Chapter 1: The First Encounter

He had been on a reconnaissance mission around the city. He was supposed to make a detailed report on the walls, the state of the gates, the number of watch-guards. In other words, he was going to besiege the city as the last lord of his clan.

"I will take back, what is rightfully mine."

Before there ever was a Carnelia, there was the war clan called the Mitsurugi tribe. They battled on the fields of the land of the bleeding sun long before the commoners from the east arrived and colonized their nation. Their strongest rival, the Ryu tribe, were agile assassins, who prided themselves for taking lives away at night. The Mitsurugi were skilled swordsmen who found ways to counter the assassins. The assassins adapted and found other ways to kill. By the time the first colonist came, their styles have evolved greatly due to the adaptation that each made in order to win. Their style of warfare was sophisticated and effective. However, because war was the main concern, their population became small--and thus unable to hold back the colonists. Hence, Carnelia was created with the force of numbers alone.

Defeated and exiled, both the Mitsurugi and the Ryu clan made an oath to each other. The number of their people was dwindling, so intermarriage became the uniting bond between the old rivals. Their styles were combined and perfected in the many generations that Carnelia used to fatten itself. The clans had grown into a great population, never forgetting the oath. Kenshin Himura was its ultimatum.

He was a loner that much was certain. He did his own dirty work. He could kill when needed. Lead when needed. He was the best scout they had, so he was the one making the rounds, feeling the terrain. His very birth made it clear that he was made for battle.

But he never meant to kill a young priestess. He in fact was trying to avoid her.

Fool!

She followed him, her keen ears sensing the rapid breaths that heaved high above her head led her to look up. She saw the mark of the Mitsurugi-Ryu oath on his cheek. A cross. All those who bore it were lords of killers untamed and he was the only one left. She tried to scream, but the sword was too fast. The flash of blade barely reached her eyes when it went through her stomach, causing a fatal wound.

Kenshin chuckled softly. He enjoyed playing hide and seek but never liked losing. "Tell me priestess, if I were to kill you right now, something bad should happen to me, right? I interfered with fate, interfered with your life that was set apart for the spirits. What wonderful nation would create such a foolish religion? Tell me, priestess, do you believe?" He mocked her dying form as she grabbed his shoulders to steady herself. Slowly Kenshin pulled her down to the ground. He leaned down to look in her eyes of clear blue, clear of hate, clear of regret, clear of any emotion but…

"Are you pitying ME?" He spat at her face. Her eyes told him yes, causing his eyes to flare gold. He grabbed her head brusquely and pulled her up. "Let me give you a reason why you should pity yourself instead!" thus he violated her mouth.

Kaoru choked at his tongue, her vows as a priestess that morning, she knew, became absolutely void of meaning by his violation of her body. Her tears flowed freely as he took pleasure from her pain. She tasted his impure tongue, lashing in the depths of her flesh. Her bleeding worsened, she was seconds away from death. Nevertheless, it did not matter to the assassin. Kenshin disengaged his mouth from hers and started to hitch up her robes, but did not get far.

Her eyes… Her eyes glowing with blue flames. The last of her tears dropped as the glow completed its turn in her eyes. She stopped breathing and her eyes shut close.

Kenshin looked around in confusion as the earth started to quake. Above him, the sky was literally falling. Heavy masses of earth came shooting to the ground. The dirt beneath his feet parted, leaving him to scramble around for stable ground. He risked a look at the priestess. What he saw would keep him from sleep for the next 10 years of his life.

Her eyes were open, but the fiery blue was more explosive than before. As if she had blue suns burning in her eyes, she lifted her hands to dampen the pain and yet she couldn't. She looked to the sky, allowing the light from her eyes to cast a blue sheer over the land. Kenshin watched in terror as he saw the priestess levitating up from the ground. Her bloodstained robes dissolved into ashes, and in her naked form, he saw the fatal wound he caused close up and heal itself. Rumbling lightning emitted across the quickly darkening sky as meteors fell as if to claim his life. He had to scramble and run around to keep his footing, all the while keeping an eye on the priestess. She was so high up that the light in her eyes cast a bluish glow all around the horizon, her mouth screaming inhuman pain.

At last the blue light was extinguished and the earth came to silence once again. The ground was stable and the sky clear. Kenshin looked up and saw that something was still falling.

No. He slowly ran towards the falling object, picking up speed as he saw what it was. The priestess. He used the city walls as leverage, jumping on it to catch her in midair. When he landed, he brushed away all her hair from her face. A face that he wished would invade his dreams if he ever could sleep in the next ten years. The face of innocence. Silently breathing in her sleep, the naked priestess lay silky and soft in his arms, not a drop of blood could be found on her flawless skin. Beautiful. With a graceful movement, he shrugged off his cloak and put it around her.

Not knowing exactly what he had done, or what he was doing, he carried the girl back to camp.