leek in a duel but it goes horribly wrong
"Ah, so the heir finally decides to show his face again!" A green-haired samurai playfully jeered. From the branch he was perched upon, Leek gazed down at the heir to the House of Raspberry. He's been coming back to this very tree day after day, waiting for the heir's inevitable return. "What took you so long? For someone who goes on and on about being punctual, you certainly don't seem to have it yourself!" These teases were typical for the two of them, though it seems Mousse wasn't entirely planning on laughing with him. Leek's laugh faded with a tinge of awkwardness at the end.
Leaping down from his branch, the warrior inquisitively stared at the royal. The golden armor he adorned, the roll-like strands of hair that hung down, the red that glowed from his weapon... Huh. This was certainly an upgrade from the usual. And Leek had to admit, as much as he was for personality over aesthetics... He quite liked this new look. "Did you get promoted to be a part of the royal guard or somethin'? I've never seen you in such fancy attire before!" And yet, his attempts to start a conversation were met with nothing more than silent breaths from the heir. Leek paused and averted his gaze from Raspberry for a moment, before clearing his throat and approaching, still trying to keep a grin on his face. "C'mon now, Raspy, you don't have to give me the silent treatment, y'know! We're sparring buddies! Well, uh, more than that... But you know what I mean!"
Though he was approaching slowly, the samurai was stopped in his tracks as the blade was raised towards him. Backtracking a few steps, Leek surveyed his partner (in battle)'s expression. It was stolid even for Mousse's standards, to say the least. "You mad?" The green onion inquired, taking ahold of the blade always kept by his side. "If you need to blow off some steam with a battle, you can just tell me! Gotta be honest and open if we're gonna be as close as we are, yea?" With his blade unsheathing, Leek held it next to the heir's, the smile becoming somewhat shakey. "I know you get quiet when you're angry... Either that or you yell your head off... So let's help you out with that, huh?"
"The only one who will have their head off will be you, unworthy heir."
And thus the two locked blades. Leek immediately pushed back, using his swiftness to his advantage and gaining height with a quick grab and swing of a branch. "What was that about?!" He blurted in mild shock, staring down at the royal who stared back with no visible expression and a readied blade. "We always have a count-off! You can't just- Augh-!"
There wasn't much time to react, much less than before! Leek ducked down, narrowly avoiding a jumping strike from Mousse. He nearly lost balance on his branch, which didn't help that the guardsman seemed to have just as much experience with the forest as he did. Jumping from one tree limb to another, Leek was narrowly avoiding perilous falls and equally dangerous strikes. Though the samurai wasn't well versed in all the places that were fatal to strike, he had a despairing feeling that those places were exactly where Mousse was aiming for! And that red trail he left with each moment didn't bode well in Leek's mind, either!
"What is going on- What is going on with you?!" He desperately wished for an answer, though upon hearing a crack in the branch below him, any answer would have been drowned out by the screaming the questioner gave. Sure, there was another branch to latch onto and swing away from another attack with, but playing the dodgy and defensive wasn't going to last him forever. "Please, Raspy, you can't just leave me in silence! Isn't that something with your knightly honor code or whatever it is?!" Leek took in a quick breath, locking blades with the assailant and praying that he'd have enough balance to keep himself from falling back.
These prayers, with a flash of red across the warrior's vision, would not be answered.
Leek fell back, losing grip on his sword as his body tumbled down from the perch he had, hitting a few others that would jab into his body on the way to the ground. The grass crunched beneath him as his body fell with a heavy thud and a few cracks. Agh... How many bones had he broken just then? The stinging pain that jolted through him didn't dull, but only grew as his body tensed in response to the sounds of more grass being trampled upon by Mousse. He raised his gaze, hissing and silently grunting at the pain that continued to shoot through his nerves. "Why..." he began, gaze narrowing at the other. The haze of red hadn't left, which didn't help his sight of the other... Who didn't seem intent on looking back? "Why are you being so... So aggressive?! I know you- you like winning, yea, but this is too far- even for you...!"
"It is how one must be to proclaim dominance in the realm of royalty. Not even love will persevere past the force of pure rage."
"I don't... I don't understand, Raspy... What do you mea-"
A deft slice of a blade through flesh left Leek's voice unable to continue. Vocal cords severed, all he could do was choke on his own words... And the bright red fluid that came through such grievous injury. And though such a sight was one to horrify many, the heir to the House of Raspberry... Smiled. Starting small, but ever-growing, much akin to the glow of their blade amid the darkening forest atmosphere. "Perhaps if you were not a part of some league of power, things wouldn't have come to this... And yet, here we are..." Mousse spoke lowly, and though his smile remained, pinprick tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. Regretful? Remorseful? Whatever they were, they stopped nothing.
In the silent breeze of the forest, the metallic showing of a tainted weapon once again cut through a victim. Accompanied by a quiet thud of lifelessness, the body before Mousse finally left the mortal coil it had clung onto. It was with a shaking breath that the heir turned himself away from the corpse of Leek, his cheeks beginning to ache from being forced into such an uncontrollable grin.
"...Blessed be to the most powerful house in all of Earthbread."
