Sport of Palutena

Consideration

Why did this happen?
Tier sat down in the middle of their forested front yard.
Wasn't Like sad too?
He needed his brother's support now, but he wasn't quite sure. Like didn't seem to react as to how Tier did. Letting out a mixed sigh, he laid back into the grass. He just wanted to think now about the things his parents had said. What could they have saved them from? He needed to stop acting like a child, so he needed to stop relying on Like. However, he wanted to share his thoughts with him, so he got up and went back inside.

Tier found Like pacing in his room. When he realized his brother's arrival, Like looked at Tier, expecting him to say something.
"Hey, Like," he started. Like just nodded his greeting. "This was unexpected."
"Yeah. I wonder who did it and why."
"What can you interpret?" Tier asked. "I know you're good at that kind of stuff."
Like blinked. "They either committed suicide or were slain knowing it. They seemed like it wasn't a surprise, and there weren't any signs of resistance," he explained. Tier took that into consideration. Why would they do that? They were very young, and had a long life left to live. He knew they wouldn't throw away their lives like that without good reason.
"Maybe Fherel or Drent did it," Tier suggested. "Perhaps we shouldn't have joined teams. It has only been a few days and a lot has happened."
"No, that can't be it," Like replied, his voice fatigued. "I have a feeling that doing this just made everything start."

°

It had been a few weeks since Like's parent's deaths. Like had been in a few matches, and sometimes he was in a match against Tier. They won some and lost some, and both Like and his brother has improved on their skills. Nothing of much interest had happened since, except for the time Yaqer tripped over Aswey and fell face-first onto the stone ground, which gave a good laugh to the whole team for a few days. Today Like would be going in another match along with Saevie and Aswey, so they came early to train. Like was on the roof practice range, maneuvering his Optical blade through the air, executing near flawless slashes onto a wooden log while Aswey and Saevie sparred with each other.

Like decided he should take a break, even though he hasn't been practicing for long. He sat down on the bench to watch the girls spar. Aswey was in the lead now; she was mindfully dodging Saevie's swift swoops of her Lancer staff, Aswey taking adventage by throwing blows with her swift Samurai blade while Saevie figured out where to strike next. Of course, Aswey ended up winning the spar. Saevie congratulated her, relieving Like, as he did not want another meaningless death. Aswey must be more skilled than he imagined if she can easily beat Saevie.

Soon enough, it was time for the match. Yaqer and Drent had been at the Light base not too long, but they were wishing Like and his team luck. They went on their way and were descended onto the Spiral Tower map, a large, rocky land with hills and a tall stone outlook tower that spiraled up into the air for the Fighters to use to their advantage. He spotted the Dark Fighters across the hill, but couldn't tell if one of them was Tier or not; he would find out soon.
The match started. Saevie jumped off of the tower to assault a Dark Fighter below, Aswey attacked a nearby Dark Fighter from behind, and Like was attacked by the third Fighter. He kicked the Fighter off and he fell off of the tower. Like took the chance to dice him while he was in the air, and he yelped. Like recognized that yelp, as no one else seemed to be able to make that sound. It was Tier!
As he hit the ground, Tier countered Like and froze him solid with his powerful Aquarius blade. Like felt stunning but brief pain and soon he was defeated, and returned on the ground a few meters away from the fray.
"Hey, Like!" Tier sneered. "Sorry, we're winning this one."
"Not so fast, you little sneak!" Like jumped and struck Tier with a dash melee, inflicting a burn, causing Tier to quickly counter. He felt a stab on pain on his left leg, as Tier had targeted before Like could react. Like kicked him and knocked his brother down down, allowing Like to finish Tier off with a quick impale with his blade. "Now we're even!"
Suddenly, Like felt a dead weight crash onto him, knocking the air out of him. A Dark Fighter had pinned him to the ground with a heavy Black club. Like was suffocating, so he had to think fast, but the Fighter kept pushing him. He could heave himself up-- no, he wasn't strong enough to do that. He was about to try to squirm his way out when another attack finished him. Before he could revive, the Light team had lost, and they were returned back to Light base.

Like noticed that he still had the wound that had finished him right before the match ended, which puzzled him. He should have been fully healed. Who attacked him? It didn't matter now, he just had to treat it. It wasn't major; it was just a long cut across his side that he could withstand.