Bushido

Apex Predator

The sharkmen.

A race of creatures who were thought to have sinned greatly in their past lives, and therefore were condemned to this cruel fate of being a hybrid. But despite the rumors, they lived life like normal humans. And in a way, they truly were.

But with each tree, there is a bad apple, and in the sharkman tribe, it could be considered a bad forest. 9/10, the sharkmen were vile and anomalies who tried to kill humans, as they were tired of being disrespected for how they looked.

This led to them being hunted to near extinction, with only a handful of tribes still in existence today. Amongst all the troublemakers of the sharkmen, one reigned supreme. Hima, as he was named, or Apex, as those who knew him said.

His appetite for battle knew no bounds, as he had a keen eye for the strong, and knew who to pick out to battle. He had never lost a fight to the best of his memory, and today should've been a day like no other...

Valk sat there quietly, eating food he had just bought from a nearby udon stand.

Whispers could be heard, but for once, they weren't about him. There was a tall figure wearing a hood, and he gripped a sapphire tanto in his hand, which constantly looked wet as if there was always water dripping on it.

"Thank you for the meal."

He got up to leave, and begin learning the 2nd step, but felt a hand almost touch his shoulder.

"What are you trying to do?"

"HAHA! I knew you were a strong guy. Now, show me how strong you are!"

For a second, Valk was perplexed before an orb of water fired at his head. As he dodged, it careered through a tree and stone wall.

"I don't take kindly to attacks."

Valk only drew his right blade, and began.

"Hey. I attacked you because you're strong. Now draw your second blade, or I might end up killing you."

Valk stayed silent, and held his blade firmer, waiting for it.

"Heh, you're trying to annoy me right? Well it won't work."

Valk remained silent, his gaze piercing, the complete opposite of what Hima wished for as he dashed forward, begging to break the deadlock.

"Just fight already ya damn buzzkill!"

Hima was off, with his tanto glowing a dangerous blue, the water even beginning to seep out of the blade.

"?! Sword Aura?"

"GET ready!"

Hima's patterns were erratic, and Valk couldn't find a way to get through it.

"Shark FEAST!"

Upon Hima's swing, a large mouth erupted from his tanto, but there was around a delay of half a second before he could swing the sword downwards.

In that time, Valk managed to dodge out of the way, and disarm him, just before it came crashing down upon him and sent him flying.

"SHAMAEL!"

Hima roared in fury, angered at the loss of his tanto, and ran towards Valk.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

He began pummelling the downed Valk, who was struggling to block the swings, especially with only one of his swords.

"DIE DIE DIE!"

Hima was relentless, the loss of his tanto awakening some sort of animal instinct within him, and his blows getting stronger by the minute.

"Get off me!"

"You're funny."

"I SAID GET OFF!"

Valk's outburst froze Hima in his tracks, right before he kicked him in the stomach and unsheathed his second blade.

"You want a fight so bad. Come at me."

"Now we're talking!"

Hima picked his dagger back up, and rushed Valk again, attempting the same trick, but this time, Valk was prepared.

"First Star: Falling Dragon"

Valk suddenly appeared in front of Hima, and flung him into the air, before stabbing through his torso, and pinning him to the floor.

"Happy? You had your fight."

Valk ripped his blades out of Hima's stomach, and helped him get to some water so he could heal.

"What the hell was that final move?"

"I don't know myself, apparently it's something my ancestor made. Regardless, I have to go to Kyoto, stop causing havoc, or next time I will kill you."

"Funny joke."

Valk's face was dead serious, causing Hima to get a shiver down his spine, as he left.

"Well, I might as well come with you, you seem to attract trouble. I like trouble."

Valk sighed, and the two ran off towards Kyoto to meet the king.

Along their way, they passed through a forest, and heard a feminine voice scream Excalibur, just before a cloud of smoke erupted.

"?!"

"Leave it. This is normal in Bushido."

"NO!"

"Why do you want to go so badly?!"

"The voice... it was of someone who saved me!"

Valk instantly changed courses and ran towards the smoke, jumping from tree to tree, with Hima following after on the ground.

As he got to the clearing, he saw Juuzou about to be killed, and moved as fast as possible, slicing off the head of whatever did it.

"Was I late?"