not again » zenitsu

[unfriendliest]

Comments

[swordflash]

Shokudaikiri . . .

Your former master is from the Date clan, right?

[unfriendliest]

[ a nod. ]

Date Masamune was my most well-known master. I served his clan for centuries after he died.

[swordflash]

Looking like you do now?

[ he never understood this part. ]

[unfriendliest]

...No. I was just the sword, back then. I've only had this form for about two years now.

[swordflash]

How did that happen?

[unfriendliest]

[ hm. ]

How much do you know about tsukumogami?

[swordflash]

That's what you are? Your master must've been shocked.

[unfriendliest]

Mm, that's what we are. Until recently, that's all we were - but our current master knew that, when they summoned us. I'm not sure how their magic gives us these forms, exactly, but without it, I would still be just a sword and its spirit.

[ I THOUGHT I HIT POST BUT APPARENTLY FORGOT I'M SORRY JAE ]

[swordflash]

[ it was deliberate, then. that piques his curiosity. ]

So why were you summoned? Can't your master just wield you on their own?

[unfriendliest]

Theoretically, yes. In practice, I'm not so sure. They're a sage, not a warrior, and our enemy has enough numbers that one human won't make a difference. We make better soldiers than humans - easier to repair, easier to replace, and we have connections to those the Revisionists target, which give us an extra incentive to succeed.

[ it's all delivered emotionlessly, like a bland field report to explain that everything is normal, nothing of note. ]

They're meant to be our commander, not a foot soldier. And the commander doesn't usually take the field with their troops.

[swordflash]

[ oh. yes, that makes sense. he won't contest something so obvious, though this place sure has a lot of weapons roaming around on two feet. ]

Who are the Revisionists?

[unfriendliest]

The Time Retrograde Army - history revisionists. Their goal is to change key events in order to alter the flow of history to how they want it.

Our job, as sword warriors, is to protect the flow of history and keep the timeline intact.

[swordflash]

The flow of history . . .

[ summoning the spirits of swords to battle time-traveling fanatics—can ookurikara's life be any stranger? ]

There sure are all kinds of jobs out there.

[unfriendliest]

[ kara shrugs. ]

A mission is a mission.

[swordflash]

[ he looks up at the ceiling in thought, almost pensively. ]

I guess you're right.

[unfriendliest]

You don't seem convinced.

[swordflash]

No, you're right.

A job is a job. There's something all of us have to do, and that's yours.

[unfriendliest]

[ hmmmm.

well, alright. kara will leave it. ]

It's better than being in storage, anyway.

[ a tool is no use to anyone when kept in a dark room. ]

[swordflash]

[ subconsciously, his hand slides over to rest on the guard of his sword. ]

Is that how it feels?

[unfriendliest]

[ ...kara doesn't quite follow. ]

What? How what feels?

[swordflash]

My sword was forged to slay demons.

[ he rests it over his lap and draws the blade partway. strange, how the blade took on an ironic pattern instead of adapting to another color entirely. ]

It probably won't be drawn again if demons disappear or I die before that happens.

[ if it's the former, he should be happy to retire as a swordsman. and yet . . . ]

[unfriendliest]

...If it's because the enemy it was forged to fight is gone, then it might be happy with that.

[ might, if it even has a spirit of its own. giyuu hadn't been sure of that, so zenitsu probably isn't, either. but even if it does, it may not be so relieved to outlast its purpose. ]

But no sword is ever glad to see their master die.

[swordflash]

[ what a difficult existence. if they should survive this and he, live to the very end; he'll make sure that this nichirin blade doesn't sit in the darkness, forgotten.

either way, though, the master will die before the sword. ]

It must be hard.

[ being left behind like that. ]

[unfriendliest]

[ kara remains quiet for a long moment. ]

You get used to it.

[swordflash]

[ that doesn't mean it hurts any less.

zenitsu sheaths his sword. ]

You're much stronger than I thought—and you're already plenty strong.