Sin.
My sin is… I exist.
The clash of metal against metal echoed off the boulders that littered the barren wasteland. The two figures repeatedly attacked, oblivious to their surroundings as they dodged, parried, and continued to battle each other relentlessly.
Sunlight glinted off the silver sword, almost crystalline in appearance as its wielder leapt back a few feet and paused in her attacks, a hand brushing aside the sweat-dampened hair that impeded her vision. She glanced up at her opponent with grim determination and tightened her grip with narrowed eyes; dust began to circle around her just as she sprang forward, sword raised towards the young man.
The obsidian blade of his sword seemed to absorb not only light, but also life itself as he crouched a moment and twisted the hilt within his right hand. His eyes flashed silver towards the young woman, full of sinister intent, as he shifted cat-like and steadied himself. A split-second later, he sprinted forward to meet her head-on, a malevolent smile on his lips.
Their swords met in a cacophony of steel as their blades locked and they found themselves eye to eye, a whirlwind of black versus white materia-generated energy rising around them.
"You know you cannot win. Why do you persist in this?" His smile grew colder as he pushed forward and felt her slip backwards a little.
"Because I have to. Because… " Her brow furrowed with determination as she felt the black energy flare from him; the young woman's eyes darkened further as she fought against it and held her ground. "I am the only one who can."
A/N: All characters are property of SE, blah blah, except my OC of course. Takes place post-DoC - I tried to keep things cannon as possible with a sprinkling of liberty here and there. Ignore the grammatical errors - story, people, story! R&R to your heart's content, and thanks for reading! =)