Chapter 2

The Fighter Meets the Mage

Ever since leaving the arena, Fighter has been walking down the path for hours now. The only equipment she has on her is her bikini armor, a round wooden shield and a sword that once belonged to her father, who was a swordsman. He taught Fighter the ways of swordsmanship years ago. Fighter learned quickly from her father's lessons. Soon after, when Fighter grew up, she became a better swords woman than she did in her early years. However, her happy family life was crushed when a mysterious woman suddenly assassinated her father and ran off before Fighter could even catch her. She was devastated and frustrated with herself that she couldn't save her family in time and wanted revenge.

The people who knew Fighter's father accused her of murdering him and sent her to the arena as a death sentence, seeing how long she has to survive in the arena. She was only given bikini armor and a round wooden shied. The only thing she brought with her is her father's sword. While in the arena, she had defeated almost every single opponent. Her father's lessons on swordsmanship really paid off. But now, Fighter was sick of it all and escaped the arena late that night before anyone even knew where she was.

So far, Fighter hasn't found any shelter, nor a nearby town where she can stay for the night. She sighs heavily as she keeps on walking.

"Boy, this journey is off to a rough start," she says to herself. "I can barely find any sort of town here." She hears her stomach growl loudly. "Ugh…and I'm really hungry, too!"

Before she can step any further, she sees a large footprint on the dirt in front of her. She kneels down to examine it and touches the print.

"Strange," she says to herself. "I never knew monsters were roaming around this area. I sure hope I don't have to face one while I have to continue this journey to find the woman."

Just then, she hears some sniffling and soft crying far from where Fighter is. She stands up and starts to walk towards to where the sound is coming from. The further she walks, the louder and closer the sound is. She looks through some bushes and she finds a small girl, dressed in a purple bikini and wearing a magic hat on her head with purple stockings on her legs.

"Oh, my goodness!" Fighter says. "What's the matter? Why are you crying?"

The violet haired girl looks up at the red-head with teary eyes. "Wh-who are you?"

"I'm called Fighter," the red-haired woman answers. "What's yours?"

"Most people call me Mage," the young girl says. "A-and I'm all alone because…because…" She's on the verge of crying again.

"Because what?" Fighter urges her to continue.

"Because a monster killed my family!" Mage sobs. "It ran through my town where the other mages are and destroyed everything!"

Fighter immediately hugs the young girl to comfort her. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, Mage-san."

Mage pulls away a little, wiping some of her tears. "I-I feel so lonely now. I have nowhere to go."

"Wait, how did you end up here?"

"I teleported myself before the monster could get to me," Mage replies. She looks over at the large foot print and gasps. "Oh, no! Is the monster here already?"

Fighter turns back at the foot print she saw earlier. "I don't know. But we have to get out of here as quickly as possible!"

"Mm-hmm!" Mage says with a nod.

Both Fighter and Mage make a run for it. They keep on running until thy find themselves at a nearby town. They exchange looks, nod and decide to enter this town since Fighter is desperate for a place to stay.

Fighter and Mage look around as they walk through the town. People were mostly busy with their work, chatting or watching their kids play around. Some of those people are sword smiths or clerks who have new equipment to new warriors that can buy them or just sell their items. However, Fighter and Mage stop in their tracks when they take notice of many people staring at them, mostly the men.

"U-um," Mage stutters as she gets closer to Fighter. "Why are they staring at us? Did we do something wrong?"

"I don't think that's it," Fighter responds.

"Wow!" one man says. "Look at those beautiful women? They're so hot!"

"The youngster is cute, but the red-haired one is the one that's hot!" another man says. "I mean, look at those equipment!"

"Bikini Armor rocks!" a third man cheers.

Fighter sighs and face palms herself. "Wow, we attracted quite a few men here."

"D-don't think it's a bad thing," Mage says, laughing nervously. "They're just complimenting us."

"Yeah, complimenting. All I want is just a place to stay and I'm super darn hungry!"

Mage nods while looking around for any homes that might be open or see if any person will let them stay for the night. She then notices an elderly woman outside of an inn, sweeping. Maybe she runs this inn, she thinks to herself. She trots over to where the elder woman is and speaks with her. Fighter takes notice of the young magician interacting with the woman. The elder woman nods with a smile and Mage trots back towards the swords woman with glee.

"She says both of us can stay at the inn!" she says, happily.

Fighter smiles as she pats Mage on the head. "That's great! I was just wondering where you went."

"She has a room available for both of us to stay," Mage explains. "And she has food as well."

"Awesome! Let's go!" Fighter immediately rushes in towards the inn with Mage sighing and turns towards the elderly woman.

"S-so, how much do we owe you for staying here for the night?" Mage asks.

"For this, 10 coins," the woman replies.

Mage nods as she pulls out the exact amount and hands them to her. The woman thanks her and then leads both Fighter and Mage towards their room, which is on the second floor. Both of them thank her until Fighter immediately asks the woman for some food. Mage laughs nervously at Fighter's desperate needs, but then again, if anyone's hungry like that, they'll immediately go for the food. The violet haired magician decides to join since she hasn't eaten either.

The two order some food shortly after. Fighter starts to gobble them up with Mage sweat dropping.

"Y-you must be really hungry, Fighter-sama," she says as she begins eating.

"Yup! I haven't eaten food like this for months!" Fighter keeps on gobbling the food up. "And it's SOOO good!" She sets the bowl down and waves her hand. "I'm ready for a third helping!"

Mage sighs and focuses on her own food. I didn't know Fighter-sama would behave like this. she thinks to herself. Is she always like that?

After eating, Fighter plops herself on the large bed and sighs happily.

"That was a nice dinner!" she says. "I'm so glad you talked to that lady earlier! We would've been surrounded by tons of men if you hadn't done that."

"Th-thank you," Mage says as she sets her staff in the closet. She then goes over and sits by the swords woman. "I'm glad I came with you to this town. I would've never gone any further if it weren't for you showing up."

Fighter sits up and gives Mage a thumbs up as she grins. "No problem~!"

The two sit in silence for a few minutes until the violet haired girl turns towards Fighter.

"F-Fighter-sama?"

"Hm?"

"Were you going somewhere when you found me?" Mage asks.

"Yes."

"Where are you going?"

"To find the woman who killed my father," Fighter explains.

Mage gasps. "Oh, my gosh! Why?"

"I want to avenge his death and the rest of my family. I want answers to why she killed him and what purpose does that make. I bet she's gone far by now. But all I know is that I have to look for her, no matter where I go."

Mage looks at Fighter with worry. "A-are you sure you want to do that? What if that woman is a very strong warrior or something?"

Fighter closes her eyes. "I have to confront her for answers. That is all."

"I see…"

The two remain silent once more. Fighter hangs her head down, thinking about the incident that happened the night the woman killed her father. Whoever that woman was, Fighter needs to find her. The only thing that she saw when that woman ran away is a large sword and shield. Sighing, she sits up and looks over at the window. The sky is orange, meaning it's already sunset and is about to get dark pretty soon.

"Mage-san," she says as she stands up. "I'm going to take a bath now. It's getting a bit late."

"Oh, okay."

However, before Fighter could walk towards the bathroom, she feels a hand gently grab her arm. The redhead turns towards the violet haired young girl, who is shyly looking down at the floor.

"C-can I join you?" she asks in a quiet voice. "I-if not, that's fine."

Fighter smiles and pats her on the head. "Of course, you little cutie~!"

The violet haired girl blushes as she frowns. "I'm not that cute, you know."

Once the bath is set, Fighter and Mage get inside the warm tub. Fortunately, the tub is big enough to fit two people. Both of them relax and close their eyes as they take in the warmth of the water coursing through their bodies. After about a few minutes, Fighter opens her eyes and looks over at Mage. The magician opens her eyes as well and tilts her head in confusion as to where Fighter is staring at.

"I-is something the matter?" she asks. "Is there something on my face?"

"No," Fighter answers. "Just down further south."

Mage looks down until she realizes what the swords woman is implying and covers her chest. "J-just where are you looking!?"

"Hehe~! I didn't know young magicians like you could grow those that fast," Fighter giggles. "Or did you cast a spell to grow those?"

"Th-there's no way that I'd do that!" Mage squeaks.

"Oh, really~?" Fighter takes the chance to grope Mage's breasts for a bit. "Wow! They're pretty big alright. I bet you're just jealous that you're flat chested and decided to cast a spell to grow those~!" She rubs them some more. "They are so soft, too~! You did a really nice job with those if you casted a spell on them."

"I told you, that's not it!" Mage screams, wincing at the intense groping Fighter is giving her.

**20 Minutes Later**

After the bath, Fighter and Mage are dressed in yutakas that are in the closet just in case guests don't have any night clothing to bring with them. They had placed their equipment in the closet as well for safe keeping until they have to leave tomorrow. Fighter climbs in bed first and pulls in the covers. She then looks up at Mage, who is hesitating for a second.

"Come on, Mage-san," she says. "Don't worry. It can fit the two of us."

Mage smiles and climbs in as well. She snuggles close to the swords woman, with Fighter chuckling and pulls in the covers. The two fall silent for a few minutes with none of them falling asleep just yet. Mage rolls over towards Fighter and speaks up.

"Fighter-sama," she whispers. "This is the first time I've slept with someone."

"Really?" Fighter asks.

"Yes. I'm usually lonely back at my home, either practicing my magic or watching other kids play. I mean, my parents aren't bad parents. They are too busy doing magic or helping others. I was too timid to make any friends and most people bullied me for wearing a revealing type of a mage's outfit. But I didn't mind. In fact, my parents were the ones who designed this outfit and I loved it." Mage looks up at the swords woman. "But I'm lucky that you found me when I escaped from the monster's wrath. And it's a good thing! So, thank you, Fighter-sama!"

Fighter smiles and strokes her hair. "No problem."

"And, u-um, when we're sleeping like this," Mage continues. "It's like we're sisters!"

"Huh!? Sisters?"

"Y-yes! S-so, I was wondering if…you can be my sister…" Mage shyly looks down at the covers.

Fighter sits up with eyes widened in shock. "N-no way! You're younger than me, right? Can it really be possible?"

Mage turns towards the swords woman with teary eyes. "Is it…really a bad idea?"

"U-ummmm….I didn't say 'No'…"

"Yes~!" Mage cheers as she hugs Fighter. "From now on, let's be sisters, okay? And you can be my older sister!" She sighs happily. "And…I won't be so lonely anymore."

Fighter's shocked expression softens into a gentle smile. "Okay. I'll be your older sister. Then, in exchange, will you come with me to find the killer?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Mage says with a nod. "As long we're together, nothing can stop us!"

Fighter nods and returns the hug. "Thank you."

After about 10 minutes, the two warriors fall asleep.