Kill Steal

The Market. Nir and Rain are looking to buy food.

“Is that the thing you said has a long shelf life?” - Nir asks.

-”Yes! I’m pretty sure it’s rich in protein too. I felt so heavy after eating it, almost as if I was eating meat, but it’s actually from the vegetation of the forest”.

-”Maybe it’s like soy beans from the… Normal world”.

-”It’s crazy they have normal rice here too”. - She says, enjoying the adventurous aspect of their food search”.

They purchase some food and head back to their cabin.

As it is quite late at this point, they eat a swift meal and go to bed.

They both get on the bed. Rain repeats her positioning from last night, with her back towards him. Nir does the same. They both fall asleep quickly.

The next morning.

Nir wakes up. He feels something soft attached to him. He notices Rain is hugging him again in her sleep. This time, however, he has experience on his side. He slowly gets up and out of bed, trying hard not to wake her up. He manages to sneak from her grasp, wanting to avoid the damage she would have surely applied had she woken up at this very moment seeing the both of them being this close to each other.

As he slips away and starts preparing for the day, Nir calls to her: “Rain, do you want to plan the day?”

Rain wakes up. She looks around seeing he stands in the room, preparing. She looks at the bed, seeing she is on his side, paying not much attention to it. Then she gets out of bed and starts preparing, saying: “Yea, thanks for waking me up. Seems like a good time to start the day”.

If anyone could ever read Nir’s mind, they may be surprised to see how proudly he holds that smooth transition.

They decide to go to the military school again for now. They can’t really come up with a plan as to where to go, or whether to stay in the village or not.

As they leave the cabin, they notice a note that is attached to their door.

-”What’s that?” - Nir asks.

-”No idea”. - Rain answers. “We can’t read their writings, despite being able to understand their speech. Let’s take it to Null”.

They make their way to the school. They see a lot of students outside, practicing. Null is standing next to some of them.

-”Hey Null! We found this note attached to the door of our cabin”. - Nir explains. “What does it say?”

-”Call to arms. All men in the village have received the order. We consider you part of the village now. That is why you have also received it. Although in your case…” - He looks at Rain. “...You might be able to participate too”.

-”What are you saying?!” - A mad voice is heard behind Null.

-”Rampei, if you train with a metal sword, everyone will be just cut down and it won’t even qualify as training”.

-”You will let a woman fight? I don’t care that you are the most experienced fighter here! You betray our ways!” - Rampei lashes out.

-”They are not from here. Even if we consider them a part of the village I’m not sure how to address our differences”.

Nir and Rain are somewhat surprised to learn Null was so calculating towards them.

-”I don’t consider them a part of the village!”

-”All the more why you shouldn’t expect them to act the same as…” - “Sploof!” - Blood sprays out as Rampei swings his sword against his own teacher.

Null falls. Rampei got him pretty good.

-”You are all a menace! Letting women fight? You are just like the empire!” - Rampei yells as he starts running towards Nir.

Nir immediately focuses on his stance. Rampei jumps high, swinging his sword to land it powerfully. Nir parries. Rampei lands and their swords are held aggressively against each other.

Nir is thinking: “This was more powerful than I anticipated. This guy… Is no joke!”

“You dogs!” - Rampei rages.

-”What the hell is your problem??” - Nir yells back at him.

-”You are an invader!” - He replies.

He then lifts his sword upwards while Nir is anticipating his attack. Rampei lands it on Nir’s sword, as he is blocking with it - holding it sideways.

Nir is thinking: “That one was as powerful as the one before! Without even jumping!”

Nir then jumps back and focuses. His stance is balanced. He prepares to unleash a powerful strike, similar to the ones he managed to draw out in the fight against the soldier, when suddenly… -”Zweeenggg!” - A metallic sound is heard as a ravaging echo.

Rampei’s Sword shatters. His head is cut off completely. It falls down, rolling on the floor. At the same time - the rest of his body collapses in place.

Null is seen standing in the opposite direction to where he was moments ago, on the other side of what is left of Rampei, as his wooden sword is drawn.

With one powerful strike that surpasses even the ones Nir sacrificed hearts for - Null slayed Rampei instantly.

“The shameful one… Is you. Power and might would deem what is right. You got yourself killed before the war even began. That is your own shameful weakness”. - Null speaks to a dead Rampei, slain by his own hands.

Nir is completely frozen in shock. He didn’t even see him move.

Rain gets closer to Nir and says: “Nir! Are you okay?” - She then gets even closer and whispers to him: “Did he just… Do the thing with the hearts? Do you think other people have hearts too? Maybe we just can’t see it?”

Nir is too focused on the humbled feeling of seeing someone stronger than him. He was confident against Rampei. But he isn’t confident at all as to what would have happened if Null was not considering them to be allies.

-”I hope you’re not mad I stole your kill”. - Null says, looking at Nir.

Nir can’t bring himself to respond.

“Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow… On the battlefield. All men participate. No excuses”.

He then looks at Rain and says: “Your situation is different, you can do whatever you want. Today resting is very important, so…” - He suddenly addresses all the students: “Don’t stay here training too long today! Tomorrow is a big day! The spirit is with us! Glory to the spirit!”

The students reply: “GLORY TO THE SPIRIT!”

-”Nir, let’s get back for today. We need some planning to do”. - Rain whispers to him.

She starts pushing his shoulders to get him moving in the direction leading towards their cabin. He starts pacing his walking with her pushing, saying nothing.

They get to the cabin and they sit on the bed.

“Let’s talk about our options”. - She says.

-”Our options?” - Nir asks.

-”Yes. I don’t really want to involve myself with their politics, but… They did, in fact, let us stay in their village for free. I know they come from a very different culture… Yet most of them were kind to us”.

-”I think most of them didn’t think that differently from Rampei”. - Nir opens up.

-”You said some people tried entering our cabin… Do you think… They came for me?” - She asks.

-”It is extremely likely”. - Nir answers. He still seems a bit traumatized.

-”We could run away”. - Rain suggests.

-”Run where? They will find us pretty fast in that small forest. And the empire? Will probably kill us the moment we take one step into their territory”. - Nir explains

-”Then we can stay and fight. If we are going to live here… Might as well protect the village”.

-”But the village is the one who is going on the offense. Are we not setting ourselves up to be massacred by the empire? Or rather… By the very pride of the village?”

-”Then what should we do?” - She asks, out of ideas.

-”I don’t know”. - Nir admits.

-”At the very least, I’m not going to let you fight alone”.

-” I appreciate it Rain, but… I honestly prefer you don’t participate in the fight”.

-”What? What are you talking about? Is it about what that Rampei guy said?”

-”No. I don’t care about him. I think you are very brave. I would fight against people like him any day if they try to infringe on your freedom. But…”

-”But what?” -Rain asks angrily.

-”I don’t think women should fight in general”.

-”Are you looking down on me?”

-”Rain, you know that’s not true. Can’t you see what I mean?”

-”Do you think I’m just an attractive delicate little figure to walk in your shadow and be protected? For the record, I didn’t ask for your permission”.

-”Rain, I swear I didn’t mean it like that!”

-”You just want to have control over me. Trying to make sure I don’t get a better score this time around.”

-”Then why didn’t you fight all this time? Didn’t I protect you?”

Rain becomes quiet.

“Everytime we needed to fight you left it to me, right? I’m telling you that’s okay. Why won’t you rely on me?”

Rain gets up and takes her bow.

“Where are you going?” - He asks her.

-”I’m going to the training grounds again. I don’t have to rest as much as a melee fighter needs. I will see you tomorrow on the battlefield”. - She answers and leaves.

Nir lays down on bed with his hand on his eyes. A tear slips between his fingers. He remembers Null’s formidable attack with just a wooden sword, fearing he won’t be able to protect Rain in an actual war. He then remembers Null’s parting words to Rampei about ‘shameful weakness’, fearing those words may not be far from applying to himself.