Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters (sighs)

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I'm so happy that I got over twenty!

Now this next chapter is probably what a few of you have been waiting for...

Chapter 6:

The horse was taking her deeper and deeper into the shadowy forest. She was out of breath, sticky with sweat, and tired. She had been riding for a few hours and her back was screaming in pain. She got off the horse when she saw a stream in the distance. Kaoru went off the path and started to drink from it. She had just fulfilled her thirst when she saw a woman in a cloak and a group of grungy-looking guys go past her. Luckily they didn't see her.

"So we got the money," one of the men said, who had a huge scar across his left eye. He held a few have money bags in his hands.

"But I'm too embarrassed now," the girl said in a feigned innocent voice.

"You weren't too embarrassed to do it a few minutes ago," another ugly man growled.

Kaoru crouched behind the bushes. She was attempting to keep her horse quiet and be still too. All the while her face was turning redder and redder. She had heard of these unruly women before. No one ever talked about them in the castle because everyone had too much dignity. But, like watching a gruesome swordfight, she couldn't help but watch.

"Well I guess I…"

Kaoru's face was a pure crimson shade by then and the woman took the cloak off… if you could call this little girl a woman. Her black hair was long, but in agirlish braid, and her chest was extremely flat. She was also wearing clothes that revealed her thighs and it was altogether totally inappropriate. She kind of looked like a weasel.

"What the..?" one of the men cried.

"Yep! My name is Misao Makimachi and I've come for my money, so give it!" The girl now yelled with a bold voice.

"Damn it. It's just a little brat."

The men started to walk off with the money when the girl shrieked:

"I'm not a brat!"

She then proceeded to jump off the rock she was standing on and kicked one of the men in the head which instantly knocked him out. The rest of the malesinstantaneously started to attack her. But it seemed that Misao was a pretty decent fighter because a lot of the men went down in a manner of seconds. What Misao didn't expect was the dagger that the last man had. She had turned her back on him for a second; but when she turned back to face him, she saw the dagger aimed at her stomach. She was taken so much by surprise that she fell backward and landed on the hard ground below her. The man was about to kill her when, out of no where, came a blow to the back of his head and he blacked out.

Misao looked up and saw a girl, who looked around one year older then her, standing above her.

Kaoru smiled and Misao and offered her a hand.

"What exactly were you doing?" she asked as Misao took her hand.

"I was trying to steal some money."

Kaoru felt like she was talking to a small child. "I know; but why?

"Because I've been traveling around here for a few days and I needed the money."

Kaoru groaned. "Couldn't you have gotten a job, or something?"

"I guess I could have. But I don't feel like getting a job while I'm on the road looking for the prophesy."

Kaoru was suddenly interested. She was looking for adventure and it was finally here! "What prophesy?"

"Oh crap! Okina told me not to tell anyone! I can't tell you I'm sorry but Okina said that I can't tell you about the prophesy about the legendary people who are going to save the country."

"But… You just told me..."

"ARRG!" Misao yanked at her own hair, "Why does this always happen to me! Ninjas aren't supposed to blurt out things!"

"…like the fact that they're ninjas," Kaoru pointed out.

"Exactly," It took a few seconds for Misao to realize what she had just said. "Not again!" she screamed.

Kaoru rolled her eyes. This was the strangest girl she had ever encountered.

A few seconds later the girl stopped her ranting and looked up at Kaoru. "You know, you don't look dirty enough to be from around here."

Kaoru froze.

"In fact… You smell really clean… Where do you come from?"

"I-I-I don't want to talk about it," Kaoru stammered.

"Oh! So you're a runaway! This is so exciting! I've never met one before, but for some reason I always thought that I would meet a boy runaway. You know the cute, slightly spoiled, but the kind that has a hint of bad boy in him. I just know that my Lord Aoshi would be so hunky if he ever became a runaway! Oh! I wish that would happen!" She twirled in a circle, "He would come to me, the beautiful queen of the forest, and ask to be saved from its dangers and then we would fall madly in love! Then again he was the one who taught me all of my survival tricks in the first place. So I guess that he would never fall in love with me! Do you think that he would?" She gripped Kaoru's shoulders but quickly let go, "He's too good for me! I could never measure up! He'll probably fall in love with that fox lady, but she's in love with the rooster head, even though she won't admit it and…" She rambled on.

Kaoru was thoroughly confused. Who was this Lord Aoshi? Why would he fall in love with a fox? And don't foxes eat roosters? But she was glad that this girl didn't have a very long attention span because the topic wasn't on her.

"Excuse me," Kaoru interrupted, "but what is this prophesy about? "

"What prophesy?" Misao looked clueless for a few seconds.

"The one you were just talking about a few seconds ago."

"Oh! That one! I really don't see why it's that important anyway. It's supposed to be about two people who are going to save Icico and Azuna from destruction. I really don't know that much about it. I just came looking for it because Okina kept on insisting that I go and find it."

Kaoru didn't have anything else to do, so she asked, "Do you want me to help you find it?"

Misao considered for a few seconds, "Okay!" She replied in her ever chipper voice.

About 5 hours later, Kaoru decided something: 'This girl had no idea what she's doing.' They had walked around the forest trying to figure out how to get out of it and eventually they got lost. But Misao, the ever cheerful girl that she was, didn't fret and insisted that she knew exactly where they were going (even though Kaoru could have sworn they had passed the same rock6 times before). They had been walking for hours and hadn't gotten any sleep and Kaoru was starting to get really cranky. It was really hard to stay in a good mood when you've been dragging a horse and haven't gottenany sleep for a long time.

"Misao, why did you turn left when I asked you to turn right?" Kaoru pushed her hair out of her face. She always had her hair down, but she really wanted to put it up now. So she pulled out a scrap piece of fabric from her bag and pulled it up.

Misao, not realizing anything was wrong, replied, "Because I know that this is the right direction."

"How?" Kaoru growled. Her stomach was growling too. She hadn't taken any food and she hadn't eaten since her meal with Hiko.

Misao sighed. She slowed down because she noticed that Kaoru was starting to trudge more. "Because that tree is where I ate lunch yesterday!"

"Are you sure you weren't lost yesterday?"

"Yes! I was here a lot of times when I was little. That tree was the boundary line far as we could go from home!" Misao started to skip again.

Kaoru was getting really annoyed and stomped up to Misao. "So where are we going now?"

"Back to the Aoiya!"

"And the Aoiya is…"

"…the restaurant where I live, work, and sleep. It's also a secret headquarters for the Oniwabanshu, the ninja group I work for," Misao was skipping off at a rapid pace and Kaoru had to jog to keep up while she was dragging the horse.

"You mean to tell me that we've been walking around in the woods for nothing!" Kaoru was gasping harshly, they were running by now and that girl was fast! They had already gone half of a mile in a minute!

"I guess you could look at it that way if you wanted. But personally I like to look at the picture as the glass half full!"

Kaoru stopped to catch her breath and then she yelled, "Stop Misao!"

Misao came to a quick stop and turned around to where Kaoru was currently sitting on the ground. "What's wrong?" Misao looked concerned.

"Listen… I don't want to run twenty more miles! I'm tired!"

"But I'm not," Misao replied leaning over her with a huge grin on her face.

Kaoru was too tired to deal with this and snapped back, "But I am! Listen I have no where to go and this damn horse refuses to go any faster!"

Misao smirked, "You don't seem like the kind of girl who could curse."

"I am when I'm really tired and hungry!" she snapped.

The weasel girl gave her a long look and started to think. Finally her face lit up, "I have an idea!"

The princess's face paled, "Not more running!"

"Even better!" Misao said in her ever enthusiastic voice, "I'll give you directions to the place that I work and I'll take the horse! You can work there! Can you cook?"

Kaoru blushed. The only time she had ever attempted to cook was when she was thirteen and nearly burned down the entire east wing of the castle.

"No," she mumbled in a quiet voice while looking down and shuffling her feet.

"That's okay!" Misao responded in her normally bubbly tone of voice. "You can just serve the people!" she said while she jumped from one rock to the next looking around to make sure that no one was listening in on the conversation.

Kaoru was speechless! "Thank you so much!" Kaoru exclaimed bowing slightly.

"It's no problem! The Aoiya could use more help!" Misao had stopped jumping and was now starting to get on the horse.

Kaoru was on top of the world! Her running away was officially a success! All of a sudden she realized a few problems, "Wait, Misao! How exactly do I get to the Aoiya and what about the prophesy?"

"Just follow the trail we're on now," Misao pointed to the ground and Kaoru noticed that they were on a clear cut trail, "and we'll think about the prophesy next week; I'm tired." Misao brushed her hair out of her face as the wind came towards them.

'She's tired! How could she be tired? That little weasel...' Kaoru thought irritably as she watched Misao set off.

Misao started to get the horse to go, but she was going off the trail.

"Misao, what are you doing?" Kaoru asked in surprise.

"I know a quicker way, but that's only because I've done this for years," she kicked the horse and it quickly galloped into the dark forest.

Kaoru sighed. She hoped that Misao was telling the truth. At least she still had her pack on her back. She got it out and took out a mirror. She looked in it by the light of the stars.

The face that stared back at her looked like a plain traveling girl, with dirt in her hair and hands. Dust covered the clothing and her eyes, which were usually surrounded in make-up, were now extremely blood-shot. She looked normal. In some ways it disappointed her and gave her an odd pleasure at the same time.

She quickly put the mirror away. No one would know who she was now.

She walked for another hour when her tired legs gave out. She sat down next to a near-by tree, pulled out her pack, set it down as a pillow and quickly sleep took over.

The next morning she woke up to the blinding sunlight and the birds cheerfully communicating with each other. She stretched and sat up. Her back was severely aching her and her neck hurt whenever she tilted it back. Last night she had had to scrunch up into a ball and put on a small blanket that would camouflage her from travelers that walked her way.

She dusted herself off and picked up her pack. She took off at a slow pace and started to notice that it was almost two hours until noon. Her father had taught her how to know the time based on the placement of the sun.

After walking for an hour, she heard something ahead. It sounded like a horse! But Misao had gone in another direction! Maybe this person could show her a quicker route to the Aoiya!

Even though she ran quickly, the horse got away. What she did see was a man; a man who would forever change her life.

He turned around and their eyes met. He had long red hair and the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Her heart skipped a beat and the world stopped.

A/N: I hope you liked it! This chapter took forever to write and two major events happened. She met Misao, who will play a very major role in the future. And she met our beloved Kenshin! (Finally) Now it's time to get this K/K story started!

Please leave a review, this chapter was really hard to write and I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading!

-rm/bo