~A Ballet of Clashing Swords~
Running at speeds faster than the naked eye across a scenic valley, a blue streak seemlessly danced it's way across the vast landscape. This blue streak being Sonic the Hedgehog, a fast and carefree blue Hedgehog who is renouned as a hero for his countless selfless actions for the good of the world. His destination today being the house of a close friend who invited him over for a quick sparring session, Blaze the Cat; A quiet, shy princess from a dimension parallel to Sonic's, who occasionally stays in Sonic's world as a vacation of sorts.
The landscape blurred by in such a way it was as if reality was warping around him, but Sonic had trained his eyes to adjust to the dizzying display of colors and shapes dancing by him faster than a blink of an eye. Sonic was fast, but not careless. He decided to detour through the meadow rather than through the bustling city to avoid causing any accidental harm to him, or those around him. The meadow was a wide canvas for him to race freely upon, however, and he happily took the opportunity to take the scenic route as the safer option.
As Sonic drew nearer to his destination he thought back on his past experiences with the lavender cat, reflected on how she's changed in the many months they've known each other. When she first appeared in Sonic's world, Blaze isolated herself from everyone and saw her unique ability of pyrokinesis as a curse, rather than as a gift. However, over time spent with Sonic and friends, she opened up, became trusting of others and open to new experiences. He reminisced fondly of their past adventures until he finally arrived at the quaint house she was staying in on vacation. It wasn't small by any standards, but it was surely to be considered roughing it for someone who's lived in a castle her entire life.
Sonic knocked gently and waited for an answer. There was no reply. Sonic rang the bell and heard the faint sound of Blaze's voice, signalling Sonic to enter. He followed suit, and upon entry heard faint grunts from the lavender cat coming from behind a hallway to the left of the scarcely decorated entry room.
The blue hedgehog made his way through another rather empty hallway, (with a handful of plants and a minimalist carpet being the only things of major note.) Taking notice of how oddly out of place such scarce decorations seem in the vacation house of a princess.
Sonic finally arrived at the source of the grunting, Blaze was in the most heavily decorated room of the house; However, it wasn't decorated with lavish furniture and the like, but training and gymnastics equipment.
Blaze was swinging from poles attached to the ceiling, making her way from pole to pole across the expansive room. She was wearing a purple sleeveless workout shirt with red circling her arms, a red sash atop the waistline of her dark purple sweatpants, and black and red sneakers in place of her usual heels. Sonic admired how effortlessly she vaulted from one part of the ceiling to the other, like a master acrobat. However, she noticed his presence after but a second, and her aerial display stopped as she landed on the ground to greet the Hedgehog.
Her fur was noticeably matted with sweat as she bowed slightly to greet Sonic.
"Hi Sonic, I was *huff* just warming up for our sparring match." She said through tired breath.
Sonic grew slightly concerned as to if she could even spar in her current tired state, and asked "Are you sure you're even up for it right now?"
Blaze stood up straight and nodded.
"I'd hope so. Just lemme... heh... get a drink first." Blaze replied almost as if she was on her last leg as she reached for a bottle or water on a small table near her.
"So what kind of sparring are we even talking about anyways?" Sonic asked inquisitively.
Blaze walked steadily across the room and grabbed two small, pointed swords, like giant needles.
"That's the fun part, Sonic." Blaze said as she smiled fondly weighing one of the blades in her hands.
She tossed the other sword to Sonic and proceeding to the small, diamond patterned carpet placed within the center of the room.
"We're going to be fencing." Blaze said with a slightly cocky smirk across her face that Sonic recognized as a face he himself has used on many occasions.
Sonic weighed the blade he was given in his hand like Blaze did, and noticed it was heavier than he imagined, but vastly different from the swords he was used to. Memories of Sonic's time with the sword Caliburn came to mind. Surely, if he could handle that, he could handle a sparring session with Blaze.
Blaze assumed a balanced stance with a wide smile on her face as Sonic sloppily mirrored her.
Sonic began with repeated thrusts of the blade towards the lavender cat, who nimbly dodged all of them with a flurry of parries and dodges. Blaze countered by knocking Sonic off balance with a push during a block, sending him slightly backwards and giving her a chance to reply with a thrust to the Hedgehog's thigh. Sonic felt the sharp prick of the blade against his skin, sending a harsh sensation throughout the body. Sonic pondered for a moment i that was what it felt like to be pricked by his quills, But before he could think on it too deeply Blaze continued her advance, and Sonic parried accordingly.
The two began to dance around each other's advances in almost perfect harmony; Each learning from the other as the battle progressed. A thrust from Sonic met with a counter by Blaze, Blaze's counter being parried as Sonic went in for the lunge, only to be blocked at the last second by a skillful recovery from the princess. Back and forth the two went, as they grew fatigued.
"Heh... Getting tired, princess?" Sonic said coyly under his heavy breathing as the fight went on for what felt like hours.
"Not a chance!" Blaze barked and followed through with a block, followed by another successful lunge to Sonic's stomach.
Sonic used her momentum against her, however, and followed through with a straight lunge to her chest, slightly pushing her back. Blaze stammered to regain her footing, and quickly blocked another succession of thrusts from Sonic. Blaze leaped backwards to evade another blow, and quickly made her way back towards the blue blur. Sonic used this to his advantage and balled up, slipping underneath her. As he uncurled he struck her in the back with another jab.
Blaze was tired, but was also becoming reckless, leaving her open to Sonic's advances. Sonic, however, was becoming more patient and waiting out her outbursts, using her momentum to go in for the kill. The two had essentially switched strategy as the battle became an all out war within the span of an hour.
A blow to the chest from Blaze, followed by Sonic rolling out of any further advances, the pain of the jabs melting away in the adrenaline of the fight. The two were leaping across furniture and other training equipment, getting carried away in the thrill of it all, unminding of their surroundings.
Two hours had passed and Sonic could feel intense heat emanating from Blaze, as she pushed on despite the fatigue. Both were becoming far too tired to carry on, but persisted their delicate dance of blades regardless of how much of an endeavor it was turning into.
Finally, Blaze saw her chance to end it. She blocked a rather cocky lunge from Sonic and parried the blade away with such force that Sonic lost his balance, she then took one final lunge to his wrist, causing him to toss his blade away. Blaze then pounced Sonic and pinned him against the walls by his hands as she dropped her sword as well. The two breath heavily staring at each other for several seconds, trying to regain composure. Blaze then released Sonic, turning away and blushing at the floor. Sonic stood in complete silence, processing what just went on.
Seconds past before Blaze offered Sonic a drink and a towel to wipe off with, which Sonic gladly accepted. She made her way over to the small table, grabbing her and Sonic a drink and wiping off some of the sweat on her forehead with her towel before tossing Sonic his own.
Another minute past by as Sonic and Blaze merely stared at the ceiling and caught their breath, the two sprawled out laying on the diamond shaped carpet at the room's center. Sonic pondered during this period how to approach the situation that occured just moments prior. Sonic wanted to know the answer to what exactly that entailed, but was terrified to ask.
"So... Where did her majesty learn to fence like that?" Sonic asked, trying to make casual conversation.
"I was trained to fence by the captain of the royal guard himself. I was enamored by the knight's swordsmanship, and wanted to learn how to fight like that myself. Of course, my mother wouldn't allow me to do something so reckless, so he suggested fencing as a safer venue." Blaze said, almost trailing off in her own reminiscing.
"I see..." Sonic replied quietly, engaged in her every word.
"I guess, in a sense, swordfighting interested me, because it, at it's core, was an elegant dance. Like a ballet between two fighters. It was a way to connect to others for me, to bond. It was a way to find harmony with my opponent, rather then a means of fighting. To me, at least." Blaze finished, slightly embarrassed by her own ramblings.
"Hey, Blaze..." Sonic said hesitantly.
"Yes?" Blaze said as she directed her amber gaze upon Sonic.
"There's something I-" Sonic managed out before Sonic's phone went off on the table near them.
Sonic retrieved his phone and looked.
"Who is it?" Blaze asked.
"Ah man, it's Tails! I was supposed to meet him after he finished up on the new prototype enhancement to the Tornado. Which, according to these messages, was finished nearly 30 minutes ago." Sonic said slightly annoyed.
"Well then, you'd best hurry." Blaze said airily.
"I suppose..." Sonic replied with a tone of dissapointment.
Blaze had walked with Sonic to the door and was standing in the doorway as he departed.
"Hey! Sonic!" Blaze said somewhat hesitantly.
"Yes, Blaze?" Sonic asked.
"Same time tomorrow?" Blaze said with a hint of shyness in her voice, as she began to blush.
"You know it!" Sonic exclaimed as he waved her off and began to run towards Tails' place.
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Thank you guys for reading! I wrote this story to practice my skills in writing action scenes and relationships for some of my ongoing stories, so if you guys could give me some tips on how to improve in those fields, it'd be much appreciated. Again, thanks for reading, and do be sure to read other great stories on the site! :)