Snow Duel
Contest entry for Pokemon_Random .
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Wearing a long, traditional kimono that trails in the snow, I bow to my rival, my cousin Haku, who also wears a traditional gown himself. Flakes of white drift onto our dark locks. Once, we were the best of friends, inseparable.
However, my father, the lord of Yoshino, died several weeks ago in an accident. As his only child, I should be the one to inherit the title. But the title of ruler has never been handed down to a female before- only to men. The closest male in relation to us is Haku. I'm older though; rule should fall to me.
What does it matter that I was born female? Our council of sages prepared to pass on the symbols of the Kamakura family rule to Haku, but I stopped the ceremony. Yes, this caused outrage, but I would not be stripped of my birthright! The Yoshino lordship title is my right, not Haku's.
And so here we are now. To solve the conflict quickly and quietly, Haku and I are to engage in a battle. Only one can win this duel. We will each be allowed six Pokémon to fight, as well as a single weapon of our choice, and a dagger. The council lays out an array of weapons in front of us. Staffs, daggers, knives, throwing stars, darts, swords, clubs... I have never seen so many weapons in my nineteen years of life. Beside me, Haku's blue eyes are even wider. At just sixteen, there's no way he'd have seen these before. For a moment, I feel a stab of guilt that I will take the lordship from him. Then I remind myself that it was never his to begin with. Still, I elbow him.
"Haku... I'm sorry. This isn't fair. Let's use weapons that force us to use close combat. If you defeat me, I wish to see you." His blue eyes harden.
"Hana, do you think I'm that stupid?" He whispers back harshly. "If I allow you to use close combat, I'll lose for sure!" I shake my head. Haku, that's not what I meant...
"Cousin, please..." I plead. My hand lands on an ornate dagger with a ruby in its hilt. His hand lands on a simpler dagger with a sapphire inlaid instead, then snatch up a bō as well. I reach out for a bō of my own, but my cousin stops me.
"No, Hana, don't go easy on me simply because I'm younger. If I win, it will because I am the more suitable heir with more strength, not because you didn't fight to the fullest. The bō is my best weapon." Both his blue irises and my raspberry eyes find a silver katana. I know what he's thinking. "Choose yours," he finally says, and I nod.
All at once, each of our twelve Pokémon are released onto the snowy field. For Haku, there is a Feraligatr, Scizor, Typhlosion, Ampharos, Crobat, and an Espeon. On my own side are my loyal Blastoise, Dragonite, Charizard, Arcanine, Gyarados, and my Umbreon. Our Umbreon and Espeon are actually twins from the same litter. It may seem unfair to put them against one another, but such is our fate. A sage strikes a gong, and it begins. Feraligatr against Blastoise, Scizor against Dragonite, Typhlosion versus Charizard, Arcanine and Ampharos, Crobat and Gyarados, and finally our twin Pokémon. Several of the pairs fly high up into the gray sky, while others battle it out in the snow. Haku is shouting commands at his Pokémon, while I blank out everything but the battle at hand. Calmly, I state orders, my voice cutting clearly through the snowy wind.
"Blastoise! Hydro pump! Dragonite, Fire Blast! Charizard, outrage! Arcanine, use flare blitz! Gyarados, Aqua Jet! Umbreon, my friend! Use your best Dark Pulse!"
Soon enough, our Pokémon tire. The first of Haku's to fall is his Scizor. It's to be expected. The bug/steel combination cannot compete with the fire attacks of Dragonite. However, my Arcanine becomes weak soon after being hit by an Earthquake caused by Typhlosion, and an air cutter from Crobat takes him out. A bit ticked off, I shout to Gyarados, "use thunderbolt!" The stream of electricity lands upon the already weakened fire type and poison/flying type, who then collapses.
Hours later, the battle still ensues. Sweat is rolling down my forehead, and I can see that Haku is experiencing this same anticipation. Thankfully, only his Feraligatr and my Blastoise remain, as well as our eeveelutions. With a final dark pulse combined with beat up from Umbreon, Haku's Espeon faints. My Umbreon wobbles though, and falls as well. "Umbreon?!" Haku's quiet voice carries across the field.
"Both of them were tired, Hana. True, Umbreon had the advantage, but they both have about the same amount of energy. You exhausted him."
"Shut up!" I shout. It's one on one now. If Blastoise goes down, then it will be Haku and Feraligatr against me. Those are the rules of this Pokémon battle. I cannot lose.
"Blastoise! Use Hail!" Hard, tiny ice particles begin to fall. Haku's mouth curls up a little.
"Hail? Don't you know that that will hurt both of them?" I nod. "Then allow me. Feraligatr, use Hail as well!" In an instant, the amount of ice doubles, and becomes more intense as well. The shards are larger and sharper. They catch and slice my kimono. Haku is also being cut by the ice; a gash runs across his forehead and his sash.
"Now use Superpower!" The attack slams into Blastoise, sending him flying across the field. He gets backs up though, and slams into the crocodile with Revenge.
"Blastoise! Ice Beam!" His ice Ice Beam is exchanged with Ice Fang.
"Hydro Cannon!" Haku shouts. The strongest water attack.... If it hits, Blastoise will surely be defeated unless he can avoid it. But I know his Feraligatr well. He won't miss. Therefore I can only do one thing, and hope our efforts aren't a waste.
"You too! Hydro Cannon!" Both Haku's Feraligatr and my Blastoise begin glowing a faint blue hue. Each of them release this pent up energy at the same moment, the streaming torrents of water rushing at each other. They collided a loud Crack! and an explosion of snow erupted, the force sending me flying backwards and blinding me.
The white powder settlesas Haku and I get to our feet, and our Pokemon are still spewing water. As droplets fly off though, they quickly to turn to snow thanks to the cold environment we began with and the even icier weather the two of us created. That must've been what caused the snow explosion.
"Keep going!" I shout encouragingly to the large turtle Pokémon. "You can do it!" He nods quickly and the water surges more quickly. Haku does the same for Feraligatr, only with a softer tone.
"My friend, I believe in you. Do it for us, please!" Feraligatr too increases his power output.
Haku and I both know deep down, that our Pokémon have the same strength. We trained them together, along with the rest of our other Pokémon. And like the others, Blastoise and Feraligatr will exhaust each other until only one stands. Yet they are both so loyal, that they will continue fighting until the stars come across their eyes. I lock eyes with Haku across the snowy field. His blue eyes watch me just as much as the battle before us. We both know how this will end.
And I'm right. After what seems like a lifetime of both Pokémon firing the highly pressurized water at one another, and the water being suspended because of the opposing forces from each, both collapse in the snow. The instant they both fall, the water collides and creates an explosion of snow much more powerful than before. Only, this time I hold my ground. As soon as the snow settles, I'm immediately by Blastoise's side. Haku is with his Feraligatr. Blastoise looks up at me with defeated eyes. I'm sorry, he seems to say. I tried my best. I wrap my arms around the giant turtle's shell.
"You did your best," I murmur. "Great job." I can't get mad at him for losing, not when the two are equal matches. At the very least, I'm just very happy that while he collapsed, Feraligatr also collapsed so the true test may begin.
As they are defeated, Feraligatr moves sluggishly back far behind Haku, and Blastoise limps behind me. They won't be allowed to interfere with the battle now. It's only Haku and I.
My cousin and I march towards the center of the snowy field where this battle first began and bow to the other. Both of our ceremonial robes have tears from the hail and have accumulated snow on our shoulders. Snow is caught in the hair of us both. This is a time to show our respect. Once this moment passes, we will fight one another. Haku's sea blue eyes match my red ones. Still holding my gaze, he removes the bō from his back as I take my katana from its sheath on my sash. This is it. A sage slams a mallet into the gong.
Haku and I leap forward, weapons raised. My blade catches on his staff, so I back away to strike again, catching his thigh. The blue and black silk tears and begins to turn red. When he reaches to touch the wound, I slash again at his non-dominant hand, causing a string of curses to fly out of his mouth just before he slams the bō into my knee.
Before I can recover, he swings it again against my shoulder repeatedly. A burning sensation flares as my shoulder screams in pain, but I force myself up and slice his cheek. He in return smashes his staff into my stomach, leaving me gasping for my breath in the snow. Thinking that it's over, Haku stands over me.
"It's over Hana..." I grit my teeth and reach into my sash for my dagger.
"Not if I have anything to do with it," I say through clenched teeth as I take the blade across the back of both of his legs and elbow him down into the snow. He screams as he falls, and the pure snow becomes tainted. Likewise, both my blades are stained with his blood. I walk away to give him a moment, but his hand grabs my ankle, pulling me down into the snow with him. He scrapes his own dagger across my neck. My hand flies up immediately. It's bleeding a lot, but thank Arceus it wasn't all that deep. Furious, I hit him with the flat of my katana's blade and become free.
Again and again, we fight. Each of us takes many hits from the other, and both of us stain the snow with our own blood. Several slices have Haku bleeding in many places. I have goose eggs in three places on my head where he hit me with the bō. Each time he did, I had to fight to remain conscious. I'm also sporting slashes from his dagger. Each of us is gasping for breath, we're both exhausted. I swing my katana in an arc over my head, severing his sash from his robe before I I slash at the hand holding the weapon. He shouts a cry of pain as he drops the bō. Before he can retrieve it, I kick it out of his range and step on his hand, causing him to grunt in pain. I use my other foot to kick the dagger out of his hand, sending it skittering into a deep patch of snow. Now I force him onto his back into the snow as I hold the dagger at his neck and the katana wear he can still see it.
"Haku, it's over. I'm the rightful heir, and you know it." The determination fades from those eyes.
"I know. I had no right to the lordship."
"So why did you?"
"Would you stop talking and finish him already, Kamakura Hana?! Do you want the lordship or not?!" The eldest sage shouts. My dagger remains wear it is at Haku's throat.
"You heard him, Hana," he says quietly. "Finish this and claim your birth right." My eyes widen. Kill him? Nobody ever said that I'd need to kill him- only defeat him!
"What do you mean?! I've defeated you, I don't need to kill you!" His eyes pierce mine.
"Did they not explain the rules, Cousin? To truly win, you must kill the loser. Go on now, do it. You are stronger, we knew already. Now prove it to the council with my blood."
"NO!" A gasp from the council is heard, but that soon becomes white noise in my ears. For a few moments, the young man in front of me is not my rival to the throne. He isn't my competitor, nor is he a threat to my life. Nor is he an opposer wearing a Kamakura ceremonial gown. For these moments, I see a young, sixteen year old boy with defeated eyes filled with fear, as well as knowledge of the inevitable. He is exhausted, battered, and bloody. In this instant, he is no longer a threat. He is my cousin, my own blood.
And yet I'm still standing over him with a dagger pressed to his throat, and another blade with his blood in it. That instant, I throw each of my weapons to the side and embrace my younger relative.
Why did we need to fight this way? Couldn't the same result have been achieved with only our Pokémon? I cannot believe I was so desperate to rule that I'd hurt him, my best friend, my family. Sobs catch in my throat."I'm so, so sorry...!" I then help him up.
"I'm not going to kill you." The moment I say that, light returns to his eyes and he stares at me for a moment, shocked. Next thing I know, Haku's thrown his arms around me.
"Thank you, Hana. You are the rightful heir," he whispers so only I can hear.
Approaching us are a very angry council of sages, but let them come. I return the bō to Haku and take up my own blade and we stand back to back. Our Pokémon from the sides come to join us on the ice as well.
My cousin always had my back. As did my Pokemon. I was wrong in thinking that Haku was the enemy. No, I was far wrong. The true enemy, is the laws of Yoshino that restrict my actions and shove duties onto Haku that aren't his. The true enemies are the men who make those laws.
I understand now why they forced Haku and I to fight. Though he is younger, Haku is a genius. Literally, a complete genius. His mind is his most powerful asset, but he is also capable of fighting. I am physically strong, but I'm not completely stupid either. Together, we cover the weaknesses of each other. Perhaps the council saw this, perhaps they saw that they would not be able to claim control as long as both of us were still standing.
Haku's breath catches. As the sages come closer, I can now see that they all brandish small blades. They planned this ambush.
"Get ready, Haku," I mumble. He nods slightly.
The moment the first sage throws the first blade is the moment that we, Kamakura Hana and Kamakura Haku, fight back against the council for what is rightfully ours; something we'd been blind to believe we still held.
This day, during the falling snow, is the day that rule of the Yoshino Province returns to the Kamakura family.
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Ugh, I butchered this so badly.... Good luck to everyone in my group. I know you all will surely score much better than myself.
My heart just wasn't in this one shot.... I really need to chill, but two contests at the same time really isn't the greatest idea....
Another note though: Yoshino is the Japanese name of Cherrygrove City. Since this is a slightly feudal era, I called the area the Yoshino Province.
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