A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you again for your wonderful reviews! They're my no. 1 source of inspiration right now! To those who commented on the x-marks the spot! heehee, thanks that's my fave part of this chapter too! And before I forget...i would like to ask your permission to use you names in my story...uhhhmmm, I might be using names at random that's why I'm asking all of you...if any of you object, please just say so ok! thanks again!o
omochi: thanks for your review, I really appreciate it! and yeah I needed kenshin past to be really tragic...i hope I succeeded. and I look forward to your next reviews...and i don't care if it takes years! really!
Gypsy-chan: I read your review and I had this gigantic smile plastered on my face for like the whole day! thank you soooooo much! errr...especially about the additional 20 reviews(heehee) I do hope you come back and review again!
Kamimura Kaoru: Thanks for the R&R! I'll be updating as fast as I could and I hope you come and review again!
Genesis: hi! to tell you the truth, I'm liking your name a lot as a male dragon's name...but I need your permission first, and also you gender(heehee) I might be wrong on this one! again, thanks for your reviews and for coming back again, and again!
AngelsExist: hands a box of tissue you'll get the answers to your questions in this chapter so please read on and thanks for returning I hope you enjoy this one too...errrrr hands another box of tissue, just in case
MP: hey you're back! heehee thanks for the review...i'll try to update as soon and as fast as I can ok as long as you guys keep reviewing again, thanks
Willow: heehee, I don't know how to top the intor ijust gave you, but being a girl myself I think you'll love this one! brings in BoyzIIMen to serenade miss Willow as thanks for agreeing to use the names she gave and especially for giving the go signal that I could use her own name ok here's the next chapter...hope you enjoy it too
Artemis, Goddess of the earth: LOL! If I owned Sony I'd grant your wish in an instant! heehee unfortunately, I only own this fanfic so I'll just try to make your chacter a good one! winks Well using reviewer's names as part of my story was your idea...so thanks again! bows low to the goddess of the earth
Scarlet Maple: heehee...you're right! poor kenshin, Bad shishio! LOL and I love Dargove too! I feel proud of how he's turned out somehow...don't worry you'll be hearing about him a lot in this story so please keep up your reviews as well and thank you so much
KENSHIN the DRAGON HUNTER Chapter VII: The Chosen One Appears
Kenshin ran as fast as his small legs could carry him. He didn't seem to have noticed that the dragon was moving a bit slower than usual. All the little boy thought of was that he was big, and flying, so he was way ahead of our little prince.
Dargove, weak and still grief-stricken over the death of his dear friend Driana scanned the battleground below. The least he could do to honor the queen is to find Thairu and help him rebuild the kingdom, then destroy Shishio, and Invictus.
Dargove couldn't help but feel guilty as the cursed armor was created because of his kind. Invictus, the invincible armor, was forged using black magic combined with one vital ingredient… dragon's blood. Dargove could still remember that day clearly…
"No!" the dragon thought. "This is not the time to be thinking such thoughts! I have more pressing matters to… NOOOOO! Thairu!" Dargove saw the king lying on the ground, beside a fallen crown, and a broken sword.
Dargove lifted the lifeless body of Thairu and roared loud and long, mourning the untimely deaths of two of his most beloved friends.
On a nearby hill, blood-soaked, confused, and broken-hearted Kenshin looked up and was horrified at what he saw. The dragon was holding his father in his claws and his armor shining bright, with blood! He suddenly felt himself grow as limp as his father. "He's dead too" he thought. "My father, the great king of Surlow was killed by a dragon too!"
Kenshin fell to his knees and then let out all everything he had seen and heard that day the only way an eight-year old boy knows how… he screamed, but even his screams were drowned out by the dragon who roared beside the dead king.
In the nearby woods, a lone rider with long black hair, and a long, white cloak heard the roar of a dragon, and something else, barely inaudible due to the dragon's roar but it's definitely there. Usually, he would ignore these things, but something compelled him to follow the fainter sound.
As the rider drew nearer, the more he saw of the destruction of Surlow, and the more the sound became recognizable. Why he didn't turn back when he figured it was a wailing kid he was going to, he would never know… or maybe it's just that he would never admit to having a heart, not even to himself!
The wailing had stopped now, the roars some time before that, but he knew exactly where to look. He saw the kid staring at the battlefield covered with dead bodies. He is just a small boy, seven, maybe eight years of age. At some distance away, cheering voices of those who just brought down the kingdom could be heard.
The lone rider went for the boy, this place is not safe. He nudged his horse and grabbed the boy's collar when he reached him. The rider did not feel any resistance from the boy as they rode silently away from the ruined castle. They stopped at a lake to let the horse drink and rest.
The rider seems to think they were at a safe distance now so he set the boy down.
Without a word, the boy stood looking at the lake. The rider stood beside the boy and said, "My name is Hiko, Hiko Seijiro. What's yours?"
"Kenshin" the boy finally spoke, his voice filled with pain, his eyes dark and vengeful.
"Do you want to be strong, Kenshin?" Hiko asked.
Kenshin looked down at his clenched fist, the piece of clothing that ripped from his mother's dress is still in his hand. It is covered in blood as he is, but the young prince could still remember how it used to look… pure virgin-white cloth. "I couldn't protect her" Kenshin thought to himself, "or him, because I was not strong enough." He clenched his fist harder over the white cloth, "But I will be. I will be the strongest man on earth and I will hunt those dragons until I kill every last one! Then I'll make Shishio pay!"
Kenshin looked up at Hiko. "Yes, I want to be strong" he said, and the desire for strength in the boy's eyes surprised the man! But Hiko saw nothing else there, except for that desire. The boy's soul is empty.
"Sad" Hiko thought, but then saw something he couldn't believe at first on the kid's clothes! There was no mistake about it… the royal seal of Surlow was embroidered neatly on his bloody shirt!
"Kenshin" Hiko thought. "No wonder that name rang a bell, this boy is the prince of Surlow!"
"Where are your parents?" Hiko asked softly.
"My parents are dead." Kenshin said without much emotion.
Hiko nodded. There's not much more to discuss here. "Let's go" he said and turned towards the horse.
Kenshin took one last look at the setting sun. It signified the end of his eighth birthday, and the life he had known. He felt like today truly was the day he is born to life. No, more like the day he was born to death.
...present time, at the woods near the village of Hundorf...
Yahiko, looking apprehensive searched the woods for Kaoru. "Where could she be!" he thought really worried now. "It's not like her to leave without telling me and then not come back! Besides, if she went to see Dargove, he would have brought her back to the village by now!" Yahiko knew how protective Dargove is of Kaoru, too protective in fact.
Yahiko suddenly felt cold sweats at the realization that something did happen to his friend. "NO!" he said panicked at the thought that he had possibly lost Kaoru. She and Dargove are the only family he had ever known, the only ones who ever cared for him. And as much as it would damage his "COOL" image, Yahiko had to admit that he does care for her, maybe even more than he actually thought.
"C'mon Kaoru! Where are you!" Yahiko cried out as he walked on. "KAORU! KAORU! KAO...!" Yahiko froze as he saw Kaoru, lying on the ground. He stopped a few feet away, scared out of his wits, and trying to look for any signs of life… just a simple movement, anything! "Please..." he begged.
Suddenly he heard flapping of great wings. "Dargove..." Yahiko thought, relieved to have his other friend, but as he looked up, he saw that it was a different dragon. A smaller one, a female.
Yahiko knew dragons are not an enemy of humans, but before he realized what he was doing, he took out his wooden sword and stepped between Kaoru and the dragon who landed before them.
The dragon smiled, "It's alright, you must be Yahiko" she said, her voice a little softer and higher than Dargove's.
Yahiko put down his sword, his instinct telling him that this is a friendly dragon. He looked at the great beast before him in awe. She is smaller than Dargove, that's for sure, but compared to Yahiko, she is still gigantic!
"My name is Willow," she said. "Dargove told me about you and asked me to help him find you and your friend back there."
"How do you know I have a friend with me?" Yahiko asked bewildered. He thought Kaoru was well-hidden.
"Unlike Dargove who can heal, I can only sense nature's pains. And right now, your friend is in great pain and we should get her to Dargove at once!"
Yahiko became suddenly alert at what she said. You mean Kaoru's… alive!" he said almost jumping for joy, but then remembered the rest of her words. He ran to Kaoru and gently lifted her up with Willow's help. Together, they flew to meet Dargove.
"So," Yahiko said when they were in the air, "Dargove could actually heal humans? I've seen him heal forests but that's all."
Willow laughed softly, and to Yahiko, it sounded almost melodic. "You forget my dear Yahiko, that humans are part of nature too" the dragon said.
"You mean to tell me that Dargove could have healed me back then when I sprained my ankle! And when I cut my arm! And when I fell from the…" Yahiko went on and on about his injuries that Dargove should have healed.
Willow just laughed thinking, "Humans could be so entertaining!"
...the next day in a cave near Hundorf...
Kenshin woke up with a start. He was sweating and breathing hard. How he hated nightmares about his parents' death, but it seems that he is doomed to have them every time he sleeps! He sat up a bit light- headed, then remembered why he had fallen asleep in the first place.
"Darn her!" Kenshin said, but felt angrier with himself than with her, for not realizing what she was trying to do.
Kenshin walked out of the cave. "At least she was true to her word," Kenshin thought as he saw that it was late afternoon. Unfortunately, he still doesn't know her name!
"Darn it!" Kenshin said angrily as he went back inside the cave. "Tomorrow, the Hydra would be at the village," and he thought "so would she." His eyes narrowed, "and so would I" Kenshin said.
He stopped as it dawned on him that he said that not so much because he wanted revenge for his parents, but more because he knew that "she" would be there fighting the monster. "It'd better not harm her!" Kenshin thought really worried about someone, for the first time in a long, long time.
The day set for the Hydra to attack had arrived, and all the men and even women of Hundorf stood before the gates of the village… waiting. Only the children are asked to go indoors. But then, there are two more strangers added to the group, and standing in the front line, no less!
"I appreciate your gesture my friends" Tulav said to the two young 'brothers' who had courageously come back to offer their help, "this proves much about your character, but I must ask you again to leave now. I carry the burden of guilt for what is to happen to this village, I cannot have your early demise on my conscience too!"
Yahiko laughed, "You're getting better with this convincing stuff Tulav but our answer is still no."
WHAM! Kaoru punched Yahiko, saying "Have a little more respect you baka!" She then turned to Tulav and said, "I'm sorry about this brainless, disrespectful brother of mine, but I'm afraid that he is right. We have come to help and we are willing to face the consequences for our actions… whatever that may be!"
"Very brave words!" a male voice said.
Tulav was suddenly on guard as a man with red hair and cross-shaped scar on his cheek jumped from out of nowhere in front of open-mouthed Kao.
"What do you want stranger?" Tulav said feeling protective over his newly acquired friends.
The red-haired man suddenly brought out his sword and Tulav as well as Yahiko tensed. But strangely enough for the two of them, Kao(Kaoru) who seemed to be closest to danger stood still staring unbelievably at the stranger.
"It's you!" an old trembling voice broke the thick silence. Everyone looked at the old seer as she spoke. "It's you I saw in my vision! Have you come to save us oh noble stranger!"
Kenshin was taken aback as he suddenly found himself the focal point of everyone's attention.
"Is it true?" Tulav asked to him amidst the growing whispers of the village people. "You have come in time, my friend. My people and I are most grateful!"
"I know nothing of what you speak of" Kenshin said flatly. "And I am not your friend!"
The village chief's eyes narrowed. There seemed to be something more than what the red-haired man is saying, his eyes said it all, especially at the way he stared at Kao!
"Why are you here then if you are not the chosen one?" Yahiko said forgetting what Kaoru had just told him. Half expecting another whack on the head, Yahiko took a peek at Kaoru. She still seemed to be in shock. "Does she know this man?" Yahiko asked himself and was about to speak his thoughts when the stranger answered his question.
"I'm here because I have a score to settle with the Hydra… and with someone else…" he said glancing at Kaoru.
At his last comment, Kaoru snapped out of her initial shock of seeing him again. "How dare you...!" she began, but he turned around suddenly. Kaoru opened her mouth again to give him a piece of her mind (forgetting that she was supposed to be a boy) but Kenshin beat her to it.
"It's coming" he said, and everyone brought out their weapons alert and ready.
After a few seconds with no commotion, the men on the watchtowers shouted that they don't see anything.
"It's here" Kenshin thought sensing the Hydra's presence. "It's coming from underneath!" he shouted.
True enough, the ground started to shake and one of the Hyrda's head burst out from underneath.
Kenshin grabbed Kaoru's waist as he jumped back. "Stay here" he told Kaoru before he went back and slashed the second head that emerged.
...to be continued(c",)