Pure
Heart
Part 2
Down by the river
Hiko sat at a
small fire he made in a little clearing in front of his hut, waiting
for Kenshin. After the boy had realized everything he thought to be a
bad dream was real, Hiko could easily see the terror he felt in his
eyes. He had told Kenshin to take some time and relax, to come back
to his senses. He would wait for him to come out.
Shinta was
resting on the soft futon and tried to clear his thoughts. He had not
been sold. What he had taken for a dream was real. Just a minute ago,
he had become aware of the many small wounds on his hands and the
dirt underneath his fingernails. The longer he stayed awake, the more
he could remember. Remember the screams. The blood. Everywhere,
covering the ground. The sword, sliding through Sakura's
throat.
"You must live, Shinta, live for me..."
Desperately,
Shinta turned from side to side on his futon. There were too many
thoughts haunting him. Just too many of them and most of them bad.
There was one thing he could not remember: How did he get here? This,
of course, led to another question: where was he, after all? He tried
to remember the man in the white coat, who told him he was a
swordsman.
Shinta did not know if this would be good or bad.
The men raiding his caravan the night before were swordsmen as well.
Shinta thought hard about this. That man, Seijuro Hiko, that was his
name, he tried to help. So that made him one of the good guys. Also,
he had given sake to Sakura, Akane and Kasumi. That, Shinta thought,
had been very nice.
It did not take long until the hut's
small door was opened and Shinta, half blinded from the sunlight,
took a step outside. Curious, he approached Hiko, who sat at the
small fireplace. The man did not turn around, so the boy decided to
get close.
"Sumimasen – Sir", Shinta began "I
feel a lot better now..."
"Nani?"
"You may call me Shisho."
"Hai, Shisho."
"Very
well. Are you hungry?" Hiko nodded at the soup cooking over the
fire and mentioned for Shinta to sit down.
Hiko curiously
watched the boy sitting next to him on a piece of wood, eating his
second bowl of soup. Given that his clothes were still drying, he did
not wear anything else but his underwear. The bruises covering his
entire body seemed all the more impressive in the sunlight than they
had been last night.
"Once you have finished eating, you can
wash and dress."
"You
simply have to follow the path and walk towards the waterfall."
He explained.
Shinta set out, an empty bucket in each hand.
The warm afternoon sun sent its warm, cozy light through the leaves
above and everything looked a calm green. Birds sang in the trees and
everywhere was the busy sounds of insects. After a while, Shinta
could hear the waterfall and, given the sound it made, it was pretty
big. The path ended on a broad stone ledge, next to which the
waterfall thundered into the ground. There, the water filled a
waterbed to finally form a small river flowing away through the
forest.
Shinta tried to decide whether to take the path
downhill or uphill to fill the buckets. While the path downhill
seemed easier and less steep, he would have to carry the full buckets
uphill again. So he decided to fill them topside, then he would only
have to carry them downhill to reach the path again. Shinta set out
and soon arrived at the upper plateau. Directly beneath him, the
river crashed into the deep. Shinta stood there for a moment, gazing
down before watching the valley beneath him. The sight was
breathtaking. Above the trees he could see the far sky stretching out
to the horizon. All around there was forest and one would have to
climb the mountains peak to see the plains, Shinta thought.
As he approached the riverside, Shinta realized that it had not been the best idea to get the water from above. He walked for a little while, but the water was still so fast he had trouble holding onto the first bucket as he held it into the clear water. When he had finally filled the bucket, he sat back and took a moment's rest in the grass. He realized his hands were bleeding. There were still wounds from the earth he had dug to create graves for the lifeless bodies all around. He closed his eyes and tried not to remember. He disregarded it, just like he had done before in the small hut. That wasn't so hard. He simply watched everything around him, trying to remember everything and thus the other thoughts went away. He tried hard to concentrate. The thundering waterfall, the sounds from the forest, the singing birds. Soon, he took the second bucket and immersed it. The stream was so swift, he was pulled onto his belly and, scared, he let go.
"Oh, no!"
Quickly,
he stood up and ran by the riverside, hoping to catch the bucket. It
still floated at the side, but soon hit a rock and was pushed to the
middle of the river, floating towards the waterfall. There was a rock
less than a meter from the edge of the river. Shinta jumped on it and
tried to reach for the bucket. Just a little more... suddenly, he
slipped and fell into the icy water. Desperately, Shinta tried to
keep his head above the water, but the stream was too strong. He got
drawn underwater, smashed against some rock and even before he could
grasp it, got drawn under again. "Hel-" Shinta tried to
scream, but he swallowed water instead. He began to panic. He
couldn't swim, how was he supposed to keep to the surface in this
wild ride? Somehow he got his head above the water, but he couldn't
even breathe before being drawn under again. He was going to drown.
But he must not drown. Not now! Not after all that had happened.
Other people had given their lives so he could live. He couldn't
simply die. Shinta again tried desperately to reach the surface, but
he just didn't succeed. Finally, he had to succumb to the pressure in
his lungs and opened his mouth. Water immediately filled it and
poured into him. Shinta beat around like mad. He wanted to go up, up
to the sunlight dancing on the surface. His head got more and more
heavy and his body lost the last bit of strength he possessed. He
sank deeper and deeper and the small circle of sunlight above him got
smaller and smaller. He wouldn't make it. He wasn't strong
enough.
"Okaasan, Otousan, soon I'll be with you..."
End
Part 2
Translator's note: Well, what was it like? This
chapter was very hard for me, even if you wouldn't guess from the
contents. Well, see you next chapter! – Angel, Ayumi's Boyfriend
Ayumi: Poor Angel! I couldn't translate a bit this time, he
had to do it all alone. Even this text...oro °--° Well,
thank you so much for your reviews! I was so happy! It's difficult
to get reviews here in Germany. And there aren't many Hiko/Kenshin
–fans either .
About the story: I have to warn you!!! Everything will develop slowly –very slowly!!!! Well, it's because I don't like stories where Shinta suddenly turns into a happy child or a great warrior within one week of training or something like this.
About this chapter: poor Shinta has no luck at all, has he? The next chapter will be a bit short, but I don't know if I can update next weekend because I'm busy with my exams at the university. Well, that's all for now. Thank you so much for reading this! Please tell me your opinion!
Arigatou!Ayumi – X
