Fan Fiction / Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Memories of the Past and Friendships of the Future ❯ A Raven of Misfortune ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: This is a crossover of the anime Rurouni Kenshin and The Dark Elf Trilogy books written by R.A. Salvatore in the Forgotten Realms setting. It is not necessary to have read the books; it will still make sense because the story is focused mainly around Kenshin. I guess that this story would be considered a kind of AU fic.

Notes for Rurouni Kenshin: The story takes place a few months after the Bakumatsu while Kenshin is wandering. Also, Tomoe doesn't even exist in this story and therefore Kenshin has only a single slash scar on his cheek, which he got from some other way than he did in the real story. He also has not made the non-killing vow, so he isn't afraid to kill when necessary.

Brief Summary of Dark Elf Trilogy: For those of you who have never read the Dark Elf Trilogy, then I will briefly summarize the story. The main character, Drizzt Do'Urden, is a dark elf (aka a drow). His kin are a race of evil elves that shun the surface and all surface dwelling creatures. They live underground, a place know as the Underdark, in large caverns. Their skin is black and they have white hair. Drizzt was trained as a sword fighter and was the best around even at his young age, but he didn't agree with the evil ways of his kin and ran off to the surface to try to find somewhere he could live in peace. When he tried to fit into society, he was shunned by everyone for being a drow elf. Later, he met Montolio, a blind ranger, who took him in and taught him his ranger skills and how to survive on the surface.

Notes for The Dark Elf Trilogy: The story takes place after Drizzt has been on the surface and became a ranger under the teachings of Montolio, the blind ranger. Then, after Montolio dies, Drizzt is now wandering around and looking for a place where he would be accepted for who he is.

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Memories of the Past and Friendships of the Future

Chapter 1: A Raven of Misfortune

Kenshin, formerly known as Battousai the Man Slayer, steadily walked down the barely used dirt path as he traveled to a location that was unknown to even him. For the past few months after the end of the Bakumatsu he had been wandering without destination, seemingly searching for some place where he could call home without putting others in danger with his very presence. So far, he has had little success. The longest that he had stayed in one place was for a week, and he was anxious to get as far away from there as possible. The outcome of his staying in that one place for too long was still fresh in his mind and he did not want to take that kind of chance again and risk being discovered.

Resting his hand comfortingly near his katana and wakizashi that hung at his left side, he continued his trek along the path surrounded by a thick forest that seemed to have no end. He turned his expressionless face towards the setting sun and let the warm glow of light burn away the shadows that seemed to always cover his pale face. As he closed his eyes he let some of the tension out of his body that had been there since his hitokiri days, but he couldn't help but notice that it seemed that the warmth didn't penetrate the area around his vertical scar located on his left cheek. Now suddenly reminded of that fateful day when he had received the slash of his scar, he lightly placed his hand over his cheek as his body tensed up at the memory and his now open eyes hardened into two unforgiving gleaming orbs in the increasingly darkening setting.

When it was nearly dark, he reached a clearing in the forest and decided that it was better than he would likely come across if he searched any longer that night. Resting his back against the trunk of an aged tree, he lightly dozed until his senses alerted him to the presences of others. Crouching down behind a flowering shrub, he senses a group of people approaching from down the trail that he had previously occupied. Not wanting a confrontation with the strangers, yet not having anything better to do, he jumped into the upper branches of a nearby tree and waited to observe what kind of group would pass him by. He strained his perceptive ears to try to figure out what they were conversing about.

"…could swear someone came by this way just a few hours ago. He walked right through my enchanted wards that I set up to alert me to any trespassers. We wouldn't want anyone to accidentally stumble upon our magical gate that leads back to our own world."

"Good work. Now all we have to do is find this intruder and eliminate him before he sees too much."

"That should be easy enough. These people know nothing of real magic and are practically defenseless against even the simplest of spells. I could probably take him out with a single Stunning spell."

"A Stunning spell you say? That gives me an idea. We need a person who is familiar with this world to give us information that we couldn't find out by ourselves. To help us better understand this world's way of governing. We know too little about this place to be of any help to us so far. We don't even know if there are any intelligent races other than humans here."

"Yes, I think we should capture this one and question him until we know enough. Then if he proves to be worthless afterwards, we will kill him."

As Kenshin heard this he became a bit uneasy, an emotion that he, as an ex-hitokiri, had very little experience dealing with. As the group approached, he could make out in the lead two young men garbed in some sort of robe and carrying long wooden staffs. He figured that these were the two that he had heard talking together. On the shoulder of the older looking one is what appeared to be a large raven with beady black eyes and glossy black feathers. As the bird swiveled his head around in the directions of the forest, he stopped his supposed search when he came eye to eye with the concealed redhead.

Kenshin sucked in his breath when the raven seems to stare right at him with eyes that seem far too intelligent to belong to any animal. Holding as still as he possibly could, he hoped that the bird would just ignore him and continue its birdlike behavior that it should possess. Luck apparently was frowning at him at that moment, because before Kenshin could even take another breath, the raven soared into the air with a piercing shriek and flew toward the tree that he was hidden in. The robed man looked up quickly, and stared at Kenshin strait in the eye as he lifted his wooden staff high in the air. Kenshin, deciding that once discovered there is no use in hiding anymore, leaped right out of the tree and at the robed man. In mid-leap he drew his katana in preparation to disarm the man who was now chanting in some unknown language. But before Kenshin could even get near enough to inflict any damage, a blinding orange radiance enveloped him and caused him to be momentary blinded. He then felt like his whole body was consumed by fire and for a second he felt extremely lightheaded. Distantly he heard the sound of a katana striking the ground, but all he could see was a swirling of colors and shapes all closing in around him. Then there was nothing but blackness and the promise of nightmares to come…