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Episode Six "The Eve of the Battou-sai"by Evan Coole (1/23/99)
*Author's note*
Okay, I know this took a long time to get typed. this time I actually have a reason! I cut my middle finger on my left hand down to the bone, and I
severed the nerve. Not easy to type with. I STILL can't feel anything in that finger, and I finally just sat down and decided to type without using
it! Another sucess story, eh? Anyways, I'm extremely sorry for the delays, and I'll bet most of you don't even remember what happened last, so I'm going to start out with a little reminder...***means the viewpoint has changed to and from the Predator.
...Sanosuke following suit. He bumped into Misao and fell over. He looked up, ready to yell at her, but something caught his eye. He looked down the road. He saw Kenshin on his knees, his mouth open. Saitoh was leaned against a building, blood all over him. Aoshi was collapsed on the ground, and...the Oniwa Banshu, lying on the ground in pools of blood...
..."Don't! Don't go after him! Look at what he's already done! He already injured you, do you really think that yo-" Misao stopped, looking deep into Aoshi's eyes. They were the same as before, when he was chasing after
Himura-san. Misao slowly stepped aside and watched him walk past her and down the hill...
...Kandak'la sat down on top of a building, smiling. He unbuckled his stealth camoflauge brace, and placed it next to him. There was a small bit of his blood on the underside. The only place he had been hit was when that
human had pierced the brace. He looked at his forearm, examining the small, but deep cut. It was still bleeding freely, and it stung. Kandak'la frowned. Almost perfect, he thought...
...Suddenly, Yahiko heard a huge thud behind him. Uh-oh...it's probably Hiko. Yahiko turned his head and saw an eight-foot tall...BEAST. Yahiko's temperature flamed. That must be the Hunter! Dashing out of the
mantle, Yahiko ran in front of the wide-eyed Tsubane and turned, his bamboo sword in front of him...
...In an instant, the Hunter had the tip of the spear at Hiko's throat. Hiko just looked at the Hunter and motioned towards the gate. The Hunter, with a loud groan, closed the spear, and walked chest to chest with
Hiko. Hiko looked up again and smirked. The Hunter slowly turned and paced away from the Dragon. It then jumped over the gate and was gone...
Chapter 6
"I see. Well, it seems that this Hunter is extremely skilled." Hiko replied after he heard what happened to the Oniwa Banshu, Saitoh, and Aoshi. Silence passed over the room. Yahiko looked at Hiko with wide eyes. "So why didn't the Hunter kill you when he had the chance?!" He cried. Hiko took another sip of sake and turned towards Yahiko. "Almost every successor of Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu has had to fight the Hunters. After they defeat one Hunter, another Hunter can not kill the prey. They become an "untouchable". I believe it is an honor code among the
Hunters. If their prey is skilled enough to kill their predator, then it has the right to live." Hiko explained."A lot like 'Survival of the Fittest'," Kenshin remarked blankly. He looked up. "A lot like Shishio Makoto. But Shishio had a goal. These creatures do not. They kill for sport." "Hence the name 'Hunters'," Hiko added. Silence again became present. Yahiko asked another question. "So you're immune to Hunters now?" "Only until I attack one of them, I suppose." Kaoru stood up. She looked at Kenshin and Hiko. "We have to stop him! We can't let him kill anyone else! Kenshin, you say Aoshi went after him again? You aren't going to let him be killed, are you? You know Aoshi can't stand up against the Hunter with his wounds!" she cried. Kenshin stood up. He looked at Kaoru and nodded. He looked at Hiko, who stood up as well. Sano jumped up as well, and then fell over, due to the MASSIVE head rush. He got up again slowly, only to see the "Dragons" missing. Cursing, he ran out the door, Yahiko trailing him.
-Forest-
Aoshi slowly walked through the rough, searching for any signs of the Hunter. Images flashed back into his mind of the Oniwa Banshu. Another four of them perished. Eight members of the Oniwa Banshu he could not help
in their time of need. All he could do was watch. He stopped, seeing a plant waving back and forth. He looked at the ground, finding heavy footprints in the dirt. He looked up, searching for more clues. Fifty yards away, he saw
the Hunter, staring at him. Aoshi slowly stood up and pulled out his kodachi. They looked at each other for what seemed like eternity. Suddenly, they both charged forward and were almost instantly at each other's faces. Metal slammed against metal, and the opponents jumped back. Aoshi charged forward, slashing with his right, then turning and stabbing with his left. The Hunter parried both attacks, and bashed Aoshi in the back, sending him
into the air. Aoshi kicked himself off of a tree, launching himself at the Hunter. A shot from the Hunter barely missed Aoshi, as he turned himself to get a clear shot. The Hunter jumped back at the last second, landing on it's
hand, flipping backwards. It stood, and stepped forward. The Hunter stopped and looked down. Blood sprayed from his quadricep, then let down.
***
Kandak'la fell to one knee. How the HELL had that happened? None of the other fighters could touch him! He must have left himself open after the shot. Kandak'la pressed his middle finger to his palm, releasing a bit of
painkillers into his bloodstream. He pressed his fourth finger to his palm, releasing adrenaline into his bloodstream. This human was obviously high on it.
***
Misao pushed a branch aside, and almost tripped at the scene she saw before her. Aoshi was walking slowly towards the Hunter. The INJURED Hunter! Aoshi was beating it! She walked out of the brush, which caught
Aoshi's attention. He barely flinched, but that was all the Hunter needed. It charged forward, ducking under Aoshi's slash. The Hunter then raised it's claws and flew upwards.Aoshi fell back, two vertical slashes running up his entire torso. Blood spewed from the wounds. The Hunter, still in the air, twisted, and as gravity pulled on the hulking beast, it unleashed it's spear, pointing straight at Aoshi's chest. Almost instinctively, Misao threw her kunai at the Hunter. One punctured the Hunter side, but it didn't stray from it's path. It slammed into the ground where Aoshi had just been. The kunai had served it's purpose as a distraction. Aoshi, now standing, spread himself around the Hunter as he performed the water-flow technique. After a few seconds of circling, Aoshi made his attack. He spun through the air, feeling his kodachi slice. He landed and looked at the Hunter. The Hunter stood, three slashes in it's mask. Aoshi suddenly felt a huge pressure on his left shoulder. Blood sprayed from his injured shoulder. Aoshi, his mouth wide from pain, fell to his knees and dropped his kodachi. The Hunter walked forward, but quickly turned to the left, looking at the four new figures. One was the untouchable, one a child, the skinny fist fighter, and the tiny Dragon. Kenshin walked parrallel to the Hunter, thirty yards away. He had a solemn look on his face as he silently challenged the Hunter. He went into the Battou-Jutsu stance and prepared.
***
Kandak'la watched the Tiny Dragon walk over and get in his stance. He noted that it was sundown, and that the fight could not last for long before the Dragon could not see. Kandak'la readied himself. He wouldn't miss his special move this time like he had on the human he had just fought. He had slid to early, which caused him to barely catch his prey. Kandak'la then noticed, as if for the first time, the gashes in his mask. The mixture of methane gas was slowly seeping out. The mask was useless now. It was time for the humans to see him as he trully was.
***
The Hunter pulled at his mask, unlocking a couple of wires. The wires spewed a gas out, and then sbruptly stopped. The other wire copied the action. The Hunter then pulled off the mask, dropping to the ground with a
thud. Kenshin's eyes went wide, as did everyone else's."You are one ugly mother-" Sano said absent-mindedly. The Hunter strecthed out it arms, and crouched, letting out a huge roar. It unsheathed its talons, and started stalking towards Kenshin. With a burst of speed,
it charged forward.It was the same as before! Kenshin jumped into the air, raising his sword. The hunter looked up, clicked it's mandibles together, and jumped up as well. Kenshin yelled out his attack, Ryu-Tsui-Sen, which was parried
by the Hunters claws. Kenshin landed, and looked up. The Hunter was just beginning his descent.Kenshin, quickly changed into another stance, jumped upwards again, his sword above his head. The twisting Hunter faced Kenshin just in time to see the Dragon rising up to him.
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"HITEN-MITSURUGI-RYU!! RYU-SHO-SEN!!"
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NEXT TIME, ON RURONI KENSHIN VS. PREDATOR!
I think you should know the ending by now, so no preview for you!
Just you wait for the next episode!
Next Episode: "The Repetitive Stance Revealed!"
E-mail me at Evanrc@yahoo.com, because I want to have some opinions on this fanfic!
Aren't I cheesy?! =)