Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Strength & Weakness ❯ A lost woman stranded ( Chapter 1 )

Strength & Weakness

By Lucifer's Dark Angel

Chapter 1

It was raining. The ground was soaked and every single leaf on all of the plants was dripping with water. The weather had changed so fast, from a sunny day into an instant downpour. The sun had become hidden behind tall dark clouds with a seemingly endless supply of water to drizzle upon the earth below. It was very dark out with these clouds in the sky, so dark that it looked like ten at night, rather than four in the afternoon.

Komagata Yumi ran as fast as her sandaled feet could carry her through the forest. She hadn't expected it to rain today; it even escaped Shishio-Sama's pre-sight. Usually he could tell when it would rain. Yumi guessed that perhaps it was too sudden. If she had known, she would have brought her umbrella when she trekked into Kyoto this morning. Now she was caught without one in the middle of a downpour and she wasn't even halfway back to the base on Hiei Mountain. Spotting a rather large tree, Yumi ran towards it and sat down on one of the roots. At least the tree's full canopy prevented her from getting as soaked as she would have if she had no cover. A few ice cold raindrops dripped off the leaves above and landed on Yumi's reddish-purple hair that had been neatly put up when she left but was now in disarray and sopped to the root. Her kimono was drenched from the rain, dirt from running though muddy paths, and ripped from the branches of bushes in the forest. Yumi couldn't find a part of her that wasn't saturated.

Sighing, she told herself it couldn't get any worse, just as a strong wind picked up. Yumi shivered and pulled the wet kimono closer to her. The wind would have been chilly enough by itself: it didn't helper her any that she was soaked; it only made the wind feel a hundred times colder. Raising her gaze to the storm clouds above, she wondered just how long the heavy rain would last. If the rain didn't let up soon, it would be too dark to find her way back along the winding mountain trails to the base. The mountain range was filled with long winding trails, some of which lead to a desired destination (such as Shishio-Sama's base or the main road that went over the mountain) while others lead off tall cliffs or into raging rivers.

Yumi sat under the tree for a little under an hour, and when the rain refused to let up even a little bit in intensity, she decided to continue on towards the base before it became even darker than it was now. All kinds of wild animals lived in these woods and along with the fact that bandits, thieves, killers, and mercenaries traveled the paths often; Yumi decided she didn't want to be caught in these woods at night. Getting up from under the tree, Yumi used her compass to find the correct direction and then sprinted in that direction. The cold rain sent another shiver though her body, but Yumi paid it no mind and continued to run along the path. However, she stopped suddenly a few feet further.

There was a two-way fork in the road, one Yumi had never seen before. It only confirmed Yumi's worst fear: she really had no idea where she was in the forest. Even though Yumi knew that if she continued north, the direction she'd been traveling in, she would eventually read the main road or the base, the thought of potentially being lost in the woods at night all alone scared her. Yumi gazed down the right path, the down the left. They both looked the same.

Taking out her compass again, Yumi positioned herself so she was facing north and took the right path that was in front of her. Putting away the compass as she ran, Yumi hoped she wasn't making a huge mistake. As the minutes dragged on, Yumi's anxiety and nervousness increased. She should have reached the main road by now, she should have! Something wasn't right. The rain was pounding harder than even and the constant rumble of thunder blocked out any other noises. Yumi couldn't hear anything but the storm raging around her. Despite her rising worries, she continued onward, picking up speed to try and get back faster.

Because of the heavy rain, Yumi didn't see the end of the trail until it was two feet in front of her and too late to stop. She tumbled off the edge of the small cliff into a raging river below. As she hit the water, a feeling of extreme cold coursed though her body. The river's water was freezing cold and moving very, very fast. Yumi struggled to keep her head above the water as she was washed downstream. Narrowly avoiding being hit into some big rocks, the current dragged her downstream, over a small waterfall, and pushed her underwater. Yumi struggled to the surface of the raging waters and desperately tried to get ashore. The current, however, was too strong and Yumi made no progress as the water washed her even further from home. Yumi thrashed about in the water, trying to turn herself so she could see where she was being taken, but the river slammed her back into a rather big rock before she got the change. Cringing and yelling at the pain that surged through her body. Yumi managed to turn herself so she was facing the rock and very carefully she crawled on top of it.

Yumi felt as if she was ready to collapse right her atop this very rock, but she knew if she didn't get to shore, it was likely that the current would sweep her from the rock while she was sleeping. She had to get ashore now! Looking to her right, Yumi spotted another rock within jumping distance. Carefully squatting on the rock, Yumi positioned herself then jumped towards the other rock. Her nails grabbed hold of one of the long leaved plants next to the rock and, being careful not to break the leaves of the plant, she pulled herself onto the rock. Yumi looked towards the shore, only a few feet away, and decided to jump for it.

Positioning herself once again, Yumi jumped for the shore, only to discover one of the longer plant's leaves had caught her ankle. Yumi fell face-first into the water, the leaves holding her ankle tight. The current tried to wash Yumi downstream, but the plant held on tight. Yumi fought to try and untie her ankle while trying to keep above water at the same time. Finally, the plant's roots gave way and Yumi was swept downstream with the plant still around her ankle. She struggled to try and get ashore, but the current was still too strong and Yumi was getting weaker. Her feet were bumping against some of the tall rocks that lied on the river bed and between two close rocks; the plant that still hung from her ankle got caught. Yumi screamed as the resulting force caused an enormous pain to flood though her ankle. Fighting the urge to just give in to the river, Yumi grabbed one of the nearby rocks and managed to free her ankle from the plant with her other hand.

Determined not to be overcome by the river, Yumi looked at the small rocks in the river that were almost lined up in a straight line. Grabbing one rock then the next, Yumi dragged herself to shore. Collapsing on the muddy embankment, Yumi tried to catch her breath. For some reason, the vacation that Shishio-Sama had planned for the entire group next week popped into mind. There would be going to a resort by the beach. Grinning sourly, Yumi thought that after that experience, it was unlikely that she would go swimming for a long time. After resting for a moment, Yumi pulled herself into a sitting position and ran her hand along her ankle. It hurt just touching it. It was probably broken, maybe twisted if she was lucky. Anyway, it was unlikely that she would be able to go far anytime soon. Yumi started to look around for something she could use for shelter from the still-pounding rain. Spotting a small cave a few feet down the embankment, Yumi picked herself up to her feet, only to collapse back down as pain flooded through her body because of her ankle. Sighing, Yumi started to crawl on hands and knees towards the cave. She hadn't thought her ankle was that badly hurt.

Upon reaching the cave, Yumi collapsed against the rocky walls just a few feet from the door. Having no light or matches (like wet matches would be of any use), she had no light and nothing to help her keep warm. Her clothes were soaked, it was still raining, she had no idea where she was, she was freezing cold, it was starting to get dark out, and on top of all that, she was stranded in this cave! Yumi's eyes started to tear as she thought about everything that had happened so far today. She wished that Shishio-Sama would come and find her, but she knew it was an unfeasible hope. Any one, upon seeing the rain, would have stayed in town, and that is what Shishio-Sama probably expected her to do. He wouldn't have thought that she would be as stupid as she was, to leave town and head into the forest alone during a downpour, so there was no reason for him to look for her.

Yumi slammed her fist against the floor of the cave, cursing at her stupidity, as the tears starts to steak down her cheeks. Yumi leaned forward, her head in her knees as she started to sob quietly. She was alone; cold, alone, and stranded and these was nothing she could do to change any of it. She had never felt so helpless. When she was with Shishio-Sama at least she could do something, service him in some way. Even if she couldn't fight, he had told her she was useful for other things. She believes his words; Shishio-Sama had no reason to lie to her. But out here, she couldn't do anything. Out here, by herself, she was truly useless. She was just like a scared little girl who'd ran away from home. Or like Hansel and Gretel who must have been terrified when they were lost in the wood, but at least Hansel and Gretel had each other; she only had herself. As night fell, Yumi tried to sleep against the hard rocks around her. The tears were still flowing, but someone she managed to fall asleep.

A lost woman stranded in the middle of the forest with no one to help her but everyone and everything to hurt her.