《Being Human》12. Steven the Sword Fighter
Advertisement
How are already nearly at 50k in reads and 3k in votes...That's jut insane...Thank you everyone.
It was a rare rainy day in Beach city, at the beach house Lion was lying outside under the porch of the house, he yawns and curls up getting ready to take a nap.
Inside however Steven, Y/n and the Crystal Gems are sitting inside Steven's bedroom and eating popcorn, watching Lonely Blade IV in Japanese with English subtitles. On the TV screen, two characters confront each other.
"It was you! You were the one who killed my brother. Cursing me to fight alone forever!" One of the characters says in Japanese.
Amethyst was laid down on Steven's bed upside down looking at the TV. Steven himself was laying belly-down on top of Garnet's hair while Y/n was sat in between Pearl and Garnet.
"Oh Lonely Blade, you so lonely." Steven comments.
"You think you can defeat me? The President of the Shadow Samurai Government?!" Another character on the screen says before he unsheathes a hidden sword in his mop.
"What?!" Steven cries in shock. "The janitor is the evil samurai president?! That's bananas!"
"Oh come on, it was so obvious." Pearl says looking up to Steven and getting his attention. "He's been mopping in the background of every fight scene." She picks up a case and shows Steven the movie cover box. "Look, here he is on the cover of the box."
Steven looks at it. "Oh yeah."
"For my honor and for my brother! I will strike you down!" Lonely blade says in Japnese on the screen before he unsheathes and joins two swords together. "Boomerang Blade!" He throws the combined swords.
Samurai President leaps upwards and thrusts down his sword. "Piercing Shadow of a Thousand... Screams!"
"Go, Lonely, go! Do the Boomerang Blade again!" Steven cheers.
"Oh come on, this is ridiculous. Just look at their form, this is nothing like real sword fighting." Pearl complains but Garnet and Amethyst shush her.
Y/n just chuckles. "It's just a movie, Pearl. I wouldn't take it to heart...or Gem I suppose." He says unsure.
Pearl just closes her eyes. "Well, if you two ever want to see a demonstration of proper sword techniques, I'd be happy to show you." She says.
Steven puts his hand on Pearl's head getting her attention and she turns to see Steven staring at her excitedly. "Now?" She asks surprised.
The group had moved to a large open area with tiled ground and marble obelisks lining both sides of the area. The place is surrounded by low hanging clouds.
Pearl was holding two swords in her hands. "Alright, in order to give a proper demonstration I'm going to need a sparring partner."
Steven tries to raise his hand and Garnet immediately lowers it.
"Luckily, I have the perfect candidate right here." Pearl says and she does a short ballet and summons a Holo-Pearl with her gem.
"Cooool! Hologram Pearl!" Steven says.
"Wow fancy." Y/n comments.
Amethyst who was lying on a small cloud groans. "Ah, geez."
"Do you wish to engage in combat?" The Holo Pearl asks speaking in a robotic way.
"Let this be the perfect battle." Pearl says and she throws a sword at Holo-Pearl.
Holo-Pearl catches the sword. "You've already made a mistake by challenging me!"
Pearl laughs. "We shall let our swords decide."
"Nerd!" Amethyst calls out and Garnet and Steven shush her.
Advertisement
Y/n however leaned forward in his seat as he prepared to watch the fight with some intrigue.
Holo-Pearl's eyes redden. "Commencing duel." She cries before she immediately lunges towards Pearl. Pearl easily parries several of the Holo-Pearl's attacks. "Defense rank S. Zero openings detected."
"Go, Pearl, go!" Steven cheers.
"Go Holo-Pearl!" Amethyst cheers instead.
Distracted by Amethyst's mockery, Pearl gets disarmed by Holo-Pearl and the sword flies across the tiles to the other side of the arena behind Holo-Pearl.
"Opening detected." Holo-Pearl begins a sword sweep attack. Pearl slides underneath Holo-Pearl's attack and towards her sword. Holo-Pearl then does an aerial lunge at Pearl, which she skillfully parries, leaving it vulnerable in mid-air. Pearl then stabs Holo-Pearl and defeats it. "Match set. Challenger wins!"
"Woohoo! Yay, Pearl!" Steven cheers as he and Y/n get up and head onto the area platform now.
"Do you wish to battle again?" Holo-Pearl asks from the ground.
"Pearl!" Steven runs around Pearl. "That was amazing, you were so cool!"
"I was also really impressed, I never realised so much skill was required to wield a sword." Y/n says as he looks at the blade in Pearl's hand.
Pearl blushes and chuckles. "Oh-hoho, well, one does try their best."
"Will you teach me to sword fight like you?!" Steven asks now as he starts pretending to swing a sword.
Pearl laughs. "Alright, but we should start with the basics." Pearl turns to Holo-Pearl. "Ahem! Initiate, training mode."
Holo-Pearl quickly jumps up from the floor. "Training mode initiated. Level 1. Begin!" The Hologram takes a stance.
"I want you to stand back, and watch me carefully, okay?" Pearl says to Steven and he and Y/n do so.
Holo-Pearl begins sparring with Pearl in very basic way. "Parry! Parry! Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust!" The hologram continuously chants in the background.
Pearl was effortlessly matching the holograms moves as she attempted to teach. "Do you see what I'm doing with my feet, Steven? Notice where I keep my center of gravity." She points out.
Steven quickly begins to lose interest whereas Y/n keeps an eye on Pearl's feet and what she does.
"Aww, can you show me something cool? Like the Boomerang Blade!" Steven asks now.
"Steven, you know that's not a real sword technique." Pearl tells him.
"Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade! Boomerang Blade!" Steen begins chanting.
Pearl turns to Steven, annoyed. "Steven, these are real sword techniques. Not those silly things from your movies. It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to str..." Distracted, Pearl is suddenly stabbed by Holo-Pearl's thrust.
Y/n and Steven gasps in shock and horror.
The action seems to get the attention of Garnet and Amethyst too now.
"Woah."
"Oh no."
Pearl drops her sword, which hits the ground with a loud clang.
Steven immediately tears up while Y/n stand in shock and disbelief.
"...Pearl?" Y/n asks.
Pearl sees the distressed looks of Y/n and Steven before she slowly looks down to sees the sword impaled through her and she chuckles nervously. "W-whoopsie-daisy! It's okay you two. I'm gonna be just f..." Pearl suddenly poofs into a white cloud, leaving just her gemstone, as it falls to the ground.
"NOOOOOO!" Steven cries and he slides to Pearl's gemstone and picks it up. "P-Pearl? Pearl..."
"Challenger defeated. Level 1 failed!" The Holo-Pearl says in the background.
"She just..." Y/n falls to his knees in front of Steven as he looks down at Pearl's gem in Steven's hands.
Advertisement
Garnet & Amethyst quickly rush to two's side.
"I.... I-I was just... a-aand she was trying to..." Steven begins crying feeling guilty.
Amethyst puts her hand on his back. "Steven, it's okay, Pearl's gonna be just fine." She reassures him,
"But she was just impaled with a sword! How is she going to be fine!?" Y/n asks not understanding.
"Sometimes, if our bodies are badly damaged, we release our physical forms and retreat to our gems to regenerate." Garnet explains to Y/n and Steven.
"So she's gonna be okay?" Steven asks and Garnet nods.
Y/n and Steven both let out a large sigh of relief now.
Amethyst sits down. "Don't worry, These kinds of things just happen sometimes. Usually to me.
"Always to you." Garnet comments.
"Hey, I'm scrappy. Whaddya want?" She says back and it makes Steven laughs a little.
"So, how long will it take her to regenerate? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?" He then asks as Garnet and Amethyst frown.
Inside the beach house Steven places Pearl's gem in a hand basket and places it under a lamp, hoping to incubate it. "What's taking so long?" He sighs.
Garnet and Amethyst warp in on the Warp Pad. Amethyst was still riding atop the small cloud from the sky arena. "Whadup, No Y/n today?" She calls out.
"Heeey. He's coming by later..." Steven says back sounding down.
Amethyst floats over to look at Pearl's gem. "She's still not done? Man, she's really taking her time with this one. She then looks to the rest of the Beach house. "Gotta tell you though, love what you've done with the place."
Steven and Amethyst observe the messy state of the house, with trash everywhere, things lying carelessly on the ground, and dishes piled up in the kitchen. Garnet returns back to her room in the background.
"Pearl usually helps me tidy up." Steven says.
"Eh, I say leave it." Amethyst comments.
Suddenly Steven gets an idea. "Hey! If real Pearl can't be here, there's always the next best thing!" He runs to unravel a blanket hiding a figure in the corner of the room, revealing it to be Holo-Pearl, holding a sword.
"Do you wish to engage in combat?" Holo-Pearl asks.
"Steven." Amethyst sighs. "Cover that thing back up."
"But it's like Pearl. Look at it." Steven points.
"Yeahhh... That ain't Pearl." Amethyst says.
"Well, maybe I can get it to act like her." Steven suggests now.
Steven was showing Holo-Pearl his room, which is as messy as the rest of the house. "Here we have, a mess. Organizing messes is one of Pearl's favorite hobbies. Here." He bends down and picks up various figurines. "Pearl likes to organize them by type." Steven explains and he starts to put the figures on his window shelf. "Animal, humanoid, miscellaneous. Now you try." He picks up a figurine with a sword prop holding it up to her.
Holo-Pearl looks at the figure and switches to combat mode. "You've drawn your sword in vain!" It cries and lifts it's sword arm back.
"What?!" Steven asks but she soon cries out in shock when Holo-Pearl thrusts forwards, which Steven quickly ducks under, and stabs the toy Steven was holding.
"Challenger defeated." Holo-Pearl cries and switches to stand-by mode.
Steven sighs. "Maybe we need to try something else."
Garnet and Amethyst are standing on the beach, as Steven and Holo-Pearl watch from a distance. Amethyst holds the cloud, all clumped up in her hands.
"I'm gonna do it." She says to Garnet.
"Go on then." Garnet says not bothered.
Amethyst stuffs the cloud into her mouth and swallows it, causing her to inflate like a balloon and float upwards. Garnet grabs Amethyst's legs before she floats off.
Steven in the distance laughs before he turns to Holo-Pearl. "Pearl always likes to tease Amethyst when she does funny stuff like this."
Holo-Pearl was holding an umbrella Steven had given her. "I won't go easy on you this time!"
"That's the spirit!" Steven says and he takes Holo-Pearl over to Garnet and Amethyst. "What are you rascals doing over here?"
"Draw your weapon, challenger!" Holo-Pearl cries and she points the umbrella like a sword at Amethyst and opens it.
"Ugh, Steven, why are you still hanging out with that thing? It's gross." Amethyst say before she burps out a piece of cloud.
"I just really miss spending time with Pearl." Steven confesses.
Pearl will come back to us in time, Steven, have patience." Garnet says to him. "... And stop hanging out with that thing. It's creepy." Garnet crosses her arms, accidentally letting go of Amethyst. Amethyst then quickly floats into the sky.
"Wh-o-o-o-oa!" Amethyst calls out and Garnet looks up.
"Hmm..."
Holo-Pearl and Steven stand atop the hill with Pearl's tree, Steven is holding a stuffed walrus toy and Holo-Pearl is holding a balloon sword, wearing a balloon crown.
"You had fun at the boardwalk, right?" He asks Holo-Pearl.
"Parry!" Holo-Pearl cries.
"Oh come on, you gotta work with me here. This is Pearl's favorite tree. Don't you recognize it? What's on your mind? Come on, don't hold back." Steven says.
Holo-Pearl switches to combat mode at Steven's words. "Challenge accepted!"
"What?!" Steven cries and Holo-Pearl quickly swings the balloon sword, which Steven ducks under, and slices the tree clean in half .
"Oh no, the tree!" Steven shouts in horror.
"Challenger defeated." Holo-Pearl switches back to stand-by mode.
"Real Pearl would never do that! Grr, you're hopeless! Get away from me!" Steven shouts as he runs off now.
As Steven returned to the Beach House he could see a figure waiting on the porch him.
"Y/n!" Steven calls out as he runs up the stairs.
"Hey Steven." Y/n greets as he takes notice of the younger boy now. "What's Garnet doing on the beach?" He asks Steven as the two look out to Garnet on the beach throwing a rope high into the air.
"I think she's trying to get Amethyst down." Steven tells him.
"Get her down?" Y/n asks confused as he look up at the clouds. "Maybe, I shouldn't have asked." Y/n awkwardly chuckles.
Steven notices a bag in Y/n's hand and he asks him about it. "What's with the bag Y/n?"
Y/n looks at Steven for a moment before he realises what he had asked him. "I almost forgot I was carrying it." Y/n says as he reaches into it and fishes out a box. "Ta dah! I found a sequel of that film series we watched a couple of weeks ago." He says handing the box to Steven.
"Woah!!!" Steven says looking at the box with stars in his eyes.
"I came across it when I was doing some grocery shopping for me and my dad. It was cheap so I thought you might like it."
"Wait. I can keep it?" Steven asks.
"Of course, I got it for you after all." Y/n says with a smile and Steven grins before giving Y/n a hug that makes him chuckle.
"Thanks Y/n!" Steven says.
"It's alright Steven. I thought you could use a pick me up after the last few weeks." Y/n says and Steven's mood changes slightly. "She's still not back huh?" Y/n guesses by Steven's change in mood. "Well I'm sure it will any time now." He reassures Steven and Steven nods with a sigh.
A light rumbling could be heard in the sky now and the two look up to the clouds.
"Sounds like it's going to be quite the storm. Good thing I brought Popcorn to go with that movie." Y/n comments.
"Yay Popcorn!" Steven cheers as he rushes inside the Beach House with Y/n following.
Rain and lighting was belting down once more. Y/n and Steven were in Steven's room as they watched the downpour through the window. Pearl's gem was nestled in a blanket beside the two.
"It's too bad you're still not back, Pearl." Steven says as he holds up the movie cover box. "Because Y/n just found a copy of the fifth Lonely Blade movie!"
"I don't think Pearl will approve that I brought you that movie considering her comments about the last one." Y/n jokes.
Steven just sighs. "How long are you gonna make us wait, Pearl?" A beeping sound go off in the background. "Oh, the popcorn's done, stay right there."
Steven goes to the kitchen and takes out a bag of popcorn from the microwave. Holo-Pearl suddenly appears behind him. "Do you wish to test your skills against me in a duel?" It cries out getting a shock out of Y/n and Steven who hadn't even heard it enter.
"No! No sword fighting!" Steven tells it as he makes his way up to his bedroom, when lightning flashes, and Holo-Pearl appears behind him again.
"Draw your sword and fulfill your destiny!" Holo- Pearl says.
"No! Leave real Pearl, Y/n and me alone!" Steven cries and he tosses a blanket over Holo-Pearl. "Go back under your sheet."
"That things kind of creepy." Y/n comments looking at the Holo-Pearl as Steven began to put the movie on.
The two were now watching the fifth movie of Lonely Blade with Pearl's gem, this time it is dubbed in English.
"Brother, is that you?" Lonely Blade asks.
"Yes. It's me. Your... brother. Your technique is... "
"Woah, this dub is really good. What do you think, Y/n? Pearl?" Steven asks
"It's not bad but I still think I prefer the sub version." Y/n says giving Steven his opinion.
Holo-Pearl appears suddenly, still under the blanket, piercing through it with her sword. "Parry!"
"Gah!" Steven cries out as she and Y/n are startled by the sudden act. "Grr..." Steven then grumbles as he and y/n continue to watch the movie.
"Brother Brother!!"
"Just wait a minute... you're not my real brother! Grr, Boomerang Blade!" The character cries on screen and unsheathes his swords.
"Brother Your technique is impressive. But it won't be enough."
Steven begins to think back at the moment Pearl was struck down.
"It's about waiting carefully for the perfect moment to str-" Pearl voice was saying but Steven eyes are shut tightly with tears forming.
"Hey, Steven are you..." Y/n begins to ask but he is interrupted however when Holo-Pearl suddenly attacks the TV destroying it.
"Thrust!"
"Ah, the TV!" Steven cries. "Why must you destroy the things I love?"
"Challenger defeated. Continue?" The Holo-Pearl asks.
"I hate you, I HATE YOU!" Steven shouts angrily now. "You're nothing like Pearl! Pearl is smart, and she always wants to protect me from danger. All you want to do is FIGHT ME!"
"Oh this can't be good..." Y/n says cautiously.
"Challenge accepted!" Holo-Pearl says.
"Grr, alright fine!" Steven growls and her shoves Holo-Pearl.
"Basic attack mode, initiated." Holo-Pearl starts sparring. "Parry! Parry! Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust! Parry! Parry! Thrust!"
"Stop saying that!" Steven says annoyed as he picks up nearby toys and throws them at Holo-Pearl, landing a single hit.
"Basic attack mode defeated. Now initiating advanced mode!" Holo-Pearl's eyes redden.
Holo-Pearl quickly shreds the blanket over it and attacks Steven, forcing him to retreat as he jumps from his room and onto the couch. Holo-Pearl follows as he tries to impale him with it's sword but Steven luckily jumps out of the way in time leading to it impaling the couch.
Y/n had quickly gotten to his feet as he desperately looked for something he could use to help with.
Steven picks up the toy walrus. "Walrus shield!" He cries but the walrus toy gets decapitated by Holo-Pearl. "Ah!" He searches for another item. "Snacks, pillow, fuzzy flower, boomerang? ...Boomerang!" He cries and throws the boomerang, which promptly flies around Holo-Pearl whose head rotates 360 degrees as it watches the boomerang fly back to Steven's hand. "Ah!"
Advertisement
Me! Zombie! Summoned to Another World!
In the Year 2030, a plague spread throughout the globe, turning most humans into zombies.Naturally, as a weakling, I turned into one as well, a weak one at that.I could never overpower a living human, nor have I taken a bite of human flesh. Now, even my mind was starting to go blank.I stared at the living muscular human standing in front of me with a huge RPG over his shoulder, and I thought my zombie life was going to end at that moment.Without any warning, a green light shot out from the cloud and enveloped me.Everything started to turn black after that. When I opened my eyes once again, I was already in an unknown world.In front of me stood an idiot who proclaimed himself as a necromancer. I glared at his tasty flesh and charged at the necromancer without any hesitation.At first, I thought it would be a harsh battle between him and me, but, unexpectedly, the necromancer was even weaker than me.After indulging in the necromancer’s brain, information appeared inside my head.[Notes of the necromancer’s growth][Records of the Mysterious Nolan Continent][My life with the Holy Church’s saint]
8 589The Joy of Evolution
"Alright, so I have this idea, a completely original one by the way, never done before." I say. "Alright, lets hear it." You reply happily. "What if you got trapped in the body of a tentacle monster that looks like a virus in a world that is like a videogame, with skills and... whoops slip of the tendril there, what I meant to say is Mutations and Levels as you evolve your way up from being that lowly creature into a slightly better lowly creature, all the while, an evil devil person watches over you for entertainment purposes." I say making weird hand gestures across the table. "Oh and that main character used to be a human male and uses its past experience as one to survive in this new world as a little mass of flesh." I pull out a little ball with suction cup tendrils and show you. "So, what do you think?" " I dont know seems, a little sameish, I think Im gonna go." You say as you start to get up from your worn but still plush velvet chair. "Wait" I sigh, " I didnt want to do this but you leave me no choice, I promise you an extremely diverse harem..." The door closes as you leave. "They'll come back." I say hopeful. Cover: https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=21073
8 232Rise Of The Swarm
This story is about man who gets reincarnated into a Zerg and now has learn a bit about himself and the people around him, if he wishes to survive. ******This is my first novel, sorry if it's a little bad (that's also why my description is horrible) but I promise it gonna get better I don't own the cover page( If I get one) Scribblehub : StarsignRoyal Road : Starsign**** Disclaimer: this book may have descriptions of sexual conduct and violence. Viewers discretion is advised Disclaimer:I don't own any character or anything form Starcraft
8 70Pains of Infinity
Not everyone knows about the darker side of life, that comes running bump in the night. But those who do are armed and prepared to fight for their convictions. "When your existence is an enemy to existing on its own, it gets a bit hard to live. And here I am in a place full of hate, trying to obliterate the mistakes made. Welcome to the Huntig academy." P.S. Hey guys! this is my first story on this site and I hope you will like it. Or if you don't, at least let me know what you think of it. All comments are appreciated!
8 92Weight of Worlds
The Tethered wield many talents, which they each develop into a hundred unique paths. After Ranvir awakens the ability to control space, he discovers he is the sole Tethered to hold this power. His only chance is to attend the Royal Academy and become his own Master. He will turn his burden, into a blessing. ---------------------------- If you like slow paced progression fantasy that takes its time exploring the magic system in-depth, then Weight of Worlds might be the story for you. Release Schedule: 3 chapters a week.
8 332Tales of Astora: Legacy
This is a series of multiples books compiled together. Currently Book 1 is still ongoing. It starts out with the basic setting of a fantasy adventure world but I assure that as things continue, you will be in for quite a surprise : Book 1 (ongoing): Over the course of time, countless heroes have risen to defeat the demon lord. Their names, recorded in history. Tales of their achievements are known across the land. But what about the demon lords who have fallen? What of their side of the stories? One such tale is about a young boy born of Dark. What would he do now that all the powers of the old demon lords of the past belong to him? Would he pursue the path of Dark he was destined to? Or would he reach out to the Light at the cost of his own life? There is no other path. And yet he seeks it, insatiably. Book 2 (in process of story development):
8 93