Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin... all of the characters belong to Watsuki Nobuhiro. Besides, if I owned RK, the story wouldn't have been as good as it was

Chapter 2:

The Caravan

A group of four men wondered the dirt road that lead to one of the towns which depended on its trade rout to Tokyo for its survival. Kenshin, Sanosuke, Katsuhiro, and Yoshisuke, an officer in the police force of Tokyo, have been traveling the country roads for nearly four hours. About twenty miles away from one of the smaller towns that surrounded Tokyo, a traveler had found a fairly sizable caravan, camping out a good distance into the woods, far from any roads or villages. The traveler had mentioned that the caravan appeared suspicious, men guarding it with guns and swords. The traveler was turned away when he approached to ask for food and water, or so the drunken traveler's story went.

"I see some smoke," Sanosuke pointed over the treetops. A thick pillar of smoke was barely visible against the night sky. "Is there a village in that direction?" he pointed to a thick forest.

Katsuhiro pulled out a map from his kimono sleeve. His bright green eyes examined it, looking around at his surroundings and trying to pin point their location on it. "I don't think so," he said as he looked up. "The last village we passed on the map was about half an hour ago, and the next one should be about a two hours walk from here, if we keep this pace up."

The four men walked in the direction of the smoke. Soon, a light began to glow ahead of them from between the thick trunks of the trees as they walked through the dark woods. Before long they came upon a campsite, in its center a bonfire burned intensely. Two men, both armed with swords and one of them armed with a rifle, walked around the outer side of it.

"This is more than suspicious," Sanosuke commented, "I wonder what they could be trying to protect?" He looked at the young officer who had come along with them. "Hey you," the young man turned to look at Sanosuke as he was being spoken to, "the police force should be ready to move out of Tokyo by now right? Run along and tell them where we are." The young officer nodded. Turing around, he ran full speed, disappearing in only a matter of minutes into the darkness.

A young lady walked out from the caravan to bring the two guards their meals. With the dim light, she looked to be no older than twenty. Carrying two trays in her hands, she walked carefully to a tree stump. She struggled as she tried hard to balance the trays in her hands while walking. One of the guards walked up behind her as she placed the trays on the stump, wrapping his arms around the girl.

"Let me go!" the young lady cried out trying to pull herself away and dropping one of the trays.

"Come on sweetie," the guard began, "you smell pretty. I wouldn't mind having you tonight." A crocked smile curved his lips as he pulled the girl closer to himself. The girl continued to struggle as tears began to stream down her face.

"Hey," the other guard yelled, "remember, they're worth more if they're virgins." He chuckled.

"Like they'll know when they buy her." He quickly responded as he tightened his grip around the girl's waist. "We'll just make sure that no okiya wants this little flower."

"That will be enough," Kenshin steeped out into the clearing made for the campsite. "This one will not stand back and watch you abuse of this young lady." Sanosuke and Katsuhiro likewise followed.

"This is repulsive," Sanosuke spat on the floor.

The guard let go of the girl, placing one hand on the handle of his sword. The girl stepped back as the other guard passed her.

Kenshin stood still, watching the two as they prepared themselves for a fight. "If it can be, this one prefers not fight," he finally said, "There is no desire to cross blades with you. This one is only searching for two young ladies from Tokyo whom have gone astray some time ago."

The first guard unsheathed his sword as he sped forward, attacking with all his might. "Go to hell!" he yelled as he brought down his blade on the red haired man.

Kenshin easily sidestepped the attack, causing his aggressor to stumble forward off balance. The man spat in anger and lunged again. This time Kenshin stepped into the attack and to the man's left, slapping the incoming blade to the side with the palm of his hand. The guard glared furiously at him. "This one will repeat himself once more," Kenshin said narrowing his eyes on the man, "There is no desire to fight filthy men such as yourselves. All this one wants is to find a few young ladies that have gone missing."

The guard pulled back and readied himself to attack again. He gripped the sword tightly in his hands trying to strategize a way to defeat the intruder.

"If you insist," Kenshin responded. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared from the guard's view. The guard looked around stupefied. Suddenly he felt a sharp object pressed into his back. "Now," began Kenshin again from behind the guard, "Will you be as kind as to cooperate?" The man dropped his sword in fear. He had never seen anyone move that fast before. He began to tremble as red haired man held the sword steady to his back.

"No!" A cry came from behind Kenshin. The young lady pulled down on the barrel of the rifle in the other guard's hands as he fired the weapon. The bullet hit the earth, lifting dirt and grass into the air as it struck halfway between him and the intruder. Kenshin looked back surprised. He had been saved by the young lady. Without hesitation, the guard lifted the weapon above the girl's head. "You little bitch!" he said as he hit her with the butt of the rifle. The girl whirled from the blow and collapsed to the ground.

"You dog!" Sanosuke yelled as he began charging at the rifleman.

The man lifted up his weapon again and aimed, stopping Sanosuke dead in his tracks. Alarmed by the first gunshot and resulting commotion, more people began to come out from the caravan, armed with swords and a few with riffles.

"Now you're .... you're... gonna... you're gonna get it" the swordsman said as he slowly began to step away from the sword pressed into his back. "No way you'll... survive this..." he continued nervously. Kenshin looked at the man, his eyes intense and full of anger. The guard swallowed hard. This guy looks like a demon, he thought to himself as he looked straight into the ex-assassin's eyes. He looks like he wants blood.

With a flurry of blinding speed, Kenshin whirled his blade back and then up, before finally bringing down the dull-side of his reversed-blade on the guard's shoulder. The man crumpled to the floor unconscious.

"What's the meaning of all this?!" a short chunky man yelled as he made his way to the front of the group. He looked around, taking in the situation. "Who the hell are you?" he asked looking around at the three intruders.

"You're the head of this caravan, correct?" Kenshin queried.

The chubby little man looked at Kenshin, studying him in every way. His tinny dark eyes narrowed on the sword Kenshin held in his hands. He studied the other two as well. After a moment of silence, he cracked a smile making his round little face even rounder. "A has-been samurai and two of his followers? What do you want?"

"Release all the girls you have kidnapped."

"Right," the tiny man answered as he turned around. "Kill them," he ordered tugging on the jacket of his kimono as he began to make his way back from where he had come. "I don't want to hear of them ever again."

Katsuhiro smiled. "So you really think you have a chance?"

The small man turned to look at him. He smiled back. "Of course."

"Then, let me inform you all, that this man is better known as Battôusai Himura," Katsuhiro pointed at Kenshin. A few of the men looked at the red haired man, doubt soon began circulating among them. "You don't believe me?" Katsuhiro continued, "Just look at his red hair and cross like scar on his left check." A few men began to put down their weapons, knowing full well they were no match for such an assassin, especially one as famous as the Hitokiri Battôusai.

"You idiots!" the small man yelled. "That's not the Battôusai! He's only trying to intimidate you! Just look at his clothing! He's a washed up samurai that lost everything during the Meji Restoration! Kill them all!"

The men hesitated for a moment.

"I'll triple the pay for the one who can bring me their heads!"

The men looked at each other. Those possessing swords hesitantly stepped forward, unsheathing their weapons. Gathering up their courage, they began their attack.

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A/N: Well, I'm finally out of school & on vacation (hurray .) Anyways, I'm still heavily re-editing this fic from it's original state and it will take me some time before I add on any more chapters. I'll probably be adding a new chapter every other month or so, depending on how much time I have. Oh yes, & every now and then I will link up pages to some sketches I have done in the past of some of the scenes. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed your reading

-Eeni/Bunneh/WhiteRabbit