Sekamu: chanting Second Chapter Second chance!
Kuro: Try saying that five times fast! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance!
Myst: Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance! Second Chapter Second Chance!
Sekamu: swirly eyes What have I done…?
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"I'm fine," Kurama reassured a tall woman who was looking down at him. "A stone tripped me up, that's all, Sakura-san." The woman, Sakura, smiled at him and helped him untangle the cords from around his leg so that they were straight in front of him again. They still bound his hands, but Kurama had almost become used to that.
"Hurry up," the slaver's voice growled from in front of them. He gave a tug on the cords to emphasize his point. "This is bandit country, and I have a bad fee—" The man was cut off by a sword being thrust through his chest. Kurama stared at the blood dripping down the man's front in morbid fascination.
Before anyone else could do anything, Sakura had snatched up Kurama and begun to run. Two other girls, whose ties had also been held by the newly killed man, fought to catch up. "Sakura," one, Kasumi, panted, "Where can we go?"
Akane was also out of breath, but she was able to point out to Sakura and Kasumi that not only were they surrounded by the bandits, but they were being chased as well.
Hearing this, Sakura stopped running. Whether she was out of breath or out of hope, Kurama did not know. She set him down, and began to regroup with the other two girls. Kurama, on the other hand, picked up a sword from the body of one of the slavers, and stood in front of the approaching bandits. They had slowed down as the girls had stopped running, and were advancing steadily, laughing at the idea of a child fighting them.
Before he could do much more than raise the sword, Akane had snatched him away and was trying, and failing, to prevent him from seeing the other two girls being slashed by the bandits. Slashed as they begged for his life.
"Listen to me," she said as she crouched over Kurama. "If you do nothing else, live! I might die here tonight, but you must live on. Live for me…!" Akane did not have the opportunity to insist, as she was pulled up by her hair by one of the bandits. She tried to, though, repeating "live" until a sword was shoved through her neck. Even then, it took a sword through her back after they dropped her to the ground for her to die completely.
Kurama stared at the girl in shock, not registering the cries of "What the hell!" and "Who are you?" from the bandits. He didn't see the man in the white cloak massacre those remaining. He could only see the face of the dead woman in front of him, and hear her final words. He didn't even look up when the only one left alive on that road spoke to him.
"You were unlucky, child. The Shogunate's laws have been lax since the arrival of the black ships two years ago. More and more self-declared ronin prowl as bandits in this area. Some fate brought me here, and I have taken revenge for you. But the dead will not be brought back to life by mourning or hatred. Such things happen everyday, everywhere, in today's Japan. You should be thankful that you, at least, are alive. If you go to the village at the foot of the mountain, and tell them your story, they will care for you." With that, the swordsman walked away.
The rest of the night, along with the following day and following night, Kurama spent burying every body on that field of blood. For every grave he made a cross, and for the three young women who had tried to protect him, he lugged large stones from a nearby creek. Half of the last night, he looked for flowers, but he could not find any, anywhere. For an hour, Kurama stood in front of the graves, thinking. At a step behind him, he did not turn.
"Not only your parents, but for the bandits, too?" A voice from behind him spoke.
Kurama corrected the man without looking at him. "They were slavers, not parents. The parents…" He continued, his voice tinged with sadness, "…died of chlorea last year. Bandits or slavers, once they're dead, they're just bodies," Kurama said, trying to explain why he had felt the need to bury his mistreaters and their murderers.
"Even so, you made graves for them…" the man said, the emotion in his voice unreadable. "What are those three stone graves?"
"Kasumi-san, Akane-san, Sakura-san. All three were forcibly taken from their parents as payment for debts." Kurama looked down, continuing to study the graves. "I only knew them for a day, but I was the only one here, and I have no parents. So I thought," he continued, not expecting the man to completely understand, "Even if it costs my life, I'll have to protect them. But…" he trailed off, ashamed at the sad graves in front of the two, "I couldn't find the right stones to make a nice grave for them, like I wanted. I looked for flowers to offer, but I couldn't find even one." Kurama bowed his head even more, but turned his head to the side, surprised to hear a soft 'pop'.
The man had a jug of sake with him, apparently newly bought. He poured some of the sake ontop of each stone, saying as he did so, "Man or woman, to attain buddhahood without knowing the taste of good sake is a crime. A good sake is the least I can do," he explained, as a stream of alchohol fell on the last stone. "What is your name, boy?"
Kurama looked at the man for the first time. For a second, he was dumbstruck by the sheer height of the man in front of him. The billowing white cloak made him look like someone from a fable or legend. He opened his mouth to give the stranger his name—and woke up.
Kurama sat up in bed, eyes wide. That dream… One of the strangest ones he'd had in a while. He shook his head. He had no clue where that had come from. Perhaps from studying too much…? He remembered that the man had mentioned the "coming of the black ships", so for some reason, the dream had been placed right before the Bakumatsu. Well, whatever the reason for the dream was, it was an odd one, Kurama thought, as he rolled over on his bed and went back to sleep.
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A couple of days later, Kurama noticed something odd looking in the mirror. It took a couple of seconds for him to recognize that he had tied his hair back into a high ponytail. Ah well, it was comfortable, he decided, and walked out of the bathroom.
That night, however, he had another odd dream.
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"I will not allow you to leave!" Hiko Seijuro denied his apprentice, who stood a few feet away from him under the tree.
"But Master!" Kurama argued his case, "While you interpret philosophy, innocent people are dying down there day after day! The teachings of Hiten Mitsurugi are fruitless unless they are used to protect the defenseless! We must go!"
"Be silent!" his master interrupted before he could say anymore. Kurama gave a slight intake of breath at Hiko's vehemence. "How do you plan to defend those people with your limited knowledge? Will you choose the less loathsome of the two evil factions in that futile conflict and do its bidding? I do not bestow master Hiten Mitsurugi's sweetest principles on you so you can become the pawn of nefarious men. You can change nothing. The troubles of the outside world are perpetual."
Kurama couldn't stand it anymore. "And in virtue of that I'm to turn my back and live in self-ordained ignorance?" He burst out, taking a step forward. "I can't ignore them! They need us, master," he tried, one more time, for permission to go fight.
"When your training is complete, you will be the strongest of swordsmen, and your mind will be as strong as your sword." Hiko said, turning to face his apprentice.
"The peasants who are dying in the grip of the Bakufu alliance cannot wait that long, master. Your words are nothing to them!" Kurama stated loudly, gesturing with the hand that did not hold his sword.
"Go down there! Brand yourself a murderer!" Hiko allowed. He gasped, not expecting Hiko's bluntness. Yes, Kurama wanted permission, but perhaps not that badly. Hiko ignored him, continuing, "Murder is the only art a swordsman can practice! No ornamental words can change that. You want to protect people with murder?! You'll slaughter legions so that a few might live." His master's angry tone changed to one of almost regret. "Many years, long before you were born, my sword was tearing asunder the lives of men. Yes, all of those men were evil," he allowed, as he bowed his head, "but they were human beings, first and foremost."
Hiko's tone changed. He almost sounded like he was begging Kurama not to do this. "The world you so ardently desire to enter would not know what to do with you. It will deceive you into believing that you are saving lives even as you destroy them. You will accept their lies. All the while, your hands will be stained with the worst of offenses." Kurama gripped the sword tighter, raising it to waist height
"Perhaps," he agreed, knowing that that was all too true, "But even so, my hands will bring relief to people who have learned to live without hope." That would be the only way he would be able to stand killing, the only way he would be able to live with himself. "A human being who feeds on his brother is not a man anymore. He is a mad dog, and should be dealt the same fate," Kurama said, honestly believing this. Master Hiko began to walk back to the hut they shared, ignoring him. "Master! Listen!"
"It is foolish to listen to someone who will not listen to you. Do as you wish. Go to them," he finally (grudgingly) allowed, walking into the hut.
"Thank you," Kurama said quietly. "Master…" he said even more quietly, bowing his thanks, and his acknowledgement that Hiko would not consider taking him back, if he did not die in the fighting. Without another word, he began to walk down the mountain. His things were already on him—his sword, and the clothes on his back. That was all he carried to the life that awaited him.
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Again, Kurama awoke. That was the second dream he had had this week of that man—"Hiko", he had called him tonight. No, "Hiko" felt odd. Not "Hiko", but… "Master". Strange…
Sekamu: Yeah, nothing much actually happened in this chapter. But he's starting to remember… evil laughter Okay, so the first scene was taken almost directly from the Rurouni Kenshin manga, volume… 12? Hiko's speech is word for word from the manga, along with the conversation at the graves. Some of the stuff with the bandits and slavers I made up, and some of it is from Samurai X: Trust. If you've seen the movie, you'll recognize Sakura's, Kasumi's, and Akane's deaths.
The second scene was, again, word for word, this time from the English version of Samurai X: Trust. All of Kurama/Kenshin's internal dialogue I made up, but the spoken words are verbatim.
I'm posting the third chapter at the same time, and that is my own, not taken from the canons, and these are really the only long dream scenes in the story… I think. That might change.
That's about it, so thank you all for reading, and please don't forget to review!!