Chapter 5
Curtain call.
Toba Fushimi, 1868
He stared down. The silver visage of his katana stood upright, wedged into the frozen ground out of reach. From the hilt to the tip, blood ran its length. He stood there, stagnant, poised between relief and disbelief; the sheer magnitude of what he had done, yet to register in his mind.
'The war is over.'
He stared down, his vision blurring in, and out, and in, and out of focus. Catching only glimpses of red trickling down his blade. Red running into the snow. Red on his clothes. Red on his hands. Under his fingernails. On his face. In his mouth. The air he breathed.
'The war is over.' He exhaled, watching his breath frost in the air and dance away. Reminding him he was still alive. Half a man. Almost human. He stared down, eyes wandering over the dirtied snow. Wooden wagons were upturned against trees, charred, and artillery parts were spilled over the grounds; the bullet shells frozen in place. A number of katanas were strewn across the snow, some broken, chipped, bloodied, an arm or so still attached.
All around him, lay the bodies of his enemies. Armour pierced. Heads' missing. Organs spilled. The heat from their blood still evaporating. Like breath. He skimmed them over, eyes dazed, counting his sins. For every man that lay at his feet, a dozen more would mourn, a dozen more would dress in white. A thousand more to hate his name. A country, to fear his shadow. But he slinked away, wincing at the crunch of his footsteps, careful as if not to wake the dead. Too many of them would return in his sleep.
'The war is over.'
And he looked to the skies suddenly, the dawn of a new era beckoning him. For better or worse. He had condemned himself to hell, but it promised him heaven. Not far, a line of smoke billowed above. Some way away, fire crackled. The faint smell of burning flesh distinguishable.
And he looked away, leaving his sword to rust in the snow.
Glossary
Toba Fushimi: The last, decisive battle that saw the Ishin Shishi, Kenshin's side, as victorious in the war. This fic really fits the Movie-verse- the first 3 mins of the first Rurouni Kenshin movie depicts this battle :)
'Dress in white' : I wanted to explain this- In western cultures, the funeral colour is black. In eastern cultures, such as the Japanese and Chinese, the colour white is worn in funerals. Interesting how its the reverse- western weddings are themed white.
Notes
guys you never have to read the notes if you don't like to
'faint smell of burning flesh.' Ok I don't want to give spoilers or anything... but... can you... think of...anything- anyone else who burned in the bakumatsu? Really bad? Yeaaaahh, Kenshin's smelling that.
The original planned ending was going to be this: 'And he looked away, leaving his sword to rust in the snow. By midday, it was gone.' Which is actually alluding to the live action movie-verse (Movie 1)-spoilers- its talking about Ji'ne taking Battousai's sword. I wish they could have made it clearer in their end battle, that Ji'ne was using kenshin- battousai's- old sword, like how rad and angsty would that be? Since I just straight up said that- these guys were basically all in the same final battle, and Kenshin is kinda near shishio who is currently being burnt alive. ah. Anyway, I cut out that very last line because I didn't want to end it by setting up Ji'ne, I wanted to put the weight on Kenshin leaving his life of being a killer.
Yup! Please please please drop a review if you're liking any of this so far! I would love love to hear your thoughts :D Even one or two words would be fantabulous! Next chapter soon.
-earl