Double or Nothing: Chapter 3 (Patreon)

To Achieve Tranquility

Clutching her sword, Kuina shivered as she stood there in the middle of the clear all while snow fell around her. She could feel her extremities aching as the cold sapped away at her strength and stole her breath. Not even her precaution of saving up for a thick winter clothes and a scarf she had prepared for this years winter. Still, despite the cold, her form was soak through with sweat as steam wafted of their form.

"It's just the cold," She told herself as her teeth chattered and her breath turned to mist. Her words however felt hollow as she stared down the massive imposing effigy of a certain sweet toothed pirate. Under it's massive shadow, she felt so small, so tiny, "Nothing more," She assured herself yet she felt her heart hammering away.
That wide toothy grin and those hungry eyes staring through her very soul sent shivers down her bones. This effigy might be only one of her own creation but this woman, no, this monster was one she had to face and just thinking about it made her legs shaky.

"There is nothing to fear," She chattered as she shifted, spreading her legs to steady her form. Snow crunched beneath her feet as she slid her left leg forward, placing her weight on her rear legs as as she steeled her resolved, "But fear itself,"

"Breath in" She whispered, inhaling the cold morning air before she exhaled, mist wrapping around her tiny form. "Center your thoughts and let go," She reminded herself as she closed her eyes and breathe.

Steadying her breath, she let her thoughts fade away. The image of the monster looming before her turning into mist as all that remained was her breath and the darkness of her mind. All that remained was her and her target. Slowly, her racing heart calmed as warmth spread across her form, strength returning to her limbs.

Breath was the fuel the drove the flame in her heart, the fire of life which beat steadily inside chest. Each breath sending pulse of heat across her form. Gathering her strength, she pulled it in, letting it wrap around her limbs as she lifted her sword. It's well worm hilt feeling heavy yet comforting in her hands as she leveled it parallel to the ground, aimed at their heart.

As she stood there, she saw it, that brief moment in time. In her mind eye she saw those large paws reaching out for her, eager to rip her apart. Those eyes maddened with hunger as their maw opened wide. It was terribly fast, the air itself rending as they took a swipe at them yet there it a way forward. With their arms spread wide, she had all but one moment and that was all she needed.

Her right leg struck the ground, springing her forward with almost terrifying speed. Her eyes stinging as the cold wind whipped around her, threatening to send her flying off to the course but she held true. WIth a roar ripping out from her chest, she felt the fire in her chest blaze into life. Her limbs aching as she swung with all her might. A lone strike become two and then, another!

Opening her eyes wide, the effigy standing frozen as one strike became three. With a savage grin spreading across her face, she screamed out, "Tsubame Gaes-!" Only to scream out as she felt her muscles seize up, making her trip and sending her plowing straight into the snowwoman.

Great cracks echoed across the clearing as she slammed hard against the tree line, breaking through one tree after another, toppling them over before she finally came to a stop. Wincing in pain, she slid down to the ground as the evergreen mercifully tipped backwards, sparing her from having to pull herself out.
"God damn it all, fuck!" She hissed out as she curled into herself, thanking the stars that she had braced herself just in time. Laying there, she groaned as she clutched her thighs, hissing out as the pain slowly spreads out from her legs, "Fuuuu…" She breathed out, forcing her leg to stretch to ease the pain but it did little.

Gritting her teeth, she then turned as she heard footsteps approaching her. "Huh," She heard an all too familiar voice rang out, making her grimace "You almost got it down this time," Turning, she found a familiar mossy haired annoyance smirking at her, "But your aim's just a bit off. Aim a bit higher next time will you?"

"Oh fuck off Zoro," She hissed out, still clutching her legs still as she felt her muscle twisting and spasming from the strain. Reaching up, she then ask, "Can you help me up here?" She was far too tired to get up now. Her limbs felt like lead and her form drenched in sweat, a terrible combination especially as the wind started to pick up.

"What'll you do without me," He muttered as he marched up to her and grabbed her hands. With a heave, he pulled her up and got her back on her legs. Grabbing her, he helped steady as the pain finally started to die down.

"Off all the time to cramp up," She muttered, limping off to grab her broken as she shook the pain off, "Why now!"

All she'd receive however was a cuff on the back of the head as Zoro walked pass him and grabbed her buried weapon. Tossing it to her, he then said, "I told you shouldn't practice when snow's falling," before he scowled at her and scolded her, "But no, little miss warfreak has to cut something up."

Catching the sword, she stuck her tongue out before sheathing it to her side. Dusting herself of the snow that clung to her, she replied, "Got bored, wanted to test something out," Without her constant matches with her father, she had little else to do. There was only so much work to be done in the village or things to do in the cave.

Tapping her foot to see if her legs all good, she then turned to him before asking, "How long have you been watching anyways?"

At her questioning, he grinned back, "Long enough to hear your little pep talk," He told her, making her face flush with embarrassment as he walked pass him and back towards the direction of the cave, "Cute," the young teen teased as he let out a small chuckle.

She growled, gnashing her teeth as she turned and followed him, "Have I told you how much I hate you Zoro?" She muttered, hating how much her face felt like it was burning.

"I love you too Kuina," Her friend fired back as he looked back at her before giving her a cheeky smile, "As a friend."

"Oh Haha," Kuina rolled her eyes before she suddenly sneeze. Sniffling, she wiped her nose before looking up. The gray overcast sky had now darkened as the snow drifting down stared to thicken. "But yeah… I think I'm done for the day," She replied before she sneezed out more, one that almost lifted her off her feet.

"Ya think?" Zoro sarcastically replied before he urged her to walk faster now that the wind was starting to howl. "Now move if you don't want to get lost!" He called out but his cries were drowned out by a far more violent sneeze. She definitely she get back to her cave now.
-x-x-x-

Holding on to the large piece of flint, Zoro struck it against the steel rod sending sparks flying onto the kindling. Shivering, Kuina found herself wrapped with thick blankets while she watched Zoro tended to the camp fire. Feeling herself burn up and exhausted from today's exercise, she could barely hold herself up much less tend to herself.

"Sorry about this," she apologized as her companion leaned down, shielding the embers from the harsh wind blowing outside, "Would have started the fire if not for-!" she tried to add only to cut herself off as a sneeze rang out and echoed inside the cave. "Thish," She sniffled as she grabbed a rag and blew into it.

"I warned you," Zoro grunted out before shaking his head, "You know what, you're probably going to ignore it anyway," He muttered as he slowly coaxed the embers to a proper fire. Fed with dry logs, the fire soon grow to a blaze that

Even the effort of moving was draining. Her joints ached and her head felt stuffy. She might be going down to a fever or worse. "Shorry," she muttered, looking away. She really might have fucked up… again. Shivering, she whispered, "Oh god, maybe I shouldn't have gone out today."

She was by no means a stranger to winter after having lived in the wild for quite sometime. In fact, this might just be her favorite season. Even as the skies turned dark and gray and the wind bitter and cold, there was certain beauty to it.

As people stuck close to the village and the animals decided to sleep through the bitter cold, silence befall the land. Barely a sound or whisper could be heard as snowflakes drifted across the lazy hills and frozen forest. There was just a certain air of peace and tranquility as the cold lull the land to sleep.

Looking out towards the frozen waste as the wind howled outside, she had long found that it wasn't all snow days and ice fishing. Sometimes, the winter storms can be far more dangerous than the summer monsoon. The freezing winds and the blinding snow storm was just too much. Even she had to call it quits and hunker down for the season.

She wanted to get out but she was by no means suicidal. Fighting in such bitter cold with her meager stocks would just drain her and only frustrate her. Stiil, the lull in activity was making her antsy and it wasn't snowing this hard earlier. Maybe tommoro-!

Her train of thought would come crashing to a grinding halt as Zoro bopped her in the head, "Quite it," He scolded her as he pulled out some of the frozen fish she had just caught this morning as well as the last bit of rice she had.

Rubbing her head, she whined, "Oh come on!" before pouting and crossing her arms across her chest, "I was just looking outside…" She excused herself, lying about her intentions.

"Stop lying," He scolded her once more, making her bite his tongue as she glared at him. How the heck did he know what she was thinking?

"I know that look on your face," The teen scoffed as he set up the skewers for the fish before scooping up some fresh snow to melt and wash the rice with. Setting up the pot for the rice, he then said, "When I said no practice, that means no chasing any of those wild theories of yours!"

She was about to argue when she paused as sneeze ripped through her once more. She blushed as Zoro held out the sleeves of his Haori to shield the food from her sickness, "Fine," She muttered making the teen let out a satisfied smile.

That little celebration of theirs however would die down as she then asked, "But promise me you'll help me complete Soru!" She had to stop herself from laughing at the grimace on her friends face but she had to ask, especially with how close she was with completing her training on one of the Seven Powers, "I swear I just have to get my legs strong enough for this!"

Sighing, the teen reached up and pinched the the bridge of their nose before he replied, "I'll help you, if!" Pausing as he stood up and grabbed her sword out from her side, "You just set your sword and down and rest," he told her, cutting out what little protest she could muster in her state.

As she muttered and thought of ways to rip his spine out for taking her weapon, he then added,"Just one week, that's all I ask you," Staring into her eyes, he then begged her, "Just this once Kuina, please."

She took a deep breath before she sighed as she reluctantly nodded. How could she say no to him when he asked her nicely?

"Good," He praised her as he ruffled her hair before he got up and set her sword up on the highest shelf she had on the back. Returning to the fire to tend to their food, he reminded her, "You know how much rest is needed in building strength. You can't just go all out and expect your body to go stronger from all that wear and tear," pausing briefly to poke her biceps which sent her reeling as she felt all the pain flare up once more, "You need time to heal"

"Yeah…" She bit out as she picked herself up and propped herself up against the wall of her cave. Looking outside, silence soon descend down in their cave as the bubbling of rice along with the wooden spoon scraping against the pot. As heavenly as the scent of fish cooking over the fire was, she still couldn't quite get the thought of practice out of her mind.

"Oy Zoro," She called out as she plopped down to her side in hope to ease some of her headache. Quirking a brow, Zoro grunted as he turned his attention to her.

"I'm trying to figure out how to get my slash fast enough that I can start cutting people with the air itself," She then replied, making the boy bit his tongue, "Any ideas on how I'd could generate enough speed for that? I could brute force it by training hard but I feel like there's an easier way. Relaxing my muscles them perhaps?" It couldn't be all on pure brute strength right? There should be a way to transfer all that momentum from her blade to the very air itself.

Her insights and theories however would only make her friend all the more annoyed, "Damn it Kuina," They muttered, shaking their head in disbelief, "Sometimes I question where you even get these ideas of yours. Chasing sparrows or kicking the ground ten times that you just fly off…"

She snorted as she argued, "For your information, Sparrows are stupidly hard to hit," Something she was embarrassed at how long it took. No wonder the Legend himself developed an obsession on killing Sparrows. Grinning, she then cheekily added, "And hey, they work don't they?"

"And that's why I hate it so much," Zoro groaned out as he looked up and muttered, "How can something so stupid work…"

She laughed only to stop as she was soon wracked with coughs. Grimacing, she clutched her chest as she felt her breathing, feeling phlegm in her airways. This was going be a rough night, she thought to herself as she curled up to herself, hoping to stave off the cold.

Sometime would pass and soon, they would have dinner together in silence. While her stomach felt sated, her sickness only got worse. Her thinking was getting all muddled now as she laid there, burning from the inside out. Her breathing grew more labored and her eyelids, leadened as weariness overtook her. Just as she was about to close her eyes, Zoro would call out to her, waking her momentarily.

"Hey Kuina…" They asked, their gaze locked onto the fire "Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

"Haven't we had this talk before?" She yawned out, struggling to remember that time when just a year or two ago, "If I could get strong enough, I'll be free to do whatever I want!" She shouted, raising her fist up in the air before collapsing down on her bed.

If she was so strong, she could go anywhere. If she was just strong enough, she could be anything. If she could just be strong then maybe… maybe her father would actually believe in her. She just needed to be strong, she just has to be. She tried getting up but Zoro refused to let her as he pushed her back down.

"I know but all this just for that?" He questioned her, looking at her in disbelief, "You could be free just by just being strong enough, hell you can be free by just being yourself," He pointed out, making her scowl, "So why are you pushing yourself so hard. Why are you training so hard that you're wearing yourself down to the bone?" He asked her as he tucked her in.

Frowning, she repeated her answer, "I want to be free," This was her simple truth. There should be nothing more to it but what he asked made her question herself.

"Free of what?" Zoro asked and Kuina found herself without answers. What did he truly want to be free off? Curling into herself, those thoughts would swirl around her mind till she finally fell asleep.

A/N:

Currently working on this before I move over to Seoul Kitchen. Sorry for not getting to post more chapters of Seoul. IRL obligations had me in a bit of a bind so had to skip a bit to this. It's slow going but I think I'll get this done soonish. 2 days?