Isstar would be the one who arrived at the arena first. Of course he would. He could barely sleep that night as he thought about the approaching fight, his body plagued with nerves and adrenaline. Although he had been the one to issue the challenge, and he always put up an act of absolute confidence, Isstar was afraid. He hadn’t won many of the sparring matches he had with others, so in a much more serious fight against someone he had never even trained against…
Isstar shook his head, and paced where he initially stood in the centre of the arena. It wasn’t a particularly scheduled match, so not many people were there. But many of those who had come to watch this fight knew that two dragons from the same clan would be fighting each other. After the spectacle that happened between two other dragons not too long prior, interests were piqued. Others had come because they knew the dragons who would be fighting.
Liun Rukt’In, one of the older members of the Rukt’Ins on the island, a social and friendly person.
Isstar Rukt’In, the newest member of the Rukt’Ins on the island, aggressive yet naive.
One was a dragon who had lived for over a century, the other was his copy.
He wore shorts and trainers that would allow him to shift, and allowed him free movement. Isstar debated if he would wear a tank top, but decided he would go without. If this fight was going to be serious, Isstar didn’t doubt any shirt he wore would’ve been ripped to shreds if he decided to wear any. Compared to others had fought in this arena, Isstar could almost be considered unusual. Not because of his build, still toned but certainly a more lean type, but because of his lack of scars. The copy hadn’t lived long enough for that.
The young dragon constantly flexed his fists as he paced, impatient for his opponent to arrive. His eyes fixed on where Liun would enter, his shoulders tensed. This would be the most important fight he would have ever fought in his brief life thus far. His heart pounded, a constant drum in his ears that almost blocked out any noise he heard from the small crowd. The number of people came close to overwhelming the teenager, but he just focused himself on the upcoming fight to keep himself grounded. Isstar just hoped it wouldn’t distract him in this fight, he needed to focus.
Liun entered onto the grounds of the arena with a cold glare. He also hadn’t had the most restful night. A quiet confidence told him that he would win, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Especially in a much more serious fight. The older dragon was far more experienced and stronger, with a greater number of tricks up his sleeve. But the fight wasn’t truly just a fight. It went deeper than that, and Liun felt that would be what was important. In different ways, they hated each other. That would be settled soon.
As he looked around, obviously to avoid looking at his opponent, Liun glanced over the crowd. He wouldn’t be surprised by the lack of numbers, in fact would be thankful, and certainly not by some of the onlookers who sported blue hair. Their culture had always been an aggressive and combative one, so of course several members would want to see two of their own duke it out. Liun had a feeling only a very few would know the weight of the fight. Finally, Liun looked at Isstar, his eyes immediately steeled over. He wouldn’t let himself be as furious as he had been the previous day.
Compared to Isstar, Liun showed much less skin. He wore a black t-shirt, loose jeans and sneakers. Of course, his clothing would allow him to shift as well, but not into a dragon form. Clearly he didn’t seem too concerned by any potential damage. The t-shirt allowed some of the scars on his arms to be visible, although it would be clear that many of them would be old. Except for a few, that Liun would feel every time he looked at the copy in front of him. Along with all of this, Liun held a light blue spear in his right hand. It didn’t look unusual, and innocent enough in its own way, but he held it in a casual way. Isstar wouldn’t underestimate it, and Liun knew that.
Onlookers would be able to see, as clear as day, the resemblance between the pair. Of course it wouldn’t be difficult to guess they were related, since both were dragons with blue hair and the last name Rukt’In. But what would be more uncanny would be the fact their hair was the exact same shade of blue, that the faces were similar, even the ways they held themselves. Of course there would be differences, largely because Isstar was younger.
The two stared at each other for a while, red eyes narrowed as they sized each other up. Sure, there could have been some pre-fight ramble, about why they were right and why they had to fight. Or a last minute understanding, where they decided to cancel the match. But for them, there would be nothing left to say. The first to move would be Isstar, who would sprint at Liun with clenched fists and as close a roar a dragon could get in their human form. Liun was slightly caught off guard, he almost expected for Isstar to hold off for a little longer. But he really would just be coming at him, just like that.
Both dragons were largely creatures of instinct, but Liun had the benefit of experience, and Isstar’s more logical brain hadn’t acquired enough fighting knowledge yet. Liun rapidly spun the spear to slam the end of it into Isstar’s outstretched arm, only a few inches from Liun’s face. Isstar would only really have experience with hand to hand combat, and hadn’t expected the use of the spear as a defensive measure. As Isstar wasn’t steady on his feet, having been relying on the momentum from the sprint to deliver more force to the punch, the blow caused him to spin to the side and almost fall. Rapidly, he was able to plant his feet into the ground.
But as soon as his eyes caught sight of Liun again, the blunt end of the spear was hit right into his abdomen. Isstar couldn’t even react, to block or try and counterattack, as the force of that hit winded him. All Isstar could feel at that immediate moment would be his feet leave the ground, and his body start to fly away from Liun. The blunt pain would only be felt once he landed hard on his back, a few feet away. The younger dragon lay stunned for a moment, his chest heaved as he tried to regain his breath. As he regained some of his senses, he was able to see Liun approach him. Before Liun was able to kick Isstar in the side, the dragon on the ground rolled out of the way and was able to get into a crouched position.
He used that moment to sweep his leg under Liun’s. To Isstar’s surprise, Liun actually went down. Thanks to him being off balance for just a moment, Isstar was able to pull it off. Without thinking, Isstar bunched the muscles in his legs to propel himself into a leap from his crouch. He had been aiming to land on Liun, who seemed stunned, but Isstar would be greeted by Liun rapidly shifting his body around so a kick would grace the leaping teen’s face. Isstar rolled to the side, on the ground again but not as prone as he had been before.
Both took a brief moment to get back onto their feet and to face each other again. Liun didn’t look phased, even after being tripped, while Isstar already looked like his stamina could be dropping. Isstar put his fists up again, despite looking worse for wear. A bruise had already started to form from the stunning attack on his abdomen, along with his forearm and back. Blood trickled down the side of his mouth from a busted lip, and it wouldn’t take an expert to know he would have a black eye soon. But still, the copy would not stay down, even though the battle hadn’t even been that long yet he would already be so haggard.
This time, Liun attacked first. He pulled the arm that held the spear back, then threw it at Isstar. It would be aimed for the teenage dragon’s shoulder, so not to actually lethally injure him, but still cause notable damage. Isstar only adjusted his stance as the spear approached, and by muscle reflex, caught it. The largest source of ‘experience’ the copy had of fighting would be muscle memory acquired from the original. No master of the spear like Liun, Isstar still possessed some skill that had emerged on instinct. He ran at Liun again, spinning the spear in his hands to attack at the older dragon with slashes and jabs. Liun was caught off guard, having expected Isstar to be hit, guard or dodge the spear rather than catch and attack with it. He kept moving back from the teenager, only occasionally did he take the chance to deflect the spear from hitting him directly.
The older dragon noted something, as he jumped back to gain more distance. The first few were clumsy, but even in the very short time the younger dragon held the weapon, he had started wielding it more effectively. It wouldn’t be comparable to Liun, as the copy of his spear skill would have been from his early years with the weapon. Now with distance between them, Liun put his hand out to recall the spear to him. Isstar felt a force that pulled on the spear, and attempted to hang onto it as he planted his feet into the ground. At this rate, he would be prone to attack again, so instead he decided to let go of the spear. Liun couldn’t catch the spear as the tip of it came flying at his outstretched hand, and he quickly stopped the recall to move his arm away. This caused the spear to fly past then plant itself into the wall behind him. Although Liun had successfully disarmed Isstar, the copy had unexpectedly disarmed the original as well.
Isstar breathed heavily, his hands flexed as he observed Liun carefully. He almost couldn’t believe that he had been able to use the spear like that, or to force Liun back. But he felt the more he saw Liun move and fight, the easier himself could as well. Despite the bruising that had rapidly appeared on various parts of his body that screamed at him, he actually felt lighter on his feet. In a way, watching the older version of himself fight would be helping him.
The teen pulled a grin at his opponent, a more cocky look to his face. “So how about that, Liun?! I’m not as much as an arrogant hatchling as you said!” Isstar sneered. His recent advantage had clearly gone to his head.
This caused Liun to roll his eyes and… almost laugh. That was the first time Liun felt something he couldn’t describe as vague hate towards the clone. But he forced himself to maintain a straight face, and still had plenty of anger to glare. Obviously this kid wouldn’t stay down if he kept using these soft tactics, so Liun decided he would bring the big guns out.
As he kept a careful eye on Isstar, Liun started to shift into his partial form. Although his height and build did not change, he became covered in armour. Well, it would be more accurate to say his skin became fused with the armour. His nails became claws, and teeth into fangs. Now, only the bottom half of his face could be seen as the rest would be covered by a helmet. In this form, Liun would be stronger and faster, not to mention that he would have access to tooth and claw.
The look on Isstar’s face dropped as he watched the partial shift. After a stunned moment, he sprinted at Liun to try and stop him, but received a kick square in his chest. The increased strength of the partial form meant Isstar slid back. Although he hadn’t flown off his feet again, it would be obvious he was off balance as he stopped. His breathing became ragged as he regained composure, and he attempted to stop a coughing fit that would shake his body. That kick had almost certainly damaged his lungs, possibly his ribs as well. Thankfully his regenerative factor meant none of it would be lethal or permanent, but it would still hurt like a bitch.
The older dragon’s jaw was clenched, he gave the teenager a hard stare beneath his helmet. “You really still think you can beat me?” Liun’s voice was harsh, void of how he often sounded. He approached the still unstable teenager then pulled his arm back to throw a punch, his fist collided with Isstar’s jaw. Isstar reeled away from Liun, his head spun violently. Isstar felt that his jaw was a bit… off, though not fully dislocated.
Isstar was able to focus on Liun just in time to narrowly avoid a knee to the stomach. He attempted to tackle Liun, but a hammerfist on the back of his head forced him to fall. For a moment, Isstar didn’t move with his face into the ground, and Liun thought he finally had enough. Of course, he hadn’t. Isstar started to get onto his feet again, his breath heavy.
Liun kicked the fallen dragon, which caused Isstar to fall once again and roll to the side. But once again, he tried to rise. “Why? Why do you insist on standing when you will just fall?!” Liun growled. The kid wouldn’t stay down, Liun knew that, but he still couldn’t understand. Why wouldn’t he stay down?
The copy was able to move out of the way of another kick, and slowly rose to his feet. Instead of immediately jumping into another attack, he held his jaw to quickly set it back into place with a flinch. “Because… I fucking hate you… You’re so high and mighty, you know…” Isstar panted, the words that came out of his mouth felt funny due to his jaw. “You let me join the clan… I bet if you… you insisted, Fweiu wouldn’t have let me…” He coughed slightly, the previous attack to his chest had definitely caught up.
“But you did… Why do you accept me?? I’m the reason you suffered, yet you don’t hate me.” The injured dragon tried his best to stand straight, despite the pain that came with doing so. “I’m a mistake, yet no one treats me like it! Well… if you don’t hate me, then I just have to make you…” Isstar growled as he rolled his shoulders. He leapt at Liun, and in the middle of the leap shifted into his dragon form. Liun didn’t move even an inch as the cheetah sized dragon planted its claws directly into the armour at his chest.
After a moment, Liun attempted to grab Isstar but the dragon let go of him to instead frantically clawed at him. This actually caused a few to land on the uncovered parts of his body. The most notable would be jagged claw marks across his jaw. But the longer Liun stared at the dragon, the less he found himself wanting to fight.
Although a bit hard to admit, the words hit home. The dragon leapt again, but this time twisted his body to land just before Liun. Quickly, he dashed around before Liun could react to be behind the older dragon. He crouched, then leapt up but mid leap shifted into his human form once again. Isstar wrapped his arms around Liun’s neck to try and choke him out. However, he couldn’t muster up much strength anymore. Quite easily, Liun would be able to grab his arms, throw Isstar over his own head hard into the ground. Once again, Isstar would lay winded. But this time, Liun wouldn’t attack the prone opponent again.
“You know, I did hate you.” Liun finally spoke, but found he couldn’t muster any of the anger he felt towards the copy. He really was just like how he had been as a teenager. But the feeling like he didn’t belong got internalised. No matter how much he trained or fought, Liun knew Isstar wouldn’t feel any content because he didn’t feel content with himself. Even if he had won, Isstar wouldn’t have been satisfied. “I knew it wasn’t fair, but I blamed you for what happened to me.” The original stared down at his copy, his body shifted from his partial form back to his human form. The scratches on his jaw already stopped bleeding. “I felt it was irrational, so I told Fweiu to let you join. You didn’t ask to be made, and you’ve been stuffed full of behaviours and emotions not exactly your own.” Although Liun still gave Isstar a hard stare, they no longer had the hateful glare from before.
Isstar stared at Liun’s face, a stunned look on his own. “But I couldn’t stop hating you. When you challenged me, I felt glad. I’d wanted to punch you since I found out about you.” Liun continued, and spoke with complete honesty. “I guess in a way, this fight has been pretty therapeutic.” He couldn’t help but chuckle ever so slightly. Liun sighed, then offered his hand out for Isstar to take. “Now… I really think I don’t hate you as much. Certainly got a ways to go, but...”
For a while, Isstar just stared dumbfounded. Now that he had a bit of a moment to relax, and let the adrenaline wear off, Isstar became acutely aware of his injuries. At the start of this fight, he would’ve slapped Liun’s hand away with a snarl. But after Liun spoke, admitted that he hated him, but now less… It felt like a weight had been lifted from Isstar’s chest. A bit hesitant, he would take Liun’s hand. Liun would pull Isstar to his feet with very little difficulty.
Both felt lighter, not burdened by months of pent up emotions and anger anymore. Liun looked Isstar up and down, and felt a bit bad at how roughed up the younger dragon would be after such a short fight. Well, he would feel bad at using the arena for such a short fight anyway. “Well, it would be a bit of a waste if we didn’t fight some more. But I guess in more a training sense rather than… whatever that was.” Liun couldn’t help but chuckle ever so slightly.
As Isstar watched the older dragon move further away, to prepare for some more fighting, he grinned. “Yeah. Sure.” With that, he would sprint at the older dragon again and ignored the pain.
Isstar shook his head, and paced where he initially stood in the centre of the arena. It wasn’t a particularly scheduled match, so not many people were there. But many of those who had come to watch this fight knew that two dragons from the same clan would be fighting each other. After the spectacle that happened between two other dragons not too long prior, interests were piqued. Others had come because they knew the dragons who would be fighting.
Liun Rukt’In, one of the older members of the Rukt’Ins on the island, a social and friendly person.
Isstar Rukt’In, the newest member of the Rukt’Ins on the island, aggressive yet naive.
One was a dragon who had lived for over a century, the other was his copy.
He wore shorts and trainers that would allow him to shift, and allowed him free movement. Isstar debated if he would wear a tank top, but decided he would go without. If this fight was going to be serious, Isstar didn’t doubt any shirt he wore would’ve been ripped to shreds if he decided to wear any. Compared to others had fought in this arena, Isstar could almost be considered unusual. Not because of his build, still toned but certainly a more lean type, but because of his lack of scars. The copy hadn’t lived long enough for that.
The young dragon constantly flexed his fists as he paced, impatient for his opponent to arrive. His eyes fixed on where Liun would enter, his shoulders tensed. This would be the most important fight he would have ever fought in his brief life thus far. His heart pounded, a constant drum in his ears that almost blocked out any noise he heard from the small crowd. The number of people came close to overwhelming the teenager, but he just focused himself on the upcoming fight to keep himself grounded. Isstar just hoped it wouldn’t distract him in this fight, he needed to focus.
Liun entered onto the grounds of the arena with a cold glare. He also hadn’t had the most restful night. A quiet confidence told him that he would win, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Especially in a much more serious fight. The older dragon was far more experienced and stronger, with a greater number of tricks up his sleeve. But the fight wasn’t truly just a fight. It went deeper than that, and Liun felt that would be what was important. In different ways, they hated each other. That would be settled soon.
As he looked around, obviously to avoid looking at his opponent, Liun glanced over the crowd. He wouldn’t be surprised by the lack of numbers, in fact would be thankful, and certainly not by some of the onlookers who sported blue hair. Their culture had always been an aggressive and combative one, so of course several members would want to see two of their own duke it out. Liun had a feeling only a very few would know the weight of the fight. Finally, Liun looked at Isstar, his eyes immediately steeled over. He wouldn’t let himself be as furious as he had been the previous day.
Compared to Isstar, Liun showed much less skin. He wore a black t-shirt, loose jeans and sneakers. Of course, his clothing would allow him to shift as well, but not into a dragon form. Clearly he didn’t seem too concerned by any potential damage. The t-shirt allowed some of the scars on his arms to be visible, although it would be clear that many of them would be old. Except for a few, that Liun would feel every time he looked at the copy in front of him. Along with all of this, Liun held a light blue spear in his right hand. It didn’t look unusual, and innocent enough in its own way, but he held it in a casual way. Isstar wouldn’t underestimate it, and Liun knew that.
Onlookers would be able to see, as clear as day, the resemblance between the pair. Of course it wouldn’t be difficult to guess they were related, since both were dragons with blue hair and the last name Rukt’In. But what would be more uncanny would be the fact their hair was the exact same shade of blue, that the faces were similar, even the ways they held themselves. Of course there would be differences, largely because Isstar was younger.
The two stared at each other for a while, red eyes narrowed as they sized each other up. Sure, there could have been some pre-fight ramble, about why they were right and why they had to fight. Or a last minute understanding, where they decided to cancel the match. But for them, there would be nothing left to say. The first to move would be Isstar, who would sprint at Liun with clenched fists and as close a roar a dragon could get in their human form. Liun was slightly caught off guard, he almost expected for Isstar to hold off for a little longer. But he really would just be coming at him, just like that.
Both dragons were largely creatures of instinct, but Liun had the benefit of experience, and Isstar’s more logical brain hadn’t acquired enough fighting knowledge yet. Liun rapidly spun the spear to slam the end of it into Isstar’s outstretched arm, only a few inches from Liun’s face. Isstar would only really have experience with hand to hand combat, and hadn’t expected the use of the spear as a defensive measure. As Isstar wasn’t steady on his feet, having been relying on the momentum from the sprint to deliver more force to the punch, the blow caused him to spin to the side and almost fall. Rapidly, he was able to plant his feet into the ground.
But as soon as his eyes caught sight of Liun again, the blunt end of the spear was hit right into his abdomen. Isstar couldn’t even react, to block or try and counterattack, as the force of that hit winded him. All Isstar could feel at that immediate moment would be his feet leave the ground, and his body start to fly away from Liun. The blunt pain would only be felt once he landed hard on his back, a few feet away. The younger dragon lay stunned for a moment, his chest heaved as he tried to regain his breath. As he regained some of his senses, he was able to see Liun approach him. Before Liun was able to kick Isstar in the side, the dragon on the ground rolled out of the way and was able to get into a crouched position.
He used that moment to sweep his leg under Liun’s. To Isstar’s surprise, Liun actually went down. Thanks to him being off balance for just a moment, Isstar was able to pull it off. Without thinking, Isstar bunched the muscles in his legs to propel himself into a leap from his crouch. He had been aiming to land on Liun, who seemed stunned, but Isstar would be greeted by Liun rapidly shifting his body around so a kick would grace the leaping teen’s face. Isstar rolled to the side, on the ground again but not as prone as he had been before.
Both took a brief moment to get back onto their feet and to face each other again. Liun didn’t look phased, even after being tripped, while Isstar already looked like his stamina could be dropping. Isstar put his fists up again, despite looking worse for wear. A bruise had already started to form from the stunning attack on his abdomen, along with his forearm and back. Blood trickled down the side of his mouth from a busted lip, and it wouldn’t take an expert to know he would have a black eye soon. But still, the copy would not stay down, even though the battle hadn’t even been that long yet he would already be so haggard.
This time, Liun attacked first. He pulled the arm that held the spear back, then threw it at Isstar. It would be aimed for the teenage dragon’s shoulder, so not to actually lethally injure him, but still cause notable damage. Isstar only adjusted his stance as the spear approached, and by muscle reflex, caught it. The largest source of ‘experience’ the copy had of fighting would be muscle memory acquired from the original. No master of the spear like Liun, Isstar still possessed some skill that had emerged on instinct. He ran at Liun again, spinning the spear in his hands to attack at the older dragon with slashes and jabs. Liun was caught off guard, having expected Isstar to be hit, guard or dodge the spear rather than catch and attack with it. He kept moving back from the teenager, only occasionally did he take the chance to deflect the spear from hitting him directly.
The older dragon noted something, as he jumped back to gain more distance. The first few were clumsy, but even in the very short time the younger dragon held the weapon, he had started wielding it more effectively. It wouldn’t be comparable to Liun, as the copy of his spear skill would have been from his early years with the weapon. Now with distance between them, Liun put his hand out to recall the spear to him. Isstar felt a force that pulled on the spear, and attempted to hang onto it as he planted his feet into the ground. At this rate, he would be prone to attack again, so instead he decided to let go of the spear. Liun couldn’t catch the spear as the tip of it came flying at his outstretched hand, and he quickly stopped the recall to move his arm away. This caused the spear to fly past then plant itself into the wall behind him. Although Liun had successfully disarmed Isstar, the copy had unexpectedly disarmed the original as well.
Isstar breathed heavily, his hands flexed as he observed Liun carefully. He almost couldn’t believe that he had been able to use the spear like that, or to force Liun back. But he felt the more he saw Liun move and fight, the easier himself could as well. Despite the bruising that had rapidly appeared on various parts of his body that screamed at him, he actually felt lighter on his feet. In a way, watching the older version of himself fight would be helping him.
The teen pulled a grin at his opponent, a more cocky look to his face. “So how about that, Liun?! I’m not as much as an arrogant hatchling as you said!” Isstar sneered. His recent advantage had clearly gone to his head.
This caused Liun to roll his eyes and… almost laugh. That was the first time Liun felt something he couldn’t describe as vague hate towards the clone. But he forced himself to maintain a straight face, and still had plenty of anger to glare. Obviously this kid wouldn’t stay down if he kept using these soft tactics, so Liun decided he would bring the big guns out.
As he kept a careful eye on Isstar, Liun started to shift into his partial form. Although his height and build did not change, he became covered in armour. Well, it would be more accurate to say his skin became fused with the armour. His nails became claws, and teeth into fangs. Now, only the bottom half of his face could be seen as the rest would be covered by a helmet. In this form, Liun would be stronger and faster, not to mention that he would have access to tooth and claw.
The look on Isstar’s face dropped as he watched the partial shift. After a stunned moment, he sprinted at Liun to try and stop him, but received a kick square in his chest. The increased strength of the partial form meant Isstar slid back. Although he hadn’t flown off his feet again, it would be obvious he was off balance as he stopped. His breathing became ragged as he regained composure, and he attempted to stop a coughing fit that would shake his body. That kick had almost certainly damaged his lungs, possibly his ribs as well. Thankfully his regenerative factor meant none of it would be lethal or permanent, but it would still hurt like a bitch.
The older dragon’s jaw was clenched, he gave the teenager a hard stare beneath his helmet. “You really still think you can beat me?” Liun’s voice was harsh, void of how he often sounded. He approached the still unstable teenager then pulled his arm back to throw a punch, his fist collided with Isstar’s jaw. Isstar reeled away from Liun, his head spun violently. Isstar felt that his jaw was a bit… off, though not fully dislocated.
Isstar was able to focus on Liun just in time to narrowly avoid a knee to the stomach. He attempted to tackle Liun, but a hammerfist on the back of his head forced him to fall. For a moment, Isstar didn’t move with his face into the ground, and Liun thought he finally had enough. Of course, he hadn’t. Isstar started to get onto his feet again, his breath heavy.
Liun kicked the fallen dragon, which caused Isstar to fall once again and roll to the side. But once again, he tried to rise. “Why? Why do you insist on standing when you will just fall?!” Liun growled. The kid wouldn’t stay down, Liun knew that, but he still couldn’t understand. Why wouldn’t he stay down?
The copy was able to move out of the way of another kick, and slowly rose to his feet. Instead of immediately jumping into another attack, he held his jaw to quickly set it back into place with a flinch. “Because… I fucking hate you… You’re so high and mighty, you know…” Isstar panted, the words that came out of his mouth felt funny due to his jaw. “You let me join the clan… I bet if you… you insisted, Fweiu wouldn’t have let me…” He coughed slightly, the previous attack to his chest had definitely caught up.
“But you did… Why do you accept me?? I’m the reason you suffered, yet you don’t hate me.” The injured dragon tried his best to stand straight, despite the pain that came with doing so. “I’m a mistake, yet no one treats me like it! Well… if you don’t hate me, then I just have to make you…” Isstar growled as he rolled his shoulders. He leapt at Liun, and in the middle of the leap shifted into his dragon form. Liun didn’t move even an inch as the cheetah sized dragon planted its claws directly into the armour at his chest.
After a moment, Liun attempted to grab Isstar but the dragon let go of him to instead frantically clawed at him. This actually caused a few to land on the uncovered parts of his body. The most notable would be jagged claw marks across his jaw. But the longer Liun stared at the dragon, the less he found himself wanting to fight.
Although a bit hard to admit, the words hit home. The dragon leapt again, but this time twisted his body to land just before Liun. Quickly, he dashed around before Liun could react to be behind the older dragon. He crouched, then leapt up but mid leap shifted into his human form once again. Isstar wrapped his arms around Liun’s neck to try and choke him out. However, he couldn’t muster up much strength anymore. Quite easily, Liun would be able to grab his arms, throw Isstar over his own head hard into the ground. Once again, Isstar would lay winded. But this time, Liun wouldn’t attack the prone opponent again.
“You know, I did hate you.” Liun finally spoke, but found he couldn’t muster any of the anger he felt towards the copy. He really was just like how he had been as a teenager. But the feeling like he didn’t belong got internalised. No matter how much he trained or fought, Liun knew Isstar wouldn’t feel any content because he didn’t feel content with himself. Even if he had won, Isstar wouldn’t have been satisfied. “I knew it wasn’t fair, but I blamed you for what happened to me.” The original stared down at his copy, his body shifted from his partial form back to his human form. The scratches on his jaw already stopped bleeding. “I felt it was irrational, so I told Fweiu to let you join. You didn’t ask to be made, and you’ve been stuffed full of behaviours and emotions not exactly your own.” Although Liun still gave Isstar a hard stare, they no longer had the hateful glare from before.
Isstar stared at Liun’s face, a stunned look on his own. “But I couldn’t stop hating you. When you challenged me, I felt glad. I’d wanted to punch you since I found out about you.” Liun continued, and spoke with complete honesty. “I guess in a way, this fight has been pretty therapeutic.” He couldn’t help but chuckle ever so slightly. Liun sighed, then offered his hand out for Isstar to take. “Now… I really think I don’t hate you as much. Certainly got a ways to go, but...”
For a while, Isstar just stared dumbfounded. Now that he had a bit of a moment to relax, and let the adrenaline wear off, Isstar became acutely aware of his injuries. At the start of this fight, he would’ve slapped Liun’s hand away with a snarl. But after Liun spoke, admitted that he hated him, but now less… It felt like a weight had been lifted from Isstar’s chest. A bit hesitant, he would take Liun’s hand. Liun would pull Isstar to his feet with very little difficulty.
Both felt lighter, not burdened by months of pent up emotions and anger anymore. Liun looked Isstar up and down, and felt a bit bad at how roughed up the younger dragon would be after such a short fight. Well, he would feel bad at using the arena for such a short fight anyway. “Well, it would be a bit of a waste if we didn’t fight some more. But I guess in more a training sense rather than… whatever that was.” Liun couldn’t help but chuckle ever so slightly.
As Isstar watched the older dragon move further away, to prepare for some more fighting, he grinned. “Yeah. Sure.” With that, he would sprint at the older dragon again and ignored the pain.