BURDENING VISIONS
Chapter Three: Clash of the Clans, The Separation
The summer heat of the evening was not much help and neither was the open range that the Oniwaban's tents were settled. Lack of trees and open terrain of crinkled brown grass made them easy targets. This was not only their problem, but the Hiten Mitsurugi Clan's as well though their charge had given them a slight advantage.
"Misao! Kaoru! You better hurry!" Omasu called as she passed, adjusting the bun atop her head slightly as she passed the two girls. They nodded in unison as Misao sharpened one last kunai and Kaoru tightened her grip on the wooden sword she had picked up.
"Let's go!" Misao yelled, Kaoru nodding with a confident "Right!" as they joined the fray.
Flames sprouted hungrily to tear at the grass as Hyottoko's huge form let out a large spurt of fire from his mouth. Nearby, Aoshi was calling out orders that went unheard over the roaring battle, his double kodachis flashing in the pale moonlight.
A tall man bounded in front of Misao preparing to swing a katana down. The weasel girl, momentarily shocked went to stab with her kunai for he was too close for her to throw.
PHUT!
He began trembling as a dart embedded itself more than half its length on his neck.
Misao waved her thanks to Beshimi who continued dashing away catlike.
Kenshin's sharp ears barely managed to understand Hiko barking out to some of his men to take on the giant, fire breathing man.
Not far off, Soujiro easily dodged a ball and chain from a man with countless scars on his muscles with his Tenken.
Sano had swung his massive sword the Zanbattou to a small man whooshing by who easily dodged the bulky weapon because of his size and lightness.
Hiko's eyes locked briefly with Kenshin's for a spit moment. Easily understanding, his eyes narrowed to search for his prey, shifting gradually to a golden sprinkled indigo.
A whirl of bluish black hair caught his attention followed by the azure eyes that perhaps held more fire within than that which engulfed the area.
WHACK!
Blood spewed out of the man's mouth as Kaoru's weapon cracked upon contact with his jaw.
Greedily gulping a ragged breath, a shiver rippled down Kaoru's spine. Her head whipped around just in time to catch a glimpse of twin orbs that went from blue to golden before crackling fire obscured them from her vision.
No......It can't be those eyes..
Shaking her head so dark strands clung to her flushed face, Kaoru ran off only to skid suddenly as a voice yelled out to her.
"Kaoru!" She wheeled around to see Okina limping over barely dodging a charring spear and an injury on his eye.
"Okina! Are you all right?!" Kaoru gasped. It looked like the elder man was holding back from collapsing.
"K—Kaoru..." he rasped, "Lord Aoshi has ordered that you get out of here."
Kaoru shook her head stubbornly as she let Okina's shoulders slump against her arm. "No way!"
"Kao...you are very important to the Clan--"
"No! I may be considered special because I'm a Dream Weaver, but I will fight by the Oniwaban's side for always!"
Okina's fingers curled into her collar. "Please! You must! You are the reason that Seijuro and his Hiten fighters have come for us! Go!"
Kaoru swallowed down a lump in her throat only to feel it tumble to the pit of her stomach. Belated tears fell without her consent.
"Gramps!" Misao cried. She had bounded back over upon noticing both of her companions in the middle of the battlefield. She took Okina on her shoulders.
"Go......"
Kaoru bowed her head and swiped away the tears. Looking back up with fresh determination and lips set straight, she nodded and crossed the turf with dust at her heels, passing around burning tents, bloodied bodies and to-the-death duels.
Most of the scarce trees had fallen victim to the devouring flames, but one lucky one a few feet away from the onslaught still stood daringly.
Kaoru flung herself behind the tree so she could peer at the battle nestled between protruding roots.
"Ow! Hey watch it!"
Kaoru started and looked to see she had collided with someone who had chosen this as a hiding spot as well. She was rather surprised to see a boy there. He had dust laden, spiky black hair, dark brown eyes, a grumpy frown, and rumpled clothes. A small scab lay on the tip of his nose and smudges of soil stained his brow.
"What's a little kid like you doing out here?" Kaoru inquired.
"I'm not little!" he snapped back, "I am Myojin Yahiko, descendant of one of the best fighters ever! Besides, if you think you're so big why aren't you fighting?"
Kaoru turned her face away. Being weak was high on her Not-Fond-Of List. "I have....reasons." she provided dumbly.
A smirk lifted the corners of the boy's mouth. "Well, you could probably kill all those people with one look at your ugly face."
"Hey! You brat, the only thing not little about you is that you're a big pain in the--"
BOOM
Both nearly bolted out of their skin as the gargantuan ball snapped away from the chain to fall to the ground.
"Shikijo!" She gasped.
"Hey Ugly--!" Yahiko began. Kaoru swiveled her head to give back a retort, but stopped abruptly. Yahiko's eyes were wide and staring at her with his jaw agape. He let out an audible gulp.
Something warm and wet dripped onto Kaoru's chest. Her face blanched as a metallic stench consumed her senses. She turned her head slowly to see a katana being placed at her neck, most of the shine concealed because of the blood drenched from hilt to keen point. More rivulets of the crimson liquid dropped thickly to stain the white cloth and seep through to her skin. Cold radiated from the blade and Kaoru remained rigid, fearful that a twitch would have her head rolling next to her. A hand warm in comparison to the sword slid over her mouth.
Hot breaths feathered near her ear and whispered a command. "You will come with me."
Another thing Kaoru was not fond of—helplessness. Angrily she bit at the palm over her lips. The owner let out a low hiss and his hand lifted ever so slightly over her mouth.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice disapproved, a growl rumbling from deep within her captor's throat. A tiny whimper came from Kaoru as the chilling steel was pressed more to her throat. She was sure the swordsman could perceive her galloping heart.
Scared eyes wavered to Yahiko. If he stuck around he was sure to get hurt also. Despite fidgeting fingers Kaoru threw her bokken forcefully at Yahiko. He got the point in seconds and scampered off. The man restraining her emitted a soft curse.
"Damn...." he had been careless. Biting down a snarl and withdrawing his katana slightly, but still posing as a warning he began pulling the girl away, the other hand still clamped over her mouth.
The boy might cause a slight problem...He snorted. His assignment had been to get the Dream Weaver girl, and here she was.
He is just a little boy, he said to himself mentally, ignoring the nagging from the back of his mind.
Kaoru squealed indignantly as she was thrown over his shoulder unceremoniously and his arm wrapped around her waist to hold her up.
"Hey! Let me go you--"
She stopped midsentence with mouth still open as she locked gazes with him...
His red hair had been swept up into a high ponytail and his eyes were no longer the soft violet, instead a fossilized amber that stared at her lazily beneath hooded lids.
"I—It's you!" she exclaimed, "Sir Himura Kenshin!"
"Glad you remember me," Kenshin muttered sardonically with an arrogant grin.
She began to squirm in his arms defiantly. "Put me down you jerk! I'm going to throttle you and pull you hair out and—Oof!"
Kaoru was jerked roughly and glared at Kenshin who chuckled at her futile attempts and began walking away from the fiery rage.
Kaoru was fuming! That arrogant bastard! Carrying her in such a way. An evil grin came on and Kaoru's eyes lit up mischievously. I can still annoy him to death!
"....Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No, we will get there later."
Kaoru failed to see his glassy eyes glistening dangerously.
"...Is it later yet?"
"No! Now shut up."
"Pff...Men!" She sighed huffily.
"Retreat!"
The Oniwaban watched in shock as the Hiten began backing off, heading back to the general direction their charge had come from. It was obvious that they were gaining on them...
"....So why are they withdrawing?" Okon whispered, dropping her boomerang weapon to aid Misao in helping Okina.
Lord Aoshi was supporting Hannya who had half of his oni mask cracked off. A few feet away lay Kuro and Shiro holding back groans with Omasu persuading them to get up with her. Beshimi was dragging an unconscious Hyottoko and stopped on the way to check on the still Shikijo.
Misao's head whipped about in every direction. "Whu...where's Kaoru?!"
Okina's uninjured eye half opened, whilst the other was swollen shut. "Kaoru...?"
No...it couldn't be that...they retreated because, they...Misao stumbled through her own thoughts, afraid to take in the reality that perhaps Kaoru had been...
"Hey!"
All looked up hopefully, only to see a short boy with black hair rushing towards them. His clothes were tousled and he looked like he had been running for some time.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Myojin Yahiko..." he said between breaths, "This girl.....I saw her being taken by this fiery haired man..."
"Sir Himura!" gasped Misao. "What d-did...she look like?"
Yahiko glanced at her. "Well, she had...long dark hair and bright blue eyes..."
Misao swallowed fearfully, looking down at her hands. No....Kaoru...!
Kaoru grumbled as she was awakened with a rude shaking. Her glued eyes lifted to see that Kenshin had brought her down to the ground and was forcing her to get to her feet.
"All right, all right!" she snapped, wobbling to stand. Despite her groggy state, Kaoru knew that Kenshin was pulling her along somewhere and rubbed at her eyes and opened them to see people she did not know watching her. Many were administering to their own wounds or helping others. A small group was burying a dead few.
The encampment was much the same as the Oniwaban's, tents erected wherever the owner wanted them amongst the dry brittle grass and scant scrawny trees.
Kaoru was brought awake when a deep voice, commanding and strong spoke out. Her eyes opened fully to find herself in a tent, Kenshin by her side who had saluted to a tall man in front of her.
"Is this the one?"
Kenshin nodded.
"Lord Seijuro..Hiko?" she queried, trying to stifle back a yawn.
Misao glanced all around. All of the Oniwaban were sitting or lying around together. Her good friends and fellow members of the Kunai: Sekihara Tae and Sanjou Tsubame were assisting Dr. Genzai with the injured.
The boy Yahiko currently was speaking to Tsubame who had just flushed embarrassed and let out a tiny giggle.
Luckily for her, Misao had not been hurt as bad as the others, leaving with a few scrapes and bruises. She clenched her fist.
The Oniwaban are down right now, but I'm not about to give in...Don't worry Kaoru, I'm coming after you!
No one noticed as Misao gathered up the rest of her throwing knives and left to find Kaoru herself.
He stood out alone, far from the Hiten Mitsurugi and Oniwaban Clan. A small smile still gracing his face, Soujiro tied the note to the pigeon's leg, giving it a small lift before the petite bird swooped high, flapping its feathered wings for flight.
A lone feather escaped and the folded note caught the early rising light of a new day, revealing in black ink:
Lord Shishio Makoto
Soujiro's smile never receded or changed as he caught the feather in his hand.
Notes/Reviews:
Tell me if the battle sucked or not, because it's actually the first time I've really gotten into writing a fight.
THANK YOU TO ALL THESE PEOPLE BELOW!
JML: Hey, thanks, that helped a lot! ^^
Nicolette: Was this chapter okay? Though I think I got more into the fight than anything. ^.^;
Nicky9: Well...I have lots of ideas, and often times they're AU. ^.^; I came up with this when my family took a long drive! I was able to write part of the first chapter then, along with some other ideas. I think the idea came when I thought about Kaoru having a strange dream and them being a wandering clan came from thinking about rurouni...then the Dream Weaver thing just came later....
LittleDragon5: Thanks, that one helped me a lot! You guys are so wonderful! This chapter's longer right? I was able to find a site that helped a lot too. ^^
april: Hmm, well I sure didn't expect so many people to like this. ^o^
Brittanie Love: You should really thank Dragowolf for giving me the idea!
Waterflash: Lol! Yah, I got your mail, and it's so funny! Aww! The chibi Hiei and Youko Kurama are so kawaii! Though I don't think Hiei would like being called cute, would he? O_O
Mango: hey! Cool name! I would have updated sooner, but I got another fic I'm working on at the same time. Sorry!
Aharah Musici: I like you name! ^.^ Sorry, haven't gotten your mail yet. But I do love mail, just not junk. (Who does like junk neway?) Oro? And I always thought it was bluish black. Ah well, I guess we all see things differently...
BabyKaoru-Sama: Are you really a baby? ^^ J/K...
Dragowolf: Thank you a lot! You people are so awesome!
Lost Anime Angel: Um, thanks! How'd you get lost, hope you find yourself! ^^;
Next Chapter: The spotlight falls on our favorite itachi girl for awhile...and maybe another too!