Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ The Way of the Sword ❯ Blade By Night ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Alex Hyacinthe
English 281
Gabriel Gudding
2/12/01

Blade By Night

The forest had gone suddenly quiet, as if a greater being had flipped a switch, shutting the sound off. Kenshin stood deathly still as he waited for the inevitable. It was the tiny click of the crossbow that registered in his hearing first. The crossbow arrow thunked into the tree, where moments before the Kenshin had been standing. He was no longer there, of course. The day's last rays of sunlight began to falter, as the forest's stillness increased. A light breeze shook the gnarled limbs of the trees.
Barely daring to breathe, the assassin waited in his hiding spot for some sign of movement. He was aware of the fact that his arrow had missed, and he knew that Kenshin would never run from a duel. Scanning the area, the assassin's eyes strained to pick up anything unordinary. But all he could see were the lengthening shadows as dusk began to grow into night.
The attack caught him by surprise, but his reflexes saved him, as Kenshin swooped down from above, blade flashing in the newly born moonlight. The assassin flipped quickly to one side, and his enemy's blade struck the earth harmlessly.
Moonlight bounced off the soft puddles on the ground and sparkled over leaves, wet from the day's rain. Small, crystalline drops of water were splayed into the air, as the breeze continued to buffet the trees, blowing their branches to and fro. The two warriors stood for a moment, each carefully considering his next move. Kenshin's red hair burned against the darkness for an instant as the moon's beam passed over him. Then he attacked.
Kenshin's swipe struck against his attackers blade, and, almost before the sound of metal grinding on metal could be heard, he had spun off his attacker, and released another blow directed at his legs. The would-be assassin stumbled back, as the blade bit into his shin. His blood showered the earth beneath, which took on a dull-red hue. Struggling back to his feet, the man's glittering weapon stuck out wildly towards Kenshin. Unfazed he redirected the blow, leading the man's wayward blade into a tree.
A sickening scream filled the evening air, but it was quickly cut off. Red danced on the edge of Kenshin's blade for a moment, and then it was wiped off on the dead man's body. Sliding his blade back into its sheath, the master assassin turned away from the death, and continued his journey into the forest.