Rise – Part I

„Hey, you have the lighter end!“ Velvet Snout panted as she lifted her half of the load.
„No, you have the messier end. Your blade, your blood. I just don't want to get dirty.“
„You lazy-ass bastard. Next time, you can carry your bloody 'raw materials' to that damn hill of yours on your own. What do you need this corpse for anyway?”
Shiroko chuckled briefly: “Now now, you shouldn't talk to your chieftain in such tone, darling. And if all goes well, you'll see soon enough what I plan to do.”
“Chieftain huh? I'm more a chieftain than you'll ever be, Pipsqueak. You're more like our 'spiritual guide'. Except we already have Swings for that, so that makes you more like an auxiliary second-in-command spiritual guide. Come to think of it, why do we keep you around at all is beyond me.”
“You'd better drop it now, before I actually start considering moving elsewhere. Then you would truly be lost.”
“Heh, right. Tell me one more thing, oh Wise-one. Why are we dragging a dead chick to your place in the middle of night, when you could have someone else do it anytime?”
“Reputation.”
“Huh?” Velvet paused and tilted her head. “Wait now, everybody will notice the body is missing in the morning and everyone will, naturally, assume you have something to do with it. So this hiding is just for show, you just want to appear the secretive scheming crazy old coot you really are?”
“More or less. Leaving the 'crazy old coot' thing. It's better to have the rumours spread, but no certainty, no witnesses, only hearsay and suspicion. I don't mind folks thinking I did something with the body, I just don't want them to know what and how.”
“And what makes you think I will keep your little secret?” Velvet grinned with a red gleam in her eyes.
“You've always kept all my 'secrets' you knew about. And being a well-known bragger, no one will care or believe anything you say anyway. No worries there.”
“You really think you have your ass covered, huh Fuzzwhiskers?” Velvet frowned. They were reaching the place, where the slope was getting the steepest. Their load was getting heavier with every step and eventually they had to make a stop to catch some breath and relieve their limbs.
“You know,” Velvet chuckled suddenly “it just hit me. We're still doing this shinobi-crap stuff like in the old days, I guess we're still dancing in the darkness. But what we achieved today... that's something remarkable, this will change a lot of things. We will need a new name.”
“True, but I don't think we'll have to search hard.” Shiro answered. What we achieved today...


Shiro watched the enemy host approach slowly. As expected, they were armed to their teeth, but everybody was acting in accordance with the truce for the time being. Both sides stopped at the poles marking the neutral ground. Shiro entered the circle drawn in the dirt together with Velvet and her deputy, Schichiro the Toothy, who was holding the clan's banner. On the opposite side, three figures also entered the circle. Shiro nodded to the priestess Swings-her-tail who was already standing in the centre of the circle: “Proceed.”
Swings-her-tail addressed the enemy with open arms and loud, clear voice. “Warriors of the clan Gnawed Bone. To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, the chieftain Shiroko the Wyrd-eyed and champion Velvet Snout the hundred Orc slayer of the clan Dancing in the darkness have challenged your leaders to trial by personal combat. The winners will take control of both clans and unite them under their rule. Do you accept this challenge?”
The middle of the enemy trio, a huge lumbering brown rat, stepped forward and roared: “I, Little Bro, chieftain of the Gnawed Bone, accept the challenge of Shiroko Dancing in the darkness! I will crush your bones and paint this ground with your blood for all to see!” To underline his words, Little Bro swung his axe several times in Shiro's direction and hissed loudly. Good, he fell for it.
Then the figure to Bro's left, a small, rather unremarkable grey mouse, stepped forward and answered in a low, almost inaudible voice. “I, She Who Was Almost Banished From Her Tribe Because Of Her Name Being Too Long, champion of the Gnawed Bone, accept the challenge of Velvet Snout Dancing in the darkness.” No threats, no swashbuckling, no brandishing of weapons. The looks of this little girl would make anyone doubt her words or rather her ability to pose a challenge of any kind to a skilled warrior like Velvet Snout. But Shiro knew better.
This was the actual chieftain of Gnawed Bone, she was the brains behind Little Bro's brawns and she manipulated him ever since he styled himself chieftain. Shiro glanced at velvet and winked at her but got no reply. She seemed to play along with the game of Almost Banished and kept a calm appearance, revealing nothing of her emotions or intentions. Shiro could tell she was already fully concentrating on her opponent and the ensuing fight.
As for himself, he couldn't help but to feel relieved. Velvet could probably beat Little Bro with her hands tied behind her back, but Shiro would have a very hard time trying to deal with Almost Banished in close combat. This way, things were much more balanced and they both had a decent chance of winning. No doubt, Almost Banished realized how dangerous Velvet Snout was and decided to face her herself instead of letting Little Bro commit a harakiri via a frenzied, ill-considered charge. On the other hand, this seemed to be a perfect tactic against an out-of-shape sorcerer, such as Shiro.
Swings-her-tail raised her hands again. “The challenge has been accepted. Approach.” All six of them walked up to the priestess.
“Sooo..., ladies first?” Shiro asked grinning at Almost Banished as they stood face to face. “No can do, little man,” rumbled Little Bro. “I kill you first, I need some cushion to sit on, while I'll be watching the catfight.” Of course.
“So be it. Well this is exciting...” Shiro chuckled nervously. This conjured another overconfident snort from Little Bro. Good, keep acting like that and he'll swallow all the bait.
“The first fight will be Shiroko of Dancing in the darkness against Little Bro of the Gnawed Bone. In accordance with nezumi traditions, the fight is to the death and has no rules and limitations. Show us all you have, to prove that you are worthy to lead our clans.” Proclaimed Swings-her-tail as she sprinkled purified water on both of them and on the ground in the centre of the circle. “Give a sign when you are ready. Everyone else, leave the circle now.”
Both parties now stepped back to the edges of the circle. “Shichiro.”, said Shiroko.
“Yes, Silver one?”
“Take my staff and keep an eye on it for me, will you?”
“As you wish, Silver one.” Shichiro replied and left the circle.
Velvet watched Little Bro for a while without showing any intention of leaving the circle, until finally she turned towards Shiroko with a slight smile. “Shiro.”
“Hmm?”
“Good luck.” then she patted him on the shoulder encouragingly and left.
Bitch, he thought shaking his head. He knew all too well how much she would enjoy watching his ass kicked, before finally winning the fight at the last moment. Not this time, I'll be the one kicking ass. He removed his tsurugi from his sash and held it in his left hand, still sheathed. Suddenly his throat became dry. He hid his right hand in the sleeve of his robe and gave a slight nod to Swings. Meanwhile on the opposite side of the circle, Little Bro finished another of his swinging exercises and also gave a nod. Swings-her-tail nodded in return and after a pause waved with her hand and shouted “Fight!” Shiro stood still and awaited the charge.
In a battle, Littlo Bro would probably never even had a clear view of Shiroko, before he got electrocuted by a spell or shot with an arrow by him. In a duel however, there was little chance a sorcerer could stand against him. There was little time to cast offensive or summoning spells before he was in reach of Bro's axe, and the brute was likely to wear loads of protective amulets underneath his armour.
What Little bro did not know however, was that Shiroko went to some great length to ensure the outcome of the fight before it even started.
For one thing, he was heavily boosted with potions and wyrdstone substances to increase his speed and strength and to ensure he would not fail casting the only spell he intended to use that day. No doubt Little Bro used some drugs as well, the gleam in his eyes betrayed as much, and they both were full of antidotes to counter the various kinds of venoms their weapons could have been coated with. But Little Bro certainly wasn't as accustomed to these substances as Shiroko and his doses must have been much milder, giving Shiro a slight advantage in the end.
For another, Shiroko did not intend to fight like a sorcerer at all. Not all the way through anyway.
Little Bro charged with a terrifying battle-cry and his axe raised above his head. Shiro stood still at first, then he pulled out his right hand to reveal he was holding a spherical bottle of thin glass filled with liquid of a slight chartreuse tint. Little Bro could have been well resistant to magic and poisons but there was little defence against concentrated acid. Shiro threw the bottle at the charging brute.... and cursed.
It didn't hit his face as intended, and instead shattered at the base of his neck. The acid spilled all over Bro's chest and neck but didn't reach his eyes. His cry changed into a scream of fury, rather than pain, accompanied by hissing sounds and vapours emitted. This however did not slow him down much and Shiro barely had enough time to block the attack with his sword held by both hands. The impact made a large dent into the scabbard, which was thankfully reinforced with steel, and the force was so great, Shiro had to take a step backwards or lose balance. But he blocked the blow uninjured and that was enough for the time being.
Alright, plan B.
Shiro managed to bind the axe and divert it sideways. Then, as fast as he could, he unsheathed his sword in a slashing motion directed at Little Bro's neck. Bro pulled back and covered his neck with the shaft of his axe. Just as Shiro's sword clanged against the axe, he pressed a small lever on the scabbard and thrust it, throat first, in a semicircular motion against Bro's face. A small cloud of glittering powder from a hidden pocket inside the scabbard hit Little Bro's eyes. Bro cursed loudly and took another step back. He slashed furiously at where Shiro stood, but only hit thin air.
The instant Bro withdrew, Shiro concentrated … and vanished.
He skitterleapt directly behind Little Bro's back, who was now blindly hacking all around himself. Bro was covered in heavy laminar armour from head to toe, so even from behind Shiro didn't have much choice as to where to strike. There was no way he could dispatch Bro with a single sneak attack. He had to wound him at the most vulnerable spot and wear him down. Without much pondering, Shiro slashed at the back of Bro's knee.
But his target moved in the wrong instant and the sword only hit the edge of the greave and scratched the skin on the upper calf. Shiro cursed again and took another quick slash. This time he managed to hit the poorly protected inside of the knee, leaving a deep cut and likely severing the lateral ligament. Yet Little Bro was already turning around, swinging his axe along. Blinded as he was, he now had a fairly good idea about Shiro's position. Shiro ducked only to let the axe fly by a mere hairbreadth above his head. Before he had time to think of what to do next, Bro swung the axe backwards at lower angle. Shiro tried to leap out of it's reach but was too slow this time. The shaft tripped his left foot and sent him sprawling to the ground.
It took him a moment to regain his bearings and only thanks to his opponent being now blinded and limping he managed to safely roll sideways when the axe landed on the very spot, where he lied. He quickly rolled over his shoulder, got on his feet and leapt further away from the large beast. He begun circling around, as silently as he could, trying to figure out how well could Little Bro follow his moves. The brown rat was rasping heavily and winced every now and then. Burns from the acid must have made his breathing harder and the pain from his injuries was slowly getting to him through the haze of the narcotics he consumed before the fight.
He's fairly mired, but as long as he keeps swinging his hatchet like this, I can't stay anywhere near long enough to finish him.
Shiro jumped forward and made a feint swishing slash. Bro raised his axe to block it but the real attack was aimed at his hands. He growled as the sword left a gash on the back and fingers of his left hand. But he didn't drop the axe. Instead, he hit Shiro flatly in the snout with it's pommel. The world went black for a moment.
When Shiro came back to his senses, he immediately saw what went wrong. Little Bro, now closing in to deal the final blow, was looking directly at him. Bloodied as it was, he apparently regained some sight in his right eye. Lying on the ground and shaken by the blow, Shiro couldn't avoid the incoming attack.
Only one way left.
He skitterleapt again. As he reappeared several feet behind his enemy, Shiro also felt growing exhaustion. While Bro turned around and limped back again, getting even more furious with the elusive prey, he afforded himself a brief respite. Pondering his options, he saw only one conclusion.
I have to finish this quickly. I can manage one more leap, but he'll expect it, if I go behind him again.
Bro closed in, more cautiously this time, but still with the intent to attack. Shiro took a defensive stance and breathed heavily. Come closer, you big oaf. Just one more step.
Bro finally attacked … and immediately turned around to look behind him as Shiro vanished again. But this time, there was no one there. He turned back, confused, and paused for a brief moment. Only then did he notice the shadow. He looked above and raised the axe in defence. But it was already too late. As Shiro landed a mere foot before him, his sword stroke Bro's chest with devastating impact. Two topmost bands of his chest armour, already corroded by the acid, split in two and revealed an unprotected patch of fur. Bro dropped to his knee and leaned on his axe. His left hand slipped from the bloodied shaft and he staggered.
No time to hesitate.
Shiro gripped his sword with both hands again and with all remaining strength thrust it from top at Bro's jugular notch. He buried the blade deep into the rat's chest, possibly piercing through both lung and heart all the way to the liver. Without a sound Little Bro collapsed to the ground.
Only now did Shiro realize, their whole fight took place in near total silence. There was no cheering from the onlookers, only suspenseful gazes.
Suddenly, the silence was broken by Velvet Snout's annoyed voice with a little hint of genuine surprise: “No shit. I just lost my bet.”
Still catching his breath, Shiro managed to grin back at her: “My dear … know that your exemplary loyalty … and support … always warms my heart.”

*****

This is the beginning of a short story that should (hopefully) shed some light on what's life in Kagenuma about and how much "fun" are it's inhabitants having.

This is effectively my first writing, so please be gentle. ...Or rather not. Don't be. I'll appreciate any honest critique. And since I'm not a native speaker, Grammar Nazis are welcome.

Rating is set to general at the moment, if you feel it is not appropriate just note me.