Dillyweed | Söl / Rial

Söl couldn’t help but to watch from the sidelines as the fight slowly became more and more harsh for their team-mate. Söl wanted to help but there was no way they could do anything. Anytime they tried to move ahead two shadows would stand in front of them. As if they were forbidding them from interacting with the fighters. They could do nothing but watch.
For a moment it did look as if Rial was winning. His face was stone cold as it normally was. No emotions trying to escape. No laugh or fright. Söl was quite amazed. His face constantly betrayed his feelings. If he was scared it was easy to tell from his face. But he doubted that any of them could tell Rials true feelings from his face. The shadows around them, on their seats in the rafters were cheering and chanting. They were screaming for death, screaming for blood, but most loudly, they were screaming for fight. 

Rial didn’t fully understand his feelings. They were tearing him open. They were rushing through him like a tsunami. The emotions still did not reach his face.
“Yes.” A dark voice only Rial could hear spoke to him. His eyes still fixated on the other Courser. The shadowy foe. “Yes. Follow that feeling.” They slowly began fighting harder. Closer. The fight started in the distance. Now they were close. He could feel as his knife slashed into the shadow. He couldn’t feel the shadowy gladiator's knife at all. No matter if it cut into him or not.
“Indulge the feeling.” He wanted to indulge into it. He wanted to understand this feeling that flowed within him.
The shadowy gladiator cut him on his face. He didn’t care. He responded by putting the blade deep into the body of the Shadow creature. It laughed and only he could hear it. It kept repeating to him the same things. They were fighting closer now. They were neck by neck. He loved the feeling. He devoured the feeling. The knife penetrated the shadow and it stopped. He had hit something other than shadowy flesh.

Söl watched as the shadow staggered back. He let out a happy sound. A laugh. They hadn’t been able to hear anything over the happy, eccentric chanting of the shadowy audience. Not that the shadow had been talking to them either way. But now it looked like Rial. A slightly cut up Rial. Was winning. The shadow was staggering backwards with a knife deep in its chest. Rial was panting as he stood looking at it.

Rial looked at the shadow in front of him. It spoke to him. It’s last words. Words only he could hear. Words for only his ears.

“Do you accept me?” The shadow asked. Rial looked at it.
“I accept you.” He intentionally said it so low so that none of the others would hear it.
“I knew I made a good choice.” The shadow started to sink into the sand.  “Long live the shadow.” 

502 words

AberrantKapro | Strohmeier / Senbonzakura

Senbonzakura and Strohmeier both watched as their new party member fought the eerie shadow figure. They wanted to step in to help, to ensure his victory, but they weren't allowed to do so. Every attempt was stopped by shadows appearing before them, they were solid and couldn't be passed, so all they could do was accept it. 

Strohmeier laid down and Micke and Kinka snuggled up by his warm belly, trying their best to relax, despite the loud noises and fighting. They also knew there was nothing they could be done but wait. 

The dark courser frowned as he looked upon the featureless shadow, it was definitely something wildly disturbing about it, but he had no way of figuring it out. At least not right now. 

Senbonzakura was visibly upset that he was denied a fight, it hurt his ego a bit that he was not the one chosen for battle, so despite him being worried for Rial’s well-being he was also pouting. 

He looked over to Söl, who seemed rather distressed, and then to Strohmeier. He walked over, with a shadow hovering next to him to make sure he didn't try to pull anything, and laid down between his two allies. He wished he could rest his head on Strohmeier, but since his armour was spiked, he sadly could not. 

Suddenly, Rial seemed to have dealt a fatal blow to the shadow. The three others almost gasped, they couldn't believe their eyes. Was it finally over? 

247 words