The forest floor alive beneath their feet.
Mud finding every footstep.", "The sound of it sharp.", "Like something celebrating the impact.",
---
Ha Joon's arms twisted tight around the thick stick.", "Both hands.", "Knuckles pale.", "Screaming forward.", "The sound of his own voice in his ears.", "The trees blurring at the edges of his vision.",
---
Eun Byol behind him.", "Moving like his shadow.", "The knife in her right hand.", "Grip tight.", "Her body low.", "Finding the angle behind his momentum.",
Both of them aimed at Chi-Long.
---
Chi-Long's eyes.", "Finding them both.", "Reading them both.", "Her face giving nothing.",
---
Ha Joon's swing came hard.", "Earning for her head.", "Moving forward with everything the swing required.",
---
Chi-Long's body moved.", "Small adjustments.", "A weave left.", "A bend right.", "The stick passing through air that had just been occupied by her skull.",
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Then the uppercut.
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Her fist finding his jaw before he'd finished the swing.", "The vibration of it moving up through his teeth.", "Through his skull.", "Through everything above the neck.",
His legs answered.", "His body answered.", "Both of them jumping back without being asked to.", "The body protecting itself from what the mind hadn't processed yet.",
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Eun Byol was already moving.", "Reading the distance.", "Staying close behind Ha Joon.", "A small gap between them.", "Intentional.",
---
They circled.", "Both of them.", "Eyes staying on Chi-Long.", "Not leaving her.", "Not for a second.",
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Then another swing.", "Ha Joon forward.", "The stick moving fast.",
Chi-Long stepped into it.", "Her hand finding the stick.", "Grabbing it.", "Taking it from the swing's momentum.",
---
Eun Byol exploded from behind him.", "Like a bullet finding its direction.", "Two slashes.", "Fast.", "Aimed.",
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Chi-Long released the stick.", "Her fingers finding the knife instead.", "Catching the blade between her ring finger and middle finger.", "Precise.", "Without looking at it.", "Like she had known it was coming before it left Eun Byol's hand.",
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Then her right leg.", "The kick finding Eun Byol's stomach.",
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The impact moved through Eun Byol's body in waves.", "Absorbing outward from the center.", "Like a stone finding still water.", "Pain erupting from the point of contact.", "Spreading.", "Finding every corner of her.", "Her face receiving it.", "Her eyes feeling like they wanted to leave her face.", "Her back receiving the air that her lungs had just lost.",
Her body pushed back.", "Her feet skidding.", "Finding the mud.", "Losing it.",
---
Ha Joon.", "His feet reading the earth.", "Three-pointed steps.", "Each one deliberate.", "The survival knife now dancing in Chi-Long's fingers.", "He watched her take it.", "Watched her hold it properly.", "Watched what came next.",
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First slash.", "The stick shorter.", "The head of it spinning away.", "Finding the air.", "Finding the trees.",
Second slash.", "The stick in two.", "Clean.",
Third.", "What remained.", "Almost nothing.",
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Then the elbow.", "Finding his nose.", "The blood coming the way blood comes when something collapses that was meant to hold shape.", "Fast.", "All at once.", "His head snapping back.",
He stepped back.", "Both feet finding the mud.", "His nose painting everything below it.",
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Eun Byol.", "Slowly getting up.", "What came out of her mouth pale and pink.", "Her vision finding its edges.", "Losing them.", "Finding them again.",
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They looked at each other.", "Both of them.", "The calculation arriving fast.",
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They ran.", "Opposite directions.",
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Chi-Long became something the eye couldn't fully track.", "A blur that decided where it was going before it left where it had been.",
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Her hand found Eun Byol's hair.", "Stopped her.", "The momentum of the run reversing instantly.", "Violently.",
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"Ha Joon."
Chi-Long's voice.", "Carrying through the trees.", "Through the birds lifting from the canopy.", "Through everything.",
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Eun Byol's fist came.", "Swinging.",
Chi-Long's hand found it first.", "Faster.", "Redirecting.", "Then continuing.",
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"Poor girl.", her voice even.", "Making a man work this hard because you are weak.", "Unacceptable.",
She looked outward.", "Toward where Ha Joon had gone.",
"And Ha Joon.", "What is your next move.", "Are you going to wait.", "Or are you going to charge in with no plan.",
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"LEAVE ME ALONE.", Eun Byol screamed.", "SAVE YOURSELF.", "HA JOON.",
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He came back.", "Running.", "His voice finding the forest the same way the birds had.", "Loud.", "Without calculation.", "Just back.", "Just moving toward her.",
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The sun finding the horizon.", "Light going soft.", "The forest changing color the way forests do when the day decides it has done enough.",
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Then both of them on the ground.", "Again.", "The mud receiving them.", "The way it always did.",
---
Chi-Long above them.", "Looking down.",
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"Get up."
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Her voice.", "Even.", "Flat.", "Final.",
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Their bodies answering with everything they had left.", "Which wasn't much.", "Which was something.", "Which would have to be enough.",