Taro stood facing Ken, defiant, katana drawn and to the side. His eyes glared with the intensity of a thousand suns as he stared deep into Ken's soul, attempting to find the latter's weakness.
Ken was no pushover. He too had his sword drawn, raised to the right side of his face, both hands holding the hilt, right near the guard, left near the pommel. He met Taro's fiery glare with an icy one of his own, emanating waves of righteous calm as he steeled himself in anticipation; it was not his nature to be the first to strike.
Between them, slightly offset from their direct line of attack, a singular blade was standing upright in the ground, hilt up, tip sunken into the soft earth in the most inelegant way possible. The legendary sword of the stars, a katana forged by the late descendent of Masamune and once wielded by Musashi, made out of meteorite iron and cobalt, stronger and keener than Damascus steel.
The One True Sword.
Ken had found it first in an unmarked tomb through serendipity, but as a Gaijin, he could not safely bring the sword away from where he found it. He had engaged Taro to help him with the matter. But Taro was greedy---once he realised what it was, he wanted it for himself.
Men of honour, it all boiled down to this duel for the rightful owner.
Ken stood still, his sword still raised, anticipating and waiting. He knew that Taro's age meant that the latter had the greater speed. But letting him strike first gave him enough time to react, and he was banking on Taro's hot-headedness to effect it.
Not sensing the trap laid for him, Taro gave a loud ki-ai and charged forward with his katana.
(Based on an exercise generated by WriteThis - 22-Jan-2014 23:51:13)
No comments:
Post a Comment