Welcome to my Kenshin Fic! It's my first, please be gentle!
Chapter 1: The Boy and the River
The water was cold. That was the first thought that raced through his mind when he broke the surface of the river and started to sink. Then his head was bursting full of thoughts, commands, reactions, and emotions. His body was screaming at him to kick, to paddle, to get back to the surface. His brain, however, was telling him to just sink and let the pain envelope him. It wasn't like anyone was waiting for him to come home. He didn't even have a home to go to. He had no one, nothing but the wooden sword he had carried at his side that now was broken into three peices, floating along the surface above him. He watched the wood on the surface, the light from the bridge twinkling across the broken mirror from underneath the water. Suspended in mid-river, the events of the past day flooded threw his mind.
~It had started as a usual day. It was coming to the the end of spring, but the mornings were still cold and the nights were still clinging to winter. Soujiro had been camping in the long stretch of forest that lay between one town and the next for over two weeks now. Most of his food was gone and the river provided all his water. There was little to do except keep walking and hope he made it to the next village.
Roughing it was not what fazed him. He had been camping out most of the time for the past two years, since he began his new life. Interacting with so many people was still new to him, and he liked it on his own about as much as any teenager could. It was the lack of people that left him puzzled. The road he traveled was supposed to be the only way to reach the next town, yet he had not seen a single person on his way. It left him curious as to just what lay ahead of him.
It was when he began nearing the town that the trouble started. He could hear the voices of people echoing from down the mountainside, and he saw the smoke of fires rising in the air. Soujiro smiled as he headed further toward the town. He could restock some supplies and maybe even sleep in a bed for the night. Then he could be on the move again. Not stay, never stay. He was now a wanderer, with no home to call his own. It was a simple existance, but one he had taken in order to find the answers he so desperately wanted.
Soujiro was set upon by a group of shifty looking fellows. Men dressed in the apparal of bandits, yet walking freely in the open as if they owned the mountainside. Four appraoched Sojiro from the front, six more from behind. They all had a sword at their hips and dark looks on their faces. Normally such petty advasaries wouldn't have made much of a difference to him at all, but Soujiro wanted no trouble today, just wanted to get to the town.
"And where are you heading, boy?" one of the men from in front of him called out. Soujiro kept his head down, not making eye contact was an important rule.
"I'm just heading to the town," he commented casually, moving as if to bypass the men blocking his way.
"I'm afraid that outsiders are no longer welcome in this town," one from behind him snarled. So they were townsfolk, dressed and armed like bandits. It was strange, a nagging thought that bit down in the back of his mind. Here in the mountain regions, village guardians were inforced to keep bandits from attacking. Seeing as that the villages out here are so far from the cities, the government police could do little to help them. Townsfolk relied on their own strength. But still, the way these men were dressed, and the hostility they had towards a single, basically-unarmed traveler puzzled him. 'Not my business,' he thought, continuing forward.
"All I need is some food and then I'll be gone," Soujiro continued, still trying to get to the town just around the next bend on his path. The four men in front blocked his path, making it impossible to go through them. Then the six from behind circled him, making it impossible to turn away as well.
"We can't let people like you wander freely in and out of our town at will. We'll use you as an example to all other little boys who try and get past us." Soujiro rolled his eyes inwardly, sighing. Why did they always have to do it that hard way? In the flash of an eye, the wooden sword which had been at his side was in his hands and he made a sweep at the men converging on him. Soujiro was mildly surprised when all but three men dodged his attack. These were not simple townsfolk, they had at least basic swordsmanship training.
"We are not just some band of drunken thugs," one of the other men said from behind him, drawing a sword.
"We are the guardians of the Renko Village," hissed a third. Soujiro was unafraid of these men. There was no reason to fear them at all. He could handle a small band of trained men, even if they were armed with real swords and outnumbered him. They came at him slowly, menacingly. As if they wanted to intimidate them. Little did they know that Soujiro was completely unintimidated in the slightest. In fact, he even had the audacity to smile at them as they advanced. Each one took the set up, and each time Soujiro knocked them down. It was like a cat was toying with a group of mice.
Soujiro was trying not to hurt these men. Obviously they were only doing their jobs, protecting their village. But he meant no harm, all he wanted was a little food! Finally his pateince wore thin and he attacked harder, knocking five down for the count. The other five looked even more upset, attacking more furociously. This only made Soujiro quicker at knocking them out of the way. His speed gradually increased as he moved in a circluar patteren, forcing back all of his opponents with simple thrusts of a wooden instrument. Becasue his sword wasn't metal, he couldn't do much harm to the men. But he had left a few marks that would be sorely hurting in the morning.
That was when the rules changed. A man without a sword, who hadn't been involved with the battle at all, jumped free of the bushes next to the roadside and leveled a rifle at the young swordsman. Soujiro froze for a moment, contemplating what to do. He decided to rush the gunman, but just as he made that move, a loud noise from behind him rang out. There was a flash of pressure in his side, then a rush of undiluted pain. Soujiro staggered, the bullethole in his side bleeding freely. He pressed a hand to his side, making to rush the one who had shot when the second gunman from before shot. There was another moment of pressure, then an even more agonizing pain that shot threw his shoulder and numbed his sword arm. It forced him to stagger a few steps back. The wooden weapon fell from his grasp to the ground beside him. Then Soujiro fell to his knees, clutching at the bleeding wounds.
Somehow, then men he had defeated with his sword were on their feet again and they hefted Soujiro to his feet and carried him down a small path into the forest, away from the village. Soujrio was too numb to resist. He could no longer feel his right arm, and his abdomen was on fire. His once-blue clothes were stained crimson as they carried his limp body.
After a few moments, they came to a clearing in the forest and Soujiro saw the river he had been following alongside for over a week now. It was a run-off that came down from the lush mountains to pool in a huge lake at the bottom. He had passed the lake weeks ago on his trek up the mountains. He also saw a sturdy bridge that reached from one side of the river to the other. The men carrying him began to cross the river, but stopped in the center.
"Let this serve as an example to all those who dare to threaten our people!" someone yelled, the shouts of agreement went up through all the others. Soujiro was roughly hefted into the air, then tossed over the railing of the bridge where he plummeted down into the rocky riverbed below.~
The water was cold, it knawed at the painful, bleeding wounds in his shoulder and side. All he wanted was welcome the freezing dark, to let the pain flow away with his blood that tinted the water red. The water above him was dancing crystals as he was pulled further and further away from it. The air in his lungs was nearly gone. Soujiro knew if he didn't try to make for the surface, he would die. But the river took that decision from him. He was caught by the current and thrown against a large rock. Breath and strength was knocked out of his body and the black flooded him, wanted or not. He was going to die.
Reviews are welcome and appreciated! Please let me know what you think!
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~
Chapter 1: The Boy and the River
The water was cold. That was the first thought that raced through his mind when he broke the surface of the river and started to sink. Then his head was bursting full of thoughts, commands, reactions, and emotions. His body was screaming at him to kick, to paddle, to get back to the surface. His brain, however, was telling him to just sink and let the pain envelope him. It wasn't like anyone was waiting for him to come home. He didn't even have a home to go to. He had no one, nothing but the wooden sword he had carried at his side that now was broken into three peices, floating along the surface above him. He watched the wood on the surface, the light from the bridge twinkling across the broken mirror from underneath the water. Suspended in mid-river, the events of the past day flooded threw his mind.
~It had started as a usual day. It was coming to the the end of spring, but the mornings were still cold and the nights were still clinging to winter. Soujiro had been camping in the long stretch of forest that lay between one town and the next for over two weeks now. Most of his food was gone and the river provided all his water. There was little to do except keep walking and hope he made it to the next village.
Roughing it was not what fazed him. He had been camping out most of the time for the past two years, since he began his new life. Interacting with so many people was still new to him, and he liked it on his own about as much as any teenager could. It was the lack of people that left him puzzled. The road he traveled was supposed to be the only way to reach the next town, yet he had not seen a single person on his way. It left him curious as to just what lay ahead of him.
It was when he began nearing the town that the trouble started. He could hear the voices of people echoing from down the mountainside, and he saw the smoke of fires rising in the air. Soujiro smiled as he headed further toward the town. He could restock some supplies and maybe even sleep in a bed for the night. Then he could be on the move again. Not stay, never stay. He was now a wanderer, with no home to call his own. It was a simple existance, but one he had taken in order to find the answers he so desperately wanted.
Soujiro was set upon by a group of shifty looking fellows. Men dressed in the apparal of bandits, yet walking freely in the open as if they owned the mountainside. Four appraoched Sojiro from the front, six more from behind. They all had a sword at their hips and dark looks on their faces. Normally such petty advasaries wouldn't have made much of a difference to him at all, but Soujiro wanted no trouble today, just wanted to get to the town.
"And where are you heading, boy?" one of the men from in front of him called out. Soujiro kept his head down, not making eye contact was an important rule.
"I'm just heading to the town," he commented casually, moving as if to bypass the men blocking his way.
"I'm afraid that outsiders are no longer welcome in this town," one from behind him snarled. So they were townsfolk, dressed and armed like bandits. It was strange, a nagging thought that bit down in the back of his mind. Here in the mountain regions, village guardians were inforced to keep bandits from attacking. Seeing as that the villages out here are so far from the cities, the government police could do little to help them. Townsfolk relied on their own strength. But still, the way these men were dressed, and the hostility they had towards a single, basically-unarmed traveler puzzled him. 'Not my business,' he thought, continuing forward.
"All I need is some food and then I'll be gone," Soujiro continued, still trying to get to the town just around the next bend on his path. The four men in front blocked his path, making it impossible to go through them. Then the six from behind circled him, making it impossible to turn away as well.
"We can't let people like you wander freely in and out of our town at will. We'll use you as an example to all other little boys who try and get past us." Soujiro rolled his eyes inwardly, sighing. Why did they always have to do it that hard way? In the flash of an eye, the wooden sword which had been at his side was in his hands and he made a sweep at the men converging on him. Soujiro was mildly surprised when all but three men dodged his attack. These were not simple townsfolk, they had at least basic swordsmanship training.
"We are not just some band of drunken thugs," one of the other men said from behind him, drawing a sword.
"We are the guardians of the Renko Village," hissed a third. Soujiro was unafraid of these men. There was no reason to fear them at all. He could handle a small band of trained men, even if they were armed with real swords and outnumbered him. They came at him slowly, menacingly. As if they wanted to intimidate them. Little did they know that Soujiro was completely unintimidated in the slightest. In fact, he even had the audacity to smile at them as they advanced. Each one took the set up, and each time Soujiro knocked them down. It was like a cat was toying with a group of mice.
Soujiro was trying not to hurt these men. Obviously they were only doing their jobs, protecting their village. But he meant no harm, all he wanted was a little food! Finally his pateince wore thin and he attacked harder, knocking five down for the count. The other five looked even more upset, attacking more furociously. This only made Soujiro quicker at knocking them out of the way. His speed gradually increased as he moved in a circluar patteren, forcing back all of his opponents with simple thrusts of a wooden instrument. Becasue his sword wasn't metal, he couldn't do much harm to the men. But he had left a few marks that would be sorely hurting in the morning.
That was when the rules changed. A man without a sword, who hadn't been involved with the battle at all, jumped free of the bushes next to the roadside and leveled a rifle at the young swordsman. Soujiro froze for a moment, contemplating what to do. He decided to rush the gunman, but just as he made that move, a loud noise from behind him rang out. There was a flash of pressure in his side, then a rush of undiluted pain. Soujiro staggered, the bullethole in his side bleeding freely. He pressed a hand to his side, making to rush the one who had shot when the second gunman from before shot. There was another moment of pressure, then an even more agonizing pain that shot threw his shoulder and numbed his sword arm. It forced him to stagger a few steps back. The wooden weapon fell from his grasp to the ground beside him. Then Soujiro fell to his knees, clutching at the bleeding wounds.
Somehow, then men he had defeated with his sword were on their feet again and they hefted Soujiro to his feet and carried him down a small path into the forest, away from the village. Soujrio was too numb to resist. He could no longer feel his right arm, and his abdomen was on fire. His once-blue clothes were stained crimson as they carried his limp body.
After a few moments, they came to a clearing in the forest and Soujiro saw the river he had been following alongside for over a week now. It was a run-off that came down from the lush mountains to pool in a huge lake at the bottom. He had passed the lake weeks ago on his trek up the mountains. He also saw a sturdy bridge that reached from one side of the river to the other. The men carrying him began to cross the river, but stopped in the center.
"Let this serve as an example to all those who dare to threaten our people!" someone yelled, the shouts of agreement went up through all the others. Soujiro was roughly hefted into the air, then tossed over the railing of the bridge where he plummeted down into the rocky riverbed below.~
The water was cold, it knawed at the painful, bleeding wounds in his shoulder and side. All he wanted was welcome the freezing dark, to let the pain flow away with his blood that tinted the water red. The water above him was dancing crystals as he was pulled further and further away from it. The air in his lungs was nearly gone. Soujiro knew if he didn't try to make for the surface, he would die. But the river took that decision from him. He was caught by the current and thrown against a large rock. Breath and strength was knocked out of his body and the black flooded him, wanted or not. He was going to die.
Reviews are welcome and appreciated! Please let me know what you think!
~~Jesse the Wolf Demon~~