A Viper's Nest

As Hunter and Blitz walked down the hallway toward the chambers where Flame was held, Hunter abruptly stopped. Turning to the left, he walked out into the Royal Guard’s training ground. Blitz followed closely behind.

“I need to blow off some steam. Fight me.” Hunter told Blitz neutrally as he turned to face her. He loosened his longsword in the sheath on his left side. He was curious about the depth of Blitz’s skills, and figured a mock fight would show him her talent.

“Maybe we should talk about it instead?” Blitz offered sheepishly. Hunter made no response, but finished drawing his blade. With a sigh, Blitz drew her own pair of elegantly curved short swords.

“Impressive” Hunter smirked “Have they got names?”

“Who names their sword?” Blitz smirked back, knowing full well that Hunter had named his longsword Sin. She took a good long look at the straight blade; the metal was kept in near perfect condition, and the tempered steel glistened in the sunlight. The hilt was painted black, and the word “Sin” was engraved on the blade just above the hilt.

“Funny.” Hunter’s smirk vanished as he shrugged off the old brown duster he usually wore, revealing a simple black shirt beneath. He grasped Sin with his right hand only. Crouching slightly, he prepared to lunge.

Blitz licked her lips in anticipation. If there was one thing she was good at, it was dueling. She had graduated top of her class in dueling while at the Royal Guard Academy, and the Special Ops Section. She crouched into her own fighting stance as the two circled each other, the sun beating down on them from overhead.

Hunter stepped in first and delivered a strong blow that Blitz caught with both of her swords. With a pirouette, she managed to knock Sin away and slash savagely at Hunter’s midsection. She was almost worried that she had gone too quickly, but her slash found only air as Hunter managed a quick step back. Any trace of amusement had vanished from both combatants’ faces as they entered a zone of absolute concentration.

Hunter lunged in again, as Blitz noted that he only held Sin with his right hand. Hunter was right-handed, she remembered idly as she easily countered a clumsy slash, but why wouldn’t he use both hands on his sword?

She received her answer a moment later as his left hand flashed from his side, hurling a throwing knife toward her. She was caught off guard for a second, and forced into a quick sidestep that brought her directly beneath Sin’s downward slash. She managed to deflect the blade with her left blade, but she knew that Hunter hadn’t gone as quickly as he could have. She cursed slightly under her breath as she broke the fight off by hopping backward.

“You cheated.” She grunted at Hunter. The thrown knife levitated back to Hunter’s grasp, and he strapped it back to his hip.

Hunter shrugged. “There aren’t any rules when it’s you and an outlaw going one on one.” He smirked slightly, infuriating Blitz. She hadn’t been trying her hardest, but now she resolved to win the battle by any means necessary.

Stepping forward quickly, the ambidextrous Blitz feinted with her right before lunging in with her left. Hunter flicked Sin lazily, deflecting her attack. Blitz rolled under and slashed violently toward where his Achilles tendon should be; however, she failed to find her mark as Hunter teleported a short distance away. Blitz cursed loudly this time, having not expected him to use magic. Unfurling her wings, she grinned widely. If Hunter was going to use magic, then she was going to fly.

Using her wings to propel herself forward, she spun quickly and brought both blades to bear. Hunter blocked both easily, but a sudden flap of her right wing brought her right blade across the left to stab down toward Hunter’s heart. Hunter prepared for a quick teleport but was halted by a swift kick from Blitz’s right leg. Grunting, he barely managed to spin out of the way of the descending blade. Blitz flapped mightily and backed off.

Hunter had to admit that Blitz had impressed him. Had this been a serious fight, Hunter wasn’t sure he would have won, unless he used some rather underhanded tactics such as a blinding flare spell. Hunter may not have been a trained magician, and indeed lacked raw magical power anyway, but he did have his fair share of sneaky tricks.

Sheathing Sin, Hunter smiled at Blitz. The Valkyrie sheathed her own swords and taunted Hunter “What, out of breath?”

“Hardly” Hunter returned “but we’d best be moving on.” Picking up his coat, he put it on with his back to Blitz. He was half expecting for her to move against her while his back was turned, but she simply walked back toward the palace. Hunter supposed she was the more honorable type of fighter.

As he began to follow Blitz, they both turned around when they heard a soft pair of footsteps behind them. Hunter’s eyes widened slightly in surprise as Princess Luna approached the pair.

“Well done!” the lunar Princess saluted Hunter and Blitz as both bowed slightly. She walked in between the pair and stood up straight. “T’was quite the show!”

“I… thank you Your Highness. I am honored.” Blitz responded, bowing deeply. Luna turned to face Hunter, who was looking at her with a bemused expression.

“I didn’t know you liked fighting.” Hunter winked at Luna, who regarded him with open platonic interest.

“Indeed!” Luna spoke proudly, choosing to ignore the flirtatious gesture. Blitz muttered something under her breath about Hunter’s lack of class. “We, er, I was quite the duelist in my time!”

“Perhaps we could have a private session sometime?” Hunter suggested suavely. He saw Blitz blush madly before she stormed off, while Luna simply chuckled.

“I would look forward to testing my steel against you” she answered Hunter “but I fear you have someone else to attend to currently.” She gestured toward the door that Blitz had gone through.

“She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.” Hunter responded dismissively, waving his hand. He was suddenly yanked off his feet by magic and found himself floating over toward the door.

“Do not dare throw away friendship” Luna chided “besides which, she was your equal, was she not?” At Hunter’s nod, Luna continued “Then go find her now, and quit your silly games.” With that, Luna dropped him on his feet and flew off. Hunter was able to hear her mutter something about men under her breath, but dismissed it as unimportant.

Hunter found Blitz waiting for him outside the door to the area where Flame was being kept. She greeted him with a huff and started to unlock to door. Hunter caught her wrist and she spun around to face him with a grunt.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” He told Blitz, relinquishing his hold on her wrist.

“For what?” Blitz replied gruffly. She wasn’t going to admit anything, it seemed. Hunter didn’t actually know what he was apologizing for, but figured it sounded good.

“For what I did back there.” Hunter answered sheepishly, trying to look Blitz in the eye. She was avoiding eye contact with him.

“I don’t care.” She mumbled in return. Hunter sighed.

“I was just being silly, alright?” Hunter tried to force a smile, but only succeeded in looking like he was grimacing.

“Yeah whatever. Let’s just go.” Blitz turned away and opened the door. She suppressed the emotions and walked into the room ahead.

“Screwed up again, didn’t I.” Hunter growled quietly. He didn’t get what her problem was; was she jealous? But she said she hated him anyway! Hunter eventually decided that women were beyond understanding as he followed her into the room.