Wind Blown Storms
Chapter Five- Stormset's Cloud Steel
Disclaimer: It's too early for this crap.Okay, okay! See Chapter One.
Sano: um, are you okay? Allison: zzz. Kenshin: Miss Allison, wake up; its time for you to write, that it is! Allison: Leave me alone, I stayed up until 1.30 last night writing.zzz. Yusuke: hehehe.(Shouts in her ear)- WAKE UP!!! Allison: (slowly picks up her head and glares at him) Yusuke: Aw man! Not the glare! Nooooo..!!! Allison: (smiles) zzz.
-"It has been wonderful teaching you," whispered the small child's Master. "I am just sorry that your education was cut off so abruptly and was so hurried."
Her master's words echo through her mind, the mind of a very sad small child. She remembers with sorrow the rich red of his blood pooling on the cold cement, and the hoarseness of his voice terrifies her even in recollection. She remembers taking his sword and mixing her blood with his, cutting out of her arm the tracking and identification chip that was implanted in every human being at birth. There was an odd kind of comfort in the fact that both his and her blood were the same beautiful red, as if somehow it meant that he was in her and she in him. And then he died there on the ground, the same earth where he had trained her for such a precious small time.-
Kamiya's death, barely a year after she had arrived, hurt her deeply, and she grieved him for a long while after. As a memorial to him for being such a kind man, she decided that she would continue teaching his style of swordsmanship until one or two of his pupils had earned the title of instructor and could take over. And so she taught Kamiya Kashin-"The Sword that Protects."
A second year went by and Ari settled into a new routine. Teach, eat, sleep, train- and be dream. Ari found that she had begun dreaming; before she had come to the dojo she had only had nightmares. Now, though, she had some nice dreams, and even on occasion one or two beautiful ones. She could sit on the top of the dojo and gaze at the moon and stars, she could watch the cherry blossoms and plum blossoms and wisteria and autumn leaves. She could even enjoy life sometimes- a new experience for her. Ari slowly changed from a hard, untrusting loner to a quietly beautiful young woman. She stopped wearing her hood and cloak and even began to wear a proper kimono on formal occasions. Her eyes were the least noticeable, but largest change of all; they settled from a stormy grey-blue to a bright, deep blue with only a small amount of grey in the deepest crevices. She still wore her hair short, though, and as a general rule it still stuck out at all different angles, especially in the mornings before she got her bath. But it still was softer and slightly richer looking, as was her general appearance.
It was halfway into her third year at the dojo that several men were found dead in the streets. People said the man who killed them claimed to be the infamous "Hitokiri Battosai," or the manslayer of legend from the Revolution. They also said he claimed to use the Kamiya Kashin style, and it was at that point that Ari lost it.
"Now don't be hasty, miss!" Sano pleaded, desperately trying to hold on to her and the doorway at the same time. " I know you don't stand for people insulting Master Kamiya or his style, but if this IS the Battosai he'll kill you!"
"Have you forgotten how easily I beat you that first time?" Ari snarled and snapped furiously at him as he tried to restrain her.
"No, I just-," Sano broke off, as just then a rather large man with a rather large sword and about ten other guys stepped in the dojo gates. Ari was all fight and spitfire, ready to mutilate this man.
"You been looking for me, I hear!" the big man boomed out, walking up to her to intimidate her with his height. "Well, I think I don't like people who talk about me behind me back!"
"I'll talk about you to your face and then rip it off while I'm at it!" She yelled furiously up at him, not in the least worried about the fact that he was about three times her size. 'How on earth does she manage to talk like that to someone so much bigger than she is?' Sano wondered to himself. 'She shows no fear of him whatsoever.Then again,' he thought, remembering how she had taken him out, 'She had no trouble with me, and I'm bigger then she is.and this time she's angry!"
"Big words for such a small little girl," chuckled the huge idiot, "I think maybe I like your spunk.," he didn't finish, but instead looked her up and down in a way that only added to her fury. A small red-haired man walked past the gate, did a double take, and stopped to watch, looking slightly alarmed. Sano noticed that he had a sword on him and ran over.
"How dare you." she said, voice shaking and deepening in anger, "I will stop you from ever picking up a sword again for that." Her voice turned a kind of ice that drives into men's souls and strikes fear wherever there is fear to be found. She looked up, and the man saw, a bit confused, that her eyes were no longer blue-grey, but instead the exact same color and hardness of steel.
It was her eyes that fixated him, and he never saw the attack coming.
Ari was on him in an instant, sword swinging only twice. She dropped back to the ground behind him and her eyes flashed as she turned to watch him. He stood there for a moment, stunned, and then dropped to the ground, unconscious from the pain of two crushed shoulders. She turned, ruthless, towards the other men in the dojo, and settled into an ordinary front stance, ready to strike again. The men stood there, terrified, not just at the speed and strength that she possessed but also of the look she had. It struck at the very core of their confidence, and one by one they ran like dogs.
Ari waited until they were all gone, and then walked slowly over to the leader. Sanosuke's eyes widened as he realized that she was probably going to kill him.
"Ari, NO!" he yelled as he jumped on her. "Help me here, will ya?" he yelled at the stranger, who started and then began helping him. Watching them, the steel look in Ari's eyes slowly softened and she snapped coldly:
"Relax, baka, I do not intend to kill this man." Sanosuke stared at her, as did the red head.
"Well, it looked like you were gonna!" Sano partially yelled as he let go of her, halfway embarrassed but mostly relieved.
"I simply do not want him insulting the dojo by staying there any longer." She said of the man. "He has done that enough already. I will take him to a doctor. He may be able to use his arms again, but never well enough to kill someone with a sword." She looked at him, with an odd mixture of pity, sympathy, and contempt.
Ari turned to the red-haired man. " Thank you for assisting Sanosuke, sir," she told him quietly. "You have the thanks of the Kamiya dojo."
The man looked slightly embarrassed at this. " It was nothing, that it wasn't," he said, " I just did not wish to see anyone hurt."
Ari studied him as he said this. He had rich red hair, tied in a ponytail, wore a white pair of hakama pants, and a bright purple shirt with a white gi underneath. He had what were startlingly gentle violet eyes, and a cross shaped scar on his cheek. Finally, he carried a sword that sounded distinctly familiar as it clinked in its sheath. Ari tried to figure out where she had heard the sound before.
"All the same," she said, "you must stay with us for dinner at least. It's the least I can do for alarming you as I did."
"Well." said the man. His stomach grumbled loudly as if on cue. "That would be very much appreciated, that it would." He smiled, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Alright, then!" Sano said, happy. "To the Akabeko it is!"
"What's wrong with my cooking?!" Ari asked, indignant.
"It SUCKS is what's wrong with it!" Sanosuke said nonchalantly, before he was knocked down by a well placed back fist to the chest on Ari's part.
"Oops, 'scuse me," she said sweetly before going to get the only remaining student in the dojo. "Yahiko! Hey, Yahiko! If you want to have dinner, you'd better get out here right now!" she yelled.
"My, she can yell quite loudly," the poor stranger remarked, feeling dazed.
"Yeah, and you should see her when she's Kiai-ing during lessons!" Sano said, proud that he'd been the one to get her to the dojo.
"What's your name, anyway?" Sano asked, as Ari and a little boy with black hair walked up.
"My name?" the stranger asked, surprised. "My name is Kenshin Himura."
And so Ari, Sanosuke, Yahiko, and the new guy Himura set out for a nice dinner at the Akabeko.
Allison: There! Are you happy NOW, Kenshin Battosai? Kenshin: Please do not call me that, but yes, I am! Allison: Good. Now tell all the nice readers to review, please. Kenshin: Review, please!
Disclaimer: It's too early for this crap.Okay, okay! See Chapter One.
Sano: um, are you okay? Allison: zzz. Kenshin: Miss Allison, wake up; its time for you to write, that it is! Allison: Leave me alone, I stayed up until 1.30 last night writing.zzz. Yusuke: hehehe.(Shouts in her ear)- WAKE UP!!! Allison: (slowly picks up her head and glares at him) Yusuke: Aw man! Not the glare! Nooooo..!!! Allison: (smiles) zzz.
-"It has been wonderful teaching you," whispered the small child's Master. "I am just sorry that your education was cut off so abruptly and was so hurried."
Her master's words echo through her mind, the mind of a very sad small child. She remembers with sorrow the rich red of his blood pooling on the cold cement, and the hoarseness of his voice terrifies her even in recollection. She remembers taking his sword and mixing her blood with his, cutting out of her arm the tracking and identification chip that was implanted in every human being at birth. There was an odd kind of comfort in the fact that both his and her blood were the same beautiful red, as if somehow it meant that he was in her and she in him. And then he died there on the ground, the same earth where he had trained her for such a precious small time.-
Kamiya's death, barely a year after she had arrived, hurt her deeply, and she grieved him for a long while after. As a memorial to him for being such a kind man, she decided that she would continue teaching his style of swordsmanship until one or two of his pupils had earned the title of instructor and could take over. And so she taught Kamiya Kashin-"The Sword that Protects."
A second year went by and Ari settled into a new routine. Teach, eat, sleep, train- and be dream. Ari found that she had begun dreaming; before she had come to the dojo she had only had nightmares. Now, though, she had some nice dreams, and even on occasion one or two beautiful ones. She could sit on the top of the dojo and gaze at the moon and stars, she could watch the cherry blossoms and plum blossoms and wisteria and autumn leaves. She could even enjoy life sometimes- a new experience for her. Ari slowly changed from a hard, untrusting loner to a quietly beautiful young woman. She stopped wearing her hood and cloak and even began to wear a proper kimono on formal occasions. Her eyes were the least noticeable, but largest change of all; they settled from a stormy grey-blue to a bright, deep blue with only a small amount of grey in the deepest crevices. She still wore her hair short, though, and as a general rule it still stuck out at all different angles, especially in the mornings before she got her bath. But it still was softer and slightly richer looking, as was her general appearance.
It was halfway into her third year at the dojo that several men were found dead in the streets. People said the man who killed them claimed to be the infamous "Hitokiri Battosai," or the manslayer of legend from the Revolution. They also said he claimed to use the Kamiya Kashin style, and it was at that point that Ari lost it.
"Now don't be hasty, miss!" Sano pleaded, desperately trying to hold on to her and the doorway at the same time. " I know you don't stand for people insulting Master Kamiya or his style, but if this IS the Battosai he'll kill you!"
"Have you forgotten how easily I beat you that first time?" Ari snarled and snapped furiously at him as he tried to restrain her.
"No, I just-," Sano broke off, as just then a rather large man with a rather large sword and about ten other guys stepped in the dojo gates. Ari was all fight and spitfire, ready to mutilate this man.
"You been looking for me, I hear!" the big man boomed out, walking up to her to intimidate her with his height. "Well, I think I don't like people who talk about me behind me back!"
"I'll talk about you to your face and then rip it off while I'm at it!" She yelled furiously up at him, not in the least worried about the fact that he was about three times her size. 'How on earth does she manage to talk like that to someone so much bigger than she is?' Sano wondered to himself. 'She shows no fear of him whatsoever.Then again,' he thought, remembering how she had taken him out, 'She had no trouble with me, and I'm bigger then she is.and this time she's angry!"
"Big words for such a small little girl," chuckled the huge idiot, "I think maybe I like your spunk.," he didn't finish, but instead looked her up and down in a way that only added to her fury. A small red-haired man walked past the gate, did a double take, and stopped to watch, looking slightly alarmed. Sano noticed that he had a sword on him and ran over.
"How dare you." she said, voice shaking and deepening in anger, "I will stop you from ever picking up a sword again for that." Her voice turned a kind of ice that drives into men's souls and strikes fear wherever there is fear to be found. She looked up, and the man saw, a bit confused, that her eyes were no longer blue-grey, but instead the exact same color and hardness of steel.
It was her eyes that fixated him, and he never saw the attack coming.
Ari was on him in an instant, sword swinging only twice. She dropped back to the ground behind him and her eyes flashed as she turned to watch him. He stood there for a moment, stunned, and then dropped to the ground, unconscious from the pain of two crushed shoulders. She turned, ruthless, towards the other men in the dojo, and settled into an ordinary front stance, ready to strike again. The men stood there, terrified, not just at the speed and strength that she possessed but also of the look she had. It struck at the very core of their confidence, and one by one they ran like dogs.
Ari waited until they were all gone, and then walked slowly over to the leader. Sanosuke's eyes widened as he realized that she was probably going to kill him.
"Ari, NO!" he yelled as he jumped on her. "Help me here, will ya?" he yelled at the stranger, who started and then began helping him. Watching them, the steel look in Ari's eyes slowly softened and she snapped coldly:
"Relax, baka, I do not intend to kill this man." Sanosuke stared at her, as did the red head.
"Well, it looked like you were gonna!" Sano partially yelled as he let go of her, halfway embarrassed but mostly relieved.
"I simply do not want him insulting the dojo by staying there any longer." She said of the man. "He has done that enough already. I will take him to a doctor. He may be able to use his arms again, but never well enough to kill someone with a sword." She looked at him, with an odd mixture of pity, sympathy, and contempt.
Ari turned to the red-haired man. " Thank you for assisting Sanosuke, sir," she told him quietly. "You have the thanks of the Kamiya dojo."
The man looked slightly embarrassed at this. " It was nothing, that it wasn't," he said, " I just did not wish to see anyone hurt."
Ari studied him as he said this. He had rich red hair, tied in a ponytail, wore a white pair of hakama pants, and a bright purple shirt with a white gi underneath. He had what were startlingly gentle violet eyes, and a cross shaped scar on his cheek. Finally, he carried a sword that sounded distinctly familiar as it clinked in its sheath. Ari tried to figure out where she had heard the sound before.
"All the same," she said, "you must stay with us for dinner at least. It's the least I can do for alarming you as I did."
"Well." said the man. His stomach grumbled loudly as if on cue. "That would be very much appreciated, that it would." He smiled, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Alright, then!" Sano said, happy. "To the Akabeko it is!"
"What's wrong with my cooking?!" Ari asked, indignant.
"It SUCKS is what's wrong with it!" Sanosuke said nonchalantly, before he was knocked down by a well placed back fist to the chest on Ari's part.
"Oops, 'scuse me," she said sweetly before going to get the only remaining student in the dojo. "Yahiko! Hey, Yahiko! If you want to have dinner, you'd better get out here right now!" she yelled.
"My, she can yell quite loudly," the poor stranger remarked, feeling dazed.
"Yeah, and you should see her when she's Kiai-ing during lessons!" Sano said, proud that he'd been the one to get her to the dojo.
"What's your name, anyway?" Sano asked, as Ari and a little boy with black hair walked up.
"My name?" the stranger asked, surprised. "My name is Kenshin Himura."
And so Ari, Sanosuke, Yahiko, and the new guy Himura set out for a nice dinner at the Akabeko.
Allison: There! Are you happy NOW, Kenshin Battosai? Kenshin: Please do not call me that, but yes, I am! Allison: Good. Now tell all the nice readers to review, please. Kenshin: Review, please!