ALTERING RULES
by: Chiki Yumeshisa

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin……all original ideas and characters are mine to claim.

AN: Sorry the chapters are so short – I need the time to pull things all together. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Your reviews are really, really helping. I'm so grateful for all the support that I've been getting. O.O wow! You are all so amazing! THANK YOU

Warnings: Rated PG13 for a bit of violence.

CHAPTER 3
- Authority -

Slowly she turned around, her hands tightly clenched into fists. She saw that it was not one of the monks, or even that dirty unshaven man. It was a tall lean man with black hair and the most dangerous eyes she had ever seen – they were amber-like in color. His face looked to be turned into a permanent scowl. His armor proudly displayed the Daikan crest, and his blue cloak hung limp because there was no wind.

Kaoru was terrified, at the same time, she was relieved. She had been found, but at least now she'd be taken back to the camp. Still, this man made her skin crawl. She couldn't help but have the sudden urge to break into a frantic run. The one question that was on her mind was: how had he found her?

"You left a nice trail of blood behind." Saitoh said, smirking, as if reading her mind. His eyes fell on her bruised and bleeding feet. "You should take more care if you wish to run from me, miss."

Miss?

She watched him silently. No one had ever called her that before. She felt her face grow red at the way he was mocking her. She uncomfortably shifted her feet. She had thought no one had seen her leave.

"You should also take care in hiding – I saw you jump off that wagon plain as day." He told her, as if once again, reading her mind. "And now, I've caught my prey." He moved toward her, expecting her to jolt away. Instead, she stood firm in her ground.

She dipped her head. "My lord, I have important news."

He snorted in disgust. "Yes, I'm sure you do." He roughly grabbed her arm, bringing his fist down to pound into her small middle. Grunting, she doubled over in pain.

Kaoru tried her best to gather her bearing. "Sir……"

She was thrown backward, her legs and arms flailing as they scraped against the hard dirt. She lifted terrified blue eyes to the soldier, who seemed to be in a very foul mood indeed. Would he kill her? He had a dangerous look in his eyes.

He reached down to grasp a fistful of her shirt. She felt a pit of dread and fear build up in her stomach. He'd abuse her first, she realized. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt his fingers worm by the thin material of her clothing. She wanted to scream, but who would care? It was just a servant being beaten by her master because she had tried to get away.

Suddenly, she felt the pain that the chains that had been causing her lift, as his strong fingers managed to untangle them from her slim waist. They were still attached to her arms though, and he pulled on them viciously, listening to her little scream of pain, as her arms felt as though they would be ripped from their sockets. The steel made long deep gashes in her arms, a small trickle of blood dripping to the floor.

"I would have your blood." He said, almost sadistically; morosely. "It would please me some more if I had more of it."

She nearly flung herself at his feet. "Then, please sir, listen to me first before you kill me………"

He backhanded her across the mouth, with a fistful of the chain. Her bottom lip was ripped a fresh gash, and she fell backward. "Shut up." He growled. "I will listen to no woman."

Her teeth chattered against the burst of pain. She felt him kick her in the side, and she tried to crawl away, but he kept her in a firm place by holding her chains in place. He suddenly stopped beating her, pulling her to her feet like a horse pulled by its reins.

The ground slipped dangerously beneath her, and she almost fell, but his strong arm came up under her to support her. Her head spun, and she heard him curse aloud. "Damn you, Himura….."

He began to roughly shove and push her along, heading back to camp. Sometimes, for the fun of it, he would beat her. She gave no complaint as she stumbled over tree roots and fallen branches.

The shouts of the soldiers filtered in her ears as they reached the camp once more. He brought her to the wagon, and threw her in, where she landed in a heap at Misao's feet.

Misao cried out, rushing to her side. "Kaoru! Kaoru?"

The other slaves in the wagon rushed to see to her as well.

Saitoh made his way back to the carriage. Kenshin was watching him with coldly. "I thought I told you to bring her back safely."

"I did." Came the nonchalant reply. "You didn't say that I couldn't whip her."

Kenshin glanced at the cart before snapping, "You didn't have to beat her half to death."

Saitoh waved his hand. "Oh, Himura…..why do you care? She is a servant – if we were to let her get away without a beating, it might give those other ones ideas. I just delivered a warning. That's all." He bowed his head in scornful respect. "I followed your wishes, did I not? At least the girl is alive. I had the thought to slice her in two – I haven't had my share of fun today."

Kenshin turned away, angrily. He watched as repairs to the carriage were still being made. "I have brought no death carts with me today – if she dies, be certain that you will carry her the rest of the way to the palace on foot." He announced finally, and with that, he walked off, calling out to Genzai, their medical aid.

Misao helped Kaoru sit up. "Oh dear spirits, Kaoru……"

Kaoru swallowed the bile she felt coming up her throat. "I'm….I'm okay, Misao …….." She murmured. Her head was still reeling from the last blow Saitoh had dealt her. Her whole body throbbed, and her back ached with the way he had literally dropped her into the wagon. She knew she deserved it.

The healer came at the command of his superior and began attending to her more serious wounds, before closing his case and saying, "You should have been smarter than to try and run away."

Kaoru shifted, trying to get to her feet. Even if she had tried to run away, she had found out valuable information. She had to let someone – anyone - know. "Sir, you must convince the good lords to return back to the palace at once. It will be in danger."

He glanced at her briefly, his worn weathered face looking tired and haggard. He was an old man, with about five and fifty years tolling on his body. A long white mustache graced his upper lip meeting with the fine white hairs on his chin. "My dear child, what makes you think you can command this small army?"

She shook her head. "I don't mean to command, kind sir. I merely wish to warn of grave news. It is important, and if you will not tell them, I must."

"Then for sure they will take your life!" Misao cried, aghast. "Kaoru, don't be foolish."

Genzai had the courtesy to laugh. "She needs rest – she seems ill at ease."

Kaoru eyes flashed angrily, but Misao kept her hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to face her friend. "Misao! I must tell them!"

"That is not wise." Another slave piped up. "Besides, how do you know this information?"

"I heard it!" Kaoru cried defiantly. "If they do not move now, they will be too late – those at this opening ceremony of theirs will die." It would be no use to try to explain it in full detail. They were running out of time.

The doctor shook his head, in amusement. "I'm certain the palace is fine. We have tight security."

Kaoru dizzily shook her head, trying to clear it. "I must……please….."

The healer got up. "She must rest now." He said, completely ignoring her all together. He had no desire to tell something of the sorts to the soldiers. None but Kenshin had the authority to turn the orders around. Even though Kenshin was a kind man, he had a thin stretch of patience at the moment and the healer wasn't willing to risk getting yelled at.

"They're on their way now!" Kaoru cried out wildly. "They will attack while the ceremony closes, and your army is out here stranded!"

The doctor froze. He turned around briefly, but then thought the better of it, and continued to make his way down the wagon.

"Aid, was all okay?" She heard Kenshin's voice ask. The wagon was too high up for him to see anything but the top of the servants' heads. He had heard an anguished cry rise from the cart, and had come over to investigate. He was itching to make Saitoh sorry for his impudence.

The healer jumped down. "The slave girl is fine." He announced. "Though, she is insisting that we are all in danger."

Kenshin sighed impatiently. "I'm afraid that this is the truth: we must repair the carriage and fast. It is not well that we are here."

"Will you return with haste to the palace, good lord!" Kaoru called out, hearing Kenshin's voice.

He couldn't see her face, so he called up. "When our wagons are ready."

Kaoru clutched the sides of the wagon, worriedly. "Please, my lord……you must return now."

Kenshin felt himself get upset. He was tired and cranky after having spent hours in the hot sun working. "I will command the army as I see fit!" He told her.

"Then you would allow your troops to be stranded here when they are most needed at the palace!" She flung back. "Is it not smart, my lord, to leave a small number here to fix your wagon and with the rest, go forth and aid the palace in its battle?"

His anger only grew. A woman, telling him what to do? "I do believe, my lady," he stressed those two words so mockingly it made her ears burn with embarrassment, "that I am the commanding officer, and I know what I am doing." He scowled up at her. Those purple eyes she was enchanted with were clouded and upset. "I suggest you learn your place, or I will have Saitoh have his way with you."

Kaoru wanted to answer back, but he went away, stomping off like a child who had a sour attitude after a scolding. She pushed herself against the wagon's side with a grunt of annoyance. Misao was pale and her blue-green eyes were wide with shock. The rest of the servants merely stared on with interest too. None of them would have had the audacity to speak like that to the commanding officer.

But if no one was to speak up, then they would all be doomed.

Besides, she thought angrily, he is a human and makes mistakes. She wistfully thought about his reaction. She hadn't wanted to upset him, but he was so set in his thinking that he didn't like it when someone else told him what to do. She was wrong about him: he was like the rest of them…..and what was more, he was so keen on pointing out their status difference.

What was she thinking?

She was an ugly rag compared to him. He probably had a beautiful maiden waiting for him back at his barracks. And he would go to her every night. He would never want to come home to someone as drab as her. She could never compare to the real ladies.

She silently brooded, and Misao leaned over. "I think that was mighty brave of you, Kaoru, to stick up for yourself like that." She sounded genuinely surprised. "But, be careful in what you tell him – he is a very temperamental person."

Kaoru nodded, and before she could respond, she heard Kenshin shout,

"All lines report back in! I will be leaving a quarter of you behind to attend to the carriage: we must rush back to the palace. My intuition tells me that there is going to be trouble, and we will be needed at the front. Therefore, let's not waste any time."

His intuition indeed! Kaoru thought darkly. Taking the glory for himself – that was what probably made him the commander of the army. She listened as he began to separate his soldiers and make preparations. He was moving further down her list of honorable men.

Maps and scrolls were taken out once again, and his navigators began to help him decide which path was the best to take, to help him to the palace faster. Soon enough, they decided on a particular route across the plains. It would be a couple of hours and they would probably reach their goal before sunset.

The wagon lurched forward, nearly causing all the servants to fall over one another. She was glad however: at least they were moving. He had been thoughtful enough to heed her words.

Now, she hoped that they weren't too late.

The other question was, how was she to tell him about the spy?

Especially when she wasn't too sure who it was.

Despite her worry, she fell asleep, due to her exhaustion. Despite her earlier beatings, she slept deeply, though her dreams were tormented with the news she had heard.

The feeling of darkness enveloped her as she was plunged into a nightmare.

In her mind's eye, she watched as men, concealed by the darkness, surrounded her, and she tried to warn the soldiers, but they would not listen to her. He would not listen to her.

She saw the monks once more, but this time, they were surrounded by men flanked in armor, bearing the Torrin crests and flocking under the black brazen banner of a Lion the symbol that the opposing land had taken as their own.

Their attack was ruthless and savage, and she tried to get away – but there was no escape. It felt like she were running through a bog, and it sucked her back, leaving her no room to run. She opened her mouth to scream in terror when one of the men finally caught her by her ankle.

She was awoken harshly, to her relief, as the wagon came to a sudden, jerking halt. She felt her head hit the backboard hard, and she winced in pain. Dazed, she looked around, the real world crashing about her once more. Shaken, as the nightmare she had had still lingered fresh in her memory, she hardly had time to get a breath when the horses pulling their wagon began going wild.

Her dream was becoming reality, as the sounds of battle reached her ears. Still groggy and off balance, Kaoru hung on for dear life as the horses reared, causing the wagon to tilt dangerously. The rest of the slaves cried out – unlike the soldiers who were armed and protected, they had nothing to shield themselves with.

Through all the cries of pain and the shouts of war, a strange whistle filled the air, smoothly quiet, but unnervingly alarming. The sound grew in intensity, and Kaoru looked up to see an arrow coming straight for her.

To Be Continued…..

AN: That's it for chapter 3. Thanks to all who reviewed. I'm so honored that people still remember me, and that many of you still care to review. Again, for those people who don't know, I've posted this story before but this time I've changed a few things. I hope you enjoy what I've written. Next chapter, next Sunday! But please, before you leave, review?