Vengeance

9- Broken parts

Their morning had been spent sparring, the man and the boy. Tommy had greatly improved since his first match with the man. His movements were fluid and precise, mirroring that of his experienced mentor yet not quite reaching Technoblade's level of assertion. The man's years of practice could be seen through his refined fighting style, only using one arm in most cases while flaunting his elegant skills. Tommy's quick improvements could be pinned down to his mentor's extreme training regime, the boy gaining many light cuts, a few of which scarred over quickly due to technoblade's remedies.

Tommy held his sword out and up, pointing it towards his partner ahead of him. This would be their last duel of the day. He had to put his all in to it.

Technoblade raised his sword to the same level as Tommy's, a signal to begin.

Ignoring the cold on his bare lower arm, he swung the sword to the left, flipping it to change direction mid air. Techno easily blocked this with a flick of his own sword, giving Tommy a slight opening to advance. The boy took the chance and darted forwards, spinning himself to avoid the blade heading straight towards him. He thumped technoblade in the chest, barely managing to wind the man but still managing to make him falter a little. The boy held the point of his sword between the man's eyes. A small drip of blood ran down his forehead, it seems techno had landed a hit while the boy rushed him. The boy smirked at the man slightly, feeling pride rise within him yet trying to suppress any strong emotion. He had to learn to keep calm during fights, to not get carried away.

The man looked at the boys sword and reciprocated the smirk, proud of how quickly the boy had advanced to notice his moves. Still, the man had let the boy win. He deserved at least one win for all his hard work. Techno placed Tommy's blade between his two scarred fingers and lowered it, patting the boys shoulder with his free hand.

"Good job, Tommy." He said, monotone as ever.

Tommy let himself smile wider, feeling happier than he had in a while. He suddenly noticed the chill on his unsheathed arms. The boy began shaking a little, feeling the cold start to set in for the first time in the many hours they had spent training this morning. Tommy rubbed his lower arms with his gloved hands, letting techno take his sword as usual. The boy reached down and slung his cape back over his robes. He sighed as he lowered his sleeves to cover the unprotected skin once more.

After crunching through the snow for a short while, the pair returned to technoblade's hut. Tommy sat by the fire as usual, letting the cold melt from his arms. He placed his black leather gloves down on his knees and brought a hand up to run his fingers through his hair.

Earlier in the day, techno had offered the boy a hair tie so he could keep his hair from his eyes. The boy had done as he had advised and the blonde locks had been held in a loose bun on the back of his head since techno had directed him on how to form one. He could feel the hair that had been gathered in to a bun, not used to the tight sensation.

His hands brought themselves down to his cheek and felt the scar that he had been given in his first training session. It was now fully healed over thanks to the blade's remedies, his many healing potions became undoubtedly useful. The scar looked like a loose jagged stripe, paler in the center as Tommy gently caressed the wound. He had grown rather fond of it, it reminding him of how far he had came and how much further his potential could bring him. He was no longer the same weak boy he had been before. He was stronger now. Besides, he thought the mark made him look cooler and older, more like the blade.

He heard a clunk as technoblade picked up an axe that lay against a nearby wall.

"I'm gonna go get some wood, Tommy." He stated.

Tommy hummed in response, pulling out a cloth from a nearby chest and dabbing it on the cut he had received today.

"Make sure you don't burn the house down," Techno added, "Oh and we might be having a guest later. Don't worry about them, though."