Chapter 6: Separation

A/N- CHAPTER 6! DUDE! Lol...we are amused. The last chapter was called Pulling Up Roots...and in this one, tiffany pulls roots...lol. alright, read this chapter already so you can review and we can post chapter 7.

Disclaimer-*sigh* Do we have to keep saying this??? NO! WE DO NOT OWN RUROUNI KENSHIN! GEEZ!

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Tiffany groans as she tries to open her eyes. The light is too bright.

"Stupid sun..." she mutters and shields her eyes with her hand. She looks down at her leg, nicely bandaged. Her pants were ripped off up to the knee, obviously so Danielle could clean and dress it. The bandages and medicines were carefully packed up and Danielle was soundly sleeping.

'It's my fault she is so wore out...if only I were there to help her.'

A voice in the back of her head, her own voice says,

'You WERE there stupid, but you went and got yourself wounded.' Tiff looks at her sleeping friend and hopes she will not be too much of a hindrance. Her wound is no longer as painful as it was before, and she can feel the muscles and nerves healing themselves quicker than a normal human's would. She sighs and stands up, trying to walk on it. She clenches her teeth as pain shoots up her leg and does her best not to scream.

"You better not do that. You want it to heal don't you?" Tiff looks down at Danielle, who is now sitting up, fully awake, yet her body is tired. "I hope he's in as bad a shape as we are..." Tiffany pulls some of the roots that were gathered last night closer to her and munches on a particularly juicy one. Danielle shakes her head.

"I highly doubt it. I didn't hit him once, and his mind was much stronger than my own, even though he doesn't necessarily use it the same way." She reaches over to grab a root.

"What are these?!" she cries, spitting it out. "I dunno, but I knew they weren't deadly," Tiff answers, biting another chunk out of one. Danielle wrinkles her nose and puts her root down.

"I think I'll pass..." She goes off into the woods to find something that tastes good.

"Danielle. We have been walking for hours! Night is coming soon and I'm tired and hungry and my leg hurts!!!" Tiffany whines.

"Oh shut up. You are fine. Do you want to stay so close to the last camp where he can find us?" Danielle keeps walking.

"Close??? We are miles away! Can't we just put up a ward so he can't find us?"

"He will see right through it. Whether he actually sees it or not..." Tiffany growls something indiscernible at Danielle, who hears it anyway, and glares at Tiffany. She sticks her tongue out at her and keeps walking. Satan bounds happily through the woods, disappearing every once in a while before joining the girls again. Tiffany and Danielle both stop at the same time, completely still.

~Not again!!!~ Tiffany thinks to Danielle.

~Damn...I hope we can hide from him this time...~ Tiffany gulps and, injured leg or no, jumps into the tree above her. She gets as close to the trunk as possible and sits stock still. Danielle does the same, in the tree across from her. Satan whines and they hear him run into the woods.

~Chicken...~ Tiff thinks.

~Shhhh...he is almost here.~ Only Tiffany can truly hear him. She listens intently, pushing everything else out of her mind. Danielle cant hear him, but can feel him at the base of the tree she is in. The slow, definite sound of a sword carefully being drawn from its sheathe is nerve racking in the quiet forest.

'What is he up too...' Danielle doesn't move but probes gently at his mind, finding his plan.

~TIFFANY! HE KNOWS WE ARE HERE! RUN!~ Danielle screams at her, just as the sword slices through the trunk of the tree. Danielle's ankle is stuck between two branches and she screams out loud, no longer able to hold her composure.

~Danielle! I'm not leaving you!~

~Tiff! Get out of here! He won't kill me yet...he has plans, but he needs both of us! Don't let him have you RUN!~ She feels Tiff's mind uncertainly deciding, and realizes Danielle is right. They were taught not to let feelings get in the way. No matter how much it hurt, Tiffany jumps tree to tree, as far away as she can take herself.

The Battousai reaches into the leaves and jerks Danielle out, breaking her ankle in the process. She bites her lip so as not to scream and looks him in the eyes. There is something sad in them. The swordsman wants out, he knows what is going on, he can see it through his own eyes but has no power to stop it. Danielle can hear the minds at war; one screaming to stop, the other laughing.

"So, you can't stay in one time long enough can you? You keep running from me. Well, you can run, but there is no way you can ever hide. Tomorrow, you and your friend get it." He tosses her down in the dirt and ties her hands behind her back. He leans down to whisper in her ear,

"And don't think of running. You can probably get out of these ropes, but I will hear you and kill you before you escape. Tomorrow will be a glorious day. You get to watch each other die." Danielle turns her head to cry.

Later, as they sit by the fire, she refuses his food.

"It's not poisoned. That would defeat the whole purpose of killing the two of you together." Danielle still shakes her head.

"Fine then. You won't eat. So, talk to me. I rather think I like this body. I may keep it. The soul is that of a fighter. A great swordsman who cares about people. Baka. His memories are sappy. Full of sadness and love. I have been in this body for a long time now. I have made him known for his sword skills. And yes, they are his own. I let him out just enough to use them. People fear his name. It's wonderful!!!" Danielle says nothing and only stares into the fire. "You know, it will be a shame to kill the two of you. You are so good at what you do." he sighs. "Just, not good enough. If only you were born a little before all this, you could have been greater. We could be a team. Killing people just for the fun of it...doesn't that sound nice?" he was baiting her. She isn't exactly sure what he was trying to get her to say, but she will not say it. She refuses to even look into his eyes. Battousai just laughs. "Clever. You aren't communicating with your little friend are you?" Danielle shakes her head. "Good. I wouldn't want the two of making any plans behind my back...or, mind. Whatever. Goodnight, young swordswoman." The Battousai lay down and fell into sleep.

~Danielle?~ a faint but rather clear voice pushes into her mind.

~Be careful. He's listening.~ she answers. Laughing can be heard in their connection.

~I just wanted to make sure you were alive...~ Tiffany says. Danielle smiles.

~Yes...I am alive. He won't kill me until he has the two of us together. That's why you have to stay away. I will be able to contact you enough to tell you how close we are.~

~Oh you are a spoilsport!~ Comes a strong male voice.

~Tiff! Radio-silence!~ Danielle demands impatiently when the voice invades their sanctuary. Feeling Tiffany's reluctance to do so, Danielle breaks the connection. The resulting headache threatens to claim her senses, but Danielle knows better. She fights against the pain, instead of whimpering, sending Battousai a withering glance. He is sitting against a tree across from her, sword leaning against his shoulder, studying her with those piercing amber eyes.

'How are we going to get close enough to free the swordsman?' Danielle wonders. Battousai is so very alert...it would be near impossible. Unless they could appeal to the real swordsman on the inside. Somehow they had to bring him out, make him stronger. 'But we can't do that...he has to do that himself.' Danielle's mind sings piteously.

Tiffany wails into the black darkness of the night. Once again, finding her counterpart, only to be separated in less than a day! Anger overtook her common sense, the howling rage blinding her. How could she have been so stupid! Twice even! Grinding her teeth, Tiffany set out to find this legendary Battousai. Impervious now to her near healed leg, she sent her extraordinary speed to the limit, flashing through the treetops so fast that only afterimages were visible.

Danielle awoke some time after dawn to find Battousai gone. Panicking immediately, she cast out for Tiffany's mind, only to find it barricaded.

~DAMN YOU TIFFANY!~ she cried.

~Temper, temper...~ the male voice teased.

~YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!~ she raged, finally unable to keep herself from lashing out.

~Well, someone certainly woke up on the wrong side of the tree.~ Battousai chuckled in his mind. Danielle snorted in disgust at the poor joke, before closing her mind. Battousai however, broke the barrier easily.

~I want you to know, I'm closing in on your little friend. Soon you will be reunited, so no worries.~ Danielle's eyes snapped open, the bright sunlight beaming into them.

'He IS gone...and that means now is the perfect time to escape...' Danielle thought to herself. Testing her ankle, which is still mangled, but not quite as badly as yesterday, she stands and simply shrugs the ropes away. The quietly smooth sound of a drawn sword stops her dead in her tracks.

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A/N- Are we evil or what?! Do you wanna know what happens next? Do ya? Do ya??? THEN READ MORE! And if we dont have it up yet, too bad. You will just have to ask us nicely in a REVIEW! O.O