I do not own Rorouni Kenshin, bla, bla, bla...(Ah…You already knew

that…Good) 

 

Note: Be warned. It will include violence, some use of profane

language, and will include some extent of explicit sexual content, so

keep on reading at your own risk. 

 

The story begins few month before the events of Kyoto Arc, so it will

include spoilers and  some elements from it as well as from the Revenge

Arc too, although my fic will not follow either the anime or the

manga, and I will break some canon rules.

 

Note: I want to express my gratitude towards Mir, from the Tales from Meiji Era site.( http://tfmeijiera.tripod.com/ )

 

Mir has been helping me with this and the improvement in the vocabulary and grammar through this chapter is due to Mir’s kindness and supervision.

Thanks, Mir! I hope there are more people like you around!

  

 

 

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Of Legendary Creatures and Mystical Beasts

By Firuze Khanume (firuzekhanume@hotpop.com)

  

Prologue -- The Desert

 

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-         No!

 

The angered, stubborn cry, echoed against the sandy hills around him.

Sun fell mercilessly over his body, while the dancing shadows of the birds of prey hung over his head, waiting for him to surrender to his sealed fate. 

  

He can't die. He couldn't. Not yet... 

 

-         Not yet! Kami, I have never bowed or prayed to you, but now...please...! 

 

His body was numb. He had blisters on his face, his back, his feet...

The injuries to his side were burning like hell ... 

 

He had been lost in the desert for the past ten days, without any food or water for the last two of them, and his emergency medical supplies had disappeared long ago. His horse had dropped dead of exhaustion on the fourth day, and he managed to fed himself from the flesh and blood until the eighth day, when he had run out of luck. 

 

If some kind of miracle didn't happen soon, he knew he would become vulture's dinner in a few hours, and for this reason he didn't care if he had to beg to the Kami or whatever God or Demon above the skies or down the Earth he could remember the name. He had cursed, cried in pure rage, crawled stubbornly upon the sand fighting the urge to giving up to inevitability.

 

His last resource was to beg. 

 

Because he couldn't leave this world peacefully knowing that the demon was still untouched -- he had to achieve his long cherished goal. 

 

The demon had not paid for what he has done; the man's only purpose in life was to face him with justice. His justice. 

 

No, he couldn't die in the desert, in such meaningless way. He has many things to accomplish yet. 

 

 Slowly, he took one step, two, three… He collapsed to the ground, facedown in the sand. Tenaciously he managed to get up, leaving the mark of his hands and knees imprinted on the sand in blood. It was a new invitation to predators to come to the feast, a feast with him as the main course, he thought, ironically. 

 

Another two steps… again he felt the ground against his face…he couldn't stay down… he shouldn't…but he was so damned tired…so damned tired… 

 

He closed his eyes. Only for a moment -- he would stay there only for one moment… 

 

He saw fog rising to engulf him. 

 

Fog? In the middle of the desert? he wondered 

 

  

So that was it. He was just dying. He had always thought his death would be a violent one with the cold of a blade piercing his flesh or the heat of a killing bullet, even the bitterness of poison on his lips as the last things he would experience of this world. But he had never expected fog.  He would have laughed if he could have at the madness of the ending, so anticlimatical.

 

It was useless to fight back now. 

 

That was it. The end. 

 

-         I'm so sorry, 'neesan…I failed to protect you…I failed to make you happy…and now I'm doing it again, betraying my promise to you. I'm sorry…Could you ever forgive me, 'neesan ? Will you be there for me now? 

 

Those were his last words, his last thoughts before the thick whiteness enveloped his body  

 

  

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The mirror on the wall of her room was glowing.

 

< Quite strange> the redheaded girl thought, approaching cautiously to it. <It never did it this way before…>

 

Magical mirrors sometimes could be dangerous, unpredictable objects, but hers had never given troubles… till now.

 

She tried to look through it from a safe distance.

 

Something, no… someone (‘a human?’ she wondered) was out there, crawling the sands stubbornly…

 

But why the mirror was showing her that image?  Humans died all the time along the desert sands; it was nothing out of the ordinary, something to be expected from those weak beings, something as common as the sound of the singing glass flowers…

What made that human so special that the mirror was showing him to her in such way?

 

She drew near the glowing image, her eyes narrowed, her body tense in expectation, studying the reflection before her gaze with thorough concentration.

And then, realization dawned on her as the shinning golden skies on the mid of a summer day. The being showed by the mirror was not an ordinary human.

 

He was a young male despite the white hair crowning his head and even with his miserable guise due his extensive injuries he looked quite strong yet. But which called for her immediate attention was that was not apparent to the eye: his hidden nature.

 

< A half-breed warrior?!> She thought still in wonder, looking at the tall, well built man stumbling through the burning sands

 

She was astonished.

A human with a mixed heritage! 

 

She had heard the stories, as everybody else, about the Mystical Beasts, those ancient Guardians of the golden ages breeding sometimes with humans. They goal was to produce outstanding beings when hardships was about to befall to any particular place and people within the Human Realm, beings capable of a rightful, wise leadership, or exceptional acts of heroism to inspire future generations.

 

But as the very beings that engendered those half-breeds, they were extremely sensible to their environment and the events surrounding them, which could turn a being meant to be a beneficial one into a wicked slave of darkness.

 

Pondering about this the girl wondered to whom he was serving…

She would go to the Elders. They had to be warned.

The half-breed had to be rescued; they needed to uncover who he was and what he was doing, but most importantly who were the powers behind him.

 

She was excited. Probably she will be rewarded, but she only was interested in being allowed to be the half-breed’s guardian. Humans had always captivated her, but in addition this being had not only a human part, but also a magical one. It would be a fascinating experience!

 

Giving a last glance to the glowing mirror, she smiled, and with an elegant wave of her hand she disappeared, to get an audience with the Elders. She was in a hurry, who knows how much the human could endure such harsh conditions…

 

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Two figures, hidden in darkness, were watching the scenes developing before them on a waving pond

 

-         It has just started, and there is no turning back from this road. If your perception is wrong, both might be destroyed, and worst, the cosmic balance would be shaken to the core.- said one of them, a man.

-         Be confident- answered the soft voice of the female by their side.

-         I know deeply in my heart that she will fail. He never was her destiny.

-         Destiny is not written on stone. You know that. It’s a universal truth. It can be shaped and reshaped many times and by many hands. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t this way.

-         Maybe you are right… But still there are things that shouldn’t be played with.

-         Won’t we meet again? - The woman sighed. She knew that stubbornness run high on the males of that man’s family. Therefore to keep the discussion up was useless.

-         Only if it’s completely necessary.

-         All right then. I’m sorry for the many annoyances I put in your path…

-         Maybe we needed them- he chuckled- Good bye… and good luck

-         We all will need it

 

The female figure faded slowly against the shadows till he knew he was now alone again. He sighed, praying silently, hoping with all his heart that the woman was right.

Because if she wasn’t, they could be all doomed.