Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Trigun Fan Fiction / Utena, Revolutionary Girl Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tales of a 1001 Nights ❯ The Wild Swans Part 1 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

The Wild Swans (Part 1)

All Inuyasha and Rurouni Kenshin disclaimers apply! Also I do not own the story "The Wild Swans"!

Rin began her tale:

"In a distant village lived a samurai who had two sons Sanosuke the eldest, and Yahiko, the youngest. The samurai also had a daughter by the name of Kaoru. The children wore the finest clothing that money could buy. The sons practised daily their sword techniques, as taught to them by their father. Anyone who saw them could tell that they were samurais. Their sister Kaoru sat on a gold stool reading a book that had cost half the village. The children had whatever they wanted but that wasn't to go on forever."

"Their father had married a very beautiful but very wicked noblewoman. She deeply hated his children and was very unkind to them. The children noticed that the very first day. There was a great set out for the wedding and the children played a game they liked to call visitors. Instead of them getting their fill of rice cakes and roast apples, the noblewoman gave them a teacup full of sand and told them to pretend that it was something nice."

"A month later she sent Kaoru away to live in a poor village. It wasn't too long after Kaoru was sent away that she put so many ideas into the samurai's head about the his two sons, that he never gave them any thought."

"One day she looked at Sanosuke and Yahiko and said 'Fly out into the world and look after yourselves. Fly into the form of big birds without voices.' She would have loved to have them killed but knew that she couldn't. Shortly after she cast her spell, Sanosuke and Yahiko turned into beautiful wild swans. With a strange cry they flew out of castle windows into the world."

"It was early in the morning when they found the hut that Kaoru lived in. They hovered above her roof , twisted their long necks and beat their wings; but no one heard or saw them. They had to fly off again, high up into the clouds into the wide world. They came upon a big dark wood that stretched down along the lake."

"When she was eighteen, Kaoru had to go back home. When her stepmother saw how beautiful and pure she had become, her hatred towards Kaoru had increased. She would have like to have turned her in to a wild swan like her brothers but couldn't because her father wanted to see her right away."

"Early the next morning, her stepmother went to the bathroom, which was built of marble and decked out with soft cushions and the most beautiful rugs. She took three toads kissed them and said to the first one, 'Sit on Kaoru's head when she gets into the bath, so that she becomes as lazy as you.' To the second one she said 'Sit on her forehead ,so that she may become ugly as you and her father won't know her.' Finally to the third she said 'And you shall keep close to her heart and give her wicked thoughts to torture her.'"

"Then she put the toads into the clear water, which at once turned into a greenish colour and she called Kaoru, undressed her and made her go into the water. As she plunged in, one toad hopped into her hair, another on her forehead and another on her breast; but Kaoru didn't seem to notice anything. Directly she stood up and there were three poppies floating in the water. If the toads hadn't been poisonous and kissed by the witch, they would have turned into red roses; though they did change into flowers, just for resting on her head and heart. She was too pure and innocent for witchcraft to have any powers over her."

"When the wicked stepmother saw this, she rubbed walnut-juice into Kaoru till she was quite dark brown. She then smeared her pretty face with a nasty smelly ointment, and let her raven black get all matted. No one would have ever know that it was Kaoru."

"So when her father saw her, he was horrified and said that was not his daughter. Nor could anyone else recognize her."

"Poor Kaoru cried and her thoughts turned to Sanosuke and Yahiko who had disappeared. Sadly she crept out of the castle and walked all day across field and fen till she came to the woods. She felt so glum and missed her brothers terribly. They too, no doubt , like herself were roving about somewhere; Kaoru would look for them and find them."

"She had not been in the woods too long when night fell. She had wondered away from any road or path. Kaoru lay down on the soft moss said a prayer to the gods and rested her head on a tree stump. The air was very soft and still. All around the grass and moss were ever so many fireflies shining like green fire. When she touched them, the gleaming insects fell about her like shooting stars."

"All night Kaoru dreamt of her brothers. They were playing together as children again. They gathered together wrote in a book and wrote down all the bold deed they had accomplished and all they had been through and seen. Shortly after each item was written, it came to life in the book."

"When Kaoru woke up the sun was already high in the sky. She couldn't really see it because the trees spread their branches out so thickly overhead - though the golden sunbeams played through them like fluttering gaze. There was a smell of greenery and the birds almost came to perch on her shoulders. She heard the splashing of water. There were a number of large springs that all flowed into a pond with a fine sandy bottom to it. Although there were thick bushes growing round it, there was one place where the sags had rooted out a great opening. It was there that Kaoru made her way down to the water. It was so clear that if the wind hadn't stirred the boughs and bushes she might have thought they were painted on the bottom of the pond. The leaves were so sharply reflected there, whether it had the sun shining through it or hung completely in the shade."

"The moment Kaoru saw her reflection, she was horrified. It was so brown and hideous but when she dipped her hand in the water and rubbed her eyes and forehead, her white skin shone out again. After that, she took off her clothes and waded out into the fresh water. When she was dressed again and had tied a ribbon on her long hair, she went to the bubbling spring. There she drank from her cupped hands and then wondered further into the woods without really knowing where she was going."

"After another day and night of walking through the woods, Kaoru met an old woman with berries in her basket. The old woman gave her a few. 'Have you seen two young samurais riding though the woods?' She asked the old woman."

" ' No I have not but I saw two swans one of the them was wearing a red headband and the other was wearing a yellow one, that were swimming down the river near here.' The old woman answered. She then took Kaoru down a little further till they reached a slope. It was here that Kaoru said goodbye to the old woman and walked along the river till she came where it flowed out by the great open shore."

"The whole glorious ocean lay there before her eyes but not a boat of any kind could be seen. 'How I am supposed to get any farther?' She thought. She looked at the countless pebbles lying there on the beach. All of them round from the grinding of the water; glass, iron, stones - everything that was washed up had been shaped by the water, although this was far softer than her delicate hand."

" Kaoru thought, 'It never tires of rolling and in this way it can smooth down what is hard. I will be just as tireless. Thank you noble gods for your lesson. One day, my heart tells me, that you will carry me to my dear brothers.'"

"She saw some washed up seaweed and saw that it had two white swan feathers. She picked them up and noticed that they had drops of water on them. It was lonely on the shore, but she didn't mind that, for the sea was continually changing. Yes, in a few hours it might change more than the freshwater lakes did in a whole year."

"As the sun was about to set, Kaoru saw two wild swans, one with a red headband and one with a yellow one. They were flying towards the land, they hovered in the air, one behind another. Kaoru clambered up the slope and hid behind a bush, while the swans came and settled near her flapping their great white wings."

"Directly the sun had sunk below the horizon, the swans' feathers suddenly fell away from them and there stood two young samurais, Kaoru's brothers. She uttered a loud cry; for although they had changed a lot, she knew it was them. Kaoru sprang into their arms and called them by their names. Sanosuke and Yahiko were overjoyed when they recognized their sister. They laughed and cried and between them soon came to understand how cruel their stepmother had been to them all."

" ' As long as the sun is in the sky Yahiko and I fly like wild swans. When the sun goes down, we revert back to our human form. So we always have to be careful at sunset to have ground under our feet. We don't live here. There is a country beyond the sea that's just as beautiful as this but it's a long way there; we have to cross a great ocean and there's no island on the way where we might pass the night. There nothing but a lonely little rock sticking up in the middle of it all, just big enough us to rest on. We thank the gods for that rock. There we can pass the night in our human form or we'd never be able to visit our dear mother country. Yahiko and I need the two longest days of the year for our flight. Only once a year we are allowed to visit our home and we can only stay for seven days. We only have three days left before we must fly back home. We have to figure a way for that we can take you. We have neither a ship nor a boat.' Sanosuke said."

" ' If only I could set you free!' Kaoru exclaimed. They talked together nearly all night, with only two or three hours' sleep."

"Kaoru was woken up by the sound of a pair of swan's wings whirring overhead. Her brothers were transformed again and Sanosuke was flying around in large circles and then disappeared. Yahiko stayed behind. He laid his head in her lap and she stroked his white wings. They kept with each other all day. Towards the evening Sanosuke came back and as the sun went down, Sanosuke and Yahiko were back in human form."

" ' Tomorrow we must fly away and dare not come back for a whole year. We can't possibly leave you like this. Do you have the courage to come with us? My arm is strong enough to carry you through the woods; then surly between Yahiko and I, our wings must be strong enough to fly with across the sea.' Sanosuke said."

"Without any hesitation, Kaoru replied 'Yes, take me with you.'"

"They spent the whole night making a net from the supple bark of the willow and the sturdy rushes, till it was really strong. Kaoru lay down on this and as soon as the sun appeared and the brothers were changed into wild swans, they seized the net in their beaks and flew up high into the clouds with their dear sister, who was still asleep."

"All day long the swans went whizzing through the air like arrows and yet not so fast as before because now they had their sister to carry. A storm got up and night was approaching. Kaoru was terrified to see the sun going down and there was still no sign of the lonely rock in the ocean. She fancied the swans were quickening the beat of their wings. 'It's my fault that they were not getting on fast enough.' Kaoru thought. The moment the sun had set, they would be human again, crash into the sea and drown. She prayed to the gods from the bottom of her heart but still couldn't see nothing of the rock."

"Now the sun had sunk to the very edge of the ocean and Kaoru's heart trembled. Then all at once, the swans darted downwards - so quickly that she thought that they were falling - but the next moment they were gliding smoothly again. The sun was half below the horizon. Then for the first time she caught the site of the little rock underneath her. It looked no bigger than a seal sticking its out of the water. The sun was sinking fast; now it was small as a star. Then her foot touched solid ground and the sun went out like the last spark of a bit of burning paper. Her brothers were standing arm in arm around her - though there was only room for her and them and no more."

"The air at dawn was pure and still. As soon as the sun rose, the swans flew off with Kaoru from the islet. There was still a strong sea running and as they gained height, the white foam on the dark green sea looked to them like millions of swans swimming on the water."

"When the sun got higher, Kaoru saw in front of her, half floating in the air, a mountainous country with masses of ice glittering on the rocky slopes and in the middle of it all was a palace that seemed to stretch for miles, with rows and rows of bold colonnades one above another, while down below were woods of waving palm trees and gorgeous flowers as large as mill wheels. 'Is this the country we're making out for?' She asked. The swans shook their head, for what she saw was the lovely ever changing cloud palace of the beautiful sky goddess Megumi. Sanosuke and Yahiko would never dare to take a mortal there."

"Kaoru stared across it ; then the mountains, woods and palace all melted away and in their place was the real country she was bound for. The beautiful blue mountains rose in front of her. Long before the sun went down, she was sitting on the mountain side before a large cave that was overgrown with delicate green creepers; they looked like embroidered curtains."

" 'Now let's see what my ugly sister about here tonight.' Yahiko said teasingly as he showed her she was supposed to sleep."

" 'How dare you call your older sister ugly!?' Kaoru answered. She knew that he was teasing. 'If only I can dream of setting you all free!' She thought. Kaoru's mind could think of nothing else and she prayed most earnestly to the gods to help her and even in her sleep she went on praying. It seemed to her that she flew high up to Megumi's cloud palace and the sky goddess came to welcome her, looking so beautiful and dazzling and yet so like the old woman who gave her berries in the woods and told her about the swans with headbands on their heads."

"' You can set your brothers free.' Megumi said."

It was here that Rin stopped. "Why did you stop?" Sesshomaru asked.

"I was really enjoying this tale." He told her.

Without one ounce of fear, Rin replied "If my lord husband lets me live another day and night, the next evening I will finish the tale."

"Granted." He said. Sesshomaru really wanted to know what happened next.

Rin was about to get out of the bed and go back to her chambers when Sesshomaru stopped her. "While you are my wife, you will sleep with me." He told her.

Rin complied and stayed. Sesshomaru opened the sheets and covered them up when the two of them were in bed. He blew out the candle and both of them fell asleep shortly after.

To Be Continued …

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This is my first R. Kenshin fic. I'm sorry if I disappointed all the fans of that series. This was a challenge by my friend who thought that this would be a good tale for this series.

Don't worry, Kenshin will make his appearance in the next chapter. Also, if you want to know how this ends, you'll have to read the next chapter.