Week 10 [P] Kin G. Doom <Chapter 3: Who Put That Pillar There?>

The first thing he heard as he woke up was the hustle and bustle of the busy market, and the first thing he saw was Roko's face peering at him in an alley.

"Urrrgh, I feel like I was hit by a cannonball." Murmured Kin as he was rubbing his head.

Sighing Roko replied "Glad you're alright, we were just walking through town and Raidon and his group ambushed us. Raidon was coming after you, don't you remember?"

Staring at Roko, Kin seemed to take a while trying to remember. "Oh yeah, I remember him coming at me brandishing his sword, all I managed to do was dodge it, I didn't have time to react at all. Then I remember him lunging his sword at me under the arches to the market...and that is all I remember. What happened after that?" He pulled himself up.

"Well...you dove to the left to avoid it and umm..." muttered a seemingly fidgety Roko as he avoided eye contact and shuffled his feet around.

"Yeah, what happened then? Did Raidon get me?" Retorted Kin starting to get impatient.

"No, not as such. You successfully avoided the sword lunge but...umm, well it was more where you dodged to instead of how...I don't know how to say this but...you dove into one of the pillars holding up the arches."

"What? Are you saying that I knocked myself out?"

"Yes, in fact you did. It was rather embarrassing, the fight pretty much ended after that as Raidon and group were laughing so much. He told me to tell you once you came round that he will fight you just out to the west of town at noon in a week, I'd recommend that you go get some training before he kicks your arse again."

"He didn't beat me that badly last time we fought!"

"Not that badly?! We found you on the edge of town and you were covered in wounds! You must have been on the edge of death!

"Look on the bright side."

"Bright side?! How on earth was there a bright side to getting your arse kicked so badly you almost died?"

"Errrr...I got to see how strong he is and got an idea of how he fights. I just need to think of a way to fight against someone that uses swords."

"Yes, I heard that Raidon uses swords. I do have an idea, I'll look at that and you practice for the rematch."

"Ooo, an idea? I'm intrigued, but why do you want me to win so badly?"

"We have known each other for 13 years, it's like we're brothers. Of course I want you to win. Oh and the other guys don't want you disgracing our name"

"Hmmm, alright then. I'll head to our arena and train, you go sort out whatever little plan you have." Kin set off towards the arena, paused and looked over his shoulder. "You know, I also consider you my brother." Then he carried on heading towards the arena. Roko stood there still in the alley, a smile crept along his face then suddenly disappeared. "Shit, I have some work to do." Then he also ran off towards his goal.

Kin spent the following week completing a rigorous training regime he set himself, he even managed to find himself a couple of swordsmen and practiced evading their swords, carefully noting to avoid nearby objects so that he wouldn't have a repeat of the pillar fiasco. He also used those swordsmen and some dummies to practice his strikes on, trying to see what moves would be effective on a swordsman as he hadn't fought any other swordsman before Raidon.

The sun rose on the day of the fight and Kin woke up quite anxious as he hadn't heard from Roko in the last week and it wasn't normal for Roko to disappear for a week without telling anyone where he was or what he was doing. Kin decided that it would be best if he didn't train in the few hours before his match as he had done enough training over the last week. He had even slept at the arena every night during his training. Even though that training was now over, he had spent that night still there, to help keep his mind focused. There was a loud knock at the door.

"It's open" said Kin as he finished getting dressed. The door slowly opened and around the edge popped the familiar face of none other than Roko. "Where the hell have you been?" Demanded Kin.

"Busy" responded Roko with a smile on his face.

"I've been busting my arse all week with all this training and all you say is that you have been busy?! Well, was that idea you had worth a week of preparation? What was the idea anyway?"

"This was my idea." He said as he pulled a sack from behind him and threw it to Kin. "Well, what do you think?"

Kin looked in the sack, and a large grin formed on his face. "They are fantastic, I love them."

"Looking at the time, I reckon we should set off to the meeting ground so you can face Raidon."

"Your right let's go, I have a beat down to deliver and it's long overdue." They set off, Kin carrying the sack with his mysterious new gift.

They arrived at the meeting ground and noticed that Raidon wasn't there yet, so Kin put his sack on the ground and leant against a column, whereas Roko climbed a wall and sat up there.

"What are you doing sat on that wall?" asked a curious Kin.

"What do you think? Being up here keeps me away from the fight and also gives me a vantage point from which I can watch the whole fight. The real question is, how are you so comfortable leaning against that column? After all, columns and pillars are very similar" Teased Roko.

Sighing, Kin replied "Just...be quiet and keep an eye out for him will you? I don't want to be surprised this time."

"Keep an eye out for who?" A mysterious voice questioned.

Kin and Roko started looking around trying to identify the source of the voice, in unison they both cautiously said "Who's there?"

"My my, after all this time, you still don't remember my voice? I'm hurt." Said the figure mockingly as he stepped out from behind a column. The man that appeared was a year or so older than Kin, slightly taller than him as well. He had short brown spiky hair and brown eyes. His cloak flapped behind in the breeze, revealing his sword on his left hip he also wore a white shirt and baggy black trousers. Both Kin and Roko recognised the intrusive man as Raidon, the man that Kin was here to fight.

"When did you get here?" Kin asked.

"Umm, about 10 minutes before you guys got here I guess." ventured Raidon.

"So you thought you would hide behind that column and wait for us to arrive, then eavesdrop on us?" Said an irritated Kin.

"Wow, big talk for a person that knocked himself out!" Snorted Raidon.

"Ooooo, Kin mate, you just got buuuurned!" laughed Roko.

"I must say, I am surprised to see you so comfortable around columns" Said Raidon, trying to pretend like he hadn't heard what Roko had said but he couldn't hide his smile.

"Roko has already used that one, can't you try something new?" Asked an annoyed Kin.

"Come on Roko, why are you stealing all the fun?!" Smirked Raidon, to which Roko shrugged while grinning.

"Ha...ha...ha look who's the funny man. You will regret asking for this fight." Threatened Kin.

"Oh no, I'm quaking in my boots!" Retorted Raidon.

"Are you two going to fight yet? I brought popcorn for a reason!" Complained Roko. Both Kin and Raidon turned round, looked at Roko and stared at him for a few seconds, trying to unnerve him. To their annoyance it didn't work and he kept looking at them with a grin and his popcorn by his side. They both sighed, realising it was useless to try stare him down. They turned back to face each other, Raidon putting his hand on his hilt whereas Kin lifted up his fists.

"Oi Kin! Don't forget your new toys!" Shouted Roko.

Kin's face brightened up when he heard this and said "Oh yeah, I forgot about those." Roko sighed and shook his head at Kin, who was dove into his sack to take out his new accessories. At first glance they appeared to be a pair of ordinary gloves, but on a closer inspection, they were actually armoured gloves, made especially to counter a swordsman. Putting them on, he then turned back to Raidon and he added "Alright, now you are going down."

"Hah! Just because you put on a pair of gloves you think you can beat me now? This will be fun." Laughed Raidon as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Kin "I will defeat you once again."

"No you won't, I have been waiting for this." Kin calmly stated, who then formed his hands into fists and started the fight by charging straight at Raidon. He threw a punch at Raidon's head with his right hand, Raidon managed to duck under it going onto his right knee and slashed horizontally at Kin's stomach, giving him a light wound. This aggravated Kin who then brought down his left fist onto Raidon's knee who then yelled in pain, he slashed out at Kin, injuring him or making him move back to dodge, either result gave Raidon some time to think of a strategy. As Kin dodged back to avoid a second blow he realised he really did have to watch out for the sword, he decided to then wait for Raidon's next attack.

Raidon stood up wincing slightly as he put pressure on his right leg, he realised it wasn't actually as damaged as he first thought but it still hurt like hell. Ignoring the pain, he charged at Kin with his sword out, surprised at such a bold move, Kin barely escaped the thrust and got a cut on his left side as he dodged to the right. Raidon followed this up with a two handed overhead strike down onto Kin, who panicked but then remembered his gloves, he put his fists above his head where the sword would strike, changed them to a V shape and made his lower knuckles interlock so that he could take the blow from the sword. The sword came down and into the defence Kin had prepared, however it had more force than Kin had anticipated and it took all his effort to stop the sword pushing between his gloves. Raidon was putting all his strength into the sword to try beat Kin, he forced Kin down onto his right knee. Kin concentrated and bent his elbows, then as that caught Raidon off guard, he pushed the sword upwards and managed to do a leg sweep with his left leg which luckily enough managed to knock Raidon down.

Kin managed to make some space between them to recover a little while Raidon got up, they looked each other in the eye and at the same time both charged each other, both with the aim of ending it with this. As they were reaching each other, Raidon positioned his sword ready for a horizontal slash, whereas Kin had one arm stretched out to hit Raidon in the stomach then the other fist ready to uppercut him as he bent over. Moments before their attacks connected they heard a scream.

Both of the stopped their attacks and looked round to identify the source of the scream, it was then that they both saw a young girl they recognised as one of the residents of the town, she was crying as she ran past, then they saw the reason why the girl was crying. Chasing her was a middle aged man, both Kin and Raidon living in the village for years and neither of them recognised him, at the same time they both came to the conclusion of he was an out of towner and up to no good. For a brief moment they both forgot about the fight they were having and charged the strange man, both aiming for the stomach and at the same time, Kin punched him and Raidon hit him with the hilt of his sword. Down he went like a sack of potatoes, gasping for breath. Roko strolled over to look at the man who laid winded on the floor, the man looked up and saw the three of them staring down at him.

"You know, if I was you, I'd leave this place very quickly. These two guys won't look kindly on you causing trouble on their town." Roko calmly stated as he was pointing at Kin and Raidon.

"Yes, I am very sorry, just let me leave alive and I will never come back" whimpered the man. Both Kin and Raidon then kicked the man while he was on the floor.

"You better not return, now go." Said Kin losing his patience. The man started getting up and walking away.

"RUN, RUN AWAY!" Yelled Raidon. The rate the man was moving away suddenly increased and he vanished into the horizon.

"Wow, how unexpected." Said Roko thoughtfully. To which both Kin and Raidon looked at him with puzzled expressions. Roko continued "Well, you were having a serious fight, and the moment you saw a townsperson was in trouble, without hesitating you both stopped fighting and ran to their rescue. Not only that, despite you both only hitting him once you did so in synchronisation. If you hadn't met in the circumstances you did, perhaps you could have been good friends protecting the town together." Kin and Raidon looked at each other and laughed.

"You know, I'm surprised to be saying this but joining forces against that man wasn't too bad...maybe we could become friends." Kin ventured.

"Maybe, but I'll always be the stronger one out of the both of us." Grinned Raidon.

"Hahaha, you wish! I could beat you any day of the week." Boasted Kin.

"Now now, stop bickering. Why don't you just fight again after you both had some more training?" Suggested Roko.

"That's not a bad idea, how about it? I will prove that I am stronger than you when we fight again." Kin said confidently.

"Yes, we will prove that I'm the stronger one. However I won't be doing my training here." Considered Raidon.

"Really? Where are you going to go train?" Roko questioned.

"Not quite sure, but I think I'll go travel a bit. It's a big sea out there after all, We will meet again." Replied Raidon.

"Oh ok, I think I might stick around here and see what happens." Said Kin thoughtfully.

"Alright, I'm off back into town, might see you again before I leave this place. See you around." Pondered Raidon as he started walking back towards town, he gave them both a wave as he was walking away.

"Yeah, see you around!" Kin and Roko shouted, as they waved back. Kin then collapsed to his knees.

"Hmm, you must be very tired after that ordeal." Deduced Roko, "Here, you have a nap and I'll lean you against the wall, don't worry I will keep watch while you sleep."

"Thanks." Mumbled Kin as Roko dragged him to the wall. Then he couldn't stay awake any longer and fell into a deep slumber.

He awoke to the sight of a blue sky, the feel of sand underneath him and the sound of waves lapping at the beach and seagulls. He felt so at peace on this beach, he didn't even know where he was. Suddenly it all came flooding back, the memories of his crew getting separated in the storm and abruptly sat bolt upright.

WC: 2668