ZANZA!

The legend returns:

Sanosuke tells of his past

by Treager-sama

The summery suns rays deepened to cast a dusky orange upon the walls of the Akabeko. A sea of smiles illuminated even the darkest corners of the small eatery as Sano continued to relate his story to Kenshin and Yahiko. Toothpick firmly in place between his lips, grinning up a storm, Sanosuke continued his pleasant haze of former days.

"Well, I s'pose it all started a few years after the Sekihoutai. Captain Sagara once told me about a man that saved his life once in Osaka. I figured I owed it to the Captain to find him and update him on current events."

Yahiko's face was overtaken in wonderment, and Kenshin found himself vividly immersed in Sanosuke's past.

"I was traveling alone on foot, and... I uh... got sidetracked"

Sano blushed a little as Yahiko spoke up helpfully.

"You mean you got lost!"

Sanosuke shook his head indignantly,

"I wasn't lost... I just didn't know where I was."

Kenshin smiled and added with a laugh,

"Yahiko, just because Sano has a tendancy to loose his way all the time, doesn't mean he was lost. That it doesn't!"

Sano folded his arms sternly and frowned,

"Yeah! I mean... HEY! KENSHIN!! Whadya mean I have a tendancy to lose my way!?!"

Kenshin oro'd softly as Sanosuke pulled him into a headlock and proceeded to grind his fist into the top of Kenshins head. Yahiko stood up and began punching Kenshin in the face comicly with a mischiveous grin.

"Kenshin, quit interupting! I wanna hear this!"

Sano followed up with an angry,

"Yeah Kenshin, stop interupting me in the middle of my story!"

Kenshin fell to the floor once again and oro'd himself into oblivion.

...

Sanosuke stared helplessly at the map and turned it upside down and sideways making no sense of it at all.

"Which one is Osaka... I feel like I have walked a million miles, already!"

With a frustrated grunt he crinkles up the map and tosses it behind him smiling to himself in satisfaction.

"Who needs maps anyway?! That damn map is the one that got me lost in the first place! Now... which way is west..."

Sano studied the overcast sky intently and frowned that he hadn't paid attention when Captain Sagara was telling him how to find your way using the moss on the trees and the sky to find your way. He shrugged and continued down the road determined to find his way to Osaka even if it took him all his life... and he was beginning to think it might.

After a few hours Sanosuke heard a faint gallop coming from down the road... someone was coming towards him. He squinted his eyes against the white light of the sky as a feint thunder clap could be heard in the distance. The horse was definately carrying a rider, but he couldn't tell who it was. He played it cool and strided down the road as if he had done it 100 times before. The rider began to slow down and the horse started to graze under the cover of a large tree about 50 yards in front of him. Sano drew nearer to the mysterious rider and began to pass him, expecting some kind of response, but none was given. He then observed the barding upon the horse, the signs of battle were evident... then the horse slowly trotted back on the road revealing the rider.

"Shit..."

Protruding out of the riders back were 3 arrows and a large sword slash across his chest.

"Now I just wish you could tell me whether your a friend or an enemy, frankly I don't know if I should be cheery or angry. I s'pose I can only hope that your an imperialist, but perhaps thats just hoping for too much"

Sano grinned as he smacked the horses rump and sent it down the road

"I hope I don't end up smack in the middle of a war, but if Osaka is this way... then so be it I guess."

He walked steadily forward, not knowing for sure what may lie ahead of him.

...

"I told you before Hyo... you are not welcome here!"

The defiant lone warrior stood against insurmountable odds. The bodies of his commrades lay strewn about the battlefield in the various gruesome poses of death. He was tall and strong, but perhaps the most noticeable feature was the 9 ft long blade he held clasped in his blood soaked hands.

"Kyosuke... tsk tsk tsk, why must you always resist change so...? Your rebellion is crushed and you are all that remains between me, and taking your land for my own. If you had just sold it to me in the first place, this never would have happened..."

Hyo smirked as he said this, trying to send the man over the edge.

"I refuse to show weakness to a rich pig such as yourself... I will never become your slave Hyo, not while there is a breath in my body, and not while I yet weild the Zanbatou!"

Hyo seemed displeased with the mans words and feigned dissapointment.

"You really leave me no other choice Kyosuke, I wish things could have been different..."

His aire of sadness dissapated to be replaced by a wicked grin.

"Kill him."

Five armored soldiers on horseback began to surround the man, all unsheathing their various blades. Kyosuke stood battle ready, death gleaming in his cold steely eyes. The soldiers all slowly advanced, waiting for an opportunity to strike him down. Kyosuke sighed softly and whispered,

"Divine wind, carry these men with you..."

If you would have blinked you would have missed it. Kyosuke suddenly leapt 6 ft into the air and spun the tremendous sword in a complete circle and landed softly upon the grass and finished his prayer gently.

"...And grant to them a warriors rest."

All the men sat silently upon their horses and Hyo laughed madly,

"HAHA! You missed you great fool! You carry that gigantic blade around and you still missed! I..."

Just then, one by one the soldiers heads began to roll off their shoulders and topple in the soft grass, their mouths fell open in silent screams. In a panic, lord Hyo shrieked and ordered his remaining solders to fire their arrows at him immidiately.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW!!!"

...

Sano sat in the bushes, watching the events unfold before him, wondering how the man was able to wield a blade of such shear size and weight. He was powerful, Sanosuke could see that in the mans eyes. He obviously took death very seriously, but at the same time he seemed unafraid of it. Sano thought to himself that a sword that large would be big enough to strike down all the imperialists and restore the honor of the Sekihoutai. He drew closer to get a better look.

...

Kyosuke once again seemingly dissapeared, only to reappear in the air above the first in a line of horseback archers. With a midair somersault, he swung the Zanbatou in a vertical slash that cut the man in half. Landing upon the saddle where the slain soldier once sat, he held the Zanbatou horizontally and dashed in front of each man in turn, leaping from saddle to saddle as quickly as the divine wind itself. Each deadly slash eliminating 2 or 3 men at a time, bringing him closer to victory. As the last soldiers torso was severed in two, a gunshot rang out... Kyosuke's momentum and sheer speed caused him to soar through the air and crash to the ground sharply. He slid for about 5 yards then stopped, a long trench had been gouged out of the earth as the Zanbatou slid to a halt beside him. Kyosuke lay face down in the dirt silently, blood pouring from some unseen wound. Hyo reloaded his pistol and nodded in satisfaction to himself.

"I told you Kyosuke... change is imminent. You cannot stop progress."

Slowly, as if being lifted by wings of virtue, Kyosuke began to rise steadily to his feet. His hand carressed the hilt of his only ally, the Zanbatou as he hefted its comforting weight to his side. His lifeblood poured freely from the gaping wound in his right thigh, but he stood defiantly, as if his iron will was animating his flesh.

"This time Kyosuke, I wont miss..."

Hyo took careful aim with his pistol and the warrior stood silently, awaiting his swift death.

"When I die, I will die looking into the face of my enemy, honorably."

Hyo just smiled and shrugged,

"So be it..."

A large rock sailed from out of nowhere and hit Hyo in the face. His nose crushed, he clutched at his bloodsoaked face, shrieking in agony. Sanosuke ran from the bushes and smacked the horses rump sharply with a large stick. The beast shot off at full gallop, it was all Hyo could do just to stay mounted. Trying desperately to regain control of the beast, Hyo didn't realize that the horse had headed toward the thick forest, nor did he notice the low branch.

CRACK

With almost the force of a tsunami, the branch hit him in the face and blew Hyo right off his horse. His neck cleanly snaped, he lay dead in the underbrush. Kyosuke regarded Sanosuke cooly and nodded in thanks... and almost in slow motion the Zanbatou fell from his hand and he fell forward, into Sano's arms, his body finally giving out on him.

...

TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 3!