From: "Pearl Louis" Hi! Here's a fic I wrote when I was bored out of my skin looking up articles on "Optical Tweezers". By the way do you know what CHO cells stands for. I do now - Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells. I am serious, I found this in a scientific paper. Anyway I got bored (after reading that last bit I thnk you can see why I needed a break) and decided to write a short one-piece fic (though I may write a sequal-haven't decided). I wrote it an hour so please forgive any spelling and grammar mistakes. It has a supernatural stance and its about the first Hiko Seijuro. I think my next fic will be nice and happy. I'm writing too much angst. THE CURSE OF THE DRAGON Blood splattered the stone walls of the cave as the razor-sharp blade of the katana sliced through flesh. The body of the last demon guarding the sacred site fell to the ground twitching. At the entrance to the cave stood the owner of the sword. He was tall, his face illuminated by the golden glow of the torch he held in his left hand was delicate and soft with the beauty of an angel. A fallen angel, for in his amber eyes burnt a cold fire which almost scorched in its intensity. His long black hair hung loosely around his shoulders. A thin braid hung by the left hand side of his face, threaded through by a green ribbon stained with old blood, a reminder of why he was here. His clothes were in tatters, scorched with burn marks and with rips caused by sharp claws that still oozed blood from the exposed wounds. Only one item survived the trip through the labyrinth of tunnels hidden deep under the mountain intact. It the stale ancient air of the tunnels it hung limply around his body, a white cloak with a high red collar. The demon's blood still dripping from his blade he entered the cave which marked the end of his journey and perhaps his life. As soon as he entered torches which had hung from the walls for millenia burst into flame. Idly Hiko Seijuro noted that they didn't emit any heat, only light and they didn't seem to be burning either. His heightened senses suddenly realized that the escape route behind him had suddenly closed. Twirling around, his sword at the ready he encountered nothing but rock. His calloused fingers tentaviely stroked the rock surface which only moments before had been empty space. Yes it was real. For a moment his rational logical mind refused to accept what his senses told him to be true but his battle spirit fought down the swell of panic that ensued. He shrugged, illusions becoming realites, what else should you expect when dealing with the supernatural? "So..." the deep melodious silky voice echoed through the small chamber. It was not a man's voice or a woman's but a mixture of both and underlying it was the silky gruff menance of a lion or tiger. "You've made it through the traps.." Hiko stood in the middle of the round chamber, sword at ready, slowly moving around, but he could see no-one. The voice chuckled. "I think I can guess why you've come here..The same reason that nearly a thousand of the best swordsmen in Japan and China have sacrificed their lives and their sanity for two thousand years.." "Yes! I want to learn the ultimate technique. Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu!" Hiko yelled. "I've made it through your traps and tests! You have no choice but to teach me!" The voice chuckled again. "What traps? Look down at your clothes foolish one." Confused, Hiko looked down at his body. He gasped - the cuts and rents in his clothes had all disappeared. He twirled around - the body of the demon he had killed was gone too. What - ? "Everything was an illusion foolish one." "Then the demons, the maze - " "How dangerous the route is depends of the darkness of your own mind and soul. I'm impressed - you're stronger than I thought. To be the first to make it here and yet have such darkness in your soul - I'd always thought that the first one to make it here would be a saint." The voice laughed. It wasn't a pleasant laughter, bitter and caustic with such sadness and grief that even Hiko was tempted to cry. "Some men are born with great beauty, some with great genius, some with great physical ability, some are born as leaders, some with great compassion. Yet every several hundred generations through sheer chance or perhaps a quirk of fate one is born with all these qualities. As such they can do things considered impossible. For example, learn the ultimate killing technique known only to the Dragon, the Lord of the Waters. A technique from heaven itself! You are one such man - Hiko Seijuro." It was Hiko who laughed this time, bitterly. "If I am so great how come I couldn't stop my whole family being destroyed. How come my wife whose blood stains this ribbon I wear betrayed me to my enemies, huh? All I have left to remind me of all I once had is this mantle, which has been passed down for centuries from father to son in the Clan of the Dragon and this blood-stained ribbon." "Those whom luck favours excessively, fate hates. A sort of balancing act you might say. You were born in the Sengoku period in which Japan is divided into many small warring states. You're clan is small and independent - it was inevitable that it would be destroyed by one of the larger ones who fear its spirit and power." "But why did I have to be one to cause it? Why me?" Hiko screamed. " Why did my wife betray me? I came back and found the whole compound destroyed and my wife who I loved more than life itself was the spy responsible for their destruction." Hiko bowed his head in sorrow. "If only I had listened to my father instead of my heart - I killed her. I enjoyed killing her and I took her ribbon, stained red with her blood and tied it in my hair to remind me never to trust anyone again." The voice was soft and sad, almost sympathetic. "I am sorry Hiko. Such is the whims of fate and rules of heaven - " "Damn heaven! Just teach me the damn techniques so that I can take my revenge!" "Be patient child. I will teach you - after you listen to my story." "Well hurry up then." The voice sighed. "Once a long time ago, two thousand years ago to be exact there was a small boy living in a village in China. One day there was a great war in heaven and a powerful artifact fell down to earth. The boy found it one day while searching for firewood. It was a huge pearl, the size of a fist. The other children wanted to see it but this boy was spoiled and greedy with no honour. When he lost a fistfight to see who would get the pearl he swallowed it rather than allow the other boy to have it. However unknown to him this was the Pearl of Water the artifact that controlled all the water on earth - the rain, the rivers the sea. The power of the pearl caused him to transform. He grew in size until his body was as long as a large lake, scales began to cover his body. Talons grew on his feet and hands and his nose turned into a snout. Outside he was a fearsome monster, but inside he was just a scared little boy. Like any other boy he ran for his mother but his huge feet crushed her. Panicing he turned around but his tail destroyed the village. Wailing in pain and sorrow he fled." "For many years he hid in the mountains - wallowing in his own grief and self-pity. But what he did not realize was that without the Pearl no rain fell. The rivers dried up. There was a great drought throughout the land and countless millions died. When the boy finally emerged from hiding he saw the bones of those who died piled up in mountains. He stood there confused until some emissaries from heaven came down and told him that it was his own self-pity and selfishness that had caused the death of all this people. The boy stood there shocked and asked how he could bring water back to earth." " 'The Tears of the Dragon shed in genuine unselfish sorrow shall bring the rains. In order for water to bring life it must first be shed in genuine sorrow by the selfish one.' " " ' How long must I shed these tears?' " " ' It was your own greed that caused you to swallow the pearl. It has become part of your essence. We can never remove it from you. Thus you must live in grief and sorrow until the earth itself dies. ' " "The boy accepted this punishment willingly for it was his own selfish actions which caused the death of the all these people." Hiko scowled. "So?" The voice was sad and weary now. "Remove all illusions from your eyes and see the truth." Hiko blinked. The mountain disappeared and he was on a plain. Before him was a cairn as big as a hill and around it was chained the long scaled form of a dragon. A huge spear pierced the dragon and the cairn. The head of the dragon rested wearily on the ground. >From the large velvet brown eyes welled huge watery tears that fell unheeded to the ground." "Who - ?" The dragon smiled weakly. "I told you I accepted my punishment willingly. All this I did to myself." "How long - ?" "Two thousand years has been a long time to live in this agony. But for the world to live I must cry and even the most soft heart can become hardened over time. So to force myself to cry I live in agonizing pain." Tears welled up in Hiko's eyes as he collapsed to the ground. "Don't worry - I accepted this punishment willingly. For the world to live what does the suffering of one such as me matter?" The dragon sighed. "But - the strength of the Dragon's Technique comes from the Pearl of Water. But as you can see the Pearl brings sorrow as well as life. After all a pearl can be black or white. In order for you to share my power, you must share my curse." "Your curse - ?" "To willingly live in sorrow and pain. To live in loneliness. If you thought the fates hated you before you will now taste their full fury. Anyone you love will die by your hand so you can never let yourself love and so you will live until the end of your days lonely and tormented. This curse will also pass down to your successors." "But - the good you will do. The power it will bring you. The future speaks to me and I see the many lives you and your successors will save. The happiness and joy you will save - the suffering of one will bring about the happiness of many. Like me to bring life to a barren land you will shed many tears of sorrow. And the pain will be worse for being willingly accepted." The dragon smiled. "Do you still want to learn Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu?" Hiko whose head had been bowed towards the ground looked up fiercely. "Yes. For my revenge I will accept any pain!" The dragon smiled sadly. "So be it." Suddenly a small ghostly boy materialized before him, wearing antique looking peasant robes. Hiko leaped back in shock. "Who - ?" The boy smiled. "This is my manifestation. After all I can hardly teach you the moves while chained to a rock can I?" "You-re - " "Yes. This is what I looked like - before I transformed." A sword materialized in the boys hands. "Come. Baka deshi." NOTES: That dragon myth is based on a real Chinese folktale. The last time I read it was in primary school so its probably none too accurate but I do remember that the boy changed into a dragon by swallowing the pearl. And in China and Japan the dragon is the Lord of Waters not Fire. The ending - well I was going to have Hiko make some big speech about how he's repented in his ways and no longer seeks revenge but then I though it was a bit too sudden. Anyway I might want to right a sequal one day. Hiten Mitsurigi Ryu means something Dragon technique and Kenshin once said that it was developed during the Sengoku period. 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