I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, bla, bla, bla...(Ah…You already knew
that…Good)
Note: Be warned. It will include violence, some use of profane
language, and will include some extent of explicit sexual content. So
keep on reading at your own risk.
The story begins few months before the events of Kyoto Arc, so it will
include spoilers and some elements from it as well as from the Revenge
Arc too, although my fic will not follow either the anime or the manga,
and I will break some canon rules.
Note: I want to express my gratitude towards Mir, from the Tales from Meiji Era site.( )
Mir has been helping me with this and the improvement in the vocabulary and grammar through this chapter is due to Mir's kindness and supervision.
Thanks, Mir! I hope there are more people like you around!
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Of Legendary Creatures and Mystical Beasts
By Firuze Khanume (firuzekhanume@hotpop.com)
Part 2 -- Encounters
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She ran all the way to her retirement place.
Running out of time, she traced a magical circle with iron powder and
salt, and to avoid any detection she secured the circle by placing four
Phoenix feathers in each of the cardinal points and lighting candles
made of unicorn's grease.
It was a perfect and secure place to put the human, and she avoided
unnecessary risks. She only had to ensure that he would never leave the
circle until he was in full health and ready to return to the humans'
realm.
She sat in the center of the circle and collected all her strength to
bring him to her. She only hoped it wasn't too late.
After two failed attempts, she succeeded on the third one. Shaking from
the effort of the strenuous job, she leaned over the motionless body
before her.
He barely breathed.
He has blisters all over his body, his skin cracked and bleeding, his
lips swollen and cracked... Besides, two large and deep sword cuts in
his side that were infected, although not bleeding. It would take a
long time to get him on his feet again, even using magic.
She put his head on her lap to help him drink some water. He was barely
conscious, and he was babbling in a language quite uncommon for the
place he was wandering in: Japanese. After a bit he could drink by
himself, although she had to calm him down to keep him from chocking
with the urge to quench his thirst.
After a short while, the young man, maybe in his middle twenties,
slipped into deep sleep out of exhaustion.
She regarded at him closely, then started at the realization that she
would have to bathe him to take care of his wounds properly. With a
deep sigh, she started to undress him, carefully enough to avoid
deepening his cuts since his clothes were stuck fast to the open
wounds.
Apart for his miserable state at that moment, it seemed that the man
was heavily trained in several kinds of martial arts, a true warrior.
His carefully build body, his firm and well toned muscles (developed
only through the hardest kind of training) told her so -- as well as
the scars from past battles scattered here and there.
She blushed a furious shade of crimson when she took his last piece of
clothing. She had never seen any adult male naked before. After all, she
was still a young girl of two centuries, as the Elders had told her
before. She knew, though, that her cousins used to go with men of their
own kind once in a while, but she had never tried it, since she disagreed
with the whole idea of males being outcasts, only useful for pleasure or
reproduction. She was indeed a headache to all conventional standards of
her Realm, but she couldn't help it. She would go to a male only if she
met him before and to keep him at least as a friend afterward. And that
idea was a mortal sin to the other, so she preferred forced chastity than
to become the reason behind any innocent's death. Pleasure or even
reproduction was not worth taking life. The only way she would take
another's life would be in self-defense or for the purpose of achieving
a higher goal. Besides, she would never surrender a baby boy born of
her to be banished or killed merely because of his sex. The Elder's laws
might have useful in a time of anguish and desolation, but those times
were long past. Now the rules were outdated and cruel, and she couldn't
help but to rebel herself against them.
She sat him inside the large tub she used to bathe herself. He was far
too heavy for her to carry, so she had to use magic. Avoiding looking
at the human's nakedness, she blew on the tub trice and warm water
began to pour into it. With a clean cloth she started to rub him
carefully, taking apart the loose skin on the open blisters. Soon the
water was a bloody mess, so she blew again twice and the water was gone
and replaced with fresh one. She had to do it three times, until she
was left with only soapy water on the tub. Then she took him out of the
tub and wrapped a towel around his body to rub him dry. She covered his
blisters with medicinal and magical ointments. They would be gone in a
matter of hours, without any trace of being there at all. The sword
wounds were an entire different matter, though. It was almost incredible
that he had survived such infection and bleeding. Under normal conditions
it would be hard to believe it, but being lost in the desert... Quite
remarkable, completely extraordinary... Of course it had to be the share
of mystical beast inside him, which saved him long enough to be noticed
by her. No common human male could have survived such conditions.
She was confident enough that her magic and potions would work on him
well enough to get him recovered enough to get him back on his realm
just before anyone, specially the Elders, could be aware of his presence
in there. The fever would be gone by the morning, but the infected
wounds would take some days to heal. Two weeks at least to them to fully
close and to recover his strength to be on his own again, but although
the schedule was pretty tight, she was certain he'd make it.
Asiyah only hoped not to run out of luck and to get him ready for his
return before the Elders got wind of any hint of her disobedience.
********************************************************************
In some place inside the worst den of corruption in China, known by
people as the demon city of Shanghai, a short slim man called Wu
Heishin rubbed his hands in sheer pleasure.
After many years under the shadow of his powerful associate, Yukishiro
Enishi, he could enjoy real power. He was no longer Number Two.
The fact of dropping his former boss' whereabouts to the right ears
after his successful and profitable last trip to Dunhuang on the Silk
Road was a brilliant master plot, carried out by an innocent slip of
the tongue (to avoid undue suspicion).
He hated that bloody arrogant bastard, but he already was too dangerous
as both an ally and a foe. The very thought of the merciless, powerful
and fearless assassin being deep buried within a Western China desert,
serving as the meal of worms and beetles satisfied him greatly.
Ah, again brain was superior to muscle and strength!
He knew the thought was not entirely right, since Yukishiro Enishi had
been cunning and slippery through the years. It has to be that way,
since he had earned his place among the great bosses of Shanghai Triads
at a very early age, maybe the younger boss in history. It was utterly
impossible to reach such level relying only on killing talent and brute
force alone.
But he was gone now.
Dead.
He had gotten rid of him, at last.
He gave a sigh of relief. The guy was creepy to say the least. He had
thought of him over the years as a bit insane, with his obsession over
his dead sister and his revenge over her killer (his own brother-in-law)
eating him from the inside. But despite that fact, he couldn't have
proclaimed that Enishi was a madman, for he wasn't mad enough to get
rid of him without facing troubles coming from the other bosses who
were always suspicious of subordinates who grew too ambitious for
their own good.
They were not the kind of people you'd want to upset.
He walked to the wide room where his now deceased boss had conducted his
business over the past years, and he sat down in the smooth comfortable
black leather armchair just before the large ebony desk. He put his
short legs over the carefully polished surface his boss had look after so
dearly. He could even imagine his blind rage at the sight if Yukishiro
was had been able to see him doing this from Hell
Little vendettas were really pleasurable things.
The sound of his laughter echoed through the great house, while
servants shook their heads in disgust. They had the feeling that
their new master could be even stranger than their former one…
********************************************************************
There were no incidents over the past three weeks.
Every time the man woke up from his slumber, she put him to sleep again.
She only allowed him to stay partially awaken during his meals to avoid
him chocking on the food. It was safer to keep him this way, as much as
for his own recovery as for security measures, to avoid having him step
out the magical circle around the place, which would disclose his presence
to the Elders.
It was very embarrassing and uncomfortable to take care of him as a
quite huge baby, but it was a lot better than to face banishment from
the Kingdom.
As the days went by, her decision over saving him grew more and more
confusing to herself.
She had always had a deep curiosity over humans, and once in a while
she had ventured to their realm to study them. Once, she had spent
ten full years on Isfahan to learn how they lived…
But she felt it was different now. She did not act out of sympathy or
curiosity or pity.
She could feel something eerie about this human, something that made
her hair stand on end but attracted her to him like a magnet all the
while. It was something odd, and she couldn't say what was it. This
feeling and the fact of the Elders prohibited her to act to save him
was enough to bring forth within her the exact taste of temptation and
adventure that had pushed her to this point -- risking all she had for
a stranger who she would never see again for sure.
She sighed and looked over the subject of her new worries.
He was almost ready to his return. His wounds had healed more quickly
than she thought they would, and he seemed strong enough. Just a couple
of days and she'd deposit him in Beijing, from where he could manage to
get back to his destination, whatever it was.
She found she was quite curious over the fact that he was not Chinese
but Japanese. It was uncommon to find Japanese people so deep in
Chinese territory. They mostly stayed near the coast.
She still was wandering about this when catastrophe knocked on her
door.
The Elders paid her a visit.
********************************************************************
He woke up startled, jumping when he felt the softness of the futon
beneath him.
His head was spinning, and he was not fully aware of his surroundings.
The last thing he remembered clearly were those God damned vultures
flying over his bleeding, fallen body.
He seemed to be on a tent, all-alone.
He looked at himself carefully. He couldn't believe his eyes. All his
blisters were gone, not even trace of any scars from them, and his
sword wounds, carefully wrapped with clean bandages, was almost healed.
It was pretty clear he had been unconscious for several days, possibly
even weeks. And those who had rescued him had truly cared about his
well-being and health during those days.
He closed his eyes and sensed all around him seeking for hostility,
danger, or potential treats around him.
He felt a very uncommon, powerful, strange ki. It was the strangest
feeling he ever experienced, but it seemed not to mean any danger to
him. He had to locate it, thought -- he couldn't allow himself being
caught again.
The presence was outside, not too far away.
He collected all his strength, supporting his weight on every object he
felt fit for it, his muscles trembling from the lack of use during the
past days, and went outside.
He was received by the cold night of the desert, and full moon shining
in the sky.
There was a camel fully loaded, its knees bent and tied to prevent
his to escape, and the most beautiful two Arab horses he had seen in
his entire life tied to a pole in the sand.
While he was staring them the wind brought him the melody of a song, a
song sung by a feminine voice, it seemed.
Events became even stranger by the moment, as he couldn't reconcile
the feeling of the powerful ki he had felt with the image of a woman.
Anyway, he didn't feel other presences around.
Reeling on his feet he forced himself to the place the sounds came
from. He indeed found a woman there and, yes, the ki belonged to her.
He found the whole picture totally out of reality. A quite petite
woman with the most exquisite voice was singing the saddest song he'd
ever heard in a totally unknown language, just in the middle of the
deadliest desert on Earth -- but besides that, she had the strong ki
of a warrior. He thought he was suffering another illusion of the
desert. He shook his head as to get rid of the vision, but when he
opened his eyes she was still there.
Suddenly, she turned her head. She muffled, surprised at the sight of
him standing there. His legs betrayed him, and he fell to the sand on
his knees. She rushed towards him and stopped his fall before he
landed on his face. Using her as a supporting staff, he made his way
to the tent again where she helped him to go back to the futon.
"Who...are…you? How...did I …get here?" His voice was hoarse,
dull, from the lack of use, as was the rest of his body. He repeated
the question twice, in perfect Mandarin and then in Cantonese, hoping
she could understand either of those languages.
"It was sheer imprudence to get up from the futon, not to mention
to walk outside. You should not move. I...only went outside for a little
while. You should have waited for me to come back. Well, no harm done
here. At least you are awake now ..." she answered in clear unaccented
Japanese, and strange as it was, it took him a while to collect the
meaning of the words. It was a long time since he had had the chance to
hear his own native language, not to mention to speak it. He had reached
the point of almost forgetting it.
He was clearly stunned. He was actually a Japanese man, but she was
obviously not. The snow-white skin (so strange for a desert woman) and
the strange green eyes were of gaijin woman, and gaijin did not
distinguish between Japanese and Chinese, despite the many differences
of their features. It was clear she was aware of these differences. And
who the Hell was she that she even could talk Japanese in that God
forgotten place where nothing save bandits and greedy merchants
flourished? He did a mental note: he had to investigate the fact when
his brain was in better condition.
"How- did- I- come-here?"
He purposely marked every single word. He wanted answers, and he
wouldn't take anything less. To make the point clear enough he locked
his eyes on hers with a deadly serious gaze. Granted, he was quite
grateful to her and her people for saving his life, but he was not in
the habit of taking unnecessary risks.
He felt himself at her when he saw the joyful glint behind her eyes.
She met his eyes without a hint of fear. He wondered about his condition.
He had to be as miserable as a beaten dog, if he couldn't even scare
a little desert girl. He growled in frustration.
But he noticed that she had the most peculiar eyes he'd ever seen.
They were emerald green with golden flecks dancing deep within them,
and he could have sworn that she could hypnotize with them. She was
not an ordinary nomad. In fact, she was not a common woman at all. He
felt an uneasy sensation growing in him in response to her. He was
unarmed and weak, and although she was a petite woman who in normal
circumstances would only serve to amuse him, everything warned him not
to be fooled by external looks.
"I found you when you were about to be eaten...I didn't think it
was right so...."
"Where are the others?"
"You were all alone...."
"No... I meant your friends, guardians, family, whoever is with
you here... the caravan... It is quite obvious you are not alone. No
woman can survive on her own on the desert, just in the middle of the
Silk Road, not to mention to load a camel, and keep an eye to two
horses and a injured man without any help."
She seemed to be taken aback. After a short while she answered him.
"Well, I was traveling with my brother to Dunhuang, with three
camels fully loaded to sell our Persian goods there. But in a stop I
forget to tie the knees of the camels, and two of them run away. So my
brother went after them and ordered me to stay here with you, the
horses, and the third camel. This is the caravan path so I wasn't
afraid of losing myself in the desert if he didn't return soon. He
told me that if he didn't return by the time another caravan passed us,
then I was to try to wake you up and follow them to Dunhuang, as was
planned. He would meet me there, were our family is, although if I
didn't find him I would ask them to go and search for him. But I think
it is too dangerous for a woman to stay alone in the desert. There are
bandits, and many risks. I assume you are quite recovered now, so if
we find any caravan coming this way, I suggest we should try to go
with them."
"Ah.... I see..."
The answer was odd in a way, although not quite impossible. So he took
it at face value. For now.
"Are you hungry?"
"Quite..."
She gave him a rice bowl. It tasted awful, but after years after the
Bakufu forces in Japan and the rotten flesh he had eaten during his
first months in Shanghai, he was not picky anymore…
"How long has it been since you found me?"
"Near three weeks."
He was so surprised that he chocked in his food. And soon enough he
found her helping him to regain his breath.
Three full weeks... Heishin …That bloody bastard is surely
celebrating my death by now... he had better not ruined anything
during my ... vacation
"What is your name, little one?"
"Asiyah...and yours? - she gave him a stern glare at the comment,
which amused him very much. He couldn't scare her, but he could annoy
her. A good point, which he recorded in his brain.
"Enishi."
It was enough to give her his given name. He didn't know who she was
for sure (or her mysterious brother, as a matter of fact), nor if he
could trust them at all. They could be planning to sell him to any of
his enemies, as far as he knew. He had already been ambushed during
his trip, so he had no reason to trust anyone, especially people he
had only met that very day. If they were truly helping him, then he
would take care that they would be rewarded in a way they would never
forget. If they wanted to betray him, he would not let himself be easy
prey.
"Well, Enishi... I think you should sleep now. This is the
first day you've been awake during the last three weeks, and I think
you've already talked, walked, and moved too much. A caravan could
pass by at any time, and I'll need you to help me. We don't want to
be stuck here; we are running out of water and food.
He had a thousand questions to ask her, and he did not want to sleep,
but he found himself slipping into sleep soon enough. A white snowfield
smelling of white plums surrounded him, and then he didn't care about
asking the questions to the gaijin girl anymore.
THAT was pretty close ... Asiyah gave a sigh, relaxing herself only
at the sight of his steady breathing. He was sleeping at last.
Now she was alone again. Alone with her thoughts, alone with her sorrows…
her memories of a land she would never see again for her lifetime. Because
she was now an outcast. She went out of the tent again and walked away. She
didn't want her sobs to awaken the human called Enishi.
N/A :
Isfahan : Ancient Persian city ( Iran from 1935), old capital of
Safawid dynasty . One of the most astonishing cities of the world,
famous for its miniature craftwork and the old palaces, gardens, pools
and Mosques, and the central square where the sport called polo was
invented and played by first time. (My husband was there last year, so
those who may want any info…)
Dunhuang lies at the western end of the Gansu Corridor, called Hexi
Zoulang, in the actual province of Gansu. The name Dunhuang originally
meant, "prospering, flourishing" -- a hint that Dunhuang must once have
been an important city. Its position at the intersection of two trade
routes on the renowned Silk Road was what made Dunhuang flourish. The
coming and going of horse and camel caravans carried new thoughts,
ideas, arts, and sciences to the East and West. This city lies at the
verge of the merciless desert called Taklimakan.
The Taklimakan Desert, also known as the Tarim Desert, is the largest
desert in China and one of the largest in the world located in the
center of the Tarim basin south of Xinjiang's Tianshan Mountains. It is
1,000 kilometers from west to east and 400 kilometers from north to
south, covering a total area of 327,000 square kilometers. Taklimakan
means " no emergence upon entry" in Uygur language. It has three
characteristics: 1) Drifting sand dunes account for 85 percent of the
total desert area, while stable and semi-stable bush sand dunes account
for only 15 percent, which are found mainly on the edges of the desert
and along the rivers flowing into its depth. 2) The sand dunes are
complicated in form, and are of great height, mostly 100-150 meters and
some as high as 200-300 meters. 3) There are "natural oases" with wide
development potentials and diversiform-leaved poplars over the wide
areas in the valleylands deep in the desert, along the rivers on the
edges of the desert and in the frontal part of the alluvial fans. In
next chapter we will lean why Yukishiro Enishi was lost in there
.