A/N-Wow, some people reviewed this fic and actually liked it! I didn't
really think anyone would review. And to anyone that had to read the first
chapter when it was all one big thing, I'm sorry for that! I fixed as soon
as I noticed it was like that (I think it's really annoying when its like
that). Anyway I decided to put up the next chapter for the people that
reviewed, thanks again!
Also, Kaoru's dad's name is not Kairu like I put here in the story but I needed a name for him and because I wasn't sure what his name really is I just made one up. And another note, this story does take place in Japan but the dragons in here are the European style dragons. I made them that way because I think most people are more familiar with them then the Japanese style dragons (even though I think I like the Japanese style ones a little better).
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure that no one out there really thinks I own Rurouni Kenshin, but in case you do think I own it, (or are looking for a reason to sue someone) I don't.
" " Talking
' ' Thoughts
A/N Author's notes
Three nights later the Council Hall was packed by the time Kaoru got there. Every seat was taken and Kaoru and the other people that had arrived a little later had to stand for the meeting. She couldn't believe how many people were already there. And she had even arrived early for the meeting!
As Kaoru sat waiting she got the feeling that someone was watching her. But she didn't look around to see if someone really was because she had been getting that feeling a lot lately. For the past two days when ever she had gone out to shop or something she had felt as if someone was watching her. At first she had always looked around to spot the person watching her but she had never seen anyone. After a while she had dismissed the feeling and decided that she was just being paranoid.
As soon as the meeting started the head of the town Council, Waga Kongo, a short and fat man who seemed to hate everyone but himself, stood in front of the gathered group of people to speak.
"Well, I take it you are the men that will be fighting to protect our town from the horrible monsters. Well before we head out I will be giving you some information. Since all the information you need on the Raid it's self was listed on our postings I will only be talking about the dragons, which you will of course, be fighting.
"Now I am sure everyone knows that dragons are awful creatures that were put on this earth for one reason and one reason only: to destroy us human beings and make our lives as much like hell as they can. They kill us and eat us, destroy our homes and crops, and feast on our livestock. They are monsters without any mercy or emotion. The beasts will rip apart and devour anything that stands still long enough for it to grasp it in it's teeth! Being "things" without emotions they do not hesitate to kill any of the weaker of our species. And of course we will do every thing in our power to protect our women, children, and old because they cannot defend themselves.
"But because they have no feelings, in battle they have an advantage over us. Because while you and I would most definitely stop to assist a wounded comrade in battle these "things" would just walk on by and leave any of their wounded to suffer and die. And because they do not understand helping others of their kind they would see any one else helping their own kind as a weak and easy target. These "things" are clearly without any honor at all."
Somehow, listening to Kongo upset Kaoru. It was the way he was talking about the dragons. Only several days before she would have agreed wholeheartedly with him about what he was saying but ever since the day that Kaoru had encountered the dragon by the stream her thoughts about dragons had changed without her even knowing it.
She thought back to that day by the stream remembering what had happened. The dragons Kongo was talking about weren't at all like the one she had seen! The dragon had seen her, watched her, and moved close to her and not once had it made any move to hurt her! Sure, it had touched her, but it hadn't done anything that would hurt her.
Because Kaoru had spent her whole life training to fight in dangerous situations and be able to tell when she was in one, sensing danger was easy for her and she hadn't felt that she had been in any danger around the dragon. Kaoru knew she had been perfectly safe around the dragon and that she was in much more danger, now sitting in this crowd of big and stupid muscle-bound men, than she had been in then.
As Kaoru thought of all this now she began to feel very resentful toward Kongo. 'Well, he's never met my dragon! Other wise he'd feel different! I know that my dragon had feelings! I had been able to see them as easily as you can see emotions on a human's face.'
'And I' m sure that in any battle Kongo would rush and save his own hide and never even think about any of his comrades even if one of them was his best friend. Just in this small amount of time I've known him I'm sure he'd give up his own mother to die in battle if it meant he'd get away unharmed'! Kaoru could feel her anger at this man rising every second. She was so worked up she didn't notice that the dragon from a few days ago had suddenly become "her" dragon.
Kaoru had to try her absolute hardest to not start telling Kongo just what she thought about him and what he was saying. Unfortunately for Kaoru she had to sit listening to Kongo talk about how horrible those "things" were for a whole hour. She had to keep reminding her self of her reason for wanting to go. If she talked back to Kongo she would never get to see her dragon again.
During the lecture form Kongo she had admitted to herself that her reason for wanting to do this had changed. At first it had been all about proving herself, she still wanted to do that but that had become secondary to her next reason. What Kaoru wanted to do now was to find that dragon again. She didn't know why but it seemed that she was drawn to him. She wanted to know why it felt so different from other dragons.
She didn't know what she would do when she actually found the dragon but that could wait until she really found him.
Of course now even the thought of killing any dragon seamed crazy and she would have to prevent any of the men from killing any of the dragons they found, but she was sure she could handle it.
"So, now you all know exactly what you'll be up against in the up coming battle. You are now fully prepared for the fight. Now myself and the rest of the Council will be sitting up here in the front of the room to interview you all. Please form a straight line and we will get to each of you and tell you if you are qualified to be one of our fighters."
At hearing this Kaoru quickly ran to the front of the room to be interviewed. As she stepped out of the line and to the front of the Council they all glared at her with obvious contempt.
"Oh great, it's the crazy Kamiya girl again. Can't she take a hint?" One of the Council members had leaned in toward one of his friends as if was going to whisper his complaint but had spoken loud enough for his voice to be heard throughout the room. Several of the men around them laughed loudly.
Kaoru stood staring at them firmly, she wasn't going to back down no matter what they said. She was going to be a part of this. No matter what.
"Members of the Council, I am a well trained fighter and I know that I could prove useful to you if you just gave me a chance. My father started my training in the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu when I was only five years old and since then I have practiced almost every single day. I really think you should let me come with you." Kaoru looked at the Council hoping to see some sign that she had convinced any of them.
She had no such luck.
"No way in hell!" One of the Council members had stood up shortly after Kaoru had finished talking and slammed his fist down on the table. "Listen girl, when we made those fliers we specifically stated that only men were to come to this! That we only wanted men. And do you know why? It was because we knew you would come down here if we didn't! But I guess you were too dumb to notice that and came anyway!" He was glaring angrily at Kaoru and she moved her hand toward the sword at her belt incase he made a move to attack her.
"He's right!" chimed one of the other men. "We don't want her! She's a girl. Women don't fight! I say she should leave right now!"
"Wait!" shouted another man. "If she's so tough why doesn't she fight all of us? If she comes out alive than she can come."
At this idea some of the men around Kaoru got up and unsheathed their swords. Kaoru also drew her sword, hopping she wouldn't really have to fight. She could probably take all of these guys on if she fought them separately or if they were in smaller groups but with this many of them all coming at her at once Kaoru knew she didn't stand a chance.
As Kaoru was quickly trying to find a way out of this mess a cloaked figure suddenly steeped in front of her holding out a sword in a fighting stance.
"You will not harm this young woman, that you will not." The man stated firmly. "You men are supposed to be the heroes of this village and as such you are bringing great shame to this village by trying to do something so low as to attack one lone person when you outnumber them so greatly. If you do not stop I will be forced to fight you and that is not something I wish to do.
"And also, this girl speaks the truth about her kendo training. She was taught a very powerful style from a very skilled teacher and I know that she is a skilled fighter and I think that you should at lest give her a chance. What would it hurt to try?"
Kaoru looked at the man as he talked hoping to see who it was helping her out but because he was wearing the hood of his black cape over his head his face was hidden in shadow and the rest of the cape prevented her from seeing any of his clothes.
"You arrogant bastard!" yelled one of the men. "Who do you think you are to come in here and start ordering us around? You must be from out of town cause you don't know who you're dealing with! And do you really think that you could beat all of us? I'll kill you myself!"
"Now, now men," said Kongo in a falsely concerned voice. "We really shouldn't hurt them. We need to keep our honor like this man said. And to show him and Kaoru-san how sorry we are I think we should let her come with us on the Raid. After all he did say she has skills."
"What?" Liedo asked disbelievingly. "You can't be serious!"
"But I am serious." said Kongo as he forced a smile so fake it looked like it hurt. "And you had better agree." He was glaring daggers at Liedo by now, looking as if he would murder him if he didn't agree.
"Oh, yes. Yes of course I do!" said Liedo clearly catching the malice in Kongo's voice "And everyone else agrees too."
"Good. Kamiya Kaoru, I am pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to participate in the Raid." Said Kongo as he turned to face Kaoru." Well Kaoru, that is all. You may be excused."
As soon as Kaoru and the man had left the Council Hall everyone quickly stopped pretending to want Kaoru to come with them.
"Hey Kongo, what in the hell's the big idea! I know you didn't want to let that girl on the team so why did you? Did you really listen to that bastard that helped her?" Liedo glared at him.
"Of course I didn't want her to come you baka, but then I had a great idea. Since we know she can't fight worth beans, if we let her come a dragon will eat her for sure. And since everyone hates her no one will care if she doesn't come back! And then she'll be out of our hair for good! We'll never have ta see her again!" said Kongo proudly as he announced his plan to the rest of the men.
"Wow, that really is a great plan! No more annoying Kamiya girl anymore. That'll be great!" said Liedo happily as the others all agreed.
"I know. I'm a genius." Said Kongo arrogantly. "You guys will only have to put up with her for a little while longer till you met up with the dragons and then she'll be gone for ever!" ________________________________________________________________________
When Kaoru and the man were outside he turned to Kaoru. "Are you alright Kaoru-dono?" He asked in a worried voice. "I didn't want those men to attack you. They should not have done that, that they should not."
"Yes, I'm all right. Thank you for helping me. How can I repay you?"
"That's okay you really don't have to. Please take care of yourself. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt." And with that the cloaked man walked away in to one of the alleys.
Kaoru was walking down the empty streets thinking quietly to her self. 'I don't get it.' She thought. 'Kongo had hated the idea of letting me come at first I know he did! The way he looked at me after I asked to go just told me he wasn't gonna. But why did he decide to let me after all? Could it be that the man who helped me convinced him to let me come?'
'Hey baka!' yelled the little voice again. 'Who cares why he let you in? The point is that you got in like you wanted. So just be happy!'
'For once, maybe you're right. I got what I wanted and that's good enough!'
'I'm glad that man in the cape was there. If he hadn't said anything I bet those men would have attacked me. I wonder who he was and why he helped me out. I couldn't see any of him because of his big cape. But I guess it doesn't matter if I saw him or not if he's from another village like one guy said.'
As Kaoru was walking she once again got the feeling that she was being watched or fallowed.
Kaoru was brought out of her train of thought when she suddenly found herself at the place she had been walking to. A cemetery. Kaoru walked over to one of the graves and kneeled down next to it. It read:
Kamiya Kairu
Noble Warrior and Skilled Swordsman
The rest of the grave had been covered in moss since Kaoru's last visit and she had to scrape it off with a rock. Kaoru was furious. All the other gravestones were clean but her father's. They didn't clean his' just to make her angry.
After Kaoru had said a little prayer she told her dad about all that had happened that night.
"And then this man came to help me. He must not have been from around cause' no one ever tries to help me out around here. Oh well. And after that Kongo changed his mind and now he's gonna let me come! I finally get to show everyone my skills with a sword. But really that's not my real reason for going now."
"Dad you'll never believe this but the other day when I went out to train I saw this HUGE dragon! It was so cool! But the weirdest thing was even though you taught me to fight dragons this one didn't feel bad.. I'm not sure why though. I really want to see him again and figure out why this one is different. I hope you're not mad since you've always taught me to kill dragons, but this one is different, I just know it!
"Well that's all. I just wanted to tell you everything before I left.
Wish me luck! I'll see ya when I get back!" said Kaoru as she happily
turned to leave the graveyard.
Right as Kaoru was about to leave she saw something move out of the corner of her eye and she quickly hid behind a tree to look. There kneeling in front of her father's grave was the man in the cloak from earlier.
"I'm so sorry Kairu," said the man as he finished saying a prayer. "When I first got your letters I knew that I should have come to see you.I really wanted to but I was afraid that I might frighten your daughter. Since you were a dragon slayer I suspected she was taught to fear any dragon. And she should not have had to have been scared as she said her last goodbyes to her father, that she should not. Now the others and I just wish that we had come to see you one last time.
"I have met your daughter now though. She is sixteen now and is a beautiful young women. She looks a lot like you; she has a lot of your traits. She really is a courageous girl. Tonight if I hadn't interfered I'm sure she would have tried to take on several dozen men all by her self! I am sure she will make a fine warrior. If only she lived in a village like mine where her potential could be recognized instead of ignored like it is here.
"She really could be a great warrior but no one here will give her a chance. It really is a shame. I also wish I could get to know her as I did you, that I do. Then again she would most likely try to kill me at the mere sight of me. But when we first met you wanted to kill me when we first met so maybe we could get along. But I don't think I'll ever get the chance to become friends with her. If only things were different.
"Your daughter.I don't know what it is about her but I get this odd feeling around her. I.I've never felt this why around any one else before.I really do wonder what it is exactly that I feel when I see her, and its even stronger when I talk to her. I haven't even really talked to her that much. I just really don't understand what this feeling is."
Kaoru listened carefully as the man spoke about her. 'Who in the world is this guy? And how did he know my father? This is the same guy that helped me at the meeting. If he knew dad then he must have done it because he knew we were related. He says they were old friends but dad would have mentioned him then.
'And he says my dad was righting to him and some other people.yes! I remember now, shortly after my father had gotten sick he started righting to someone. He said he was righting to one of his friends that lived far away and that he wished his friends would come visit and met me, but he never said exactly who they were. Was this man one of them?'
She quickly stopped asking herself questions and turned her attention back to the man as he began to speak again.
"You'll be happy to know that Sano, Yahiko, Shura, Misao, Megumi and all the rest of them are all fine. Everyone often says that they wished you were still living with us in our town. Oh, and Sano says he misses you the most. He says he missies gambling with you." At this the man gave a light chuckle as if remembering something.
"You advised me to become mates with Megumi but I still haven't. But one of these days I think I might. It's just I don't want to be mate with Megumi until I'm sure that she's the right female for me. Everyone else including you seems to think that she is, but I just don't know.
"The only bad thing about Megumi is that after we become mates she wants us to have a family and for me to give up my sword and fighting for good. I know that's one promise I'll never be able to keep! Oh well, Megumi really is a very nice person and it's very rude of me to be complaining like this.
"Well, even if I didn't see you one last time before you passed away I'm glad I get to see you now. I wish the others had come to, they would have been really happy.
"My troop's heading back home soon so I'll be leaving in the morning. We've been looking for any sign of Shishio in the area. He's been taking over any villages he can get his hands on but there's been on trace of him near this area so your village and daughter are safe. But I have no doubt that if the village was attacked that she would be able to look after herself. Well, I guess that's all I have to say. If I'm ever around the village again I promise to check up on your daughter and come by to visit, that I will. Goodbye Kairu."
Kaoru watched as the man then placed a bouquet of flowers down in front of the grave, stood up, bowed and left. _______________________________________________________________________
Right now Kaoru was extremely bored.
She and the rest of the troop had been gone for twelve days now and there had been no sign of a dragon anywhere. The troop moved every day checking out all of the forest but they had still seen nothing. The reason Kaoru had wanted to come on this was to see her dragon but they hadn't seen any sign of any dragon, much less hers.
Liedo had said he knew exactly where the dragons were hiding but Kaoru was seriously starting to doubt that. It was obvious that Liedo was just as clueless as the rest of them. Kaoru was also starting to think that by the time they found any clue that there even were dragons around the forest that the dragons would all probably be gone by then. And if that happened they would most likely never see any of the dragons including hers.
Kaoru was sitting high up on the branch of a tree near the camp. All day she had been thinking about the mysterious man from the other night.
'I wish I knew who he was. If he and dad were friends why didn't dad ever tell me about him? Maybe dad did tell me about him. The man never told me his name or anything so dad may have really told me about him before.'
'He and dad were probably friends when dad was in the Dragon War. Maybe he was in the same troop as dad. He may have helped my dad fight Hitokiri Battousai!'
Kaoru looked up at the sky and seeing that it was getting dark she jumped down and walked back to camp. As she walked by Liedo and one of the men she could hear some of what Liedo was saying.
"We've been out here for twelve days now and have nothing to show for it! And as for that girl-" Liedo had stopped mid-sentence at seeing that Kaoru had stopped walking and was listening to them. Kaoru quickly continued walking, pretending not to have heard them talking at all.
'What were they saying about me out there?' She wondered to herself as she went in to the tent and sat down at the table to eat dinner. 'It was most likely something bad.' She decided grimly.
Back outside the tent Liedo was watched until Kaoru was inside the tent. "Good. She's gone," he said after making sure Kaoru was no longer listening to them. "I'm getting so sick of her being here! Everyone is. I wish she had never come."
"Ya know, Kongo said to wait and let a dragon kill her but how will anyone know if we get rid of her ourselves? I mean, we're out here all by ourselves in the middle of a forest where no one will see and I don't think it really matters when we get rid of her, it just matters that we get rid of her! After dinner you get some of the guys and met me outside and I'll tell ya what we're gonna do." __________________________________________________________________
"Hey Kaoru," Liedo called out to Kaoru as he approached her. "We're gonna need some more firewood to keep the fire going so could you go out and get some for us?"
"Sure thing." replied Kaoru as she stood up and left.
Kaoru walked through the forest searching, happy for an excuse to leave camp. As Kaoru was walking she kept glancing behind her. This time she felt as if several people were fallowing her.
"What was that noise?" she asked herself as she heard a twig snap behind her. "Now I know someone's fallowing me. Who ever you are, come out and face me! I know you're there!" Kaoru drew her sword form her belt read to face her stalker.
"Very good Kaoru. We didn't think you'd notice us." Said Liedo as he emerged form the bushes.
"Liedo? What are you doing here?" asked Kaoru as she lowered her sword.
"I'm going to finish you off." He drew his sword and held it out in front of him.
" What do you mean?"
"The guys and I are getting sick of having you here and it's time that you were gone." He grinned evilly as he stepped closer.
"You can't do that." Said Kaoru confidently. "I can fight you off." But as Kaoru spoke ten more men stepped out from behind trees and bushes. "Oh no."
Kaoru quickly turned and ran; sure that she could out run them. "Oh no!" Kaoru skidded to a halt as she stopped, trapped, with a huge cliff in front of her and eleven guys that wanted her dead behind her.
'They trapped me! I won't be able to get away!' Kaoru realized as Liedo and the others approached her.
"You're stuck. There's nowhere for you to run bitch. Just accept your death!" One of the men tossed his spear at Kaoru and she gave a yelp of pain as it struck her in the right shoulder.
'No! This can't be the end! But it is.. I won't make it out of this alive. But I won't ever let them kill me!' Kaoru quickly made up her mind and stepped closer to the edge of the cliff. 'I'm so sorry dad.'
That was Kaoru's last thought as she stepped over the edge of the cliff.
Falling.
She was falling and nothing would stop her. At least this way it wouldn't have been Liedo who killed her.
Kaoru closed her eyes as she waited to hit the ground.
"Ouch!" Kaoru gave a small cry as she landed on something hard. Was it the ground? She had only been falling for a few moments and she wasn't dead, or at lest she didn't think she was.
Kaoru opened her eyes to see that she was still in the air and she was moving. She quickly looked around to see that she was riding on the back of a huge dragon. And it was the dragon from by the lake! She recognized the X scar on its face as it turned its head and looked at her.
Kaoru quickly held on to the dragon scales as it flew upward and over the cliff that Kaoru had just been standing on. Kaoru looked down to see Liedo and his men screaming and fleeing in terror. Kaoru gave a laugh as the dragon breathed a small puff of fire on Liedo and he gave a shrill scream as the butt of his pants caught fire.
Kaoru looked all around her as the dragon carried her to where ever they where going. Flying was the most amazing thing Kaoru had ever done! She could see everything from up there. After about half an hour of flying the dragon slowed down and descended to the ground.
As the dragon walked toward a large cave Kaoru suddenly realized how much the wound in her shoulder was bleeding. She began starting to feel dizzy and could feel herself losing consciousness.
'I knew this dragon was good! He even saved my life.' This was Kaoru's last thought as she felt the darkness close around her.
Review Replies:
Nicky9-Thank you so much for being my first reviewer! And I agree, stories with dragons and stuff are awesome but there aren't too many of them, that's one of the reasons why I wanted to write this one.
Mewberries-I like your ff.net name, it's very creative. And yes I fixed the thing with the paragraphs soon after I posted. I didn't mean for it to come out that way but I'm new at posting stories so I didn't know it would come out that way.
RV Blade-Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the first chapter.
A/N- That's all for chapter 2. If you want me to post the next chapter tell me in a review and I'll do it. If you review you can also usually expect a reply.
Also if you want to give constructive criticism that's fine but if you just all out flame me with no good reason I'll just ignore it. If you hate this fic so much that you want to flame me for no reason you should just stop reading it, no ones forcing you to read it.
I guess that's all for now. Remember if you want me to continue posting you have to tell me because if no one reviews and says they like it I'll just stop. See ya ^_^x!
Also, Kaoru's dad's name is not Kairu like I put here in the story but I needed a name for him and because I wasn't sure what his name really is I just made one up. And another note, this story does take place in Japan but the dragons in here are the European style dragons. I made them that way because I think most people are more familiar with them then the Japanese style dragons (even though I think I like the Japanese style ones a little better).
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure that no one out there really thinks I own Rurouni Kenshin, but in case you do think I own it, (or are looking for a reason to sue someone) I don't.
" " Talking
' ' Thoughts
A/N Author's notes
Three nights later the Council Hall was packed by the time Kaoru got there. Every seat was taken and Kaoru and the other people that had arrived a little later had to stand for the meeting. She couldn't believe how many people were already there. And she had even arrived early for the meeting!
As Kaoru sat waiting she got the feeling that someone was watching her. But she didn't look around to see if someone really was because she had been getting that feeling a lot lately. For the past two days when ever she had gone out to shop or something she had felt as if someone was watching her. At first she had always looked around to spot the person watching her but she had never seen anyone. After a while she had dismissed the feeling and decided that she was just being paranoid.
As soon as the meeting started the head of the town Council, Waga Kongo, a short and fat man who seemed to hate everyone but himself, stood in front of the gathered group of people to speak.
"Well, I take it you are the men that will be fighting to protect our town from the horrible monsters. Well before we head out I will be giving you some information. Since all the information you need on the Raid it's self was listed on our postings I will only be talking about the dragons, which you will of course, be fighting.
"Now I am sure everyone knows that dragons are awful creatures that were put on this earth for one reason and one reason only: to destroy us human beings and make our lives as much like hell as they can. They kill us and eat us, destroy our homes and crops, and feast on our livestock. They are monsters without any mercy or emotion. The beasts will rip apart and devour anything that stands still long enough for it to grasp it in it's teeth! Being "things" without emotions they do not hesitate to kill any of the weaker of our species. And of course we will do every thing in our power to protect our women, children, and old because they cannot defend themselves.
"But because they have no feelings, in battle they have an advantage over us. Because while you and I would most definitely stop to assist a wounded comrade in battle these "things" would just walk on by and leave any of their wounded to suffer and die. And because they do not understand helping others of their kind they would see any one else helping their own kind as a weak and easy target. These "things" are clearly without any honor at all."
Somehow, listening to Kongo upset Kaoru. It was the way he was talking about the dragons. Only several days before she would have agreed wholeheartedly with him about what he was saying but ever since the day that Kaoru had encountered the dragon by the stream her thoughts about dragons had changed without her even knowing it.
She thought back to that day by the stream remembering what had happened. The dragons Kongo was talking about weren't at all like the one she had seen! The dragon had seen her, watched her, and moved close to her and not once had it made any move to hurt her! Sure, it had touched her, but it hadn't done anything that would hurt her.
Because Kaoru had spent her whole life training to fight in dangerous situations and be able to tell when she was in one, sensing danger was easy for her and she hadn't felt that she had been in any danger around the dragon. Kaoru knew she had been perfectly safe around the dragon and that she was in much more danger, now sitting in this crowd of big and stupid muscle-bound men, than she had been in then.
As Kaoru thought of all this now she began to feel very resentful toward Kongo. 'Well, he's never met my dragon! Other wise he'd feel different! I know that my dragon had feelings! I had been able to see them as easily as you can see emotions on a human's face.'
'And I' m sure that in any battle Kongo would rush and save his own hide and never even think about any of his comrades even if one of them was his best friend. Just in this small amount of time I've known him I'm sure he'd give up his own mother to die in battle if it meant he'd get away unharmed'! Kaoru could feel her anger at this man rising every second. She was so worked up she didn't notice that the dragon from a few days ago had suddenly become "her" dragon.
Kaoru had to try her absolute hardest to not start telling Kongo just what she thought about him and what he was saying. Unfortunately for Kaoru she had to sit listening to Kongo talk about how horrible those "things" were for a whole hour. She had to keep reminding her self of her reason for wanting to go. If she talked back to Kongo she would never get to see her dragon again.
During the lecture form Kongo she had admitted to herself that her reason for wanting to do this had changed. At first it had been all about proving herself, she still wanted to do that but that had become secondary to her next reason. What Kaoru wanted to do now was to find that dragon again. She didn't know why but it seemed that she was drawn to him. She wanted to know why it felt so different from other dragons.
She didn't know what she would do when she actually found the dragon but that could wait until she really found him.
Of course now even the thought of killing any dragon seamed crazy and she would have to prevent any of the men from killing any of the dragons they found, but she was sure she could handle it.
"So, now you all know exactly what you'll be up against in the up coming battle. You are now fully prepared for the fight. Now myself and the rest of the Council will be sitting up here in the front of the room to interview you all. Please form a straight line and we will get to each of you and tell you if you are qualified to be one of our fighters."
At hearing this Kaoru quickly ran to the front of the room to be interviewed. As she stepped out of the line and to the front of the Council they all glared at her with obvious contempt.
"Oh great, it's the crazy Kamiya girl again. Can't she take a hint?" One of the Council members had leaned in toward one of his friends as if was going to whisper his complaint but had spoken loud enough for his voice to be heard throughout the room. Several of the men around them laughed loudly.
Kaoru stood staring at them firmly, she wasn't going to back down no matter what they said. She was going to be a part of this. No matter what.
"Members of the Council, I am a well trained fighter and I know that I could prove useful to you if you just gave me a chance. My father started my training in the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu when I was only five years old and since then I have practiced almost every single day. I really think you should let me come with you." Kaoru looked at the Council hoping to see some sign that she had convinced any of them.
She had no such luck.
"No way in hell!" One of the Council members had stood up shortly after Kaoru had finished talking and slammed his fist down on the table. "Listen girl, when we made those fliers we specifically stated that only men were to come to this! That we only wanted men. And do you know why? It was because we knew you would come down here if we didn't! But I guess you were too dumb to notice that and came anyway!" He was glaring angrily at Kaoru and she moved her hand toward the sword at her belt incase he made a move to attack her.
"He's right!" chimed one of the other men. "We don't want her! She's a girl. Women don't fight! I say she should leave right now!"
"Wait!" shouted another man. "If she's so tough why doesn't she fight all of us? If she comes out alive than she can come."
At this idea some of the men around Kaoru got up and unsheathed their swords. Kaoru also drew her sword, hopping she wouldn't really have to fight. She could probably take all of these guys on if she fought them separately or if they were in smaller groups but with this many of them all coming at her at once Kaoru knew she didn't stand a chance.
As Kaoru was quickly trying to find a way out of this mess a cloaked figure suddenly steeped in front of her holding out a sword in a fighting stance.
"You will not harm this young woman, that you will not." The man stated firmly. "You men are supposed to be the heroes of this village and as such you are bringing great shame to this village by trying to do something so low as to attack one lone person when you outnumber them so greatly. If you do not stop I will be forced to fight you and that is not something I wish to do.
"And also, this girl speaks the truth about her kendo training. She was taught a very powerful style from a very skilled teacher and I know that she is a skilled fighter and I think that you should at lest give her a chance. What would it hurt to try?"
Kaoru looked at the man as he talked hoping to see who it was helping her out but because he was wearing the hood of his black cape over his head his face was hidden in shadow and the rest of the cape prevented her from seeing any of his clothes.
"You arrogant bastard!" yelled one of the men. "Who do you think you are to come in here and start ordering us around? You must be from out of town cause you don't know who you're dealing with! And do you really think that you could beat all of us? I'll kill you myself!"
"Now, now men," said Kongo in a falsely concerned voice. "We really shouldn't hurt them. We need to keep our honor like this man said. And to show him and Kaoru-san how sorry we are I think we should let her come with us on the Raid. After all he did say she has skills."
"What?" Liedo asked disbelievingly. "You can't be serious!"
"But I am serious." said Kongo as he forced a smile so fake it looked like it hurt. "And you had better agree." He was glaring daggers at Liedo by now, looking as if he would murder him if he didn't agree.
"Oh, yes. Yes of course I do!" said Liedo clearly catching the malice in Kongo's voice "And everyone else agrees too."
"Good. Kamiya Kaoru, I am pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to participate in the Raid." Said Kongo as he turned to face Kaoru." Well Kaoru, that is all. You may be excused."
As soon as Kaoru and the man had left the Council Hall everyone quickly stopped pretending to want Kaoru to come with them.
"Hey Kongo, what in the hell's the big idea! I know you didn't want to let that girl on the team so why did you? Did you really listen to that bastard that helped her?" Liedo glared at him.
"Of course I didn't want her to come you baka, but then I had a great idea. Since we know she can't fight worth beans, if we let her come a dragon will eat her for sure. And since everyone hates her no one will care if she doesn't come back! And then she'll be out of our hair for good! We'll never have ta see her again!" said Kongo proudly as he announced his plan to the rest of the men.
"Wow, that really is a great plan! No more annoying Kamiya girl anymore. That'll be great!" said Liedo happily as the others all agreed.
"I know. I'm a genius." Said Kongo arrogantly. "You guys will only have to put up with her for a little while longer till you met up with the dragons and then she'll be gone for ever!" ________________________________________________________________________
When Kaoru and the man were outside he turned to Kaoru. "Are you alright Kaoru-dono?" He asked in a worried voice. "I didn't want those men to attack you. They should not have done that, that they should not."
"Yes, I'm all right. Thank you for helping me. How can I repay you?"
"That's okay you really don't have to. Please take care of yourself. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt." And with that the cloaked man walked away in to one of the alleys.
Kaoru was walking down the empty streets thinking quietly to her self. 'I don't get it.' She thought. 'Kongo had hated the idea of letting me come at first I know he did! The way he looked at me after I asked to go just told me he wasn't gonna. But why did he decide to let me after all? Could it be that the man who helped me convinced him to let me come?'
'Hey baka!' yelled the little voice again. 'Who cares why he let you in? The point is that you got in like you wanted. So just be happy!'
'For once, maybe you're right. I got what I wanted and that's good enough!'
'I'm glad that man in the cape was there. If he hadn't said anything I bet those men would have attacked me. I wonder who he was and why he helped me out. I couldn't see any of him because of his big cape. But I guess it doesn't matter if I saw him or not if he's from another village like one guy said.'
As Kaoru was walking she once again got the feeling that she was being watched or fallowed.
Kaoru was brought out of her train of thought when she suddenly found herself at the place she had been walking to. A cemetery. Kaoru walked over to one of the graves and kneeled down next to it. It read:
Kamiya Kairu
Noble Warrior and Skilled Swordsman
The rest of the grave had been covered in moss since Kaoru's last visit and she had to scrape it off with a rock. Kaoru was furious. All the other gravestones were clean but her father's. They didn't clean his' just to make her angry.
After Kaoru had said a little prayer she told her dad about all that had happened that night.
"And then this man came to help me. He must not have been from around cause' no one ever tries to help me out around here. Oh well. And after that Kongo changed his mind and now he's gonna let me come! I finally get to show everyone my skills with a sword. But really that's not my real reason for going now."
"Dad you'll never believe this but the other day when I went out to train I saw this HUGE dragon! It was so cool! But the weirdest thing was even though you taught me to fight dragons this one didn't feel bad.. I'm not sure why though. I really want to see him again and figure out why this one is different. I hope you're not mad since you've always taught me to kill dragons, but this one is different, I just know it!
"Well that's all. I just wanted to tell you everything before I left.
Wish me luck! I'll see ya when I get back!" said Kaoru as she happily
turned to leave the graveyard.
Right as Kaoru was about to leave she saw something move out of the corner of her eye and she quickly hid behind a tree to look. There kneeling in front of her father's grave was the man in the cloak from earlier.
"I'm so sorry Kairu," said the man as he finished saying a prayer. "When I first got your letters I knew that I should have come to see you.I really wanted to but I was afraid that I might frighten your daughter. Since you were a dragon slayer I suspected she was taught to fear any dragon. And she should not have had to have been scared as she said her last goodbyes to her father, that she should not. Now the others and I just wish that we had come to see you one last time.
"I have met your daughter now though. She is sixteen now and is a beautiful young women. She looks a lot like you; she has a lot of your traits. She really is a courageous girl. Tonight if I hadn't interfered I'm sure she would have tried to take on several dozen men all by her self! I am sure she will make a fine warrior. If only she lived in a village like mine where her potential could be recognized instead of ignored like it is here.
"She really could be a great warrior but no one here will give her a chance. It really is a shame. I also wish I could get to know her as I did you, that I do. Then again she would most likely try to kill me at the mere sight of me. But when we first met you wanted to kill me when we first met so maybe we could get along. But I don't think I'll ever get the chance to become friends with her. If only things were different.
"Your daughter.I don't know what it is about her but I get this odd feeling around her. I.I've never felt this why around any one else before.I really do wonder what it is exactly that I feel when I see her, and its even stronger when I talk to her. I haven't even really talked to her that much. I just really don't understand what this feeling is."
Kaoru listened carefully as the man spoke about her. 'Who in the world is this guy? And how did he know my father? This is the same guy that helped me at the meeting. If he knew dad then he must have done it because he knew we were related. He says they were old friends but dad would have mentioned him then.
'And he says my dad was righting to him and some other people.yes! I remember now, shortly after my father had gotten sick he started righting to someone. He said he was righting to one of his friends that lived far away and that he wished his friends would come visit and met me, but he never said exactly who they were. Was this man one of them?'
She quickly stopped asking herself questions and turned her attention back to the man as he began to speak again.
"You'll be happy to know that Sano, Yahiko, Shura, Misao, Megumi and all the rest of them are all fine. Everyone often says that they wished you were still living with us in our town. Oh, and Sano says he misses you the most. He says he missies gambling with you." At this the man gave a light chuckle as if remembering something.
"You advised me to become mates with Megumi but I still haven't. But one of these days I think I might. It's just I don't want to be mate with Megumi until I'm sure that she's the right female for me. Everyone else including you seems to think that she is, but I just don't know.
"The only bad thing about Megumi is that after we become mates she wants us to have a family and for me to give up my sword and fighting for good. I know that's one promise I'll never be able to keep! Oh well, Megumi really is a very nice person and it's very rude of me to be complaining like this.
"Well, even if I didn't see you one last time before you passed away I'm glad I get to see you now. I wish the others had come to, they would have been really happy.
"My troop's heading back home soon so I'll be leaving in the morning. We've been looking for any sign of Shishio in the area. He's been taking over any villages he can get his hands on but there's been on trace of him near this area so your village and daughter are safe. But I have no doubt that if the village was attacked that she would be able to look after herself. Well, I guess that's all I have to say. If I'm ever around the village again I promise to check up on your daughter and come by to visit, that I will. Goodbye Kairu."
Kaoru watched as the man then placed a bouquet of flowers down in front of the grave, stood up, bowed and left. _______________________________________________________________________
Right now Kaoru was extremely bored.
She and the rest of the troop had been gone for twelve days now and there had been no sign of a dragon anywhere. The troop moved every day checking out all of the forest but they had still seen nothing. The reason Kaoru had wanted to come on this was to see her dragon but they hadn't seen any sign of any dragon, much less hers.
Liedo had said he knew exactly where the dragons were hiding but Kaoru was seriously starting to doubt that. It was obvious that Liedo was just as clueless as the rest of them. Kaoru was also starting to think that by the time they found any clue that there even were dragons around the forest that the dragons would all probably be gone by then. And if that happened they would most likely never see any of the dragons including hers.
Kaoru was sitting high up on the branch of a tree near the camp. All day she had been thinking about the mysterious man from the other night.
'I wish I knew who he was. If he and dad were friends why didn't dad ever tell me about him? Maybe dad did tell me about him. The man never told me his name or anything so dad may have really told me about him before.'
'He and dad were probably friends when dad was in the Dragon War. Maybe he was in the same troop as dad. He may have helped my dad fight Hitokiri Battousai!'
Kaoru looked up at the sky and seeing that it was getting dark she jumped down and walked back to camp. As she walked by Liedo and one of the men she could hear some of what Liedo was saying.
"We've been out here for twelve days now and have nothing to show for it! And as for that girl-" Liedo had stopped mid-sentence at seeing that Kaoru had stopped walking and was listening to them. Kaoru quickly continued walking, pretending not to have heard them talking at all.
'What were they saying about me out there?' She wondered to herself as she went in to the tent and sat down at the table to eat dinner. 'It was most likely something bad.' She decided grimly.
Back outside the tent Liedo was watched until Kaoru was inside the tent. "Good. She's gone," he said after making sure Kaoru was no longer listening to them. "I'm getting so sick of her being here! Everyone is. I wish she had never come."
"Ya know, Kongo said to wait and let a dragon kill her but how will anyone know if we get rid of her ourselves? I mean, we're out here all by ourselves in the middle of a forest where no one will see and I don't think it really matters when we get rid of her, it just matters that we get rid of her! After dinner you get some of the guys and met me outside and I'll tell ya what we're gonna do." __________________________________________________________________
"Hey Kaoru," Liedo called out to Kaoru as he approached her. "We're gonna need some more firewood to keep the fire going so could you go out and get some for us?"
"Sure thing." replied Kaoru as she stood up and left.
Kaoru walked through the forest searching, happy for an excuse to leave camp. As Kaoru was walking she kept glancing behind her. This time she felt as if several people were fallowing her.
"What was that noise?" she asked herself as she heard a twig snap behind her. "Now I know someone's fallowing me. Who ever you are, come out and face me! I know you're there!" Kaoru drew her sword form her belt read to face her stalker.
"Very good Kaoru. We didn't think you'd notice us." Said Liedo as he emerged form the bushes.
"Liedo? What are you doing here?" asked Kaoru as she lowered her sword.
"I'm going to finish you off." He drew his sword and held it out in front of him.
" What do you mean?"
"The guys and I are getting sick of having you here and it's time that you were gone." He grinned evilly as he stepped closer.
"You can't do that." Said Kaoru confidently. "I can fight you off." But as Kaoru spoke ten more men stepped out from behind trees and bushes. "Oh no."
Kaoru quickly turned and ran; sure that she could out run them. "Oh no!" Kaoru skidded to a halt as she stopped, trapped, with a huge cliff in front of her and eleven guys that wanted her dead behind her.
'They trapped me! I won't be able to get away!' Kaoru realized as Liedo and the others approached her.
"You're stuck. There's nowhere for you to run bitch. Just accept your death!" One of the men tossed his spear at Kaoru and she gave a yelp of pain as it struck her in the right shoulder.
'No! This can't be the end! But it is.. I won't make it out of this alive. But I won't ever let them kill me!' Kaoru quickly made up her mind and stepped closer to the edge of the cliff. 'I'm so sorry dad.'
That was Kaoru's last thought as she stepped over the edge of the cliff.
Falling.
She was falling and nothing would stop her. At least this way it wouldn't have been Liedo who killed her.
Kaoru closed her eyes as she waited to hit the ground.
"Ouch!" Kaoru gave a small cry as she landed on something hard. Was it the ground? She had only been falling for a few moments and she wasn't dead, or at lest she didn't think she was.
Kaoru opened her eyes to see that she was still in the air and she was moving. She quickly looked around to see that she was riding on the back of a huge dragon. And it was the dragon from by the lake! She recognized the X scar on its face as it turned its head and looked at her.
Kaoru quickly held on to the dragon scales as it flew upward and over the cliff that Kaoru had just been standing on. Kaoru looked down to see Liedo and his men screaming and fleeing in terror. Kaoru gave a laugh as the dragon breathed a small puff of fire on Liedo and he gave a shrill scream as the butt of his pants caught fire.
Kaoru looked all around her as the dragon carried her to where ever they where going. Flying was the most amazing thing Kaoru had ever done! She could see everything from up there. After about half an hour of flying the dragon slowed down and descended to the ground.
As the dragon walked toward a large cave Kaoru suddenly realized how much the wound in her shoulder was bleeding. She began starting to feel dizzy and could feel herself losing consciousness.
'I knew this dragon was good! He even saved my life.' This was Kaoru's last thought as she felt the darkness close around her.
Review Replies:
Nicky9-Thank you so much for being my first reviewer! And I agree, stories with dragons and stuff are awesome but there aren't too many of them, that's one of the reasons why I wanted to write this one.
Mewberries-I like your ff.net name, it's very creative. And yes I fixed the thing with the paragraphs soon after I posted. I didn't mean for it to come out that way but I'm new at posting stories so I didn't know it would come out that way.
RV Blade-Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the first chapter.
A/N- That's all for chapter 2. If you want me to post the next chapter tell me in a review and I'll do it. If you review you can also usually expect a reply.
Also if you want to give constructive criticism that's fine but if you just all out flame me with no good reason I'll just ignore it. If you hate this fic so much that you want to flame me for no reason you should just stop reading it, no ones forcing you to read it.
I guess that's all for now. Remember if you want me to continue posting you have to tell me because if no one reviews and says they like it I'll just stop. See ya ^_^x!