OK, this is what you get when Chibi's bored to death with her lessons- a crazy double update on both Shadow's Light and RtK. I don't think I'll be able to keep up this pace with my stories, but I'll do my best anyways. Since I don't really have anything important to say this week (except that the length of that chapter ran away on itself once again) I'll just let you read, k? So enjoy the story!!!
"…." Denotes talking
….. denotes thinking
*~* means a change of scenery (either temporal or local, I think which one of those will be clear) has taken place
Disclaimer: I do in no way own any rights, moral or others, to Rurouni Kenshin, it's characters or plot. Characters other than the characters from Rurouni Kenshin bearing any resemblance to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. I do not intend to make any profits out of this story, it's written for entertainment purposes only and any attempt by persons natural or legal to make money from it in any way is not in accordance with this author's express wishes.
Chapter 4Hunt
Today's history knows of Pierre Radisson, the first European to behold the wonder of the Niagara Falls, discoverer of the land route to Hudson Bay, friend of Charles II of England and adoptive son of the infamous Mohawk tribe, the fiercest and most proud among the five Iroquois tribes. He was a man of many virtues, and certainly tributed a lot to our modern world. His life was one big adventure, and Canada would perhaps not be the same without him. Many legends were spun about him, some true, some less true. One of these is the story of how he escaped the 'uncivilized barbarians'… it is most probably true, since historians have not yet banned it into the realm of myth. Anyways, the ingenious mind of Pierre Radisson has been credited with creating the following way to escape captivity: to disguise oneself as part of the search force. Radisson allegedly did so, thus misleading the Mohawks and creating an opportunity to return into the arms of civilization.
Some people really think he was the first to use this age-old trick… at least he was one of the most famous and the maneuver is since always attributed to him. For Dunkelländer, this perception of history is slightly wrong, since for them there was an even more famous man who was, in their opinion, the one to invent the 'Radisson maneuver'…
*~*
It had taken only a single glance upon the glowing red hair, the pale skin of the face and the dark golden eyes burning into the distance as long fingers stroked through his wind-tousled mane in an almost sensually exciting manner for King Kamiya to know that the one he hunted had in fact come into his very own stronghold. He forgot about his guards, the still-warm corpse of the deer on his saddle, the stiffness in his muscles that came from a day of exertion and even the scratches on his arms he had received when dashing through the underbrush. All he knew was the fact that he finally had him in his hands. Him, the assassin. Him, the murderer. Him, the demon from the woods, the bane of Dunkelland's royalty. Battousai. And he was sitting up there, on the merlons of Dunkelland Castle, a cream-colored tunic and pants contrasting sharply with the bloody red of his hair, his expression showing that he had not one care in the world, the distant look on his face so unlike the predatory creature of the forest he had been at their first meeting. As soon as King Kamiya had made this observation, however, the figure's gaze settled onto him, and he shivered as it still held the same power, the same thirst for excitement, the same tense alertness it had had under the shadows of Dunkelwald. Battousai, so small up there, stiffened, his muscles rippling the red shadows on his skin as he seemed to collect himself into a striking position. The predator was back, the lazy lion lounging in the sun had become the hungry hunter of the savannah. He was dangerous. And, as King Kamiya couldn't help but note, he exuded a deep, sexual attraction, a sensuality that came with the litheness of his stature, the firmness of his form even as it wavered in the distance. Dumbfounded, he stared at the apparition for a second before he regained his bearings.
"Catch him!" King Kamiya yelled, the sound of his voice grating against his ears and shattering the peaceful evening. The red glow of the sunset seemed to dim, the fields lost their luster, the serene silence of nature was disturbed. Up on the walls, the flame-clothed figure of the loathsome killer stirred, suddenly alert again after he had been roused from his tranquil watch.
"That's the Battousai! Go, catch him!" The last of the calmness fled before the King's fury as Kamiya galloped into the first courtyard. Dismounting in a flying leap, as though he had suddenly grown wings and discovered the ability to defy Newton's laws of gravity Kamiya shouted for his soldiers and guards to join the hunt. The castle exploded in a flurry of sudden activity, rustling bodies and clamoring weapons meeting each other on accident. The 'hunting party' that had been ready to set off as soon as the night fell- after all, the Battousai was, if the stories about him could be believed, a creature of the night- quickly stormed the walls like ants crawling up a tree to get to the sugary treats the leaves offered in the form of lice. The only difference was that they were not guided by scent- even though the scent of freshly mowed grass and glittering rivers was more prominent up on the merlons of Dunkelland Castle- but by the cry of their King claiming to have spotted the bounty-laden red head of Battousai.
King Kamiya himself displayed his remarkable agility as he grabbed a long, iron spear from one of the ceremonial guards watching the innermost gate of the castle and vaulted onto the first ledge of the stairs leading up to where the demon resided. His back flip earned him a short, spontaneous burst of applause from the onlookers who cheered their King on with faces that showed their anger at the thought that the one they hunted had managed to intrude on the safety of the castle. There was not one face among the many- and there were many, for even the charcoal-colored firemen had left their furnace-like workplaces deep under the castle and had joined in the hunt for Dunkelland's most wanted. The King only frowned at his subjects. Didn't they have anything better to do than watch him? There was Battousai at large!
Kamiya charged up the stairs like a man possessed. His black hair, normally held together in a short ponytail high on his head and reaching the nape of his neck, broke free of its restrictions and streamed on the wind of his passing. His swift feet pattered the floor in an ever-steady rhythm of ascension, and his breathing only served as a supporting force to that rhythm. A blur of red, gold and violet the King was so fast his subjects didn't even realize he had passed them when he was gone already. But even the swiftest of feet didn't stand a chance against the demon, as the King soon had to painfully realize; the merlons were devoid of the presence of red-haired men.
"NOOOOO!" The angry cry broke on the high towers of Dunkelland Castle, a distorted image of hatred and disgust left to wash across the nearby villages. Even the belfries of the village churches shuddered under its force as it tore through the Dunkelländers' hearts with an unholy force. King Kamiya slammed his fists down on the stone walls, unyielding and mocking in their untainted red glow, slammed them down until they were raw and bleeding. His soldiers, the hunters, having finally caught up with their King, stood back in horror as they watched the King's lips, stained red from where he had bitten his lip to retain a second cry, warp into the snarling visage of a savage, bloodthirsty animal. When Kamiya finally acknowledged their presence by turning to them he had regained his composure, and the passing shadow of the beast seemed only a faraway memory as the cold eyes of starless nights bore down on them.
"Search him. And when you have him, immobilize him. And when you have immobilized him, bring him to me so he can meet his destiny." Dark emotions tinted the King's normally pleasant voice, his vocal cords producing a sound like rusty hinges complaining against being used. Fear clouded the faces of his subjects as one by one they dropped back, their dark green cloaks gray in the light of the fading sun, the proud red stripes on the soldiers' uniforms intensified in color, their pale hands tainted and bloodied from the light.
"Wherever you run, you cannot hide. Wherever you hide, you will be found. Wherever you're found you cannot escape from. My hands will have the pleasure of returning a favor to you, Battousai. I will show you what it is like to die. I died when you killed my father. You are a phantom of the dark, you don't have a family. But the scar you bear is a sign that you can bleed, and what can bleed, can die… like the deer I slew this afternoon trembled before me you will… and when I look into your eyes, breaking and fading like the day, I will be rid of the phantom in my heart, and I can be free."
"Death has never set anyone free, my Lord."
King Kamiya couldn't believe it. Like a ghost the offending donzel he had thought taken care of materialized at the top of the stairs leading down into the castle. The hood of his dark green cloak hid his face, those eyes the King remembered to be an impossible marriage between blue and violet, from view. They obscured his chiseled and handsome features, and the red hair that… red hair? One step carried the King towards the donzel. One simple move performed by a calloused, slender hand sent the hood tumbling in competition with long, auburn hair- hair that lacked the burning quality he associated with the Battousai. Eyes that were sharp and clear but not the frightening yellow-golden color the Battousai's eyes had been. His left cheek sported a bandage- but around the edges of that bandage the discolored flesh assured the King of the bruise that lay underneath and that apparently was more painful than the rest of the colorful injuries the boys' face had sustained. A small speck of blood at the edge of the bandage caught the King's eye, red and shining and mocking King Kamiya's enraged stare. Once again, the donzel's expression was fathomless, the only motion the hypnotic batting of his eyelids above those pools of the wrong color. Angrily, the King struck the boy across his bandaged cheek, the donzel's eyes screaming murder for a second, then falling silent again.
"What do you know about death, boy?" the King asked. The donzel tilted that fineboned, black-and-blue face of his at a slight angle, eyeing his liege like a falcon assessing a roadkill for a potential meal.
"I lost my family when I was five years of age, the day you were born, Kamiya-sama. I saw death before, and even though someone thought like you did… the death of my family did not give him freedom, nor did it hide the lies forever."
The King looked puzzled, his rage momentarily quelled by the soothing, velvety steel of the boys' voice. Light and unconcerned as it sounded it carried the hint of something deeper, a rich texture just suppressed, perhaps not yet realized, but there nonetheless. "Your family was killed." He stated the obvious with a regal aura that made it seem like the greatest revelation on Earth. King Kamiya had always had a knack for that… he was a very convincing public speaker.
The donzel kept his silence, and in an act of defiance pulled the fallen hood over his red hair and battered face again. "I hope you don't believe everything you're told, Kamiya-sama. And I know appearances can be deceiving- do you?"
The King looked as though he was going to strike the donzel for his words, his hand raised, the slightly chipped nails translucent in the last light of the day, cleaned of the blood the hunt had stained them with in a mumbling spring deep within Dunkelwald. However, one look at the motionless figure only a few inches taller than him convinced him otherwise, and slowly, very slowly the arm sank down to his side again.
"I am not a fool, boy. Do you want to deserve another training session?" The King had his merciless gaze on the boy- and at last he was rewarded by a slight flinch, visible only because his close scrutiny of every single muscle the donzel sported- and there were quite a few, he noted before stopping his thoughts short of that terrain again- didn't even relent for the most minute of moments. "So you don't," he said, smugness in his voice that decided to jump an octave at the most inopportune moment as always. He released the donzel from his stare, the captivated young man free to move again without being studied up close.
"I wish you the power to see, Kamiya-sama," he quietly said before bowing deeply. Blood was rushing to his head, but the donzel suspected deep down it wasn't only because of the bow. His heart was pounding in his chest, faster even than at the end of his unfortunate 'training' with the chief investigator. For a moment, shining in the husky air of the evening upon Dunkelland Castle, he had seen a vision of the future. A vision of beauty, of peace, of good. And that one second was enough to renew the resolve in his heart, to return him to the idealistic young man he had been when he had set out to change the world. As he was being dismissed, as he walked down the stairs from his vantage place, as he joined the frantic search for the person they could not seem to find and would not find because that person didn't exist at the moment, as he wandered the hallways aimlessly, his eyes unseeing but for the vision he'd had he knew he had found what had been lost eighteen years ago, buried in a sea of blood that had been created with the death of one unfortunate midwife.
Adauchi Akai, Battousai, Himura Kenshin… since his death eighteen years ago he had taken many names, had sported many faces, had been all over the country, had seen light and dark in many people- and he still hadn't found the answer to what hadn't let him go since the day the King's daughter had been born: how do you make a person? He knew what had made him- but he couldn't believe that a child like King Koshijirou's young daughter, whose mother had spent her last breath to tell her that she was loved, could be entirely cruel no matter how much she had been twisted - and King Koshijirou certainly had done a good job twisting her. She didn't have an identity, she was so focused on what she was supposed to be that she had forgotten that inside her beat a heart, a heart that spoke to her…
When he had left Dunkelwald, years ago in a dim dawn barely reaching the threshold of his humble abode, his hands clutched around the hilt of the weapon that was his only worldly possession apart from the clothes on his back he had been motivated by the burning anger, the throbbing ache of injustice, the burning wound of cruelty and despotism that festered in his mind as well as in all of Dunkelland. He had wished to alleviate the suffering, to make the people he had seen crushed under the iron feet of a tyrant free and happy, living their life to its fullest extent, unafraid of the next day. He had killed for his goal, had offered himself as a sacrifice on the quest for the highest good he could imagine: peaceful freedom. The sacrifice had been rejected, and somehow he felt that alone justified his deeds if not the end he strove to achieve.
Two days ago, he had killed the last man standing between him and his ultimate aim. Now it was only a matter of time he had thought, only a matter of time for the new King to realize the mistakes of the past. Living at the castle had been a somewhat spontaneous decision, one he would certainly have attested to the stupidity of 'Akai'. At the end of the second day, as night came literally heralded by fanfares and the clamor of swords, he suddenly realized that to tear one world down was much easier than to build a new one.
The search for Battousai went on, Akai's absentmindedness going unnoticed for the most part since he still managed not to bump into too many people, thanks to his catlike reflexes. Every single room in Dunkelland Castle was turned upside down, every stone upturned, every closet opened. The only thing found, however, was the skeleton of a maid who had in vain waited for her lover in a secret passage behind one of the clothes cabinets. She seemed to have lost her way, and even though she wore the finest off attires her appearance was rather… too skinny so the men's desire was pretty easily kept in check in spite of the skimpiness of her dress. The donzel helped search his own quarters- a search that, of course, came up as empty-handed as the rest of them- before retiring for the night. The next day would bring enough frustration as it was, he didn't need tiredness to add to his discomforts.
I think I know a way now, he thought just before slumber claimed him, leaning against the wall of the room he shared with five other donzels and officer- wannabes, I think I know what needs to be done now that the killing has ended. I need to break a shell- and the first steps have been taken. I just wonder… I wonder… he didn't even dare to think of it. He didn't even want to think of it. The King was beautiful- if only she could see it, if only she could be told… but at the moment it would unsettle her more than help her troubled mind, so the donzel quickly banished the idea to the farest vestiges of his thoughts before it could grow and thrive. It would take time to make the King realize the lie that was her life- time he was prepared to invest. The vision of what could be held him entranced, erasing the last of his troubles as he slipped into blissful unconsciousness, a smile on his face. For once, his dreams didn't dwell on the past.
The next morning saw many more men with beard stubble on their faces, bloodshot eyes and wrinkles around the corners of their mouths than even the most roaring of all feasts produced. Not many had possessed the prudence of Adauchi Akai, also known as Battousai, to go to sleep when there still was a chance. Even though he ached all over, and his bruises and cuts had tightened his flesh into an unpleasantly sensitive lump of pain he still smiled and moved as graceful as he could manage, stiff as he was. He should take a bath… but looking at the men returning from their futile search he guessed the baths would be a little crowded at the moment. He had never thought a person could carry so much dirt around and still walk… well, the cause for the men's exhaustion and somehow disheveled state was certainly easily deducted from what the muttered.
While the night dragged into its waning hours the King had grown impatient and had ordered the gardens and the villages around the castle to be searches as well. The men who were still eagerly at it had somehow lost their fervor after crawling through the bushes and fields, and they didn't seem to like the 'natural' look the dry leaves, twigs, feathers and whatnot had lodged in their hair and clothes gave them. Akai grinned at them in spite of himself, they were such a funny sight. Had someone decided to paint a picture of them this very instant it would seem that the goblins had risen from underneath their grassy hills deep in Dunkelwald… perhaps they would have even been called Battousai's army since the hunted was after all called a demon from the woods. As if he would allow any army of his to look as though they hadn't seen a drop of bathing water in years! Smiling into the shadows of his hood, his eyes twinkling a light golden violet, he made his way to the dining hall instead of to the baths. If he was fast enough he could soak in hot water later… and perhaps get rid of that stinging cramp in his left thigh that unbalanced his steps…
Breakfast was unusually quiet, the King absent, something that made Akai the donzel's heart strangely ache with a feeling that was unknown to him. He would have liked to see what the King looked like after a long night… he wouldn't mind to see the King in all states imaginable…
Now where did that thought suddenly come from? You have a mission, remember? You don't want to… but wait! Perhaps this is the solution. Perhaps the way to make Dunkelland a happy country is to make its King… fall in love. Make her see what happiness is… now there's only one problem: she thinks she's a he. What…NO! Absolutely NO! I am not… Okay, so I am the only one who knows he's female, but… He hadn't thought a single person could occupy his thoughts so much. Not even before he had assassinated King Koshijirou had he spent so much time on a single subject… a most disturbing though rose to the surface, and he somehow couldn't swallow his rice anymore.
"Are you alright? a man next to him tiredly pushed the bird's nest his hair resembled back out of his face and eyed the spluttering and coughing Akai suspiciously. He had tried to swallow a spoonful of rice when King Koshijirou had taken the place of King Kamiya in his thoughts and that had… had somehow managed to unbalance his mental stability. "You sound as if you're suffocating, boy!"
A few hearty claps on the back later Akai was able to draw a red-faced, shaky breath without starting to cough out his lungs. He mumbled thanks to the man, and wildly looked around if anyone had perhaps caught his musings, as loud as they had been in his own head it was strange that the others, except for those in direct proximity to him, still had their heads bowed over their bowls.
"I'm alright," he wheezed, trying to reorganize his thoughts. Had he just decided that to make Dunkelland a better place the King had to fall in love with him? Not King Koshijirou, mind you… his eyes burned and he quickly went back to his old train of thoughts. King Kamiya. In love. With him. Now, granted, she had a pretty face, and once she wore women's clothes she might not even look bad- but there was the whole character issue and… Didn't you just establish yesterday that her character can't be all that bad? Damn his thoughts! Damn the logical mind whose capabilities he had taught Battousai to fully explore. Now there was but one possibility… he had to give in to his own arguments, purge any lingering doubts from his system and…
Romance the King. As impossible as it might sound, Battousai would romance King Kamiya. A match made in heaven… one needing to persuade the other she was in fact a girl, the other wanting nothing to do with the first that didn't involve killing or at least severely maiming him. Well, at least the first would get to try to get closer to the one that wanted to kill him…
And wouldn't that be fun…? Abruptly, Battousai slammed his half-emptied bowl of rice onto the polished hardwood surface of the long banquet table and left, disregarding the strange looks he got from the tired men hungrily devouring their meals. Whatever they thought, it could not be as strange as what went on in his mind. Not only had his eyes under the confusing onslaught of thoughts and feelings definitely changed color into the heated amber he always tried to hide from the world since it showed too much of his emotions, but he had also just decided to make a girl who thought she was a man fall in love with the man she hated and wanted to kill and… hadn't he just been at that?
Breathing in huge, gasping breaths Battousai leaned against the wall in a hallway just outside the dining hall. His racing mind had calmed itself somewhat, but he still couldn't get the irony of it all. He had sworn to himself to hate the cruel monarchy of Dunkelland- and now one of them should love him? Him, who had mocked, humiliated, evaded her? Him, who had killed people she considered her friends? And what if she does fall in love with you? What are you going to do then? Run away?
No. I never run away. But I'm going to leave since she will see through her pain the suffering she has caused her people. There will be no more need for Battousai. I can just… find myself a quiet little place to live in. The oily stench of the torches illuminating the hallway wanted to make him gag. The slurping sounds from the dining hall, amplified by the echo effects of the stone walls drowned his thoughts in a sea of revulsion. And how glad I'll be to be out of here, he thought, his stomach heaving. However, one small tear in his heart refused to stop prickling at the thought of leaving. Since it was more of a minor ache Battousai decided to ignore it and instead made his way over to the baths- he had enough time before he had to start his duties to soothe his bruised muscles in a nice, hot bath. May Saito rot in hell! If he hadn't done this to me I wouldn't have gone to bed that early, I wouldn't have had these thoughts before sleeping and thus I wouldn't have continued thinking that way this morning. But perhaps it was all for the better. For if I hadn't thought about romancing the King, a grimace stole its way onto his face, he still couldn't easily accept his new strategy, I would just run around in circles as I have for the past few days. Now at least I have some goal again… well, enough of that! Energetically, her raised himself from his thoughts and marched into the baths which were in a quite desolate state, in fact they rather resembled an ungroomed garden than baths, but they were still serviceable. Quickly looking around the donzel decided that nobody who could be dangerous to him was around before discarding his cloak and uniform and slipping into the fresh, hot water, rising from a hot spring underneath the castle directly into his tub.
Now this is heaven! was his only comment as he closed his eyes and let the heat take away any residues of butyric acid and excessive accumulation of blood underneath the skin. His muscles loosened, and sighing he let himself doze off.
His peace, however, was shattered when commotion arose outside the baths. Deep voices shouting, with one higher one interrupting and lashing out at everything within earshot. Cringing at some of the words used and the shrillness that stole itself into the shouting Battousai slid deeper into the water- just in time for the bath doors to fly open. Peace always had to be such a fragile, short-lived little creature…
"Battousai!"
And there it went again…
… to be continued …
Uh… once more, this was a weird chapter… but I hope you enjoyed its confusing introspectiveness nonetheless! Somehow, people seem to like this strange story… but before I turn to that, here are a few
Explanations:
Anything about Pierre Radisson is as close to the truth as my limited knowledge of history could make it. If you're interested, try reading 'Im Alleingang zum Mississppi' by Hans-Otto Meissner. It tells this story and many more! (and I only own a copy of it and not the rights to it.)
Dunkelländer: German for 'person from Dunkelland', also the German plural for Dunkelland
Thank you all for reading, and now here's the
Reviewer's corner
Leigh4: Poor Kenshin has cut his work out for him, right? I wouldn't want to be in his shoes… wait, I can't anyways, I'm a girl… but I wouldn't want to be Kaoru either… so it's OK again!
Natsuko: I don't like Gohei, either, and I have a strong aversion to bureaucracy and bureaucrats… so I tried to project him as one corrupt SOB who's taken advantage of shady dealings… I snickered when writing it, glad it came through! As to the descriptions: I tend to go overboard with them, have to be careful… *grins* I hate homework. I always tried to do it at school. Not possible anymore now, though *snief* Lecture was a success- I even got 15 points (that's A+). Thanks to my brother I had those nifty computer graphics to accompany it (my twin's really good with computers so it was a matter of ten minutes for him and a matter of hours for me…). Good luck held true!!! Thank you!!! *grins* I envy you your time at the dojo/dance studio. Don't have anything like that in my neighborhood, and my schedule doesn't allow for travels across town just to do sports ^_^'… Anyways, thanks again and Cya soon!!!
MP1: Yup. Poor Kaoru has been indoctrinated by her father to think of herself as a 'he'. Now our friendly neighborhood killer has another objective… I'm going to have fun wreaking havoc with him ^___^!
Innocence8: I hope reference to the title is clear after that chapter. Kamiya is the name Kaoru's father gave her when he decided to treat her as his son. Her mother named her… well, not telling yet^_^. I try to keep OCs to a minimum… and not make them too important. *grins* Cya!!!
Brenna: Thank you! And you know I tend to go into romantic mode the moment you let me out of eyeshot… anyways, next chapter coming to you soon *grins* Lots of work for us… I don't particularly like it at the moment!
Darkening: Geez, so many questions… OK, I'm trying my best. Connections not drawn between Akai and Battousai: imagine this is the world where a different hairstyle and lack of glasses serves as a disguise… so different eye color and bearing should be sufficient as well, right? 'Dunkelland' translated literally means 'dark country', but then I just chose it because it sounds nifty… It's not an actual country, and it's semi-civilized with slightly more advanced medieval technology. I answered the rest of you questions by e-mail! Cya!!!
:): I hope it's more clear now who's who… cya around!
All readers: Thanks for reading, and please leave me a review to know what you think of my crazy little story. Cya!!!
Chibi-chan