2. Fragments of Reality
- Shirou Tora Byakko
It wasn't the rising of the blood-rimmed moon into the death-filled black sky or the twinkling of a thousand stars that mimicked sneering gazes that brought her out of her beaten stupor. Instead it had been the suffocating sound of silence that had clamped around her body like a vice, just as the heavy woven ropes had bound her limbs together earlier.
She felt dirty and defiled, as if she had been trashed around by a bullwhip a few times over; each muscle feeling raw, each bone ready to come out of its socket. Her joints carried a numbing type of pain, the type that sent sparks throughout her body with each move that she had forced herself to make.
The blood that gashed out of an open wound felt warm to her touch, contrasting the drying dampness that she felt through her clothes. How much had she lost? Not enough, from what she could gather. After all, she was still breathing.
The sounds of muffled marching and hoarse shouts had already died down hours before, along with the coming of a sudden downpour of rain. The men that had followed her had finally left, bringing with them their rough voices, crude laughter, weaponry and torches. The last two made her grimace, giving her a sudden burst of determination to stand up.
Those Meiji lackeys had come to their village like kings, parading like they owned all of Japan and more. They had brought with them a heavy metal contraption that they had called a gattling gun, an implement of death, as she had later learned, when no man, woman or child had survived the rain of sharp metal that came in torrents.
Only she was left. Bound and gagged and made to watch as the bodies of her people dropped like flies over a meat vendor's stall.
The thought alone made her nauseated, the bile forcing its way up her throat. She gulped it down and gagged, tasting acid as well as something coppery in her mouth. Blood.
With whatever final ounce of strength she had left, she used it to force herself to get up, her knees buckled and wavered but she would not grant them the favor of letting her fall once more. She would not be weak.
Stumbling forward, she took each graceless, painful step with as much dignity as she could muster. All she wished to follow now was the sound of running water. Such vanity. Her mind had laughed. For indeed, only a woman would first think of cleaning herself before looking for help. She tried to laugh in reality as well, but her voice sounded old and parched. She felt frozen inside.
Around her, the trees seemed to grow closer, obscuring the crimson-lined moon from view. She didn't remember how long she had swerved and tripped and staggered, only that the next time she allowed herself to fall, it had been into water. Cold, clear, cleansing water. One moment she had been floating in a comforting ethereal bliss, the next she thing she knew she was drowning.
The water had clogged her mouth and her nostrils; it had flooded into her ears, closing off the rest of the world within a crystal dome that she could not break past. She had struggled way past the point that it had seemed futile to fight until finally she was falling. And falling. And falling. Falling into the black void of dark memories and shaded thoughts until.
The arms that cradled her limp form were strong and reassuring. Somewhere, her subconscious noticed those hands rub against skin and fabric, as warm lips pressed against hers to make her breathe again.
When she finally coughed out water, her entire body seemed to convulse vehemently. Opening her eyes, she squinted as moonlight penetrated her vision. There was darkness. And moonlight. And something more.
A shade of blue that reminded her of frozen mountain peaks and warm sake, of winter and the voice of her father.
"I. Know you." She had whispered, breathlessly.
She felt something warm run against her lips for a fragment of a moment, and as it disappeared, something dry cloaked her body. "Rest." Said a voice that echoed with familiarity. She tried vainly to search where and whom it had come from. Kaita perhaps? Maybe even? "Schneider?" But the voice had been stored somewhere deeper within the depths of her memories, something from long ago.
As her mind wandered, her eyelids began to grow heavy. Fighting for consciousness she began to call out the names of the Sanada Ningu. She tried to remind herself that she did not go this far just to faint. Death could be waiting for her if she allowed herself to enter the darkness. Reaching out for the endless dark blue memory before her, she tried vainly to grasp the last fragment of reality she had before closing her eyes completely.
---
Info: Misanagi Moriya first appeared in Rurouni Kenshin's episode 83 titled "Yutaro Returns. The Ambitions of the Black Knights Hide in the Shadows". Also known as the Black Knights/Herb of Immortality arc, this was actually just a filler story for the series. A quick search would leave you with this title ("Rurouni Kenshin - A Shinobi's Love [Episodes 87-90]") from Target.
In any case, a quick explanation: Misanagi Moriya is the local ninja Captain of the Sanada Ninja Clan. She teams up with a small German troop that has promised her power over Japan after they get the medicine that her clan has known of for centuries. Unfortunately, she gets double-crossed and the Kenshin-gumi foils the Black Knights' plans.
Her voice actress is Yokoyama Chisa, the same voice actress for Shinguji Sakura in Sakura Taisen, Kawaii Sasami/Sami for Pretty Sami and Lucrezia Noin of Gundam Wing. Hope this helps.
