Honor of the Ken, Part III (342 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 0.71 on 8 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Anthony Locascio (View user info) at 2004-03-29 01:50:04 EST
http://www.ubersite.com/m/28464 Part I
http://www.ubersite.com/m/28661 Part II
Hiruko feinted hard with the wakizashi, getting Kazuya to lower the longer ninjato blade to block it, before following with the tremendous "fire and stones" cut with his katana, the same cut he'd done a thousand times and killed a dozen men with. Kazuya read the feint correctly, twisting sideways to take the wakizashi out wide on his dagger, then countering the katana in his long blade. He laughed and drove the pommel of the dagger in hard, strikng Hiruko in the neck. His breath caught in his throat as he staggered backwards, knowing he'd be dead before the air filled his lungs again. Still, when his vision cleared and his coughing abated, Kazuya stood, arms crossed, the blades protruding from his sides, smirking at the corners of his eyes.
"Tell me, Hiruko, after all this time, do you still cross-parry?" The note of derision in his voice was unmistakable. Hiruko and Kazuya had been trained in the sword together, and cross parrying, the blocking of a right-handed strike with a blade in the right hand, had been a very common error on Hiruko's part, one that had cost him many a practice duel.
"I have not made that mistake in many years, Kazuya," Hiruko croaked. He tightened his grip on his swords. Kazuya could just as easily have driven the blade into his throat. He caught the questioning look in the samurai's eyes.
"Oh, no, Hiruko, do not mistake it for mercy. Had you taken your own life, you could have died easily, and with honor. Now you will die slow and bleeding, a drop of blood for every moment you hesitated to do your sacred duty. I will put the rest of your armor on after you are dead, so your children will recognize you before they die."
His heart exploded in rage, and he leaped forward in a flurry of cuts, slicing high with the katana, jabbing up and turning into a sideways cut with the wakizashi to get under Kazuya's guard. The wide-bladed tanto shadowed Hiruko's blade, pushing it wide and slashing backwards. It skipped lightly off his shoulder, sending a short fan of blood across the paper screens. Kazuya twisted back to his right, bringing the ninjato across in an inverted U-shaped strike, slashing Hiruko's cheek open. The ninja, feral-quick, dropped into a crouch, driving the hilt of his dagger into the samurai's groin, then exploding upwards in a vicious front kick that drove the armored man back and off his feet. He crashed through the paper screen and onto the outside decking, coming to rest in the dew-covered grass. The pain in his guts was worse than the superficial wounds he had sustained. It felt as though he had swallowed hot coals. The whisper of cloth brought him back to reality, and he rolled aside as the dagger drove into the turf where he had been a moment before.
Twisting hard at the hips, Hiruko snapped to his feed and struck hard, bringing the katana inside in a close arc, his shorter blade stabbing up and underneath it, a move no swordsman had ever blocked in combat with him. Kazuya made no attempt to block, instead spinning past the thrust and brushing the katana past him with a sweep of his own blade. The tanto flashed again, and Hiruko's other shoulder was slashed, much more deeply this time, and the blood that sprayed across Kazuya's face was black in the white moonlight.
There was numbness dampening the pain, and Hiruko's katana fell out of his hand.
"This is how the traitorous die," Kazuya growled. "Stripped of their weapons, and their honor. It is a shame that this is a lesson that cannot be taught, save to the condemned."
Hiruko staggered back, only the wakizashi between him and the ninja's twin blades. "And it is a shame that you never learned honor cannot be bought with gold," he gasped. "That is a lesson you apparently never learned."
Kazuya stiffened for a moment, then lowered his head and rushed in. The tanto was down now, forgotten. His approach was one meant to kill, the longer ninja to poised to strike. His left arm now nearly useless, Hiruko only held the wakizash in his right hand.
"If you are listening, my ancestors," he prayed, "give me the strength to take him with me, so that my children will be safe."
As Kazuya swept in, Hiruko had little choice - he cross parried, driving his right hand down and across the ninjato. With the last of his strength, he spun completely around and slashed hard. In the wet grass he slipped and crashed face-first in the grass, almost unconscious for the loss of blood. When his eyes came into focus, he was staring into the eyes of Kazuya. They were as they had always been, accusatory and sharp.
"Finish me, dog" he whispered, but there was no response. After a few minutes, Hiruko managed to turn himself onto his back and sit up, and he realized that even if the ninja had heard him, he no longer had a body attached able to carry it out. Hiruko's spinning strike had severed his head cleanly from his shoulders. As he slowly gathered himself to his feet, the samurai wondered that Kazuya looked no different in death, and wondered if he had not somehow died long ago and still did not realize it.
User Reviews
Submitted by Jungle_Jimanee (user info) at 2005-05-06 10:45:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Great.
Submitted by Heimdallsman (user info) at 2004-05-19 14:08:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I can't believe I missed this, especially since I was looking for it...
Well done, I really enjoyed it.
--HeimdallsMan
Submitted by Domochevsky (user info) at 2004-03-29 03:39:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
You know your kendo and Japanese sword terminology, which is somewhat impressive (+1)
You also have a pretty good writing style (+1)
Your storyline is lifted from about 9/10 of Japanese manga/anime. (-1)
So a +1 for your well-done albeit clichéd work.
Nihongo wakaru kana?
Submitted by Method (user info) at 2004-03-29 03:36:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
don't listen to the 2 lackwits. This is good.
Submitted by maiorano84 (user info) at 2004-03-29 02:26:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I thought this was good. I don't know what everyone else is whining about.
Submitted by domenad (user info) at 2004-03-29 02:09:58 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
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Submitted by MIll8178 (user info) at 2004-03-29 02:00:20 (#)
Ranking: -2
"Finish me, dog" indeed.
Thank you. I am now less intelligent for taking the time to read this drivel.
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I really don't see how that's possible.
Submitted by MIll8178 (user info) at 2004-03-29 02:00:20 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
"Finish me, dog" indeed.
Thank you. I am now less intelligent for taking the time to read this drivel.
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2004-03-29 01:52:55 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
boring, dull, talentless.