"Come on boy, you're not even trying!"
If I had a dollar for every time I'd heard that, I'd be a rich man.
I furrowed my brow, sweat running in rivulets into my eyes. I clenched my first gather on Brotherhood's handle, bracing my legs for impact as my father's own blade, Guillotine, came swinging down out of nowhere. I blocked the attack, but the force in his swing caught me off-balance, and I stumbled backwards across the sand.
In an instant, he was behind me, one arm hooked around my neck in a loose chokehold, the other pressing Guillotine into my side lightly. Not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to alert me of his position.
"My win." He sneered against my ear. "Again."
I made a grumbling noise in the back of my throat, and he pulled away from me with a chuckle, making sure his blade slid along my ribcage as he did.
"Fool," he scoffed. "You can't even hope to get anywhere in life if you never give it your all!" He lifted one of my arms, giving the muscles which had only just begun to show through a squeeze.
I growled. "Shut it, old man!" I spat. "Maybe if you stopped sneaking up behind me, I'd be able to get a hit in! Dirty cheat!"
He laughed again, a harsh, barking laugh that sounded like it started in his gut and just worked its way up.
"Well fine then!" He said, voice still carrying a touch of amusement. "Show me your worst on that tree over there." He indicated to a tall Paopu tree with a calloused, sun-browned finger.
I looked from the tree to my father, feeling a little uncertain, but I swallowed my doubts and nudded, approaching the tree. I sized it up, deciding on the best area to attack and the most impressive way to bring it down.
I finally selected a large branch quite close to the top. As it fell it would probably knock down a couple of Paopu fruits, which was good because I was starving.
Turning on my heel, I sped down the hard sand, past my father, stopping a good twelve feet behind him. I aimed myself looking across the top of my arm, gave Brotherhood a final comforting squeeze…
And ran.
My legs carried me forwards quickly, kicking little dips into the sand with each step. I took a deep breath. Time for my very own personal move.
"Here I come!"
My body surged downwards, and I put my arms out. My hands hit the sand, and the rest of me flipped over them perfectly. As my feet hit the sand again, I propelled myself straight up. Things moved in slow motion as I jumped level to my branch, Brotherhood swinging down from above my head to smack into the very shaft of the branch.
As I came back down to Earth, I rolled to reduce the shock of my fall. Pushing myself onto my feet, I looked up. Nothing had happened.
Shit.
Suddenly, there was an ear splitting crack and the branch separated itself from the trunk. The branch fell just metres away, the cracking sound resonating in my ears as the ground groaned beneath my feet, as if injured by the force of the impact. A few Paopu fruits fell the ground with satisfying clunks.
Wow.
Did I do that?
I looked over my shoulder to see my father's expression. His dark eyebrows were raised, and his mouth slightly agape.
"Uh… Impressive." He said simply, ducking his head and giving his chin bristles a scratch. "Yes… Very impressive indeed."
~Owari
