Duel of the Cliffhangers

  Sun. All Ruby could feel was the brutal sun beating down on her. Even though it was te summer, just before autumn, the sun scorched her poor skin. Combined with rotten winding roads, snakes, insects, and the lovely fact she was loaded with heavy tools like a pack mule, her day was going great. In front of her, as they made their way to the other side from Patch, was a team of sappers, pioneers, and wagons, led by Azura at the helm. She had to focus hard to keep moving at the marching pace. Said focus broken as the Mess Wagon trundled alongside, with Yang poking her head out.

  “How you are holding up, Rubes?” Yang asked with a grin.

  “Why do I have to do the heavy lifting!? There’re lmas all over the pce!” Ruby, in a less than charitable mood, shot back. It did not help that a bead of sweat got in her eyes, and she could not get it out with her hands. Which were busy holding up the massive pack of tools.

  “Part of your training, Lady Rose! To carry a heavy burden on the soul, one must be able to carry a heavy burden upon the body!” Azura called from the front. Even if there were only about two dozen people between them, the road stretched long between them.

  “Stupid Mistrali mumbo jumbo…” Ruby grumbled, barely keeping her bance on the rotten road.

  “Look on the plus side, Rubes. This’ll make you even stronger when you’re using Bam’s power. Speaking of which, how’s the view up top, Bam!?” Yang called out to the top of Ruby’s burden, where Bam was perched in his chibified form and resting like a house cat.

  “Most rexing, Lady Yang. The sun is almost too much for this one to stay awake though.” the cat Elemental said through several yawns, curled up on top of the heavy burden of his host.

  “Bam, why can’t you help instead of just being perched up there!?” Ruby called up in exhausted exasperation.

  “Because, dearest fiery maiden, if thou cannot function in one’s basest of states, then how can one stand at the apex?” Bam zily and cryptically asked.

  “I probably can’t give you enough power in that form yet for you to help…” Ruby grumbled as she continued marching with her heavy load on her back.

  “See? You will be as wise as the mountains in no time. Now then, Lady Yang, how is this one’s trout and bowl of milk coming along?” Bam replied, before turning his attention to more… pressing matters.

  “Coming right up, Sir Floofs-A-Lot!” Yang called out as she worked on finishing his trout.

  “This one will tolerate that title, merely because of its accuracy.” Bam said proudly.

  Ruby groaned in frustration as they all kept going. Further up the field, Azura was keeping his head on a swivel. He did like walking down the mountain for once, although with the state of the road, if one could call it that, he did not much like the trip back. Soon his head engineer, carrying most of his tools on him in special cases and satchels, bowed his head to address him.

  “Permission to speak, Lord Azura?” he asked, his voice slightly muffled from a bandana around his face to keep the dust out.

  “Permission granted.” Azura replied, looking back a bit as they kept moving.

  “With what we have avaible for manpower and resources, my lord, combined with a ck of skilled bor, at minimum fixing this stretch will be half a year's work. And I would not recommend sending the cavalry or the bolt throwers down this track.” the engineer said professionally.

  Azura sighed. “I figured that would be the case. We will need to have work begin on it as soon as possible.” he replied, shaking his head.

  “I’m afraid the majority of our resources are still tied up with construction, repair, and recmation work on the other side of Patch, my lord.” the engineer corrected, though with a hint of hesitation.

  “Can this get any worse…?” Azura groaned in frustration, his face in his hand.

  As they reached a ft point on the mountain, they soon found themselves at a wide ravine, at least fifty feet across. The engineer kicked a rock off the side, and soon there was not a sound to be heard outside of the echo of the rock tumbling down, indicating its depth. As the scouting party began to catch up, Ruby took the wrong step. Catching her foot on an outstretched rock, she fell forward, the heavy tools accelerating her drop as she soon hit the dirt. Face first between dirt and her massive pack.

  “Ow… rotten road…” Ruby moaned in pain from under the pack.

  “Please, allow me to help you up, Lady Ruby.” Azura told the silver-eyed girl, kneeling and offering her a hand up.

  “Yes, please…” Ruby groaned, barely able to grab it from the angle she was at.

  “I must say, Lady Ruby, this one is most impressed with your resilience. Most others with thou’s ck of training would have colpsed from exhaustion under such a heavy burden long ago.” Bam praised his vessel from atop the pile.

  Ruby did her best to dust herself off as Azura took the strain. “Thanks, Bam.” Ruby said with a sigh.

  “I must agree with Sir Bam on this, Lady Ruby. You are surprisingly resilient.” Azura praised her with a genuine smile.

  “Well, what can I say? All those years of running from the guards paid off.” Ruby proudly said in response.

  “Not something to be proud of, Rubes!” Yang called out from the cart.

  “They were working for the Golden Nobles!” Ruby shot out at her sister.

  “You still should’ve listened to me and dad!” Yang called back before handing Bam up his trout.

  “Azura, what do you think?” Ruby asked, wanting an outside opinion.

  “I am conflicted. On the one hand, you really should have listened to Sir Taiyang and Lady Yang when they were trying to look out for your wellbeing…” Azura began to say as Yang interrupted.

  “Hah! Told you!” Yang called out as she poured Bam his milk.

  “... But, on the other hand, they should have given you more freedom to grow and find your independence, even if they were simply trying to protect you.” Azura finished, earning a response from Ruby in Yang’s direction.

  “See, Yang? He understands me.” Ruby said with a sly smile.

  “He still agreed with me and dad too!” Yang called out with a gre, handing Bam his saucer of milk.

  “Yes, but he agreed with me more! And complemented me.” Ruby said with a big smile.

  “Make out with your lover ter, Ruby! We’ve got a trek ahead of us still!” Yang teasingly snapped back.

  “H-He is not my lover! How could you accuse me of something like that!?” Ruby snapped; her face red at the accusation.

  “Is that a blush I see, Rubes!?” Yang called out in a teasing tone.

  “No! It's just hot outside!” Ruby shot back, fanning herself with a rag. Though, really, she was trying to convince herself, rather than her stubborn sister.

  Azura blushed a bit himself and shook his head. “That woman, I swear by the Throne of Heaven…” he muttered, trying to calm himself.

  “Milord! I have found a crossing!!” the engineer called from a bit of a distance away.

  Snapping to attention, Azura looked at the engineer with a big, strained smile, clearly welcoming the distraction. “Fantastic! You heard him people! Get moving!” he called out nervously.

  The gaggle of men and beasts moved some forty feet to the east, before meeting with the engineer. To the Mistralians, however, what they saw was not exactly what they thought of as crossing. Stretched across the ravine was a gargantuan bridge made of two thick ropes of an unknown material, with thick pnks of mountain pine connecting them. They could maybe fit a wagon over it, but as it gently swayed a bit in the breeze ever so slightly, the normally impcable eastern warriors' hearts skipped a beat.

  “There likely is another way across elsewhere…” the engineer tried to say but was cut off as Azura firmly put his hand on his officer's shoulder.

  “That will take too long to find. We shall cross here.” Azura told him resolutely.

  “Should we tell them that the bridge is likely hundreds of years old?” Ruby whispered to Yang.

  “Probably a good idea…” Yang whispered back.

  Before they could, they heard a commotion from the other side. Rising up from a track came a group of well-armed and armored mercenaries. Even from here, they could see the bright gold patches that signified their allegiance to the Golden Nobles. Their leader, identified by a big red floppy hat with equally extravagant multicolored feathers, noticed them. His half-pte armor cnked as he walked forward, proudly brandishing his sword and making his codpiece even more visible. Messy brown hair matched light blue eyes, as he wiped his freckled face off with a handkerchief.

  “Halt! By the name of the Golden Nobles, I demand you identify yourselves!” The man called out, the mere smugness in his tone lit Azura’s blood abze.

  “What an overstuffed turkey…” Yang grumbled before Ruby shushed herself.

  “I am Sōtora Azura, one of the twin leaders of the Starbound Tigers! My associates and I wish for passage over this bridge!” Azura called back.

  “... What is that, a minstrel group? Move aside peasants, we haven’t got all day!” the warrior said with an annoyed sneer.

  “How dare you!? We are no minstrel group! We are a band of mercenary warriors from the east! My associates and I are making our way through these parts to improve things for its people, you braindead, greedy oaf!” Azura called back, clearly insulted.

  “Oh, ho, ho! Looks like the kitty’s got bite boys! Did your mother tell you that between rounds at the tavern! Move along, d! There is gold to be won here, and time is money!” the man shot back, twirling his sword a bit.

  “You miserable, money-grubbing mongrel! My mother was no tavern wench! She was a proud dy of the Mistrali courts, and I shall not have you besmirch her good name!” Azura roared over the sound of the wind, stepping forward and drawing one of his bdes.

  “Very well, Blue Wonder! It is time for us to settle this like men! On guard!” he called back, stepping onto the bridge as well, his sword equally ready.

  “Azura, be careful! If the…” Ruby tried to say, but Azura cut her off.

  “The only one who should be careful is that fat, old weasel, Lady Ruby!” Azura called out, holding his shortened ōdachi at the ready.

  “You should listen to your little red strumpet, d! There’s a reason why the Nobles pay me the big sacks of gold. It’s to put upstarts like you down!” the man answered with a sly smirk.

  “Oh, that is it! Now he’s asking for it! Kick his ass, Azura!” Yang roared out in fury.

  “Gdly! I wonder how good this fat rodent will look even more stuffed than he already is!” Azura called back before taking off at high speed, his steps breaking the ground beneath his feet.

  The Golden mercenary took off with surprising speed himself, his bastard sword at the ready. The two met in the middle of the bridge, their swords cshing as the two met. Despite wielding the obvious heavier bde, the Golden mercenary could not overpower Azura. The samurai lord pushed back against him before, to the surprise of the overdressed warrior, overpowering him and pushing him back. Surprised but undeterred, the mercenary swung back with a downward chop to try and split Azura’s head, helm and all. Raising his bde, Azura blocked the blow and used the momentum of the swing to sm the bde of the sword into one of the pnks, sticking it in pce.

  The Golden mercenary tried to pull his sword free only to be met with a knee to the face from Azura. Putting his hand up and catching the knee, the mercenary pushed it back and attempted to punch Azura in his knee only to have his hand caught by Azura’s fist and pulled up. His hand was thrown up as an open hand swung upwards, hitting him in the chin in an uppercutting chop. Stumbling back with the force, he barely pulled his bde free, the tip dragging against the wooden pnks with the sound of metal scraping against hardened wood. Rushing in, Azura went for an upwards ssh in an attempt to slice clean through his foe’s armor only to be blocked with a downward swing of his opponent’s bastard sword.

  Azura deflected the strike, then braced and blocked a horizontal swing from the mercenary as sparks flew from the cshing of their bdes. “Not bad for a fat weasel, old man.” he quipped with a smirk.

  “Old? Perhaps you can get your eyes checked in the pearly gates in the Heavens.” he replied with a smirk as he swung his bde back, spinning with the momentum to bring his bde around for a diagonal ssh across Azura’s chest that the samurai lord blocked.

  Azura dodged the swing and leapt up high, going for a full-strength downward chop aided by the force of gravity. The mercenary warrior brought his bde up and blocked the ssh, the wood beneath his feet creaking as he withstood the force. Kicking off with a boot to the man’s face, Azura unched himself back to recover from his drop before kicking off the bridge at speeds that made the ropes and pnks sway. Dashing in, he cshed with the mercenary’s bastard sword with a horizontal ssh that he barely blocked, the two staring each other down as their smirks reflected in the bdes of each other’s swords.

  Pushing off from each other, the mercenary went for a downward ssh that Azura dodged, the missed blow splitting right through the pnk of wood that had been beneath Azura’s feet as the samurai lord jumped back. Backflipping onto a rope, Azura dashed forward onto the rope and leaped up and over the mercenary’s head, trying to swipe at him mid front flip. The Golden warrior, however, saw the move coming and sshed outward to block, pushing Azura higher as sparks flew from their bdes. Landing behind the man, Azura went for a backward stab that the mercenary dodged before Azura swung upward with his bde in an attempt to take the man’s arm off. The Golden mercenary barely brought his bde up to block with the ft of it as the two pushed against each other, smirks on their faces.

  “That’s not a bad sword you have, d.” The older mercenary said, his grin still present on his face as the two pushed back against each other in a test of strength.

  “Do you like it? Well, you cannot have it. You already have a decent bde of your own.” Azura replied with a smirk of his own as he tried to push harder.

  “Better someone uses it than to leave it rusting down in the ravine with ya’. But, since you spurned my kindness, I’ll spare the rod.” the mercenary cracked back.

  “I was about to say the same. Your bde would be wasted being left forgotten at the bottom of this ravine too.” Azura shot back before pushing off the man, overpowering him again before dashing forward.

  The man dodged three sshes from Azura, one horizontal, one downward left diagonal, and one upward vertical before trying to counter with a ssh of his bde. Sparks flew off the swords as they collided before he went for a horizontal swing that Azura blocked to keep from losing his head. Seeing his opening, the man went for a stab that Azura blocked with the ft of his bde as more sparks came off from his sword while the force of the thrust pushed him back a good distance. Stopping himself in pce, Azura looked up as the man roared in a charge and leapt up to ssh down on him. Leaping aside, Azura nded on top of one of the ropes before kicking off to avoid a horizontal ssh from the man’s bastard sword that would have taken off Azura’s feet at the ankles.

  Sshing at the man mid leap, Azura nicked the man’s hat before nding on the opposite rope. Bancing on the rope, Azura advanced forward while sshing at the man from his higher vantage point, forcing the man to backpedal and block with his bde as Azura fought to maintain his bance. Soon, the man went for another horizontal ssh that Azura leapt over, nding on the bridge with his back to Ruby and the others as he dashed forward. Azura’s foe dashed forward as well, raising his bde as Azura raised his own. The two bdes cshed in a shower of sparks as the two fought to overpower each other. Adjusting their grips, the two swung down and smmed their bdes into one of the wooden pnks between them, splitting it on contact while nicking one of the ropes holding up the bridge as the rope began to weaken.

  “You blithering idiot! You nicked the rope!” he roared in annoyance at his opponent.

  “I nicked the rope!? It was your admittedly nice bde that cut it more than mine!” Azura roared back as the two leapt up when half the bridge gave way, bancing on the one remaining rope.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, but it was that thrice folded beauty of steel that nicked this contemptible old thing! What kind of warrior dies by falling to death!?” he shot back at him with venom.

  “I won’t be, that is for certain!” Azura called back with equal venom as the two continued to csh.

  Sparks flew from their bdes as the two continued to cross swords repeatedly over the ravine, nothing but the rope beneath their feet keeping them from falling to their deaths. The two leaned forward and back with each ssh of their bdes to maintain their bance as their two parties looked on. However, both sides and both combatants knew that the rope would not hold for long under this much weight without its partner for added support. They needed to finish this soon.

  Bit by bit, the rope continued to strain as it tried to hold the two combatants and the bridge up. Every heavy ssh and cng of steel strained the material increasingly. Finally, the two saw that they could not continue their duel as the rope would not st much longer. Breaking off, the two each broke into a run as they headed for their sides of the bridge, trying to make it before it snapped.

  They both rushed towards their respective corners, until finally it snapped. The next step they took felt nothing, gained no purchase, and their heavily armored forms soon began to fall. Azura looked back as the mercenary drove his sword into a rock crevice to try and stop himself. While the sword found purchase, his arms did not. With a horrible snap, he screamed in agony as his arms went limp. With shocking speed, he fell out of sight into the mists below, with only his panicked echoes being heard. It truly was an unwarrior-like death…

  Azura snapped out of his trance as he was not able to get far enough to his own side to perform such a feat. His heart raced as he was forced to reconcile that this would be how he would die. Not saving anyone, not fighting until his st breath, not even holding a mountain pass. But merely falling to death like a clumsy thunder lummox. He only imagined how his ancestors would berate him in the afterlife over such a failure. It was… where did that tree come from?

  His trance of death was broken again as he smmed into the bole of a cedar that had auspiciously grown out of a ravine crack. He let out a cry of pain as the added protection of his armor did not cushion the blow, instead merely amplifying it with his weight. As he y there in agony, he heard someone familiar calling from atop the ravine.

  “Azura!? Are you okay!?” Ruby called from up top.

  “I am all right…! Except for my spine… and my pride…” Azura called back up.

  “Sorry! I tried to catch you with a cotton bush, but that wouldn’t have stopped your fall! Bam taught me how to make pnts grow!!” Ruby called back.

  “This one shall accept your thanks when you get back up, Sir Azura!” Bam called down from next to Ruby.

  Azura could not help but let out a small smile as he y there. Yes, he was in pain. Yes, he nearly fell on his family jewels and that would have really made him feel pain. But he was alive. Sure, the bridge would have to be rebuilt, but, after having fought on it, he realized it likely would have needed maintenance anyway. He could hear them rushing to figure out a way to get him up top. But, after all that, they could take as long as they wanted. As Azura slowly drifted off into a nap, satisfied with his victory for the day.