From: Tatsuko Hello There ^_^ Well, once again my storm muse decided to come by for a visit, so here's another chapter of my fic. ^_^ Unfortunately my muse picked a bad time ~ she made me write this one while sick in bed. -_-;; So please forgive me if this chapter makes no sense or there are errors everywhere. (It's the rain's fault, I tell you!) That's why it's just a draft for now; I'll probably end up going back and polishing it up later... As always, comments, criticism, flames, suggestions, etc are all welcome and encouraged. ^_^ This is my first attempt at fanfiction of any kind, so I could really use any feedback to get better... Anyone who missed the prologue or first chapter can e-mail me and I'll be glad to send it to you. I'll eventually be putting this up on my (very badly neglected) webpage, once I get a better connection and can FTP again... -_-;; De wa, on with the fic, starting with a snippet from the last chapter... ~*****~ The attack came from out of nowhere. If it could even be called an attack. There were no enemies rushing at him, no swords, nothing *physical* he could defend against. That made it all the more dangerous, and all the more impossible for him to be prepared for what happened next. One moment, he could see everything clearly, and the next moment, it was all gone...the ground, the trees, Kaoru... In an instant, Kenshin's vision was filled with nothing but bright light surrounding him, and the world seemed to vanish in a brilliant flash of white. ********************************************************* What Times May Come Chapter 2: Lightning Strikes Twice By Tatsuko (Tatsuko@xoommail.com) 6/9/1999 ********************************************************* Disclaimer: All Rurouni Kenshin Characters belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki-sensei (all hail). All other characters belong to me. Please just ask before posting somewhere. ^_^ < > = Thought A list of Japanese term follows the fic ***** Kenshin immediately froze, not knowing what happened or what to expect. He felt the unseen ground beneath him lurch, throwing him off-balance. He tried to steady himself and plant his feet more firmly, only to realize that there was nothing for him to even stand on. The ground was gone completely, leaving him with an unwelcome floating sensation. Infinite moments passed. After what seemed like an eternity of nothing but whiteness, Kenshin detected small, black spots around near his feet. They floated slowly in a straight path upward, and were replaced by more. Bit by bit, they built up speed, until all that could be seen were black streaks racing by. It gave Kenshin the eerie feeling he was moving downward. Then he was falling. Suddenly he discovered exactly where it was the ground had gone to. He found himself unceremoniously dropped onto it from a few feet above. His quick reflexes allowed him to land on his feet, and he took the jolt with bent knees. The instant he looked up to try to survey his surroundings, he knew something was wrong. Very wrong. Before whatever it was that had happened happened, it had been a beautiful sunny morning; but now the moon was peeking through dark storm clouds, and it was raining hard. And this was in no way the place he had just left. A flash of lightning revealed he was on a trail in some forest, but he didn't recognize it at all. It was definitely not the familiar road to the Kamiya Doujou. Before Kenshin could start asking himself the obvious questions, he suddenly had something else to worry about - in the form of footsteps heard over the tumult of the storm. They were running. Right toward him. And fast. Kenshin had barely enough time to get over his lingering shock and avoid getting run over. *OOMPH* (Yeah, yeah, cheezy sound effects. So sue me...) Kenshin hadn't heard the _second_ set of footprints behind the first. Someone slammed into him sideways from behind, going at top speed. The person stumbled and grabbed at Kenshin's arm to try to stop, but his momentum kept him going forward and he ended up yanking Kenshin with him. Kenshin struggled for balance, but the ground was too muddy and slippery. Unable to avoid falling, his hand automatically shot out and he curled his body, intending to do a roll (ukemi for you martial artists out there). And roll he did - down a rocky hill which he hadn't seen in the darkness. Stones scraped Kenshin's arms, legs, and back as he fell. The world spun crazily, alternating between two shades of darkness. He couldn't see whoever it was that ran into him, but he could hear him yelling and tumbling through the underbrush slightly ahead of him. Kenshin managed to slow himself down and slide to a tenuous stop, but the other person wasn't so fortunate. During a brief flash of lightning, Kenshin caught a glimpse of a still form lying on its side at the bottom of the hill. Using instinct, caution, and the lightning to guide him, the swordsman slowly started to make his way down. About half-way there, a small, faint circle of light from below caught his attention, just before the entire sky lit up. For an instant, Kenshin thought, hoped, that it was just an especially bright lightning bolt. But then _everything_ went white, the ground lurched, and he felt the strange floating sensation again. It was the same as when he had come...wherever he was. Only this time it seemed much faster, as if something was pulling him through it. And this time he expected the fall that came at the end. He landed neatly on his feet, crouched and ready for anything. "Kenshin!" "Oro? Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin was a little surprized, but definitely relieved, to find himself back where he was before things had gotten strange. And most of all, Kaoru seemed to be OK as she ran towards him. Suddenly reminded of the danger that had been present back then, he quickly tried to sense the ki which he had felt then, but there was no trace of it, another relief. Kaoru ran up to him, a mixture of worry, relief, and confusion showing in her blue eyes. "Are you alright?" Kenshin looked himself over, moved limbs and joints experimentally, and performed a quick mental check of his body. He was drenched and dirty, but his only injuries were scratches, scrapes, and small bruises. "Daijoubu de gozaru, Kaoru-dono." He gave her a weak smile. "Are you OK?" "Ee. Demo, what happened? I...I heard you yelling something, so I ran out to se what was wrong." Her voice became a little more worried as she spoke. "Then the last thing I heard you say was "Stay back," then you just...disappeared in some sort of light." She looked up at him, anxious and confused. "Thank goodness you came back. But, what happened?" Kenshin didn't know how or where to begin. How could he answer her when he didn't even know the answer himself? He took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts. "Kaoru-dono, I..." His words were cut off when Kaoru suddenly gasped and stared wide-eyed at something over by the trees. "Kenshin, look..." Kenshin followed her gaze and saw it: a small figure lying on the ground, hunched over on its side facing away from them, its arms and legs sprawled out in front of it. "Who...is that?" ***** Matsuno strode calmly into the busy Tokyo restaurant, his face unreadable as he took a seat at a table in the back. A cute little waitress asked for his order and returned a short time later with tea, rice and soup. But Matsuno didn't feel much like eating. Even less so when he was joined by a shrunken old lady in ragged clothing. She gave him a toothless smile. "So, Jiro, I take it you were successful today?" The ancient woman's voice cackled and cracked. Matsuno just glared at her for a moment, as if looking straight into her, and the smile was wiped off her face. "I don't know. Was I? You should know, old woman," he stated blandly. "Things didn't go...quite as planned." He proceeded to give her an account of the events of earlier that morning. As he finished, the old woman's eyes widened. "I see..." "So?" he asked. "So?" "You didn't lie to me about the amulet, did you, old woman?" Matsuno's eyes narrowed as he spoke. The woman's eyes widened again at the accusation, then softened again as she gave him another toothless smile. "No, no, it's nothing like that." She sounded like a grandmother appeasing an upset grand-child. "In fact, we can use this to our advantage..." A malicious grin spread across Matsuno's face. "Tell me..." tsuzuku... (to be continued...) ***** Japanese Terms: ukemi: martial art technique of falling in such a way that you avoid injury (usually involves rolling) daijoubu de gozaru: "It's/I'm alright" (a la Kenshin) ee: "Yeah" demo: "But" ~*****~ In case you were wondering, "Jiro" is just Matsuno's given ("first") name... Coming up in Chapter 3: Who's the person lying in the road? And maybe a good old-fashioned swordfight Tatsuko "subete wa ame de hajimaru'n deshou..." ~ It's Gonna Rain! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Have you entered ONElist's "Grow to Give" program? http://www.onelist.com Deadline is June 19. Join now to win $5000 for your charity of choice.