A/N: Here's chapter three guys..I'm writing as fast as I could, but this is turning out to be a very complicated story.. Anyway, again, thanks for all you R&R. Genesis and Ice-God and omochi..you guys returned to review! Awigwatuuo and tsuki-sama and White-angel.twenk yuuu tooo This chapter's for all you guys ok(c",)
KENSHIN the DRAGON HUNTER Chapter III: Hundorf
"Move I say!" The boy said as he pulled and urged his "dumb" friend to move his legs. He could feel the dragon standing right beside him now, but still he didn't run away. He would not leave his new friend behind.
The kid stopped pulling though, when he felt a giant claw circle around his body. He swallowed hard and shut his eyes. "Uh-oh" he thought, "this is the end of my life! I'm going to be swallowed whole by a dragon and no one will ever care or even know who I was! Well at least I didn't die by my uncle's hand... I have my new friend to thank for that. I do hope he's finally found the courage to run. There's no sense in us both dying here...
Hmmmm..I believe I've been thinking for a long time here, perhaps I'm already dead, I feel kinda light, like I'm already flying up to heaven..."
Curiosity took over and the boy took one small peek. And it was only then that he realized the dragon was flying high up in the clouds, with him trapped in his great big claws. "Ooooohhhh" the boy said, then he fainted.
"Wha… what happened?" The young boy asked still a bit dazed. Then he remembered… the dragon! He sat up quickly and saw a young woman with long black hair standing near a fire. He could see only half of her face but he could see she was very beautiful. "Am I dead?" the boy asked. "If so then this might be heaven and she must be an angel!" His stomach growled just then. "Or maybe this could just be hell, and she's the devil."
"Hungry?" the woman asked and the kid jerked up. "Hey kid I asked if you were hungry!" she asked again, louder this time, then faced him.
"Y...you!" the boy said recognizing her as the one who saved him. "You're a…a…are"
"A beautiful, sexy, and brave woman, don't you think so kid?" she finished for him.
The boy frowned deeper, gaining more control over his emotions. "Nooo" he snickered. "You were an ugly boy, and you're an even uglier woman! And I'm not a KID! My name is Yahiko!"
"Watch who you're calling ugly! I just saved your puny little behind back there. You should show some gratitude KID!" Kaoru yelled.
Yahiko didn't want to admit that she was right, and worse, that a WOMAN had saved him. But he especially didn't like to be called kid! "Well, I saved you from the big bad dragon, I think… I mean I must've otherwise we wouldn't be talking about that stupid beast right now! What do you say to that, huh!" Yahiko retorted back, although unsure of what had really happened.
"Well I think that the big bad stupid beast is getting tired of both your screams and wants to get on with his dinner." A dragon growled behind Yahiko paralyzing him again with fear. He looked at the woman before him and saw that she was POUTING at the dragon.
"What is going on!" Yahiko thought. "Why doesn't she seem to be scared of the dragon?" Yahiko wanted to say something, do something, but he still couldn't move, afraid that sudden movements might catch the attention of the dragon.
It was at this time that Kaoru noticed the fear in the boy's eyes. She went to him. "It's alright" she said gently taking his icy cold hand and leading him near the fire.
Yahiko followed without thinking. "I'm sorry. My name is Kaoru and this is my friend Dargove. Please don't be scared, he's a gentle dragon and he would not harm you or anyone."
"But he just said he wants to get on with his dinner!" Yahiko said swallowing hard and still doubtful that a beast such as this could be 'gentle'.
"Harharharhar" Dargoved laughed out loud. "I don't really like human flesh, they taste awful, especially skinny little kids like yourself!"
Kaoru almost burst out laughing at Yahiko's reaction to Dargove's words, but she controlled herself. Yahiko on the other hand could not control himself much longer.
"I am noooo KID you scary-looking mythical creature! My name is YA-HI-KO and you better remember that or else I'll..I'll.."
"Yeeeesss…?" Dargove said stooping lower, his face close to Yahiko's. But Yahiko was no longer scared, in truth, he was actually enjoying his 'chat' with this dragon.
"Hhhhrrrmmm" Kaoru cleared her throat to get the attention of her two companions. "I'm hungry too you know so I suggest we eat now, else I eat alone while you two play around.
"YEY food!" Yahiko said going over to Kaoru, eyeing the steaming pot she was holding.
"I'd be careful if I were you" Dargove whispered to Yahiko. "It may look good but I'm quite sure it wouldn't taste good."
"I heard that!" Kaoru scolded Dargove and the dragon just looked away, pretending to look innocent.
Yahiko looked back and forth between the two not knowing what was going on, but understanding more about their relationship. "They are great friends" he thought. But before he could think any further, his stomach growled again. "Can we eat now?" he said, and the three sat around the fire, the pale moonlight and thousands of twinkling stars shining down on them.
That was the night a young boy named Yahiko joined the party of two. Dargove watched as Kaoru punched Yahiko because he commented on her "awful" cooking. The dragon smiled. "Having this boy around would be good for Kaoru, maybe for me as well."
And Yahiko, feeling he belonged for the first time in his life, thought as he again commented on the awful cooking of the brave and admirable woman beside him, "Having these two might be good for me…"
the present... Hundorf, a small town in the outskirts of Surlow.
A village soldier spotted two young lads he'd never seen before approaching the town. "Could it be?" he thought. "Have our savior finally arrive!"
He takes a piece of paper, tied it to an arrow and shot it towards his target to warn the others. "I do hope they are the right ones or else our village is toast!"
"Kaoru, how come we haven't met anyone on the road here? And how come the gates are closed?"
"I don't know Yahiko, but something's definitely not right here! I sense fear all around!"
"Me too! Do you think they're gonna let us in…?"
Crrreeeeeeekkkk… The sound of the great gates opening cut off Yahiko's question, or... more like answered it. As the gates opened, Kaoru and Yahiko saw before them an old man, and an old hunchback woman holding a long staff.
"Please come closer strangers," the man said. Kaoru and Yahiko looked at each before obeying. "Tell me great seer," he asked the old woman beside him. "Are they the ones you have predicted to save our village?"
The old woman looked at them hard making both Kaoru and Yahiko uneasy. She closed here eyes, recalling her vision of a red haired young man, with a cross-shaped scar in his cheek. "No, they are not" she said finally with a high-pitched trembling voice.
The old man bowed his head in obvious disappointment, then remembered his manners. "I apologize dear strangers. I am Tuval, the chief of this village. If you seek shelter, we could only offer you one night, for the day after tomorrow, this village would be no more."
"What!" Yahiko and Kaoru exclaimed at the same time "Why is that!" Yahiko asked.
Tulav looked at them seriously. They seem like good people and he didn't see any point in hiding the truth any longer. "Alright," he said, "let's go to my house and talk."
A few hours later, Kaoru climbed a low wall undetected at the eastern part of Hundorf. The sun was setting low and she knew it would be dark soon, but she needed some time to think alone. Fortunately, Yahiko seem taken with Tulav's youngest daughter, Tsubame. "She's pretty and shy, and very kind" Kaoru thought. "And so is Tae, Tulav's eldest."
Kaoru sighed, she could still remember the look on Tulav's face when he said that both his daughters were chosen as a sacrifice for Shishio's feast. Every year Shishio chooses one village and asks them to give up virgins for his sick sacrifice. This year, Tulav's daughters were particularly chosen because Tulav was becoming an increasingly influential person... against Shishio, no less!
Kaoru wasn't ignorant of Shishio's tyranny. She had been to many places, both in Triah and Surlow and everywhere she went, she saw the kind of government their king ran. The land suffered, and so did the people. Kaoru constantly spoke of this, but Dargove kept telling her to stay out of it. He said that the time will come for her to do something for the people, "but not yet." She never really understood what her friend meant by those words, but seeing the tragedy before her eyes made her feel both angry and anguished, and more determined to help.
"Those who oppose Shishio's order would feel his wrath" Tulav had said earlier. He told them about the letter from the Dark Castle (Shishio's stronghold). It said that the Hydra would render the judgment on Hundorf.
"The Hydra" Kaoru whispered. She'd seen one village destroyed by that hideous beast and it was completely wiped out. No one had survived… men, women, even children were slaughtered! She didn't know how a person could be so heartless as to allow, no, ORDER such a deliberate attack on his own people!
She looked back at Hundorf and she knew it stood no chance against the three-headed giant snake. She thought of Tulav and the villager's resolve to stand against the Hydra even as they know they could never defeat it. Even when Tae and Tsubame pleaded that their father let them go instead.
"We have to stand our ground so that others may see that we have rights of our own, that we can decide for ourselves. If our death would help them understand that the time has come for us to fight for our freedom, then so be it!"
Every villager spoke these words. They were willing to die so that others might wake up and see the truth. And maybe one day learn to unite and fight for their freedom against a tyrant like Shishio.
"Dargove might hate me for what I have to ask him, but I cannot leave these brave and noble people to die without a fight, at least a fair one!" Kaoru thought. She walked towards the lake and waited for nightfall. She still had to be very careful. With people's fear of dragons, disclosure of their friendship might endanger them both.
Kaoru went over to the lake. She couldn't help herself and so washed the dirt from her face. She also took off her shirt, removed the bandage around her chest and returned her shirt back on. She sighed, relieved. "That feels so good" she whispered then released her hair, looking up at the crimson sky. A slight breeze caressed her soft cheeks and supple hair. She closed her eyes and smiled, reveling at that brief moment of peace.
It was a few minutes later that Kaoru felt something evil approach her... fast. Alert, she picked up a stick on the ground and faced her assailant. She was caught by surprise though when she faced a huge hissing snake with a body much larger than hers. Kaoru dodged the snake's fangs as she rolled on the ground and quickly stood up!
Thwack! Kaoru hit it square on its face with the stick, but the snake's tail rammed on her ribs and she was thrown hard and slammed on a tree.
Kaoru's vision blurred as she lost consciousness. But not before she saw a man come between her and the snake. "He has a fiery red hair" was the last thought that entered Kaoru's mind before she totally blacked out.
...to be continued(c",)