[Day 4] Epee Round 3: Pine vs. Chastmen

tobias {♔} pine

By some streak of luck or chance I had come out triumphant over Elya Johnwayne, and I was just as surprised about the matter as was everyone else. She was known for ferocity and for being the strong sister of deceased Dan Johnwayne, whereas I was not known at all, my only defining factor being the last name that tagged along behind my first. Pine, what awful baggage to carry. We had lost a family member yes, and I suppose we were expected to cling to each other with every ounce of emotion that we had left, but the fact of the matter was that we had none left to give. We didn’t really care about each other, regardless of an empty hug or pat on the back.

I didn’t love my family, and it was not on the top of my list to do so.

They were a burden, a weight pulling down on the happiness of my heart. “Be more like Ares.” Hanging in my mind like a continuous noose around my neck, and with every thought of his clenched jaw and angry words, it tightened. His death had brought about the release of that rope, and being like Ares in order to be sympathetic towards him would only tie it tighter. It took me long enough to free myself from it, and it was not desirable to backtrack down that path.

It was by chance that I was here, not by skill or fate or destiny.

The name on the screen in front of me displays one that does not catch my attention with anything extraordinary, but I greet the boy in the same way that I did Elya.

“Best of luck, Chastmen. Though I'm not sure if you’ll need it or not.”

If he didn’t want it, I would most certainly take it, for I needed all the help I could get.

tobias {♔} pine

The kid couldn’t be more than twelve—thirteen at most, and yet he matched my strength with ease. He had fire and drive, two things I severely lacked. Yet, despite my knowing of these issues, I had no motivation to fix them. When the match had started, I had used the element of surprise to get the first strike, and somewhere in the confusion I had managed to get four points against the boy, but now the field was level and both of us were fully alert.

I’m sure I looked a bully, my eighteen years of life showing themselves further in my own physique rather than that of the young boy, whose voice had yet to crack or show any signs of hitting adulthood. This should be easy, like taking candy from a baby, considering he was basically one.

“The same to you; may the truly worthy fencer emerge victorious.”

There’s something simplistically naïve in his tone, though the caliber of his words are grown up and nothing short of mature. He thought of the world in winners and losers, but really, no one’s ever really a winner.

“Kid, no one’s really ever worthy.”

I guess that meant that there were no losers either.

tobias {♔} pine

There’s a type of mentality that floats about district two, rather it’s in the hustle and bustle of the upper class or in the lowly whispers of those that aren’t so lucky: that mentality derives from the fact that district two as a whole believes that it happens to be entitled to something, when really, the world doesn’t owe us anything. District two isn’t looked upon with any more favor than the rest of the universe, and this kid, this boy with no knowledge of the outside world, thought he meant something to it.

No one meant anything, in the end.

“You know that's not true right? If no one was ever worthy then everyone would survive and no one would die. Everyone would be rich and happy, but not everyone is. Now think again about your answer as to whether anyone is worthy.”

I’m about to open my mouth and speak again, but he continues without giving me a moment to spare.

“Oh by the way do not forget just because you are eighteen doesn't mean you’re not still a kid too. You can get reaped still just as I can and that is how you know you are still a kid, just like me.”

It’s hard to tell whether his belief in a better world is something to smile at or despise. However, I’m leaning towards the latter, and a sympathetic smile crosses my face as I let the silence proceed my words.

“The world’s not made of just winners and losers. This isn’t a world of black and white, for there’s shades of grey every which way you look, and kid, you happen to be caught right in the middle of one. Turn around and look at the world from a different perspective next time; you might just catch something you didn’t the first time around.”

I wasn’t a loser; yet I sure wasn’t a winner, so I must be caught somewhere in between.

tobias {♔} pine

He’s matching my pace evenly, despite the fact that the pace I’ve set isn’t really even a pace at all, but rather a fluctuation in multiple touches to barely any at all. It was similar to my match with Elya the day before, and for multiple times we had mirrored each other, only my picture was a bit sloppier and much less thought out. This was a little bit of a downplay to that, and while our scores were exceptionally close, within a point, I had managed to be on the positive side of the rift, and I was hoping that maybe this one time, I would stay there. My longing for victory wasn’t for glory or fame, as my mother and father would wish, but to teach this kid a lesson he wouldn’t soon forget, for it’s during our times of fame and fortune that we are humbled the most, and this boy has climbed a bit too far up the totem pole for my liking.

“You keep up well, but you’re going to have to push a little harder and dig a little deeper to catch the win you’ve so dutifully talked about.”

This wouldn’t be a victory for myself or the memory of Ares Pine, no, this would be to the benefit of a boy who needed to be put in his place.

tobias {♔} pine

Ares Pine told me that I had inherited the strength and dignity that ran though his veins. He told me that with the name “Pine” came a drive and passion that couldn’t be matched by any other family of prominence in district two (Blackmore’s included). Of course, this wasn’t said in a supportive manner, but with my own back pressed against the cold wall of the training center, my breath caught in my throat as his frame towered over my own. I wasn’t small by any means, though it seemed as if I couldn’t be taller than a foot, able to be stomped out with ease.

He had tried, then, to push me back into another round of maneuvers, however, my focus had been broken and my mind had then lacked any ability to keep from shutting down, and he called out commands in his steady, barking tone, yet I couldn’t process even the simplest of these. I had fumbled awkwardly, flinging myself randomly in his direction without any thought to aim.

He had stopped me on a dime, pulling the sword from my hand and tossing it aside, my attention slowly turning around at the concurrent time of my sword hitting the linoleum and his hands grasping my shoulders and shaking me until I saw nothing but stars.

“Tobias— ”

A voice rang out loud and clear, yet the tone which spoke it was differing to the point of which my mind snapped back into processing the details of my current surroundings. The boy had managed to score another two points, and again our scores were once again closer than I would deem comfortable. This would no longer be a stalemate—no, we would not sit in shades of gray any longer.

This was the time in which the world would flicker to the definite consolation that a black and white world would bring.