#Lore24 – Entry #180 – Wild West Month #29 – Those who Face Bullets with Swords
As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra
Strange are the ways of the Peoples from Beyond the Ocean Which Leads to the Lands of the Setting Sun. Though very rare within the Bitter Frontier, sometimes you will encounter one of them, and you will know them by the long, curved swords they carry. They are often of elven blood, though mixed usually with human, but not always, and the swords they carry are said by our ancestors to have once been favored by our own people, though the ways of making them have long since been lost to us.
It is a unique method Those who Face Bullets with Swords use. I have seen some of them forsake the use of Thundering Weapons altogether in my travels, while others will use them almost as often. But more curious about their methods is their ability to use their Curved Swords to deflect the bullets fired by those wielding Thundering Weapons. It may seem impossible, but I have witnessed this for myself. It is not a feat undertaken lightly, for the slightest failure in their training will see them dead or dying, for one cannot see the bullet and must rely upon their honed instincts. Their ways are as mysterious to us as our shamanic ways must seem to the outsiders, but everyone must forge their own path.
If you witness one carrying such a Curved Sword, be wary should you have to engage them in battle. An arrow will do little good unless you catch them completely unawares, for they are much easier to predict than a bullet. I have seen one such person split a bullet in twain with their blade, sending the halves of it into enemies on either side of them. I have seen them deflect a full six shots from one of the revolving Thundering Weapons only to charge forward in the time it takes to blink to cut the gunman down. I have likewise seen those who have failed in their dangerous way, receiving a lesser wound than they would have, perhaps, only to be taken out by another bullet fired moments later.
A strange way indeed.