Past Person

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Never have, but I wish to. Darn.

It seems that since I am rewriting this, I can't seem to put up any of my ANs. I see no reason too. Just know, that if any one needs to know, that I appreciate all comments and reviewers.

Chapter Two: Crazy Witch Person

Kaoru had no idea where she was or why she was still running. Tears still fell and heart still hurt, but it felt so unnatural. Like she shouldn't be doing this, feeling this, but was. What was the reason?

As her legs led her past rundown buildings and an uninhabited homes, she found herself down right lost. She had no idea there was such areas like this. Wouldn't some one have torn down the wreckages and rebuilt? It was almost sad to see such a state of decay.

As she lost her self in dreary scenery, what ever driving force that had been moving her feet suddenly stopped and Kaoru jerked and skidded to an exhausted stop. She gasped for breath hungrily even as her chest spasmed in pain. Her body shook from lack of oxygen, and Kaoru had to rest a good five minutes to be able to stand.

What had possessed her to run like that? She couldn't guess.

She examined her surroundings more critically as she had time to walk. There were no street signs or any type of writing any where. It was as if it were a ghost city.

Kaoru gathered her breath in an attempt to call out when a shrill, ear shattering inhuman screech practically exploded from all directions. Kaoru clasped her ears and cried out as the deafening sound hollowed out and whispered away as if it were nothing. Her ears rang and head pounded, but another sound caught her attention before it gradually grew louder.

Following the soft song, Kaoru ducked into an ally and circled around building after building before and soft dirt road opened up before her. The song was being hummed by a haggard old woman sitting at the end of the dirt path.

She didn't even think about how soft a hum could have traveled as far away as she had been when she first heard it.

Cautiously, Kaoru stepped further into the open and made her way to the old woman, who seemed oblivious to the company. Her feet seemed to guide her strait to the other woman, which wasn't what she had intended. Being all alone and lost, she didn't want to get to close. Obviously, her feet didn't seem to listen.

She came to an abrupt stop not two feet away from the woman, and could see she was reading old and browning tarot cards. She flipped a card and pulled out another before she even looked up to Kaoru. She didn't look startled, but smiled warmly and pointed to the revealed cards in front of her. "They tell me of a crisis, some one who took the wrong path. But not just that person, but both Fate and Destiny." Returning the cards back to their pile, she pulled two more out and flipped them over to read them. She put her hand to her chin, looking deep in thought. "They have changed. Fate has played a cruel game, and the players have no choice but to run as pieces. Do you know what you must do?"

Kaoru was confused as the old lady stood and circled her. Should she fear her?

"You are the only one to change it. But, with a past such as your's, it will be difficult to return. It's just a test, to make you work for happiness, yet destroy it if you fail. Do you want to be happy?" She asked. Kaoru nodded, finding it hard to talk. "Then give me your hand."

She was sure she was possessed as she felt her hand lift without her knowing. She attempted to move but found her body stuck. She admitted to herself, at least, that she was just a little scared. This kind of stuff wasn't humanly natural. She could only guess she was experiencing something supernatural. Yet couldn't seem to feel any fear.

The woman pulled a clear glass vile from the folds of her sleeve and gently held Kaoru's outstretched hand. There looked to be only water inside as one drop plopped onto the back of her hand. She did the same to her other one, then took them both into her own. Her body heat seemed to freeze, the sky rumbled and shook. A gust of wind slammed up behind her and Kaoru wondered if this was just a little odd. The old woman was still holding both her hands, and Kaoru noticed that her eyes were shut but her lips were whispering. Was she chanting or singing again?

As the wind slowed then stopped and the sky calmed, the old woman gently dropped Kaoru's hands and patted her cheek. "I will help you, don't worry." She wrapped her cards and other junk up and slowly strode into a joining ally. As she disappeared, Kaoru felt her body return to her and darted after the woman. Peering down the long ally, Kaoru couldn't see her any where.

Weird, she thought, and creepy.

She shrugged her shoulders and turned back around to follow the dirt road. Looking down it, she couldn't see any turns or twists, and seemed to go on strait forever. It was odd, to see a dirt road that led strait through a lost, broken city of stone.

If it led her out of this place, she thought, then what does it matter?

She hadn't walked but a few feet, though, when a sudden dizziness almost collapsed her. She caught her self, but felt an odd buzz on her hands. Looking at them, her eyes widened as they glowed bright red. But it got worse, as she saw the glow spread and engulf her hands and travel up her arms and shoulders. She jerked and rubbed at her hands to try to stop it, but it only seemed to move faster. Her chest and hips were glowing and her legs feet soon followed. She couldn't see it, but could feel the light inch slowly up her neck and past her jaw. When it reached her ears, she could faintly hear the soft tune the woman had been humming. When her head was taken, it was like looking through red tints as everything turned red then blinding as her body flashed and the light seemed to explode around her then dim.

Kaoru stood as still as possible when her body stopped glowing. She didn't feel any different, physically, but as she looked around her, horror gripped her chest and clenched her stomach.

Instead of the vast graveyard of buildings and rubble, she found herself on the dirt path with old fashioned wood and shingled huts. They were primitive, a few hundred years before modern advances.

Some how she knew, but didn't want to believe, that she was not in her own time any more.

The sudden move from building to shack, concrete to wood, then to there, it was as if walking into a new world. So unnatural and shocking. Unwanted.

Kaoru stood where she was feeling foreign and out of place with her simple shirt and jeans, in the past so different from her own time.

Forcing her feet to move, she took a slow step at a time making her way down the deserted street. There was no one in sight, but considering the early morning time, if there were people they were most likely asleep.

Her steps echoed off the silent walls, shooting down the street and startling a cat from a pile of trash.

It was the slums of the twentieth century.

In the close distance, Kaoru heard the scuffle of feet and the ring of metal striking metal.

She paused in step and looked past the huts to see shadowed figures racing up ahead. They jumped from shadow to shadow, quietly stalking something or someone. Ducking behind a wall, Kaoru watched as one of the men motioned the others with a wave, and they silently reached his side and drew their swords.

With another wave, the men turned the corner and disappeared from her sight behind the hut. She heard them yell out, shouting at someone, but she was to far away to hear what they said. One of the men pulled back into few dragging a body, and returned. She stared at the slumped form, scared and wondering what was happening.

More shouts and cries echoed back to her. Two figures shot out and ran down the road in her direction. She ducked back behind the wall and watched as another figure blurred around the corner and cut the two men down, effectively killing them in seconds.

Kaoru covered her mouth in shock trying not to make a sound. The killer stood in the same place he had stopped, sheathing his sword. Just in case, Kaoru searched the area for some kind of weapon. Only finding a stick, she grabbed and held it close to her chest.

It was quiet, but Kaoru couldn't find the courage to peak around the corner. If he saw her, he would kill her too. She just stood as still as possible.

"You should take the time to run now, or find yourself dead."

The voice, cold and hard, deep and strong, froze her stiff and unable to move. If any voice could kill, Kaoru thought, it would be his. If just felt like death.

Could she move? No, not an inch. And not just out of fear. It was fear, honor, and pride that had her taking a breath and stepping from behind the wall and facing the killer.

And met with the most frightening, brilliantly amber eyes that caught her breath. Even if he was shadowed by the buildings, his eyes glared through the dark to meet her.

He stood calmly, sword lowered and loosely held. Only his eyes moved as she made her way to the middle of the road. Sword brandished, Kaoru turned to face him, but stood shocked as a moment of light caught his face.

The clouds of dark had shifted and moonlight lit the face of Kenshin, or some one who looked exactly like him. Blazing red hair held high and smooth, pointed face, just as Kenshin, who she had just seen an hour earlier. It was shocking, and Kaoru was stunned frozen. Only difference was the one scar on his left cheek.

"You should have run. I would rather not have to kill another tonight."

"Who are you?" She interrupted him. It looked like Kenshin, but if this was another time, who was he that looked so familiar?

"You don't need to know me. You won't live long enough to care." He raised his weapon as to prove it. If she would have left, he would have let her go. Instead, he had to take an innocent life. A rather unusually dressed, but lovely innocent girl. It was a shame.

"Kenshin," she called desperately. "You have to be Kenshin." But please let it not be him, she hoped, because she couldn't bare to have seen him kill.

He was shocked, to say, caught by surprise and curious. Did he know her? He wondered.

"How do you know my name?" He asked and lowered the blade slightly.

"I…I know you, you're my best friend, but in another time. I think. I'm not sure." And she was unsure. Was he her friend? He was her friend in her time, but could he be that here?

"No, not true. Now tell me how you know me!" Was this desperation? he wondered. Or was he just freaked out? Every one referred to him as Battousai, and he had no friends. He shook away his distress and held up his blade. "No matter. I'll make your death quick and painless, woman."

She seethed and copied his stance with her stick. Make it quick her ass. Being a woman didn't make her weak! "Just try it. And I have a name. Kaoru Kamiya, assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryu."

He loved the look in her eyes, her blue eyes that he could look into forever. He admired her strength, but pushed it aside. He had to dispose of her. Bending, he shot off at her and raised his blade to cut down, but never had the chance as his sword was pulled from his grasp. He turned to see an old hag grinning and swinging his sword mockingly. His hand went for his other blade only to find his hip was bare.

"Hand them over, woman, or I'll take them back by force." He locked a fierce glare on the hag, but she just smiled. In a move unseen by either two, the hag sprang forwards and slapped the sheathed blade into his stomach, launching the dazed man a few feet back onto the dirt road.

"You can not harm her. If you do, then Destiny will be stalled and the future of all will crumble in destruction. It is your job to protect her and open her mind to both your soul and her own. Teach her, be there for her. If not, then the lives of all are forfeit. Do it for the people." Her voice, Kaoru noticed, was different. She could hear the tinkling of bells and the melody of running water. A far cry from the dry, throaty nash of before.

"Stop talking nonsense! You, hag, had better give my swords back unless you want to die. You won't tell me what to do. I will not do any thing but kill the girl, and I could care less of what you speak."

"I see," the woman murmured. Raising her hands palm up, she began to glow the same red that Kaoru had. Within a few seconds, both onlookers were startled in fear as the glowing body morphed and shaped to produce a woman of pure white. Long white hair, crystalline white eyes, pale skin, and shimmering white robe. It was blinding to see so much white, Kaoru grouched.

"You will do as I say, boy, as what I speak of is very important. If this task is not successful, then your lives and all others will be uncertain yet troubling. Do you understand?"

He growled after the initial shock. "That doesn't prove anything except you are a demon and shouldn't be trusted!"

Kaoru secretly agreed with him, yet also feared her. Who wouldn't fear powers that could take you from your own time? Kaoru wanted to yell at the man, tell him to shut up and don't anger her. She could do anything to them.

But the woman smiled smugly and tilted her chin up arrogantly. "I am the Caretaker of Time. Whether or not I am a witch is inconsequential because not only do I have power over you, but I also need an important favor. I ask nothing from you, not your soul or services, but to do what you must to secure your futures and of the worlds. Fate and Destiny is a dangerous thing, and only she can fix it." She pointed at Kaoru who looked bewildered. "Do you believe me?" She asked him.

He grunted and turned his head. "Maybe," He said flippantly, "Maybe not."

She sighed and pointed a long, white finger at him. The next moment his hair tie snapped and an abundance of long green hair fell about his shoulders. He had to do a double take as he screamed and clutched at his green hair. "Ok, ok! I believe, so change it back!" the woman lightly chuckled and changed his hair back. He glared at her as he retied it.

"This is like some twisted Cinderella story. Only it would suck to watch." Kaoru murmured, also barley concealing a giggle.

"No harming the girl!" the woman yelled as he made his way towards Kaoru. "You are to protect her, not kill her, remember?"

"This is unreasonable!" he shouted as he stopped. "How am I to protect her from all my enemies and myself? She is not worth my life to save."

Kaoru meant to yell at him, but the time witch beat her to it. "Shush, Kaoru. I have thought of your rather physical characters, and I have put a chant on both of you. Kaoru will not be able to kill or harm you, and you will not be able to do any thing to her, either. Is that clear?" They both nodded. "Good, then I should leave soon. But before I go, I must take your memories, Kaoru. You will only remember a few things, including our own meeting, but other then that, only the minimum. You'll get it back when you go home, but that won't be for a while. You have to live with a naive heart, to learn again." She paused and smiled sadly. "I will always be there for you both. In your thoughts and by your side. I won't let you do this alone."

The atmosphere shimmered and the woman disappeared. Kaoru was about to comment on something, when her head seemed to shrink and everything went dark.

He watched the girl crumble bonelessly to the ground and debated leaving her when he heard a mental scolding. Heaving a breath, he flipped the unconscious girl over his shoulder and took off in the direction of the woods.

Silently, he cursed his luck. He was burdened with enough these days and didn't need the girl to add to his problems.

But he couldn't get the feeling of knowing her out of his head. He felt a sense of right when she was near, could feel calm and weightless around her. She had known him some how, and with her memories now gone, he doubted he would ever know how.

Again, he cursed his luck.

It was a long night of walking. With her on his shoulder, it was an even slower walk then what it should have been. Dawn was in but an hour and he had had no sleep. He guessed he wouldn't be getting any sleep until reached headquarters.

As he neared the forest's edge, the small weathered shack was shadowed by boulder and tree. He had found it a while back, and since then used it as a temporary roof while in Tokyo. It was rare for him to have missions in Tokyo, and this was a time he wished he didn't.

It was dark and chilly, which was caused by all the holes in the walls. The shack wasn't even fit to live in, but it was a place to rest before setting out to Kyoto. A little roughly, he tossed the still sleeping girl onto the battered and torn futon. She didn't make a sound at the movement.

Sitting down himself, he pulled out a ration of rice balls and ate them hungrily. He laid out two for the girl, then thought otherwise as he grabbed for them. But again, he heard the witch in his head and left the food alone. He cursed, yet again, as he leaned against the corner wall shutting his eyes for sleep.

Later, as the sun poked itself up to make daylight, Kaoru came awake to unfamiliar surroundings. She jerked in a sitting position. Her hand touched the rice balls by her side and she ate them hungrily. The morning chill made her shiver and she looked at the room she was in. Rotting wooden walls, broken cabinets, weak, low roof, and a dusty futon that shot dust out at ever move. Where in the hell was she, Kaoru thought. She couldn't remember a thing!

XxX

Thats the revised chapter two. I really doubt any one even notices, but I guess I should keep doing it. My stories loose credit if they are written so poorly. If I can do better, then I will.