I wrote this very spasmodically during math class today, and thought I might post it for some critcism. I haven't written any fiction in a long time, so it's probably not that great. If I get some good feedback I might consider writing some more of this story.

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The night held certain tranquillity about it, despite the events that were soon to unfold beneath the cloak of darkness. A soft breeze swept through the towering treetops, as it continued through the large compound beyond, rattling the lanterns along the outer rim of the house. Inside, there was silence.

The compound was particularly large for one of its type. Around the outer rim was a tall, stone barrier, which encircled the inner buildings. Within the outer wall was the main courtyard, which boasted a beautiful garden and shrine, with many intricate golden sculptures of beautiful Gods and strange creatures. The living area itself was fairly open; the walls were all shoji screens and lanterns hung from around the rim of the home, lighting up the pathways.

At the gate of the large home, two guards were stationed, seemingly motionless. One of the guards shivered slightly, before coughing and cursing the cold weather under his breath. They were guards to their lord and his family, an extremely well known family who had their fair share of enemies; they were the Seigi family and had just bore their first heir. The Seigi family were the last remaining members of the Heiwa clan, whose members had all been killed in the ongoing wars amongst rival clans. The guards too, were just as oblivious to what was about to happen right under their noses.

On the opposite side of the compound, one man approached the wall and tossed a rope up towards the roofing, latching onto the crimson red tiles with a grapple. He put his feet to the stone wall and pulled back on the secure rope, using it to scale to the top of the wall. After getting his bearings on the roof, he quickly detached the grapple and began to run in the direction of the main gate.

The man ran with his hands limp, pointing out behind his back, his feet made little more than a soft tapping noise as they hit the hard brick. He was dressed in dark clothing; it was impossible to make out in the black of the night. He wore a dark grey suit underneath his clothing, on his upper body he wore a heavy looking vest which seemed to be reinforced to protect against sharp objects, on his lower body he had a belt made from black material, on the belt hung a small leather pouch. His shoes were padded with soft material in the soles to minimise the sound made by his footsteps. His hair was jet black, of fairly reasonable length, with a long fringe, which covered his right eye, crossing over his metal forehead protector.

The man reached the main gate quickly, and stood on the roofing above the two guards.

“…Two of them,” he whispered softly underneath his breath, a feint mist filled the air as he opened his mouth.
“Did you just say something?” One of the guards asked his companion, only to be replied with an abrupt shaking of the head.

The man above them reached deep into his pockets, his palms had been wrapped in bandages, which extended up his forearm, he then produced a small stone from his pocket. He quickly viewed his surroundings and saw a large rock near the forest beyond the compound. He tossed the stone at the rock, and it made a clear sound when it clashed with the stone. This sound had alerted the guards, and one of the guards walked towards the stone to check things out. With one swift movement, the man produced a small iron knife from his pouch and sent it soaring through the air at unbelievable speed and precision.

The kunai reached its targe, the kunai lodged firmly in the man’s air pipe and he let out a small cry before collapsing to the ground. His companion quickly ran over to the corpse of his friend, and with that, the man above leapt silently down to the ground; shadowing his target.

The man unsheathed a small sword, just longer than a dagger but with the craftsmanship of a sword. The guard heard this and a look of pure fear consumed his face in an instant, as he went to turn to face the intruder. His movement was all too slow, however. Before he could even turn his head, the intruder was pushing hard up against his back, and he could feel the icy cold steel blade pushing up against his throat. There was a second of splitting plain and a helpless cry as the guard slumped to the ground in a fountain of crimson blood.

The man was entirely emotionless still; he had not even flinched as he stole away the life of his enemies. The figure turned and walked through the gate. Behind him, another figure emerged from the forest. This second man was slightly taller; he wore the same style of clothing and had a black mask covering the right side of his face, his hair was black with red streaks through it. He followed his companion deeper into the house.

The two intruders crept silently down the dark hallways before coming across a dimly lit room, in which two people slept silently on a tatami; a man and woman. Deeper in the house still, slept a young baby boy. The dark haired man motioned his hand towards his new companion, communicating to him that this was it, and with that the two men entered the room, unsheathing their weapons in unison.

The people before them were quite young. They would have been no older than 30. The dark haired man approached his target before him; a young man with long black hair and a kind, gentle face. The intruder thrust his sword into the man’s chest, as his target woke abruptly from his slumber, coughing up a cloud of blood and holding a weapon tightly in his right hand; he let out a groan and slumped back onto the tatami.

The baby had been woken by the sound of his father’s death, as was his mother. The woman had awoken with the masked intruder forced on top of her body; his eyes were bright red.

“Beautiful…” he smiled as he brushed back her soft, black hair with his hand and began to trace along her pale skin with his fingers. He moved his fingers to her mouth and caressed her lips, which quivered beneath his fingertips, before moving down her neck and to her shoulders; he slipped off her nightgown and forced himself upon her.

The screams of his mother lasted significantly longer than his father’s, and after what seemed like hours, they finally ceased. The dark haired man was already moving swiftly towards the baby’s room, but yet another man had already beaten him to the prize.

A tall and lanky man stood above the baby’s crib, he had a warm and gentle face, and also wore a forehead protector, with a different insignia on it. He quickly grabbed the baby and took him into his warm arms, before darting off into the cold night of the forest, his silver hair shining in the moonlight. The assassin opened the door to the baby’s room and cursed at himself as he stared into the empty crib and caught a glance of a figure running off into the cover of the forest.

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C/C please!

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