Alright! A review. Much appreciated, Ms. Zeal! Sorry to disappoint you, though...
BUT ENOUGH WITH THE SPOILERS!
You're going to have to read this if you want to know what happens. Anyway, I still do not own Rurouni Kenshin.
My sanity for a useful generic disclaimer with some wit in it.
FINALLY going to put this up. I know I'm going to misspell something in this chapter, so let me know. Any Swedish I use in here is real Swedish, but is probably used improperly.
Moving on...
Chapter 4: Hitokiri Battosai vs. The Swedish Blade
Tomas hurtled towards Kenshin and drew his rapier a few feet from his opponent, who had noticed, and was about to make his own move, if only out of necessity. Himura had a reverse-blade sword, but Wilkholm was using a sharpened blade, and could kill with a single stroke. The samurai had his weapon out in a guard position in the blink of an eye. Rapier and katana clashed, the moonlight reflecting madly off the steel. The foreigner grinned as he leapt to the opposite side of the courtyard in a single, nimble step. He was also the first to speak.
"Kenshin Himura, apprentice of Seijurou Hiko, master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style; apparently you're as fast as I hear," the knight complimented. "Care for another round of Battojutsu?"
"Who are you, and what are doing here?!" Kenshin demanded. Tomas' eyes widened for a moment, and his face shifted into a sly smile.
"Why, I do believe the rush I get from just the thought of fighting a man like you has caused me to forget my manners. The name's Tomas Wilkholm. They used to call you Hitokiri Battosai, I've heard. It's impossible that you've heard of me prior to today, but among enemies, I'm called the Swedish Blade."
"Are you just some thrillseeker with a sword? I don't understand your intentions."
"I was boring."
"Huh?"
"Err... Bored. My Japanese gets a little weak occasionally. I was bored of my vacation, so I decided to do something interesting. Nice country you've got here."
"You obviously have ulterior motives, that you do," Kenshin rebuked. "Now, explain."
"Where was I?" Tomas asked himself, seemingly ignoring his opponent's inquiry. "Oh, that's right..."
He shouted something in Swedish, launched himself into the air, vanished, and came down hard, sword-first, onto the space where Himura had been the previous second, mercilessly bringing his blade into contact with the Battosai's.
"Was that a Ryojutsin?" Kenshin asked himself under his breath. The far shorter of the two was amazed at his opponent's reflexes, but made a strange expression, his eyes narrowing in an oddly sinister manner. The wanderer flew back, and his pupils fired a blast of fearful chi at the knight, who snarled like a wolf, his own two visual organs tapering. Blues and purples flashed in the air as the Swordsman Spirits of the combatants collided. The mental attacks cancelled out neatly, and Kenshin couldn't believe it. Wilkholm frowned for the first time in the brawl.
"Well, that was interesting enough, but you should never bare your soul during a fight with someone you don't know. You're currently trying to exorcise a demon of sorts from your persona. Battosai the Manslayer was what you were back then. Too bad I wasn't here for it. A crying shame. However, I'd probably have killed you, so we can actually be thankful."
And, for the first time, Himura gave the hint of a smile.
"That you might have," he confirmed. "Seeing as you would've used a gun against me, should the occasion present itself."
"So Sanosuke told you all about me. You should know that my intentions, Mr. Himura," the Swede began, and then stopped. He cleared his throat, partially resheathed his rapier, and began again. "My purpose here is a noble one. I need to make sure that you're in tip-top shape for it, because the lives of millions are in jeopardy."
The red-headed rurouni's eyes opened wide, and he also sheathed his reverse-blade sword. He shut his eyes and waved his hands, trying to give Tomas the signal to take his right hand off the hilt of his Scandinavian blade.
"You've gotten my attention, Mr. Wilkholm! That you have. I assure that I have kept myself in peak condition!"
But the foreigner wasn't deterred by the native's goofy expression.
"Don't think you'll get out of a fight so easily, Mr. Himura. You've managed to get me quite interested in this Hiten Mitsurugi Style of yours. I need to see the Ama Kakaru Ryo No Hirameki first. Then we'll talk."
"You know it's name? You've certainly done your..."
The knight's form vanished as the samurai put himself into guard position, his weapon ready for a fast draw.
"Sverige Formge Konungariket Blade!"
Tomas reappeared a few paces from Kenshin, rapier bared and ready to strike any of eight targets on the Battosai's person.
"Like the second-to-final attack, but... different. It works, either way!" Himura thought. He'd have to use the ultimate attack of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style to get out of this one.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Style Ama Kakaru Ryo No Hirameki!"
The very millisecond the reverse-blade sword left its sheath, Wilkholm had shifted his rapier to a defensive position, and kept coming. The samurai's eyes widened as the two blades collided with the force of a thunderclap, and a sonic boom shook the dojo. The area immediately around them was blown into a cloud of very fine dust. As it cleared, the two great warriors were still locked in what had become a no-holds-barred combat of swords. Tomas' first slash parried in front of Kenshin's face, and the Swede countered a fierce cut headed for his chest. The taller man jabbed at the relative dwarf's stomach, and the target dodged to the right, vanished, and reappeared above the aggressor.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Style Ryojutsin!"
The knight was ready, and rapier met katana once more, the force of the Battosai's attack making the Swedish Blade's boots dig straight into the ground. The foreigner proceeded to force the native back up and off of him. Himura flipped away and landed on one knee. He was puzzled. European swords shouldn't be able to withstand the force of his blows.
"Your weapon should've cracked from the strength of my attacks," Kenshin stated matter-of-factly. "How is it that yours is intact?"
"Well, you're the conceited one," Tomas replied, holding out his rapier. "But, you have a point. Most western swords that you're familiar with wouldn't last too long against a well-made Japanese one, like your own. But my little friend here is different. Somebody thought of techniques much like those of your blacksmiths, and then took them to his grave without telling anybody. A shame, I say, but at least I've got a good blade. As well, this rapier has something else very special about her. She's forged of Damascus steel. It's really strong stuff, but few know how to smelt it. If you don't mind, I'd like to continue."
"But..." the samurai protested. It was too late, though. The knight had commenced his next special attack. He pointed his blade directly at the North Star, holding it high above his head.
"Sverige Formge Gamla Nord!" the Swede roared as he flashed forward and brought the rapier back and around to the front.
"A slower technique, but there's something odd about it..." the Japanese man pondered as his opponent surged forward. Wilkholm was within Himura's counterattack range when he made a transition. The Scandinavian swept his arm upwards, spun, brought the blade down, met with the ex- manslayer's katana once, and flashed backwards. He pulled his steel back, seemed to prepare for a Shiden Blade technique, and raised it to the North Star again, focusing the starlight onto the flat of the blade. Tomas launched again, shooting forward, his rapier projecting to the side, its edge cutting the wind. Kenshin couldn't make much sense of the attack, but everything became painfully clear when the Swede swung around his back once more, switched sword hands mid-swing, and lunged forward left arm first The samurai had less than a second to react, and chose to move under the blow to be safest. He slung himself low to the ground, and prepared to strike. Something was wrong with just avoiding the technique. But before Himura had a chance to slash, and great kick caught his chest, bringing him up in a blue and purple arc, Wilkholm somehow following his opponent's movements. The knight had the unnatural ability to change direction with extreme accuracy, and, as Kenshin realized, could do it undetected.
"Wha..." was all he could muster before the air was forced from his lungs and he began to hurtle upwards. The Battosai had to fight a blackout while he was dragged from the ground. He hit the dirt hard, and had the blink of an eye to roll from the trajectory of the special attack's final phase. In that moment, something clicked inside of Kenshin. Maybe the collision of their chi had loosed it. Maybe it was just the intensity of the knight's attack. Tomas came down with his rapier and made a small ditch barely an inch from his opponent.
"Hmm... Few are fast enough to escape the Gamla Nord. I think I've found a good man for the job," he figured out loud. "Now then... Whoa!"
Kenshin came up full-force at the Swede, who wouldn't have enough time to react. Wilkholm hadn't factored in exactly what Battosai the Manslayer was. Himura's eyes were a burning yellow as he brought his blade up, seeming to slow time itself down.
"Hiten Mitsurugi Style..."
"What in the..."
Translations: (Swedish)
Konungariket- Kingdom
Nord- North
Gamla- Ancient
Sverige- Sweden
Formge- Style
Well, that was actually kinda hard, but I'm proud of this fight scene. Reviews are most welcome. It's hard to play with two languages at once when you're useless in both. Well...
En öl snälla. ("One beer please.")