guardian of the storm | ✓

Debit Repaid (written by CollateralCabbage)

Winter was the cold and the fresh and the bitterness that circulated throughout the small area. I knew it was her from the moment I stepped into her territory. The immediate buzz beneath my feet created a somber mix in the pit of my stomach and I could tell that she was not happy. I slowly made my way to where I knew where she'd be.

She stood behind a single line that I had drawn just days before; and she looked as if she hadn't moved since. I had gotten angry and told her that if she crossed that line, I would kill her. And I would kill her twin brother too. Her eyes remained dead as I screamed at her about the mistakes she had made, the killings, the entire plan of annihilation of Konoha. But something about her demeanor had been altered since our last conversation. Not only had her eyes sparked into a bright hatred, her posture had stiffened and her mouth had curled into a vicious scowl. Her swords were unsheathed and ready in her hands. Small pulses of electricity were floating around her, turning her hair in waves of blue sparks.

"Did you come back to reap what you sowed." The statement caught me off guard and my eyes flew to the line. Her feet were now firmly planted over the line I drew. I hadn't even seen her move. Anger like none other bubbled inside of me and I knew that this was an exchange. Only one of us was going to survive.

I slowly pulled my singular katana from my back and dragged it along the ground, carelessly marking up the small bits of grass. I zigzagged my way to her, only ten metres from her now. I felt myself slip out of my body as I neared her. The feelings of physical hate dissipated into the lightning filled air as I readied myself for hell on earth. As soon as I had made it within two feet of her, I was an empty shell doing a job. She was going to die. Or I was, attempting to kill her.

"Are you going to stand there and pose like that or are you going to at least do me a favor and entertain me?" I asked her, slumping forward and leaning on the katana. Her eyes darkened and she flickered before disappearing completely. I felt the change in the wind and whirled, just in time to bend away from her slashing. Her twin katanas moved silkily through the air as they gained momentum. I straightened out before raising up my own katana to block her blow. I felt my own blade contract against the pressure of her twins. The body of mine shuddered slightly and I pushed back harder, forcing Winter to retreat.

But only for a moment.

Her eyes were now malignant with a power that I knew that she possessed. Whether or not I was prepared to deal with her in this position was another story.

"You challenged the wrong person, my friend." I said to her, my impassioned heart racing.

"You promised the wrong person, friend." Her timbre was shrill and intimidating.

We moved again, this time in sync. I slashed forward, keeping out of the way of her twins' advantage. She blocked easily and tumbled forward, catching me off guard. She reflexively raised her arms to block a blow that didn't come and I swung low, barely scratching her calf before she moved back to an offensive position. The area around her sparked and the humidity in the air worsened my slight fear.

"You're going to die very soon," she said, her eyes darting towards my single katana, "your blade will give way before you do, but it seems you two have something in common."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, "What's that?"

"Blind trust in one another." She moved too quick for me to see, but I instantly relaxed into the ground. My body became suddenly encased within a rock tomb of my choosing. Heat boiled around me as her electricity surged into my jutsu. I gritted my teeth and held my own as her barrage of attacks came flying in. She didn't let up, not for a single moment. The chakra in her system was unreserved and I knew that I wouldn't be able to match that kind of power. As I waited beneath her, almost twenty feet below, I held on to her power. I clung to every attack that she threw at me and I absorbed it into my bloodstream. I knew this power well and I knew I could wield it with no problem. The biggest issue was figuring out how to attack her in a way that the exchange would be effective.

"Come out and play, Someina." She taunted and I felt a burning on my skin. I rotated quickly to the sound of her voice and charged the tomb upwards. Her attack broke me free of the jutsu and I flew forward, faster than before. My own lightning covered blade was now blackened. Her eyes widened and my katana flew straight for her heart. Just as my katana pierced her skin, a loud tearing noise erupted into the air. I gagged and blood dripped down from my mouth and onto her face. Her katanas were snuggly fit into my chest as mine was only a few inches from her heart. Extending my arm further, I shoved my katana deeper. Her eyes hardened but I could feel the weakness in her, just as she could with me.

"Winter," I choked, blood spilling onto the ground now, "game over." I rip my blade from her chest and slash it across her throat, releasing me from my skewered position; we both fall to the ground. Her hands dropped from her katanas to hold her throat where torrents of blood are surging through her mask. I struggled to take in another breath as I ripped the twin katanas from my chest, one by one. The pain increased by one hundred percent before a coldness seeped into my wound. I numbed much too quickly and I knew that I was drawing my final breath soon.

"Ryu... Riku..." Winter mumbled next to me, her own delirium settling in. My body convulsed slightly and I knew that in a matter of moments, those two names were going to be the last words I would ever hear. I closed my eyes and let the cold and fresh bitterness of Winter seep through me as I fell into my own eternal slumber.

Low-key starts crying because my baby just died....

Thank you so much for the heart wrenching one-shot @CollateralCabbage! Please, take this imaginary cookie, you deserve it hun. (also I really like your username, how'd you come up with it?)