1227/A Second Meeting

A Second Meeting
Date of Scene:	29 December 2014
Location:	Land of Steel
Synopsis:	Dominic seeks advice from a very strange source on how he should grow as a swordsman. Avenger teaches him a valuable lesson in growth.
Cast of Characters:	655, 662

---

Dominic Masoch (655) has posed:
Dominic has once more returned to the desolate and empty wastelands of this iteration of Gaia. The last time he was here, he had nearly lost his life to a swordsman far above his level of skill and ability. A terrifying experience, but one that opened his eyes to the things the Extraverse could /truly/ teach him.

The teenage boy in him is terrified that this could go wrong, but the swordsman in him has a primal and undeniable need to improve his abilities. And one managed to override the other in sheer desire and want.

He's not wearing his explorer pack this time. Nor is he wearing his rapier. He has a katana in his hand, plain-forged steel and likely borrowed from the Samurai training rooms at his campus. He doesn't know how to find Sasaki Kojirou, for it was the swordsman who found HIM first last time.

So he simply shouts, "I HAVE RETURNED, SWORDSMAN!"

And then he stands and waits, regardless of the time it will take for his presence to be noted.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     "So you have," comes the patient reply almost immediately behind Dominic.

     The twitching tattoos of Kojirou shift along his form as he drops out of Presence Concealment. The black sigils in his violet eyes dance as he looks over at Dominic, as if in thought. "Have you grown comfortable enough with killing to satisfy me? I warn you - if you aren't prepared and you challenge me again, I will kill you this time."

     Kojirou doesn't bother drawing his blade. His hands vanish inside his hakama as he watches Dominic. Occasionally, his eyes dart to the side, in the direction Dominic might remember the city to be in. Beyond that, Kojirou makes no motion - his body language, his attitude, his smile, it's all so serene he might as well not exist. Like an observer watching the world go by, Kojiou is still and without presence.

Dominic Masoch (655) has posed:
"I have not," Dominic says seriously, despite the sword he's holding in his hand. He isn't that surprised this time by the appearance, because he knew it was coming. It's still an unsettling ability, though. He takes a deep breath.

Dominic slowly turns around, looking Sasaki Kojirou dead in the eyes. He has a level of fear, mostly because he's going to be making a big leap here. He takes a deep breath, "A famous swordsman from my world once said: 'I choose to study the sword, for while rock shatters rock, and mace breaks bone, I believe that blade sharpens blade.'."

"If you wish for an opponent who will satisfy you, I will offer myself, eventually. But you will find no greater opponent than the one you forge yourself."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     "Ah," Kojirou observes as Dominic starts. He doesn't change even slightly - except for his eyes, which meet Dominic's. The eerie black sigils inside those eyes shift slightly, as though they were alive beyond their mere placement on a...human being? The sigils themselves seem to watch Dominic eagerly, apart from Kojirou's own impassive violet gaze.

     Kojirou turns around. "Come here. I don't want to stand out in the open for what might be a lengthy conversation. The A-RAYs have been moving a bit more than I'd like, and I'd rather give this my full attention. I have a blanket inside a cave. We'll go there."

     He turns, and starts walking. Again, he leaves no footprints - but this time, he doesn't simply vanish or fade away or whatever it is he did last time.

Dominic Masoch (655) has posed:
"I agree," Dominic says in a neutral tone. It's mostly meant to hide the uncertainty of his desire to actually follow Kojirou away from the Warp Gate and into a cave. This is how about 90% of explorers die and never get found.

The way those markings move, and especially the ones in his eyes, are truly unsettling. He shudders mentally. The pictures he had shown the Light Warriors gave no justice to how truly unsettling this phenomenon was in person. He follows silently after the Servant that leaves no footprints.

The sword is gripped tightly in his hands.

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou doesn't look over his shoulder as they walk. As Dominic grips his sword tightly, however, Kojirou stops, a brief smile crossing his face. He tilts his head back, letting his eye meet Dominic's.

     "Your caution is to be commended. But if I want to kill you, I will tell you so before I do it. I'm not the type to stab a man in the back when I could enjoy his death."

     Then he turns back, eyes-front and keeps walking.

     It's not long until they reach Kojirou's cave. Kojirou brushes the rock in front of it out of the way, revealing the black opening. It has no signs of inhabitance, which is probably intentional. It's also quite a bit deeper than Dominic would probably like, and completely unlit. Kojirou enters first, apparently accustomed to the dark, and waits until Dominic is inside to close the rock behind him as casually as a man might shut a door.

     The boulder's size is no inhibitor.

     Still unhindered by the darkness, Kojirou moves deftly around Dominic and takes a seat - though Dominic hears nothing and sees nothing, unless he's brought a light of his own. There's the sound of a cork popping off a bottle, and then liquid sloshing into a cup.

     "Sit and have a drink," Kojirou declares, "We'll start there."

Dominic Masoch (655) has posed:
Dominic does not have a reply to the reassurance from the man, though he is inclined to believe him about it. Accordingly, his grip on the blade he holds is lessened and he nods his head slightly. He then follows on in silence, eventually sitting when asked to do so.

Dominic has had alcohol before, but mostly wine at formal events, or occasionally hard liquor when his father was feeling particularly celebratory over a tournament victory or a new acquisition through the company. He sniffs at the glass several times before taking a sip from it, not so naive as to try to drink it all at once.

"I thank you for the drink, Sir Kojirou." He notes, holding it in his hand politely and waiting for the talking part to begin, "I will understand if you decline my request."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     "Why do you want to learn to kill?"

     Kojirou wastes no time. The moment Dominic has taken a sip, the words are out of Kojirou's mouth, flashing through the pitch black like a flying dagger. They are neither accusatory, nor judgemental, nor anything beyond an observation, however; the words come with a mismatched, eerie serenity that hangs off them like icicles from a ledge, the same mismatched serenity that clings to Kojirou with every step.

Dominic Masoch (655) has posed:
Those words that fly across the room like a dagger are easily parried in a simple tone from Dominic. Judging by the cadence and the practiced way in which he says it, he at least thought far enough ahead to anticipate this singular question, "I do not wish to learn to kill."

"I wish to learn swordsmanship. I believe there is a difference," He takes another simple sip of the drink and his next words are more honest and eased in tone from his more practiced opening line, "I only took my first life very recently to protect another's life. That life hangs heavy with me, but it also woke me up to my own naivety."

"Swordsmanship, the study of the blade and its techniques, that is what I seek. If it is used to kill, that is unfortunate. But I wish to grow stronger so I can help my friends when they need me, even if that means taking a life. That is what I want to learn. The art of killing is not swordsmanship, but swordsmanship can be used to kill."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou is silent for a moment. He sips from his sake in that silence, in that darkness, unhurried by the world. He takes everything at his own pace, after all, and this is no exception. No, moreso. This is an important decision.

     "Why does it hang heavy with you?" Kojirou finally asks. "Why does the life of a man mean anything more than the life of a sparrow? By what criteria did you decide that it would bother you to kill a man before you struck him down?"

Dominic Masoch (655) has posed:
"Because it was the first blood I ever spilled, I suppose, from another man. And because it was a woman. She came at me with a knife, and I simply ended her life as if it were a game," He says in a very heavy tone, watching the man as he sips his drink. Dominic has thought a lot about that woman.

"I cannot speak to the life of a man versus that of a sparrow. Or of any monster," His sword is out of his hand and laying next to him non-threateningly, "I never wish to become comfortable with killing, but I wish for it to not make me a liability to my Prince and my friends."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     "And yet you dwell on it. You hold a weapon, but you treat it like a game. It makes you uncomfortable because you are aware of this. Your blade has a point. Your blade is sharp. It's not meant for dancing and playing. It's meant for fighting and killing."

     Kojirou goes silent again, like he's mulling something over. "Well, it's not for me to judge," he decides finally.

     "You want to learn my style, then." Kojirou finally cuts to the heart of the matter. "You want to learn my techniques and go as far as you can, and perhaps one day surpass me, as students do."

     "And as you learn them, you want to avoid becoming like me. You want to walk your own path, and take your cues from mine, rather than follow in my footsteps, because you disagree with my methods, even though you can see the rewards."

Dominic Masoch (655) has posed:
"You misunderstand me on one singular point," Dominic says in a very, very tentative fashion, as if correcting Kojirou may overstep his bounds, "I no longer view this as a game, and my blade as a toy. Rather, I wish to become so skilled that killing is no longer necessary," He takes a sip of his drink, "This means I MUST learn to kill, for my desire to not do so requires I absolutely master it. Perhaps a foolish task to attempt, but it is one I have chosen."

In the simplest explanation: He wants to become so good with a blade that he no longer HAS to kill. This, of course, requires a very grim task of learning all the ways TO kill, so they can be subverted by a master.

"As for the rest, you are correct, more or less."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     "That's very arrogant," Kojirou decides finally, after another long stretch of silence in the darkness.

     "For such a level of skill to exist, you must be better than every other opponent. While that in itself is a lofty goal, your reasoning is arrogant beyond recognition. To imagine that you can be so good, killing is never again necessary, is to say the same thing as having complete control over the battlefield."

     "There isn't any such state. There will never come a day when you stand atop the battlefield in perfect control, surpassing all your enemies. That ego will get you killed."

     Kojirou looks off to the side, as if he's listening to something, though unless Dominic can see in the darkness it'd be impossible to tell.

     "A swordsman on the battlefield does what he needs to do to survive. If you need to kill, then kill. Compassion and ego go hand in hand, and ego is a barrier on the road you want to walk."

     "But...it's irrelevant. I'm afraid I don't have a style. I have only one technique, and it isn't something worth learning on its own. It's merely the result of a man chasing a worthless dream. Everything I learned, I learned from that. I haven't ever had a teacher."

     Kojirou sets the cup down. "That is my advice. Find a dream. A hobby. Something impossible, simple, pointless, meaningless...it doesn't matter. Find a dream and follow it wherever it may lead."

Dominic Masoch (655) has posed:
"It is arrogant, that is true. They have many terms for such a person in my world," Dominic says simply, watching the man as he calls him arrogant. For as much as he wants to argue the point, he does not, "I will likely have to some day kill again. And on that day, I would like enough control of myself not to hesitate and put a life in jeopardy like I did for that girl while I fought you," He admits to Kojirou before he sets the cup down too.

"If nothing else, I have at least learned one thing today," He says firmly, "We disagree on what it means to wield a sword. And what it means to master one." He doesn't say this like it's a bad thing. Rather, like it is a very good thing, "It will make the day when we fight again all the more interesting."

"I look forward to seeing your technique. Perhaps you will be surprised on that day," He notes, looking down at his gloved hands, "For now... for a dream... I think it shall simply be to travel this Extraverse, meet its swordmasters, and see what they can teach me."

"I thank you for your time, Sasaki Kojirou."

Fake Avenger (662) has posed:
     Kojirou stands. He rolls aside the boulder with a casual motion again, letting light flood back into the cave.

     "Very well. I look forward to seeing what you can become, so I'll give you a bit more advice, then I recommend this."

     "Discard the notion of masters and students. Discard the idea of learning from others. The road another man walks is never the road you should walk. Unlearn what you know. Discard your training. Throw away your skill, and return to nothing. In doing so, discard your ego, your preconceptions, your understanding of what swordsmanship is."

     "Then take up your sword and swing it for the joy of swinging it. Keep swinging it, no matter what lies in your path." Kojirou tilts his head back as he steps out into the sun and drains the sake cup. "Keep swinging through until you reach mastery. Keep swinging, in a way that makes you comfortable, in a way that makes you happy, in a way that makes you feel something other than just the weight of the lives you'll take."

     "Then, when we fight, I'll show you my Tsubame Gaeshi, and you'll be able to understand why I can't teach it. And you'll show me what truth you discover on the path you've found."

     "I'll look forward to seeing our truths clash."