Note: Good God, has it really been almost FIVE months since I updated this?! I am horrendously embarrassed now... (This is really annoying, because I know how this story is supposed to go, but I guess I've been sidetracked by other things.)

However, having found an absolutely wonderful piece of inspiration music, it's time to resume the madness that is this story. (The song, by the way, is "Breathe Into Me" by the group Red. Talk about a lucky random find while driving home from dinner one night!)


The Black and Awful Chaos of the Night

Chapter Six - Nothing Left to Lose

At one time, he had thought himself beyond emotion, beyond any sense of feeling... just an empty shell.

How wrong he was.

An empty shell could not be consumed by this grief and bloodlust surging through him.

An empty shell did not possess a voice that screamed in incoherent defiance at an uncaring sky.

An empty shell didn't care if it lived or died.

But in the handful of moments it took Kambei to lunge at Kyuzo, he realized how absolutely mistaken he had been. In the time he had come to know Kyuzo and Nasami, he had rediscovered what it meant to be alive... to feel joy and pain and sorrow and hate and love. He, who had once chased death with singleminded fanaticism, who had done everything in his power to keep the samuraiko at arm's length, refusing to let her bring him back to life.

But against all the odds, striving against past sorrows, political intrigue, and even death itself, Nasami had won his heart and his love, just as Kambei had won hers.

And then... then Kyuzo had torn his heart out by murdering Nasami... killing her in cold blood, for the sole purpose of luring Kambei to him, and to his death.

A painful jolt shot up his arms, and he was momentarily startled until he remembered the swords he still held... and yes, he could still hear them screaming.

A screaming echoed by his own voice.

He closed the last of the distance between himself and Kyuzo and brought both swords down with savage strength, but Kyuzo blocked both strikes cleanly, twisting the swords aside and whirling with familiar grace to strike at Kambei's exposed back. But even as the swords pressed home, Mamorimasu twisted in Kambei's grip to defend him, and Kyuzo's sword met Mamorimasu in a shower of sparks.

Kambei snarled and lashed out with one foot, hoping to send Kyuzo sprawling, but the other samurai was faster, and he dodged the blow, although it forced him to back out of Kambei's reach, giving the older samurai enough time to bring both swords back around in a defensive stance.

Kyuzo was already moving, one katana aiming for Kambei's head while the other sped toward his heart, but with a howl, Kambei wrenched himself to one side, feeling both swords slice into his skin and draw blood. It splashed onto Kyuzo's face, a streak of red on pale, and the assassin smiled for a moment at the look of pain on the other samurai's face. But the smile vanished an instant later as Sememasu moved of its own volition in Kambei's hand and carved a vicious gash across Kyuzo's side.

Kyuzo grunted and staggered backward, his eyes filled with hatred as he stared at Kambei.

"Have you finally decided to fight me, then?"

"You killed the only thing in this life that I love," Kambei spat at him, his body shaking. "For that, I would tear you to pieces with my bare hands."

And Kyuzo smiled, then attacked once more.

"But you know that you can never beat me."

"We'll see about that," the other samurai hissed. "After all..."

He slashed at Kyuzo's right arm with Sememasu, and the assassin was momentarily forced to his knees before he rolled with the attack and came up again, slicing at Kambei's legs, drawing blood even as Kambei's foot caught him across the mouth.

"I have nothing left to lose."


Kyuzo shifted his grip on the katana in his left hand and thrust directly at Kambei's heart, but once again, Mamorimasu was there first, deflecting his strike so that it instead only pierced Kambei's shoulder. The white-clad samurai let out a howl of pain, and Kyuzo ripped the sword free to strike again. But Kambei moved first, getting inside of Kyuzo's guard and slamming the hilt of Sememasu against the side of Kyuzo's head, sending the assassin reeling backward. But even the unexpected shock of the strike was not enough to break Kyuzo's concentration, for he whirled in place, one katana held high, the other aiming low, driving Kambei away from him.

Then he was moving back toward Kambei, swords flashing, not giving the other samurai any room to attack, only to retreat or defend himself. Kambei pivoted around, trying to get behind Kyuzo so he could strike more openly, but Kyuzo seemed to anticipate his thoughts and refused to give him the opening he needed, until Kambei was ready to scream in frustration.

But such thoughts were a distraction, because a moment later, Kyuzo swept one katana around in a stabbing motion straight at Kambei's knee. With no room to maneuver, Kambei wrenched his body out of the way, but the effort strained his knee until he cried out with the pain of it. As he landed hard on the ground, Kyuzo gave a hissing curse and drove both swords straight down at him, but Kambei rolled to one side so that the blades stabbed into the dirt beside him.

It was only a temporary reprieve, however, because faster than even Kambei would have thought possible, Kyuzo recovered and attacked again, knocking Kambei down the instant he had managed to get to his feet again. Kambei landed hard on the dirt, his breath coming fast and shallow, but he had no time to rest, because Kyuzo's blades were once again poised to strike his open back. Desperately, he threw himself forward and somersaulted until he could come up with both swords in a guard position before him again, but as he regained his footing, he felt a white-hot rush of pain in his knee.

"No..." he whispered, even as the smell of his own blood filled his nostrils. "I won't lose... I won't lose like this!"

Kyuzo shrugged slowly, levelling one katana directly at Kambei's heart. "You will still die."

"Maybe so, but not before I kill you."


Far below them, at the base of the hill, Shichiroji watched their battle with clenched teeth and fists, silently urging on his friend, even as his heart ached at the sight of Kambei being forced to fight the man he hated in the body of the woman he loved.

Shino, on the other hand, was anxiously pacing back and forth, whispering prayer after prayer to any deity that would listen to her, begging for one of them to help save her sensei.

Time and again, one of the villagers would approach, but the two of them would chase the curious away, until their anxiety seemed to fill the entire village.

"Is... is he all right, great samurai?" Shino asked Shichiroji at last, who sighed and shook his head.

"No... slowly but surely, he's losing. Kyuzo-dono's younger than he is, more skilled... and Kambei-sama, try as he might, cannot forget whose body Kyuzo-dono is using."

"Isn't there anyone who can help?" she cried, tearing at her short, dark hair, tears streaming down her face.

Shichiroji's silence was her only answer.


As their duel wore on, both opponents were gasping, bloody, and in more than a little pain, but neither was willing to yield.

Kyuzo, however, fought like a madman, his red eyes still just as bright and burning hot with the lust for Kambei's blood, and he struck Kambei across the face with the pommel of one of his swords, sending the older samurai reeling backward, blood streaming down his face.

"Does it hurt?" Kyuzo asked him, staring him down, his gaze hotter than any flame.

"Yes, damn you, it hurts," Kambei rasped, wiping away the blood with a shaking hand. But the swords in his hands were still echoing their unearthly chime, and he drew strength from their presence... the last reminders of Nasami he would ever have in this life. Then he rallied his flagging strength and swung both swords in a pincer movement, the sheer ferocity of his attack startling Kyuzo into retreating, but Kambei kept coming at him, pounding at him again and again with the swords. However, his knee nearly buckled underneath him as he twisted to follow Kyuzo's movements, and the assassin took advantage of the opening to bring both swords arcing down at Kambei's head. Kambei had learned by now to stop fighting the swords, and he let Mamorimasu guide his hand to a defensive position, but then Kyuzo struck at his unprotected chest, and Kambei cried out as the swords gashed painfully into his ribcage, driving him to his knees.

Kyuzo moved closer to finish him off, but Sememasu lashed out on its own, catching Kyuzo across the thigh and cutting a deep slice into the flesh, causing the assassin to hiss in agony as he fell back. Kambei threw himself at Kyuzo, letting the swords lead him, but Kyuzo was too quick for him, and was able to turn aside before the blades could strike.

Then Kyuzo was there, inside his guard, his swords racing toward Kambei's throat, and Kambei staggered backward and nearly fell. But Kyuzo gave him no room to pause, beating him to the ground until Kambei was staring down the lengths of both shining blades.

"Enough," he hissed. "It is time to end this."

"Then end it," Kambei whispered, swallowing hard as he stared up at the assassin's eyes, so brutally terrifying in Nasami's face. "Kill me, so I might join Nasami, and never leave her side again."

Kyuzo's eyes flared at that, and he leaned forward so that the edges of the swords were directly against Kambei's throat.

"Even knowing that she also loved me?"

Kambei closed his eyes, fighting back tears of bitter jealousy and anger. He wanted to hate her for that... wanted to blame her for caring for the assassin as much as she cared for him. But he couldn't quite make himself do it. Nasami had always been one to stand by her choices in life, no matter what they cost her.

"Yes... even knowing that."

Then Kyuzo's mouth twisted into a terrible smile, and he leaned closer still.

"You never mated with her... did you? Never allowed yourself what she would have willingly given you."

That hurt more than any sword Kyuzo could have stabbed him with, but Kambei refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing that pain.

Then he screamed as Kyuzo drove one of his katanas into his shoulder, forcing him down to the ground. His howls of pain echoed all around him, but Kyuzo did not remove the sword until Kambei was too weak to move any more. Then he ripped the blade free, and with two swift slices, sent Sememasu and Mamorimasu spinning out of Kambei's grasp.

"There is one last thing... before I send you to hell."

"W-what could you... possibly d-do to me..." Kambei gasped, trying desperately to staunch the bleeding. His head was swimming from the pain, he could hardly focus enough on what he was doing to even try and move, let alone stand, and the taste of his blood in his mouth was almost enough to make him choke.

Slowly, Kyuzo lowered himself until he was straddling Kambei's body, one sword poised against the samurai's throat.

"I will have my revenge on you absolutely... and that means tearing your spirit to shreds."

Kambei's eyes went absolutely enormous in his face as he stared up at the assassin.

"Kill me now, then... e-end it!" he managed to gasp, but Kyuzo shook his head, let go of his swords, and drew the tanto that Nasami always wore at her waist.

Kambei stared up at him in confusion, but as Kyuzo placed the tanto to Kambei's throat with one hand, and used the other to pull at Nasami's clothes, the brown-haired samurai realized in horror what Kyuzo was going to do.

"N-no... no... you can't..."

But no matter how his spirit recoiled in shame and self-loathing, his body still wanted hers... even if someone else was controlling it.

And Kyuzo knew it.

And as Kyuzo brought his mouth down onto Kambei's, kissing him hard enough to draw blood, Kambei's soul was screaming to Nasami for forgiveness.

To be continued...