The blade sits under the white moon,
The wolf howls.
There sits one, borne with a great boon,
Until it is stolen
Blood sills the wells, spears silence the quell,
Until what is left, is under the blackness of day
…
He was hurt.
There was no denying that. It wouldn't have taken a trained ninja to know. Blood trailed from his dark cloth, spilling upon the ground, the essence watering the earth in a twisted ritual. His breathing, labored, short strokes barely able to allow him to stand on his own. His mask, once spotless and proud, had all but been scarred, scratches and gaps now decorated its surface. Hands were cut, their fingers paralyzed, unable to even grasp their familiar blades and swords anymore. And most of all, his feet that had carried him every step of the way of this wayward path, turned every corner of this journey had failed him, for his knees met the earth beneath them.
But he was not broken.
No. He glared defiantly at the man in front of him. The man who held a blade to his throat to end it. To end what had started so long ago. To end what had brought his greatest triumph and what had brought his greatest defeat. To end him.
And yet….he still lived. The racking pain that plagued him in his lower ribs informed him all the more so. All it would have taken was a swift stroke. As he swallowed, anger still filled the veins that leaked his life to the floor. A stroke that he knew the man in front of him had practiced time and time again under the same master, under the same sun, under the same moon, until it had become his second nature.
But the man hadn't finished it. He stood there, his piercing gaze watching him like a hawk, those eyes he knew all too well scrutinizing every aspect of him. An unknown time passed between them, looks and messages silently exchanged between the two.
He spoke at last, the blade shifting uneasily beneath his grip as the silence was broken.
"It could have been different. This wasn't what I wanted for you."
"…Don't…be a fool," the bleeding man snarled despite the blood, his words slightly slurred. "You and I both knew there was no other path besides this one. The times in which you can delude yourself have long since passed."
"I…."
More blood splattered to the ground as the darkly cloaked figure spat.
"Guh...You're just as much of a fool as ever. And here I thought you had finally changed."
"…."
The man wielding the blade remained silent.
Close to death, the wounded ninja spoke once more, his breathing becoming more and more labored by the moment.
"But we have already chosen the paths we desired have we not?" he coughed, his vision slowly growing weaker, clouding with the shroud of death, "I have no regrets for what I did. If I had, you would have killed me long ago. But you had your own regrets."
"That is…."
"You know as well as I that it is true. For your strength was never the same as mine. Time after time, my blade…..cut open your flesh because of regrets of the past that you still held in your mind. You would have paid with your life. That is, if not for her."
Silence permeated the space between them once more. All that they could hear was the trickle of his ichor splattering on the ground, drop by drop.
"Well…..what are you waiting for?" The warrior on the ground narrowed his eyes as he shrugged his shoulders to look defiant once more at his final hour. "Finish this."
He was right. The smart move would be to end him now. The trouble and pain he had caused him in the past years were immeasurable, with death after death. His companions and he had hunted him for years in order for him to accomplish what he had the chance to do right now.
And most of all, he would be lying if he did not say that this appealed to his sense of revenge.
He inhaled a breath of the night sky's wind into his lungs. Steadying the blade in his hands, he raised it above his head, the vibrant magenta hue gleaming through the night's darkness. All of it, his pain, his life, his death, his goals, were to end here and now.
But as he stood there, he froze, standing unmoved as he gazed sadly at the figure below him. The figure who…he did not recognize anymore.
In his mind came the images. Images of children playing in the tall grass, their traditional kimonos sliding under their feet as the slipped and tumbled down the serene and lush hill. They played, carefree and without a thought of the world around them. His heart lurched as he saw a girl tug playfully at one of the boys, pulling him away towards a small pond in the distance. The boy behind them called out after them and raced to catch up.
The scene changed. The children were no longer but small irrelevancies in the world. The two boys, crimson eyes and azure orbs, fought side by side, their blades in harmonious action with one another as they cut down all who stood before them with practice ease and grace. Suddenly, azure irises slipped to the ground, the wood floor rushing to meet his failure. And as he lay there, he felt shame, disgrace creeping into his stomach. But for all his unworthiness, the same crimson gaze bent down to him. They rose once more, their feet standing united once again.
And now, it changed for the last time. Now, the two faced each other, Gaze matched glare as blades and blows were exchanged in a flurry. Fist matched fist and kick matched kick but no strike was ever decisive among their matched. Suddenly, they both fell to the hard mat beneath their feet. Their breaths, labored and deep as they lay there, bodies resting but for the moment. But there was none to stand there with them. Only themselves.
Minds snapped back to the present once more as the blade screamed towards the neck of the fallen figure. In a moment, it would be done, the deed after years of cat and mouse, would be completed.
All he had to do was let go. Let go of it all and look into his future.
The brown haired girl playfully tackled him to the ground as he let her pin him under her own body weight. She smiled, happy that he was letting her win their little play fight.
"Gosh, you're a lot heavier than you used to be Akali."
She made a face of fake disgust, playfully swatting at his arm.
"You know that's not true! You're just teasing me. Right?"
"Hah! You'll never know!"
He rolled over, wiggling out of her grasp as he ran away from her. "By the way, you're it!"
She ran after him, chasing right at his heel. The girl had nearly caught up to him when he suddenly called out, "Now Zed!"
A hand suddenly shot down from a tree as the running boy grabbed it. Kicking his legs with his momentum, he swung upwards while gripping the hand, doing a full flip and landing on wooden platform.
"Aw c'mon! That's not fair at all! You guys can't work together like that!"
Another boy, his dark hair covered with leaves, stuck his head out from behind a bundle of leaves and stuck his tongue out at her. "Those rules weren't ever said you know! We can do what we want!"
"That's not cool! Everyone knows you two are the strongest duo together!"
"Right we are" The two boys high fived, grinning stupidly at one another.
The Strongest Duo.
The.
Strongest.
Duo.
Together.
The moonlit blade clanged as it cut cleanly through a rock only but a few inches from where the man kneeled in defeat. Fragments of the rock erupted everywhere as the blade finally rattled to a stop. For a minute, the bladed man trembled, his hands shaking unsteadily as he watched the crimson figure beneath him.
He was gazing curiously at him, his normally hateful eyes dipped all but slightly in wonder at his actions. The standing man said nothing as he retracted his blade once more. It made an ominous tone as he replaced it in its wooden sheath once more.
"Still cannot bring yourself to do it huh?" the fallen ninja smirked, "Your father should have chosen me to be the one. Even now, after all of these years, you still fail to oblige to your duty."
Ignoring his words, azure orbs turned away from smoldering red ones as the man reversed on his heels. The gravel crunching beneath him, his steps were slow and steady as they took him further and further from the one behind him. There was nothing more here.
The dying figure watched in confusion as he walked away. What was he doing? Had he gone mad?
"Where are you going?!" he called angrily, "You think you can just walk away?! You think it is this easy for you?!" He attempted to stand, only for him to fall to his knees once more, pain flaring racking his entire body once more. Crimson eyes flared in hatred as they watched the walking figure stop.
Slowly, but surely, he turned, his gaze neutral as the always had been in the years that they had been close. They had never failed to conceal his emotions, his thoughts, his plans. He hated him for being that way, so emotionless and seemingly uncaring. But as they fell upon him for the first time, he saw a flicker of something he had not seen for a while.
A passing of hope flittered across his eyes. Was that his imagination?
"By no means is this over," azure irises met his own crimson ones once more. "But when we shall end this Zed, we shall end it when we are both on our feet, when we have both finished what we have set in place in this world before we must move on. Only then will this end."
"…"
Turning away once more, Shen stopped for a moment, his eyes marveling at the night sky that shove brightly above them. They centered on two stars that had long since drifted apart from one another. But each day, their orbits had brought them on a new path, as they came closer and closer to each other. Slowly but surely, they would one day meet each other at the cross roads.
"Until the next time that we meet, I will be waiting for you…brother."
Shadows whispered and winds stirred as the Eye of Twilight vanished into the night, leaving behind a shadow, bathed in moonlight. For the darkness had but lifted for the moment.
Blood sills the wells, spears silence the quell,
Until what is left, is under the blackness of day
But he who braves the storm
Shall find in beneath
Rapture for all that he shall seek
This is just a tidbit i felt like writing. Obviously, the centers around the relationship between Zed and Shen. I do hope you enjoyed! Please let me know if you did and let me know perhaps if there is anything I could do better to improve!
-Until Next Time,
C. Geng