Chapter 1: Slaughter
The poor boy hid helplessly as he watched everything he knew and loved being killed. His family, his friends, his whole life being destroyed before his eyes. A group of bandits had come, bull-rushing into the village of defenseless innocents. The men ran home to fetch their weapons, but none ever made it. The women and children were mercilessly slaughtered.
He tried to keep from crying or making any noise, so as not to let the murderers hear him. However one caught him and they were about to slaughter him, when all of a sudden a bloody flash strikes them all down. Crying on his hands and knees, he overlooked the many dead. He saw his little sister, only two-years old. His mother and father, who both had expressions of mass terror on their faces. He looked up and saw the last standing man, who seemed to have been the one who saved him.
"Are you okay boy?" The strange man asked ; the boy sobbingly replied,"Y...y...y..ee.e.es s..s...sir...". "That's good to know, you seem to be the only survivor..." ,There was a brief pause," This is a very cruel act that these murderous bastards pulled...I can't believe people..." The boy stared at him, attempting to wipe the tears away. "T...t...thank y...you." He stuttered, still fighting to hold back his tears.
"It's okay...I only wish I had gotten here sooner..I...I'm sorry..." The boy just stared. "I'm going to go look for any other survivors. I reccomend you find a good place to hide and stay there, just in case any more of these ugly rats decide to see what happened to the other half of their pack." With that the man wandered into the distance, and disappeared out of the boy's sight.
A day later...
The boy sat on top of a rock, staring at all the lumps of dirt in the ground. He had made graves for his friends and family. He had given a proper burial to all of them, even the bandits. While he sat, he stared at the sun as it made it's way to another part of the world. Even now he was choking back tears, there was a massive lump in his throat, his eyes burned and his heart ached as though he had just been stabbed repeatedly. "You...buried them all...even the bandits..." The voice from behind startled the boy and he jumped with fright to look behind him. It was the man from yesterday. "I'm sorry, but you are the sole survivor of this village..." The strange man looked as though he was feeling the same way the boy was. "You're very caring...you're heart is big, even to someone like the scum that killed your village..." He put his hand on the boys shoulder and looked down upon him. 'What is your name, boy?" He asked. The boy replied"I...I'm Shinta...Shinta Himura".
"Shinta, huh? That's name doesn't seem to fit your personality... How about I call you Kenshin from now on?" The boy stared and repeated, "K...Kenshin...".
"Yes, Kenshin. Say Kenshin, how about you come live with me? I've got plenty of room and food for you. I'll even train you in the art of sword-fighting." A light appeared in the boys eyes, he thought that if he could become as stron as this man, he could prevent this from ever happening again. "Yes sir. I would like that." The man looked down softly,"Don't call me Sir, to you it's Hiko, Seijurou Hiko. I will train you in the art of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu. From now on, you are my apprentice."
"Yes sir Mr.Seijurou! I mean Sensei Hiko!" With that done, Kenshin looked back among the graves once more. He promised them he would become stronger, for their sakes. Hiko Seijurou, and Kenshin Himura then began to walk northward; where Hiko's cabin lay, and Kenshin's training was to begin...