Five of Cups and Five of Swords

Grief and a fight that has already been won or lost. The tradition reads this pair as loss with a person attached to it: something spilled and somebody involved in the spilling. It is one of the heavier pairings in the tranche and it is still not a judgement about fault.

Associated with the aftermath of a bad falling out. Read as mourning something that a conflict ended, without the cards saying who ended it.

A defeat with residue. Frequently read after a restructure or an argument that somebody clearly lost.

The Five of Swords does not tell you which figure you are. The pair is more useful read as asking that question than as answering it.