the battles we fight | sbi

Chapter 13 - Because Getting Involved in a War Went so Well Last Time

"Okay, defensive position," Techno crossed his arms after tossing the iron sword back to Wilbur. Wilbur caught the sword and nodded, getting back into said position. Normally Techno would be training with Wil, but he had felt low on self-control so he was just instructing from the side. Techno really didn't want to get carried away and hurt his brother, so it was better safe than sorry. The voices had taunted him, calling him boring and weak, but those were things he could ignore. It was about the safety of his twin, there was no way he would let the voices make him feel bad about that.

"Stay ready to move in any direction," Techno instructed, watching Wilbur's form carefully, "You never truly know what your opponent could do, you must be prepared to dodge any attack. One good hit could knock you down." Wil stayed light on his feet as Techno said, accidentally being a bit too relaxed and dropping the sword. There was a moment of silence before they both laughed.

"I think that's the best thing I've done the entire time we've been training," Wilbur picked the sword back up, "It's actually a secret technique to confuse my opponent."

"I would not recommend dropping your weapon mid-battle," Techno shook his head with a smile, "So clearly, you need to hold it tighter. You want to be relaxed but still firm in your stance and hold. It's a balance between being ready to dodge, attack, and block."

"Right," Wil nodded, he gripped his sword, trying to remember how Techno had told him to hold it. After a few seconds of thought and confusion, he turned to Techno, "I forgot how to hold it." Techno smiled and walked over, adjusting Wil's hands and explaining how he should be holding it. 

"Back and to the left," Techno said, giving Wilbur a direction to move. Wil did so, then Techno critiqued what he did wrong and pointed out what he did right. The twins continued on like this for a while before taking a break to drink water and rest.

"How long do you think it'll be before Dad asks about all of this?" Wil said, taking another sip of his water.

"Not long," Techno responded almost immediately; it was something he had already put thought into, "I'm sure he already suspects it."

"We should probably just go to him," Wil pointed out, "It'll make it easier to explain if we can start the conversation, rather than having to defend it when he asks."

"That's smart," Techno nodded, "We don't want to tell the young ones yet. They'll probably want to be involved and I would hate to see any of them get hurt."

Something in you would be happy to see any sort of violence.

Hmm, maybe not.

He is pretty loyal, I think it would make him angry.

Oh, anger can result in violence.

It did last time.

Ah yes, last time. How glorious that was. If only we got to spill that much blood more often.

Techno closed his eyes tight, trying to quiet the voices down. They reminded him far too often of the things he had done to those guards that nearly killed Wilbur. How quickly all of their bodies had fallen to the ground, how much blood seeped across and puddled in the dirt.

"You alright?" Wilbur asked, tilting his head slightly, "Are the voices bothering you?"

"Yeah, they're just loud," Techno dismissed it, not really wanting to talk about it, "We should probably talk to Phil when we get back."

"Sounds good to me," Wil nodded, "Are you ready to start again?"

"Of course," Techno stood, going back to mentoring Wil.