General Art Wig-Or-Log

[athenian200]

LOL!

That whole chapter had a lighter tone than the rest of the story. I liked it.

It was all about jokes, daydreaming, distraction, and talking to your enemies as you fight them.

 

[Vanessa28]

Yeah it was a great chapter and finally the real fighting has started. Great job Baas, ehm RP

 

[Diablo]

I liked all the jokes, and how Atsuma could those two on by himself.

 

[February Eve]

Cliffhanger! Though it was funny the way Baas forgot to fight. *g*

I caught up with several chapters at once again. I quite like Diablo's entrance. Mysterious and intriguing!

 

[Random Person]

Chapter 24 : Baas' Predicament
​

*SHING*

Baas began to marvel at that sound as he fought his opponent. It sounded much more... real than the clack sound he was used to his weapons making. But then again, this fight was much more real. One slip up and it could be over for him. Especially since his opponent used twin swords. Twirling this way and that, Baas had to make sure that he never lost sight of the enemies blades, else that would be it for him.

Strangely enough though, as different as this fight seemed. It was similar to others. As Baas continued to dodge, deflect and attack, he could just as easily analyze his opponent now, as he had in the Center or in the training room.

"Okay lets see." He thought to himself in the midst of combat. His actions followed his thoughts. "Attack from the right. He blocked it. Attack with a vertical. He dodge it that time. Here he comes. Don’t be confused. Though he swings his swords crazy like that, there is only one place he can aim for. Block now! Good. Now push back. Stab him. A dodge that time. Still no real weaknesses. Man, this guy may not be the best but he’s not... OH NO DODGE!... That was close. Stay focused Baas. He’s coming back. Deflect, deflect, deflect. Still no weakness in the strategy. Atleast nothing I can spot. Ugh. I don’t want to increase my speed until I have a plan for this guy."

Meanwhile, Atsuma was able to keep track of both his fight and Baas’. He could already see how Baas fight should have gone. Baas was easily better. He wondered what the guy in blue could have been doing that made him so...
*Dodge*
His own enemy, the one with the red bandana and the curved sword, had gotten close too slicing his face. Of course, Atsuma was good enough to dodge it in time. But if he was going to beat his opponent, he would have to stop focusing on Baas. That was easier said than done. If this had been Koroko, Atsuma wouldn’t have had to worry about who would win. But Baas was a rookie. Even though he was keen at strategy, he seemed to be missing...
*Block*
This wasn’t going to work. Atsuma needed Baas to figure things out now.

"Baas!" He yelled while fighting.

"Can’t... *grunt* talk. Fighting."

"Baas. Beat him already."

"I can’t!" Baas said trying to talk and fight at the same time. "There’s... no trick... that I can find."

"Stop talking and focus on ME!" The man with the twin swords twirled them with all his might. Slicing as fast as he could, he was still furious about the earlier comments Baas had made.

"You still want to insult me!? HUH!? Try it now!"

Baas couldn’t see it. No matter what he did, the guy was able to block and dodge strategically.

"Baas. You can't see a trick because there is none. It’s not always as complicated as you think..."

*Block Dodge Block*

Atsuma couldn’t get the message out. Baas could defeat his opponent easily if he just stopped looking for something complicated and saw what was right in front of him.

"Not as complicated as I think?" Baas continued to think. "What’s not complicated? Simple. I need to think of something simple." He thought to himself for a second. "Koroko!" He laughed hard at that in his mind, then he dodged. He didn’t really think Koroko was simple, but what Diablo had said about him opening his mouth instead of his mind made it so that he couldn’t...
*Block*
Right. He was in a fight. He needed to focus. How was he suppose to win without a strategy though? He didn’t want to attack full force until he had a strategy *Dodge* Making jokes about Koroko wouldn’t save him here. *Block* Wait a second. *Block Block* Koroko beat Baas, and though he wasn’t really simple, he didn’t need a strategy. *Block* All he needed, was his speed.

Baas jumped back to give himself time to think clearly. "That’s what Atsuma’s getting at. I don’t need to wait to find this guys weakness before I go full force" He tightened the sword in his left hand. "Once I go, his weakness will show itself."

Baas was through waiting around. A small smirk appeared on his face. He jumped forward to attack.

His opponent was distraught. He hadn’t expected Baas to suddenly jump forward. He was still angry at that last comment, but it hadn’t thrown his concentration off completely. He prepared himself to deflect the first attack.
*SHING*
Yes, he had done...
*SHING*
Wow, the next attack had came more quickly than he had...
*SHING SHING*
The attacks, they were coming quicker and quicker.
*SHING SHING SHING*

Baas smirked as he continued to attack. So that was his weakness. It wasn’t a weakness just anyone could exploit, but it was a weakness. Baas didn’t need some complicated plan. The fact was, he was faster than this guy. Just like Koroko was faster than him.

As Baas continued to push back his opponent, Atsuma was convinced he no longer needed to pay attention to someone else‘s fight. Which meant he could focus on his opponent. The question was, should he use his speed or his technique to finish him off?

The man in red was breathing hard. Though he had tried his best, he could not break Atsuma’s defense. Plus the way he was fighting was... weird. It was like he hadn’t been trying to fight back. Only defending himself off.

Atsuma took a deep breath. Play time was over.
"Hey you." He pointed his sword to his opponent. "People like you make me sick."

"What did I do?" The red one complained.

"You’re using that sword completely wrong. You swing it like it’s a flat sword. The curved sword is meant to confuse your opponent, not over whelm them with power. If you can't use the most awesome sword in the world correctly, then don't pick it up!"

His opponent was not taking that lying down. This was his best style, and some stranger from Orange was going to insult him? No way.
"Ha! That’s something coming from you. All you do is defend yourself. Is this how you always win fights? By running away?"

"No." Atsuma said smirking. Then... he charged in. Swinging at a quick pace, his melee of attacks were brutal. The enemy was able to keep up though. He blocked all the attacks away from himself. Ha. It was a bluff. This guy had nothing special up his sleeve.

Atsuma himself was waiting as he attacked. "Not yet." He told himself. "He’ll do it. Just wait. Hold on. You got to be patient. Keep attacking. Don’t speed up or he’ll get suspicious. Just keep... THERE!"

Atsuma took his sword in his right hand and swung it horizontally to his opponent’s left shoulder. The man saw the sword and placed his sword in a vertical position to his left in order to block the incoming attack. That’s what Atsuma had been waiting for. In the millisecond that it happened, he figured out what to do. Atsuma stopped his sword just before it collided with the enemy‘s weapon. Keeping it in his hand, he twirled the curved sword counterclockwise and had it spin around the opponent’s sword. All this was done in less than a second. There was no time to scream. Before he knew what had happen, the sword made contact with the skin of Atsuma’s opponent. The way he had swung it, it went right into his neck.

"That’s how." Atsuma said with a smirk. But it was short lived. He saw the man beginning to choke. He was still alive and there was no way he could breath.

"No." Atsuma said solemnly. "I meant to end this in one shot." He quickly took his now red splattered sword out. "Don't worry. I'm not cruel." Now he sounded more determined than cocky and confident.

Turning as fast as he could, he came and brought the sword to stab his opponent’s heart. The man’s body twitched for a moment and then ceased functioning. That was it. Atsuma had won.

Baas had no knowledge of this. Ever since he had began his attack, he had been slowly increasing his speed. His opponent couldn’t keep up. So far, he had been able to block anything major from being attacked, but his skin and clothes had been cut up a good deal. Now with tattered clothes, he desperately looked for a way out. He could do this. His opponent only had one sword. He used twins. He was suppose to be the faster one. He just needed to find a weak point in his attack. There! It was now or never! He plunged both his swords forward desperately to stab Baas who had an opening.

Baas quickly saw the swords coming and reacted. His sword was already to his left. It was quicker to just keep turning, so that’s what he did, once again proving his speed was better than his opponents.

*SHING*

His shield was still on his right shoulder. It saved him from the attack. And it also gave him the victory.

Once the opponent's swords were deflect away, Baas charged forward with his right arm stretched out to clothesline his opponent. The man closed his eyes and fell onto his back. Quickly, he needed to...

Too late. When he opened his eyes Baas was standing there with his sword pointed toward the man’s throat.

The man with the blue band and matching bandanna closed his eyes. Here it came. He never would have thought he would be killed by a kid. He closed his eyes again, and tightened his muscles preparing for the moment of death that awaited him.

...

Here it came.

...

Anytime.

...

After waiting several more seconds, the man reopened his eyes to see Baas grinning. His sword over his shoulder left shoulder as though he were done fighting.

"That’s right loser, I beat you." He said as boastful as he could.

"Baas!" Atsuma shouted from afar. "Don’t just stand there like an idiot."

"What?" Baas said confused. "What did I do now?"

"Finish the job. Kill him."

"Oh... right." Baas said. He raised his sword. The man went back to his position. His eyes closed and his muscles tense.

"This is it Baas." Baas thought to himself. "You finally get to do it. The last step to proving you're a member of the war. Your first kill. You have to take... take..."

Baas looked at the man before him. He knew it was time for his life to end and Baas was the one to end it. At that thought, Baas’ hand began to shake.

"Come on Baas, give it to him. This is what you’ve been training your whole life to do. Why can‘t you simply lower your arm?"

Suddenly, a voice from Baas’ past entered into his head.
"If you think so badly of death, why have you spent your life learning how to give it to others?"

As Baas stood there shaking, what Diablo had said was ringing in his mind.
"No. Shake it off Baas. Sure it feels uncomfortable. But remember what Atsuma said. Work past what feels uncomfortable."

He looked again at the man. As a leader, his instincts to notice details kicked in. He could see the man’s chest going in and out from his lungs. His heart was still pumping. He was still healthy. It was Baas job to make sure those details weren't true anymore. He was nowhere near death, yet Baas was suppose to bring it to him.

His body still did not react.
"The hard part is over Baas." He continued to think "You won the fight. You’ve won tons of fights. This is the easy part. Just do it!"


His arm did not lower. Rather it did something else instead. It dropped his weapon behind his back.
"No."
"Maybe I’ve won. But I never had to... to kill my opponent. This... this is totally different from any... no... no I can‘t... there‘s no way... I can‘t..."

Baas brought his hands to his ears. He couldn’t handle the decision that was put before him. He had been taught to fight his who life but it just didn’t seem right to kill this guy.

Atsuma saw what was happening to Baas. He didn’t understand why, but for some reason Baas was breaking down.

Meanwhile, his opponent had seen what was happening too. He didn’t know what was happening, why it was happening and he didn’t care. He had been given a second chance to win this fight. He quickly jumped up from the floor and charged toward Baas. Baas had no defense, nor was he looking at his opponent.

"No." Atsuma said angrily. He quickly sprinted toward Baas. He had to stop that attack. He wasn’t going to make it though. Baas was too far away.

The next moment seemed to go by in slow motion to everyone there. The man brought his twin swords closer and closer to Baas’ body. Baas stood shivering, his attention away from the enemy. Atsuma ran trying to stop the attack.

"I got you now kid!" The man yelled with an evil smile.

Atsuma cried out desperately Baas "Kid get out of the way!"

Upon hearing Atsuma, Baas looked up. The man with was in front of him standing still. One sword was pointed at Baas’ face. The other to his side. Baas wondered why he had stopped. There had been no reason.

Then, he saw it. The man chest was dripping a red liquid right where his heart was. Blood.
But that wasn’t the only thing emerging from his chest. An arrow was sticking out in the same spot.

Atsuma stopped from his run. Looking at the man puzzled, he saw it too. He then looked toward the forest where they had been earlier and smiled.

"Nice shot Vee." He said under his breath.

The man, no longer alive, fell to the floor.

Baas looked at him in horror. He then looked at the man Atsuma had killed. It was the first time he had seen him after the fight. He was... his opponent was... they were both...

"Nice job kid." Atsuma said. Baas snapped out of his trance on the bodies. "You took my advice to heart. I didn’t even think you’d remember what I said about you being the best distraction. Most don't. Shoot, half the time I forget there's an archer watching my back. Great acting. I thought you’d honestly lost it for some reason. That was pretty close though. If Vee hadn‘t shot that arrow when she did..."

"Baas!" The two turned around to see Koroko and Sheina coming toward them. Sheina had a huge smile on her face and was running toward Baas.

"Baas!" she repeated. "I got my first kill! Can you believe it!"

Baas felt a chill of guilt and shame run through him.

"Well that was fast." Atsuma said talking to Koroko. "So, did you get everybody?"

"Yeah." Koroko said looking around to see the damage that had been done on deck. "There weren’t really that many since they’re all fighting the other team right now."

He stopped his assessment of the deck and smiled at Atsuma.
"I take it yelling Baas’ name out loud was part of your plan. Everyone below deck was listening to your fight and never saw us coming. One of the Fars was just staring out of one of the windows. I let Sheina take care of that one."

"Baas!" Sheina went on "It was exhilarating! The girl was completely distracted by the outside and didn’t see me coming. Now she‘ll never see anything again."

Baas put his hand to his stomach. He felt sick. He took a look around at the people dead on the deck. They too would never seen anything again. He felt even sicker.

"Uh Atsuma… I don’t feel too well. I think I should go back to the forest."

Atsuma and Sheina gave Baas a weird look.
"Are you sure kid? We still have to hold off the ship in case the other Blues come back. Since Koroko can’t arch, I’ll need as many Leaders as I can get to kill..."

"Oh" Baas groaned in pain. He got down on one knee. He felt as though he would vomit. Sheina went to take a closer look.

"He really does look sick Atsuma."

Atsuma sighed.
"That bag probably affected his body more than I thought it would. At this rate, he’ll be more of a hindrance than a help." He then turned towards Baas.
"Go ahead. Don’t worry, we should be able to handle it from here. Can you get down by yourself?"

Baas went quickly to where he had climbed up.
"Yeah. I think the sooner I get away from this ship, the better I’ll feel."

He tried to hurry and leave the ship.

"Baas wait." he heard before he could climb down. He turned to see Sheina holding his sword.
"Don’t forget this. You may need to kill someone else out there."
Baas gave a nervous smile. He took the sword and arranged it with his shield so he could hold both of them on his back.

Baas climbed down the rope in a similar fashion as he had climbed up.

He headed back toward the woods, continuing to think about what had just happened.

"I can’t believe it! All this time! All this training! And I can’t make my first kill because I’m too scared. It would be okay if this is how it feels for everyone on their first kill." He looked back towards the ship. "But Sheina was ecstatic. She loved the fact that she had... that she had..."

He put his hand to his stomach. Closing his eyes, he wished this embarrassing feeling of pain would go away.

"This isn’t right. It makes no sense. Why do I feel this way?"

He looked towards the forest with hopeful eyes.
"This is why I have Commander. She’s suppose to have the answers we normal Leaders don’t."

Baas slowed down his speed as he reached the forest. Vanessa was somewhere around here. This is where he and Atsuma had taken off so she couldn’t have been far.
He looked up through the trees. There was no sign of her. Where did she go?

Baas examined the area carefully. Something… wasn’t right. Analysis. It’s what they trained him to do best at the Center. The dirt… there were signs of people being there. That wasn’t unusual. They had all been there. The trees… they did not look suspicious at all. Perhaps deeper into the forest.

Suddenly, Baas heard some rustles in the bushes. He quickly took out his sword from his back. "Miss Vanessa?"

He turned back and forth, unsure of where the sound had came from. "Miss Vanessa?"

There it was again. Should he follow it? Under normal circumstances he might not have, but after failing to kill the sailor, Baas had a determination to get something done. He ran deeper into the woods following the sound. There was something there. Someone. Was it Vanessa? No it wasn’t. They were dressed differently.

"Hey you!" He cried out.

Was it one of the Blues? Whoever it was, their band wasn’t hiding but between the distance and the dim light of the forest, he couldn’t it‘s color. If he could just run faster. There he could almost see it. Was it... grey?

Suddenly, they were gone. Baas stopped in his track.

"What in the Wig? Where did they go?"

Did he just imagine them. Baas looked back. There was a twig on the ground broken. He hadn’t stepped on it. No, there was someone here. A grey band. And they were running from him for some reason.

He thought to himself for a second. "Wait. If it’s just a grey band, than I don’t need to chase them. They don’t fight. They would have no reason to be my enemy. They were probably just running away from me because they were scared or something. But that still leaves one question...

Where is..."
*Clink*

"What?" He stepped on something. Something metal. It was a loop. A metal loop.

He picked it up to get a better look. Surprisingly, it was attached to something. A piece of clothe. Baas hadn’t seen the rest because all but the loop was hidden under a bush. Why would a metal loop be attached to a piece of clothe? It didn’t make sense to Baas. Atleast, not until he held the whole thing off the ground.

It was some sort of cape. A large darkish brown silk cape. It looked familiar. Did it belong to the grey band?

Baas took a closer look at it. It was tattered. Whoever had been wearing it had definitely been through some sort of fight or struggle. But where were they now?

Baas shrugged it off. It didn’t matter to him. He folded the cape up neatly to take it with him.

"Whoever this belonged to is in trouble now." He said out loud as he walked back to the edge of the forest. "Not only were they in a serious fight, but now I’ve got their cape. Then again, I don’t really wear capes. I guess I could cut it up and make it into something else." He thought about that for a second. "But then that would be a waste of a perfectly good cape. Maybe someone else wants it. I’ll ask Atsuma if there’s anyone in Orange who..."

Baas stopped in his tracks and quickly unfolded the cape. Of course! How could he have not seen it!? He felt so stupid. He was suppose to be a Leader, a master of analysis, yet he couldn’t remember a simple detail like this.

Well that was over now. He hadn’t recognized it at first because it was tattered and dirty, but he had seen this cape a million times since he came to Orange. He knew who owned it. It was the same person he had been looking for when he first entered the forest and that meant she was the one who had been through a fight.

"Vanessa." Baas said staring into space.

Again, he took a moment to think about all the details of the situation he was in.

"Well that can‘t be good."

Chapter 24 End
​

 

[February Eve]

Nice chapter RP! I like the direction you took with that, with Diablo's words coming back to haunt him. Though I half expected him to talk to himself and say it was the hardest part of war.

And another cliffhanger! But maybe you'll post another chapter ten minutes later like you did the last time I commented. No? *g*

 

[Master Kokiri 9]

Sorry I missed out on the last chapter. I have to hand it to you, the plan that Vanessa made was pretty sweet. Great job as usual man. Now for the stuff I thought was hilarious.

"I know me either." Atsuma said. At first, he sounded excited and serious. "But I can’t believe I have to fight these two by myself. It's a little unfair actually. If only Vee had sent someone with me." Atsuma then gave Baas an angry stare. "Someone with a SHORT SWORD and a SHIELD!"


All I can say on that is this: L. O. L.

"See, that’s the sad part." Baas said keeping his smirk. "The fact that a kid like me, whose straight out of the Center by the way, knows more than you about fighting AND girls. Man you must live a sorry life at you base. Are you the loser of the ship?"

BAAS used TAUNT! Or is it SWAGGER? I'm inclined to believe it's SWAGGER more than TAUNT. Either way, lol.

As for chapter 24, that was pretty good too. I really like how Diablo's words came back to haunt him. I like it a lot.

And great cliffhanger, I really hope Vanessa's okay.

Keep up the great work man!

 

[Vanessa28]

Yeah and he ends with another cliffy. RP you are so mean to torture people like me like that Great chapter and what is going on next? *Waits impatiently*

 

[Veely]

:clap: yeah! Another chapter that is always good! You drive me crazy with the cliff hangers but you know I love your work! :yes::yes: two thumbs waayyy up!

 

[*M i d n a*]

That chapter 19 was so long I almost fell asleep. XD Not really, it was a great chapter, RP. Here are a few mistakes that caught my eyes that perhaps you can fix.

"It’s rude to stare at people you know.” He said with a smirk. “But I guess you can’t help it. After all, with my natural good looks I was known as the Great One back in the Center." (On this you just need to add the " after know and before but.)

And I think you were trying to use who's instead of whose in this line: Whose won the most battles? -Spoken by Pandora, I believe.

Anyway, other mistakes still persist, like some unwanted letters in front of or at the end of other letters. Still, great job on this, keep it coming, dude, it's one well written story. I hopefully am catching up. ^^

 

[athenian200]

That was a great chapter, Random Person.

I never thought Baas would have trouble killing his opponent. Not in a world where war is a way of life.

I was almost afraid that they wouldn't succeed, but it looks like they did, thanks to the archers.

Although now, I'm wondering what has happened to Vanessa.

 

[February Eve]

RP, I got to thinking, and I was curious about something. I don't have to answer yet, because I don't want to be spoiled, but I was thinking - is it possible it wasn't Vanessa who saved Baas? It just seems like a short amount of time between when he was saved and when she disappeared, though not completely unfeasible. Just wondered since Diablo and the mysterious woman are currently tracking the group and they said they needed him for a reason, so they'd have motivation to save him, too.

 

[Random Person]

Wig-Or-Log has over 100 posts! Whoo! Not sure if that really means anything, but 100 is usually a time to feel happy.

 

[Diablo]

I think Diablo kidnapped Vanessa to bring Baas farther away from the group. Good chapter RP I never expected Baas to get cold feet.

 

[TheSkywardSword]

I never really bothered to look at this before, but now I am REALLY happy that I did. I would willingly sacrifice my science homework to read it. And that's saying something!

I don't know what else to say. I AM LOVING THIS!!!!! WIG-OR-LOG WILL GO FAR!!!!

By the way, when the characters mention the place is Wig, is it just a shortened version of Wig-Or-Log? Or are there two separate places, Wig and Log? Will they travel to Log? I suppose I will just have to read on and see!:clap::yes::clap::yes::clap::yes::clap: