"Well, Boyd has to practice with his axe, Rhys is visitng an old friend, Titania's training a new recruit, and Mist is too busy with her studies," said Mia.
Ike sighed.
They walked hand-in-hand, but not by total consent. Well, not by the consent of one of the hands anyway.
"Oh! Ike, look! They're having a dueling contest with wooden swords!"
"So?" said Ike, looking off to a circle of cheering villagers.
"I wanna try it!"
"Knock yourself out. I'll watch."
"Ha! If I win, then ..."
She stared at Ike with the eyes like faraway stars.
"...then what?"
"...then you have to give me a kiss."
She drifted.
"What?" said Ike.
And then she found herself again.
"Yeah! I'll beat this guy for sure now!"
Ike watched her trot down the dirt path towards the crowded circle where a man stood like a mountain. He carried
a giant wooden sword that looked like a pillar holding up some invisible heaven.
Heaven? Would Mia be there?
"So who's next?" he said.
His voice was gruff, grating like steel against steel, those sparks flying out as syllables. Jagged syllables.
"Me!" said Mia.
The difference in the voices, both in pitch and innocence, would've been enough to knock Ike to his knees.
The man stared at her and grinned. Ike stood there, inverting his aura.
"Well, lassie. If I knock you down to the ground, then what will you offer me? You can't duel me for nothin' y'know."
"Whatever you want."
"Oh, really? Then you have to kiss me! How about it?" he said.
"Fine! But if I win, you have to apologize to me for even thinking that I'd ever kiss you!"
"Eh? Fine. Ready yourself then."
Mia took the wooden sword from the ground besides the circle. It was covered in dirt and age, but it was sturdy; sturdy enough at least,
to block a swing or two.
Mia barely stepped inside the arena before the man came at her like a tidal wave, his sword above his head.
Ike smiled. Mia smiled.
She quickly sidestepped and avoided the strike as she swung at the man's leg. It connected, and the sound of wood
on flesh elicited a wave of cheers from the spectators.
The man growled and regained his balance. Sword in hand, he retracted it to his side, preparing for another strike.
Mia glanced at Ike, who was whistling to himself, apparently feigning to be uninterested.
The strike came quicker than she expected, and she could only block the blow instead of dodging. Her sword started to
creak, and he sensed its weakness as he prepared for a final, massive blow.
The strike came down like a meteor and struck the ground - stuck in it - causing a shockwave of energy and a wall of wind that sent the nearby grass
curling in cowardice.
Mia hopped on to the man's immobile hand and then dashed up his arm, swinging the wooden sword hard in to his face.
She then leapt off of his shoulders and kicked both of his legs from behind as she fell to the ground and immediately
rolled to the side as the man came tumbling backwards, landing like a falling redwood tree in to a supine submission.
She dropped her cracked wooden sword and walked away from the gaping crowd towards a nervous Ike in the far distance.
"I won Ike!" she said.
"Yeah...yeah, I can see that." he said.
"Which means you have to kiss me!"
"Well...okay."
He slowly closed his eyes, feeling the heat of the setting sun on his face.
He prepared to move his head forward, but his neck was frozen, perhaps by embarrassment.
She waited in a cheerfully impatient state for a few seconds before she became overwhelmed with anticipation.
"All right. If that's too hard, then I'll just have to kiss you!" she said.
"What?"
She stood up on her toes and their lips met through the moist autumn air.
Mia's loose purple hair fluttered in the wind, carressing Ike's red face.
Ike tried to move his head backward, but his neck was frozen, perhaps by pleasure.