Jul 22nd, 2003, 01:20 PM
Awful story I wrote for class... tear it to shreds.
The audacious young hengeyoukai stood on the top of a cliff, looking down at a small walled city surrounded by trees. He could see guards patrolling the walls, most armed with a simple iron sword and shield. They wore a hodgepodge combination of leather and iron armor, as if the city could not afford any better. Most of them appeared aloof, and contemptuous of the people they protected.
Well, they won’t be feeling that way for long, thought the young hengeyoukai. He chuckled to himself. “If all goes well, they won’t even see me,” he said to nobody in particular, “but if worse comes to worse, those ashen walls will become sanguine.” He laughed to himself again.
The next day, the small walled city was just falling asleep early in the night. The look of the town was very placid this late, but it was full of the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life earlier that day.
Meanwhile, the young hengeyoukai was jumping from tree to tree on his way to the town, his long blue hair flowing in the wind, his tail behind him, swishing rapidly back in forth as he landed, crouched, and leapt again to the next tree. He seemed vehement, determined in his goal. He stopped suddenly on the low branch of an oak tree. His ears twitched around, having heard something. He crouched down very low, trying to keep hidden. He moved his left hand to the hilt of his wakizashi in case things got unpleasant. A city guard patrol was making the rounds outside the city. Jeicen saw this, and remained perfectly still and silent, in an attempt to avoid detection. He was successful, and the patrol just walking right past him.
Jeicen resisted the temptation to become jubilant, forgetting his goal for a moment. Within a few seconds he was on his way again, leaping once more from branch to branch towards the city. He reached the city a short time later, and stood, watching the guards from a high tree branch.
Attacking them head on would be futile, he thought to himself, gauging the situation. I could scale the wall on the far side of the largest guard tower… That’s my best chance to remain unseen. He made his way to the far side of the guard tower, and waited for an opening in between guard patrols. This is going to be far too easy, he thought to himself. Can’t let up, though. Plenty of time to be astic later.
He leapt onto the wall, digging his sharp claws into the slight gaps between the stones. He pulled himself up and began climbing up to the ramparts of the tower. The alarm bell is on top of this tower… I need only to silence to guard manning it, and it should buy me plenty of time to get inside the castle itself. He slinked up the wall, making very little noise. He crept over the ramparts and snuck up behind the guard.
Jeicen was a little too vibrant for his own good, and missed seeing a small pile of pebbles on the floor. He stepped on them, and the guard heard it, spinning around quickly. The guard drew his sword and placed it at Jeicen’s throat.
“You make one move and I’ll kill you, Youkai scum.” Jeicen scowled and grabbed the blade of the sword with supernatural speed, cutting his hands in the process. He ripped the sword out of the guard’s hands and threw it to the ground. The guard’s mouth hung open, speechless.
“You humans really shouldn’t underestimate me. I might look young, but I can still kill you easily. I don’t feel like drawing from you, so I’ll just dispose of you temporarily.” As Jeicen said this, he picked up the guard’s sword and brought the pommel down hard on the back of his skull, knocking him out cold with a loud as the bones in his skull were dented slightly. Jeicen then threw the guard’s sword and shield off of the tower. “Hopefully they’ll hit another guard,” he said as he chuckled to himself.
He reached up and tore down the city’s flag, and ripped it up, leaving the shreds irreverently on the floor of the tower. He leaped from the tower, which was at least seventy-five feet high, onto the next highest building inside the walls, only a third as tall as the tower. Jeicen landed with perfect, catlike grace, crouching instinctively and rolling to absorb most of the impact. He started his journey to the castle now, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
Hehe, he thought, If I’m lucky, this little assault of mine will cause such wonderful poignant turmoil on the psyche of the city. He drew closer to the castle, and stopped to observe on the nearby roof of an inn. Wonderful… The castle is guarded by the elite soldiers, ones with actual experience. If I slip up here, I could be done for… He scolded himself for being too sure of his success, in an almost sardonic tone. He resolved to go through with it anyway.
He leapt onto the roof of the castle, laughing once more at the stupidity of the guard, and its inability to see him, even though he was wearing bright blue pants, and his hair, ears, and tail were blue. It was just too funny to not laugh. He landed on the spires of the northwest tower. He grabbed onto the edge of the sloped roof and flung himself into the narrow window of the tower, ally knocking out a guard in the process. He burst out laughing, almost facetiously. Then he quickly shut up, not wanting to be heard. He silently ran down the stairs of the tower, headed for the castle’s treasure vaults.
Forty-five minutes and a dozen KO’ed guards later, he arrived at his destination. He scowled at the intricate locks and 2 feet of iron vault door barring him entry. “Pity I have to destroy this castle now, it was rather nice looking. But, it can’t be helped,” he mumbled to himself. Jeicen crouched down and held his arm outstretched behind him. He suddenly brought his hand forward and twisted his wrist around, too fast for a human eye to see it. Milliseconds later, there was a tremendous explosion as an air pocket rushed forward and created a sonic boom, which caused the iron door to burst in the center, leaving a gaping hole.
“If that didn’t attract their attention, nothing will,” he said to himself as he jumped into the vault. On the far wall, he saw his prize. He smiled, revealing four very sharp, fang-like canines. He jumped to the sword on the wall. It was a very long daikatana, made several centuries ago by the master weaponsmith Jakarta. It was called the Kusanagi. Crafted from the fang of an ancient taiyoukai, if burned with unearthly power. Anyone who was not worthy to wield this weapon was burned badly if they touched it. Jeicen, however, grabbed it up quickly. As he swished it around easily, which was no everyday feat as the blade was at least 5 feet long, the blade itself seemed to glow red and orange, and then suddenly burst into flames.
“Excellent,” he exclaimed, “the sword has accepted me as its wielder. Now I shouldn’t have much trouble getting out of here after all.” Almost in response, the hallway outside the vault was flooded with a horde of irate guards. Jeicen turned around and looked at them morosely. He opened his mouth and let out a deep-throated roar, the roar of a tiger. He launched himself off the wall and sailed through the air, landing to face the huge force of at least fifty well armed and armoured guards. He swung the flaming sword a few times in his left hand, and then reached to grab his katana with his right hand, and held his wakizashi in his long prehensile tail. He bared his fangs and roared once more. His hair seemed to waver in an unfelt wind, and he was glowing a very pale, almost invisible blue color. His eyes suddenly went from deep emerald green to a -red, and he launched himself into combat.
He took out three guards right off the bat, cutting through their shields and armor, leaving hideous gashes on their chests. As they fell, more guards came to fill the gaps. Jeicen became a whirlwind of flashing steel, blocking every single sword strike with his own blades, taking out guards with the Kusanagi like a hot knife through melted butter. They fell quickly enough, almost too quickly. As he stepped over the piles of guards, taking care to avoid the , he sheathed the Kusanagi on his back, and the katana and wakizashi at his right hip. He ed his knuckles and walked up the stairs to the main hall, ready to leave.
He disappeared into the night, without a trace. The only evidence he left was a hastily scrawled glyph on the wall of the castle vault. The next morning, some townspeople claimed they could hear eerie laughter coming from the large cliff overlooking the city.
Notes-
Hengeyoukai- “Transforming animal spirit”, a mythical creature that looked vaguely human, save certain animal characteristics. They were very beautiful, lived for a long time, and could transform into a large animal “true form”. Jeicen, the character here, could transform into a large blue tiger the size of an SUV.
Youkai- “Demonic spirit”, the guard thought Jeicen was some kind of evil demon.
Wakizashi- A short parrying blade held in the off hand.
Daikatana- “Great blade”, a long katana meant to be held in two hands.
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