Gib and Gab's teamwork is unparalleled. Their fighting style comes from a unique fusion of the artifacts they carry and their exceptional cooperation, letting them achieve almost perfect syncronization. They have, in more ways than one, earned their name "The Battle Twins". Their scars from the battles they have fought are fully covering their bodies. Each of their scars are astonishingly accurately mirrored on the other.
The first time I saw them in action was when we were walking between the earliest two outposts on my first expedition around the forest with the purpose of tending to anyone wounded in the camps. We crossed parts with a flood of huge rats, as they were coming from the outside and rushing deep into the forest. They had major signs of infections and were surely carying horrible diseases. They are known as Plague Rats and are part of a phenomenon simply called "The Plague". Gavin told me the weak-minded creatures were infected by a disease, which put them under the control of a powerful being he called "Arathking". Anyone under its influence would be unaware of the strings being pulled and would believe their actions were of their own accord. It's a curse that leaves its victims without free will, a terrifying faith.
Gavin lead the battle. We could not let the plague reach any of our settlements. With him in command our men followed orders with no hesitation. Gib and Gab were the first to engage. They jumped from the branches atop the tree crowns, the instant they heard his battlecry. They were tied together with a rope, one of the artifacts entrusted to them by Shirley back in the village and Gab threw his shield to Gib in mid-air. Gib caught it with ease and unsheated his dagger.
They landed each with feet first on the back of a rat, who they individually had picked out from the swarm. With care, they had taken into account their speed and velocity and with perfect precision, calculated the trajectory to end up on their backs. The landing was heavy and must have crushed both rats' spines, as their bodies smashed to the ground with a bloody splash. They were stuck and I only saw slight twitching from their limbs after they had been impaled to the ground.
Stopping in their tracks to take down their newfound enemies, the swarmings rats screeched and encircled the twins. Gib and Gab were both unfaced with the endless horde approaching them at an alarming speed. Our other warriors were climbing down the trees and would join the fight shortly after. A daring few attempted to imitate Gib and Gab's powerful entrance, but with mixed results leaning into the negative. Some who jumped landed on the hard ground and likely broke their legs in the process. They would be devoured shortly after. Others who landed on top of rats, didn't do much damage to them and were shaken off and swarmed moments after.
The rest of our warriors, who descended the trees, kept organized and attempted to tactically spread out and protect the flanks. There were a clear difference between the battle twins and the rest of our men.
Brimming with trust in each other, the twins fought the rats, as they were swarmed and surrounded by them. Like a dance, each carried out their roles, without second thoughts. Any delay in their reaction would have been fatal, pausing for a moment would spell death. Gab swung the dagger and ensured every swing cut open vitals, as he aimed for either the belly or the neck. He kept the shield close and made certain it would block heavy attacks he could not otherwise avoid.
Unarmed, Gib was much more agile than Gab and would jump, dodge and distract the horde of rats. He would occasionally throw a precise punch and, even rarer, a pinpointed kick, that would stun the foe. His fast tempo quickly littered the battlefield with unconscious rats. At one point, he grabbed a rat by its tail and with full armswings swung it around. He walked slowly forward while he kept the rat spinning and hit anything that would come his way.
The plague rats were at first uncoordinated and fought chaotically, but as the battle went on, they encircled our troops and intelligently launched consecutive attacks from various angles with clear intent to exploit blind spots and overwhelm our warriors. The rats were adapting quickly and were successfully bringing down our men. Gib and Gab were the only tribesmen able to keep up with the rats relentless assault.
With his dagger and shield, Gab blocked his opponents and trusted forward in a powerful stab. His precision made quick work of each rat, one stab was all he needed to bring one out of the fight. He often reunited with Gib to cover each others backs and kept each other informed with loud shouts. Gib ensured Gab would never get overwhelmed by leaping between the enemies closet encircling Gab, confusing them and distracting them.
Before initiating the battle, Gavin had told me to stay up in the trees with him, above the fight and keep ready to assist the wounded as the battle cleared. No rat attempted to climb up to me, their eyes may have been too close to the ground to even be aware of my presence. The battle seemed lost, but when I glanced away from the battlefield, up at Gavin, I saw him relaxed and shouting orders with an affirming clarity.
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The rope Gib and Gab were tied together with had been an oddity throughout the fight. Its only ability, from what I could tell, was to be uncutable and magically stretch between Gib and Gab, as to never hinder their movement. It was first later in the battle I saw its true use and the reason the twins had been handed it.
Reinforcements had stopped swarming in for the horde of rats, but only few of our men remained standing. The plague rats had successfully adapted to the soaring monkeys fighting style and even Gib and Gab were struggling. It was then, as Gib and Gab were facing danger, they switched gears and showed their true potential. Had I known they were reserving their energy for this moment, planned ahead to keep the rats from adapting to their true form, I wouldn't have worried at all.
It was then I saw the true abilities of the rope. Gib's agile movements combined with Gab's steadfast and accurate use of both the dagger and shield was merged together with the rope's true capabilities. I can't tell when they began utilizing it, but the first time I noticed, was when I saw Gib mid-jump having been caught off-guard by a surprising and cleverly preplanned pounce from a plague rat. In an instant, Gib switched to carrying the shield and dagger and Gab was unarmed. The switch let Gib parry the otherwise unavoidable attack and kept him in the battle.
At first I thought the rope transfered the dagger and shield between them, but as I studied their movement, it became clear that was not the case. Gib and Gab's fighting styles aren't the same, yet when they switched they adapted each others style. It turned out: They were switching places. The rope connected them and teleported them back and forth at will. They would have to carry an incredible awareness of each others situation, as they fought, to successfully pull this off. An unbelieveable feat.
The biggest tell was their scars covering their bodies, as they switched position, the scars would mirror. Despite it being broadcast clearly to me, it would likely be difficult for a foe to deduce this in the mist of battle. Their synergy was what brought out the potential of the rope, its effective use would not have been at proper display, if the artifact had been in anyone elses hands. The twins had perfected the power of the rope.
Every remaining rat were ripped apart and were unable to leave so much as a scratch on the twins, after Gib and Gab unleashed their full might. The battle was over, there were not enough rats for the plague to adapt to the twins powerful combo in time. Unexpectedly, the rats never attempted to flee and fought to their last man. Most of our troops had tactically kept themselves at the edges of the battlefield and were now able to flank the remaining rats, trapping them inside an ever shrinking circle.
The twins rapid speed and constant switching made their fighting hard to track, even for an outside observer with a great overview of the battlefield, like me, couldn't keep up.
As our troops approached the remaining rats, they swept the battlefield and retrieved any warriors they found to safety behind the frontlines. A few troops behind the lines were checking on the incoming wounded warriors and providing the aid they could. While the battle was still going on, but about to be won, some troops were already hauling the confirmed dead up the trees and hanging them, as is the customs for the tribe, just like burial and burning. They honoured the warriors through hanging, the higher up, the more honourable.
A disturbing practice, I had already witnessed with their graveyards at the edge of the village. I had however, not expect to see same practices in the middle of a deadly battle. Their commitment to tradition and honouring the fallen, while keeping it efficient, as not to hurt the pacing of their duties was impressive.
I asked Gavin, if I should join the others tending to the wounded, but he told me to wait with him a little longer. He wanted to ensure my safety, as Shirley had ordered him to take care of me particularly. My heart ached, knowing I could have contributed, but it's no secret, I wanted to preserve myself and sighed with relief.
The battle had gone on for so long, the forest floor had been ripped up and all that was left was blood covered dirt and a river of death rats and monkeys. A sight beyond imagination, reality surely is stranger than fiction. Gavin never joined the battle, but instead had been leaping around in the trees issuing commands and observing the battle. As the battle was nearing its end, he sat down next to me and simply smiled at me in celebration.
As the dust settle, Gavin ordered me down to tend to the wounded. The twins asked me to only cure them of any diseases they may have obtained and leave their wounds to heal on their own. They wore their scars with pride. I was too inexperienced and so I couldn't fulfill their request and accidentally closed some of their wounds with the [Stick of Mending], leaving their scared bodies unidentical. - They have since cut scars, with their own hands, to keep alike. I am certain they will never forgive me for this.
The many wounded needed my attention quickly, but the [Stick of Mending] had it limits. I was able to more accurately control the healing powers of the stick with time, but many green leaves were wasted on skin cuts and abrasions. That day I learned the hard way how important it is to be preserve and accurately distribute my healing abilities among the group and only tend to the most vital of wounds.
There were men I had yet to reach, when the last leaf withered. Unable to tend to their wounds and more importantly cure them from disease. Gavin ordered them to be put to death, as he didn't want to take any chances. If the disease reached any outpost, or worse, the village and spread out of control, it could spell the end of the soaring monkey tribe. Without pause, Gib and Gab struck down the unhealed and anyone who had signs of an infection. Some tried to fight or run, but they were no match and unable to avoid the brothers' extinguising blows.