Dark Wind, Icy Snow - RyuTar, YinYuan [BL]

RTYY 038 - A Forest of Bamboo Trees

Their guide quietly led them to their new arena and ZaiWin couldn't help look around, feeling a bit disappointed. After the water arena, with its unstable platforms, he had kind of hoped for something ... different.

They stood in the middle of a small forest of bamboo trees, their slender stems wavering back and forth. Since they'd climbed practically all the way to the top of the hill, the wind up there was a bit stronger, brushing through the leaves and and filling the air with whispering sounds.

Had he been allowed to make use of his datai this would have been the perfect arena, he thought, looking around and taking his time to observe the other group of participants that had joined them.

Like his own group, they too had one of the Calzai's men as a member. Together with two other boys and one girl, they were still four in total. But now their group had only three participants. Since the Calzai's men had only joined the competition to balance out the numbers, he thought that the man that had integrated the other group would not compete. But, as they drew their painted rocks and he was paired exactly with him, it was clear that he'd been mistaken.

The girl that had had the luck to draw the rock without a pair took a deep breath, clearly relieved, and ZaiWin couldn't blame her. Since he'd already been paired with someone, the only ones left were FanSai, with his cold demeanor, and GinWan, whose fame for being sickeningly cruel preceded him.

The same could not be said about the boy destined to fight the young El'Gin, droplets of sweat immediately gathering all over his pale forehead.

"Yellows, step forward and take your places!" the order came and ZaiWin gave another glance at his opponent before obeying.

If the other kids were taller than him, the man standing at his side had twice his height. With hair almost as black as his and light-brown eyes, he looked relaxed, even in a good-mood, the complete opposite of FanSai's stern expression. And yet, like FanSai, he was also obviously of common birth.

"Try not to die on me, brat!" he muttered as he passed by him towards the center of the bamboo forest, and ZaiWin couldn't stop his heart from beating a bit faster.

He hadn't felt this nervous going into a battle field in a long time, he realized with a small smile, taking his place. That man, all smiles and nice expressions, was probably one of the most dangerous adversaries he had ever faced on his own. Focusing on the fight ahead, he held his sword and hid the blade behind his arm, facing his opponent sideways. The man gave him an all knowing smile and, holding his sword with his left hand, took on one of the basic defensive positions.

"I'm right-handed!" he declared. "And so, during this duel, I will only use my left hand." He hid his right hand beneath his back. "Is that acceptable?"

ZaiWin nodded. At this stage he would be thankful for any handicap they were willing to grant him.

"Begin!"

Eyes glued to the man in front of him, ZaiWin waited to see him move, to see him shift his feet, to see him lower his sword. But nothing happened. Unlike his previous adversary, he simply stood there, carefully watching him, his sharp eyes a shocking contradiction of his relaxed expression. He clearly didn't care if ZaiWin was a seasoned soldier like him or a twelve-year-old kid. To him ZaiWin was merely an opponent he had to defeat, size and age had nothing to do with that. And that was the way a true warrior saw the world, ZaiWin knew. ZenTar had made a point of teaching him that himself.

Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, ZaiWin allowed his body to lean to one side and dashed in the opposite direction, making use of the bamboo trees to confuse his opponent.