Hey everyone! Finally after months of blood, sweat, and tears, (more like procrastination and indefinite hiatuses) a new chapter of The Cut of a Blade is done! But, it's more of a revamp from the other past chapters that used to be up. Don't worry though! It'll be sort of the same. The chapters shall be longer! The details more detailed! And the story more…Storier? That's a word right? (XD) Anyways, here's chapter 1, Enjoy!
Also, this chapter is dedicated to kallin22 for giving me some inspiration to stop procrastinating and write and to my writing sensei Brunetta6!
Chapter 1: A monster named Kiyoshi
"Where the hell is that monster?!" yelled an agitated man holding a huge butterfly net. He sat under a tree with his arms crossed and his net leaning on his shoulder. He wore a purple samurai kimono while his partner wore a simple t-shirt with old shorts.
"I don't know! All I saw was a shadow in the trees! I told you to keep an eye out!" said another equally peeved off man with a katana in hand. "We're never gonna catch him if you don't pay attention! And what the hell is that butterfly net gonna do?! He'll tear right through it!"
"I thought it would help! I catch him in it and you cut him!" said the other man. "Hey! You've done even less work than me out here! We've been out here in the forest for hours and have barely got a trace of him!"
"Just shut up and keep looking! We'll find him eventually and become heroes back at the village!" said the katana man, his mind drifting to the satisfying thought of being worshiped by his fellow villagers.
"Now then, le- Hey! Who said you could wear my kimono!? You're gonna dirty it up!"
"No I won't! Stop yelling at me!"
The two men proceeded to walk off, hoping to find their "monster", but still arguing with each other.
Suddenly, in the tree where the butterfly net guy had been resting under, a young man emerged. He had spikey black hair in a fo-hawk hair style, and brown eyes. He wore an old, red Criminal brand shirt and some tattered jeans. He wore some equally worn out shoes and some scratched up glasses. He was a bit muscular, but wasn't as buff as a body builder.
He quickly ran over to some bushes and laughed to himself. "Ha-ha! Those guys never learn do they? They'll never catch me!"
He had a small backpack with him, almost stuffed to maximum capacity. "Ugh. I'm just glad I'll be off this island. At least for the time being..." he said as he navigated through the buses and reached the end of the forest.
He then ran over to the end path to check if it was clear. Thankfully it was and he ran down it. Through the path he exited the forest and emerged onto a beach. Just a short distance away was a small dock with a few ships and dinghies. Near the docks was a small village, bustling with activity.
"Finally! If I can just make it to the docks without being notic-" he cut himself off and the two men from earlier appeared right next to him. Both men's jaws fell to the ground as they readied their weapons.
"Oh! Kūsō and Chō! Well if it isn't my two favorite people…" he said with a heavy amount of sarcasm. He then ran off towards the docks as Kūsō and Chō freak out.
"Holy crap! He was right in front of us!" yelled Chō with his butterfly net still in hand.
"Yeah!" said Kūsō as he made a fist and hit Chō in the head. "Don't let him get away you idiot!" he said chasing after the young man, katana in hand.
The young man made a straight beeline for the docks. He was determined to get there without getting caught. He couldn't afford to.
Kūsō was right behind him, trying to slash at him with his katana. "Get over here you monster! I'm gonna be a hero!" he said as his mind starting picture different scenarios of him being a hero.
"Kūsō is the greatest!" "No one is better than him!" were just some of the chants he could hear already.
As he started to daydream, the spikey haired man picked up speed and left Kūsō behind.
Cho finally caught up with Kūsō and tried to snap him out of his daze. "Kūsō! This is the worst possible time for you to do this! Wake up!" he said smacking Kūsō repeatedly.
Kūsō finally snapped out of it and shook his head. "Damnit! I dozed off didn't I?!" he yelled as he saw the spikey haired man way ahead. He reached into his pocket was he muttered insults to himself.
"Whatever! Guess I'll get the others to help!" he said as he pulled out a baby-transponder snail. "Kūsō to main squad! The monster is headed to the docks! I repea-" he was cut off as he heard sounds of scrambling and running on the other end.
(…)
Meanwhile, the spikey haired man finally got to the docks only to find it surrounded with guards. "Damnit, I never thought those guys would be smart enough to call for back up this time…" he said as he hid behind a huge boulder on a cliff next to the docks.
"I need a way to distract them, but how?" he said leaning on the stone. A light bulb practically went off in his head as he looked down from the cliff.
(…)
Kūsō and Chō finally got to the docks, and were met with the rest of the squad. They all looked at the two with evil eyes. "You idiots really did it now didn't you? You brought that damn menace closer to the village!" said one guard gripping a rifle in his hands. It looked like he was about to crack it.
Kūsō and Chō were filled with fear as they tried to explain themselves. Sweat formed on their foreheads and their legs started to shake. Every other guy in the squad was about twice their size, and they didn't need any reason for them to be against them.
"No! Tha-t's not it at all! We found him, but he immediately ran towards when he saw us!" they said sweating non-stop.
The bigger guard holding the rifle raised an eyebrow. "So it was your fault…" he said rising up his rifle. Chō and Kūsō found themselves up against the cliff when they tried to back away.
Kūsō and Chō immediately found themselves crying and holding onto each other. "No! It's not like that! Don't hurt us!" they said in unison. They looked up towards the sky and began to say their last prayer.
"Oh, Kami. Please save us!" they said closing their eyes. Tears kept flowing out of their eyes as they opened them. But as they opened their eyes, they saw a huge boulder falling down towards them. Their eyes practically popped out of their heads as the scrambled to get out of the way.
The guards got out of the way as the boulder collided with the ground and rolled towards the docks. Gravel flew up into the air as it rolled off, leaving most of the guards knocked over on the ground.
Chō started to cry even more as he looked up to the sky and said "Kami! If that was a blessing from you, thank you!" he said blubbering like a baby.
While all the commotion was going on, a figure ran through the huge dust cloud that had formed and got to the docks. "Too easy!"
The guards all got to their feet as they heard those words and looked to the docks. The spikey haired man was climbing into a small dinghy ready to ride away. The people on the docks froze in fear as they realized who he was.
The huge guard from earlier finally ran up to the docks and aimed his rifle at the man. "You! Step out of that boat! You're under arrest!" he said. Despite being the only guard brave enough to confront him, his legs were shaking and he could barely keep a good aim.
"You "Sword Beast" Kiyoshi are under arrest, for being a danger to all people on this island!"
Kiyoshi smirked a little bit as he leaned over the front of the boat. "Y'know what? I give up. Arrest me!" he said like it was nothing. He threw his arms over the edge and let them hang there. His hands fell into the water
The guard was surprised he was acting so corporately, but he knew he would still have to be careful. He pulled out some handcuffs and approached slowly. He kneeled down and was about to put them on him when Kiyoshi muttered something.
"Blade-Blade…."
The guards backed away as fast as he could as he was splashed with a torrent of sea water. He was shocked to the point of passing out. The other guard's jaws went to the ground as they saw what happened.
"….Propeller Blades!" yelled Kiyoshi as his arms had by now had morphed into perfect propellers blades which launched the dinghy in the other direction. "Didn't you guys know?" he yelled as he rode away. "I ate the Blade-Blade fruit!" he said as his arms then morphed back into regular arms
Kiyoshi became nothing but a speck in the distance and was gone as silence fell over the docks.
The rest of the guards got to the docks to clear out the civilians and assure them it was alright.
Chō and Kūsō went up to the huge guard who was still soaking wet. Calmly they asked "What do we do now squad leader?"
The squad leader looked toward the direction where Kiyoshi went and said "Nothing. He won't last a second out there in the New World."
(…)
"Haha! I did it!" said Kiyoshi as he drifted through the sea calmly. "It was a little risky but worth it!"
Hours had passed since he had left and Kiyoshi was still energetic from the experience. He could barely sit still in the boat, until he started going through his backpack. He sat with his eyes widening as he realized he made a terrible mistake.
He forgot to pack food.
"That can't be good…"
(…)
Kiyoshi lay on the bottom of the dinghy, his stomach growling like a wild dog. "Damnit… what kind of swordsman am I? A bit of hunger and I'm close to fain-" he said as he passed out.
Right before his vision faded he saw one last thing in the distance. Another ship, but much bigger and it had a unique figurehead.
It resembled a lion.
End of Chapter 1
A/N: Well, There's chapter one! I worked pretty hard on this and I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a review if you want and keep an eye out for chapter two!