Being a renowned swordsman and all, Ike was never surprised when fellow wielders came to him for advice or wanted a chance to spar against him before matches. Being very confident with his amount of brains and brawn, he never turned them down.
Lucina sheathed her falchion before resting her hands on her knees. The girl needed to catch her breath. Marth warned her that Ike took training sessions very seriously but she believed that she could handle her own. What she found out was those muscles weren't just for show.
"You're really good," She looked up for a moment and let her eyes wander to the golden blade the mercenary held, "especially with such a heavy blade."
True, Ragnell was relatively hard to handle compared to the competition, but it made up for it's added weight with incredible strength. With an easy swing back, the man stowed his weapon away. "You're not so bad yourself, princess." She scowled slightly from the title. His tone felt made it feel more like a nickname rather than a sign of respect.
Resisting the urge to retort, the long-haired girl brought up a new subject. "I hear everyone's being scheduled for a team tournament soon."
"Is that so?" Team battles were never much of a burden to Ike. He liked having the extra support of another swordsman. He glanced at Lucina. Or swordswoman. Other smashers would ask to be his teammate but he declined their offers. He wanted someone who knew the tactics and use of impeccable precision that only came to those gifted with the ability to wield a blade. "Do you want to be on my team?"
He expected a smile, a simple 'yes', or even an excited cheer involving the girl jumping up and down. Instead, he received an answer that was worse than 'no'.
"We can't choose our partners this time around."
"You're serious?"
This time, Lucina nodded. To be honest, she wasn't too happy about the whole idea. To think that the Hands could pair her up with one of the house villains. She shuddered. Or even worse. That loud yellow thing that doesn't talk and only eats. She tried not to think too hard about it's gigantic soulless black eyes.
Ike, on the other hand, was still in disbelief of the news. "How can they just change the rules like this?" He needed answers. He wanted to here from Master Hand himself. He stomped out of the training room leaving the blue haired girl to her thoughts.
There was no way he was going to be paired up with just any run-of-the-mill fighter. Not on his watch.