Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Anything you don't recognize, however, does belong to me.

Eyes of Golden Fire

Chapter 14

Gohei shoved Kaoru into the snow and she remained where she fell, not wanting to provoke him anymore. Her terror was absolute for she had seen this man slaughter children without mercy. She would have joined them if not for the very spirit of defiance that she was despised for.

They had walked endlessly, long after exhaustion made her legs weak and useless and darkness shrouded the woods. How far had they come? How far was she from Hiko's lodge? She had lost track of direction long ago. The only thing she knew for certain was that they were still on the forbidden mountain.

Pulling her knees up beneath her, she hugged her bound hands close for warmth as the men set about making camp. Several campfires were roaring in no time and Kaoru was disheartened by their confidence. It could mean only one thing.

I hope Yahiko and Sir Hiko are all right. Please, let them be all right. I have to believe they are alive. They will come for me. If they don't, Kenshin will. I must believe he will.

She was given nothing to eat, not that she had any hunger anyway. So Kaoru just sat there and shivered. Someone begrudgingly tossed her a ragged old blanket and she pulled it tightly around her as best she could with her wrists tied, but it did little to ease the chill that penetrated her body.

There were close to twenty men with Gohei. Some of their faces were familiar. How could she possibly forget them? Tonight she would be sleeping with bloodthirsty killers, if she could sleep at all. For the time being they were ignoring her, content with the success of their latest killing spree.

Their banter was loud and without shame and she could not hold her tears for the men who had died so bravely at the hands of these killers in the ambushed they had set. An ambush! That meant even someone as skilled as Kenshin could have been injured or worse!

Wiping roughly at her tears less anyone should see them, she turned her gaze away from the fires to the dark of the forest and her midnight shaded eyes were drawn to the shadowed branches swaying softly in the cold evening breeze. The woods were far from welcoming and Kaoru felt as though she was drowning in darkness despite the glow of the nearby fires. Nothing out there could save her if Gohei decided this night should be her last.

Danger was present. She could feel it watching with eyes shadowed in obscurity. Her gaze traveled listlessly over the swaying branches of the surrounding trees expecting to find nothing more than the confirmation that she was terrifyingly alone. What she saw were shadows. Gray shadows, blue shadows, and shadows bearing slices of moonlight.

Moonlight. Kaoru stiffened and glanced back towards the camp. Gohei's men were paying her no mind, so she dared to look back into the darkness to find the unnatural shadow was gone. Could it be? Could it be that Sir Hiko had found her already?

Kaoru pulled the blanket tighter around her and curled into a tight ball, watching the men through slit eyes. They were drinking and enjoying the moment, but they would sleep soon enough.

Their over-confidence was on her side that night. Even the guard had fallen asleep at his post. Kaoru arranged her blanket over a lump of snow and quietly skirted away from the camp, quickening her pace only when she was certain she was far enough for sound not to carry. The snow was deep and she fell often, struggling to push herself up with her wrists still bound tightly together, but she was determined to put as much distance between her and the camp as possible. It wouldn't be much, she realized, when a distant shout declared her escape had been discovered. All sense abandoned her and she succumbed to panic, pushing herself to a faster, more frantic pace. They would track her easily in the white terrain.

Her breath tore from her heavily as she tripped and collapsed into the deep snow. It was so cold and she was beyond tired and they were getting closer. Pushing herself up to her knees, she looked up into the darkness and froze.

The shadow only watched her in silence, as if weighing a heavy decision. It made no motion towards her and she began to wonder if it was merely another part of the forest.

"There she is!" an angry shout rang out and she glanced behind her. There would be no escape now that they had found her. Tearing her gaze from them, she looked back down the moonlit path she had been taking to find the shadow gone. Something is hunting us, she realized as she was roughly seized and yanked to her feet. She turned her face to her captor in time to receive the full impact of his fist across her jaw. A pained cry escaped her before she crumpled at his feet.

Gohei grabbed her arm and tossed her limp body over his shoulder. "Stupid woman. I can't believe none of you saw her run!"

"I think we all had too much to drink," Uchi, the man who still suffered from a sore shin spoke gruffly. It was a short walk back to camp and Gohei dumped her into a heap closer to the fire.

"Tie her ankles this time. She's out cold, but I'm not taking any chances."

"Where's Shin?"

Those were the words Kaoru woke to the next morning, along with another pounding headache.

"Maybe he wandered into the woods a bit."

"Shin would never leave his post. Take a few men and find him." Gohei glanced down at her still form and kicked her injured shoulder.

Kaoru stifled a groan and opened her eyes to glare at him.

"The next time you try running away, I'll cut your leg off. You got that?" he growled.

She kept her tongue, sitting up slowly trying to hide the fact that her shoulder now pained her considerably.

"Gohei, we got a problem." Uchi came walking up.

"You can't find him?"

"It's more than that," Uchi said. "His stuff is here, even his sword but we can't find a hint of him anywhere, not even footprints."

Gohei frowned. "Probably wandered off to take a leak and got himself lost. Get the men together. I want to get off this mountain."

Gohei had become wary since Kaoru's attempted escape. He kept her towards the center of the group and she walked with two men on each side and her wrists still bound. When she stumbled and fell, a rough hand would yank her up and she was beginning to have serious pains in her shoulders from the rough treatment.

They stopped briefly around midday to rest… and two more men were found missing.

"What do you mean no one saw anything?" Gohei demanded.

Everyone shrugged.

"Two men don't just disappear without a sound," he shouted.

"Maybe Oni took them," Kaoru said softly.

An uneasy stillness enveloped the men and all eyes turned on her.

"What did you say?" Gohei growled.

Kaoru met his gaze but said nothing, knowing he had heard her well enough.

"They're just stories made up to scare kids, Gohei," Uchi said.

A murmur went through the group and Kaoru knew not everyone agreed with the man. Anyone who had lived within twenty miles of the mountain knew the stories.

Gohei's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Let's keep moving. Keep close and keep your eyes open. You," he grabbed Kaoru's arm, "walk with me."

Kaoru stumbled to keep up with his rapid pace, never missing the uneasy glances he shot into the deceptively peaceful forest surrounding them. As the hours passed without event, the men began to calm and their pace eased. The assumption that the others had simply gotten separated and lost became the accepted explanation until a disturbing discovery near evening.

The air about them seemed to still as they all stared at the body hanging limply from the tree.

"That's Shin," Uchi spoke what they were all thinking. "How could he have gotten this far ahead of us?"

"I don't see any blood," Gohei spoke thoughtfully. "Someone cut him down, see if he's still alive."

Two men climbed up and cut the man free, catching his body before it could thump to the ground.

"He's still alive," one of them said and Gohei shoved Kaoru into someone's grasp as he stalked over.

Cold water and a few slaps on the face revived the man who leaped up in wild panic. It took four to pin him down.

"Shin, snap out of it!" Gohei slapped him roughly. "Tell us what happened."

"It's coming," the man gasped. "It's going to kill us all!"

"What's coming?" Uchi demanded.

"Eyes like fire," he whimpered. "Claws like steel. It's not human!"

"Oni," someone murmured.

"Then why leave him alive?" Gohei growled.

"It hunts us all," Shin whimpered before slipping into unconsciousness again.

"Look at this, Gohei," Uchi said as he pulled at Shin's torn gi. "The cuts seem deep, but there's no blood."

"Nasty blow," Gohei echoed as he stared at the deep gashes across Shin's chest.

"You have to admit, it's unsettling," Uchi murmured.

"We better keep moving," Gohei growled. Somebody shouldered the injured man and the group shuffled off, swords drawn and edgy.

Why? Why is he here? It was obvious he was hunting them. Not just hunting, no he was stalking them methodically and with intent. Was it possible the shadow she had seen the night before had been the savage Oni? It had to be for that was the night Shin disappeared. She shivered as she remembered how she had fallen directly into his path, yet he had done nothing but stand there and stare at her. Would she feel his touch of death with the rest of them? Would her death be all the more painful because she had trespassed on his mountain before?

Why did he spare Shin? Why leave him for them to find him and alive as well?

"He wanted you to know," she said without thinking and Gohei glanced over at her.

"What?" he demanded gruffly.

"She's talking about Shin," Uchi spoke up and she glanced over at him. "Yeah I figured it out too, girl. He wants us to know he's hunting us."

"Just keep quiet," Gohei ordered.

They didn't stop when darkness fell. Gohei gripped Kaoru tightly and she could feel his unease.

"Gohei," Uchi whispered.

"Yeah, I feel it. I've got a plan. Send the men off into the trees around this clearing, then follow me."

The men silently dispersed as Gohei dragged Kaoru into the center of the small clearing. He shoved her down to her knees and she looked up startled.

"If you move from that spot," he warned quietly, "Uchi will kill you."

Kaoru blinked as he walked past her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him meet Uchi at the edge of the clearing behind her. The tall samurai backed into the shadows and Gohei stepped off further into the woods, leaving her very much alone in the circle of white surrounded by death on all sides. The glow of the half moon above illuminated the clearing as if it were a separate world entirely and she was the sole inhabitant. It was eerily silent and Kaoru turned back to gaze wide-eyed into the darkness from which they had first come, understanding dawning on her.

She was bait.

Please don't come. Whoever you are, please don't come now. They will kill you for certain.

The snow beneath her was numbing to the bone and she shivered uncontrollably, telling herself it was due to the cold, not out of fear. How long did she sit there, waiting for the unknown to come and claim her?

Long after she could no longer feel her extremities, the wind whipped up into a frenzy, a dusting of snow swirling about her and clinging to her loose ebony locks. She felt as though someone was reaching into her and through her, and her breath abandoned her. Just as suddenly as the wind started, it abated and left a stillness that rivaled the calm before a savage storm.

There were eyes upon her, the eyes of a predator, cold and calculating. Hugging her bound hands to her chest, she dared to raise her eyes to the darkness and meet that gaze.

His eyes burn with golden fire. Molten amber gold, beautiful and lethal they bore into her from the depths of shadow and she felt the remnants of her strength shred to pieces. He stood just beyond the edge of the clearing, veiled from sight but for his flame-born gaze. After a moment, she heard a wicked rasp like a sword being pulled from its sheath. Moonlight flickered off a length of metal held at his side foreboding death.

His claws glint silver like steel and blood never clings to him no matter how much he spills. Kaoru trembled as she realized that the embodiment of the legend stood before her and she was helpless to defend herself.

She blinked and suddenly he was gone. A furious wind rushed past her, whipping her hair away from her face with a whirlwind of snow. The silence was broken by a strangled cry preceding a deafening crash. Kaoru spun on her knees to see the shadowy figure crouched amid an immense cloud of powder. He straightened slowly with feline grace, a body inert at his feet.

He just took out Uchi, she realized even as she heard the rush of steps and soon found herself surrounded by fifteen men, swords drawn.

"No mortal can move that fast," someone whispered fearfully.

"He moves like the wind and the trees shiver when he passes by," Kaoru whispered under her breath.

The shadow turned slowly to face them, amber eyes glowing with menace.

"Oni." More than one uttered the word in fearful awe and Kaoru taste their dread.

"Not Oni," Gohei growled. "Battousai."

Kaoru gasped softly. Battousai. The only reason he would be here is if— is if Kenshin is dead! Kenshin! Broken tears pooled in her eyes and slipped down her cheeks. Cold steel tapped her chin and tilted her head up to meet Gohei's wicked stare.

"You're wise to be afraid," he told her with a humorless grin.

"I will never fear him," she said with sharp confidence, her eyes blazing through her tears.

The sharp blade pressed into her throat and she gasped involuntarily.

"Gohei," someone spoke warily and he glanced up at the shadowed form of Battousai who had begun to move again. Moonlight slide like silk down the length of his blade as he sheathed it and shifted slightly in stance.

"I see," Gohei murmured. "You came for her. Get up, girl."

Kaoru stood slowly, the edge of his sword still pressing firmly against her throat. With a flick of his wrist, he could slice her clean through and nothing could save her then, not even the legendary Battousai…not even Oni.

Gohei's fingers wrapped around her arm and his sword dropped away from her as he pulled her back.

"Kill him," he ordered. With a united battle cry, the men surged forth towards the manslayer.

Gohei nearly jerked Kaoru off her feet as he started running away from the furious fight. Kaoru's numb legs screamed as they tried to match his frantic pace.

"You coward!" she cried as he dragged her.

"Shut up," he snapped.

"You'll never escape him!"

"He'll have to get past them first," Gohei growled. "Now move!"

He knows he can't escape Battousai, so why is he running? Her eyes widened as she realized his intent from the start had never changed. He was going to kill her.

Gritting her teeth, she threw her weight sideways, slamming him into a tree. She was rewarded with a solid thunk as his head struck the trunk and his hold on her arm broke. Kaoru stumbled but kept her feet, surprised that her action had worked. A muttered curse told her he was still conscious and she bolted in the direction she hoped might take her into the arms of a manslayer.

She had not lied when she told Gohei she did not fear the manslayer.

"He was…withdrawn."

"He must have suffered great pain."

"Why do you say so?"

"I do not think he wanted to be a manslayer."

Kenshin's eyes had widened considerably when she said that. It was quite an amusing expression on him.

"Miss Kaoru—"

"Had he no conscience, he would have suffered no pain, he would have no reason to isolate himself from the people he fought for."

"I suppose you are right, Miss Kaoru," he said thoughtfully

"A man like him," she murmured, "I think he suffered very much. Maybe he still does."

She screamed when a solid weight slammed into her, knocking her face first into the snow. Hands seized her shoulders and jerked her onto her back. She instinctively brought her bound hands around forcefully, satisfied when her fists cracked against a jaw.

Gohei hissed. "Why won't you just die!" he shrieked as he seized her throat. Kaoru gasped painfully as she tried to pry his fingers loose. He grinned wickedly at her futile efforts to save herself.

"How I have longed for this moment," he purred as he leaned close and kissed her roughly, loosing his grip on her throat just enough to spare her a moment more. He savored sucking the breath from her, pleasuring in the feel of her body heaving beneath him desperate for the precious air he denied her. Had he time, he would have prolonged her slow death for his amusement so much longer, for days even.

He broke the kiss with a pleasant sigh, smirking down into her pale face as her eyes fluttered on the edge of consciousness.

"Such a shame it has to end so soon," he murmured as his thumb stroked her already bruised throat, his fingers tightening once again in an unbreakable death grip. "Goodbye, Kamiya."

Stillness settled around him and his muscles tensed at the unnatural silence. Slowly raising his gaze, he stared into unbridled fury of fire and it was the last thing he ever saw.