soulping | Crane's Heart

[ The blood's all dried, so nothing's dripping. But you put the knife back. ]

[Not yet but if anything gets used again, it'll be a problem. Though again, this is probably just overthinking things. Who would have thought that losing my emotions makes me overthink things more than usual?

Which is exactly why I'm... heading back to those katana to see what I can do to clean them up.]

[ The katana are just as you left them before! ]

[There really isn't anything to clean them with, is there... I'd use a cloth, but clothes are out due to the chance of contamination, and this place is a complete mess to the point that anything I find would be contaminated anyways... There really is nothing I can do about this, is there...?

I suppose I can head towards the figures at least, though.]

[ As you get closer, you realize two things: one, that past the figures is a door; and two, that a scene is unfolding before you.

There is a figure dressed in kendo armor, standing before a young girl in a kimono who is chained up.

The kendoka picks up a katana from the side, and then smoothly starts to attack the little girl. Her left arm is cut off first, followed by her right, and then her left and right legs follow. Finally, the kendoka brings the blade across her neck, severing the little girl's head from her body.

The head rolls off, and unseeing red eyes stare at the ceiling...until suddenly it flies back to its original position on her neck, and her body pieces itself back together.

The kendoka takes a moment to clean the blade, before stepping forward to begin again. ]

Edited 2014-08-24 21:55 (UTC)

[...I don't even know where to begin.]

...And the point of this is...?

[ ...Both of them seem too focused on what's going on to respond to you. ]

[...This is what we have the big heavy cowboy boots for.

Which is to say, I am throwing a boot at the one with the katana.]

Edited 2014-08-24 22:01 (UTC)

[ The kendoka turns to cut through the boot with her blade before turning to you, red eyes glaring at you through the slits in the mask. ]

Do not interfere, or I will be forced to make you taste my blade as well. I would hate to conduct such unnecessary bloodshed.

[ ...that is probably a very familiar female voice, given whose heart this is. ]

Says the one attacking someone who's chained up and unable to fight back. I don't really mind fighting you if that's what you want, though.

[Do I have my own sword still, or will I have to grab a Katana?]

That is her place. We are both aware of that.

[ You'll definitely have to grab one of the katanas, if you want a weapon. ]

She does indeed seem resigned to it.. But nonetheless, I'm going to have to oppose that.

[...Hm. Considering that the Katana are resignation, it's probably not the best choice to fight this battle...]

...I hope you don't mind if I use your determination to try and find another way, Crane.

[Yes, going for the clean knife.]

Are you certain you want to make a rash decision when you don't know what you're doing?

[ Said evenly, although she's holding her sword up and ready for battle should it come to that. ]

Well, it should be fine as long as I don't get blood on it, I think. Which I suppose means we're fighting for different things, since you're probably going for the kill, while I'll just be focusing on disabling.

You say that as if they would end differently from each other. Preventing me from continuing is the same as killing me, here.

Ah, the old meiji restoration-era samurai adage of "I don't know how to do anything but fight and kill", is it?

Whether that's the case or not is irrelevant, honestly. There's nothing stopping you from learning how to do something else, after all.

[Dashing in and preparing to dodge. Let's see how you respond before making a real attack.]

You are aware that I'm not an actual person, correct?

[ But yes, swinging with the intent of causing injury. ]

[Yes, quickly bouncing backwards in response, there. Speed and agility is my specialty]

Technically speaking, that's true. You're just a piece of her, after all. Everything here is. Including that little girl you've been killing. It doesn't change the fact that this has to be said.

[Then, time to try from the side this time, as well.]

...You're making some impressively false assumptions, is all I am saying.

[ She's pretty quick as well, so good luck landing a hit. ]

[Well so far I'm not even trying to land a hit, just judge your reaction speed, so it's pretty safe to say it's a miss for now.]

Then, would you care to fill in what the little girl represents?

[And yes, maintaining my tactics of feints and dodges until I get a handle on your speed and reaction time.]

She's something we gave up a while ago. In order to keep us from falling apart, she offered to take her current position and allow me to do my duty.

[ That's about as meta as she can be... ]

And your duty besides this would be...?

To keep us moving, keep us functioning. If I stop striking, none of the others will be able to continue on.

Well, I have a good idea of what she is, then. "Innocence", correct? I can understand the need around here for metaphorical death in that case, but nonetheless...

[Yes, I'm actually trying to make an attack now! Sort of. It's a feint, followed by a parry, followed by a kick to the chest. Let's hope this works.]

Abandoning innocence altogether isn't a solution, it's a stopgap! If your job is to keep everyone functioning, you should know that as well!

This isn't about her. She's simply the only target I have.

[ Your kick may connect, but she's certainly not about to drop the sword or stop fighting anytime soon. ]

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