Chapter 3. Broken Soul

Kenshin went to sleep that night with only one hope.

That he would not dream.

But often, what one hopes for is far from what would actually happen.

No sooner had he drifted off to sleep when he opened his eyes and found himself in the middle of nowhere.

Nowhere. At least that's what it seemed to him, as he looked around, looking lost amid these unfamiliar surroundings. Glancing around, he saw he was standing in a wide alley, caught in between a high wall and another, lower wall.

This is more vivid than any of his other dreams, he thought, as he moved towards the lower wall and tried to peer to the other side.

It was dark as night, and in the distance he could see tiny pinpoints of light. It looks like the city of Tokyo at night, but the lights were unusually bright, and composed of a myriad of colors that he does not remember ever seeing in the city.

He turned around abruptly when he heard the sound of footsteps running through the pavement toward him.

His breath caught in his throat when he saw a lone figure running in his direction, as though chased by a thousand demons.

As the figure drew closer, Kenshin realized it was a girl. A lady. Her long hair was tied back from her face in a ponytail, and she was wearing men's clothes.

When she was almost where he was standing, he found his voice. "Excuse me," he said.

But she did not seem to hear him as she ran right past him.

Baffled, Kenshin moved to follow her, but stopped when another – louder – sound came from behind.

When he turned around, he saw four other figures racing towards him, and he realized these were the ones chasing the lady.

'This would not do," he thought, seeing injustice in the thought of four men pursuing a lone defenseless woman. He stood to face the oncoming pursuers, moving to reach for his sakaba.

But his hand froze.

His sword is gone.

Kenshin looked down and saw his sword was not where it was supposed to be.

Making his mind up, Kenshin remained standing there, waiting for the four pursuers.

"Hold it right there!" he yelled at them.

To his horror, they did not seem to hear him. Instead they kept right on and just when he thought they would run through him, they stopped.

He sighed with relief. Maybe this could be done through talking.

But before he could open his mouth to speak, one of the pursuers spoke.

"Tired of running?"

A woman's voice spoke from behind.

"Tired of chasing?"

Kenshin turned around and was surprised to see the lady standing there. He thought she had kept on running.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "Go! Now! Run!"

But she did not say anything, her steely gaze piercing through him. In the darkness, all he could make out were her eyes that seemed to gleam.

Suddenly it occurred to him.

She could not see him! And apparently neither could her pursuers sense his presence!

Kenshin almost felt like a ghost in this alley.

The man who spoke a while ago let out a cackle of laughter that sounded thoroughly evil even to Kenshin's trained ears.

"You have some nerve, girl. Too bad that courage that you inherited from your ancestors will end here and now!"

The four men moved forward and this time Kenshin got a clear view of them.

Ninjas, he thought, noting the masks and the clothes. Although these looked more sinister than the ones he had the misfortune to encounter many times before.

She spoke once more.

"One thing's for sure, though," she said, taking a step forward. "You will not be the ones who will end it. And not here, not now."

Kenshin blinked once, twice, as her face came into full view.

Her eyes were now ablaze, and he could see she was in a fit of rage; rage that overwhelmed her fear that he was sure was in there somewhere, cloaked effectively by her courage in facing these four.

But what caught his eye was the scar on her left cheek.

Kenshin stood there, transfixed, as she drew something from her side.

A sword.

His sakaba.

The reverse edge glinted against the dim light as she held it up in front of her.

"Who wants to go first?" she said softly, almost menacingly.

The following scenes were almost like a blur. Three of the four pursuers charged forward with loud cries, running straight through Kenshin as if he were thin air.

The girl was ready when they came upon her. With just one swing of the sakaba the three were thrown to the ground, their own swords dropping from their hands as they reached to clutch their respective wounds, moaning.

With a dispassionate look the girl looked at the three writhing in pain. "I guess you all could not wait for your turns, huh?"

The fourth man, their leader who had been doing all of the talking a while back, let out a grunt.

"I see you have the skills. No wonder they want you dead."

With lightning-quick speed the leader had drawn his sword and rushed at her.

Paralysis seemed to creep into Kenshin's every vein as she saw the man's quick blade pierce through her left shoulder.

"No!"

The cry of agony was torn out of her mouth.

- and out of his.

Kenshin sat up, tiny beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Without a thought he got to his feet and stepped out into the night, pulling the door shut behind him almost soundlessly.

When he reached the shed, he lifted his fist to knock but stopped when he noticed it was opened an inch, and he could see light coming from inside.

He drew a deep breath.

"Taro," he called out quietly. "I know you are awake. Can we talk?"

Taro's reply was soft. "It is open."

Taro was seated on the floor, in the lotus position, a single candle blazing before him, its tiny flame causing tiny shadows to dance on the walls of the shed.

Kenshin stood at the door, silently watching the healer.

Taro spoke without looking at Kenshin.

"You had the dream again," he said, and this made Kenshin look at him with a start.

Slowly Kenshin stepped inside the shed, knowing he could find answers from him.

"Was it clearer to you this time? The dream, I mean. Was it more vivid, more meaningful?"

Without answering, Kenshin sat down opposite Taro, this time forcing the healer to look at him.

Taro returned his gaze. Suddenly his eyes narrowed as he said, "Your scar."

Kenshin lifted his fingers to the scar on his face, feeling it throb again.

"It bleeds," Taro whispered almost in awe.

Lifting his fingers to the light of the candle, Kenshin saw blood.

Shaking his mind away from his bleeding scar Kenshin looked Taro in the eye.

"You said you are a healer, and you came here to help me."

"Yes," Taro replied solemnly.

"Prove it."

a huge thanks to PraiseDivineMercy and penguin27 for pointing that out...hehe...I have made the necessary revisions, and I hope that does not stop you guys from reading this and leaving some reviews. See? I learn a lot just by your reading! Thanks so much, very much appreciated!