The Vampire Titan

Ending

"Ow!" I yelped, after being whacked with Robins bo staff.

We had started training just a few day after my siblings and friends left, and it has now been a week. Robin had helped me with hand-to-hand combat, (which I excelled at) and was now teaching weapon fighting (which I sucked at).

Robin sighed, and lowered his weapon. "Maybe we should find something else."

But we had already tried a bundle of weapons - katana, bo staff, a weird fan thing, and his birdarangs. Nothing worked, and I ended up on my bum 80% of the time.

"Why do I need a weapon?" I pouted. "I'm just fine on my own, I don't need one." I plopped down on the mat, and Robin sat next to me.

"You need something in case you're in a situation you can't get out of by yourself," he reminded.

His gloved hand took mine, and I blushed slightly.

"Well, what do you suggest?"

"You need something you're comfortable with," he thought aloud. "And you don't seem to like bigger weapons."

"We still had swords when I was little, and women didn't carry those around," I reminded. "It just feels weird, holding a large weapon like that."

Robin was silent for a bit, and smiled. "I have an idea."

~~~~~

"What are we doing here?" I asked, staring the small Japanese shop.

Really, it looked like a tourist attraction, but where it stood (just outside the city, almost by itself save for a few houses) had me thinking otherwise.

"We're going to find you a weapon," Robin said, pushing the door open.

A bell dinged, and an older Japanese man looked up from where he sat on a stool, reading a book. I couldn't make out the title, but the cover had many bright colors.

Robin waved, and the man waved back with a nod, before returning to his book.

"I was thinking something small, like a Kaiken, or Tantō," he explained, walking to the back corner.

I followed closely behind, furrowed my brow. "What are those?"

He smiled, and came to a stop, picking up a decent sized knife. "They're daggers," he said, while picking up another one, this one slightly larger in length. He held up the smaller one and said: "This is the Kaiken. It resembles more of a pocket knife, because that's kind of what the samurai used them for, and mostly self defense.

"This one," he continued, holding up the larger one, "is the Tantō. It's actually more of a short blade, which means it should give you a bit more room to play with. They were mostly used with traditional martial arts, like ninjutsu - which is what I've been teaching you." He held out the Kaiken, and I took its hilt, testing its weight.

It was light, and felt tiny in my hand. The blade itself was a shiny steel, ten inches and double bladed, and the hilt was a cherry wood. It was pretty, but I liked the feel of it - was small, but large enough to get the job done. It was the weight that threw me off. I was used to using heavier weapons, like the bo staff.

Robin and I switched, so I now had the Tantō. This blade was pretty too, with it's blade reaching twelve inches easily, and it's single edge glinted dangerously in the light. Its thick hilt fit awkwardly in my hand, and added with the weight, I already knew my answer.

Apparently, Robin did too, because he smiled, and held up the Kaiken. "I'll go pay for this, then."

I thanked him, and after looking at the Tantō one last time, I set it back on it's holder. I started to follow Robin, but my communicator buzzed on my hip. I paused, and unclipped it, seeing Cyborg on the other line.