Sapphire Scales, a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic by Raberba girl
Chapter 6 - The Mob
They were coming.
The smell of their fear and their fury reached her even before she heard their shouts in the distance. Frantic, Kaoru took a step toward the cave with some wild, impulsive thought of rescuing what she could from the Secret Room. Then her gaze fell on Kenshin, who was innocently hacking another piece off of the cow she had provided for his supper. She could not carry her treasures and her Kenshin all at once, not with so little time to prepare...
She snatched him up and spread her wings. She had to save him. He was her most precious treasure now.
"Kaoru-dono!" he was shouting. "Kaoru-dono, what is it?" She did not have time to make him understand that they had to run, that she had to fly now. "Kaoru-dono!" he yelled again, so thunderously that she paused to glare at him.
He was glaring back. "What is it?" he demanded, looking uncharacteristically stern.
Impatiently, she pointed him in the direction of the approaching mob. The sun had set, but so recently that the skies were still gray. Even so, the torches were visible moving through the trees, heading straight for them. The shouts were faint, but close enough now that surely even a human could hear them. 'You understand now?' she thought angrily, but when she held him to face her again, she froze.
Kenshin was...different. She felt him rigid in her grip, his expression harder than she had ever seen it, his teeth gritted together and his eyes glowing yellow. The smell coming off him was powerful, furious and full of danger. Kaoru had never seen Kenshin like this before. For the first time she felt afraid, not of what he might have tried to do to her, but of him.
"Kaoru-dono," he said, frighteningly polite, "please put me down." It never even occurred to her to disobey. She set him down very gently. He stood there, the lines of his body suggesting a graceful coiling for action. "Kaoru-dono, please go into the cave, and do not come out until it's safe. I will handle this."
"You?" she burst out incredulously. "Little Kenshin, against a huge mob? They'll slaughter you!" She was not sure how much he understood of her wild gesticulating, but it didn't seem to matter.
"Please go now, Kaoru-dono," he said coldly.
She shivered, then was angry with herself for doing so. What was wrong with him? "Kenshin..."
He turned his back on her, shoulders straight, feet set apart, one hand grasping the hilt of his sword, the other half-curled in readiness at his side. After a moment she growled and retreated.
They came soon, raging out of the trees like fiery insects, the points of their weapons gleaming. Her heart clenched in fear as she looked at those angry eyes, eyes that saw her as nothing more than a beast, eyes she had seen too many times before. Only Kenshin had ever dared to look at her dragon's form with kindness.
Those in the lead halted in shock. The menacing figure waiting to meet them was not the one they had expected.
"Good evening," Kenshin said pleasantly.
"Hitokiri Battousai?"
The name was tossed fearfully among the murmuring voices, and Kaoru stiffened. They took one look at Kenshin and called him by a strange name...called him hitokiri. 'No,' she thought. 'Please, please, no.' Her gentle little Kenshin, a killer of men? She had refused to believe him when he tried to tell her, unwilling to connect the odor of cringing guilt with the sweet smile she loved. But now, seeing him like this...
"He's alive."
"He's supposed to be...!"
"The dragon didn't-"
"Sorcery."
There was an angry hissing from the villagers, and a fluttering movement as many hands gestured to ward against evil. Kaoru's anger suddenly overrode her fear, and she emerged from the dark safety of her cave, growling in a low voice. She took her place beside her would-be protector, her head on a level with his. There was a terrified reaction from the villagers at her appearance, but none of them ran.
Kenshin startled her when he reached out to caress her scaled face, murmuring in a hot purr, "Did you hear that, Sapphire? They think I've laid you under some sort of enchantment to bind you to my will. It would never occur to the dumb clods that it could be the other way around." He grinned scarily for the villagers' benefit, but as he spoke he was signing at her, his amber eyes smoldering, "You, go back to the cave."
"Eeeaah," she growled, aware that the villagers were terrified and angered by the strange gesturing they took to be witchcraft. "I'm staying with you."
"Your help is appreciated, my dear Sapphire," he growled back, "but trust me, it's entirely unnecessary."
"Stop them!" a voice shouted. "Stop them before they bewitch us all!"
"Remember the gold," urged another voice. "No one who runs'll get a piece of the hoard!" The first of them charged, shouting.
Kaoru raised her head to roar - and when she looked down again, five of the attackers were on the ground, three more dropped in the next instant. There Kenshin stood in the midst of them, eyes burning, not even breathing hard after felling eight men in one go. 'What are you?' she thought hysterically. 'Are you human, or a demon?'
He was hitokiri.
A cold feeling crept down her spine.
By this time some of the villagers were running. Kenshin flashed after them almost faster than the eye could see - they didn't have a chance. Others were frantically firing arrows at both dragon and hitokiri. The flimsy missiles broke apart on contact with Kaoru's scales and had as little hope of piercing Himura Battousai as they had of piercing the wind. Kaoru had not even had time to gather her wits together before the entire mob was mowed down, save for one man who stood wide-eyed and rigid with Battousai's sword at his throat, a pitchfork still clutched in one hand.
"Your eyes," Kenshin said, soft and deadly, "are not a coward's eyes, nor do they hold greed. What have you come for, then?"
The man swallowed. "That...thing," he said tightly, his glance flicking to Kaoru, "has been feeding on our livelihood. Yet another one of my cows was stolen just today - look, there it is."
Kenshin's eyes did not flicker, but Kaoru looked down guiltily at the partially-eaten carcass.
"So you meant to slay her for it?" Kenshin growled.
"Why not?" the man cried, sounding a little panicked as the blade shifted threateningly. "They're animals! We hunt the wolves that kill our sheep - why is this any different? What's so special about the Sapphire Beast that you protect it, Battousai?"
Kaoru growled, but Kenshin slowly lowered his sword and then looked up at her. "Kaoru-dono...he does have a point."
'EXCUSE me?' she roared in outrage.
"I mean about the livestock!" he said quickly. "Kaoru-dono, we cannot keep stealing." We, not you.
"Wild animals, hard to catch," she signed defensively. Then, when she saw his eyes narrow, "Hard! Humans spread out, cut down trees, animals run away, hide. Hard to find. Forests, mountains, closer and closer, more and more. You see?"
He was quiet for a moment. Then he turned to the man, who had fallen to his knees in terror. "Get up," he said impatiently. "She says that the human settlements are expanding, making it harder to find food."
"She said that?" the man cried wildly.
"With her hands." For a moment Kenshin looked confused, then he shook his head dismissively. "It's not magic, I mean. But that isn't the problem here."
"That...is not an ordinary dragon..."
"Observant, aren't you," Kenshin said coldly. "Now, are you interested in working things out between yourself and your neighbor, or will you continue to babble and complain about how she communicates? There is only so much of that I will take patiently."
It was a while before they were finally alone again. When the last of the wounded villagers had been dragged away, Kenshin gazed for a long time at the reversed-blade sword before slowly sheathing it, looking thoughtful. Then he turned to Kaoru, but she growled at him. "Kaoru-dono..."
She blinked her eyes rapidly and meaningfully. His shoulders stiffened, and he reached up to touch his own eyes. "Oh...I'm sorry," he said helplessly. "I don't know how to make them..." Even as he spoke, the fiery gold of his eyes dimmed and faded back to their usual color.
Kaoru's heart seemed to unclench in relief when she saw it. Now more irritable and hurt than ever, she turned her back on him. He called her name again, pleadingly.
'Did you only spare their lives because a female was present?' she thought sullenly, 'Or was it just that you couldn't cause any fatal damage with that blunt sword of yours?'
She heard his footsteps approaching uncertainly, and she tensed, waiting. He stopped before he came into her sight. "Kaoru-dono," he said in a low voice. "I'm sorry. I tried to tell you..." He paused. "Do you want me to leave?"
She looked over at him quickly, growling. Did she want him to leave? Of course not, she wanted to keep him - she wanted Kenshin, the clumsy little creature with warm eyes and a sweet smile. Not a killer who had found refuge from his crimes in a dragon's lair. She could smell the spirit inside him, a strong spirit, but also but hurt and afraid; she could see him looking out of the familiar eyes at her...but he was not the only Kenshin. There was also Battousai, who had killed his fellow humans and would do so again. That part of him was angry, defensive. The layers of scent twined and became one, so that she knew she could not separate the two in her mind, could not have one without the other. He killed against his will in order to fulfill the desires of his softer nature...the same desires that longed to save her, and would never be able to.
'How can I hate you,' she thought, 'when you ruin yourself out of pure selflessness?' He was the complete opposite of her, who had been ruined because of her self-centeredness. She didn't deserve him. He was a monster, yet even a monster like her didn't deserve him.
Sadness was coming off him in thick rolls like invisible smoke, smothering the hurt and anger beneath. "Very well. Good-bye, Kaoru-dono. I offer my sincerest gratitude for your hospitality." He bowed, then turned and began to walk away from her.
She watched him going in disbelief. 'I...I want...' Kenshin was leaving. She had all but told him to leave. Kenshin was-
Her tail came sweeping through the air and thudded to the ground in front of him so that he stumbled. For a moment he stared at the length of scaly flesh blocking his way, then turned cautiously to face her. "Kaoru-dono?"
"Kenshin...here," she signed awkwardly. "Stay."
A smile crept over his face. "As you wish." There was a distinct note of relief in his voice.
She lay down and swept him close to her so that she could be reassured by the tiny, soft tangibility of his body.
"I'm not a doll, you know," he protested, though he smelled more of contentment than indignation.
"Mine."
Grinning, he wriggled half out of her grip and patted her nose. "Mine."
The idea seemed so ridiculous, she had to turn her face away so she could laugh without harming him. When she looked back, he was rubbing his ears after the assault of the harsh, gravelly shrieks of her laughter, but he was still smiling. "I suppose I see now why you'd like to let your past stay in the past. I won't ask you again."
Hm. "You. Talk."
He frowned in puzzlement. "About what?"
"Talk about..." She could not make him understand. Finally she let go of him and sat up so that she would have more freedom to sign, and at last he understood.
"You're going to make me tell you my story again?" he said indignantly.
"I already know you're a bad person," she teased. "Tell me."
"But you haven't told me anything," he pouted.
She fidgeted. Then, careful not to specify a time frame, "After."
He sighed good-naturedly. "All right." He looked up at her again. "Kaoru-dono, how much do you know about human politics?"
"Not a thing," she admitted. It had been too long. She listened as he told her about why he fought, about human struggles that were interesting, but which she had a hard time thinking of as real. The only thing she really understood was that her scent-picture of him was right, that he shed blood reluctantly in the hope that it would lead to better lives for the country's people.
"Go back to them?" Kaoru wondered, meaning the Ishin Shishi.
He was quiet for a minute. "I...I should. My work is not done yet." He hesitated, and she lowered her head to peer at him. He looked back at her and smiled. "Yes, I know, I'm running away. It's just..." He pulled in a deep breath, and sighed. "Everything I've done will mean nothing if I wait too long to return," he whispered. "But if...if I have to endure the smell of blood one more time...I don't think..."
She carefully nosed at his hair, trying to comfort him, and he smiled despite himself and pushed her away. "Now don't get dragon-snot in my hair, I'm too tired to hike all the way to the lake tonight." He yelped when she mischievously let a trickle of drool slop down onto his shoulder. "Ow- ow! That's hot, what are you trying to do to me?" Rubbing at his soiled clothes, he said ruefully, "You're not taking me seriously, are you."
"Kenshin stay with me. Not have to smell blood."
"And the people who need my help?" he said quietly.
She hesitated, and did not show him her thought, because it was bad enough that she was so selfish without him knowing about it, too. 'I need your help...I need you, Kenshin.' Finally she signed, "Kenshin only one can hold a sword?"
"Well, there are other hitokiri," he acknowledged. "I just don't...trust them."
"...Kenshin stay...a little. Then go."
He nodded slowly. "I will stay with you as long as I can, Kaoru-dono." He suddenly laughed humorlessly. "I feel like I am home...but I would be betraying my sword to rest here too long."
'As long as your home is with me,' she thought, 'I will let you go when I must. Just not yet...not yet.'
To be continued...