Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-3293219-20160824202030/@comment-5543592-20160825013705

Crimson drew the sword from his sheath as it flew through air, stepping back and drawing the ebony scimitar in one swift, flashy motion, the metal of the blade ringing as it left the sheath. He tossed the sword belt to the ground from the end of his sword- it’d only weigh him down.

“Very well then.”  Bender said, shrugging. He dropped into a fighting stance, one familiar of a Cyrodiilic swordsman. “If you insist.”   Crimson knew that Bender thought he only wore the sword for show and that his skill with it was passing. But Crimson’s once dedication to the Way of the Sword had been far more than passing.

Crimson was perfectly still for a moment, sword held at his side; he didn’t even breath. Then he burst into motion.

He screamed a war cry, dashing towards Bender and swung furiously at his former officer, bashing the edge of his blade down at Bender in violent, hacking motions again and again. The Imperial had to reel backwards and barely knocked each blow aside, caught unawares by Crimson’s ferocity.

Bender knocked one final slash away, sending Crimson off his guard, before delivering his own slash at Crimson’s stomach. The Redguard easily avoiding it and his sword suddenly swung back around, and then at Bender in an uppercut motion. The Imperial had been holding his head forwards, and although he stepped back to avoid losing it, the edge of Crimson’s sword raked vertically across his face from jaw to brow. A deep, bloody gash stood out on the right side of his face, his once beautiful features now irreparably ruined. The slash trailed straight up his face through his eye, blinding it. Blood was already pumping out, matting his skin.

“Are you out of your mind?”  Heartbender screamed at Crimson as he stumbled away and felt at the wound, horrified.

“I’m through playing, Bender.”  Crimson said harshly, eyes narrowed. He was in a defensive posture, sword held out in front of him.

“Well don’t stop now.”  Bender said hotly as he raised his own sword, the indifferent façade broken. “As you said, let us finish this.”

Bender came at Crimson in two clipped steps, left foot forwards, his sword spinning. The point touched the ground just briefly, kicking up sand. He spun it into the air and slashed down at Crimson who parried and side-stepped, and then delivered his own slash for Bender’s hip, but was rebuffed. And the duel began in earnest.

Bender sliced in a one-handed chopping motion for Crimson’s throat, and the Archer repelled it by jerked his head backwards, then stabbed for Bender’s stomach. Heartbender stepped around it, then stabbed in return for Crimson’s chest. Crimson side-stepped that, angling his body, and then feinted a stab for Heartbender’s leg, before redirecting it to the Imperial’s left arm. Bender reflexively lifted his arm, Crimson’s stab passing beneath it harmlessly, and then retaliated with his own attack.

The dance carried on across the sand, moves of the ancient masters being performed. The Vectoring Cygnet. Arm out, knee down, coal on the teeth to hide your smile. The Premeditated Modesty. Moves keen, blows reserved but true. Tempest Attrition, a riposte in the left hand, its power thunderous like a storm--it was a storm.

The swords sang as they slapped and raked against each other, each stroke of the sword a ballet of its own. The melodious ringing of the blades colliding was like a song of tenor and all watching achieved an understanding of why the original Yokudan masters of the sword were called ‘Sword-Singers.’

Words rung in Crimson’s head as they turned about the sand, swords colliding in great vertically sweeping blows, quoted directly to him by Master Ishien from the Book of Circles.

'' Anger is a crack in the hull that sinks the ship.''

First blood matters less than last breath.

''Do not lose the melody in the rapture of one triumphant note.''

<p class="MsoNormal">''The sword is the self. Its edge is the mind.''

<p class="MsoNormal">Live and die in every moment of battle.

<p class="MsoNormal">Bender’s wound did not impair him, if anything the rage and pain drove him on, meeting Crimson parry for parry, attack for attack. Feints were spotted and dodges were performed so easily one could almost consider that perhaps they had rehearsed this before. But the fury of the battle could not be faked, beyond the sheer beauty of seeing two masters of the Way of the Sword duel, there was a certain amount of awe-striking terror. These were two men whose whole very being at the moment was dedicated to killing the other. Every second of their lives had led up to this moment, where one of them would die and the other would live. As they danced, sweat flew from their brows, and looks upon their face were those of pure concentration.

<p class="MsoNormal">Bender struck down at Crimson in a two handed-swing, then kicked outwards for the Archer’s shin. It was nothing special, but it caused Crimson to lose his footing. Bender stabbing downward vicious, scoring a deep wound in Crimson’s side.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Redguard cried out and was knocked down by the force of the blow, his blood wetting the sand a dark color.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, that looks bad.”  Bender taunted, raising his sword. “Perhaps you should get that looked at.”  He chopped downward at Crimson, who rolled once, then twice, then three times to avoid the two follow up attacks. Bender stepped forward to deliver a stab into Crimson’s chest, but the Archer had snagged a handful of sand, and threw it directly into Bender’s eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal">Bender cursed, backing away as his eyes teared up and he clawed at them while trying to blink them clean.

<p class="MsoNormal">''Unsportsmanlike of me, but this would be a poor time to start caring. ''Crimson thought, his mind coherent in the midst of the fight.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson rose lethargically to his feet and stood hunched over, holding the bleeding hole in the side of his abdomen. He groaned softly to himself, and lifted his hand for a moment to examine the extent of the damage. Blood dripped into the dirt. He wobbled on his feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson looked up to find Heartbender staring at him warily, not pressing the attack. The Redguard stood up straight, and pulled his hand away from the wound so that he could grip his sword in both hands again.

<p class="MsoNormal">The two started for each other simultaneously, blades dashing into the air, and the swords sang again.

<p class="MsoNormal">But it ended quickly. Crimson stumbled back to avoid attacks now, his energy sapped. Heartbender saw he had won and his opponent was unable to defend himself. He smiled slightly as he moved to deliver the killing blow.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson smiled back, throwing Bender off.

<p class="MsoNormal">Heartbender hesitated, sword half-swung, yet again surprised, now by the sudden confident grin that broke out onto Crimson’s face.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson’s slashed out wildly, the smile gone. Heartbender hadn’t closed the distance, however, so he missed the Imperial terribly. Instead, the ebony blade of his scimitar cut straight through the steel of Heartbender’s outstretched sword, shortening it to the length of little more than a table knife.

<p class="MsoNormal">Heartbender’s eyes widened to a comical size as he stared at Crimson, then his demolished weapon.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson leapt at him, cloak billowing out as he tore through the air, so that it made a whooshing noise and Bender futilely attempted to escape as the Archer seized up.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson back-handed the broken sword from Bender’s grip and then stepped forward to slug Bender across the face.

<p class="MsoNormal">“All the people I’ve murdered,” Crimson growled, his voice low in his throat, knocking Bender upside the head with the flat of his sword, “by letting you live.”   He seized Bender at the collar.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I never kept count.”  Heartbender shot back, causing Crimson to recoil in fury. The Archer drove his knee into Bender’s stomach and then threw him to the ground where he landed with a groan. Sand rose up in a shower.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I did.”  Crimson told him, warily glancing to the broken sword that was in the sand near Heartbender. He hadn’t realized it was so close. Master Ishien would’ve been displeased.

<p class="MsoNormal">“I know,” Bender whispered as he knelt, picking up the remains of his broken sword from the ground, “and I adored you for it.”

<p class="MsoNormal">The Bender shot towards Crimson, slashing outwards with his broken, but still very sharp, sword. Crimson stepped around it, slowed by his wounds, and then slashed downward at Bender.

<p class="MsoNormal">He nicked the Imperial on the arm, but Bender ignored it, because he immediately stepped inside Crimson’s guard and delivered a slice across the Archer’s chest.

<p class="MsoNormal">His Keshik uniform tore open as a red line appeared across the Archer’s chest, more blood dripping out onto the sand. Crimson made a pained noise, pressing his off-hand against the new wound.

<p class="MsoNormal">''I’m slow. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a proper sword-fight. And he sees it.''

<p class="MsoNormal">Bender stepped towards him, sword-part at his side. The circle of mercenaries and group members widened to accommodate them as Crimson stumbled backwards in a half-hearted retreat, losing blood at a steady pace. They locked gazes, and Bender’s eyes seem to gleam.

<p class="MsoNormal">“This is it then, isn’t it?”  Bender said softly, as he switched his grip to hold the sword fragment under-handedly. “The moment we’ve both been waiting for.”

<p class="MsoNormal">He lunged at Crimson, knocking the Archer onto his back, and jabbed his sword fragment down at the Redguard’s eye.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson lifted his sword upward quickly, and managed to catch the weapon at its hilt on the flat of his blade, but Heartbender was still slowly forcing it down towards Crimson’s eye, overpowering him. Bender straddled Crimson's torso as the latter had both hands on each end of his sword, his chest and arms straining to keep himself from getting killed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Don’t tell me you’re going to fall asleep before we finish.”   Bender said, blood from the wound on his face dripping down onto Crimson’s. “You have gotten weak, haven’t you?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson made a gurgling noise that turned into a yell as he shoved his sword upwards, knocking Bender off of him. He used the momentum to take to his feet, and just as Bender regained his balance, he smashed his pommel across Bender’s face. The Imperial’s head snapped to the side as a spout of blood and teeth flew from his mouth.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson struck him again from the other direction and Bender completely lost his balance, flailing his arms as he reeled backwards. The former officer banged his back into the wall of the ruin, and was able to orient himself from only a moment before Crimson slammed into him. The Archer gripped Bender’s face with one hand, digging his fingers into the Imperial’s wound, as he forced the edge of his sword towards Bender’s neck, intent on slitting the ex-Keshik's throat. Bender caught Crimson’s sword arm at the wrist, barely managing to resist him.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Not- quite- how I imagined it.”  Heartbender groaned, voice tight with effort. “But at least we can end… on a high note!”

<p class="MsoNormal">His free arm held the broken sword, and he drove it into Crimson’s stomach once, burrowing the blade deep, causing the Archer to loosen the pressure on Bender’s face and neck.

<p class="MsoNormal">The Imperial stabbed Crimson again, then a third time, forcing the Redguard back as his makeshift dagger dug deeper in to the Archer’s flesh. Crimson clung to Bender, his hands and sword where they were before, but now it was only so that he could stay on his feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">He’s killing me.   Crimson thought in surreal moment of clarity.

<p class="MsoNormal">Bender stabbed Crimson in the stomach a fourth time, the sword piece sinking all the way up to its hilt. The noise of it opening Crimson’s abdomen was a wet sucking sound, and sickening. The battle had reached its peak, rising on a single seer note of intensity as both men heard nothing else but the pounding of their own blood.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson suddenly swung out with his sword in a sudden surge of strength, the edge catching Bender’s neck and opening his throat. Blood bubbled from the wound, as Bender dug his fingers into the hole to try and stop the flow. He stumbled backwards and slumped against the ruin.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Go ahead.”   Bender gasped, eyes wide. “Say this has never happened to you before.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Shut up.”   Crimson muttered, falling to a knee and dropping his sword. He pressed his hands into wounds at his sides. His blood was hot on them, his fingers already going cold and losing sensation.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Make me.”   Bender retorted. “Come on… finish me!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson only stared at him. The Archer realized he had never hated someone as wholly as Heartbender until that moment.

<p class="MsoNormal">Bender sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve won. I made you lose control.”   He nodded to the Keshik surrounding them, blood trailing from the corners of his mouth. “And they’ll never forget it.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Bender pulled his fingers free from the wound at his neck, letting the blood pump freely now. “See you… in hell- ERKH!”   He spasmed, then his hands fell to his sides, and he lay still.

<p class="MsoNormal">Crimson stared at the body of his friend turned enemy. He rose and walked to it lethargically, then sat beside Bender, leaning against the ruin to relieve the strain on his body. He glanced sideways at the corpse, taking in the pale skin and glazed over eyes, before leaning his own head back against the ruin’s wall and seemingly passing out.

<p class="MsoNormal">The desert was silent save for the whistle of the wind.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Holy shit.”  Scire whispered, having dropped his jaw a long time ago.