A/N Hey all, I know this took longer than hoped, But I've been abroad the last week and so things are slower than I had wanted, but oh well.

This is the eighth story that is a part of the growing world of Athame, as based upon the lovely Kittyclaw's How To Begin A Journey.

please read How to Bond With an Ancient first. Or if you are new to these stories, How Not to Play Chess.

Please read and review!

How to Have a Fight

"Hi Yumi."

He startled her. She didn't like that. Not one bit. It meant she was having trouble staying focused. The chess piece she was focused on fell.

She sighed in frustration, and considered throwing the pawn across the room.

He sat next to her, and she started to breathe out through her nose, trying not to smell him.

"Is everything okay?"

She nodded.

"Two months is a long time. I've been willing to let you have your distance, and mope around and what not, but come on Yumi. I've missed you."

She couldn't help but smile at that. Even if she was trying to sulk. Sulking was very difficult when he was around, she just felt happier. And she involuntarily licked her lips, feeling the sharp edges of her fangs digging into her gums.

She bit down on her lip hard.

"So uhm, are you sure everything's okay?"

She nodded again. He sat down next to her, and picked up one of the carved ivory chess pieces.

"These look really amazing."

"Please be careful with them. The set is the only thing I have from before."

Ulrich smiled, setting the piece back where it had been. "I promise I won't break them."

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just; you know how it is when other people handle things you treasure."

"Yeah I do. You won't believe my roommate. I swear he's managed to break almost everything at one point or another."

"I couldn't live like that. I'd have to strangle him."

Ulrich smiled. "You think I haven't been tempted? Only thing stopping me is his condition."

"He has a condition? What kind of condition?"

Ulrich looked around, wary of being overheard, but there was no one else in the library.

"He's a werewolf. Apparently they still have those problems in New Zealand."

Yumi had never met a werewolf before. "Aren't they dangerous? What's he doing here? I don't think I like the idea of you spending every night with him."

"It's not that big of a deal, really. Its only dangerous when the moon is full." She must have been giving him a disbelieving look because he sighed. "I don't know what to tell you Yumi. He's really weird and this is a big deal for him, and he's my friend. It's okay if you don't like him, but It's not like I can just not be around him."

He reached up to her face, and brushed her long bangs back behind her ear and smiled softly. Something was pounding in her ears and it took a moment for her to realize that it was her heart. She didn't know why but her heart started to race whenever he touched her.

It took a lot of effort, but she pushed his hand away. "I just don't want you to get hurt. It'd be very difficult to be a dragon trainer if you're a werewolf."

He nodded, understanding her fears, but not really buying into them. It wasn't something that was really worth arguing about though.

"Can we go for a walk?"

Her question startled him a little. The sun was shining bright outside, but even as he was looking out the window, she was pulling on her dark red gloves and putting away her chess set.

"Some of the forest paths are well shaded; I think it could be fun. Don't you?" she slipped her set into her bag and hefted it over her shoulder, un-tucking her hair from her ear. Ulrich still hadn't gotten up.

"I'll go without you." She threatened and with a resigned sigh he slid out of the chair.

"I guess someone has to keep you safe from being attacked again."

The words weren't even all the way out of his mouth and he already regretted saying them. Yumi's expression hardened and she was biting her lip, something he had learned she did to keep her fangs from extending. Which meant she was either afraid, or angry.

"You know what, you can take a long walk off a short pier. If I want to walk in the sunlight, you can't stop me."

So it was definitely anger.

She stormed out. He followed after her, feeling like a fool.

She was already across the courtyard; he had to jog to catch up to her, and when he tried to grab her shoulder to stop her she shrugged him off. He grabbed at her hand instead, and she twisted away from him, but he was faster than she thought, and he got ahold of her glove, and the material slipped from her hand as she pulled away, exposing part of her forearm and hand to the harsh sunlight.

She starred at him for a long moment, her eyes even less expressive than usual. He opened his mouth to apologize but her fingers were digging into his arm, actually hard enough to make him wince, her skin was blistering terribly already and her claws were out, digging into his skin.

"You think I can't defend myself?" her voice was low, and not nearly as much a mix of accents as it usually was.

Instinct moved his arm before he could even think of doing the same, and the shove that she aimed at him was deflected by his martial arts training. She starred at him for a moment, obviously not having expected such a thing to happen. He didn't know what to say to her now.

"Go back to your other friend." She snatched her glove from his hand. "I won't see you around."