Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The beauty of life ❯ The raid ( Chapter 4 )

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By: Solstice
After the encounter with the man, Elena finds herself fighting in a war that brke out amoung the people in Kyoto. Elena, not really interested in the battle, advises that the clan go into hiding.
She goes out to seek out the shinsengumi or any signs of the men that were involved in the killing of her family.

Anime/Manga: Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Fantasy / Drama / Action / Romance / Samurai | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 11.21.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 211 | Status: Work In Progress

Makoto ran down the street. Behind him, the sounds of shouts and screams came closer and closer. On the sidelines, men were being attacked and woman fleeing with their belongings in hand.
He looked desperately for the inn where Elena stayed in. She had been given the night off.
But now he needed her. The clan needed her. There was an attack. Makoto worried that the mibu wolves were involved. Men from different clans were beginning to join in, fighting against them.
Hachiro and the others were off fighting, as well as Takahashi.
“ Elena!” He cried when he got inside the inn.
A woman came out, half annoyed and half distressed. She began to worry at his distress and quickly led him inside.
“ Okami-san. Where is she?” Makoto asked.
“ Upstairs I believe,” She replied.
“ Does she not hear the fights outside?” Makoto asked.
The landlady shrugged, “ She probably does,” She said.
Makoto cursed. He ran up the stairs and slid open the sliding door rather harshly. The door shook slightly and dust fell to the ground.
Elena was sitting by the window, sleeping. She had her katana next to her as she slept upright against a shelf that contained his clothes and his belongings. Makoto felt the urge to just slap her.
“ Elena!” He cried angrily.
Elena looked up, immediately awake and aware of his presence. She stood up, detecting the urgency and distress in his voice.
“ What's wrong?” She asked.
Again, Makoto resisted the urge to slap her. He opened the window to the chasm below. She looked and frowned.
“ What's going on?” She asked.
Makoto looked around nervously.
“ We have no time. The shinsengumi are attacking. Something happened and now all hell has broken loose. We need you now. What the hell were you doing up here sleeping? Could you not hear the noise below?” He said.
Elena slid her katana in her belt, headed towards the stairs and stopped to wait for Makoto.
He followed, guiding her to the back alleys and towards where his clan was hiding.
 
“ We have to act quickly!”
“ We should attack now when the men are weak!”
“ No, It's, much to dangerous!”
“ SILENCE” Hachiro boomed.
At once the men fell silent. Elena, who had just made it to the meeting with Makoto, settled down beside the leader. She felt the urge to close her eyes and sleep, but the urgency of the matter wouldn't let her. She watched as the men deliberated and argued what they should do, occasionally letting in some suggestions.
“ At this point, there really is no way to get out of this safely. All the clans in the area have been attacked, and we can't just lie here and wait for our doom,” Hachiro said firmly.
“ What's the cause of this? Why is the mibu wolves attacking us now?” One man asked.
Hachiro shook his head.
“ I don't know exactly, but we're just getting caught up in this. We have to fight. We might not be the strongest, but we have a good member to our clan,” He said turning to Elena.
She looked at him with little interest.
Suddenly, all eyes were on her. She glanced at the men, giving no attention to them.
“ What's the point when we don't know exactly what we're fighting for. It doesn't involve us. We should leave Kyoto and find some safe place to hide until it tides over,” She said, “ Rather than killing, we should save what we can.”
Hachiro hesitated, “ But it is a matter of honour now. We can't just run away and be called a coward,” He said.
Elena shook her head, “ Since when was this about honour? You find murdering people just for the protection of where you stand in society an honour? I hardly call it honour,” she retorted sharply.
She got up, regretting that she even spoke. She looked briefly at the men.
“ I don't think you guys would want to be caught up in war only to die,” She said.
Turning back to Hachiro, she leaned her back against the wall.
“ I have no business with this what so ever. The government is not involved with this. I'll go, but I'll do it on my own. I don't care about your honour. If you want my help, then take this bit of advice. Leave. Go find some place that you can stay safely out of harm,” She said.
She moved towards the door and let herself out, leaving Hachiro dumbstruck.
 
Outside was much worse. Screams could be heard in the distance and there was blood everywhere. If Elena looked over the houses, she could see that fires had broken out and burned down much of the houses. Men in alleys attacked but fell short when they saw her.
“ She's the assassin! Don't let her get away!” The men cried.
Elena dispatched them before they got a chance to attack.
She made it to the main road where rows of stores were deserted and destroyed. She kicked away all the barrels to side and stepped over the corpses that lay strewn on the ground. The smell of blood became stronger as she walked down the street.
Soon, more men attacked and died. Elena ran, dispatching more men and throwing them off to the side. Men from all directions surrounded her, their swords poised to attack.
Elena stretched her arms.
“ Surrender if you want to live,” She said.
The men roared in anger of her words and charged all at once. Elena ducked their swings and quickly took out the men in front of her. She turned and drove her sword through the men's stomachs, blood spilling onto the ground.
Elena ran ahead and encountered more men.
“ Damn it!” She cursed to herself, “ There's so many.”
 
She made it to the bridge. She couldn't even see the other side. Men stretched across the bridge and more lay dead on the ground. Elena braced herself for a gust of wind that blew, carrying ashes and dust towards her. She squinted, keeping out the ashes from getting into her eyes.
She quickly took down the front and found herself deep into the crowd. She tripped over the bodies that were on the ground. She quickly regained her balance and blocked an attack from a large, broad man. She drove her second katana into the man behind her and kicked the large man to the ground.
“ Get out of my way!” She yelled.
She rammed her left arm into a man, toppling over the men behind her, into the river below.
She ducked as a loud explosion lit up the night sky and faded into the river. She could see that a boat had been set fire and exploded from all the gunpowder that was on the ship.
Finally she made it to the other side of the bridge. She jumped up onto the docks and found men in blue jackets scattered around. She leaned against the wall and caught her breath. She could feel the exhaustion seep into her body.
“ HEY!” A man cried.
She avoided the man that had addressed her and doubled back when the men in blue jackets turned to look at her. A man, smaller than her drew his sword and stood facing her.
She waited for him to approach, drew her sword. Her blade got at his chest and slit open his shirt.
She raised her sword and drove it down in attempts to hit his shoulder. He blocked it successfully. She jumped back and lunged at him, her sword aiming straight for his stomach. He moved to the side, seeing through her attack, but felt cold metal in his skin, just below his shoulder. He looked to see that she had grabbed her short sword and got him as he began to move.
She took out her sword and backed away. She watched the men warily. One man was staring at her with amusement. He came forward and drew his sword.
Elena's shoulders sagged. She took out her sword once more and fought with the man.
She struggled to keep up with his strength. He was exceptionally good. She marveled at his speed.
She rolled out of the way as he tried to hit her when she fell on the ground due to her lack of carelessness. She flipped up onto her feet and summoned her strength to attack him again.
Eventually, she found herself running into the forest. Even there, it wasn't silent. There were men hiding behind the trees and attacked her when she came close.
They fell to the ground, bleeding from their wounds she had given them. She quickly finished them off and ran deeper into the forest.
She found a clearing that was free of men. She sat down, her back leaning against the tree. She rested her katana on her shoulder and lowered her head so that she was comfortable.
She closed her eyes, occasionally waking to see if someone had followed, but no one was there. She could hear faint explosions and screams, but they faded as she drifted off to sleep.