Opening Tale of the bloodied hero.

[Shikimaruru]

Masamune grinned wolfishly a rent in the armor of his left arm told the story of the bandits blade leaving a deep wound in the shoulder.

His vestment smeared with bandits blood now a deep russet from drying with a fresh coating every few moments from the wound in his shoulder.

He was slowly bleeding out, and now things looked grim for his cause but as like everything in life Masamune refused to give in.

"D**n those fools put up a fight, but they weren't nearly a match for me.

Fourteen of them what were they thinking." He stops and coughs heavily and then continues trudging his way down the road, hoping but not caring whether the next person would help him or not.

The last group of people he encountered had hurried by him heedless of his plight. An old man his daughter and a child, the old man actually attacked him with his trowel before Masamune threatened to kill him for the indignity.

After ten more minutes he stumbles and falls to a knee and begins laughing "To think done in by trash".

He manages to get back to his feet takes a 3 more staggering steps and falls face down upon the roads surface.

(Flashback time) One hour before Masamune walks down a narrow roadway with two large embankments to either side, he knew it was a popular ambush point for bandits but could care less, he was looking for trouble.

At the midpoint a shadowy figure stepped into the road and demanded a toll for safe travel through the territory.

Masamune declines, "A peasant should know his place in the empire's natural order" The peasant face reddens visibly.

" And an upstart samurai like yourself should know that the empire's long dead".

Masamune's body tenses at the statement, his hand instinctively moves to one of his swords.

"I think not" the peasant says, he raises his arm in a signal and thirteen bandits rise from either side of the road.

From a quick glance it appeared that three of them had bows one had an old naginata probably stolen from battlefield corpse the rest wielded old rusted blades of sorts.

Masamune relaxes and removes his hand from the hilt of his sword, the bandit in front of him smiles turns his head and nods towards his compatriots.

At this Masamune Draws two of his six blades and slashes them in an upward crossing arc.

The bandits scrapped armor was scant little protection against the finely forged blades, his blood fountains forth into the air.

Making a quick pirouette on the ball of his foot Masamune turns to the other bandits and states bluntly "Do your worst you vile cur."

The bandits stood dumbfounded by his actions before the first man descends the hill raising his rusted sword in fury at his comrades death.

Not a moment later the rest fall into the ensuing battle, the men didn't even realize the folly of their attempt, but none the less they died.

Masamune let forth a roar of battle lust, parrying the first blade and cutting down the bandit in his tracks.

The next three bandits moved into his place, their blades moving at a crawl under the influence of his families blood-rite.

One of Masamune's blades shears through the blade of a another bandit's cleaving into his throat before he plunges the other blade into the heart of his next adversary.

Sure of thier defeat, Masamune lets down his guard for the briefest of moments as the bandit with the naginata strikes thrusting the blade of the weapon deep into his shoulder gouging him and rending the armor.

With reflexes honed from practice matches with other family member's Masamune's blade becomes a flash entering the mans neck and spurting fourth the other side.

Masamune staggers back leaving the sword in the mans neck, the bandit drops the shaft of the naganata leaving it stuck in the armor of Masamune's shoulder.

The bandit raises his hands to his throat before dropping to the ground lifeless.

At this the other bandits flee from scene, Masamune wrenches the naginata from his shoulder before moving over to the corpse of the dead bandit.

Reaching down he withdraws his weapon from the dead man before wiping it clean upon him.

Thus we find Masamune upon the road facedown and slowly bleeding to death.

(Its an intro from an guild I was in but I liked it so much I saved it so I think I will make a short story with it xd )  

[Riku Hinta]

Ha-ha. Really? I think I remember this... my forum maybe?