Revised Edition with changed/added footage: 8-8-2006
-------------------------------------------------
Chapter 11: Seeing Past the Exterior
The sun had yet to peer over the horizon the next morning, as the six men made their presence known in the quaint little village. The red of the flames from the buildings mimicking the hue of the sun as it rose on the eastern side. It was to be a simple mission: go to the small village indicated and destroy the people there.
That which appeared as nothing more than a small fishing village near a river and a forest was actually a cover for a group of soldiers preparing to act against their Daimyou and replace him with one of their own. A group of soldiers that seemed to think they had a chance against the six of the Shichinin-tai they faced. It soon became apparent to them, that those rumors were true, but often, this realization came only mere moments before death.
Bankotsu had carefully planned the siege, taking fully into consideration that they were short one man, but he hadn't planned on having to fight this hard to make up for said person. True, to most, it could be said that the Shichinin-tai had a very distinct advantage, but Bankotsu wasn't pleased with how slowly the results were being achieved. After eliminating the small group of men in his area, he went about, trying to gauge the progress of the others.
Circling around the outside of the village, Bankotsu spotted two of them facing off against the soldiers there. It was Renkotsu and Ginkotsu. They had managed to destroy the buildings and separate a group of about thirty men from their comrades and currently, they were making that number of thirty, decrease.
"Renkotsu, how's it going?" Bankotsu asked causally as he walked up, driving his blade through a soldier's skull.
"About five of them ran into the forest, but I assume Kyoukotsu will deal with them," He replied, pausing to take a drink of liquid before blowing a wall of fire into an attacker's face.
Bankotsu frowned a bit, noticing that some of the dead man's blood ran down his blade and onto his hand.
"So five got away?" He mused aloud, as he moved the lower scythe of the Banryuu upward, slicing a soldier's arm off. "Something happen?"
"Ginkotsu's third blade malfunctioned," Renkotsu replied, throwing a look towards the metallic man.
Bankotsu just smirked, slapping Renkotsu on the back, "Don't worry about it. Despite those damned rumors- we're still human. We're allowed a few mistakes once in awhile."
"If you say so, Oo-aniki. Personally, I try to avoid making them," He replied, turning back to those that remained of the thirty and working about killing them off.
Walking slowly over to Ginkotsu, Bankotsu muttered one thing to the other member before moving on, "Watch out for him, even if he doesn't want the help, okay Ginkotsu?"
"Yesh, Oo-aniki," The voice reverberated in return.
Working his way around the outskirts of the burning town, Bankotsu kept his eyes peeled for the other three members. He spotted Kyoukotsu on the forest's edge, lifting up one of the soldiers that had tried to make their escape in that direction, and continued onward, looking for Mukotsu and Jakotsu.
---------------------------------
On the other edge of town, Jakotsu stood facing down a seemingly large group of men.
"Heh, aren't any of you boys gonna move?" He questioned, seeing how they all stood perfectly still, watching him.
No reply.
"Oh, did you think that little me is an easy kill? You poor disillusioned fools…." He began to draw his sword, "Come now, isn't any one of you big, brave, strong soldiers going to try and stop me?"
"Why should we bother with a man that wants to dress as a woman?" One of them spat.
Jakotsu's eyes narrowed, the blade shot forward in a quick blur. The blade came down on the man before he knew it, and his body was severed in half easily.
Jakotsu was furious now, turning his glare to the rest of them. "Any of you others care to compare me to girl?" He challenged.
Once again, no one spoke. All of them were staring in disbelief at the body of their comrade. His eyes darkened, as he swung the many-bladed sword out again- killing the several men in its path.
"I bet all you damned bastards were thinking that too. Well then, just rot in hell," He fumed.
A young soldier picked then to attempt charging forward, sword drawn.
Jakotsu glared, "Too slow." He muttered, whipping his blade around from the last attack and straight into the charging man, the blades slicing him quickly and blood splattering everywhere.
The remaining group began to move forward to attack then, weapons drawn in what would be a futile attempt to fight or defend themselves. As the massacre continued, a young black-haired boy caught Jakotsu's attention. He arched the blade around, slicing a perfect path through the group, and leaving no one alive in its wake.
The tall warrior looked about at the dead bodies now carpeting the ground, then back up to his opponent. He licked his lips.
"You're the last one, sweetie. Come on now, let's play," Smirking, he lunged forward, snapping his wrist and sending the many blades out towards the unsuspecting man.
The soldier backed away, seeing the silver blur that he knew had caused the death of all those around him. He had just turned to run, when one of the blades sliced into his side, and he fell to the ground.
Jakotsu swung his sword lazily over his shoulder, and sauntered forward, ready to claim the victor's spoils. Looming above the injured man, he was just about to kneel when a quick movement registered in his eyes, and a sharp pain shot through his left leg.
The soldier had grabbed a nearby beam and swung it into the knee joint, drawing blood and causing Jakotsu to slump forward in pain.
Jakotsu's face contorted into pure anger, and he quickly stabbed his blade through the man's throat. "You bastard!" He said, seething. Then he returned his attention to his injury.
Blood had begun to run down his leg from a wound on the kneecap itself, and something about his leg just wasn't right. It just, felt funny to him.
"Well, damnit…" He muttered, leaning forward on his good leg and supporting himself with Jakotsutou. Pushing himself up, he tried to stand, wincing as the pressure shot pains up the leg.
Taking a deep breath, he realized that walking wasn't exactly a good idea at the moment, and sat down beside the dead man's body.
------------------------------------------
As he headed in the direction he'd last seen Mukotsu in, Bankotsu had come across a small group of soldier's that had apparently not yet encountered any of the Shichinin-tai. He lowered his sword from its resting place against his shoulder and it clanged slightly as the blade's weight shifted.
"Keh, you thought you could escape did you?" He asked with a smirk.
"Move aside boy, we haven't the time for a child like you," The elder member of the soldier group ordered.
Bankotsu frowned, "Since when did someone's age act as a measurement for one's skills?" He questioned, tilting his blade just slightly towards the man.
"Just because you can wave that big weapon around doesn't mean you can fight, boy," The gruff voice responded.
"Well then…" Bankotsu started, lifting his blade above his head and slowly beginning to twirl it between his fingers. "You can just keep on believing that little theory of yours."
The sword was now nothing but a blur, as his one hand steadily spun it around. Then, without a moment's notice, the blade came crashing down, taking the man's life with it.
A sharp glance over to the remaining men, and he quickly pulled the blade back upward, arching it sideways and cutting horizontally through the entire group. A look of shock etched on each face as their upper bodies tumbled onto the ground in a bloody heap.
He walked over, and ripped off the sleeve of a soldier's shirt. Examining the bloodied edge of his blade, he ran the piece of cloth over it, taking the blood with it and leaving it somewhat clean.
"Don't worry, partner," He said giving his blade a pat, "I'll clean you better once today's over."
Bankotsu looked up then, sniffing the air lightly, and turning towards the right side of the town. There were gases clearly visible up in the air, and he knew where one of the two other members was right away.
After walking as close as he could to Mukotsu's location, he leaned against a remaining beam to a building, and waited for the smoke to ebb. Finally, he saw Mukotsu waving an 'all-clear' to him, and he ventured forward towards the short man.
"Mukotsu, I see you've been busy," He remarked, crouching to the man's level.
The poison-user chuckled, "Well there was no reason to go easy on them. They didn't even have one servant girl around."
"Well, aside from a few that got into the forest that I'm not sure if Kyoukotsu found or not, I think we've gotten them all on this side," Bankotsu said, estimating quickly the number of dead bodies lying about.
"And the other side?" Mukotsu asked.
"Jakotsu was handling it." He said standing and looking off in that direction," And we know what that means…" He added with an irritated sigh.
"If any, there's just one left."
"I'll deal with it," Bankotsu stated firmly, "Just go get the other three and take care of those soldiers hiding in the forest."
"Okay, Oo-aniki," He replied, scurrying off in the other direction.
Bankotsu began to make his way across the decimated village.
"Jakotsu, you better remember that promise."
------------------------
The sun had just barely begun to peer down over the trees slightly, as the sounds of early morning reverberated throughout the small town on the other side of the forest. The elderly woman rose quietly, and went outside. She paused, looking back on the two sleeping figures.
"That poor young doctor, he stayed up so late into the night just to get rid of her fever. I'll see if I can get some descent food to prepare in gratitude for him," She muttered to herself walking down the worn path that led through the forest.
Inside, Suikotsu was tossing in his sleep. Sweat was running down his face, and his lips moved as if they were attempting to call out to someone.
It was the same dream he always had, or at least, it always started the same way.
He would be in a burning village, cradling an injured young girl in his arms, and a frantic voice would tell him to leave her, that she was a lost cause. That's how it always began, a horrid memory from the past.
He looked to the girl in his arms, and this time, she was different. It was Kinpa. He glanced up, seeing two forms casting a shadow onto him. He pulled the girl protectively against his chest, and looked up with determination to the figures.
"What do you want?" He mustered the courage to say.
"Suikotsu, you have to get out of this village," The shorter of the two figures said.
"Yeah, as your friends, we want you to run while you have the chance," The taller one added.
"Who are you?"
One figure stepped forward, extending his hand. His braided hair falling forward over his shoulder, "Please. Suikotsu, I know you don't remember what you did and you don't remember us- but if you don't leave, the villagers will attack you."
"What? Why would they do that? It's a peaceful village!" He retorted, scooting back from the man.
The other one came forward then, his twisted up hair bouncing slightly as he moved. "Suikotsu, the girl…You don't remember do you?"
He looked down to the bloody girl, his eyes widening in horror as he noticed the distinct four-slice marks in her chest. Marks made by a set of claws he was all too familiar with.
"No…"
"Suikotsu, let us help you," The man said.
"Please, I don't want them to hurt you. Even if it was a mistake, they won't understand," His shorter companion added.
"No…No!"
With that, his eyes shot open- filling with tears the instant the memory of the dream rushed into his head. He wrapped his arms around his shaking form, and forced himself to look over where Kinpa was sleeping.
She was perfectly fine, sleeping peacefully as if nothing in the world was wrong.
Suikotsu touched his cheek, feeling the tears run down past his fingers.
"I'm not him, I'm not that killer. I'm a doctor. Just…a doctor"
----------------------------------------------------