DISCLAIMER: Uh... (eeek... I ain't good at this ^.^;;;) All characters are created and owned by me. I hafta admit, I did get some ideas in this story from some anime. To not get in trouble for the similar ideas, I'll give em credit. Organoid-like creatures - Zoids Chaotic Century. Mechs - uh... MechWarrior? Zoids? Gundam? Any show with cool, giant destructive robots with immense firepower. ^_^;;;;
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#1: A New Life
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The room was dimly lit. Up above, some moonlight had managed to fight its way through the tiny crack in the damp, stone wall. Tsuzaki watched the large wooden door creak open. He steadied his katana and was ready to spring into action. It had always been like this for many years. A stray wanderer had walked in to seek food and shelter. Quick as lightning, Tsuzaki drew his blade. It was all going to be over in a matter of seconds. Cold metal neatly sliced through the intruder's neck. A warm, red liquid trickled down Tsuzaki's hand; this, of course, was not his own blood... it was the blood of the person's life he had taken. By now, slaying everything in sight seemed quite normal for Tsuzaki. He did not care, for he was brought up this way.
"Hah, pathetic human. It serves them right... the weak perish, and the strong prevail."
[Right you are, my faithful servant. You have learned quite well.]
"You, the voice in my head, master, why won't you show yourself?"
[We've been through this already. It is my business, please butt out of it. Now why don't you take a break from your duty? You have been guarding this area well and deserve one.]
"As you wish, master." Tsuzaki returned his sword to its case, laid down on the floor and tried to get some sleep. Sometimes, this was quite difficult; the floor neither provided comfort, nor warmth, something Tsuzaki had never felt before. While trying to get some sleep, he watched the dying embers of the fireplace. There was one last flicker, then it went out leaving him alone and cold. Was he going to live the rest of his life like the flame? Serving his purpose and being discarded when he was useless?
Dawn broke out over the horizon, spilling many bright, beautiful colors into the sky. It looked as if someone had accidently spilled some watercolor paints on a wet slab of paper. Colors raced through the sky rapidly.
"Now you... dump those cookies over here. NO, NO!! NOT ON MY HEAD!! ARRRGGHH!!!" A mysterious shadow chuckled with amusement as it watched Tsuzaki sleeptalk.
[Wake up, you're sleep talking again.]
"Huh?" Tsuzaki turned a bright shade of red in embarrassment.
"Sorry, I was just dreaming again... I'll be off now..." He sprinted outside, and down the road. With an axe and sword, each in his hand, Tsuzaki continued down the path to the forest where he was going to spend the morning chopping firewood, and the rest of the day off doing whatever he pleased. A young squirrel nearby chittered happily, not taking notice of him. Suddenly, the squirrel darted up a tree in pure terror, as if Tsuzaki was a monster.
[Why is everyone so scared of me?] Tsuzaki thought to himself. Why did he feel so lonely when he didn't seem to care? [Why do I long for company? I MUST be going insane... yes, that was it, having a friend is a weakness. Only by betraying and sacrificing someone's life for your own is the way to survive. How could those pathetic beings risk their own lives for someone else's?]
The pavement on the road began to disappear as it started to blend in with some gravel, and then the soggy brown earth. More and more lush green trees and vegetation appeared. A large oak caught Tsuzaki's eye. The dry bark was rough and scarred, a proof of the tree's ancient past. It was perfect. With several swift swings of his axe, the tree was quickly downed and tied up with rope to be hauled back later.
The work was done and now was a good time to go relax. A few hundred yards from the tree was a river. Today, the river seemed unusually calm and quiet. Usually, the river would be roaring and thrashing like a bear having a tantrum, but today it was like a helpless little lamb. Tsuzaki decided to take the risk and plunged into the ice-cold water to cool off. He dove down near the bottom and swam. It was bursting with life! Small schools of fish, eels, and other animals swam by him. Plants waved their leaves gently but soon, they waved so violently that it seemed like the water was going to tear them off of their roots. Plunging into the icy depths was a mistake... probably the first, biggest, and last mistake Tsuzaki will ever make. Air bubbles escaped his lungs. He had to swim to the surface for oxygen. The coldness was making his body numb and his muscles ache badly, his lungs seemed like they were going to burst like an oversized balloon. Each time Tsuzaki attempted to swim upward, a strong current would just push him back down.
[No, this can't be the end of me. I can't die... I WON'T!!] He was going to scream. Try as he might, the waves were too strong. He finally gave in and gasped for breath. Water filled his lungs; white-hot pain seared through his chest. It felt as if thousands of burning knives were impaling him. As fast as the pain had come, it had gone, leaving Tsuzaki in a state of drowsiness. His vision clouded, until he could no longer see. Everything was darkening. He was losing consciousness from the lack of oxygen. Tsuzaki, the boy who wanted to be a legendary swordsman, no scratch that, a legendary manslayer, was going to die...
"Wake up!! You can't die, whoever you are."
"Huh?" Tsuzaki groggily woke up from his 'slumber'. He was in a tent of some sort. Things were slowly coming back to focus.
"Am I dead?" He questioned the shadowy lump in front of him, which was soon becoming a person... a girl.
"Of course not! I found you on the bank of the river and... KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!! The girl squealed with delight and tackled Tsuzaki to the ground, hugging him madly. Tsuzaki was not pleased at this and almost freaked out because he wasn't used to people hugging him... or even people at all. He pried himself from her grip and gasped for breath. [Oh great, just what I needed now... a psychopathic girl...]
"Er, hi, I'm Tsuzaki. Not to be rude or anything but I HATE BEING TOUCHED!!! And who the he|| are you? Where is my katana?"
"I'm sorry for not introducing myself, I was so worried that you were dead and... er, anyways, my name is Sakura." she paused for a moment to sniff the air as if something suspicious was lurking around. "Something smells bad... and... Ugh, Tsuzaki, when was the last time you took a bath?"
"Bath? What's that? Is it when someone binds you in rope and tosses you in a tank full of pirahnas? My old sensei used to do that all the time. He said 'we're gonna give you a little bath' and just tossed me in. It was basically to train me to..."
"EW!! No wonder why you smell like fish... THAT'S SUICIDE, NOT A BATH, YOU IDIOT!!"
"Uh... how should I know what it is?"
"Uh..." She fell on her head upon hearing his statement. "Oh well, I might as well give you one... " She dragged the protesting boy outside and tossed him into a hot spring. "Now take off your clothes."
"WHAT?! I ain't taking off my clothes... especially in front of a girl!!"
"But you need to wash off that horrible stench!!"
"But I still ain't gonna... GYAAAAH!!" Sakura had jumped into the spring and tackled Tsuzaki. Seconds later, she was on his back, trying to yank off his shirt.
"LEMME GO, LEMME GO, LEMME GO!!!"
"Not till you get cleaned up!!"
"Hah, you two look like you're in l-" before the stranger had time to finish his sentence, Sakura was already over there, malleting him on the head. Hey wait... how did she pull a mallet out of thin air?
@.@;;;
It took the stranger an hour before he could recover from the hit.
"Sakura, why do you do that? Do you not like me?" Tsuzaki sweatdropped as he watched Sakura materializing her mallet again.
"Hey kid, ya might wanna watch it... she's gonna do her mallet trick on you again."
"My name isn't 'hey kid,' and I AIN'T A FRIGGIN KID!!!"
"Uh... yeah... Shinnoto, this is Tsuzaki. Tsuzaki, this is Shinnoto, although I like to call him the baka yaro..."
"Tsuzaki isn't it? Now I wouldn't mind being friends with you just as long as you keep away from my g-" Shinnoto was promptly met to the face with a mallet.
"Sheesh, Shinnoto. I said it was ok if we were FRIENDS, not anything more than that. SO QUIT FOLLOWING ME YOU BAKA!!!" Tsuzaki smiled weakly as he watched Sakura 'abusing' Shinnoto.
[This is going to be a loooooong day] he thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
© Copyright 2003 Fang (L.C.M.) yes, those are my initials, the rest is censored; ya gotta problem, tell it to mah face or else tell it to mah fist!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
#1: A New Life
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The room was dimly lit. Up above, some moonlight had managed to fight its way through the tiny crack in the damp, stone wall. Tsuzaki watched the large wooden door creak open. He steadied his katana and was ready to spring into action. It had always been like this for many years. A stray wanderer had walked in to seek food and shelter. Quick as lightning, Tsuzaki drew his blade. It was all going to be over in a matter of seconds. Cold metal neatly sliced through the intruder's neck. A warm, red liquid trickled down Tsuzaki's hand; this, of course, was not his own blood... it was the blood of the person's life he had taken. By now, slaying everything in sight seemed quite normal for Tsuzaki. He did not care, for he was brought up this way.
"Hah, pathetic human. It serves them right... the weak perish, and the strong prevail."
[Right you are, my faithful servant. You have learned quite well.]
"You, the voice in my head, master, why won't you show yourself?"
[We've been through this already. It is my business, please butt out of it. Now why don't you take a break from your duty? You have been guarding this area well and deserve one.]
"As you wish, master." Tsuzaki returned his sword to its case, laid down on the floor and tried to get some sleep. Sometimes, this was quite difficult; the floor neither provided comfort, nor warmth, something Tsuzaki had never felt before. While trying to get some sleep, he watched the dying embers of the fireplace. There was one last flicker, then it went out leaving him alone and cold. Was he going to live the rest of his life like the flame? Serving his purpose and being discarded when he was useless?
Dawn broke out over the horizon, spilling many bright, beautiful colors into the sky. It looked as if someone had accidently spilled some watercolor paints on a wet slab of paper. Colors raced through the sky rapidly.
"Now you... dump those cookies over here. NO, NO!! NOT ON MY HEAD!! ARRRGGHH!!!" A mysterious shadow chuckled with amusement as it watched Tsuzaki sleeptalk.
[Wake up, you're sleep talking again.]
"Huh?" Tsuzaki turned a bright shade of red in embarrassment.
"Sorry, I was just dreaming again... I'll be off now..." He sprinted outside, and down the road. With an axe and sword, each in his hand, Tsuzaki continued down the path to the forest where he was going to spend the morning chopping firewood, and the rest of the day off doing whatever he pleased. A young squirrel nearby chittered happily, not taking notice of him. Suddenly, the squirrel darted up a tree in pure terror, as if Tsuzaki was a monster.
[Why is everyone so scared of me?] Tsuzaki thought to himself. Why did he feel so lonely when he didn't seem to care? [Why do I long for company? I MUST be going insane... yes, that was it, having a friend is a weakness. Only by betraying and sacrificing someone's life for your own is the way to survive. How could those pathetic beings risk their own lives for someone else's?]
The pavement on the road began to disappear as it started to blend in with some gravel, and then the soggy brown earth. More and more lush green trees and vegetation appeared. A large oak caught Tsuzaki's eye. The dry bark was rough and scarred, a proof of the tree's ancient past. It was perfect. With several swift swings of his axe, the tree was quickly downed and tied up with rope to be hauled back later.
The work was done and now was a good time to go relax. A few hundred yards from the tree was a river. Today, the river seemed unusually calm and quiet. Usually, the river would be roaring and thrashing like a bear having a tantrum, but today it was like a helpless little lamb. Tsuzaki decided to take the risk and plunged into the ice-cold water to cool off. He dove down near the bottom and swam. It was bursting with life! Small schools of fish, eels, and other animals swam by him. Plants waved their leaves gently but soon, they waved so violently that it seemed like the water was going to tear them off of their roots. Plunging into the icy depths was a mistake... probably the first, biggest, and last mistake Tsuzaki will ever make. Air bubbles escaped his lungs. He had to swim to the surface for oxygen. The coldness was making his body numb and his muscles ache badly, his lungs seemed like they were going to burst like an oversized balloon. Each time Tsuzaki attempted to swim upward, a strong current would just push him back down.
[No, this can't be the end of me. I can't die... I WON'T!!] He was going to scream. Try as he might, the waves were too strong. He finally gave in and gasped for breath. Water filled his lungs; white-hot pain seared through his chest. It felt as if thousands of burning knives were impaling him. As fast as the pain had come, it had gone, leaving Tsuzaki in a state of drowsiness. His vision clouded, until he could no longer see. Everything was darkening. He was losing consciousness from the lack of oxygen. Tsuzaki, the boy who wanted to be a legendary swordsman, no scratch that, a legendary manslayer, was going to die...
"Wake up!! You can't die, whoever you are."
"Huh?" Tsuzaki groggily woke up from his 'slumber'. He was in a tent of some sort. Things were slowly coming back to focus.
"Am I dead?" He questioned the shadowy lump in front of him, which was soon becoming a person... a girl.
"Of course not! I found you on the bank of the river and... KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!! The girl squealed with delight and tackled Tsuzaki to the ground, hugging him madly. Tsuzaki was not pleased at this and almost freaked out because he wasn't used to people hugging him... or even people at all. He pried himself from her grip and gasped for breath. [Oh great, just what I needed now... a psychopathic girl...]
"Er, hi, I'm Tsuzaki. Not to be rude or anything but I HATE BEING TOUCHED!!! And who the he|| are you? Where is my katana?"
"I'm sorry for not introducing myself, I was so worried that you were dead and... er, anyways, my name is Sakura." she paused for a moment to sniff the air as if something suspicious was lurking around. "Something smells bad... and... Ugh, Tsuzaki, when was the last time you took a bath?"
"Bath? What's that? Is it when someone binds you in rope and tosses you in a tank full of pirahnas? My old sensei used to do that all the time. He said 'we're gonna give you a little bath' and just tossed me in. It was basically to train me to..."
"EW!! No wonder why you smell like fish... THAT'S SUICIDE, NOT A BATH, YOU IDIOT!!"
"Uh... how should I know what it is?"
"Uh..." She fell on her head upon hearing his statement. "Oh well, I might as well give you one... " She dragged the protesting boy outside and tossed him into a hot spring. "Now take off your clothes."
"WHAT?! I ain't taking off my clothes... especially in front of a girl!!"
"But you need to wash off that horrible stench!!"
"But I still ain't gonna... GYAAAAH!!" Sakura had jumped into the spring and tackled Tsuzaki. Seconds later, she was on his back, trying to yank off his shirt.
"LEMME GO, LEMME GO, LEMME GO!!!"
"Not till you get cleaned up!!"
"Hah, you two look like you're in l-" before the stranger had time to finish his sentence, Sakura was already over there, malleting him on the head. Hey wait... how did she pull a mallet out of thin air?
@.@;;;
It took the stranger an hour before he could recover from the hit.
"Sakura, why do you do that? Do you not like me?" Tsuzaki sweatdropped as he watched Sakura materializing her mallet again.
"Hey kid, ya might wanna watch it... she's gonna do her mallet trick on you again."
"My name isn't 'hey kid,' and I AIN'T A FRIGGIN KID!!!"
"Uh... yeah... Shinnoto, this is Tsuzaki. Tsuzaki, this is Shinnoto, although I like to call him the baka yaro..."
"Tsuzaki isn't it? Now I wouldn't mind being friends with you just as long as you keep away from my g-" Shinnoto was promptly met to the face with a mallet.
"Sheesh, Shinnoto. I said it was ok if we were FRIENDS, not anything more than that. SO QUIT FOLLOWING ME YOU BAKA!!!" Tsuzaki smiled weakly as he watched Sakura 'abusing' Shinnoto.
[This is going to be a loooooong day] he thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
© Copyright 2003 Fang (L.C.M.) yes, those are my initials, the rest is censored; ya gotta problem, tell it to mah face or else tell it to mah fist!!!!