Disclaimer - I own nothing, but the head on my shoulders.
Chapter 1: A boy bathed in sunshine
A dark night. Rain pouring down and forming a curtain. Inside a forest stood a man, watching flickering lights in the distence. With brown, sharp eyes he stood in the rain, disregarding his wet clothes. He didn't seem uncomfortable, in fact, he seemed even slightly at peace in the rain. But he didn't let the feeling take hold and he simply stood there, watching the flickering lights.
He heard a small rustling of the bush behind him, but he simply stood there, watching. "Hey, Arata, how is it looking? Any changes?" A guys concealed within a dark brown cloak emerged from the bush and asked the silent man. The man, Arata, wasn't flustered or distracted in the least, he simply continued watching, like a hawk eyeing its prey.
"Same as before. Those bastards are within their camp, partying." He answered after a moment. He turned around and looked at the man with the cloak, "How is everything at base camp?" He asked.
The man walked next to Arata and took a look at the flickering lights, "Captain said we will move out soon. Its best that you prepare yourself."
Arata raised one eyebrow and then looked up "In this rain?" He asked.
The man shrugged, "Captain's orders. He thinks this will be the best time, while we have the advantage of the dark, rain and they are drunk."
Arata frowned, "The rain favours no one." He said quietly.
The man smirked, "But it will be hard for those bastards to relay their orders across the camp. Meanwhile, we will be organised from the start. I agree with the captain. These are far from ideal conditions, but with this type of advantage the chances of us failing are low."
Arata didn't put too much thought in it, after all, their captain was a veteran. He was used to fighting those bastards, so he looked away from the man and continued watching the lights. The man simply shrugged, "Well, anyway, that was my message. Prepare yourself, we will be heading out soon. Captain himself will brief you once we are ready to attack."
Arata simply nodded and didn't pay attention as the man pulled his cloak tighter and walked back into the darkness. As he watched the flickering lights, Arata's relaxed eyes quickly became focused, like a tiger ready to strike down at his prey.
Some time later, Arata stood there listening to his captain giving him his orders, listening quietly to the old veteran. The man himself wasn't spectacular. Short brown hair, a few scars on his face and armour covered his body. His looks were average and fell below average because of the scars, but the man's aura was unmistakable. That was an aura of a man who fought many battles and used his nails and teeth for a chance at life.
"You understand your orders?" The old veteran asked.
Arata nodded his head, "Loud and clear, captain."
The captain smirked. He wasn't really worried about Arata, becaus in their group, he was the second best, only slightly losing out to him, but given a few years Arata would definitely surpass the captain. So he turned around and walked back to the group of about 20 cloaked figures.
"Alright, listen up. I will go over the plan one last time, to make sure everyone understands. This is a sneak attack, so no stupid shouting or yelling. Keep quiet until the enemy notices us and starts charging at us with their weapons in hand, understood? I will personally deal with their leader, you guys scatter into groups of five and charge their sleeping quarters. Kill them in their sleep and move on. They outnumber us, so watch each others backs as you move. Quick, quiet and clean. Ideally, we will be able to kill a big portion of them before they manage to organise and come together. We will then surround and kill them. But there is no way it will go ideally so I will leave it to the captains of your groups. Give out orders according to the situation. Any questions?" The veteran spoke in a calm voice, but everyone heard him loud and clear and no one dared to raise their hand.
The man nodded and put his hand on his katana's hilt. The group of soldiers scattered into smaller groups and as soon as the order was given, they started following their captain. As the group ran, they tried to be as quiet as they can, but there was still some noise coming from them, showing that they had no ninja training.
As the group ran, they soon saw the gates to a big outpost of some sort. Two members quickly pulled out their bows and let loose two arrows, killing one guard and injuring the other. The injured guard let out a cry in pain and turned to the rain. He visibly shivered as he saw the group of over 20 men dashing at the outpost with murderous auras. He wanted to turn away, but Arata quickly picked up his speed and closed in on the guard.
The guard raised his own sword to block an attack, but Arata quickly drew out his own katana and slammed it into the guard's, pushing it towards him. Without the delay Arata then kicked the man in the stomach and with a quick move, beheaded him, before he could alert his comrades.
The captain slightly nodded his head, pleased with the progression so far. With a hand signal from him the group continued moving forward and as they entered the camp they started splitting into groups while the captain continued on forward with his own group.
As Arata ran with a small group behind him, he saw a bigger tent. As he was the one who spent the most time scouting, he immediately recognized it as a sleeping quarters. He quickly signaled with his hand to the tent and the group behind him nodded, tightening the grips on their katanas.
As Arata was about to reach the tent, to his surprise a person walked out of the tent. A sleepy and intoxicated expression on his face, but his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the group running at them. The man quickly understood that these men didn't come with friendly intentions so he let out a shout and took out a knife.
Arata only frowned, but didn't stop his movement, he quickly swung his blade at the man, who tried to block it, but he only had a small knife and he was still sleepy and intoxicated so the katana quickly pushed away the knife and a wound appeared on the man's bare chest. The man quickly let out a few curses and ignoring the pain he swung his knife at Arata, who ducked under the strike and ran past the man into the tent.
The man was surprised that Arata dodged his attack and ignored him, but as he turned back forward, fear appeared in his eyes as one of the men behind Arata quickly unsheated his katana and beheaded the man, before following Arata into the tent.
A massacre started as Arata's group quickly slaughtered the still sleepy and unarmed men. Though if one took another glance at the men you would quickly notice the signs. Dirty, unwashed, smelling of liquor. The group were sleeping with knifes under their pillows and they swore so much that even the sun would hide behind the clouds. It would take a person only a few seconds to figure out that all these men were nothing but bandits.
Arata stood among the corpses and took a glance at his men to check on their condition. Only traces of rough breathing could be seen after running in the rain for a while. Pleased that no bandits put up a fight, Arata cleaned his sword on his own cloak and was about to move towards another tent, when he suddenly heard a loud ringing sound. It was a bell. Obviously the bandits noticed their presence and started waking up everyone.
"They reacted faster than we thought. We have to be careful now. Don't lose sight of each other and watch your backs, the next group of bandits we will meet will be armed and awake." Arata quickly said and moved out of the tent with his men.
After running out of the tent, just as Arata said, the bandits were awake now. Shouts were coming from all around the camp and even the attackers stopped hiding their presence and let out battle cries. Arata quickly ascertained the situation around him and he knew that the best he can do right now was to block off the bandits so they won't flank the captain while he was dealing with the boss.
"There is no use going after the bandits now. We will set up a formation and protect the captain's flank. Don't let a single bandit through. The captain will quickly deal with the boss and will start reinforcing the flanks to deal with the remaining bandits." Arata gave out the orders and he and his team set up a small formation to block off the bandits. Of course, due to the rain it was a little hard to determine who was who, but the men stood firmly, waiting for the bandits to come.
Arata quitely sighed as he stood in the rain. Despite the chaos around him, he felt relaxed. Maybe it was because of the rain or maybe because he was starting to grow numb to the killing. He didn't know. But he simply stood there, looking at the sky. The moon and the stars were hidden, but he could still see them. He spent so much time looking at the sky since his childhood that he could clearly imagine the night sky. As the rain fell on him, his body felt relaxed and lighter. As if the accumulated blood was washed off. He felt clean.
"Arata, here they come." A quick shout came from behind him.
Arata's gaze went back from the sky to the ground and sharpened in a second. He watched as a few bandits were running towards them. Arata simply unsheated his katana and took a stance, "And here they come again, ready to meet my sword. How many times have I taken this stance I wonder? For what purpose have I taken it? I have already forgotten... Oh, well. Just like the last time these bandits will be cut down. Why do they never learn? Ah, I want this to be over. I am tired after the watch. I haven't eaten anything today. Why are you charging at me? Can't you see my blade. Aren't you afraid? Is it ignorance or bravery? Loyalty or arrogance? What's the difference. Like the sun comes after the darkest night so they shall fall before my blade like the bandits before them. Come, let me free you of your burden of stupidity."
As a bandit came before Arata, he swung his sword from top to bottom. Arata seeing this blade didn't even react to it, "Just like always. The same slash, the same form. They are all different men, yet why are their faces the same? Just this slash, I have seen it far too many times. Step to the side and thrust your sword forward. No unnescecary movements."
As the blade went past Arata he thrust out his katana, quickly piercing the bandits heart. With a quick move he removed the blade and took his stance again, ignoring the bandit as he fell lifeless next him.
Another bandit came at Arata. He simply took a step back to dodge the swing and then took a step forward, slashing at the bandits knees, "They have no formal training, they have no true battle experience, they know how to swing a sword, but don't know how to move their feet. Slash at the foot and they will become flustered and lost."
Just like Arata narrated in his mind, once the man saw an incoming slash to the knees, he didn't know how to react. After all, he just took a swing at Arata so he won't make it in time to block the attack and these bandits don't know any footwork techniques. The katana flashed by and the leg fell to the ground. The bandit released a loud cry, but the katana didn't stop. Like a hawk diving at his prey, the katana flew forward and beheaded the bandit.
Arata didn't stop for a second as he blocked another attack from another bandit. He seperated from the man and slashed at his knees again. It didn't matter that the bandit saw what he did previously. Just because he saw it once, it doesn't mean he will learn how to defend against it in a matter of a few second, unless he was an unique genius. But to Arata's surprise the man used a quick footwork technique and put some distance between them and then lunged at Arata again.
Arata's surprise was washed away with the next few drops of rain and he locked his katana with his opponent's. The two engaged in a power struggle. The bandit's eyes were shinning from beneath his messy hair. Arata's were indifferent. He had done this a thousand times. This was the one thousand and first. Like a child reciting a poem during morning class, he had been in this situation far too many times. It was etched into his bones.
Loosen your arms, slide to the side. The bandit was pushing forward so after the counter force was lost, he lost his balance and stumbled forward. Take a step forward and slash at his legs and then thrust your blade into his neck. Easy.
But to his surprise the bandit took a step forward and did a small roll, his leg coming out with only a scratch. The bandit stood up and watched Arata with shinning eyes.
"Ahh... There are people like you." Arata thought inside his head. The bandit and Arata quickly stepped forward and started another exchange of blows. Arata's strikes didn't have much form, but he obviously had a lot of experience. The man didn't have experience in fights, but he had form.
"You were once a child brimming with dream and vitality. You had a kind teacher who stood next to you with an encouraging gaze in his eyes, as he watched the young you swing his sword. To earn your teachers praise, you swung it. You had dreams, so you swung it. You wanted to protect your family so you swung it. You had a wonderful life. But the rock you stood upon crumbled. You fell into the abyss. And now, the blade you swung for your dreams, family and teacher is being used just for survival. I saw you. There are many people like you, who fell into the abyss and were forced to become bandits. You don't have the aura of a bandit." Arata locked his blades with the bandit again. Arata wasn't told this or anything. He could see the bandit's story from his battle techniques. Discplined, quick, strong.
Arata could already imagine a small boy standing outside during summer, autumn, winter and spring. He swung his sword. No matter what, he swung his sword. Arata could see his story from his strikes. No bad man, could have put in so much effort into swinging his sword. He was simply an unfortunate man. Arata sighed, as he side stepped an attack.
To his surprise, his back was knocked into a door. He didn't have time to move out of the way as the man didn't swing his sword, he simply lunged at Arata. With great force he grabbed Arata and the two broke through the door and into a small room. The bandit quickly mounted Arata and tried to strangle him, but Arata wasn't giving any ground. He was in this position many times, he bore the pain and blocked the man's moves.
The man gritted his teeth, but nothing changed. Arata's hand quickly went to the side and grabbed a piece of the broken door and stabbed it into the man's leg. The man let out a pained yell and was quickly pushed off of Arata, who took out his knife, placed his knee on the man's arm to pin it in place, blocked his second arm and thrust his knife into the man's neck.
"Thats enough... Go back. Go back to your family, to your teacher, to your home. You don't have to live such a cruel life. Go back and swing your sword. Swing once more, for your teacher, for your family and for your dreams." Arata said quietly, as he watched the man's shinning eyes slowly close and his body relax.
Arata sighed as he looked up and his eyes went wide. Nothing much could surprise him. He had seen many things in his life. At least he thought so, to his surprise before him stood a figure. It wasn't tall. It didn't have a particular aura or anything, the figure simply stood there watching Arata with it's blue shinning eyes.
As Arata took in the appearance of the figure he saw a small boy. He had red, straight long hair. It was like god tore out a piece of the sunsrise and put it on the boy's head. From beneath the long hair, two curious, shinning blue eyes looked at him. Clear like the boundless sky, beckoning one to lose themselves in their splendor. Like a kind mother about to embrace you. White, yet slightly dirty skin. A simple T-shirt and shorts. The boy was like a divinity descended, as he stood there, watching Arata. Arata didn't have much experience with women, living this kind of life he only came into contact with them as he was sitting in a bar, but he didn't socialise much with them.
And so, for the first time in his life, Arata understood the phrase, "Struck speechless by beauty.". He simply couldn't tear away his eyes from the flowing sunset on the boys head or the shinning blue eyes.
"Arata, are you alive?" He faintly heard a yell from behind him and came out of his trance. He shook his head and looked at the boy. After a moment he calmly said, "Don't worry, I will get you out of here soon." He then made sure the bandit beneath him was dead and went out of the house to help his group.
Chapter end.
Hello, everyone. I am the cool, beautiful and strong Sypnotick... Just joking. Don't look at me like that. Anyway, I am a new writer in here and I was simply looking for something to pass my time. And I thought about writting fanfic. I mean, why not. Anyway, this is a little story I came up with and I hope you liked the first chapter. I am a university student, so I don't know about the updates, because I am also looking for a part-time job, so most likely this will only be a weekly thing, sometimes even less frequently. I don't know. I will see how it goes.
Right... I don't know guys, this is my first time writting stuff like this, so give me your opinions. Leave a review, a like or whatever and let me know what you think. I am fairly new so are there any places I should improve upon, or do you think that this type of writting isn't really working and I should try out something else. Give me an opinion, damn it! That's all for my end note, I hope to see you guys soon.