish this! Hideki!"

He also jumped in the air and with him all six men in the room. Seeing this the women flew higher and positioned themselves between Yuuki and the men, still leaving room free between Yuuki and Hideki.

"I don't think they will pay much attention to us... Could have brought Kaoru and Yahiko with us." Sanosuke said and threw his hands in the air.

"Maybe, but I feel better knowing that they are safe elsewhere." Kenshin replied quietly.

Saitou lightened a smoke, but kept his eyes fixed upon the flying people. There seemed to be going on something that was rubbing on Yuuki. She was getting redder and redder with anger with every passing moment.

"That's it!" She suddenly screamed and that broke the stalemate. She flew forward and her people behind her.

Swords clashed.

Yuuki downed down and Hideki behind her. With a sudden spin she turned and answered his Ryuu-Tsui-Sen with Ryuu-Shou-Sen. Hideki had an advantage since he was coming down and had more strength and so Yuuki had to back down. She didn't manage that unscathed. She received a small cut just above her breast showing just how close he had gotten.

She touched the wound and chuckled. Then her smile died down and a serious look once again replaced it. She flew higher and this time it was her that came from above.

"Do you think that I came unprepared?!" She screamed. "Your poison won't be enough to kill me!"

Hideki blocked her strike and left the exchange unscathed.

"It won't need to. I am able to do it myself." He said and attacked again.

Kenshin and Sanosuke watched the scene with wide eyes. They fought on a whole another level. They moved and turned fast, they almost seemed to dance. It was a beautiful and deadly dance.

The others were testing each other as well, but it seemed as if the women were only interested in keeping them away from Yuuki's battle.

Yuuki was carefully analysing the situation in her head. Memories flashed in her head as the memories of her ancestors offered her roads to take. Her eyes moved and took all that happened in. Her mind-links with her people told her what they saw.

But she was most concentrated on Hideki, the man before her. It was because of that, that she almost missed one of his men flying towards her friends. He was going to attack them. *No!*

"Father!" She screamed and Hideki used the moment of her distraction to attack her again.

Hiko noticed what was happening and run to cover them. His sword blocked the blow that may have very well killed Sano. The attacker was blown back by the sheer power of Hiko's muscles. He stared down at his enemy black wings flapping.

"Hiko Seijurou. Do you really think you are worthy of the name?" The man said with disgust.

"Do you think you are worthy of those wings?! You rebelled against the one who gave them to you!" Hiko yelled with anger and disgust back at him.

"Don't you understand? A woman is not fit to rule!" The man landed before Hiko. He was dressed entirely in black and his huge wings only added to his threatening appear. Still Hiko didn't seem in the least impressed.

"Their world has been ruled by a woman since their last king died thousands of years ago. Since they left the ground, they have been led a woman and no war has been sparked save the one you started. Here have been countless wars for power during their peace. Doesn't this speak for them? For her line?" There was a sharp edge in his voice and the man seemed to back down a bit before he gathered himself once more.

"Women are controlled by their emotions. Hideki-sama lost Junsui-san only because Sora allowed her feelings control her."

"And men bring forth wars and misery in their lust for power and control. Those wars claim many more lives than women emotions." Hiko countered. "Face it! You are just another weak man from the ground! Without Sora you would have never tasted the sky! And tell me, where is you wife?"

This angered the man and he attacked Hiko who was barely able to hold him back. It was then that Kenshin finally fully understood what Yuuki had been trying to tell them. Even Hiko had some troubles and Kenshin had always viewed his master as an unbeatable. So this was their strength and what Yuuki had tried to protect them from.

He knew that he would be able to fight against one of them and perhaps even win, but Sano had no such changes. They had been too stubborn, but luckily Kaoru and Yahiko at least were elsewhere.

A sudden scream of pain broke him from his thoughts and he turned to look up. Hideki was holding his right side and he could see something liquid falling on the floor. Somehow it seemed that Yuuki had managed to hit Hideki and probably quite badly.

Even though he hadn't watched their battle all the time, he had had the image that Yuuki was at a disadvantage. But now it seemed as if she were on top of things. They were too far for him to see if they had other wounds as well.

They seemed to be having a pause in their battle. Why, Kenshin didn't understand. But he had already learned that there was much he didn't understand about these people.

After noting that Hiko didn't need his help, he looked around to see if someone else did, but everything seemed to be under control. All the men beside Hideki and the one Hiko was fighting were already bound and under the watchful eyes of the women.

Two of them flew closer and took Hiko's place in the battle. They quickly overpowered the black-winged man and then he was bound as well. Then he turned his attention back to Yuuki and Hideki, just in time to see Yuuki fly forward with incredible speed and hitting Hideki with Kuzu-Ryuu-Sen.

He was barely able to block the most fatal hits. Then his strength seemed to end and he fell hitting the floor fast and hard. Yuuki followed immediately after and before Hideki could even stand up, she had swung her sword with both hands and cut of his wings, one after another. He screamed in pain and blood flowed from the little snags left on his back. After few seconds even the snags seemed to melt away into black liquid.

Hideki breathed heavily and was obviously in great pains. It was now that Kenshin saw them more clearly and he noticed that Yuuki hadn't managed to leave the battle without wounds. Her neck was bleeding slightly, her cheek was reddish, the wound she had received already in the beginning had apparently stopped bleeding but the one next to it was still open. She moved a little stiffly which told that she had suffered other hits as well.

She was now standing over the man and raised her sword when Kenshin suddenly understood what she was going to do and leaped forward.

"You shall be punished with death!" Yuuki started to lower her hand when suddenly she was stopped.

Kenshin took a firm hold of Yuuki's arm and stopped her strike. "You have already taken his wings! There is no need to take his life as well!" He yelled at Yuuki who stared at him with surprised look.

"You don't understand Himura! This man is beyond--!" She started furiously only to be cut short.

"Queen-sama!" A horrified yell came and Yuuki's eyes widened. She looked down to see a blade sticking out of her stomach, just a little bit below her heart. The blade was covered with her blood and suddenly an incredibly pain took over her. Her eyes looked at Kenshin with a clear message. "See?" They said to Kenshin. He let go of her arm. His eyes were wide as he stared at her.

"The line... is broken... " Hideki said with a strained voice as Yuuki fell to her knees, her hands covering the wound. She coughed and blood came from her mouth. It dripped down her chin onto the floor. Her right hand clenched around her katana and she turned and with her last drop of power she pierced his heart with her katana, her mother's memento. He stared at her with victory in his eyes as life left him.

Her katana dropped from her hand as she fell over. Blood flowed from her wound on her back and front. She cried out in pain and was hardly aware of strong arms holding her.

"Yuuki!" Came a disheartened cry of a man who had already lost so much dear to him and could not bear losing it twice.













End of chapter 7.

Continued in chapter 8.

OhMyGod! *wide grin*

The next chapter is the last in this series and it is called "Farewell".



(I don't know if there were any HUGE warehouses in Japan at that time, but lets imagine that there were.)

(I _hate_ writing fight scenes! They are so hard to write and it takes sooo long... sob)





(btw. If someone has tried to contact me to my email address tiian@anime-genesis.com lately, sorry but I have been unable to access it. The site won't show!)

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(sniff...)





Tiian





"The day that I'd actually be happy to get hugged by a man hasn't dawned yet. So don't jump around like that when you are near me."

--Hiko Seijurou--

LOL!

I remember when I first saw this scene. I almost fell from my chair, I laughed so hard. I simply love the man!