Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Through the Eyes of an Immortal ❯ The Voice of the Past ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I don't own Weiß, nor do I own the series Highlander. Those two are owned by their respective owners.

Note: Italics within this story are used for thoughts. Also anything in between ~~~~~ and ~~~~ are flash backs ^__^

Chapter 1: The Voice of the Past

The soft blue tones of twilight faded as night blossomed into its fullness. Two figures stood atop of a distance roof as the moon slowly made its ascent into the sky. All was quiet in the Tokyo region of Japan, except for, and if you listened carefully enough, the sounds of two swords clashing could be heard. The sounds were faint though, and only the ones trained to hear it were able to. If there were any around to hear it, that is.

Ran stood on the rooftop, his face drenched in sweat. His arms ached as the weight of a heavy blade pressed down on his thinner katana. He took a swift glance at his opponent for that night. The man was heavy built, had short brown hair and a look of determination lingered on his sweat filled face. The man was a foreigner, but that didn't matter much to the red haired man facing him. He knew that it would soon be only a matter of time and patience when he would finally win the match that was set before the two men and the prize would be his, but then again he never knew what this man could be holding up his sleeve.

Sparks flew as the two swords finally broke apart. Ran ducked immediately knowing that the man would try to take another shot at his pale neck and parried the blow that came to him. A warm liquid trickled down his arm, causing him to look down. At first, he thought it was only more sweat making its way slowly down him, but he soon realized that it was his very own blood trickling down. He let out a soft growl breaking the silence of the night.

"You may have cut me," he said softly in the man's very own tongue. "But that is the only wound you'll inflict on me." He ignored what little pain came from the cut.

The man laughed and cockily raised his blade up again, signaling to the red head that he was about to strike again. "I'm far older than you think I am young one." He said gaily before lunging at him once more.

The brunette haired man's laughter was short lived, however.

Just as he was lunging at the man before him, Ran quickly ducked down. Raising his sword, he gave a quick simple thrust, which caused the blade to slide almost effortlessly through the man's stomach. The sight of the blood spewing out and the pain issuing from the not so deadly wound caused the man to look down. Surprise filled his face before he looked up and saw Ran standing before him.

A small smile spread on Ran's pale, sweat soaked face as he murmured five simple words, "There can be only one." Then with a practiced eased he pulled the blade free. Bringing the blade of the katana up to his neck he swung in an arc and quickly cut the downed man's head off.

The head rolled to the ground and Ran only had a minute to catch what little he could of his breath before lightening erupted everywhere. Ran's face twisted in agony as it hit him. This part of the prize always filled him with pain, but the knowledge and power he received from the quickening, as most immortals called it, always left him feeling as if he could take on the world. It also kept him alive a lot longer than most people.

Finally he could take the pain no longer and collapsed to his knees. He stayed there, as still as he could, just letting the power and knowledge flow into him, purify him, making him even stronger than his already three hundred years of existence he had gathered. Soon enough the lightening storm stopped, the quickening was over and Ran sat there panting. His exhaustion almost won out as he felt he could just pass out right on the roof he was sitting on, but he knew he had to get up and leave before anyone could see him and ask him why he was there.

As his breathing started to slow back to its normal pace he started to think back on how this all started.

~~~~

The year was 1698, Japan was still under the control of its emperor, but for the young man named Fujimiya Ran, it didn't matter too much to him. He grew up in a simple fishing village. He had just turned 20 years old and had a respectful family.

They weren't poor like most of the villagers, they were pretty well off. He had a wonderful fiancé that he was soon to marry. All was peaceful in his home. His father was a respected samurai, who at the same time was teaching his son the basics of formal weapon training. Ran didn't care for it too much but then again he wanted to please his father and bring honor to the Fujimiya name.

His life was almost dull though, yeah he was to be married and was respected by the villagers surrounding his home, but he always yearned for more. He wanted to see the world. He didn't want to be stuck doing the same thing until he died. That thought was always unpleasant to him.

Ran stood in the middle of the field surrounding his home. His brow drenched in sweat as he slowly practiced the katas his father had went through great pain to teach him. His movements were a bit choppy and he kept on faltering. Yet, he continued at them even though he knew he would never own up to his father's skill. The sun steady moved through the sky and he continued to try to perfect the moves taught to him.

As he did this, he lost track of time and was shocked when one of the village peasants came running to him.

It was early evening when the man came, and from the look of the sun, it would only be a couple of more hours before twilight broke out upon the land. The air was getting cooler as the sun made its way down. Ran stopped what he was doing and glanced over at the villager. The man was old and was one of the local apothecaries for the village. He was a well-known man and highly liked by the Fujimiya clan. Ran put the sword down immediately and ran over to the old man when he fell to the ground out of breath.

"What's wrong Grandfather?" Ran asked as he helped the old man up.

"The village, Sir," the old man wheezed out.

"What about the village?"

"One of the Imperial guards is making a nuisance of themselves. Thinking they're better than everyone. Is your father around?"

"Iie, he's out right now on some errands. What's going on?"

"The guard is killing villagers left and right. Please we need your father's help!"

"I'll go with you since my father isn't here. Maybe, I can talk the guard out of doing what he's doing."

"Oh thank Kami-sama." The old man croaked out.

"You just wait here, I'll see too it."

With that, Ran gathered up his sword and headed for the village.

The village was a quaint one. Little houses dotted along the dirt lanes. Many women were out about at this time of day, cooking the meals that the men had gleaned from the fields and what had been caught but not sold in markets. It was a peaceful place, except for the loud yells coming from a local inn where travelers stayed on their way to the bigger cities.

Villagers crowded around the entrance to the inn, forming a half circle. Ran stood in the back for a bit, trying to get a view on what was happening inside when one of the townspeople recognized him for who he was.

"Lord Fujimiya's son is here!" The man cried out. "Let him through, he'll be able to stop the guard."

With that, the crowded parted almost as the red sea had parted for Moses. Ran looked around at everyone. Their faces held a look of hope and respect for the young man who could barely even form his stances properly. He sighed softly and walked inside the inn.

As he stepped inside the little inn his sense were assaulted by the smells of body sweat, food being prepared, alcohol and the smell of blood. He had to fight the urge to run away from it all and to come back with his father there to back him up. He didn't though. He knew if he were to turn tail and run he would loose what respect he had with the villagers, who looked up to him as their protector, and he would loose the respect his father had for him. Not to mention, if he did run just now the guard would still be able to roam free for a little while longer and more innocent people would die by his hands. That wasn't something Ran wanted, so he continued to move inside and ignored the smells drifting up to his nose.

He looked around trying to spot the Emperor's guard who had been committing these atrocities and finally spotted him. He was dressed in a normal samurai outfit, instead of the usual armor that one would see on him. He had long black hair, which was knotted in the top. He looked more like a Samurai than one of the usual men who came to the village that were imperial guards.

The man was sitting calmly at a table. A cup of what one could only guess as tea was in his hand. He didn't look like the sort of man who would do such a thing to simple villagers, but then again most people can hide who they were by just a simple mask.

Ran walked up to the guard and lightly touched him on the shoulder. "Excuse me," he said. "Are you the one causing trouble in this village?"

"And who might you be?" The man asked.

"Fujimiya, Ran."

"Fujimiya eh?" The man said as he looked at Ran. "Your father's that Samurai isn't he?"

Ran nodded and shifted his sword slightly. "Why are you causing so much trouble to this simple village?"

"Because I can." He said casually.

Ran stared at the guard, he couldn't believe that such apathy for human life came from him. It was almost as if the man had no human feelings for anything or anyone. Fury grew in the red haired man. He continued to look at the guard standing before him. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't speak that way. Just because you are an Imperial guard, it doesn't mean you can blatantly ignore the life with in people as you are so obviously doing right now. Besides, my father will not allow it nor will I."

The older man looked up at the fiery red haired man standing before him. "Oh, so the young one wishes to stop me is that it?" He laughed out.

"If I must, yes."

The warrior stood up and walked out of the room. Before he exited, he turned back and glanced at Ran. "Well then so be it, but be warned, this isn't child's play."

Ran followed the man out and soon they were standing in a small clearing. It was one Ran was familiar with, having grown up practically in the area. Trees of many different shapes and sizes surrounded the clearing. The leaves on the trees were still fresh and green, and a soft breeze made them rustle. Night was swiftly approaching and Ran knew that he would have to try to make this quick, for what little skill he had would rapidly get even worse with the onslaught of night.

Ran looked around, he could make out the shapes of the villagers standing in the trees. He shook his head as he realized that even if he died tonight he would at least have someone be able to tell his father what had happened and why. Briefly, he wondered if he father had even come home yet, and if he had, did he even know what was going on.

He didn't have much time to ponder on such matters because soon enough the man he was about to fight attacked him. He pulled out his unsoiled katana and quickly tried to counter the on coming assault of the other's blade.

The two continued like that for what seemed like a few hours. Night had fallen over the two fighters.

"You're not bad," the man remarked. "Then again you aren't good yet either."

Ran bristled at the comment and rushed at the older man, he didn't have enough time to do anything when he felt something pierce his skin. He looked down. Half of the metal blade had been plunged into the boy's chest. Blood the color of scarlet slowly spread on to the blade and dripped to the ground. As he looked at the blade protruding through his chest, he instantly wondered if it was actually going through his entire body.

With a well-practiced grace, the guard pulled the blade out of the boy. Without the support of the blade and the man, holding him up Ran dropped to the ground. He was unable to move, and he could almost feel the life draining from him as he lie there. He knew he had to get up, to seek help but it would be too much of an effort to even try.

"RAN!!" Someone screamed out, but he could barely hear them. Everything was grew dark for the young man at that point, and with one last look to the skies he breathed out his last breathe and died.

The whole village stood there mourning his death. Always they had thought that if there was ever any trouble amongst them or with any outsiders, they believed they could always rely on the steadfastness of the Fujimiya's. This day however, they realized that even the clan of Fujimiya couldn't protect them from everything.

~~~~

Ran was brought back to the present with a start. He almost didn't want to face what had happened to him back then. He then noticed that his breathing had calm down and he looked around. He was still sitting on top of the roof of the building where he had just fought. Half exposed to the world, then again not many people could make out his figure since the building was tall. Picking up his dropped sword, Ran made his way to the door and slowly made his way downstairs to the outside world.

He walked down the night-covered streets. His mind rapidly came up with an excuse to tell his coworkers and roommates about why he had been out so late. The scenery flew by him until he finally came to a stop at the front of a little store.

The store was closed, but above it, he could see from the windows, lights that were turned on. He wondered if his three coworkers were all waiting for him to come home. He'd always told them that whenever he went out not to bother waiting for him since he didn't want nor need them to worry for his well being. Slowly he opened the door and walked in.

Author's notes: Well here, I am starting another long-winded story.

Brad: *glares*

What I mean is here's another wonderful idea for a story given to me by my wonderful muse! *sweat drops*

Brad: *smiles*

Err anyway I hope you guys like this, I don't care if it's been done before because, to be honest, it probably hasn't been done the way I'm doing it ^_____^

Brad: It had better not been done before, I'll kill whoever has wrote it like this.

Erm, lovely my muse is going to get violent now. *sighs* Oh well, if worse comes to worse I'll just do the Chinese Water Torture on him.

Brad: >_<

^_^ Anyway, I hope you guys do like this. If you do everyone knows what to do already *points at review button* Can I get anymore obvious on this. Thanks for reading it. There will be more out. Also questions or anything like that can be put in a review I will answer them ^_^