A.N.- Konnichi-wa, minna-san. Sorry that I did not update for such a horribly long time. Internet service is so expensive in France, and the keyboards are kind of messed up as well. I was using a Mackintosh in Singapore. I am lousy with a Mac. Anyway, I'm back in China now, and typing out this chapter. However, I now have six baby bunnies to hand-feed, my other bunny gave birth, so I might not update as often as I want. Can anybody help me think of names for two tiny pink ones, and one bigger black one? The rest are named Sable (black), Mocha (dark brown) and Quicksilver, Silver for short (silver).I actually find this one of my worst chapters. Tell me if you think otherwise.
Warrior meets warrior as land and sea clash,
More timelines by this turn of fate will intermesh.
Fire, water, ice and earth,
Four elements caught, but what about the fifth?
Amber to amethyst, and amber again,
All in a blink of a cold ocean rain.
Kenshin sighed as the ship came to a stop, docking at a small inland cove. He tried not to think of greenery, fresh air instead of the salty, old smell of the ship, and freedom. Kaoru had fallen asleep from exhaustion, as they had not been allowed to rest ever since they left Shishio's island. Kenshin had kept the whip away from her, his cold, angry amber eyes scaring the overseers shitless.
Once the ship had fully docked, the corsairs had all left, talking about what they were going to do on land. Kenshin didn't expect them to leave any guard, just somebody to come back twice a day to feed and give them water. To his surprise, a tall, dark-haired man clad in a trenchcoat stayed behind. (a.n.- ok, minna, three guesses who.) He started to hand out food to the ones up front.
Kenshin tried to wake Kaoru, knowing that she wouldn't get any food if she was asleep. "Kaoru, wake up." When she just muttered an intelligible phrase, and turned away from him, he shook her gently. "Come on, girl. Chow." Kaoru slowly opened her eyes to find Kenshin's violet ones looking back at her, as sapphire met amethyst. She blinked a few times, and smiled, 'What a wonderful sight to wake up to.', Kaoru thought.
They were interrupted by the tall man handing them their food. Instead of a hard crust and a grimy bowl of water, they were given a fresh loaf each, a bowl of soup, and a cup of clean, fresh water. Kenshin stared up in surprise. The man's cold, unyielding eyes stared back at him with a hint of surprise.
All the slaves were eating as fast as they could, it being the first time they had such good food in a very long time. Kenshin tasted the soup, and could find the flavours of potato, onion, radish, cabbage, carrots, and salted beef. It was the best he had tasted ever since he was taken into captivity. Sano looked like he was trying to eat everything he had in two seconds.
The man wearing the trenchcoat waited until everybody had finished, then announced. "Ore wa Shinomori Aoshi. (a.n.- surprise, surprise!) I am here to assassinate Makoto Shishio and his horde of mercenaries. I have impersonated a sailor on this ship. I can take on Shishio by myself, but not his army. I will need to raise an army of my own to defeat his. Tomorrow we will all leave this ship. Those who have seen and experienced Shishio's atrocities, and want to stop them, can come with me as members of my army. Those who choose to do so, be warned, for it is very likely that you will die. The others are free to go wherever they wish."
After he had spoken his emotion-free soliloquy, he unchained everybody, and the fifty-over people managed to find a place to settle down for the evening and night. Food was again handed out to them. Kenshin, Kaoru and Sano sat together in one room, discussing on what they would do next. They were all for going with Aoshi to help defeat Shishio.
One of Sano's newfound friends, Katsu, had found several bottles of sake, and challenged him to a drinking match out on the deck. He left, saying, "Don't wait up for me!"
Aoshi called Kenshin, saying that he wanted to talk to him. He spoke in a cold voice, betraying no emotion. "You are a warrior, I can tell. What did Shishio do to you?"
Kenshin replied in a equally cold voice, but which was full of sorrow and hatred. "That chicken-hearted bastard murdered my family, my village, then burned my home to the ground, along with the body of my wife. I did not have a chance to say goodbye to her before they chained me up, and killed her in front of me."
Aoshi bowed his head in silence, and let Kenshin leave.
It was dark, and only Kenshin felt and saw his tears. He returned to their room, to find Kaoru sitting slumped down on a chair, sleeping. His sad eyes immediately lightened up upon seeing her. He gently gathered her up in his arms, cradling her lovingly. He carried her to one of the beds, and laid her down. She squirmed and sighed in contentment as Kenshin covered her with a warm blanket. He started to move his hands away from her, but she subconsciously grabbed hold of them, their hands clasped together on the bed.
Kenshin started in surprise, then tried to softly pry his hands from her grasp, but to no avail. Instead, she drew their hands closer to her body. Her peaceful expression made his heart melt. Kenshin lowered his head to whisper something only the two of them could hear. "Ore wa mamoru no tame ni…zutto."
A.N.- Ya, lousy chapter, I know. Aoshi's long speech was a bit OOC, but I already shortened it by a heck of a lot. I promise he will be back to the icicle we all know and love. Yup, thing are getting better for them, but there is still a long way to go.
Ja ne, 'til next time, Skipper