She is walking through an unfamiliar city. It is night, and
the sky is dark; only a few stars can be seen, their light distant
and cold. She shivers and hurries, not sure what she is escaping
from or running towards, only knowing that she must keep moving,
or else...
The shadow of a great dragon appears on the wall before her; she
jumps back with a shriek as the outline moves towards her. She
turns to flee, but the buildings have closed in around her--there
is nowhere to go.
She whirls back, sobbing, hands pressed against her mouth, but there
is no dragon. A man stands where the dragon would have appeared,
watching her with sad eyes. "You're afraid of me," he says sadly.
She is, so much afraid that she can only find her voice with
difficulty. "You're--you're a monster," she stammers. "A murderer."
His eyes flash at the word; his voice is tinged with frustration.
"I gave you my word that no harm would come to you."
"I don't know what your word is worth!"
"You won't even give me a chance!"
"Why should I?" she shouts. She lets herself drown in anger, lets
red fury overwhelm the fear that still stings at her eyes. "You've
trapped me here, haven't you? You've stolen my family, my entire
life!" The words come easily, too easily; she knows they aren't true,
she
He winces and backs away as though she has hit him with a physical
blow. His pain immediately makes her regret her words. Anger and
fear both evaporate; she steps forward, concerned at what she might
have done to him, but he continues to back away until the shadows
envelope him. Determined, she follows him, and walks into darkness.
The city is gone; all light is gone. Fear engulfs her once more. Why
is there no light here? Where is here?
"Help him."
The voice comes from nowhere, quiet and unfamiliar. Kaoru turns and
looks around, but sees nothing.
"Please."
"Where are you?" Kaoru breathes, cowed and curious at once.
A dim figure appears, walking towards her--a pale woman, with long
hair and a white kimono. The woman's face is beautiful but grave, her
eyes sad. The scent of plum blossoms fills the air; Kaoru's breath
catches in recognition.
"Help him," the woman repeats. "I try watch over him, but he does not
see or hear me as you do. And I can only do so much. You must free him,
since I cannot."
"How?" Kaoru cries. "Tell me how! What does he need? What do
The woman only stares at her, even as she fades away into mist, as
the dream fades away into morning...
Kaoru woke with a start, gasping. She sat very still for a few moments, feeling the dried tears on her face. She looked towards the window, hoping...but the light in the air was the same as it had been when she went to sleep, the same as it had been since her arrival. Nothing had changed.
She stumbled out of bed, blindly grasping at the neatly-folded kimono beside her bed and changing into it. The last vestiges of her nightmare burned behind her eyelids; she could still see Battousai's pained expression, could still hear the strange ghost woman's voice. Her hands were shaking as she wrapped a dark purple obi around her waist.
It wasn't fair. Help the Battousai? Help him? He had threatened her father, ordered her to abandon her home to come here...what right had he to courtesy, to anything from her? He was a demon! He deserved nothing but contempt!
But she knew, knew with a sinking feeling in her stomach, that the thought was wrong. She was here because of the Battousai, yes...but he seemed just as much a prisoner as she. If that were so, they were comrades, not enemies. Ever since her arrival, he had treated her with politeness and respect, and she had lashed out at him--not just in her dream, but at dinner the night before. She had not been fair.
She finished dressing and pushed open the door that seperated her room from the main hall. A meal was laid out on the table; Kaoru walked by without a glance. She couldn't eat breakfast. She couldn't do anything, not until she found the Battousai and apologized. She hesitated a minute just outside the threshold of her house, uncertain of where to look.
You must free him.
The ghost woman's words echoed in her ears. Kaoru shook her head; the dream wasn't important now. She could think about that later. With determination, she began walking down the road, abandoning any pretense of knowing her destination. The city had lead her back home last night, and to the orchard when she wished it; perhaps it would lead her to the Battousai now.
Almost immediately, the road gave way to a large building, far larger than any of the others Kaoru had seen. She recognized it immediately as a dojo. She stopped and listened, but could hear no sounds from inside.
I have never seen any other living creature. No person, no animal. No sounds, save those I make myself... But Kaoru had never heard Battousai make any noise at all. He moved as silently as sunlight, and his voice was hushed enough to be mistaken for wind. The building was quiet, but...she pushed open the door.
He was there, sword in hand, facing an imaginary opponent. His katana twisted, his entire body moved as lightly as leaves in a breeze. Kaoru watched in amazement as the Battousai danced, his sword flashing.
He landed easily, looking directly at her with an expression of surprise. "Kaoru-dono," he said in greeting.
She blushed, flustered at having been caught staring, and stammered "G-good morning" in response.
"Is everything all right?"
His voice was concerned, and she shook her head immediately. "Oh, no, I'm fine. I just..." She steeled herself. "Battousai," she said quickly. "I want to apologize. I didn't mean to be so rude to you last night."
He looked at her, eyes thoughtful. "Did you not?" Kaoru bit her lip; he smiled immediately and reassuringly. "No, it's all right. I accept your apology." He resheathed his sword and looked deep into the corners of the dojo. "I have not forgotten under what circumstances you are here at all, and I know you have not forgotten. I would be surprised if you did not resent me."
Kaoru could think of nothing to say in responce to that--at least, nothing true, for she did resent him, could not help but resent him--so she instead looked at the room around them. It was massive, the largest room she had ever seen; their voices echoed, even though she was speaking only barely above a whisper. Her eyes caught on a large cupboard, not far away. She walked over, ran her fingers along the doorframe, searching for safe topics of conversation. "You spend your time here?"
Battousai nodded. "Usually, yes. Here, or in the orchard, or occassionally reading." He smiled again, very briefly, at her astonished expression. "Many of the houses have extensive bookshelves."
"Oh." The wood of the cupboard was very fine; not a single splinter caught at her fingertips. "What's in here?"
Battousai gestured for her to open it. Kaoru found the latch and lifted it; one of the great doors swung open. She caught her breath and stepped away, feeling a chill run down her back.
Weapons. Swords, spears, axes, knives, throwing stars...more weapons than she had ever seen in one place before, more weapons than she could name. Metal gleamed cold in the light. The room suddenly seemed much darker.
"It's an impressive selection."
Battousai's voice startled her; Kaoru jumped, and turned back to look at him, amazed. "You--you can use all these?" she squeaked.
He shook his head. "I only know the sword." He smiled at her once again, reassuring, and despite herself Kaoru was reassured. His admission relieved her, and she turned back to the display. There was an empty shelf, space for one more sword amidst all the other weapons--a place where Battousai could hang his own katana. Below it was something interesting: a sword made not out of metal, but of wood.
Kaoru reached out a hand to touch the strange weapon. It was made of stalks of bamboo, lashed together to form the shape of a sword. She picked it up, and liked the weight of it, the way it felt in her hand.
She turned back to the Battousai, an idea striking her--a way to make amends, a way to fill the time that crawled by unseen. "Could you teach me to use this?"
He blinked, looking startled for the first time since she had come here. "I...have no experience teaching."
"Then we can both learn from the experience," Kaoru said firmly.
He looked at her oddly. "That is not a sword. As I said, I only know the sword."
Her smile was bright, and she held up the bamboo weapon proudly. "It's like a sword. I could teach myself, maybe, and we could spar. It would give me something to do." There was more in the offer than the promise of a way of spending time; this was her apology, her way of showing that she would try to trust him, with her safety if not her heart.
He ran his fingers along the edge of the shinai. "It has no edge. That puts you at a disadvantage, if you're fighting a swordsman."
"You could use a practise sword. There are several in the cabinet, and they don't have an edge either," she pointed out.
He smiled a bit at that. "And so you are safe with me. But later, if you are fighting a true opponent?"
"I don't care. I don't want to learn how to kill, I only want to know how to defend myself. Or others."
Battousai was silent, staring at her chosen weapon. "What if you took up a sword in order to defend someone?" he asked quietly. "What if your only choice was to kill or be killed?"
Kaoru took a deep breath, fearing his response to her answer. "I don't know. But, I don't believe killing is justified. Not for any reason."
Battousai rubbed his eyes with a hand and did not answer. Encouraged by his silence, Kaoru dared further. "What do you think?"
He looked surprised. "I...don't know," he said thoughtfully. "Once, I thought that the ends would justify the means. But now..." He shook his head. "I am no longer certain."
Their eyes met for a brief moment; Kaoru looked away almost immediately, troubled by his expression.
Battousai took a step towards the cabinet; he leaned his katana against the wall and lifted one of the wooden practise swords. "If you truly wish it, I will teach you. We can begin now, if you like."
Kaoru nodded.
This is a rough draft, but I thought I'd post it anyway. I'll replace this with the complete version once it's finished. My homepage is updated much, much more regularly that this...if you like this story, you might want to keep an eye on that instead. http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/8264/kenshin.html
