Samurai X Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Upon A Raven's Plight ❯ The Beginning of the Ending ( Chapter 1 )

AN: As I searched for RK fanfics to read; a possibility struck me. What if both of Kaoru's parents died when she was a little girl? What if Shishio had found her just like he found Soujiro? What if Kenshin never met Tomoe and thus, never changed from being a Hitokiri? Would everything still be the same as it is in the series? Would Kaoru still be the loud, fun-loving, bokken-wielding we all know and love?

This is the fruit of my thoughts. I really hope you guys would enjoy reading this as much as my other fics.

Don't forget to review! I would love hearing your comments about this fic; plus it would inspire me to write the next chapter faster.

Disclaimer: Had I ever own RK? Hmmm…. (browses through her little black book) Nope, I don't.

Upon a Raven's Plight.

Chapter one: The beginning after the ending

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I stood out there alone; with the rain falling down harshly from the sky.

I lifted my face; unmindful of the small crystalline drops drenching my skin and my clothes.

Before, I would've rushed to find a shelter from the rain…

But now, I don't care.

I don't care at all.

"Mother…Father…Why did you have to leave me?" I croaked out; voicing my thoughts into the night.

No one replied, not that I expect anyone to.

I wiped my face with the back of my kimono sleeve. I dew the soaked material and gazed with a mixed feeling of silent fascination and horror at the crimson liquid staining my once beautiful kimono.

I was covered head to toe with my parents' blood.

No, I didn't kill them, as you may be lead to believe. They were murdered.

I do not know why nor do I know by whom. I just came home a few hours ago to find them sprawled on their backs at our porch. Their lips were a bluish color and their faces a ghostly white as a pool of blood trailed around them.

Naturally, I first thought that they were playing a joke; a cruelly-crafted, twist-minded joke.

So I got on my knees and shoved them gently; like what you might do to a sleeping person to wake them up.

When they didn't acknowledge my presence and moved, I shoved harder. By then, tears had already begun to swell at the corner of my eyes.

The harder I tried to wake them up; the more I realized the painful truth that my parents weren't playing at all. Never would I ever see my Mother's gentle smile nor hear my Father's boisterous laugh ever again.

And so, being the heartbroken naïve eight-year-old that I am, I hugged my parents' corpses which explain why I was drenched in their blood.

Being the cowardly fool I am; I then ran from it all. I ran from my parents' bodies; from the place which I once called home; and, ultimately, I ran away from my sorrows.

Which leads me here to where I am now; standing blankly at the open forest's river stream before me.

As I had drowned myself beneath my tears; the clouds gathered and soon, rain began to drizzle. It seems as though the heavens were crying for my loss as well.

Since I could cry no longer; I merely opened my arms and let the rain wept for me instead.

Strangely, I felt both comforted and sadden by the rain.

I was too caught up in my thoughts, I failed to notice the squishing sound of footsteps walking on mud until I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned with blank eyes to see who was behind me.

My eyes widened as I saw that the hand that had touched me was bandaged. My gaze traveled upwards to see a man as old as my father who was in his twenties, wrapped in a thick black cloak.

I shuddered. Not because of the bandages taped around everywhere that I could see in his body but at his blood red eyes. Never had I seen such a creepy shade of red before in all of my eight years of life.

"Little girls shouldn't be out here in the dark alone." The man said, his voice hoarse but deep.

I blinked; surprised at his statement. I quickly regained my senses though and I merely shrugged at him.

"I don't really care. I lost everything that I ever loved; there's nothing left to be frightened about anymore." I replied at him.

I could see the man raising a hairless eyebrow. He gazed at me almost curiously with his red eyes.

"Is that so?"

The way he said it made it seemed more like a statement rather than a question.

I merely shrugged. I didn't really care anymore but I felt the need to explain somehow and so I answered.

"My parents were murdered."

There, now that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

But if that's true, then why do I suddenly feel the need to have a good cry?

"I'm sorry for your loss then." The man replied; though the look in his eyes weren't remorseful at all.

I shrugged once more. "It's nothing. Everyone dies sometime; it's only a matter of circumstances."

"And you? How would you like to die then?" The man asked.

I looked up at him and met his red eyes with mine.

"I would like to die knowing why my parents' were killed and who murdered them." I told him simply.

Truthfully, I don't know how I would like to die. What was the difference anyway? The end result is just the same.

The man had a thoughtful look in his face. "If you know one day the answers to those questions; what would you do with it?"

Something burnt in the pit of my stomach and my eyes blazed with an unknown emotion as I stared intently into the man's red eyes.

"I would kill them sir." I told him whole-heartedly.

I knew that he knew that I wasn't lying when he looked deep into my eyes; trying to interpret my feelings.

"What is your name, little girl?" He asked.

"My name's Kamiya Kaoru, sir." I answered.

I must have pleased him somehow for his dry lips twisted into a cold, merciless smile as he said.

"You would make an excellent student. Would you like to learn the secrets of my techniques?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Techniques?" I asked.

He nodded his head curtly. "Yes, my sword techniques. By mastering them; you can invent your own and fulfill your desire to know the answers to your questions."

He made a gesture with his hand for something behind him and; to my surprise; a dark brown-haired boy came forward to stand besides the tall man.

The boy lifted his chin up and gave a smile. He looked to be about the same age as I am.

He turned to face the man besides him; though his eyes were closed.

"Will she be joining our little 'family' Shishio-sama?" The boy asked as if I wasn't there.

The man - whom the boy had called Shishio-sama - shrugged his ragged shoulders.

"I do not know, Soujiro. It all depends on her."

Both turned to look at me; Shishio-sama with his blood red eyes and Soujiro who had opened his eyes to reveal an interesting shade of emotionless blue-grey.

"Well?"

I stood there for a moment as I gathered my thoughts. It was as though time had stopped, that everything depended on me and it did. My future depended on this sole decision.

Should I say no and perhaps live a life of poverty and sadness? Or should I say yes and live a life intent on finding out the questions of my parents' death and avenging them instead?

"Yes. I will join you."

The words were like the soft flutter of a raven's wings to me. I didn't even believe for a while that I was the one muttering those words; they sounded so sure and confident. Far from the anxiety and unsure emotions that I really feel.

But I had made my decision and I will carry it out with pride.

I accepted the spare cloak Shishio-sama had wrapped around me to keep my warm and walked in pace between him and Soujiro as we headed out of the forest.

I just hoped that I wouldn't regret my decision.

To be continued

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