Ebony Bliss
Rating: PG-13 for the most part…maybe R later on
Spoilers: If you haven't seen the OVA and you don't want to know anything about it until you can see it, then you probably won't want to read past the first chapter. There are going to be some references to people and situations that happened throughout them but other then that it should be safe.
Other Warnings: It's definitely AU with a few original characters, a somewhat original plot…if it's been done before then yell at me because I haven't read much of the Kenshin fanfiction that's lying around. It may be OOC but I'll try as hard as I can to avoid that.
Archives: None yet…ask me nicely and I might let you have it
Feedback: Please! Just email me at Dark_Izunami@dangerousminds.com, I'd love to hear what you have to say!
Blah blah blah…Kenshin is not mine…if he was…you wouldn't be seeing too much of him because he'd be locked up in my room with me for quite some time. He belongs to some really lucky person in Japan who has a lot more money then I do.
Chapter 2
Ebony was resting up in the tree that had hid her for the past week. Dusk was taking longer and longer to come upon the land but once it finally arrived, she was free to stalk down her pray for another night. The group had eaten their dinner on the porch of the dojo that night and she had finally gotten a good look at the man formally known as the Battousai.
His woman and the young boy were lighthearted enough to make up for the two quiet men. Hitokiri Battousai had his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, making her smile slightly. As careful as she had been with her mission, her presence had not gone unnoticed. She had expected no less from a man with his history. She gently rubbed her thumb over her own sword and let out a small sigh. Ebony would have rather revealed herself to him without the audience of his friends but she would have to make due with the situation she had been given. She picked up a small stone and threw it at the pole nearest them, watching him jump up, ready to leap into action. "Let's see what you're really capable of." She smiled and waited for what she knew was to come.
Kenshin sat against the wall of the dojo, watching the area behind Kaoru and Yahiko carefully. Sanosuke had caught his distracted mood rather quickly and was eyeing the area just as suspiciously. "Keep stuffing your face." Yahiko stuck his tongue out at Kaoru "It will only make you fat and uglier, as impossible as that seems."
"That's right." Kaoru flipped a strand of her hair back over her shoulder "The idea of a girl like me ever being ugly is unthinkable."
Yahiko rolled over, clutching his sides to keep them from exploading with laughter "Stupid, you're so ugly already that there's no way you could get any worse."
"What did you say?" Kaoru reached over to yank on his cheek and another heated battle between the two of them began, keeping them from noticing the focused looks on their older friend's faces.
Kenshin was about to relax his grip on the hilt when he heard the small thud of something hitting the wall of the dojo. "Who's there?" He hopped to his feet, drawing his reverse blade sword from its sheath. "I know you're out there. Show yourself now!"
"Maybe it was just a passing carriage or something." Sano spoke up after a moment of silence.
"Kenshin?" Kaoru reached up to touch his shoulder, only to find him tense and ready for a battle.
"Miss Kaoru, get yourself and Yahiko inside." He spoke under his breath "I don't have a clue about what's out there but they've been here watching us for quite some time now."
"Three weeks actually." They all focused in on the darkness by the forest as it slowly took on a human form.
"Who are you?" Yahiko demanded "What do you think you're doing here?"
Her eyes took on a strange green light as she left the sanctuary of the shadows. "I'm only here for the Battousai, the rest of you can remove yourselves before you get hurt."
"We're not going anywhere." Kaoru grasped her wooden sword "We'll never leave Kenshin."
The woman shook her head and walked over to the shorter girl "What do you think you could do to me with a child's toy like that."
"Let me give you a demonstration." Kaoru lunged for her "Ha!!!"
Ebony easily sidestepped the attack, tripping the girl before she could recover her steady footing and make a second attempt. "This is the last warning I'm give you. Leave us now or I won't let you get through this unscarred and I'm not referring to your foolish pride."
"I'm not leaving Kenshin." Kaoru's face was tinted pink but she still held her sword ready
"Suit yourself." Ebony turned to walk back over to where he and Sanosuke stood waiting
"Who are you?" Kenshin asked, narrowing his eyes
"You can just call me Ebony." She replied "I came here to claim your mortal life."
"Do you know how many trained fighters have tried and failed?" Sano asked "I'm sure your moves worked fine beating up your little brother but he's a whole different story."
"Don't make me angry." She warned, keeping her eyes locked on Kenshin.
"You don't have a chance in the world." Sano shook his head
"Perhaps." She shrugged her shoulders "There's only one way to find out though."
"What makes you think I'll be so willing to fight you?" Kenshin asked "Hitokiri Battousai died with the revolution. I've taken on the role of a wanderer and have no intention of resurrecting him."
"Let me put it this way." She smiled, letting the light from the lamp play over her smooth, pointed fangs. "If you don't fight me, I'll suck the life out of all of you one by one and I'm sure you know I could do it. I've been sitting in that tree every night for the past three weeks and you only discovered I was here within the past few days."
"Earlier today." He admitted "You left the body of a bird on the ground and the girls were upset by it."
"Then you must have an idea of what I'm capable of." She eyed the three other people hungrily. "What's your decision?"
"I'll fight you, but only on the terms that no matter the outcome, you'll let them live."
"I won't take their lives as long as they stay out of this." She nodded in agreement "However, if I win I'm going to claim your life for my own purposes. If any of them interfere in this battle, I will have to consider this contract broken and I won't guarantee anything."
"Did you all here that." He took his stance, sword poised and steady "Stay out of this."
"But Kenshin..." Kaoru protested
"Miss Kaoru, stay out of this. I'm not willing to put all of your lives on the line of a fight against a fighter I know nothing about."
Ebony grasped her own sword "Make your move Battousai."
She saw a golden tint hit his eyes before he darted at her, the speed and agility of his movement impressive, but not impossible to track. She knew a bit about his chosen sword style and from the gossip she had listened in on around the area, she had figured out some of his favorite moves. "You're not much for offence, are you?" She glanced over at him "Most fighters would have flinched at any sword coming that close to them."
Ebony turned to face him "I could see you. You were just far enough off that I wouldn't need to dodge."
"Smart girl." Sanosuke remarked, "But brains don't always mean victory."
Ebony took off, running on the balls of her feet, a fluid movement that when combined with her sleek black appearance, gave the illusion of a soaring raven. She spotted Kenshin running to the side of her and slid down on one knee to make a swing with the sword that took the blade upward, forcing him to leap into the air to save himself.
She smirked at the rip that appeared in the sleeve of his gi. "You're not giving me enough credit."
"I've never seen this style before." He frowned "Where were you taught?"
"Places around the countryside. I had numerous different masters teaching me bits and pieces of different styles and eventually just combined them with some of my own moves."
"Did you notice anything special about her sword?" Kaoru looked down at Yahiko who was engrossed in the display before him.
"Looks pretty normal to me." He replied
"Not the sword, the way she's holding it." The violet haired beauty bit her lower lip
"She flipped over the blade." Sano finally said dryly "She obviously doesn't mean to kill him here."
"Come and get me." Ebony whisked by him
Kenshin glared, feeling frustration rising within him. Out of all the opponents to be baffled by, she was the only one who could slay everyone close to him without putting forth much of an effort at all. If he lost this battle...he shook his head and raced after her again, he couldn't think about that. He had to concentrate, he had to come out victorious.
She stopped suddenly, whirling around to clash blades with him. Kenshin sidestepped quickly to the right, bringing the reversed blade towards her back, expecting to end the fight right then.
What he didn't expect was for her flexibility to play in. Ebony bent over backwards, her head touching the ground, her body in a perfect u-shape. Kenshin's attack sliced the air above her, the force of the swing throwing his footing off for a split second. A split second was all Ebony needed.
As soon as the blade flew over her, she twisted around on her right foot until the blade connected with the back of his knee, brining him down. After that, it was only a matter of seconds before she knocked him aside the head with the hilt of her sword, sending him spinning into unconsciousness. "I win." She looked down at him with two eyes full of pity "You should have tried harder, I shouldn't have been able to beat you that easily."
"Kenshin!" Kaoru cried, tears streaming down her face as she and Yahiko raced to him.
Ebony grabbed their wrists "I said specifically for you to let the two of us be." She hissed, eyes narrowing. "You're going to regret your lack of foresight." She tilted Kaoru's head back, sinking her fangs into the warm flesh on her neck. Yahiko remained paralyzed in fear to her other side.
Ebony couldn't concentrate on anything but the heavenly feel of the warm, life giving fluid running down her throat. It took every bit of her willpower to stop before the girl died and move onto the young boy. "What do you think you're doing?" Sanosuke ran over, fists flailing but she managed to avoid all but one of the blows.
"They're not dead." She rubbed the sore spot on her cheek. "Here's what's going to happen though. It's going to be a race against time to heal them from this point on. You have a doctor friend, a black haired woman that stops by once in awhile. I suggest that you run and fetch her now. I'll remain here with him, making sure they survive until you return. Once I see you coming, I'm going to take him and disappear. You'll never find us where I'm going so don't even waste your time trying, not if you feel like having any friends left alive. I don't feel like stealing more then one life tonight but the choice is yours, it's going to take both you and the doctor woman at least a week of nonstop care to get these two out of harms way."
"Why are you doing this?" Sanosuke gritted his teeth
"I promised him I wouldn't kill you and it will be easier for him to adapt knowing that you are all well. Go now or they'll both be dead within hours. My patience with you grows short."
He hesitated but took off at a sprint down the roads. Ebony left Kenshin where he was lying on the ground and moved the other two into the dojo, onto two futons. She tore off pieces of her gi to wrap around their necks, hoping that the bleeding would slow. It was within three hours when she heard two sets of rushed footsteps and anxious voices. Leaving the door open, she ran over to grab Kenshin's limp body and then disappeared into the woods. She didn't care what happened to those people anymore, she had the only possession she needed. Battousai had been defeated by a simple woman just because he refused to unleash the monster she had longed to witness for herself.
*I'm not sure about the fight scene moves. I tried to figure them out here but my little sister wasn't about to let me hurt her for the sake of literature...I swear, some people can be so difficult. I just hope you get the basic ideas that Ebony was too flexible and agile and Kenshin just wouldn't put all of himself into the battle and that's what caused his defeat. It's not necessarily because she was a better swordsman then he. I don't think that would be true at all. I just got the idea from the show that if someone ever tried to take advantage of him when he didn't really want to fight, that he would be defeated rather easily. Anyways, they're just ideas that got thrown around in my head and I don't mean to rile up people's tempers because of it.*