A young man, sword at his side, wanders to a villiage.

The man looks fit, tal

l, his face is obscured by a hood. It was early morning, the sun was just coming
up, leaving small orange rays to dance along the ground. There was a slight bre
eze, as the cold night air faded away, to make way for the warmth of the sun. By
the time the man reached the bridge that leads to the villiage, the sun is the
dominant feature of the sky. He comes to the old bridge, a sturdy, wooden struct
ure, it showed mild signs of age. As the man crossed the bridge, he passed by a
few thuggish looking people, carrying a squirming woman. Something boiled up in
the man. He spoke only once "I think it would be best for you to let that woman
go."
He turned around to get a better look at the men. There were four of them. On
e was very large, around 6 foot 5 inches, and carried an equally large sword, an
d the woman. two of them looked like the generic thugs, nothing special. The las
t man looked to be the leader, he had an ornate sword, tattoos of all kinds, gol
d rings for every finger, and the look of an experienced fighter. As the man sai
d this, the leader spoke up "Is that so? You hear that boys? Apparently, we shou
ld let her go! Do you also want us to dress in monkey suits and parade around to
wn, master?" The leader spoke in an arrogant voice. The man said nothing more, h
e only moved his hand to his blade, in a final warning. The leader laughed "Haha
! I like this guy's style! You two" He pointed to the smaller thugs "Get him." A
s the leader said this, the two thugs drew their blades and rushed to the man.
In one fluid motion, the man drew his sword, then cut through the first thug,
as if he wasn't even there. The second thug hesitated before continuing his bul
l rush to his target. The man then lowered his sword, then let the thug run hims
elf off the bridge, and on to the ground below. "Looks like this one has some fi
ght in him!" The leader said in ammusement "Well, big guy, have fun!" he said as
he made a waving motion to the larger thug.
He set the woman down, then drew his sword. His stomps made loud thuds on the
wooden bridge. He swung down with all the force of a meteor strike, shattering
a portion of the bridge. The man had disapeared from his point on the bridge. Th
e larger thug looked confused, but laughed thinking he killed the man, only to b
e interrupted by the sound of footsteps. The man had manuvered behind him, and s
tabbed his sword into the thug's back. The thug fell forward into the hole he ma
de.
There was silence for a moment, then the sound of the man sheathing his sword
. "It would appear I have underestimated you, I would like to know, what is the
name of such a warrior?"
The man removed his hood "You may call me Nobody." He said in a cold voice. H
is face looked young, but also hardened. There was a small silence between the t
wo, lasting a few moments.
"I see, you're one of those mysterious types, well then, I am somebody, as in
, Somebody who's gonna slit your throat and drink your blood!" The leader said a
s he drew his blade. The man returned this gesture, taking his time to do so.
They both sized eachother up for a brief moment, waiting to see who would str
ike first. The leader grew impatient and went in for an attack. A loud clang cou
ld be heard as the man parried his attack and returned with his own. The leader
barely dodged the attack, leaving a cut in his shirt, with a small ammount of bl
ood leaking through. The leader striked as hard as he could, the man blocked it
expertly, then threw the leader away. "You are truley lucky this day, I will lea
ve you and the girl be, for now. Just remember, I control a great many people in
these parts, you better watch yourself" The leader spoke in a more humbled voic
e.
"Then you better be off, if you truly wish to leave" the man said. The leader
then sheathed his sword and walked away. The man walked to the woman, "Are you
okay?" he said in a comforting voice.
"Y-yes, thank you" the woman said as he removed her bondings. She was a young
woman, no more then 20, with long dark hair and green eyes. "I am Alice" the wo
man said after a moment of silence "do you have a name, or would you prefer I di
dn't know?" she asked.
"Raven" the man said hesitently.

"Thank you Raven" Alice said, bowing her head. Raven got up and looked at the
village on the other side of the bridge.
"Is this your home?" Raven said while still looking at it. The village was sm
all, with only a few aged buildings. It looked to have a farm, with a few animal
s. It was quiet, which was something Raven thought was odd. Every village he'd b
een to before had been full of life.
"Yes..." Alice said looking down to the ground "I hope everyone is still alri
ght." Alice looked worried and her feet kicked at the rocks on the ground below.
Raven looked at the village once more "Are you afraid there are more of them
there?" Alice looked up and nodded. Raven grabbed the handle of his sword and sa
id "I'll escort you back home, then."