Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Daughter of the Forest RK Style ❯ A Time of Change ( Chapter 2 )

Full Summary: Kaoru, the only daughter of an Irish King, must save her six brothers from an enchantment placed on them by an evil sorceress. What will happen when she falls in love with a Britain? Story is based off of Juliet Marillier’s book Daughter of the Forest. KK
Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Daughter of the Forest. As much as I’d love to take credit for Nobuhiro Watsuki's and Juliet Marillier’s creations, I’d rather keep what little money I have.
A/N: Keep in mind that this story is going to have a lot of OOCiness. So please do not kill me. Also I would like to mention that I have tried to pick characters that fit the character profile more than the relational profile. Siblings may be split up so do beware.
Italics mean mental conversations.
Daughter of the Forest RK Style
Chapter 2: A Time of Change

“Kane, how are you doing today?” I said while walking into the small hut. “How is your wife?
Kane nodded his thanks as he replied, “Her fever has gone down thanks to you, but she still has not woken. Is she going to be alright?”
I rested my hand on his shoulder and replied “Don’t worry; I’ll do all that I can for your wife. Let me take a look at her first then we can talk further.”
I moved away from the man at that moment and kneeled beside his wife’s bed on the other side of the room. When I last checked up on her two days ago, she had been in such a horrible state that I feared she’d never wake from her fever. I told her husband truthfully that it was one of the worse fevers that I had seen in many a year and could not promise her recovery. Her husband made me promise to come back today, so here I am despite the fact that it is much too late for a woman to be out by herself. That is the risk you take being a healer and I do so willingly.
It was as Kane said, her fever has gone down dramatically, but she still has not fully recovered. Her breathing is still shallow and it looks as if she has been unable to take in much food. Though I doubt that she won’t make it, she is far from a full recovery.
“You have done a great job caring for her. Her fever has lifted, though she physically hasn’t healed yet. Give her plenty of rest, and keep on feeding her broth. She hasn’t eaten in a while so remember not to feed her more than she is willing. For now, keep on burning the all heal that I gave you. The best things you can do for her now are love and support her. Without the will to live, not even the Fair Folk could bring her back. You have been doing a good job so far and I am sure she will recover soon. I will be back to visit in a few days and see how you two are doing. It is getting late and I must go.”
“Thank you for coming here Kaoru. I have been selfish and kept you from home much later than you should. I can not accompany you, but I could get one of the boys in town…”
“That is not necessary. One of my brothers is on the way here as we speak. Do not concern yourself about my welfare for I am taken care of.”
“I can not thank you enough for all your help. How can I ever repay you?”
“Do not concern yourself with that until your wife is well. See you later.” I said while walking down the path towards the woods.
Two minutes later I met up with Soujiro, went up to my room and fell asleep. I would need all the rest I could get if I were to be prepared for my father’s feast tomorrow. My father said that it was of great importance and that I must be presentable so I went to sleep wondering what news my father had to tell.
*******
Since early morning I helped the servants with whatever preparations needed to be done. That day one of the girls in the kitchen had taken ill, so I was asked to help out in the kitchen.
When I stepped into the kitchen, the head servant of the household, Eriko jokingly stated, “I though’ ya’d have enough with embarrassin’ yerself after ya burnt the mash potatoes las’ time?”
“How was I supposed to know that I had to stir them constantly?” I said defensively. “It’s not like I had ever made them before.”
Eriko now laughing said “No need to take offense lass. I’ve got a job for ya over here. I made quite sure that it’d be a job even you couldn’ mess up.”
As she said this she lead me to the storage room where we kept all of our stocked food. It was in the storage room that I saw the stack of potatoes there waiting to be peeled.
“What did I tell ya lass? It’d be pretty hard there to mess up a job like that, now wouldn’ it? You do know how to peel ‘em don’ ya?
“Of course I do,” I stated rather harshly.
“Well, then I’ll be expectin’ a good performance then won’ I?” she said while walking out of the storage room. As she left I could hear her laughing, “Quite the little spit fire that one.”
So for the rest of the morning I peeled the potatoes. No matter how much Eriko got on my nerves, I couldn’t hate her. I have known her all my life and she raised me as if I were her own daughter. For me, she wasn’t just a servant… she was family.
So I finished the task I was given and decided to get ready for the feast. I had an hour to get ready and I had yet to decide what I was going to wear. I looked in my chest and realized that many of the clothes I owned were quite unsuitable for a daughter of such a great household. Most of my clothes were either extremely poor quality or worn due to prolonged use. Sometime in the near future I needed to make myself something nice to wear.
Through extensive searching I found a dress that my father gave me a long time ago. It wasn’t anything extraordinary, but it would do for now. It was a green full-length gown quite simple in design and shape. It hung to my curves yet did not cling indecently. A very simple, yet elegant design of leaves bordered the ends of the sleeves and the bottom of the dress. All in all, it was perfect for a simple girl like me.
All of my father’s allies were there that night and as expected I was to greet every last one of them. As I was greeting everyone, it was quite obvious that no one knew of what news my father was about to announce, but none seemed too concerned. As long as they had food in their stomachs, an ever lasting supply of ale and plenty of women to entertain them, they would remain content. As for myself, I couldn’t wait. As great as the feast was, the suspense was greater.
Eventually I had enough of the guests and decided that fresh air would be best. One of my favorite places in the palace was my herb garden. Whenever I was stressed or had nothing to do, I would go out to the garden and start working. I realize that working in the garden wouldn’t be the smartest of ideas in my current state, so instead I would just sit out there and relax.
As I reached my place of refuge, I saw my brother sitting on the bench with one of the girls I had seen at the party. Normally, I would have gone up to them but something held me back and instead I took in the scene quietly. I noticed that the girl was sitting next to my brother with her head on his shoulder, while his left arm lightly wrapped around her waist. With the realization of this I walked away as quietly as I could back into the castle. If anyone had been around to look at me, they would have noticed the slight flush on my cheeks, which most definitely wasn’t caused by the cold.
It had been a half an hour after I had come back inside when my brother Okubo and the girl from outside came back and took their seats. It was at this time that my father stood up from his chair and started speaking.
“As you all know, I have invited you all here as my guests in order to give you news that will influence our alliance as well as our campaign to win back the islands. Today I am proud to announce our new ally, Raidon. To prove his loyalty and devotion toward our cause, my son Okubo is to be wed to his daughter Tae. Now let us celebrate this couple’s newfound happiness as well as our campaign’s newfound ally. With Raidon as our ally we are bound to win back the islands.”
Everyone in the room stood up and congratulated the new couple. Everyone seemed pleased with the alliance, but I couldn’t help but feel sad. In the middle of all the commotion I ran out of the house holding back tears. If I had to cry, I wanted to make sure no one could see me.
I ran as fast as I could to the garden where I first spotted the new couple and started crying. Once I started crying I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t help but feel like my world was falling apart and that I was losing my brother.
As I was crying, a soft voice entered my head, “You love your brother, don’t you?”
“What type of question is that? Of course I do!” I mentally screamed at Soujiro.
“And you have seen the way that they look at one another, yet you are here crying? Aren’t you happy for him?”
“Of course I am! It’s just that it’s so sudden. Everything is changing so quickly and well...”
“You don’t want things to change.”
“Of course I don’t!”
“You know that eventually we will all have to grow up and go our separate ways and marry. One day you will find a husband and will leave Sevenwaters…”
“No! I cannot and will not leave Sevenwaters! If marriage means that I must leave my home I will never marry!”
“One day you will love, Kaoru, just as Okubo does and you will not fear such change. For now be happy for our brother’s joy. He will always be our brother and his marriage will not change that. Just ask him yourself when he gets here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kaoru, where are you?” Okubo yells out in the distance.
“She’s in the garden with me.” Soujiro yells back in the general direction Okubo’s yell came from. As soon as Okubo came into sight Soujiro got up and turned toward the castle. With his back turned towards me he says, “I think it’s best if I leave you two here to talk by yourselves.”
As Soujiro starts walking away from us, my brother Okubo situated himself next to me on the bench and says to me softly, “Why are you crying?”
I just sat there with my head lowered and my hands crossed in my lap. What do I say; that I don’t want him to get married and that I don’t want to lose him?
Before I could answer Okubo takes my hands into his and says in a compassionate voice, “I understand how the news of my getting married is hard to hear and I want to tell you how sorry I am that you must learn of our engagement in such a fashion. I wanted to tell you earlier, but father wanted me to keep this a secret.”
“How long have you known about this?”
“Father arranged the marriage a couple of months ago, though I can’t say that I am upset by this. Tae and I have gotten to know each other over the past few months and we have come to love one another. In time I am sure you will learn to love her as a sister. In fact, I’m sure she would love to talk to you. She has been quite anxious to meet you.”
“Really, why would she want to meet me?” I said in utter disbelieve.
“Why wouldn’t she? You are, after all, my little sister. She may be my future wife, but you will always be my little sister. You are my little sister and I will always love you. No wife of mine could ever change that.”
At that moment I was so over filled with joy that I hugged my brother as hard as I could. As I cried into his shoulder I said, “Do you really mean that?”
My brother let me go and stared me in the eyes before saying. “Would I ever lie to you?”
I held my brother tight in my arms once more and said, “I’m sorry.”
“Hush, it’s alright. I’m sure that everyone by now is wondering where we have gone. Do you think you are ready to go back inside?”
I looked at my brother and nodded.
“Good, if we stay out here any longer we might make Tae jealous. Plus, I’ve seen how some of the boys in there have looked at you. I’m sure you have some secret admirer in there waiting for your return.”
“No I don’t and even if I did I wouldn’t care.” I replied sharply.
“You might feel differently some day. Just wait and see.”
“No I won’t!” I cried out in anger.
At that he laughed and we both walked together side by side, content that no matter what might happen, we will always have each other’s love.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The story hasn’t gotten all that exciting yet, but trust me, it will soon. The next chapter “A Bloody Stranger” will continue where we left off at the party. This chapter will be really fun to write. So far a lot of the characters are not much like the anime, but hopefully by the end of the story you will understand why they were used. All the characters change and grow throughout the story.
For all of you reading the story please review, even if you don’t like what I’ve written. If I don’t know what I’ve done wrong I can never improve. This is my first fanfiction so any advice you could give would be much appreciated. Thanks for taking your time reading and hopefully you’ll stay tuned for the rest of the story.