A/N: This is the part in the Kyoto Arc where it is revealed that Shinta was once a slave, and he and the other slaves were attacked by bandits. It's slightly AU because it doesn't really focus on the deaths of Akane, Kasumi, and Sakura. It's also very repetitive.
Disclaimer: Nobuhiro Watsuki owns Rurouni Kenshin.
"Don't look, please don't look" Her soft hand covered his eyes, trying desperately to block them from the terrible scene.
But how could he not look?
The imagination ran wild at the sound of screams, the scent of blood, and the cruel laughter: creating scenes too terrible for the young mind to comprehend.
So how could he not look?
Blood blossomed on the hard ground like crimson flowers, and screams pierced the air like hawk's talons.
How could he not look?
He pushed away the hand that shielded his eyes, kept them in blissful darkness...
It was as if he had shed all his innocence, all his naivety with that hand.
Premature eyes met the scene, saw the bandits wielding the bloody swords, saw the death of those he knew and loved, saw the death of his way of life.
It cannot be.
Blood. So much blood. The ground was littered with corpses, whose eyes were blank, staring, never to shine with the light of life again. Some had faces twisted in agony and disbelief, as they parted the world screaming in terror. Others had faces calm, devoid of fear, as they had accepted their fate. One was missing its head, and was trampled into the dirt, nothing more than waste. And everything was stained with blood...
No! It cannot be! The blood was just the shadows, yes, just the shadows, just the shadows wanting to make him fear, make him scream... and the corpses were not corpses at all, they were just pretending...yes...everything was just pretend...
But he knew this was untrue, just an innocent, naïve lie made to shield the soul. So he closed his eyes, and accepted his fate, accepted that he was going to die, be wiped off the face of the earth, die alone. The world was full of evil things, and this was just one of them. Soon, he would just be another corpse, another echo of a living being. He would be just a corpse, no longer good or evil, no longer feeling. Just a corpse that needed to be buried.
He opened his eyes and stared at the bandit wielding the bloody sword, the sword that would take his life. He braced himself for the pain of the sword slicing through his body, his very soul. He knew he was going to die.
But nothing came.
Instead, he saw a giant, a giant wearing a cloak of white and red, like the phantom of death. He saw the giant cut through the bandit as if he was cutting through butter. He saw the giant save him.
For once, he saw hope, a chance to live.
For once, he saw violence being used for good.
He saw it protecting people.
A/N: And we all know what happens next.
I think the ending was too weird. But then again, aren't all of my stories weird? I could be called a troll author for the weirdness.