Chapter 8: The Eight step

It had been two weeks after that and right now I was on a dirt road on my path to vengeance which was actually taking quite some time. Along the course of my travel to Kyoto I had many towns ahead that I could stop at due to how I had only done 1/10 of the travel seeing that I was on foot and could not find a horse, the two men that I killed had a bunch of yens (the Japanese currency) on them so I took them seeing as they wouldn't need them any time soon. I was wearing my own clothes that I had taken from my house and was wearing a JINGASA (a traditional Japanese warrior hat), a small pack and Geta for shoes (wooden traditional Japanese sandals), In those two weeks of travel I accustomed myself to the fact that having a voice in your head isn't too nice,

"would you just be quiet already" I shouted

"you know there isn't much to do in your head you know" Kitsune replied

"we've been walking for weeks and it gets boring here you know?" he continued and if you aren't going to talk to me then what else am I going to do?" "fine" I said and I walked some more as I listened to the dirt at my feet and the birds in the trees "what made it so that you became a demon" I asked

"my tale is like yours a tale of vengeance, except that it ended with my death instead of his"

"what happened?" I asked

"the man in question was a lord and he thought that even if he killed the wife and daughter of a skilled samurai he could get away with it…well he was wrong, I followed after him killing hundreds who stood in my way, then just before my blade struck his neck I died" Kitsune continued

"how?"

"I don't know; till this day it remains a mystery to me but when I died I didn't actually "die" instead became a demon and possessed this blade" Kistune said

"what happened to the lord?"

"oh he is most certainly dead due to it happening hundreds of years ago"

"ok" I replied

The path started getting bigger and wider and hoof prints and track prints were engraved into it signs of civilization nearby.

"Seems like we are quiet close now" I pointed out

"indeed it does" Kitsune replied

Suddenly and eerie silence begun to seep into my ears as I noticed it I slowly began to stop, Kitsune noticed this

"what's wrong?"

"have you not noticed it" I replied

"Hmmm?" He questioned

"the silence"

"what about it?"

"something must have startled the birds"

"Oh I see" He replied

I stood and listened out for sound as my training as a soldier never proved me wrong I relied on the training to sense the disturbance that was the silence.

My suspicion was correct soon rustling sounded from every direction and I was soon surrounded.

"bandits"

So they were, with ruffled and muddy hair and swords out to menace each one wearing what seemed to be ragged cloth in an attempt to clothe, they stopped in a circle around me.

"hand over your money and anything of value" The one with the top bun said "if you do so we will leave you alone"

"a lie" Kitsune said "Don't listen to him he will kill you once he sees you have money"

"I don't intend to" I reached for my blade gripping it by the sheath "now listen, how about you give me your money and then I can be on my merry way"

The bandit with a top-bun looked at me with disbelief and began to laugh, soon all the bandits had begun to laugh deeply. Soon they had finish and the one with a top-bun smiled "now you are going to die"

"get him" And the bandits rushed towards me with cries of war.

I Gripped my sword by the TSUKA (Japanese word for handle) and with unimaginable speed parried the first strike in my direction and with and upwards cut I severed his sword arm.

The man screamed and cried as he fell to the ground in shock and I returned to the fight, my sword hit its point every time with the skills of my own from being a soldier and Kitsune's knowledge of different techniques plus his samurai skills that if one would look upon me they would consider me a master swordsman. Soon none were left except for the one with the top bun, he stared at me in shock and despair as he realised what happened. I brought my sword up horizontally so that it was facing me and saw the blood the covered it, (it did not have the aura around it neither did it shine red per my request to Kitsine) quickly brought my sword down flinging the blood of the blade (this is called chiburi) and put it in its sheath but continued to grip it.

"what are you" the bandit said

I laughed "I guess you could say" as I entered and iiai stance (iiai is Japanese technique that is when you quickly unsheathe, strike and re-sheath your blade) "That I'm a demon" and then with speed so fast to the naked eye I teleported behind him and clicked my blade to its sheath I began to walk as the bandit dropped his sword and dropped kneeling and slowly his head fell of his neck.