Tainted Souls, Tainted Swords
Chapter One: Nightmares
It called him. The fragments of Soul Edge, they whispered to him and beckoned him. The sword burned with a passion to reform, the shards resonated, drew him closer to them; the once noble knight Siegfried had been reduced to a tool in the hands of a great evil. Siegfried was no more. Consumed by the demon-sword, Nightmare now walked the earth.
Journeying across Europe and Asia, he collected the shards of the broken sword – mercilessly slaying all in his path, and all who held the remains of Soul Edge. Mostly encountering peasants, commoners, nameless individuals who never realized why the monster attacked and swept the sands of their lives away.
As the sword's strength regenerated, though, things would soon change. Now he would face worthy opponents, ones who might actually pose a threat to the unholy reunion of the blade. This latest calling summoned Nightmare to the shattered ruin of a forgotten castle. Darkness reigned this midnight hour with the eerie illuminations from the crescent moon and the constellations.
Nightmare fearlessly approached the broken gate with the massive sword held over one shoulder. Then a female voice called out, "You're obviously not one for stalking." And in an instant the voice seemed to come from a different direction entirely, "You're the terror born of Soul Edge, Siegfried, I presume."
"Souls . . ." Nightmare quietly murmured. His eyes scanned the top of the outer wall and discovered nothing, and he passed through the gate without so much as slowing down. In fact, the man closed his eyes and in his mind the swords showed him more clearly the direction of the next shard.
Taki quietly crept along the top of the unstable inner wall, watching light barely reflect off his full plate armor and monstrous sword. She, herself, kept Reki-maru and Meki-maru sheathed as not to give her exact position away – they would come free at that critical moment before the kill. She called out again, "You've followed me for the fragment, well, come."
Again the ninja's voice seemed to jump locations, now echoing from much deeper in the castle's main structure – "Come and get it!"
The blackness of the night was interrupted only by the brownish-grey of the ancient stones, and the faint texture of grass and dirt beneath Nightmare's feet. The faint breeze created ripples across the tall grass and the leaves of distant trees, but otherwise nothing moved. The only sounds came from the regular clink of his armored boots as he passed through the inner wall.
Taki sprang from behind. Rekki-maru came free from its sheath with a minor clink sound timed perfectly with Nightmare's footstep. The blade would penetrate a seam in the armor and sever his spinal co—"Oh no!"
Nightmare had expected the attack! With an effortless sidestep, he swung his massive sword and caught the crimson clad ninja off guard. The flat of his heavy sword slammed into Taki's body and threw her harshly against the jagged stone wall. The back of her head smashed against the wall, throwing her senses through a loop; but fortunately for her, she rode pure instinct and dove towards Nightmare at an angle just enough to avoid Soul Edge. Rekki-maru still in her grasp, with a single motion she came out of her defensive roll and stabbed upward at a 45 degree angle where another weak spot in the armor should have been and felt the blade strike solid plate.
"Damnit!"
Her head cleared just in time to realize the knight anticipated that too. The hilt of Soul Edge came down upon her, slamming her upper back as his left fist gave her an uppercut that took her off her feet. Nightmare held her over his head with one hand, screaming, "This is the end!" Then he slammed the ninja headfirst into the castle wall a second time.
Winded and on the verge of blacking out from the head shots, Taki attempted roll away only to feel an armored boot stomp on her—smashing into her back and pinning her in place. "Where do you think you're going?" The victor taunted, reaching down and taking a handful of her pony tail. Stepping off her, Nightmare pulled the loser to her knees and raised Soul Edge with clear intentions of pummeling her to death.
Rekki-Maru lay on the ground beyond her grasp, Taki quietly reached for Mekki-maru as she eyed Nightmare's armor for a vulnerable spot. The fight wasn't over yet. Not yet. Holding her breath, Taki drew Mekki-maru, but it wouldn't come free from its scabbard! SMASH! The hilt struck her square in the face. Her arms hung limply at her sides, helpless, and at his mercy. Soul Edge rose, and came down upon her again and again and again so that the sound of her skull cracking echoed across this abandoned castle accompanied with Nightmare's inhuman roar.
Taki was finished.
- - -
Awaking in a cold sweat, Taki instinctively drew Rekki-maru. Listening to the pitch blackness within this cargo hold, she heard only the sound of the ship's creaking accompanied with her own heavy breathing. The ninja sat up against a large crate, drew her knees to her chest, and leaned her head back.
Then slowly as she calmed herself down, Taki sat up and opened the crate – sifting blindly in the darkness until her hand fell upon Mekki-maru in its scabbard. Retrieving the weapon, she leaned back against the wooden box, staring into the darkness where she held the sword. Then out of the blackness, the sword's form emerged as her eyes finally adjusted to the minimal light. There she sat, running her fingers along the sword's scabbard, studying the sword that caused her so much grief, cost her her place within the Fu ma clan and cost her her dreams. She sighed, "I never thought I'd see the day when a life of hunting demons sounded so simple and easy."
