Redux: Lineage

We relayed a more detailed version of our progress to Luna, all of us taking a seat on a nearby fallen tree to take the weight off our feet. The ancient Alicorn listened intently, her ears and eyes perking up when I mention our mysterious stranger that Grael and I met when at the wyvern nest.

"Any idea who it could be?" I asked her.

"Several theories, but none of them concrete at the moment," Luna said. "Too involved to be a Spirit, too human to be a Guardian, and not sadistic enough to be a Yukki-Onna."

"She didn't come across as hostile," Grael pointed out. "Though Richter practically melted as soon as she touched him."

"Would you not?" I asked the Direwolf, scratching him affectionately on the back as he rested between my legs.

"Are these parts known for spirits and the sort?" Lot asked, having sat on Luna's lap once we'd settled down.

"Not really," Luna said, shaking her head. "There's a valley due north that's home to a few Tormented Souls, but that's not for a long while."

"So we've got nothing to go on for her then?" I asked.

"Not so far we don't," Luna said, looking at me. "Why? You hoping she rubs her hands on something more than your arm next time?"

"Not especially," I said with a passing shrug.

"Bullshit," Luna smirked, gently thumping me on the arm. "You may be able to fool all your friends here into thinking you're not the living embodiment of lust, but I can see through you like a broken window."

"Alright, maybe a little," I said with a chuckle. "But can you really hold that against me?"

"Not especially," Luna nodded, looking down at the floor with a nostalgic smirk. "I used to know an Alicorn a while back; Vindre. Knew him since childhood actually, the two of us trained in a sword school for a few years. His family ended up getting cosy with a spirit a few generations beforehand, and she'd sworn to watch over their line for as long as they existed. Beautiful thing she was, same height as Annerose, gorgeous face, and tits big enough to lose yourself in."

"Sounds like a good time," I nodded.

"Yeah, Vindre thought the same as well," she nodded. "She was his guardian angel in a way, looked after him for years and did anything he told her to... even when he got to puberty."

"He fucked her, didn't he?" I asked.

"How'd you guess?" she asked me, cocking an eyebrow.

"It kind of seems like an obvious decision," I shrugged. "Pent up boy in puberty, hormones raging like a tornado, and a sworn protector that's one of the most beautiful things to ever walk the earth? I'm actually quite surprised it took him to puberty to get nasty with her. Though it's always better to have your first time with an older woman."

"You speaking from experience there, Rick?" Luna asked, giving me a coy smile.

I chuckled quietly, knowing what she was referring to. My mom hadn't caught me in my first time, but she'd walked in on me having a nice freaky time with Calatera when I was eleven. She's usually a liberal-minded woman, not one to scold for natural needs and desires, but she wasn't too happy about the fact Calatera was the one in bed with me. Mostly due to the fact that she's five years older than I am. It obviously seems less weird now, a twenty three year old and an eighteen year old doesn't seem that bad, but sixteen and eleven? Was kind of cause for alarm for the poor woman.

She handled it quickly and quietly, of course, keeping the whole thing from blowing up, didn't run out of the castle screaming about it or beat Calatera senseless, merely talked it over with both of us in a very stern and disappointed manner, and making us promise to never do such a thing again until we were both of age. We obviously ignored her and were back at it less than a week later without her knowledge, but what can you do?

"Yes, I am, Luna," I grinned. "Yes, I am."

"So..." Annerose asked in a dour tone, not having returned to her usual loud and abrasive personality since last night. "Are we going after this manticore or what?"

"Not in your condition," she said, addressing all of us with that statement. "The four of you need to rest and get your strength back before going after that thing."

"But we're already here," Zane pointed out. "Armoured up and rearing."

"Also running on adrenaline without being able to tell just how exhausted and injured you are after getting smacked the fuck around by Arala," Luna said, casting her eyes to the black blade she'd taken from the ashen remains of Arala, the fading light of the sun glancing off the blade as it rested at an angle. "You need to go back to wherever it is you're staying, get your heads down for the rest of today, and get back to work tomorrow."

"Do we have to?" Annerose asked. "I kind of wanna get this shit done with already."

"If you want to end up getting yourselves killed, then go right ahead," Luna said. "Don't forget that I can't actually force you to do anything and this mission is all up to you guys to decide how to handle it."

"Then I say we take your advice," I said, looking at Luna and then down to Annerose. "Because you and I need to have a talk."

"Nout to talk about," she said, getting up off her feet and walking away into the forest. "I'm gonna get some firewood."

"We're not making camp here," I said, watching the blue-haired woman walk off and ignore me. "Hang on a second, guys."

I rolled my eyes, getting up off my spot on the log and following after her, keeping quiet as I did so and just wanting to see what she did. I could tell she knew I was following her, watching her quicken her pace to try and put more distance between me and her as she stormed further away.

"Anne," I called out to her. "You can be in a huff when we get back to the inn, just don't do it out here on your own."

"Go away, Richter," she snapped, snarling over her shoulder and continuing to walk away.

"Don't make me run after you," I said. "Because I will chase you, I will tackle you, and I will hold you down in the snow until you cool off. We both know that."

"Alright then!" she snapped, whirling around and cracking her neck. "Fine!"

I sighed quietly, knowing exactly where this was going, rolling my shoulders and relaxing my joints as the shorter woman balled her fists and squared her stance. As soon as I got in range, she lashed out with a range-testing jab, the attack being dodged with a backwards lean, before she stepped forward with a powerful hook. I managed to duck under the attack and glance her in the ribs, a pained grunt coming from her before she launched forwards with the knee, catching me in the stomach before slamming her left palm into the side of my head.

I recovered quickly, able to block a high kick from her right leg and step forward, using her raised leg and bad balance to palm strike her in the chest, knocking her flat onto her back in the snow. She rolled backwards, pushing herself up to her feet and launching towards me, throwing a flurry of fast, hard punches that I managed to avoid, catching them on my forearms, glancing them off, or dodging them entirely. I eventually knocked her hand aside, leaving her wide open, and tackled her, shoulder-to-stomach, to the floor, pinning her down with my larger weight and pressing my arm into her throat.

"Are you done now?" I asked, looking into her angry eyes.

She launched her fist forward, hitting me in the nose and causing it to crack loudly, almost definitely breaking it. Pain and anger flared up inside me, cocking my hand back and punching her square in the face, her head rocketing to the side from the impact and sending blood flying out onto the snow.

"How about now?" I demanded, feeling the blood from my broken nose run down my face.

She then shot her knee up, hitting me in the fork of my legs, causing pain to explode into my testicles, before hitting me in the face again, this time her fist connecting with my temple, the pain and discombobulation allowing her to throw me off balance and onto the floor, blood dripping onto the snow. I rolled onto my side, managing to avoid a rather amateur kick as the smaller woman pushed herself back up, charging at me as I did the same, gripping my clothing and heaving me up, pushing me against a tree and slamming her fist into my face, cutting my cheek open on her knuckle before kneeing me in the stomach.

Ignoring the roaring pain in my face, I snaked my hand behind her, gripping her ponytail tightly and wrenching it backwards, her head snapping back and gaining a snarl from the furious woman before I slammed my forehead straight into her nose, sending her staggering back before I planted a hard boot straight to her chest, knocking her through a thin, withered tree and into the dirt again. There was a good few feet of space between the two of us at this point, heavy pants and attempts to ignore pain from injuries keeping us occupied.

"Are you about finished now?" I demanded. "Ready to talk?"

The woman tore herself from the floor, picking up one of the old branches from the broken tree and swinging it at me. I brought my arms up around my head, feeling the bark and wood snap loudly around my body on impact, the frailty of the old wood not helping reduce the pain of the impact. She leaped through the shower of splinters and shattered bark, slamming another knee into my stomach, slamming another fist into my guard and tackling me to the floor, pinning my arms down by my sides and glaring furiously at me, panting in exhaustion as we remained still.

"You're going easy on me," she snarled. "You know I hate it when you go easy on me."

"You needed this," I said, sighing quietly as she seemed in the mood to talk, both of us battered, bruised, and bloody. "After everything's that happened."

"I don't need your pity," she said, sitting up and folding her arms over her chest, the fight over with her as the victor.

"How about sympathy?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Maybe someone to talk to? Vent with?"

"I don't need to talk to you about a fucking thing, you self-important prick," she snapped, lying through her teeth and failing miserably at it.

"It's about Arala, isn't it?" I asked her.

"Why the fuck can you read me like a book?!" she demanded, crossing her arms and glaring angrily at the distant trees.

"Because I know you," I chuckled, resting my hands behind my head and smirking. "And if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you don't like losing."

"Who fucking does?" she asked, mere seconds away from breaking her walls and pouring her frustrations all over me. "And how the fuck could I ever be anything more than furious about what happened yesterday!?"

And there it was.

"I have trained non-stop since I was three years old; I've broken bones, lost teeth, split skin, and even killed people pushing myself to the point of perfection, to be the best fighter I could ever train myself to be, and that stupid black-haired cunt punched through me like sheet of wet bastard paper!" she began, practically screaming into my face about it. "I played that scenario over a thousand times in my head when I tried to sleep last night, and every second of it eats away at everything I stand for! I'm supposed to be one of the best, one of the Crown Prince's Retainers, and I got taken down, almost fucking killed, by some nobody in a single hit. One fucking blow, you hear?"

"I hear," I nodded.

"I wasn't finally bested by a great opponent after making them fight with everything they had, I wasn't cheated or betrayed, and I didn't meet my end valiantly sacrificing myself to save my friend and charge from a deadly foe," she snarled, moisture forming at the corner of her eyes as she allowed her emotions to flow freely, something she rarely did. "Instead, I was beaten, utterly destroyed in a single hit by a woman that viewed me as nothing more than some stupid fucking fly on her bedroom wall. All of the effort, all of the pain, and all of the training I've done was worthless against her... I played that situation over a thousand times last night... and what makes it so hard to live through is..."

She was crying at this point, tears streaming down her red cheeks as she screwed her eyes shut, tearing at her hair as she poured her heart out to me in the cold woods.

"There wasn't a fucking thing I could've done differently that would've mattered," she sobbed, her slender shoulders shaking as the crying rocked her body. "I could've used every single one of my techniques, used every weapon I've been trained in, and every single art of fighting I know of, and none of it would've made any difference in that fight! I was beyond worthless, no more of a threat to that bitch than an open door. I wasn't an opponent or an enemy... I was a fucking obstacle, a wooden box in front of a door you want to go through that doesn't take any effort to move... just something in the way to something actually important..."

"Anne," I said, trying to dry her tears with my thumbs, her beautiful eyes opening once more as she looked down at me.

"I'm supposed to protect you. People are supposed to think twice about hurting you when they see me. They're supposed to run in fear and never consider upsetting you because of the fact they'll need to face me if they do," she whimpered, her lip trembling as she spoke. "I'm supposed to be the best your kingdom has to offer, that's why I was chosen by your family to protect you... and she made me feel like I was fucking worthless."

"No," I said, pulling her down to lie flat on my chest and hugging her tightly, her tear-stained face burying itself into my shoulder and sobbing loudly again. "Not ever. You are the furthest thing from worthless I've ever seen."

"How?!" she demanded, anger flaring up in her as she stared into my eyes. "I was nothing to her! I'm supposed to be the steel wall between you and any threats and she slapped me aside like nothing! How can you tell me that I'm good for anything when I can't even do the only fucking job I'm supposed to?!"

"Because I know you aren't," I answered. "Because I know Alara is a stupid cunt that deserves to be dead and got what she deserved, and because I know that you're the best protector I could've asked for. But don't tell Grael or Zane that, otherwise they'll kill me."

"I... I appreciate the pep talk, but I can't believe that..." she said, shaking her head. "Zane lasted against her, Zane stood a chance against her... I didn't."

"And you think Grael did?" I asked. "If we're talking about getting rid of people that couldn't hold their own against Alara, then he'd be the first to get the sack. But I'm not going to start firing people because they couldn't protect me against a super-powered cunt with an attitude problem. I chose you to be my protector because you're one of the strongest, most gifted, and intelligent people I know, and would rather cut my own cock off than ever have somebody else by my side than you."

"Do... do you really mean that?" she asked, her eyes lighting up slightly.

"Yes, you dopey bitch, of course I mean that," I nodded, smiling widely at her, laughing as I gave her a special kind of pep-talk. "You are one of my best friends. I love you so much, and I don't want to see you crying your eyes out like some abandoned housewife. I picked you because you're a tough bitch that doesn't take shit from anyone. So please, stop letting something as worthless as Arala make you think you're not perfect the way you are. I need tough and intimidating people in my entourage, and you crying like a fanny really isn't helping."

"I..." she said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and smiling at me. "Richter... you... I..."

"Annerose, if you're going to get emotional and thankful with me, then it better end with us fucking in a bed of pine needles," I smirked. "If it isn't, then please kindly get off me, as you've been sat on my balls for a good while now and they're already aching from the love tap you gave them earlier."

"Oh..." she said, looking down with a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

She picked herself up and offered me a hand, pulling me up to my feet and dusting me off, the two of us being sore, battered, and bruised after our little scuffle.

"I... i broke your nose, didn't I?" she asked me.

"Yes. But to be honest, I'm more worried about the fact you might've twisted one of my testicles," I said, grimacing at the agonising ache in my balls I now had after standing up. "And if that's true, I'm gonna be out of action for a while."

"I'm really fucking sorry," she said, scratching the back of her head. "How exactly do you go about fixing that?"

"You kissing them better might help,"

"You fucking try it and I'll tear them off and cook them" she snarled in response.

There we go. My stone-cold bitch was back to the way she was meant to be... now all I needed to do was go back to Luna and ask her to give me a brief go-over with her healing magic when we got back to the inn, because oh my fuck, my balls were killing me.