Written: 15 May 2006
Posted: 15 May 2006, rev. 0
Category: Action/Adventure/Romance.
Summary: A mysterious shipwreck hauls the Kenshin-gumi, Hiko, and a companion from Kenshin's wandering days into a thicket of betrayal, political jockeying, and love.
Disclaimer: The characters and story of Rurouni Kenshin are the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shonen Jump, et al. Used without permission. This work is for entertainment only, and no profit is intended.

Notes Story notes at end of document.
Glossary At end of document.

Golden Smoke: A Hawk & Dragon Tale
Prologue

September 1863
East China Sea, Somewhere between the northern Ryukyu Islands and Cape Sata, Kyushu

A tired old bezai drifted before the wind, her sails mostly a-luff, but lifting ever so slightly now and again as the tail of a monsoon blew itself out over the East China Sea. As she bobbed and wallowed before the gusty airs, a smartly kept black-hulled, fan-sailed jong bore down upon her.

Within five minutes, the jong had come alongside the old bezai and dispatched a boarding party.
Within ten minutes, the petty officer in charge of the boarding party was back on board the jong, pasty -faced and bellowing for the captain.

Within 15 minutes, the captain had looked at the three items the petty officer had laid before him.

Within 20 minutes, on the strength of a vial of silver fluid, a packet of black gum, and a cone snail's shell, the sweating captain had ordered the firing of the bezai. He sent the boarding party back to the bezai to breach her hull to hasten her scuttling.

Within 25 minutes, the jong had set course for Tokyo Bay, running hard before the wind with all sail flying.
Within 45 minutes, the bezai had slipped beneath the waves, with all hands.

Within five days, there was hell to pay in Tokyo.

September, 1878
Tokyo, Japan

He had thought of it so many times that the picture in his mind was no longer his attempt to understand what had happened. It was real; the factual record of whatever horror had visited itself upon the decks of the Orang Medan all those years ago.

His father, sprawled on his back on the windward side of the deck. He had always loved the feel of the sea wind in his face. Klaas, his oldest brother, crumpled face down in the bow, He was always the one to look ahead for hazards.

Roland, the middle brother. Fallen on his side, close to Maurits and Hans, his cousins. The gregarious young man and the two fledglings he'd taken under his wing.

Walter, his uncle. Slumped against the mainmast, the best vantage point to catch all the details of the crews activities.

All the tall, slender, blonde or red-haired men. All the green and gray and blue and hazel eyes bulging open. All the gleaming white teeth, that had shone so often in their smiles, bared in a rictus of horror and pain. All the brave and dignified and proud Maartens men, reduced to pathetic cowardly heaps of disheveled clothing.

Whatever it was, it was horrible. They found all of them in the same condition: all turned away from the setting sun, all with their eyes wide open, all of them with their teeth bared.

All of them: all the crew. The captain and all his officers. All the passengers.

All his family.

At 15, he went from a newly appointed apprentice to head of his family's company.

It was just a fire that broke out in the cargo hold, the government reports said.

A fire. In the cargo hold of a ship transporting quicksilver from Japan to Jakarta.

Quicksilver doesn't burn.

But for years, that was the official—the only—explanation. He always knew there had to more to the story.

And now he knew the rest of it. He knew what happened, and he knew who caused it. Now he could bring justice to the murderers. All of them—the governments, the profiteering merchants, the bureaucrats, anyone and everyone who had done their part to destroy his family, his childhood, and his life—would pay.

Story Notes

Welcome to Golden Smoke, the first in the Hawk & Dragon tales. These stories are set in the Adoption universe, but their focus is not on the relationship between master and apprentice so much as on two other relationships, one between Kenshin and a long-time companion and one between that person and Hiko . The next chapter will introduce the new character.

For anyone who has not previously read my stories, please note that I write to manga canon, so don't expect any pink gis, Ayame & Suzume, or filler incidents (like Kenshin sleeping in the storage shed), or a Tomoe who is bitchy or taller than Kenshin. I do occasionally deviate slightly from canon, usually having to do with timelines, but I make note of any significant differences.

I try to maintain a reasonable level of historical accuracy, and appreciate comments that will support that goal.

This is a multipart fic. Exactly how long, I don't know as my characters haven't yet told me the whole story. I will try to make updates no less than once a month, and if things go extremely well, I might beat that schedule (but I'm not laying any bets.) Just remember that I do this for the sheer joy of creativity, and I don't work on stuff that isn't fun or is causing too many RL complications.

Acknowledgments
I have to bow deeply to the estimable Sueb262, who lent a (very encouraging) ear and helped me figure out a nice juicy plot to hang all of these nicely convoluted character relationships from. Sue is a talented and original author in her own right, and I suggest you locate her in my list of favorite authors and give her stories a read. You won't be sorry.

Glossary
Bezai—type of single-rigged, beamy Japanese trading vessel common through 19th Century. Generally less capacity and speed than a junk.
Jong—Chinese. Term for ship called "junk" in English.