What's Passed and What Comes Next
“Again!” Kizu yelled from his position in the shade.
Korudo glared at his brother, who simply gave him a shit-eating grin and wink in return, as he and Keith lined up at the start of the course. One look at them told him they were just as exhausted as he was. Both took off through the obstacles at the same time. The bone-deep exhaustion wasn’t something unfamiliar to Korudo. He’d experienced it plenty of times when he was forced to train with his father. Those had always been the worst days.
While Korudo wasn’t as inclined as some of the others to train, he was far more focused on working on his inventions, he recognized it would be smart to know at least some basics. There were occasions where he liked to go out on jobs, and it would be better to actually be able to do something rather than be dead weight. His decision to go through some more proper training was bolstered when Keith had mentioned they’d be starting their training soon. They’d given him the impression they didn’t want to go at it alone, so there he was saying he’d do it with them.
What he had not suspected though was his own brother to be the one running things. Any thoughts of perhaps being treated with a slight bit of favoritism due to the familial relationship were quickly thrown out the window. Kizu had come up to him the first day and plainly told him, “Don’t expect me to baby you little brother. I intend to push you just as hard, if not harder, than your little friend here.” Korudo had inhaled sharply and glared back at him in challenge while Keith had looked slightly scared at the prospect.
That first day had left him sore and hurting in places he wasn’t even aware could. It brought up slightly painful memories of his past training experiences, but the more he thought about it the more he knew it wasn’t the same. His brother, although rough and brutal when it came to training, did care about him as a person. He never pushed Korudo or Keith more than he thought they could handle. It was relieving to know that if he truly couldn’t continue he wouldn’t be forced to. Didn’t mean that Kizu wasn’t enjoying watching their suffering though.
“C’mon you two!” Kizu shouted as he watched the two weave through the course, amused. “I could do it faster with my eyes closed. Put some effort into it!” He chuckled.
Korudo snorted but pushed on. Kizu had them repeat the course several more times before they were allowed a break. Keith collapsed as Korudo slumped down, exhausted. “Your brother is brutal.” Keith noted, voice sounding as tired as they looked. Korudo simply hummed in agreement. “I definitely think his methods are working though. As rough as they are.” With great effort Keith sat up. “I can tell I’ve been improving at a pretty good rate.” They smiled. “At this rate I should be cleared to take on some jobs soon!”
Korudo nodded. “I do admit his methods do get results fast.” He glanced over at his friend who was pawing at the ground in excitement. “You seem eager to get out there.”
Keith stopped in their pawing and looked over at Korudo with a determined look. “I wanna help people. As soon as I heard about Rewritten Fates I knew I had to join. It really did feel like a dream come true when I was accepted.” They turned away and closed their eyes. “Soon, I’ll be able to reach my end goal. It’s exciting.”
Korudo was about to respond when Kizu came back. “Ah good to see you two are still so lively.” He smirked at them. “How bout a little sparring then kids?” Keith gulped nervously while Korudo sighed. Kizu wouldn’t let any time go to waste.
Keith face planted into the dirt for the… well they’d lost count how many times it’d been at this point. Kizu smirked down at them. Past him they could spot Korudo slowly pulling himself up from his own dirt bath. Keith got up and fell into the stance Kizu had been drilling into them. “Just have to knock you down once right?” They asked.
Kizu’s smirk grew as he skillfully slid out of the way of Korudo’s charge. “Just once kid, then we’re done for the day.” While that might seem simple on paper it was much harder in practice. Kizu was far more experienced than either of them and had no qualms with putting them into the dirt over and over.
Keith glanced over at Korudo as he spit dirt out of his mouth and prepared to face Kizu again. What they were doing was clearly not working. Keith wracked their brain for a solution. It wasn’t long before they had an idea. They caught Korudo’s eye and hoped that he’d understand the look they gave him. The minute nod they got helped reassure them that their message was received.
The two charged together and Kizu for a moment seemed to be caught off guard. The two of them had been treating this like it was two separate sparring matches. They really should have been working together the whole time. Keith kept low and swept at Kizu’s legs with a paw. While the maneuver was easily dodged it put him off balance for Korudo’s tackle. Keith grinned triumphantly as Kizu lay pinned to the ground under his smaller brother. Keith was aware of how easily Kizu could break the hold, but he didn’t. Instead there was a small, but genuine smile on his muzzle. “There you go. You two finally got an important lesson through your thick skulls. You can always rely on others when you need to.” He quickly reversed the hold Korudo had and pinned his brother instead. “Also, never let your guard down!” Korudo grunted, clearly annoyed. Kizu looked over at Keith. They unconsciously straightened. “And you. Feel free to talk to Astral whenever you wanna head out on your first job. He’ll get you set up with something you can do.”
Keith felt a massive smile make its way onto their muzzle. “Thank you!”
Kizu finally released his brother. “Don’t thank me yet kid. You’ll still have training, and it only gets worse from here.”
Keith and Korudo looked at each other. Keith gave him a small smile which he returned. Sure they hurt and knew they would for the foreseeable future, but things were moving forward.