foxhounds | night six

[ ... not comforting is right. rest is about the last thing on pearl's mind, and her current plan is... to wander, keep moving, in an attempt to keep her thoughts from settling too much on the bad things. to talk with who she can.

but it's a while in that she thinks she-- should take a break. so she decides to lean back on a tree, settle, breathe, though she doesn't quite sit just yet. ]

What am I missing...?

[ ... not that she's even close to relaxing anyway. her eyes continue to scan the area around her, as she mumbles to herself. ]

[ She won't be alone terribly long, since eventually, a figure appears in the darkness of the jungle, but the silhouette is one she might recognize. His billowing robes and cape tend to stand out, and as he walks closer with his hands tucked into his sleeves, his expression lightens when he sees her. ]

Oya... Miss Pearl? I thought that was you.

[ His words are as gentle and polite as always, and he nods to her respectfully in greeting. ]

[ ah--

--she tenses, somewhat, but when she sees who it is... she does actually relax, just somewhat. somewhat. she was out looking, but to be found... perhaps this is good? ... is it good?

... she isn't even sure anymore. but kasen is a sword, and a sword... she trusts them, as kashuu and yamato's comrades. even if seeing him is a reminder that they're not here, not anymore, and her hands grip tighter around yamato's haori at that. ]

Kasen.

[ a-- small nod back. ]

Was there... something you needed?

There is. Just a moment—

[ His attention turns to his side, and he starts to undo a sword from its fastenings on his waist. If she's been paying attention to which swords are which, she'll know the one that he's undoing is Yamato's vessel, seated right next to Kashuu. On the opposite hip is Tsurumaru and Kasen himself.

Once it's undone, he grips it in his hand, and then he holds it out to her. ]

You've treated us well when most have not. So I'm truly sorry that it's come to this. But let me at least offer you a fight with honor, since you earned Yamato's trust. I think he would prefer if you faced me using his vessel.

[ his actions are... quizzical, and-- when he finally finishes what he's doing, finishes speaking... she's frozen. this isn't... her gaze is on yamato's vessel, the meaning of what this is not quite sinking in yet, and when it does...

she can only bring her gaze up to kasen, shaking (with anger, with disbelief, with. fear?), eyes wide-- ]

You... Wasn't it... Tsurumaru?

[ wasn't it done? wasn't-- what gi-ne said wrong, that she'd regret trusting them? if not... that night, later on? she wasn't right, was she? she can't do this. she thought that perhaps if she died tonight, it would be okay, but... this isn't okay.

this isn't okay. she promised herself, kashuu, she'd help bring them all home. that she'd trust and protect the swords, because they're good people. ]

How could you--

[ so much for that, when one's here with the intent to kill her. weakly, at first, until she cuts herself off with a breath. and then, with an increase of volume, an absolute sound of betrayal even if she'd never personally sworn herself to him: ]

Why?

It was.

[ His expression and voice are both gentle and sincere in the face of her betrayal. He seems sympathetic, actually, though she would be forgiven for believing it was fake, especially with how the hand offering her a sword doesn't waver at all.

...But because she'd earned the swords' respect, she gets an explanation than no other will. ]

It's my duty to make sure my brothers make it home. Even the one that betrayed us. So I truly am sorry, since this is the only path I can see that will let me do just that. If I cut down the island myself, then the game will end, and I can take them home where they belong.

[ He's not a General. He's not even a role at all, but he's taking the rules and truly pushing them, because there's no rule that forbids that anyone else kill. ]

I was the first to be summoned by our Master. So it's my duty as the sort of eldest brother to look after them. I can't let their vessels stay here and rust where no one will remember how important they are.

[ it was.

she doesn't know what's worse. kasen being a general and betraying them all-- or that he wasn't, and he was simply... killing the rest of them, betraying everyone but his comrades. her throat closes up, and--

--she hates it, because she sees his logic. if she had all her abilities, maybe she would be out there as well, killing the people she thought were guilty. it's the point she's reached.

"i'm not a general", she could say. but even if she manages to convince him, which she... doubts she could, considering how blind she knew devotion could be, how she would cut down absolutely anyone for rose-- ]

... Forgive me. I'm--

[ ( betraying what i told you, kashuu. she offers this, before she takes yamato from kasen's hands. )

--even if she convinced him, he'd kill the rest of them. and... she'd failed her mission to "protect humanity", but she can do it now when he's giving her the chance. she moves away, placing yamato's haori down on the ground, and. ]

I have my duty as well, and I... can't fail. Not again. [ she stands. outstretching the blade. and even if she's cried far too much, even if she feels like she's going to waver here-- she doesn't. ] I'll make sure Urashima can take you all home.

[ or she will. this is the most certain she's felt, on her entire time on the island. ]

I understand. It's why I offer you a chance to face me fairly. It's not something I would give freely to the others.

[ Something he hasn't, actually. Pearl isn't the first to meet his blade on the island, and if he lives, she won't be the last. Yet despite that, when she takes Yamato's vessel, Kasen nods very gently. There's no threat in his actions or his gestures, and it's as if he were instead handing Yamato over for safe keeping.

Yet as he steps back, Kasen draws his own blade. Tsurumaru and Kashuu still rest at his sides, but of course he would face a duel with only himself. He looks almost weary as she speaks of Urashima, and with that, he laughs. It's a hollow, broken sort of laugh, but it's just sad more than unsettling. ]

Please do. Though... May I also ask you to do me a favor, should I fall to your skill?

[ even with all of this, pearl can't find it within herself to hate. she's betrayed, and the words gi-ne said echo in her mind, though not in the context she'd probably originally meant. does she regret trusting them? ... perhaps the answer is still no.

perhaps that is why, when he asks, there's no hint of hesitation when she responds, yamato remaining steady as she stares straight at kasen. a simple, neutral: ]

... Yes.

[ emerging. if he were a general, she wouldn't be so certain about this. but he is... simply fulfilling the role he's given himself, for those he cares about.

what he's doing--she can understand. ]

[ His smile shifts towards a sad one, pensive, but at least still gentle. Though he pulls out his sword, it's held neutrally at his side rather than aggressively to attack. It seems that there's still a short conversation he'd like to have before he gets started with their duel. ]

Did any of my comrades happen to tell you much about us— Ah, well, no, I should not ask it so broadly.

[ He shakes his head before he continues. ]

We swords do not die. Even here, we may not, since it is a matter of returning our vessels to our master, and from there, our spirits may be resummoned. But... We are subject to a fate worse than death. Did they happen to speak of corruption?

[ ... ah. she-- hesitates, for a second, before she lowers her... her blade? as well. she's been told... some details about what they are, who they are, how they take the forms they do--and while she'd seen some similarities between them and her, there were differences too.

this might be one of those differences. ]

I was told about your Sage.

[ quietly. she doesn't elaborate that she has that same ability, even without the saniwa--because on the off-chance she can regenerate, she can't have him crushing her gem.

and then, carefully, as if she's uncertain she wants to hear what he's about to say (but she must): ]

But I hadn't heard about the corruption.

I'm not surprised. It's... sensitive.

[ Even now, he's reluctant to speak about it. Kasen isn't the most forthcoming about difficult things in the first place, so really, he wouldn't be sharing this at all if not for the fact that it's important. It's more important than Pearl would know, even when he gives the explanation. It's why he has to ask her rather than Urashima to do this. ]

We are spirits, and so when we lose a sense of what we are, what we're meant to be, then we'll fall prey to the very same evil that we're trying to fight. A comrade will become an enemy when they stray too far from the path that they're meant to be on.

[ He looks at his blade, then up to her. In his eyes, he's trying to convey how important this is, because he's not sure even he can express it so well in words.

...Ha ha. Isn't that ironic? He's a sword of the liberal arts, so he should do better than this. ]

I know that I'll be corrupted as soon as we return to what we are. This path I've taken... It's the wrong one. But it's a sacrifice I want to make for the sake of the rest. So should I fall, please break my blade and throw away the pieces. I don't want to become a monster that would attack the people I'm trying so hard to save.

[ He bows his head to her deeply. ]

It's a selfish request, I know. But it's not a burden I want Urashima to have to bear.

[ ... or maybe it's a similarity. fighting your own, corrupted comrades. shattered gems, turned into monsters, sealed away until they could find a way to help them. there's a hint of surprise when he explains--not because what he says is new, to her, but because it's so similar to what she's lived with.

it's similar. she's seen it. she knows how necessary it is to do what he's asking her to do. and she hadn't even considered, that if she did what he's doing, this act she can understand so much--would that be her, too? would she be making this request, as well? ]

... We're similar.

[ this is what she begins with. while she's tried to seem as disconnected, calm as possible--here, there's a hint of fragility.

he doesn't need to express to her how important it is. without descriptions, she gets it. whether she means they're similar due to what they are, or due to what they could do... potentially do... for those they care for, is vague. ]

What I am... A Gem. We can also become corrupted. Every day, we fight the monsters we can become, and contain them, take care of them, until they can...

[ be saved. she's not certain if kasen could be fixed the same way they can fix them, if they can, but on the off-chance he can... ]

I understand we haven't spoken much. You're a sword, not a Gem. But here, I considered you... somewhat of a comrade.

[ and now, because of how much she... sees of herself. because what he's requesting is something she would also request. because they're both selfish, and want to devote and risk their entire selves to what they need to. because... kashuu, yamato, would want this, wouldn't they? and this is what rose has been doing. now... she offers kasen this: ]

So I'll do for you, what I would do for them.

[ an unspoken question-- is that all right?

maybe they can recover him, when they figure out how to recover the fallen gems, perhaps that same technique would work for him, as steven's healing worked on humans. she wants to at least... give him that chance. ]

[ His expression lightens in understanding as she explains, because he's experiencing that same sort of feeling. As she explains, it's incredibly familiar, since it's hardly that different from the fights against the retrograding armies. He's surprised to hear that, since he had so easily dismissed that anyone here would know what they were facing or the threat that killing in cold blood would pose to them, and yet— ]

I am sorry.

[ He says that first, and he smiles sadly as he says it. It's a very sincere expression, because all at once, hearing that, he's filled with regret at not getting to know her better. He can see why the other swords placed so much trust in her and why Yamato was willing to give up his haori to her.

For a moment, he wonders just how foolish he's being. To strike someone down that's similar enough to understand what this means? This way is wrong. He knows it, but he hadn't felt it quite so much until now. Not even when he had killed Tsurumaru. ]

I would have liked to get to know you better before this, Miss Pearl. I won't ask your forgiveness for my resolve, but—

[ He turns his blade, then moves easily and elegantly into more of a fighting stance. This conversation can't go on too much longer, because he can't let his determination slip. ]

You have thanks from the bottom of my heart that you will give me such a kindness. I'll at least give you a fight just as I would give my brothers and comrades.

[ And just as unspoken, a thank you that goes far deeper than he can express. It's the kind of thing he struggles to express, even as a sword of the liberal arts, because he doesn't think he's worthy of this consideration. ]

[ pearl's not certain if she can quite forgive him. ultimately, what he's doing is wrong. ultimately, he might strike her down--as she's without what she's used to fighting with here, and she was never a gem for combat. she can use a sword... but he is a sword.

she has to try. as she's told hijikata--she has to try. finally, she wavers, as she mirrors kasen's movements, getting into a fighting stance of her own. her expression was... prepared, but now it's somewhat sad, because-- ]

I would have liked to know you more, as well.

[ yet she can't. she can't be sure he won't kill anyone else. ]

And I... thank you, too, for showing me the resolve I lacked. Kasen.

[ she was breaking. she was-- weak. if she somehow makes it out of this... perhaps she'll continue as kasen had, but strike down only the generals. that-- is their chance. their only chance.

there's a moment she doesn't move, as if giving kasen a moment to reconsider this. but she knows he won't, so-- it's with a small bow of the head that... she moves forward, quickly, yamato gripped tightly in both her hands.

and while she aims a strike to his side, she can only think: is she doing the right thing? ]

[ He wonders about that, briefly, since this resolve was a deep, bitter poison that would ruin him, and yet he knows he can't turn back. By this point, it's too late, but more than that, his goal seems too important to simply abandon. Was that resolve or simply stubbornness? He can't say, and he finds that he doesn't need to meditate on that regardless.

His grip on his own vessel tightens, as does his posture, because he's certainly not a sword to be trifled with. His elegant, florid appearance gave off a certain impression, and there were always rumors as to whether that was intentional or not. Surely Kasen, who cried over fieldwork couldn't be so fercious on the battlefield. And yet, as swords learned where his name came from, they learned a truth that Kasen deliberately veiled behind elegance and grace, just as his master had.

The blade of his sword drops down quickly as he turns, and his blade catches Yamato's with sparks as he guards against his side where she strikes. He pulls the blade up, which slashes towards her, though it won't cut very deeply if it hits. It's a gesture made to force her back. With grace in his gestures that speaks to more than casual experience on a battlefield, he turns his blade again, and instead pursues her if she's moved. His sword cuts in a wide arc towards her torso. ]

[ the first cut hits her arm, as pearl separates from him a step too late. it isn't a debilitating wound, but it's-- a reminder that this is different, even down to the blade that she's using. she isn't everything she was, and-- she had expected it, but kasen's gentleness and appearance betrays a dangerous fighter.

she bites her lower lip, holding back a wince as she's forced back, mind reeling on how to come out of this alive. she refuses to try and convince him to back down... at this point, it would be a waste of breath, and an insult to the fight he's offering her. and on the off chance he somehow faltered... she can't risk it. she has-- thousands of years over him, she reminds herself. she cannot lose to kasen. and if there's one thing that hasn't left her, it's her precision and speed.

so, pearl does not choose to meet his blade. she, instead, moves to avoid the second cut--manoeuvring quickly to the side where his move began, directing yamato towards any opening she can find. her steps are light, quick; while she admits with shame that she's been a clumsy fool for the entire time she's been here... she isn't one now. ]

[ They're well matched to fight, because of course with as much as he speaks of it, Kasen's own style is meant to exude elegance and grace. But with his strength also comes a bit more slowness, so Pearl is faster than he. The one slice hits, but after the second, Kasen steps back quickly, since he's expecting retaliation.

It comes, and he's surprised by how quick she is on her feet, though he shows it with a smile. A duel is always what he would prefer, since a samurai's honor was something he was entrenched in, though he felt a bloodlust just as much. As one of her strikes cuts minorly into his side, he feels it boil up quickly, because even if he was elegant, he was still the sword of Hosokawa Tadaoki. For each cut his master received, he would return it tenfold with ferocity, and as with all swords, this was a sentiment that Kasen had inherited.

It shows with a shift in his gaze as he moves away from cool elegance, and more towards the fiery temper that no one quite expected from Kasen from his usual manners. His next swing comes quicker, with more power behind it, but it's short and meant to push her back. The real attack comes as his blade turns, and he holds it forward as he runs at her. It's not meant as an actually attack against her, but she'll have to catch his blade with Yamato's and with his strength, he'll push her back. ]

[ --ah.

as much as she could say she knew they were swords, and therefore made for combat, the shift in kasen's demeanour does catch her off-guard. she steps backward from his short swing, and she doesn't fail to raise yamato to parry kasen's next move. ... of course, judging by the way her eyes widen just a fraction, she hadn't thought there would be that much power behind the attack.

he attempts to push her back, but she returns his force as much as she can, as long as she can, with what little she can offer. yamato visibly shakes in her hands, but her gaze doesn't--even as her frustration with her limitations increases, even as the panic seizes her throat for the second time since she's met him here.

ultimately, her guard slips. there's a sharp exhale when her stance breaks, driven back by the strength of kasen's blade. she attempts to recover, quickly, before kasen strikes again but-- one mistake is too important, during battle, and she understands that better than anyone. ]

[ He's at least glad to know that her card hadn't been lying, in a way.

Though her hands tremble as she holds her ground, it's still enough that she can do so. Those less-experienced with the sword would naturally balk at the amount of strength it takes to keep the swords from dipping lower. He pushes, keeping the pressure of his blade against her, because unless she breaks away, he knows what will come. So when it does, he's ready.

Her guard drops, but rather than the blade coming for her, it's Kasen's foot. She steps back, and he relives the pressure of his blade against her so that he can sweep a leg out to catch her feet and cause her to fall. If she does, then that moment of lost guard will surely be followed by his blade. ]

[ --no. in a sword fight, falling to the ground was certain death.

that would be another mistake, but she has no time to curse herself for putting herself in that kind of position. there's always been exhaustion in her every move on this island, and here, it's the adrenaline pushing her forward. pearl-- knows, that at that moment, kasen will take that opportunity to attack. she can stop this, can't she? her inability doesn't stop her from this.

but it does. she falls back, a gasp, and all of a sudden, she realizes-- she's going to die now. her grip on yamato is slack, and, when kasen continues, she knows there's no room for her to parry a blow from her position. there's a million feelings that hit her in this moment, the most familiar one being the feeling of failure.

she looks up at kasen, and even now, she won't beg. she just wishes if she was going to fail for the hundredth time, it wasn't-- with yamato, so close. with the thought that kasen is going to kill the rest of them.

what's left? a-- bitter smile. kashuu isn't even here, to keep her gem safe. she won't be "reporting" to hijikata in the morning, as she told him she would. a slow: ]

I-- lost.

[ as all these thoughts catch up to her. but perhaps falling here, to him, with the fight he's given her--is better than falling to dogs. ]

[ As soon as she falls, Kasen moves swiftly, because he doesn't have the room to hesitate either. It's a quick step forward as soon as her back is on the ground, and one foot comes to rest on the wrist holding Yamato while a fluid motion of his sword gets the tip of his blade pointed at her throat.

For a moment, the look in his eyes is wild. It seems like he'll slit her throat, and she'll bleed it slowly. He's a warrior, a sword whose name was written in blood, so that would be the exact sort of thing to be expected. Inelegant, but brutal and efficient. Yet her words and the fact that she doesn't struggle, but rather accepts, brings some reason back to him.

His gaze cools from a fire to ice instead, though he's still breathing harshly as he tries to reign in his temper. It's not a smooth shift, but he's clearly making an effort, and actually, it seems like even this much is causing him to exert himself. From this angle, she might be able to see a patch stained dark with blood in his side, since his cape had hidden it earlier. It seems like she's not the first person he'd run into. ]

The way you fight— It's really very beautiful.

[ It's an odd compliment, and he knows that it's not one that she'll completely understand. As he had lamented, they don't know each other well enough for her to understand what a high praise that is from Kasen.

He won't show complete mercy, since he has no room to, but for a sword, this is also respect. The tip of his blade moves to her chest instead. It's poised directly over her heart, and he gives her a shallow nod. ]

Thank you, Pearl. I hope— [ ...No, he won't say that. He changes his mind, apparently, and instead speaks again after the moment's hesitation. ] An elegant death is the best I can give, and for that, I'm sorry.

[ ...Ha. He shouldn't say such things. He doesn't deserve to say them, he thinks, but before he can let that thought take too much of a root or before he can hear a reply that might shake his resolve, he plunges the blade down between her ribs and through her heart.

At the very least, it's a quick death. ]

[ this wasn't me at all, she wants to say. this desperation, this-- struggle, she's had, reckless accusations and powerlessness and... all of this, she doesn't want this to be her. his words, the compliment, brings her no relief... it's a small bandage on a festering wound, but like the death he promises her... it's something.

she wasn't the first, judging from the blood she catches on his clothes, and she won't be the last. her eyes remain on him, the calm, graceful him so different from what he's shown her tonight-- and she releases yamato.

i couldn't win with you. for you, she thinks.

there would have been no response to kasen's words from pearl. she's plagued with hopes that perhaps she will come back, regenerate, that perhaps kashuu will forgive her for being unable to do what she said she would. that yamato would forgive her for not getting to the point where she felt comfortable, wearing his haori. that hijikata and clarine are alive the next morning, and will forgive her for being unable to join them. and, the last thought she has, the most important, the one that makes her shut her eyes--

i'm sorry, rose.

--when the blade finally strikes her. ]

night six - kill log.

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