Due to an unfortunate accident of birth I do not own Rurouni Kenshin but you can guess the first thing I'm going to do when I win the lottery!

Please read and review even if you don't like the story. I'll give you lots of cookies and a very nice thank you note!

Warning: Will be somewhat dark though I'm not sure how dark quite yet.

Rated M for naughty language and some mature situations.

Translation notes: Baba Old Woman, Joji Baby Girl

It was cold. That was all she could remember clearly from the day her father died. Some small part of her mind recognized the signs of shock; the rest of her couldn't find the motivation to be concerned. Shadowed figures came and went around the dojo. Friends and coworkers of her father come to collect debts owed. Come to take the little she still had to remember her once happy life. She didn't care anymore, or at least that was what she kept telling herself, until they came for the dojo, and her.

Kamiya Kaoru was thrust violently back into caring when two sets of strong clammy hands closed around her upper arms and chains settled around her wrists.

What the Hell?

She hadn't even noticed them come in. Grimacing, she let years of training take charge, lunging to the right and colliding with one captor while kicking viciously at the other. Kaoru skittered away from the fallen males using the stolen seconds to sprint towards the dojo and her boken.

Damnit! Think! Get to the dojo, get weapon, get off the chains …and breathe…got to remember to breathe…

Flinging open the shoji door she slammed squarely into the very solid chest of Himura Gohei, one of her fathers former business partners, turned traitor. Yanked off the floor by the chains that still bound her wrist and held safely at arms length, Himura Gohei enjoyed a moment to smirk at the Kamiya bastard's brat of a daughter.

Meanwhile, Kaoru decided that since her glare wasn't having the intended effect of burning a whole through his useless head she would have to try other means of conveying her disapproval of the situation.

"What the hell do you think you are doing Gohei?"

The infuriating man actually smiled!

"Now that's not proper language for a young lady is it Kaoru-chan?"

She refused to give him the satisfaction of a reaction and watched as the smile slipped. "I'm taking your families precious dojo as payment for debts owed. However, since just taking this lousy second-class dojo doesn't even begin to cover the amount that bastard you called father borrowed I'm also taking you." An evil grin split his face as he indicated her previous captors, "These gentlemen will be escorting you to your new accommodations. Good night and have a miserable life Kaoru." A sharp pain and Kaoru's world turned black.

The world bumped and tossed in a painful and disconcerting way as Kaoru slowly climbed back into awareness. The smell of stale sweat and the heat of bodies pressed against her mind. Cautiously, Kaoru opened one salt encrusted eye and instantly regretted her ambition. Pain. Lots and lots of evil Pain. Groaning Kaoru pried open her other eye and had to reach deep to find an appropriately vile curse.

"So you're finally awake." Rasped a vaguely feminine voice nearby.

Startled, Kaoru straightened up as much as she could to get a view of the world around her. She was in a cart. A poorly made cart she amended as a particularly nasty bump caused her vision to fade in and out. Feeling an unfamiliar weight pull at her ankle she looked down to find her right ankle in a manacle with a chain that led right to…

….another ankle…?

Blue eyes followed the path of the offending ankle upwards to meet dull brown eyes nestled in a bed of wrinkles and surrounded by a tangle of gray hair. As she stared gape-mouthed at the old lady, a spark of mischief lit those dull gray eyes. "Close your mouth child you look like a fish." Caught off guard by the strange comment Kaoru did the only thing she could think of, stared harder. Hell, waking up in a cart chained to an old lady didn't exactly do wonders for her intellect.

Trying to recoup lost ground Kaoru blurted, "Where are we?"

The spark died in the old woman's eyes. "In Mojin's Slave Caravan heading South. Don't bother thinking of escape child, I'm not as spry as I once was; we wouldn't make it more than 30 yard before they killed us both."

A chill went down Kaoru's spine, so that is why she was attached to the Grandmother.

Evil bastards.

Hate boiled up, quickly replacing the chill with hot rage but one thing still didn't make sense. "I thought the government banned slavery ten years ago?"

A short burst of bitter laughter escaped from the old woman, "Yes, they banned the owning of one human by another but we're not headed to a human slave market child."

"Demons." Kaoru shuttered. Demons were the living nightmares every mother used to scare her children into obedience. Rumor had it that the entire underground was controlled by demons and the better part of the opium trade was in their direct control. Some even whispered of demon influence in the highest levels of the government. If even half the stories were true…Kaoru was loath to think of the fate that lay ahead for them in the clutches of a demon. The irony in the old woman's response broke her out of her reverie.

"Yes, child, demons. Now you had best rest while you can, as soon as the caravan masters realize you're awake it'll be back to walking." With that said the old woman closed her eyes and slouched back against the siding.

A nap seemed like quite the sensible suggestion. Maybe the crazy elephants stampeding around her skull would take the old woman's advice and let her rest. First however, there was one more minor yet insistent thing poking around her already poked, prodded, and trampled mind. "What is your name?"

The old lady cracked one eye open. "My name?" she asked, "Slaves have no use for names. We call things what they are: You are a Joji and I'm nothing but a Baba." With that said Baba closed her eye and refused to respond to anymore of Joji's questions.

Disturbed and unable to rest Kaoru took the opportunity of the increased vantage available from the back of the cart to discreetly survey her surrounding. The wary line of people and animals that made up Moji's caravan extended back past the bend in the road half a mile back and spread in front of her another few hundred yards. She estimated her position somewhere in the first 1/3 of the caravan. Rough looking men on ill kept horses ranged up and down the line of chained humans occasionally administering a terse command or a sharp blow. The other chained humans she could only assumed were slaves like herself and Baba, always paired young to old or strong to weak. Eventually, as the pounding in her head died off to a pulsing throb Kaoru managed to slip into an uneasy slumber.

Kaoru was rudely awoken sometime later by rough hands grabbing her shoulders and shaking her awake. If this was going to be a new trend, someone was going to get hurt…badly…and soon. While she was busy planning their slow and beautiful torture, her assailant thrust half a loaf of bread into her hand and hurled her off the back of the cart. Kaoru scrambled to land on her feet and succeeded for a brief moment until the Old Woman, pulled from the cart along with Kaoru, came crashing into her. Kaoru, whose head had naturally found the nearest rock to land on was beginning to believe she would never be rid of this headache. Looking up Kaoru realized that not all the stars she was seeing were figments of her abused imagination. It was near dusk. The caravan must have stopped for the night.

"Get up clumsy, useless Slaves." her assailant bellowed directly above her. Temper rising she quickly got to her feet and turned, intent on telling that Jackass exactly what she though of him, when Old Woman grabbed her arm and purposefully steered her away towards a group of people huddled around a small fire.

"Bastard!" Kaoru exclaimed as she let Old Woman steer her toward the welcoming heat.

"Easy Joji if you start a fight you won't be the only one who pays for your foolishness."

Deflated and feeling defeated in a way she was unfamiliar with Kaoru settled, grumbling, to chew on her loaf of hardened leather…she couldn't honestly call it bread. In the distance men laughed but there was no laughter around her little fire only silent broken faces.

She heard several sets of muffled footsteps and turned in time to see what could only be a demon standing directly behind her. Kaoru had never seen a demon before, after all she had lived her entire life in Tokyo where they were banned by the emperor, but if there was ever any man who met the description it was this one. He was huge. Beautiful. Deadly. And if the way the other dissidents around the campfire shrank back from him was any indication just as cruel as all the stories said.

"I heard you're quite the feisty one. Gave my men all kinds of trouble." He gave her an appraising glance. "Bring her. We'll see how she does in a ring."

Two men stepped out from behind the shadow of the giant and made their way towards her. Freeing her ankle they clipped her now empty shackle around the chain of the nearest couple effectively enchaining Old Woman. Arrogant fools. Aiming a round-house kick to the jaw of the nearest man she almost squeaked when her ankle was caught by the demon inches from the man's startled face. Cold iron clamped back down around her ankle as he yanked her other foot out from under her, securing the other end of the hobble. Her breath escaped violently as she landed hard on her back. He smirked arrogantly down at her prone form "Keep her hobbled until she learns respect. Now bring her." The guards hauled her wheezing to her feet and half dragged her behind the retreating form of the giant.

"Fight well!" She heard Old Woman call softly behind her. The Giant turned so quick she didn't even see him move.

"Quiet Hag unless you'd care to join her." Silence met his threat and he turned smartly on his heal and continued on with the guards and Kaoru in tow.

Kaoru had almost caught her breath when a stick was shoved into her hand and she was thrust into a circle of men. From the other side of the circle stepped a man fondling a nasty looking stick. Kaoru assumed a fighting stance.

Finally a chance to fight!

She could handle fighting even if she couldn't move as freely as she would like in these stupid chains, she would beat every last one of these filthy slave traders into the ground. On the other side of the circle her hapless victim lunged forward and Kaoru smiled.

Sloppy.

She felled the slaver in one smooth stroke but another quickly entered the circle. Letting the stress and anger of the last few days flow through her veins she assumed her stance. She taunted her new victim for a few long minutes, slowly wearing him down, before knocking him out. She stood triumphant as the next opponent stepped forward. This one looked to be another demon with striking yellow eyes and green hair. A few deft strokes had him bleeding on the ground.

Fools.

Glancing past her current opponent she began scanning for a weakness in the circle surrounding her.

Just when Kaoru was starting to feel more confident the giant stepped into the ring. He was on her like lightening and she had no choice but to lurch backwards in an undignified scramble. He toyed with her, baiting her, deliberately leaving an opening and then closing it, delivering a glancing blow for kicks.

For the first time in her life Kaoru wished it were cold hard steel in her hand instead of forgiving wood. She would gladly help this evil creature back into the hell he sprang from. Slowly, painfully, he wore her down until her muscles shook from exhaustion and her breathes came in ragged gasps. The bastard hadn't even broken a sweat.

After what felt like an eternity he stepped out of the ring leaving her a bruised and humiliated heap in the sand. The guards from earlier returned for her and half dragged her limping form back to Baba's fire. She fell into uneasy unconsciousness as soon as they dropped her. She missed her father. A single tear traced a slow path down her cheek.

A quick kick in the ribs woke her the next morning. The psychotic elephants were still wreaking havoc in her skull and her ankles throbbed threateningly. Grumbling and stiff she rose when Baba did and they took their spot in the line of assembled slaves. The line started forward as Baba turned to her and in a voice much kinder then she felt like she deserved said, "Tell me what happened."

So Kaoru recounted the previous nights fights and was grateful when her words trailed off into thoughtful silence. They walked a little ways like that both taking a drink from the water skin that was passed down the line before Old Woman said softly, "Your lucky."

"I fail to see how bruised and beaten counts as lucky." Kaoru grumbled.

"Now, now Joji considering it was the demon Moji himself that took you I'd say you're quite lucky to be here at all. He's a third circle demon you know, quite powerful in his own right. Not counting the fact that now that he knows you can fight he'll be looking to get a good price from your selling."

"Great. I'm glad I was able to help his filthy business."

Old Woman glanced at Kaoru, "Always remember Child, an expensive slave is a well kept slave."

Old woman said nothing more to Kaoru as they put all their focus into walking. The added weight and encumbrance of the hobble chain in addition to the chain connecting her to Old Woman was weighing on Kaoru heavily and it was taking all her concentration to keep up with the plodding pace of the couple ahead of them. Much to Kaoru's dismay they received nothing to eat until the caravan had stopped for the evening, another a loaf of leather...or maybe today it was rawhide…she couldn't tell for sure. As soon as she finished 'dinner' she fell into an exhausted slumber. She hadn't been called back into the ring.

By the third day on the trail Old Woman began to falter forcing Kaoru's already exhausted body to support the failing woman. Every muscle ached, every movement a new throbbing pain. By the fourth day the chafing wounds on Kaoru's legs broke open and began to bleed. Every step became an endless waking nightmare. By the time the word to halt for the evening came down the line Kaoru was ready to drop. A fuzzily remembered sense of pride was the only thing that kept her standing while others around her collapsed with exhaustion. Pride and honor, the concepts seemed so distant to her pain clouded mind. She thoroughly cursed her selfishness when Old Womans legs gave out and sent her tumbling to the ground. Guiltily, Kaoru helped Old Woman up and hobbled toward the fires. As soon as she managed to reach their destination two guards came to escort her to the ring. The larger of the two guards, a thick jawed brute of a man, bent down and grabbed hold of her still oozing ankle, withdrawing his hand quickly in disgust. Kaoru barely managed to stifle a scream but couldn't help from twitching away from his touch as the guard reached down again to separate her from Old Woman. Exhausted and limping she followed docilely with only a halfhearted attempt to dislodge the guards.

To her surprise they turned away from the ring of men and entered into Moji's tent. Moji was sitting quietly sipping something from a chilled glass. Kaoru almost swooned at the sight of the cool liquid so close at hand. Another man, a human docotor from the look of him, stood quietly at his side. Casually the demon set down his glass and rose from the cushions. He motioned for the docotor who bent to examine her legs and who then cleaned and wraped her wounds in a protective cloth. Baffled and more then a bit dazed Kaoru stood quietly while the doctor scrubbed and fussed over her ankles. Why would he have her legs treated? There were plenty of others with similar sores who were left to deal with it as best they could. Why treat her? Suddenly the desire to know overwhelmed her common sense.

"Why are you doing this?"

Moji just looked at her for several long second, seemingly surprised by her question before replying. "The client I have in mind for you prefers his flesh…unmangled."

Not a very reassuring answer she though vaguely as she was handed a bowl of thick soup and a loaf of real bread and was hustled back to the slave's fires. To her surprise the fare at the campfire was similar to what she had been given. Kaoru was confused. Kaoru did not like being confused. This break in routine seemed suspicious and as she settled with her dinner beside Baba she resolved to ask the old lady if she knew what was going on. However, before she had the chance to ask another voice quivered through the night air with the same question. The boy who asked was young, not more then 12 or 13 chained to a man with a twisted foot.

Surprisingly it was Old Woman who replied, "We are getting close to our destination. Healthy slaves make a higher profit. A couple days of real food and we'll look much more attractive then we do now." The boy's eyes widened in fear at her response but he remained silent as the rest of the slaves finished their meals and settled in for the night.

Just as Old Woman predicted, two days later they reached their destination. The city was loud and over populated, the caravan guards forced to bully a path through the crowds to the gates of the slave market. The market teamed with both drab looking humans and more exotic looking demons. Kaoru couldn't help but stare. She had never seen so many in one place before, hell, she hadn't seen any until a few days ago.

A dark cloud had settled over the slave line as they silently were settled into the large rickety shed which was to be their accommodations. It was drafty and smelled but Kaoru almost fainted when she saw the straw pallets in two long lines against the walls. Granted the pallets had fleas but at this point Kaoru certainly wasn't going to complain about a few measly bugs. Several slaves began to speculate about their fate but were quickly hushed by the others. Kaoru sat quietly on her pallet next to Baba.

If only I could find a way to get this blasted chain off I could get out of here easy. I wonder if any of the women have hairpins? Or possibly a lock pick set? Why did I have to train in swordsmanship? Why couldn't it have been ninjitsu? Gah!

Guards came and went herding small groups of slaves back out of the shed before returning for another group shortly afterwards. The slaves they removed didn't return. Several guards, including the heavy jawed guard from before, entered and marched over to where Kaoru and Baba were sitting. The shackle attaching her to Old Woman was removed and she was frog-marched kicking and spitting away from the slave quarters. Twisting in her captors grasps Kaoru shouted back desperately, "My name is Kamiya Kaoru of the Kamiya Kashin Ryu!" The old woman looked on sadly as they led her away. It would be the last time Kaoru ever saw Baba.