Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Through the Eyes of an Immortal ❯ Old Friends ( Chapter 4 )

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 4: Old Friends

As Ran finished up with the customer he was working on the man he spotted a few seconds before spoke up, "It's been a long time since we talked to each other last." He spoke in a flawless French, and hinted on a slight Scottish accent. Ran would have thought after all that time one person had stayed alive they would have finally lost that accent but this man never did.

Ran looked at his old friend. The man seemed unchanged. He had long black hair clipped back from his face. His deep brown eyes held a sparkle of merriment in them and his face held a broad grin over it. He was wearing a long flowing black trench coat with a deep purple shirt under it. Ran knew that under the trench coat, held his very own katana that he used and carried around just incase of an attack was directed towards him. Ran shook his head. Even after about one hundred and fifty years, the man would almost never change. Then again neither would he seeing as how he was froze in the age of a twenty year olds body until the end of time, or when someone finally bested him in the game and claimed his head. "What brings you here, Duncan?" Ran asked him in the language his friend had spoken in.

Duncan Maccloud grin grew brighter, "I was in the neighborhood, and a friend of mine said they'd seen you here, so I decided to drop by and pay you a visit."

Ran nodded his head at the explanation given to him by the man.

"Although," Duncan continued to speak, "Working as a florist never struck me as something you would do with your immortality."

Ran shrugged his shoulders at that, "It gets me by in the years."

Yohji, Omi, and Ken watched the exchange going on between the two young men. Shock was written plainly on their faces as they saw a side to their teammate that they had never seen before. They never knew that Aya knew more than one language or had any friends for that matter. They always thought that he would rather die than to get to know anyone or get close to them for that matter, but here he was with some complete stranger talking to him as if they were old friends.

As Duncan and Ran sat there talking about things, they sensed the presence of another immortal nearby.

They looked around trying to see who it was. As they did this Ran spoke quietly to Duncan. "Don't worry, who ever it is can't attack us. This is still considered Holy Ground."

Duncan looked at Ran and raised his eyebrow, "It is?"

Ran nodded and pointed to a little shrine in the corner. The ground that the Koneko was built on was once the very temple that Ran had trained on with Shion. It was still blessed and the shrine was the last remnant of the temple left. That made Duncan and him safe from any immortal daring an attack.

Duncan nodded but kept his hands poised, ready to bring out his katana in a flash should he need it. He kept his eyes trained on the door. Soon enough both his and Ran's waiting was rewarded.

A young woman walked in. She was in her early twenties. Her black hair was cut close to her head. If it had been cut any closer, then it would have been completely shaved off but it wasn't. She was dressed in almost a tight fitting white top with as well as almost tight fitting black pants. She looked around her and spotted Duncan and Ran off to the side talking to one another but was abruptly blocked off by Yohji, who started to flirt outrageously with her. As he was flirting with her, she looked over at the two men and gave them a wink.

Duncan recognized her immediately and took one quick glance at her before turning back to Ran. He confirmed what could be seen plainly on the younger man's face. "No, Amanda, hasn't changed much since the last time we had all meet."

~~~~

The streets of Paris seemed to burst out with activity as the many people who, worked, lived, or just happened be there on a visit from one of the towns or countries surrounding the place began their day with the newly risen sun. The sounds of merchants calling out the names of their wares, in hope of actually attracting the attention of the many passerby's would stop and look at what it was they were offering and just maybe they would buy something from them. Add this to the cacophony of many people talking, laughing, and the sound of horse hooves falling on the ground. Occasionally one of the merchants would actually succeed in cajoling a man or a woman to stop and look around at the goods being sold there. When this happened he would throw a triumphant look to the others along the street as if to say, "I got them now and you can't have them," and they in turn would send a scowl to them in that direction only for it to be laughed at or shrugged off by man.

Children played on the edges of the cobbled streets. Courtiers stood, sat, or walked along the self same streets. You could tell a noble man or woman from the peasants with their finely made gowns and breeches consisting of the finest silks, that came from what they called the "Mysterious" lands of the west, along with their white powdered hair or wigs that were the current vogue of the lands.

The year was 1748. King Louis XV was firmly placed on the throne and so far, it seemed like everything would be well and peaceful for once in the country. Just that year they had finished a war that was going on in Austria that lasted for a decade. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying the respite from that war.

Ran walked along the stone filled streets of Paris. About fifty years had passed since his mentor and teacher, Shion, had left him, never to return. He had stayed on in the temple for less than a year before finally deciding to go out into the world. He figured that if he did that, he would get to see more of it, which was one thing he was yearning for, and just maybe the fears of his teacher being dead would get proven unfounded.

He stopped as he looked around. Through out his wanderings in the world, Paris seemed to be the most shocking places of them all. Whores littered the streets showing off their own special "wares." It didn't bother the women that it was unseemly to do so especially with children around and it being broad daylight. No one seemed to care about this. The lack of honor with in the city seemed to make Ran yearn to leave the place as soon as he possibly could.

As he stood there looking around, a young woman walked up to him. "You're a handsome one," she said and smiled at him. She wasn't a bad looking young woman. Her hair was full and brown, which hung loosely to her waist. The clothing she wore though were dirty as well as most of her body and when she smiled, you could immediately tell that some of her front teeth were missing. She bent forward slightly to show off more of what little cleavage she had. "I can show you a good time."

Ran stared at her in horror. He could barely understand a word she was saying since his grasp on the French language was still limited to only a few words and phrases. He could tell what she was hinting at though. Her way of talking held a slight seductive tone to it as well as her body language. "Nani?" He asked in his native tongue.

She looked at him for a second taken back by his use of another language. Her eyes widened, "Oh, you're one of those foreign men." She looked mildly upset before smiling again. She grabbed his arm. "That's ok I've always wondered how good you foreigners were." She started to pull him off the side of the road.

Before she had a chance to drag him a couple of feet, he broke loose from her almost iron tight grip. He gave her one final look before running away with as much speed as he could muster. He ignored her cries of dismay and the loud protests of other men and women as he dodged in and out of them in hopes of getting away from the city as quickly as possible. Soon enough, he found himself out side of the town, panting in almost exhaustion.

Great trees lined the now dirt path that Ran walked on. The sun streamed through their leaves in patches, while the sounds of birds, singing filled the air. Everything was still along the road, and it was peaceful compared to the city that Ran left in a great hurry.

He was glad that he was finally out of that city. The place was a little to crowded for his taste and the corruption that lingered there set his teeth on edge. France was nothing like the country he came from. Oh, sure, they had whores there, but in Japan, they were treated with more dignity and class. They were never dirty or toothless, as almost all of the ones that could be found there or even like that young woman from earlier.

Ran continued to look around as he walked through the forest. In a way, he started to wonder why he had even decided to leave the protection of the temple to see the world. It was turning out to be far more different than he ever expected, but then again there was little that he knew of with just being the son of a minor, but well-known samurai.

As he was wandering through the forest comparing the two places, a strange sensation stole over him. It was the type of feeling that would come upon him whenever Shion was about to walk into the temple after being out in the city. Shion had once explained to him the reason why he would get the feeling as he did.

"It's the presence of another immortal that you're sensing, young one," he said one night when Ran finally got the courage to ask him about it. "In most cases, when you feel it, I'm the one you're feeling."

"So, I'll feel the same thing with others like us?" Ran asked curious to find out.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't fully know why. It might be that our souls are so strong that they call out to others when we get around them. Then again, it could just be like the swordsman's spirit most samurai's have that can warn them when an attack is imminent. There are many reasons as to why we sense it."

Ran stopped as the presence in front of him grew stronger. Soon enough, a young man stepped out almost in front of him. He was tall and had the look almost as if he was a French vagabond. A light rapier was at his side as well as a musket.

Ran gave the young man only a fleeting glance and stepped out of his way. He thought that the man standing in his way was making his own way to the city he had just left in a hurry. However, he found out all too soon how very wrong his guess was. As he was politely stepping out of the man's way, he found himself just narrowly escaping the swift slash of the man's smaller bladed rapier.

Ran unsheathed his katana and neatly blocked another incoming attack. He couldn't understand why this man was attacking him. He'd done nothing wrong to him. He hadn't been impolite to him or insulted him in anyway, so the attack against him was without provocation.

As blow upon blow reigned down between the two men, Ran briefly realized that the man attacking him wasn't the immortal he had sensed just a few seconds before hand. He had no idea who this man was. He glanced around to see if he could find out where the immortal was hiding, to see if they were the one that was causing the man to attack him, in hopes of finding any weakness within Ran's fighting style.

The young swordsman used Ran's distraction to his advantage and neatly twisted Ran's sword out of his grip. As the red head became disarmed, the French man did a perfectly aimed thrust and pushed the sword into Ran's chest.

The feeling of cold metal mixed with the wet slickness of blood broke Ran from his search of the other immortal. He slid to his knees as a fiery pain flared through him. No matter how many times I've had a sword plunge into me, or how many times I'm killed, it still hurts like hell. Ran thought to himself as he looked up at the man still standing over him.

His assailant wore a broad grin on his face and was glancing off to the side of Ran. His mouth was moving as if he was talking to someone, but to the crimson haired, immortal, the heavy pounding of his own blood, which beat loudly in his ears, drowned all sound out.

As he continued to look at the man in front of him, the immortal he had sensed earlier stepped out into plain view. It was a woman, a beautiful one, with long black hair. Her clothing was that of a peasant. A plain brown gown, but it wasn't one that was like most peasants. It was modestly cut high, so no man could stare at her for too long. The most notable thing about her though was the broad sword she carried at her waist. Ran was surprised at that, seeing how this was the first female immortal that he had ever met and he didn't think that women could become one. This however corrected his opinion on women being one.

The woman crooned in delight as she took in the sight of the immortal. "What do we have here?" She spoke out in plain French, but quickly realized that he didn't understand her when she saw the confused look on his face.

She moved forward to see if she could place the language that he spoke and accidentally stepped on his old katana. She gave a cry of delight when she realized how old it was and picked it up and a mischievous glint came over her eyes as she looked from owner to sword, then quickly took off with it.

Ran fell forward as finally, the loss of blood killed him, and his last coherent thought before he fell to what would be a partial death was. First, a whore tries to get me into bed with her, now I'm dieing... again... and my sword was just stolen... this is just the most wonderful day I'm having...

~~~~

Ran looked over at Duncan and smirked at him. He knew all too well that even through the passage of time, nothing would ever change the shorthaired thief. Oh, her looks might change but her very nature would always remain the same. No matter what happened to her.

Duncan let out a small laugh and said to Ran in a quiet tone. "You should warn your coworker over there about her, you know."

Ran shook his head.

Duncan gave the red head before him a long steady look, then moved his gaze back at the two people. Yohji was beginning to become flustered as it seemed like the young woman was taking no notice to his advances and for Yohji that was a first. In all his life, he had never had a woman turn him down before.

Before things could go any deeper between the two and Amanda could rob the poor brunette blind, Duncan spoke up in Japanese. "I'd advise you to stay as far away from her as you can. If you don't she'll rob you of everything from your clothes to even the glasses on your face."

Yohji stared at the man, his face lingering on horrified to plain disgusted.

Amanda looked over at Duncan and pouted. He always had to ruin what little fun she could get from anyone. She quickly dismissed it as she brushed what she said aside and looked at Yohji. "Oh, don't worry about me stealing anything from you. I only go after the bigger things," she purred at him in a silky voice.

Yohji's eyes widened at that. He looked from her to Ken who happened to be standing right next to him at that moment. He leaned over to Ken. "Was she insulting me?" He asked to the younger boy.

Ken shook his head and laughed. "I don't know Yohji, that's for you to decide."

Ran watched the interplay between them all in mild fascination, then glanced back over to Duncan. "So what are you really doing here?" He asked in a calm voice.

"I just wanted to catch up on old times." He replied. "Lets go for a walk and talk."

Ran nodded and soon the two men were out the door and down the street talking of old times.

Author's notes: *thinks* Hmm… I could have done better with the chapter… but I'm kinda sick right now so my muse is being… well… lenient on me?

Brad: … I don't want you to over work yourself…

Since when have you been concerned with me?!

Brad:… Since you were so gracious enough to take me away from the nut house known as Isa-chan.

Oh…uhm anyway…sorry it wasn't Schwarz… I can say they will be in the later chapters ^_^ just have to wait and see… *coughs* oie… I'm going to take a break from writing though… that is until I'm over being sick… Anyway Thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. More will comes soon.