A/N: Hi all!!
I am SunRise19, co writer of the JatD fic, "Strength to Change," with my good friend Kioa.
This is my first Jane and the Dragon fic that I have written on my own; so reviews, comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!! I hope you'll enjoy this story, thanks go out to my friend Kamila who helped me with this.
Thank you very much for anything that you have to say, I always love reviews and I do appreciate them so I hope you'll enjoy the story!!!
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The hot English sun shown down on the two sparring squires in the practice yard below. It seemed to thirteen-year-old Jane that the sun was getting immense pleasure by shining down on the exact spots that she would move to, and that the slight wind would push at Gunther's back as if cooling him; as if it were on his side.
The sparring match had been going on for sometime now, and it didn't look like it would let up anytime soon. Dragon had thought her mad that she would be practicing in this heat, and thus he was currently asleep under a tree. All the others had chores or simply wanted to be out of the summer heat and thus Jane and Gunther were alone.
"You know," Gunther began as his stave smacked in to Jane's, "I will go easy on you if you give up, considering how hot it is and you being a girl."
"How noble of you," Jane said as she blocked his blow, "I will be sure to treat you with the same kindness when you give up!"
She lunged forward, nearly knocking the wooden stave out of Gunther's hand. The young man growled to her, clutching onto the wood at the last moment. There would be no way he'd lose this fight to a girl and in this heat. If he could beat Jane, which the lad clearly thought he could it would prove to Jane, Sir Theodore, and Sir Ivon and to himself that he was indeed improving and becoming more suited for intense battle conditions.
Jane, although thirsty would not give up; her stubbornness would not allow it. Gunther had won the last two or three sparring matches it seemed with no effort. She had talked things over with Dragon and had even consulted Sir Theodore as to why and so she wasn't going to give up unless she collapsed from exhaustion. Jane thought back on her talk with her mentor, and he had simply told her that she was doing find but that her emotions were getting the better of her thoughts and thus actions.
"Use your head Jane," the wise man had told her, "Think clearly and calmly in sparring with Gunther. It is good practice for battle."
When the match had started, the young squire had tried to do just that. At first it had worked, and then the girl had run out of ideas to get her opponent to give up. She figured the only thing that she could do would be to keep fighting until one of them would give in. She could tell her blows were becoming more unfocussed, not striking with the same accuracy as before to which Gunther was quick to point out.
"There is no shame in surrendering Jane," her competitor mocked as he danced around her waving his stave, "I feel actually that it is a good lesson that one needs to learn."
"Indeed," Jane shot back as the sound of the two wooden staves connecting rang out through the air, "It is a lesson you should learn."
"I am stronger than you Jane," Gunther said glaring at her, "A strong body has a strong spirit to go with it."
"Ha," Jane shot back, "I did not know you actually knew what having spirit meant."
The wooden staves slapped against one another once more, the two of them locked in a heated struggle to get the other to back down. Sweat coated both of their faces, their eyes narrowed in concentration and determination.
"Ready to give up now?" Jane mocked as they stood face-to-face. Jane straightened herself to her full height as she and Gunther tried to push the other over.
"Not, a, chance," Gunther replied through gritted teeth, "I would never lose to some girl trying to imitate a knight."
Jane's eyes flashed in anger as that particular insult sent her over the edge.
'How dare he say that to me!'
She angrily thought as she took in a deep breath, slightly tightened the hold on her stave and heaved with all of her strength. This unexpected action caught Gunther off guard and he fell backwards, hitting the ground with Jane falling on top of him. The two staves still held upwards in the air, Gunther gripping it as he landed. Stunned, both of them stared at one another, the weapons halting in midair.
Placing his hand upon her shoulder, Gunther lifted his hips upwards, throwing Jane from her position. Not letting go of her stave Jane's green eyes bore in to Gunther's as she rolled over twice, pinning Gunther as she did so.
"You are mad, you lose the fight Jane you…."
His words were stopped as the young girl quickly placed her hand on his chin, turning his face to look at her. Looking back, the female did not want to admit to herself that she held the kiss for a bit longer than necessary, nor admit that her mouth pressed against his own for those few seconds felt nice. Pulling away, Jane could not wipe the smirk off of her face as Gunther gazed at her, eyes widened in shock and mouth open disbelieving in what had just occurred.
Jane knelt; pointing her wooden stave at Gunther's throat as she firmly spoke, "Yield."
The squire beside her sat up, his eyes blazing as he looked at her, "That Jane that is not in our knightly code. How dare you do something like that just to win a match that is unacceptable!"
The female squire smirked as she got to her feet, "Perhaps you need to read chapter three in the knight's handbook."
The young man also stood up inquiring, "What are you going on about?"
"Chapter three," Jane replied as she walked over to where she kept her stave placing it where the weapon belonged, "The chapter instructs knights on the importance of the element of surprise when it comes to an enemy. I suggest you read it over at some point."
Throwing one last smirk over to Gunther, the female strode out of the practicing area, leaving a speechless Gunther to put his stave back and ponder over what Jane had said.
--..--..--..--..—End of, "The Element of Surprise."--..--..--..--..--..