Tsavong Choka: Battle of Brothers

[Mr. Green]

Tsavong awoke long before the sun came up. He had been waiting for this day since before he could remember. He was to come of age today, that also meant the his brother Nas was to come of age as well. Being twins the two knew that they would have to see which one was destined for greatness and which one would fall. Today was the day, when all the answers would be found

Tsavong started the day as he always did, by putting on his masquer. As the creature slithered up his body and melded with his flesh Tsavong felt the most exquisite pain. it was almost as if today the god's were saying that he was better than he has ever been. He could feel every cilia as it entered his flesh and bonded with his body. His nerves were on fire and he felt a connection to the gods. Because he knew that he wouldn't bring the masquer to fight his brother he stripped it off. The masquer coming off was even more glorious then it was going on. Now fully awake Tsavong went and tended to his amphistaff that he had caught only a year ago.

[Mr. Green]

Both Tsavong and Nas had captured their amphistaff's at the same time. As with twins they were always doing things together. They went out to gather supplies, trained, and even slept in the same room. Although after they caught their amphistaff's things began to change.

When they returned to their home their parents were so proud. Their Father said, <You have done well my sons, this is a great day for the Choka household. Now it is time for you to begin your true warrior training. However, you shall not train together this time. I shall be sending you to the two greatest masters, so that you may each learn a different style and develop individuality. For as you know when you come of age you shall have to fight to see which of you was chosen by the gods.> Both of them replied, <Yes, Father!>

And so their training began. Tsavong was sent off to see Master Nom, while Nas went to Master Tahiri. When Tsavong entered the compound where he was supposed to meet Master Nom, but there was no one there. As he entered the center of the compound he heard a voice, <In order to train with me, you must find me first.>

[Mr. Green]

Tsavong was a little confused by the statement but began to search. As he did he heard a voice, <How can you win a fight if you can't even find your opponent?> Tsavong began to look harder and harder but could find no trace of Master Nom. <Stop using just your eyes boy, they can let you down. Now find me!> Tsavong then paused in the middle of the Compound and closed his eyes. He heard a faint rustling to his right but still waited because it could just be the trees outside the compound. He caught an unfamiliar scent off to his right as well so he began to head in that direction. As he did so the voice came back, <Oh, your getting warmer> Tsavong noticed a slight echo in the voice now. At first he couldn't figure out why that would happen until he thought about it. Master Nom was using a villip to transmit his words so Tsavong wouldn't find the real him. Tsavong now opened his eyes and began to scan the compound. He saw an oblong shadow off to the right of where the voice was coming from and pointed at it. <Found you!> exclaimed Tsavong. As he did so he felt a breath on the back of his neck.

He quickly turned around and found Master Nom standing behind him. Nom replied, <Wow, thats the first time someone figured out my first ruse on their first try. Pretty good kid. I'm impressed, how did you figure it out?> Tsavong said back, <I heard a faint echo in your voice and figured you were using a villip to confuse me.> <Well I am impressed by that and you saw the dummy i had put hiding in that tree.> <Yes Master, I noticed the oblong shadow under the tree and figured you were hiding there. But , where were you hiding?> <Well, we are going to be doing this exercise again so if you find me then you will know.> And with that Tsavong's training began.

[Mr. Green]

Master Nom believed it was very important for any warrior to have stealth. As he said, <It is better to never have your opponent see you until the final blow.> But that was not the only skill he taught Tsavong. For there was the matter of if your opponent manages to find you before you can strike.

<While stealth is a very important tool, it does not always work. For this reason a warrior needs to learn two things. One, how to take down their opponent quickly. Or two, how to make your opponent distracted so you can once again hide. The first skill is the most important skill for a warrior because a warrior who can't fight is not much of a warrior.>

And to this end Tsavong learned the art of combat from Master Nom. It was Nom's belief that a true fight should only last seconds. He taught Tsavong how to overwhelm his opponent and disable or kill him as fast as possible.

[Mr. Green]

One day Master Nom began to teach Tsavong the ways of the hunter. <The true skill a hunter like me has is the ability to counter dodge. This is different from the dodges you have benn taught before. A counter dodge is where you not only dodge the attack but set yourself up for a counter attack as well. The trick is to always dodge into an opponents blows rather than away from them. Now I want you to attack me and I'll show you how it is done.> Tsavong launched a downward strike at Nom. Nom spun off the the left bringing his amphistaff swinging up to Tsavongs neck. <That is a counter dodge, now lets see if you can do the same.> Master Nom drilled the counter dodge into Tsavong's head until it was always what Tsavong did when he was attacked.

[Mr. Green]

Over the course of a year Master Nom taught Tsavong the ways of the hunter. A week before the fated battle with his brother Nom sent Tsavong home to be with his family. Nas was there as well. When the two brothers saw each other they bowed. Nas was the first to speak. <Brother, it is good to see you> <You as well Nas, it is almost time to see which of us is the chosen one> <Yes, it shall truly be a glorious day.>

Tsavong's memoery of the year he spent training faded from his mind as he went to the arena. The fight was to only be with amphistaffs and nothing else. A huge crowd had gathered to see the fated twins battle. Tsavong and Nas stepped out onto the sand and faced each other. <Tsavong, today is the day we have been waiting for. No matter which one of us wins this day, I shall see you on the other side.> <And I shall be waiting for you Nas.> Both brothers turned to the crowd and shouted <Glory to the Choka household!>

[Mr. Green]

And with that the battle had begun. Master Nom refused to tell Tsavong anything about Master Tahiri. For the masters had agreed that their students should not have advantages over each other. So Tsavong probed his brother with a quick jab from his amphistaff. With a deft flick Nas swatted the blow aside and took up a defensive looking stance. Tsavong readied himself and advanced on his brother. He rushed in thinking to overwhelm his brother. He jabbed his brother in the chest which was also swatted aside, he then kept spinning in that direction thinking to do a leg sweep followed by a back slash with the amphistaff. Nas jumped over the leg sweep and brought his staff down on Tsavong's head. Tsavong managed to block the blow only to be kicked in the chest and sent sprawling onto the ground. Nas took up his stance again as Tsavong got up and said, <Well brother you are faster than I thought> <You as well.> Tsavong then began to advance on his brother once again.

[Mr. Green]

Tsavong now knew that his brother was a master of defense, so he was going to have to figure out a way through his defenses. Tsavong traded a few quick blows with Nas, who easily blocked all of them. Tsavong found that his brother preferred to block rather than to dodge blows. He thought to himself, "Maybe I can make his loose his footing." Tsavong readied another assault on his brothers defenses. He did a sideways slash with his amphistaff aimed at his brothers midsection. Nas raised his staff to block the slash only to see his brothers leg coming for his stomach. Nas raised his knee to defend the kick, but was instead met with a fist to the face. Nas fell to the ground and rolled away from the downward stab heading for his chest.

[Mr. Green]

Nas stood and faced his brother, <That was quite the attack brother.> Tsavong's response was to once again go on the offensive. He needed another strategy to beat his brother, and then it came to him. He would use the amphistaff like a whip to get it around his brothers block and prove that he was the destined child. It was going to take a lot of skill to make the staff turn midway through a strike. He launched a couple of low blows at Nas making Nas think he was still trying to get him off his feet. After a few hits had been traded between the twins Tsavong decided that it was time to end it. He swung his staff in an overhand strike at Nas's head. Nas brought up his own staff and placed it in the middle of Tsavong's to minimize the blow.

Tsavong took this as his opportunity and had his amphistaff become snakelike again and swing down to bite Nas. Nas never saw this coming and took the blow right to the center of his forehead. The crowd gasped as they saw that the battle was almost at a close. As Nas lay bleeding on the ground the deadly venom coursing through his veins Tsavong spoke to the whole crowd. <It seems brother that the gods have chosen me today. I shall see you again on the other side,> then Tsavong drove his amphistaff through Nas's heart to give him a clean and honorable death. The crowd was silent for a time then began to cheer for the fated twin had been chosen.