Brawls and Scrawls (ft. Kamui)

Kamui had always thought himself to be decent at combat, but after getting effortlessly disarmed by a resident, self-proclaimed vampire hunter in Burrowgatory, it dawned on him that shit, was he actually…no, but the proof was right there: his own personal knife clattered on the ground before going silent, and he had nothing in his hands except for his bare fists. And he was not confident with throwing punches, especially not against a much taller doll such as Silver.

"Damn it." Kamui muttered, lowering his hands.

Piper was right (as always. He could already imagine the smug grin on the gluttony bun's face.) Silver didn't need to do anything as it was clear in Kamui's body language that he conceded.

"It's not the worst." Silver commented, "I can tell you're self-taught."

Kamui clicked his tongue, clearly dissatisfied. "And you were? Hard to imagine when the sight of a weapon usually gets most buns quaking on their hooves."

Silver was about to crouch down to pick up the knife for Kamui, but the thief scowled and was faster, not wanting anyone to touch his belongings if it could be avoided. He sheathed the blade back, hanging it on his leather belt.

The vampire hunter shook his head, standing upright now. "Not quite, but I imagine I practice more than you do. How that actually compares when I face off a real demon, however…"

Silver's grip on his own knife tightened before he closed his eyes for a moment, deep in thought. He then spoke up, "Instead of sparring, we should start with the fundamentals. Maybe experimenting with your knife on a dummy will be more fruitful for now."

Kamui let out an irritated grunt, but he was here to be taught (or at least, to learn), and he would be a fool to deny help when it was presented to him on a silver platter. So he followed into what he assumed to be Silver's abode, which had a low, rusted gate that anyone could climb over (though the spikes would mean they had to be careful or thicker clothing) and then a bit of a front garden, grass covering the ground in a low but solid blanket. Kamui assumed that this was not their house, it was probably given to them by the Church, and perhaps he was able to get a full-fledged bungalow because it was far away from the city center. It looked decent enough, better than his own place, and he wondered for a moment if he should be the envy bun instead.

The crystals overhead were dimmer, indicating that it was nighttime, but there were tall metal lanterns strewn across the yard, leading towards a much larger grass area at the back, which also had a few scarecrow-like items that were staked to the soil. The light sources were enough to navigate without tripping and also illuminated the training grounds; he could at least see his hand in front of his face, and his knife could reflect the candles if turned to the right angle.

"Haven't been to a proper training ground before?" Silver asked.

The question caught Kamui off-guard. Sure, he was impressed, but did that actually show in his expression? He hoped not. "You call this proper?"

"Proper enough." the vampire hunter smirked before approaching one of the tube dummies. There was another one to the left with a sizeable distance between - even if Kamui or Silver swung their arms at full length, they shouldn't be able to hit each other. Not that would be something they would do - knives were about quick movements, not momentum.

"You can watch me first, but I can tell you right now that a lot of this is practice rather than theory. You won't get better if you don't practice these movements, and that means doing it often." Silver then shifted into a battle stance; his shoulders hunched up a little, one hand wielding the knife he brandished earlier and the other free hand ready to grip and hold. He then showed Kamui a number of movements he read in books.

It dawned on the thief as to why the tube dummy was shaped in a certain way. It was honestly just a long stick with a singular rod sticking from its side, but as Silver practiced with it, Kamui realized that it was meant to be a doll's arm. The movements involved trapping the rod with the knife-wielding hand, but most of them made use of a quick shove to throw the opponent off balance before quickly striking the stomach or slicing the chest. 

To see these movements performed so efficiently and quickly stunned the thief. Sure, he had thought about incapacitating his target before attacking, but that usually involved striking from behind - basically the element of surprise needed to be on his side. For him to see that there were clearly other ways to go about it, especially if he was the one caught out of position, was groundbreaking.

This time Kamui couldn't hide the twinkle in his eyes, and Silver noticed. The vampire hunter smiled. "Want to give it a try?"

He nodded quickly, approaching the dummy and pulled out his own knife. He was about to attempt copying what he just saw, but Silver told him to go slow - each movement has purpose and needs to be done properly. He needed to be deliberate, and once he knew the correct actions, he could practice, and then do it faster.

To be honest, he never pegged himself as someone who could follow instructions, with only vague memories of a childhood and refusing to sit still on a chair. He supposed it was a matter of topic and circumstance, finding how to defend himself with a knife and counterattack to be infinitely more useful.

"By the way," Kamui would say as he slowly went through another motion of the arm lock with a knife. "I heard that you're a vampire hunter?"

"I am."

"And the recent deaths?" it was all the cityfolk ever talked about, which was also why he had been having piss poor luck finding anything to snatch, unless it was dropped in a hurry.

Silver studied the pride bun carefully, but ultimately, he cared more about getting others interested to take arms over getting a judgment of character wrong. "I fear but am confident they are related."

"Huh." Kamui moved in for a quick swipe on the tube's upper side. It does little against the tightly wound tape. "So…vampires?"

Silver nodded. "They exist."

The thief stood in front of the dummy, trying to process what he just heard. "Not what I expected to learn in a lesson on self-defense…" but the thought settled in, and Kamui found that he wasn't as shocked as he felt like he could've been. It was more like a, well, just something else to worry about when prowling the streets, he supposed. Perhaps it was luck that allowed him to avoid running into one so far, or maybe there was more to the vampires than what they showed on television. Of course, that was if the bun was telling the truth. He didn't look like he was making things up…

"Looks like you have your work cut out for you then." the thief said after a brief pause.

"If it is for protecting Burrowgatory from demons, then so shall it be." Silver answered without hesitation.

Kamui wondered about that, if he could ever have that drive to protect an entire city. One bun was already enough, he felt, but because of that, he felt like he could relate, just a little bit. "For your sake, I hope it's just some kind of crazy bun." that would be easier to deal with than a vampire, he felt.

A cloud passed over the other bun's expression. It seemed he was conflicted. "We shall see."