The fool had bitten off more than he could chew. Lon'qu was well acquainted with Stahl's skill with the sword, and he knew for a fact that the match would be horribly one-sided. But Lon'qu would not be merciful, for it was not in his nature to go easy on his opponents.
Stahl placed a hand on his hip, gasping for air. "Break? Please?" he implored. But there was to be no such mercy found from Lon'qu.
"We haven't finished our match yet, Stahl," Lon'qu smiled grimly. "Best three out of five, right?"
"Can I concede?" Stahl asked wearily. "You win, I just…give up."
"Are you serious?" Lon'qu allowed a frown to flit across his face. He knew why Stahl had challenged him, and he was going to use that to his advantage. "I don't know if I can respect you anymore if you're going to do that. First you issue me a challenge, then you try to call me a coward for refusing to engage, and now that I've acquiesced, you simply want to give up?"
"Okay, okay," Stahl panted. "Just give me a second to…catch my breath."
"Wait!" The voice boomed out across the training field, and the two duelers paused to look at the newcomer.
"Stahl is seeming to be very tired, no? Perhaps is best if Gregor takes his place."
Stahl gave his savior a grateful look. "If you don't mind, Lon'qu?"
"Hmph."
Too tired to care anymore, Stahl took the grunt as a yes. "Well, Gregor, you can take it from here. I'll just watch on the sidelines."
So. His new opponent was the mercenary. Actually, Lon'qu had been meaning to challenge Gregor for quite a while. It was quite fortuitous that events had unfolded as they had. Better sooner than later, right?
Just as Lon'qu had the thought, his opponent executed a flurry of moves, and before he knew it, a blade was pressing against his throat. He stepped back, astonished.
"W-wait. Let's start over. I wasn't ready," he stammered, unused to being caught off guard, this being the first time in years that he had been bested in the ring. Excluding his one-sided matches with Basilio, of course.
"You are making with the excuses. But Gregor is kind," the man sniffed. "Gregor will 'let you have another go', is that how you say?"
The second time around, Lon'qu was able to put up more of a fight. But despite how hard he fought, Gregor was always faster. Gregor was always stronger. Gregor could always seem to anticipate whatever move Lon'qu was planning to make next.
Before he knew it, the sword was pressing against his neck again. The old man's face was mere inches away from his. "Listen, boy. Gregor was strong mercenary in past, but now he stronger than ever before. Know why?" Gregor lowered his voice conspiratorially, leaning towards Lon'qu, increasing the pressure on the blade ever so slightly.
Not waiting for an answer, he continued onward. "Because Gregor is having a reason to fight. Gregor wants to protect his friends. Why do you want to be strong, boy?"
He lowered his blade and waked away, leaving a flustered Lon'qu to mull over his parting words. Lon'qu had not missed Gregor's subtle implication: that Lon'qu did not consider the Shepherds as friends.
A few peaceful days of quiet passed by. Lon'qu should have known that it wasn't going to last. Sure enough, the newest recruit, Cherche, now walked towards him with a steely glint in her eye.
"Lon'qu. Back in Chon'sin, is it true that you once knew a girl named Ke'ri?"
Lon'qu could not breathe. It seemed that the shadow of her death would follow him wherever he went.
"No," he replied. "You must be mistaken."
He turned tail and quickly paced away, missing the speculative gaze on the wyvern rider's face.
Daybreak. Robin seems to have finally gotten the message that Lon'qu does not want to be paired with other units. Lon'qu fights best alone. Lon'qu always has. After all, comrades are liabilities.
Lon'qu was stationed by himself, guarding an outpost from enemy reinforcements. When he regrouped with the others, he was surprised to see that Maribelle and Lissa were both gone. Ricken and Kellam were also missing from the gathering.
"What happened?" he asked. Stahl's normally cheerful face was grim.
"There was a dark mage on the other side," Stahl replied. "Ricken got hit pretty bad. And Kellam got ambushed. Bad luck that Maribelle and Lissa were on the other side of the battlefield. Hopefully the two of them will be okay."
Lon'qu nodded curtly, and then began to walk back to his quarters. I told you so, he intoned to himself, patting himself on the back for pushing away the young mage. Making friends in a world filled with such meaningless loss simply made no sense.
That night, Lon'qu slept uneasily, dreaming of a boy whose only wish was to gain the respect of his fellow Shepherds.
A/N: Sorry for the late update, friends! I need to plan in advance more...