A constant throughout John’s life has always been people leaving it – his family, his master, his love, brothers-in-arms, his many wives throughout the ages, friends he loved dearly, and recently, his longtime friend, Thomas. Soon, Munashi would be added to this list, though he’s only known him a short time. Kin are kin, and these two have a bond connecting them deeper than any brothers, as few know the pain of living far too long.
Amber says, “Three!”
John feels good. The timer in his vision says 42:01. He hasn’t examined the short sword, but the hilt and sheath seem very fine, and he trusts Munashi has enough honor to not give him a defective blade.
Swords have improved greatly since John first started down the path of learning them, the great strength of Ahn and John breaking copper swords on even light parries. Being careful, treating swords as brittle, and parrying gently and correctly with the flat is as ingrained in John as breathing. He has done so with copper, bronze, iron and steel blades of all shapes and sizes – even a blade made of the famed vootz steel of Burata.
John has studied swordsmanship for a very long time, and mastered many types of blades. He had two favorites. A fine side-sword from a time when battle swords were too long and unwieldy to carry in cities, and important men did not go about life unarmed. It is light and has a fine point and sharp edge and was a popular make before rapiers and fencing and such foppery.
The second sword John favors is not popular at any time or place he knows of, and fitted only to John’s tastes and strengths. It is long, and thick around, and too heavy for most men to wield at all. It is great for half-swording and puncturing armored foes or cracking bones of foes unarmored. John calls it his big-tuck, and wields it masterfully and with ease.
Amber says, “Two!”
Though John wishes he had either of his own swords, he doesn’t believe he needs any sword at all to win this fight. He can tell Munashi is drawing on essence, enhancing his strength and speed, and is coiled to strike.
John revels in this feeling – the calm and peace, and adrenaline and chaos, the duality of both before a fight. This is living! The juice flows, chests held out, heads held high. Men ready to do violence to each other in honorable battle. Death in the air.
John believes this is when men are at their best and highest form, not merely existing. One of the too few brief moments between all the rest. Those moments that make life worth living. The ecstasy and electricity of being so close to death.
John studies Munashi and tries to predict his moves, how he shall strike. John is a hand or so taller than Munashi and has a natural reach advantage by arm and leg, but Munashi’s sword is much longer. Munashi placed John where John can be tagged but cannot retaliate without moving forward.
John doesn’t mind. He believes Munashi needs all the advantages he can get, and only hopes Munashi is up to the task of providing a little challenge.
Amber starts to say, “One.” As soon as the slightest noise leaves her mouth, Munashi’s blade flies from its sheath faster than John has ever seen a sword drawn, and flashes towards John’s head. John’s own blade flies up to stop it by parry, and he is surprised at how close a thing it is.
John is fast, and isn’t drawing on essence, and Munashi, while drawing on essence, just might be nearly as fast. John predicted the strike accurately, and predicted the next obvious move as either a beat or reset. He is not prepared for what happens, and considers Munashi a true sword-master for it.
There is no beat or reset, nor a press, instead Munashi seamlessly turns the parry into an aid for a new attack, beautifully and perfectly, a continuation of the same strike.
Long has it been stated a master can turn a defensive action into an attack, called a master’s strike. John has rarely seen a defended attack as part of the same larger attack, and seeing it done so perfectly alights his heart with joy, even as the blade slides over his own and canters down towards his chest as fast as lightning. John turns to avoid it, and has an opening to inflict grave damage, but doesn’t take it.
John and Munashi’s backs touch for a brief moment, and John believes both will reset. He is wrong. Munashi’s blade almost splits his face. John nearly must call on the vital essence to empower himself to avoid it, instead he loses some hair, and is put on the defensive for a pass before regaining his footing and position.
No reset comes for a while, and John revels in the glory of being hard pressed. He hasn’t felt so gay since his time fighting with Ahn, and savors every moment. Every beat and press, every counter and back, every thrust turned in an odd way John has never encountered before, every strike answered with this new style of fighting, all adding to the glory of this combat.
John knows Munashi will most certainly earn a grand place in the Underworld, even a place at the side of Koram, and will be graced with many trinkets and baubles and women to serve his every need and make him comfortable and sing of his deeds.
Munashi’s style is elegant, strong, efficient, and effective. John now only wishes Munashi could live to teach him this style. He is saddened to know it will not be so.
Watching, Amber thinks, I wish they weren’t doing this, but it’s sooo beautiful to watch. I don’t know how men do it. They were both so nice and seemed so gentle, now look at them. Men are so stupid. Always have been. Even though he looks so young I thought John was handsome before. His face kinda had a dark and brutal look, but his manners and kindness made it handsome. Sorta cute! Except too young. He looks like a boy. Even I look older. You could barely see his small fangs before. Now he looks just plain evil. I don’t think I’m safe with him, and he’s going to win. Please, please, please let him spare Munashi!
The fight is fast and furious, John pushes himself without drawing on vital essence. He also doesn’t want Munashi to waste too much of his own. When the timer ticks 32:59, and John is well beyond certain Munashi earned a good place in the afterlife, he runs Munashi through.
John could’ve ended the fight at the start, and with but few exceptions of mere moments, anytime since. John drops the short sword, disarms Munashi, and takes the longer blade in hand. As John sinks teeth into neck, he hears Amber making a gasping noise, as if from disgust. It pains him to hear it, but he doesn’t stop until he has all the dregs.
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John holds Munashi up still, and says, “You are a true master of the sword and fight like no other. I have not known you long, but I am saddened you must die. If you are right and are reborn, please find me and teach me this style. Fight well, brother!”
With a mighty swing, John beheads his new friend, and lays the corpse gently down.
Loudly, John praises his dead friend, “I have not felt this gay in a long while! What a fight! Though I am saddened Munashi is dead. He was a true warrior, both fell and tall.”
Looking around, John continues. “I don’t know where you stand, but I will face this way as I change. Please turn your back, and I’ll leave these silky pants you want at this spot, along with the top, and will announce when I am clothed. Then I will walk to the corner and face it while you change clothes. I know I cannot see you, but I would not have you think I am indecent, and try to steal glimpses of what I should not, and I do not know how your queer magic works.”
John starts changing, and Amber starts talking. “Oh my God! That’s it? You just killed him and…nothing? Don’t you have emotions, dude? What’s wrong with you?
“And you really, really need to stop saying gay and queer. They mean completely different things now and everyone is going to think you’re so weird when you talk. Just talk modern, like I do. It’s easy, you just don’t say weird old things and throw around gay and queer incorrectly every two seconds. And you don’t kill your friends and then tell everyone how happy it makes you! I hope you’re not planning on killing me and drinking my blood too.”
John, having lived a long time, has had more women yell at him than he could ever remember, and takes it in stride with a smile. He missed it, and is glad his mind is mended enough to enjoy such again. He knows not to give her more fodder, so just smiles as he announces he is finished changing clothes, and then he heads to the corner.
The big white shoes John wears are too tight, and his toes are squished, but he has worn tighter without complaint. He wears Munashi’s orange sash, and tried to make it how he saw Munashi wear it, but John is sure he wrapped it incorrectly. He flicks as much blood from the swords as he can, and cleans the rest on an already bloody part of the grey top’s sleeve, and sheathes them. He puts both swords on his left as Munashi did, but it feels off, so he puts the short sword on his right side. It still feels off, but since he plans on offering the short sword to Amber, he thinks it matters little.
“Don’t you dare look! I know you can’t see me but still, it’s the...never mind. All you men are creeps.” John is impressed by how well whatever magic keeps Amber hidden does so. He still can hear no heartbeat or anything else, smells no scent, and can see no soul.
Amber states, “There. All changed. These jammies are super comfy! And I’m all warm and toasty now. Too long though, I had to cuff them. And too bad for you, now you can’t see my legs. I have great legs. Everyone says so. And if I become visible you won’t be able to see them, so ha! Your loss. And you shouldn’t kill your friends, but if you have to you definitely don’t get happy about it. That’s really gross and sick and now I’m scared of you, dude.”
John turns away from the corner and squats down, “You know I didn’t want to kill him. I begged him to live. I did enjoy the fight, as a man should. You have nothing to fear from me.”
“What if you get hungry and need blood and I’m the only one around and you become a mindless animal from thirst like in the movies and can’t stop yourself? Huh?”
John laughs, “As I said, you need not fear. I’m currently full of vital essence, and if it’s gone, I crave it, but not mindlessly. I just get weaker and cannot draw on it for healing or to empower myself. I think going too long without it hastens mind decay, as I was imprisoned for long once, and my mind was hurt from it.
“But I’m anxious now that I’m healed. I don’t want to go back to the way I was, so I fear all that could cause my mind to decay. And to help settle your mind, I give you my word – unless circumstances change greatly, and you attack me or try to hurt me, I will never hurt you. And I will also try to talk in a more modern way, and never say gay or queer or other words that bother you again, though I used them in the way I learned them, and don’t know how I am using them incorrectly.”
John thinks he hears a huffed, “Hrrmm,” in reply. He still must do the tutorial for this Hue-Ai, whatever a tutorial is, but decides to calm his last and only companion some and find out more about her. The timer is only on 29, so time is not a pressing matter yet. “You know, I believe I did see your legs. On the field, with the demon…I mean ascended. I heard shuffling, and towards my left a fine pair of very striking legs lifted into the air. I did not see more, just fine and shapely legs, and bare.”
“Well, enjoy the glimpse, buddy, because that’s all you’ll ever get. Jerk.”
This causes John to laugh. “So, you have said you are good at escaping. This makes sense since you’re invisible and can mask scent and sound. You’ve also provided healing that acts very fast and is extremely potent. And you didn’t seem worse off for the hit we took in the field that crumpled me and killed many. What else can you do? Sense emotions? And what are you exactly?”
John hears no movement, but when Amber next speaks, she is closer, “I have a lot of tricks! And I have to stay invisible. If you saw me, you’d fall in love with me and try to capture me and keep me forever and I’d hate you for it. And I lost my hat and sunglasses anyways.
“I’m surprised you didn’t fall in love with me just from seeing my legs. I have great legs. Everyone says. I don’t like fighting, and I usually never have to since I’m so good at getting away. I can cast a beam down from the sky and it dazes people, but I don’t think it hurts too much and it’s only ever killed small animals. I can do a lot of things, really.
“What am I? Good question. I don’t know. I know I was less once. A lot less. Just instincts to eat and run and stay alive. It was a long time before I realized I was…well, me. When I could think and learn tricks, I became me. I never met anyone or anything like me, so I gotta figure it all out by myself. There’s a lot of rules. I don’t know how many, but there will be more when I figure out new tricks or get different offers. I just gotta be careful around people, because if I don’t hide my face people get crazy and fall in love with me and try to take me and everything gets real awkward. I’m very beautiful. Everyone says. And it isn’t real love. It’s…mean. Fake love.
“And I did give you and Munashi some healing, but I felt more in the room before that, and it came from something other than me. Something powerful and…um…apathetic fits, I guess. My healing isn’t nearly as good and would take forever to heal you guys up.”
John finds his companion to be very interesting, and is now more curious about her, “How old are you?”
“Oh! How dare you! Don’t you know you never ask a lady her age? Don’t you have any manners?”
John laughs again, “Since when can’t you ask a lady that? And why? This is not a rule I remember learning.”
“Well, I don’t know how old I am. I can remember a long time ago, but not how you’d think. I live for the now. I was also alive for a long time before I could understand things…better. The NCS doesn’t know either. He said he can’t age me. I’m old enough.”
“Old enough to what?”
“Hrrmm! To get into a bar and buy drinks with an ID. Do whatever I want! You old-timey talking jerk.”
“Would I really fall in love with you if I saw your face? I don’t think so. Unless some great magic is the cause of it. The last time I loved was my Lilitu, and that was long ago. I don’t know if I’m capable any longer.”
“Well, you are and you would! Even girls fall in love when they see my true face. Even if I hide my face it still works on everyone eventually. You probably didn’t even see my bare legs or you’d be drooling right now and begging me for a kiss. No cap! Hop off and stop with, uh…stop throwing shade, man! See, modern talk. That’s how to sound normal. You should try it. It hits. Jerk.”
John, again, can do nothing but laugh. He looks at the time and sees 24:23. “Amber, I will now do this tutorial you spoke of. Do I ask Hue-Ai to allow it? How does this work?”
“Okay, tap between your eyes, just above. It’s called a Third Eye. Tap it and think 'NCS' or 'UI.'”