Twin Blades

One… two!

Your kendo stick swings free of its scabbard, meeting Pallavi’s in the air. Pallavi’s stick slams into yours, a loud clack ringing out for the audience of your mentors. You see them narrow their eyes, and your narrow yours in turn, leaning your crossed stick into theirs.

And then, in an instant, that dam of tension is broken and combat flows freely. You are forced back by Pallavi, but meet their next swing with equal harshness, and a flurry of twists and blows follows none of which end in contact on either side.

Clack, clack, clack!

You’re getting frustrated. Your jaw clenches, your arms burn. Their stick meets and deflects yours again, and again, and you return the favor, each clack ringing in your ears and angering you more.

By the end of it, you slam your kendo stick into theirs so hard that it flies out of their hand, following the swing through with a strike to the face. Your mentors call your battle with the strike of a gong, and panting, you withdraw, watching Pallavi shake off the bruise, growling a bit.

“Point 1. Kenzō!”

One… two!

The ‘battle’ begins the same. Your stick descends onto Pallavi’s with a sharp strike, and the two of you again meet eyes as you cross blades. But this time, it all ends shortly; Pallavi slams their foot down on yours, eliciting a confused yelp from you as you disengage, leaving an opening for Pallavi to thwack you across the face just as you had done to them.

“Gah! Bastard!” you call out, clutching your snout. It’s a kendo stick, so it can’t be that bad… but the sting is more spiritual than physical. There’s a quiet hum of laughter from your gathered mentors as they strike the gong a second time.

“Point 1. Pallavi!”

One… two!

Your dusk crashes into Pallavi’s dawn with a ringing clang. Pallavi cannot see your eyes behind your mask, but they can feel them. You withdraw, pulling your blade back in both hands, aiming its point straight at your sibling. They, in turn, take a defensive stance, blade low and angled up at you.

The Black Brooch sits on a chain, bunched around their hand. The two of you stand in the blazing ruins of a bandit encampment, the flames Pallavi had set steadily bringing it all to smoldering ash.

“OF - COURSE - THEY - SENT - YOU” flashes the ring over their head. For any other opponent, you would not hesitate to strike again, but you spare your sibling the gift of a fair fight.

“Of course,” you reply, quiet and nearly muffled by the fires swallowing the scenery around you.

You leap into battle with them.

The flash of your blades crossing is something terribly spectacular. Pallavi deftly deflects your first strike and sends an elbow into your gut to try and get under the range of your odachi, but you’re quick enough to seize them by that same elbow and carry their motion through, throwing them to the side and back out into the most effective striking distance of your blade.

Your next strike crashes down toward their chest, but you’re impressed when their blade whips out at yours again, blunting the strike enough to avoid taking more than a minor gash across the chest… and they follow up as you try to maneuver your odachi back into place with a brutally swift cut across your belly just underneath your armor, leaving a stinging gash.

Pallavi lasts longer than any other opponent you’ve ever fought. Like when you were children, almost every strike is met, and almost every strike of theirs is only narrowly avoided. The biting edge of their blade is never far from your throat.

But eventually, watching a tower crumble behind them and bow into the roaring flames, your mission becomes only more urgent. The grass is starting to become brittle and ashen underfoot, and the flames only grow closer. Pallavi knows it, too. There is no more time to hesitate. No more time to try and take that thing off of them.

After a few more deflected blows, you throw your shoulder into them hard and suddenly, sending them to the ground. You are quick to raise your sword up, poised to run them through before they can properly react…

Victory comes before honor. Victory comes before everything.

Your odachi slams down just beside them, into the grass. They look at you, perplexed, as you lean on it, shaking, bleeding, just as they are. It is mere inches from their heart. You can’t do it.

“Please. Pallavi. I surrender.”

Pallavi rises to their feet, looking over at you as you heft yourself to yours. A wall of wind builds around them, pushing back the flames and clearing a path for you to escape.

“DO - NOT - FOLLOW - ME” lights their halo.

“I won’t,” you reply, solemnly. Pallavi leaps into the air on a gust, carrying them over the flames and out of your view.

You emerge clear of the fire, empty of hand and heart.

Have you become weak…?