I'm going to make the note right here: If you've looked at my profile, any of my other stories, or are at all familiar with the basis for this story, it should be pretty easy for you to guess what it's about. Regardless of this fact, I'm posting it here in its original format; no specific names are given, and the characters are denoted by "A" and "B." If you want to see a version which is not written as if for the stage and has the character names plugged in, you can look at the file "A hero and his shadow," that I will upload shortly after I have finished uploading this file.

A enters a room full of fog.

A: "Who's there?"

B: "…"

A walks further into the room and notices a dark figure standing by what appears to be a tree.

B: (Lunges at A with sword) "I am here!"

(Remainder of conversation takes place while the two duel. A and B circle each other)

A: "Who are you?"

B: "I am everything you are not. I have a purpose; you are trying to be something you are not."

A: "… Who are you?"

B: "I was created for a purpose. When I was made, I was given a task, and my creator prepared me for it in body and mind. In contrast, your parents clearly didn't want anything to do with you. Your 'guiding light' lied to you and told you that you were something you are not. Because of this, for years you suffered the pain of exclusion."

A: "He revealed his secrets to me wisely and in his own time."

B: "He only revealed your secrets to you on his deathbed, and even then, only so he could send you on a wild goose chase."

A: "It wasn't a wild goose chase. I've come this far, and I'm not giving up."

B: "'Come this far?' What, exactly, do you mean? A foolish little girl convinced you that her idiotic dream was a prophecy; your quest is nothing but a display of the ignorance of children."

A: "My quest is righteous! I'm working toward defeating the very evil which created you!"

B: "Righteous?" (Laughs callously) "What about the musician you drove mad with your magical instrument? The girl of the lake whose heart you broke in exchange for a bauble? These are mere trifles of wickedness compared with the result of your 'righteous quest.' You unwittingly enabled my master to obtain great power. What about the hundreds of lives he has claimed? What about the hundreds more who now serve him as grotesque shells of their former selves? You are not righteous. You are as evil as I, you're better half."

A: "…" (Begins to fight more recklessly)

B: (Blocks a blow with seeming ease, nearly impales A, chuckles, throughout duration of speech bears down on A, moving in for the kill) "What's this renewed vigor? What are you fighting for? Your water-bound lover? But you don't love her. You are only using her. Neither do you love the girl whose dream began your disastrous quest. She is only using you. The one girl you loved, the one you grew up with: she will be a child forever. You thought your fate was the same, but you were deceived. The lies of your 'guiding light' have ruined you forever. You have nothing left to fight for, and no courage left to fight for it. I see the fear in your eyes. I will kill you, and then I will leave this place and I will kill everyone you are trying to save. From the rock men who count you as a brother because you defeated their demon, to the water dwellers who you are trying to save from eternal slumber, to the humans who still whisper 'hero of old,' and 'boy who can travel through time,' under their breath when their new master's ears are closed, I will slaughter every single man, woman, and child. I will begin with the children; that is why I will go first to the forest, your old home. I suppose you know whose tree house I will visit first."

A: (Pushes B back, fights with new efficiency) "Enough of your evil words! You may have a purpose, but your purpose is corrupt. I may have made mistakes, but I will correct them, and in doing so, I will fulfill my purpose: to rid this world of your master. I have great courage-"

B: "You have no courage. I can see the fear in your eyes!"

A: "Courage is not the lack of fear, but the ability to overcome it! And while your master stole his power from the gods, my courage was bestowed upon me by their grace. You say I have nothing to fight for, but I fight for the lives that you intend to take! I fight for my love, even if it can never be, and I fight for this country! What do you fight for, and what is your task? Do you fight for a master who you whole-heartedly admit is evil? For destruction and arson? Do you fight only to destroy me?"

B: "… I fight for…"

A: (Begins to win fight, pushing B to the ground) "If you are everything I am not, what are you?"

B: "You are not a hero… I am…"

A: "You are only my shadow." (Impales B)

B disappears in a cloud of black smoke. The fog clears.