A rival appears WHO: Kyo, Gaius, and Titus WHEN: In the Past WHERE: Training Grounds SUMMARY: Kyo thinks Guren fighting style is the best. Titus disagrees. Gaius wants everyone to get along CW: N/A
Kyoujiro still didn’t know what to make of Serenitas. On one hand, he got to escape from being under the nose of his father and the empire. On the other hand, just when he thought his home country had too many stifling rules, Serenitas had about what felt like a thousand more and cultural quirks to figure out and an interpretation of religion to decipher. Not that he thought if he broke any of them he’d be in major trouble -- he was a prince after all and a prince in a foreign land. Diplomacy was at stake. Still, though, no need to ruffle too many feathers since he had just arrived. He could play the good prince -- he had years of practice after all.
Although free from his father’s yoke, Kyo found some habits were hard to break. Like training. Even though he wanted to sleep in a little, his body got himself up with the sun, like the sun had cast a charm. He would go for a run, then work on katas within the training grounds at the school.
He had brought his heirloom sword with him, the one he got from his grandfather as tradition dictated, when he received his true name. But he didn’t like practicing with it, just carried it by his side on his belt. Instead, he trained with a wooden sword.
Guren katas were simple, strong, practical. Serenitas swordplay appeared flashier. They used one arm, twirled the blade around their head like it was some stylish dance. Otousan always told him that battle should be simple and purposeful, reading your opponent on how they will swing next. Serenitas fighting appeared anything but. It wasn’t quite as flashy or creative as Zuya’s style -- which he always secretly admired. But it gave the impression of it when it really was just the same three moves.
Feeling alone, Kyo dropped his left-hand from the wooden practice sword and performed a couple of the overhead flourishes he saw the Serenitas soldiers do. He did the first one seriously. Then he did a second one, more mocking, that nicked his ear.
“Tch!” he rubbed at the spot. “So dumb…”
“With that terrible form? Of course, it is!” Titus might be called oblivious by his brother far too often, but that didn’t mean his hearing wasn’t beyond the average human. A little wasted on him, according to entirely too many people.
“Titus, please be more polite.” The pair approached the Guren royalty, and while Gaius was bowing solemnly in a gesture of trained deference, Titus was picking up a wooden sword and shield from the display. “Please excuse my brother’s behavior. He should know better but--”
“Gaius, dear Gaius-- please be silent and bear witness to the mighty clash between nations as I defend the honor of our style passed down by generations!” Titus got into a proper stance, shield in front of him, and sword positioned in a slightly different angle than the average soldier.
With a heavy sigh, Gaius accepted that his equally stubborn brother wouldn’t back down from a perceived challenge… even if no one had challenged him or had accepted the challenge in the first place.
Kyo inside panicked briefly. Outwardly, the only sign of this internal anxiety was a sudden widening of his dark brown eyes. But he quickly wrapped it inward, straightening his mouth into a stony expression. He could save it still. He couldn’t have been the first to… “mock” the style. And he definitely wouldn’t be the last.
He bit the inside of his cheeks as he puffed a little, about his supposed lack of good form. No, his form was excellent. Just not with Serenitas-do.
Gaius was a lot more polite than the one who jumped in, looking like he wanted a fight. Why did the warriors of Serenitas act so eager to get into a fight?
“Tch,” he made the small noise of annoyance before he rubbed his nose, trying to find some sort of composure, “I certainly did not mean to disrespect the…” he swallowed. “Honorable style of your people.” He bowed, ever so slightly. He kept a bit of his pride, by not bowing too low. He doubted a dunderhead like Titus would understand the small subtlety of Guren culture. Gaius, however, did notice, but he felt like his brother deserved the treatment.
But then, Kyo found himself within a challenge. He really didn’t feel like getting into a sparring match this early, but he didn’t know if Titus would attempt to hit him if he tried to bow out. He didn’t want any bruises either that weren’t well earned. He brought his right hand back to his wooden sword, holding it stiff in front of him.
He did appreciate Gaius’s politeness. It was soft and gentle, almost like his mother’s. He glanced at the softer twin from the corner of his eye and gave him a small smirk, breaking this cold prince mask briefly he had built for himself.
It made Gaius cast his gaze aside when he noticed he had been staring at the prince too hard, his shoulders slightly shrinking from his usually regal and perfect posture to train his eyes on a suddenly very interesting pattern on the ground.
But then Kyo returned focus to Titus. Titus reminded him of what his grandfather had said about prideful fighters and why Kyo should study self-awareness of his own pride. The strategy here would be to be unassuming, then go in when your opponent’s pride had swollen to its great heights. Ojisama had taught him that the hard way.
“As you wish,” Kyo settled on, lidding his eyes almost to convey boredom.
The obvious disdain only served to make Titus grit his teeth in annoyance. Who did this guy think he was?! There was no way for the prince to conceal his emotions, his brows knit together as he glared at the smug idiot in funny clothes in front of him. “Fine. I won’t go easy on you, princeling!”
Gaius was just glad he was as skilled as he was with healing spells--something told him he was going to need them.
With no further warning other than a battle cry, Titus dashed in, shield first to bash into Kyoujiro and using that momentum to swing with the sword on his right arm. He was like a bull, both in personality and technique, using his strength and height to his advantage.
Kyo didn’t know what to expect but in hindsight, he should have expected that. All that thought about pride, reflected about his own. It reminded him of the first time he sparred with his grandfather as a kid. How he rushed in at first as well and with no effort, the old man stepped aside with such ease. And he just got angrier and angrier.
He liked to think he had advanced past that stage, but something about getting hit by a bull in man form, pushed him back in time. He attempted to brace himself a bit too late, stumbling backward, almost entirely to the ground. His anger stopped him before he could. His dark eyes lit up with the rage of a thousand suns.
“You bull-headed idiot!” He spit out as he gripped the handle of his sword at a low stance, ignoring everything about being deliberate and strong. He growled as he swung downward towards Titus, not even thinking exactly where.
The Chosen of Fire had a fiery temper. Who knew?
“I’ve been called that and worse before!” Titus laughed, all too smug that his first strike had been successful. The swing almost caught him completely off guard, but he managed to shield himself just in time, their weapons clashing for a moment before he took a step back.
“Finally decided to treat me with the caution I deserve? It would be a shame to stomp you easily just because you didn’t acknowledge my prowess!” Gaius pinched and rubbed the bridge of his nose as his brother went back to his usual blustering and boasting. It was, frankly, embarrassing.
Titus swung at Kyoujiro once again, this time more deliberately, keeping his defenses up because he didn’t have the advantage of surprise--their swords clashed, neither side showing weakness or pushing forward. “Is that all you got, little princeling? This is more like a mild warmth than the blazing flames I was promised!”
Everything about Titus just stabbed at Kyo -- his voice, the way he moved, everything. As far as Kyo was concerned, Titus didn’t deserve /anything/. He deserved /nothing/. Realizing how slopping his attack was, Kyo took a deep breath, attempting to adjust his cool mask back on, although it still remained crooked.
A metaphoric intense flame smoldered in his eyes, he traced his foot backward, prepared for the loudmouth’s inevitable attack. Seeing the swing, Kyo ducked down, using the momentum, to swing the sword upward as he came back upward. He was smaller than Titus, but he could use that to his advantage too. Titus’s eyes shot wide as he was unable to defend himself from that strike, hissing as one hit him directly.
At a standing position again, Kyo hooked his leg around, attempting to trip his now rival.
“I won’t underestimate your … passion,” Kyo bit, his eyes still with fire. “Don’t doubt my abilities again.”
As it would happen, the training shield wasn’t as big as he was used to-- and honestly, Titus was very distracted, so his eyes shot wide as he very ungracefully tripped just as Kyoujiro had intended. Titus waved his arms to keep balance, but still tripped back onto his butt. “Wh-what is this underhanded nonsense…!”
“It’s called taking advantage of all areas of the battle space,” Kyo shot back, holding himself high. Pride restored. Ish. No doubt, he’d overthink this later. He positioned his foot back again, holding onto his sword in case Titus came at him again.
Then the sage twin came between them. How could Gaius be so patient with Titus? He had practically written off his sister who ran off and became a pirate. How dare she escape the role she was born into. He couldn’t escape if he wanted to.
Gaius rubbed his face as Titus made a very undignified sound of protest and scrambled back to his foot. The less hot-blooded prince dashed to stand in between the combatants. “Ah, that is more than enough sparring for today, brother.” Titus shot a glare at Kyoujiro then gave a sullen look to his younger brother.
“Once again I am incredibly sorry for my brother’s behavior, he is--”
“Glorious!” “--Unnacceptable.”
With a grown and deep frown, Titus threw the shield and sword down on the floor. “I’ll get you next time, fire princeling!” With that, Titus stomped away from the middle of the training grounds.
As Titus got up and left, Kyo heaved a sigh and lowered his sword. Then he glanced over to Gaius. Should he apologize? For goading on Titus? For losing his temper?
He turned to face the Sage Twin and bowed lower than he had done previously -- more sincere. “Sorry for the trouble.”
Gaius bowed in return, matching Kyoujiro because he had read that was the appropriate response. “You do not have to apologize for Titus’ folly. He brought that upon himself.” He took a step closer to take a better look at Kyoujiro. “Ah, would you like for me to heal you? Although it might be too presumptuous of me to assume you were at all injured. My apologies.” He cast his gaze aside once again.
Kyo’s shoulder did start to throb now that his adrenaline had died down. He somehow did not want to take advantage of Gaius’s kindness. He had a feeling the Sage Twin would give the shirt off his back had Kyo asked him to.
He sighed and placed his hand on Gaius’s shoulder, “You don’t have to apologize for offering kindness. And I’ll be fine. I just need some breakfast and some juice and I’ll be good to go…” He stretched both his arms to the sky in a stretch, hiding a wince.
He spun on his heels, “At least I got something of a work-out this morning. See you, Gaius.”
“If you are certain…” Gaius spoke softly, nodding his head, staring at Kyoujiro’s back once he spun around. “I suppose I will see you around…” He stood in place as he saw the shorter man walk away from him, giving a futile wave of his hand as Kyoujiro disappeared from view.