Izayoi and Robin
The next day, Robin could overhear some of the servants gossiping throughout the safehouse as she went about whatever morning routine she had.
“Did you hear? The Wild Dance is alive! She was part of that prison break last night to free Lord Hien.”
“Truly? She was the Emperor’s last hope five years ago. If Ranbu no Izayoi stands with our fighters, perhaps victory may be in sight after all.”
One thing that her old man had taught her was to never slack when it came to her training.
No matter what happened the previous day, if she wanted to keep improving, if she truly wanted to use her blade to help others, that meant that she should be practicing as long as she could safely move.
And so, that was her morning routine.
The speed of her draw. The manner in which the blade cut the air itself. These were all things Robin was supposed to practice.
And that’s what she did.
Draw. Slash. Once. Twice. Three times.
Sheath.
Draw. Slash. Once. Twice. Three times.
Sheath.
Draw—
It was part of her wakeup routine, and it only made sense to do it before she did any bathing. Practice always made her sweaty, after all, so why clean up and have breakfast before that?
It was on her thirtieth drill that she overheard the Servants.
It wasn’t like she was unfamiliar. Heroes, villains, those were the sort of people she heard about all the time. Robin already heard the name Ranbu no Izayoi before.
It was certainly more infamous in her homeland then famous, but at the same time—
She wasn’t quite sure what to think. She didn’t regret giving her assistance, and the mere fact that the samurai was so famous was something exciting, deep down. But the fearsome reputation she had in her homeland was still something that lingered in the back of her mind.
Robin didn’t particularly care for the uncertainty it left her with, deep inside, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that it was there all the same.
The subject of Robin’s musings entered the courtyard herself, and the servants’ whispers stopped. Izayoi had heard them briefly, but tried to ignore it. Though their faith still rankled. It wasn’t something she deserved. Truly, the situation in Kugane was desperate.
Regardless, she had her forms to go through. Five years. Five years spent not practicing at all. Iai slash from the draw. Follow-up. Uppercut. Downward cleave. All horrendously clumsy in her own eyes. She’d been a
master before. Now all her skills amounted to was cutting down novitiates and impressing laymen. To the average eye, Izayoi was still fast. But it was a far cry from the godspeed she’d commanded once upon a time.
It was hard to focus on training when the subject of the servants’ discussion suddenly entered the courtyard. It was as if they’d been fortelling something.
Robin found herself distracted from her own training at the sight of the samurai woman’s own practice session. It was almost what she expected. Speed. Ferocity. The kind of thing the average person would surely think of when they heard of her reputation.
And yet—
Something wasn’t entirely right.
Her old man had drilled her extensively at her request, and though her school of swordplay was not the same as that of Osprey’s warriors, it wasn’t as if there was no overlap in skills.
Robin could see it, even just a little. It wasn’t quite as fast, quite as agile, as she’d expected. There was no doubt that Izayoi was far beyond the average warrior, and still steps ahead of herself as well.
But it wasn’t quite as fast, quite as ferocious, as she wanted it to be, was it?
Another series of strikes in Izayoi’s kata. Better than they’d been five months ago, yet still
worthless compared to her heyday. She felt the eyes upon her, of course. At least that particular sense was still sharp enough to be usable.
It was the Fey girl. Izayoi resisted the urge to sigh. At least she wasn’t wearing that ridiculous coat this morning. Still, the Mystrel looked towards her, eyes narrowed.
”You were performing drills of your own before I arrived. Unless you’ve something to say to me, proceed with your own business, girl.”Robin was not usually one to hesitate, but then she wasn’t usually speaking with such an infamous figure. The boyish girl paused a few moments as she chose her words, before stepping forward.
“... It’s impressive, how swift you are, but—” she paused again as she tried to figure out how to put it into words, “... You’re rusty, aren’t you? I… couldn’t help but noticing, even if we’re practicing different kinds of swordplay.”
She hesitated again. She wanted to offer assistance. Despite everything, the cause that Ranbu no Izayoi fought for now was one that would free her people from oppression. So, helping her would help with that goal.
“I don’t know if I can be of assistance, but if you ever want some sort of training partner I can offer my hand.”
”...I am.” Izayoi reluctantly ground the words out through her teeth.
”You heard me the previous day. I had not touched a sword for so many as five years.” The older woman turned to face the younger, sword in hand. As much as it rankled, she’d do anything at this point to regain as much of her strength as possible, as quickly as possible. If she had to entertain this girl’s suggestion, then there wasn’t much of a choice. At least from what Izayoi had seen so far, it wasn’t as if Robin wasn’t at the very least passable with her blade. She’d likely get something out of this, more or less.
”Very well, I accept. Would you prefer live steel, or practice weapons?”Robin inhaled deeply. It was probably for the best to use training weapons, ultimately. She’d been using her sword when she was training on her own, but when it came to sparring blade against blade training weapons made sure no-one could possibly get hurt.
While using live steel was a more romantic option out of the stories Robin so enjoyed, she couldn’t ignore the fact that this meant either of them could take hits from the other and avoid injury.
“Practice weapons would probably be for the best,” she said with a smile. Thankfully, it seemed as if they did have one of similar size and shape to her own sword. While certainly a blade was a blade, the shape and style of Osprey’s katana and other various swords were quite different from what she was used to, and it wouldn’t be a very productive training session if she was trying to learn how to wield one properly on the fly.
With her blade held pointed upwards and ahead of her, she slowly lowered it into place, taking her position across from Ranbu no Izayoi.
It was time to begin.
Izayoi nodded, sheathing her blade and taking a bokken from a nearby weapon rack, leveling it at Robin. Her style would be hampered without access to her battojutsu, but she’d trained for years in the fundamentals before her master had ever let her even attempt an iai strike. It wouldn’t be an issue, and it was always important to return to the basics every now and then.
She drew in a breath, gripped the wooden sword in both hands, and nodded.
”Begin.”___
The bout was closer than Izayoi would have liked, though she still emerged victorious in the end. The girl had technical skill, at least. Whoever trained her did a fair job of it, and some of Robin’s tricks did give Izayoi a run for her money in her weakened state.
She removed the tip of her bokken from Robin’s throat, backing up a few steps as the both of them caught their breath.
”A passable effort. Comparable to Arton, at least.” She admitted, flicking and brandishing the wooden sword out of habit, as she would have flicked the blade off her real blade after a battle.
”You would have done well for yourself in the war, unless you had the misfortune to encounter me at my full strength in those days.”Her old man had told her plenty of times that one small mistimed attack, one mistaken block, could cost her everything.
Had this been a real fight, it would have. Ranbu no Izayoi was rusty, to be sure, but even then she was still highly skilled.
Robin knew, really, that a hero always had a long climb, and this did help demonstrate that after the thorough defeats she’d doled out to her enemies prior. She managed to force down any disappointment at her loss. Her opponent was more experienced and this was for her sake, after all.
She couldn’t let herself look visibly let down by her defeat. Besides, it was a growing experience for her, too, wasn’t it? Her old man had told her that losing a duel could be just as useful as winning it when it came to learning.
“Given your history, I think I should take that as high praise,” Robin responded brightly as she lowered her training sword as well, “I’d be happy to do it again, if it helps you regain your old skills at all. I think it’s good for the both of us.”
”My history?” Izayoi scoffed, shaking her head.
”You’ve been listening to too many rumors and tall tales, from either side.” Her head inclined in the direction the servants had been whispering earlier. They’d departed earlier, once they realized the subject of their rumormongering had been present.
”You’ve said you wanted to be a hero. Ranbu no Izayoi is no such thing. A hero would have saved her nation from invasion twice over.” She remarked bitterly.
”Edren’s propaganda about my actions ekes closer to the truth than I would care to admit. A hero would have at least brought victory after resorting to the depths I did.”Izayoi drew herself up, staring Robin dead in the eyes.
”If you must take a lesson from me, remember this: nothing of what we do matters in the end should we fail. Death was and is a preferable alternative.”Robin hesitated a moment. She hadn’t intended to touch upon those topics, as she didn’t even really know how to address them herself.
But when it came down to it, despite her own desires—
“It’s not that I was seeing you merely as a ‘hero’,” she began. Though her feelings on the topic of heroes were quite evident(and so, for that matter, were Izayoi’s), her appreciation for Izayoi’s come from a different place.
“If I want to reach those heights and take such a title, it goes without saying that I need to hone my skills as sharply as I can,” she continued, “So… so if someone with as much experience as you have, even if your skills need to be honed again, gives me even the faintest praise I feel as if I’m on the right path.”
Addressing the ‘depths’, or the matter of failure, was something Robin still struggled with. Of course she knew. The Limbtaker was hardly an unfamiliar title.
But they were allies now, and the freedom of Osprey was a noble goal.
”If only you’d dodge my blows instead of the subject.” Izayoi sniped, shaking her head.
”Why do you wish to be a ‘hero’ so badly, in any case? Glory? Fame? Self-satisfaction? To aid those in need implies that people are ailing. Suffering.” She’d had her taste of all of the above once upon a time. Needless to say, Izayoi hadn’t been suited to such.
”Self-improvement is a worthy goal for any one person, yet you seek the destination more than the journey. Seek strength, skill, and cunning above all first, then do as you wish.” It was something her master would have said, though he would have been far more…brusque about the matter.
Robin opened her mouth to reply, and then slowly shut it again.
A hero helped people in need, the kind of people who were suffering. That’s why she’d taken down bandits and monsters for the various townsfolk before.
But—
The desire to be a hero specific, what was it for?
It was because of all those stories, wasn’t it?
So what did that mean?
“... Ah, well…” Robin scratched the back of her head awkwardly, “A perfect world probably wouldn’t need heroes, but as long as there’s people suffering, there should be people who should strive to help them.”
And of course, naturally, that meant getting stronger and more skilled. But her eyes were always on her goal no matter what.
Izayoi snorted. A simple answer, to be certain. But it wasn’t one that wasn’t noble. Perhaps the girl really was what she presented herself as. She replaced her bokken onto the rack she took it from, looking back towards Robin with a slightly less cold stare.
”Perhaps. Though you’ll help no one as you are. Clean yourself up and eat something, Lord Hien will likely have information for us soon. And for the love of Etro, do not wear that coat of yours so long as we stand within Osprey’s borders.” Her tone turned strict near the end before she walked off. For all Izayoi had talked, she needed a bath herself after the training session.
Clean herself up…
That’s right, she’d needed to take a bath even more after a training session like that!
And it was only now she realized how hungry she was.
It was time the aspiring hero’s morning routine to continue.
Her coat, though—
Well, as long as she could find something just as fashionable, it was fine.
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