Check mate. Saphira said gleefully as she pushed her rook into position. Everyone in the room laughed as her opponent raged, the poor guy losing for the third time in a row. The tiny dragon extended her neck and picked up the opposing king with her mouth and gave it a quick shake as if she was breaking its neck. Do you wish to try again? She asked sweetly.
"I think I'll yield." The man said, standing up from the bench. It had been a few days since Saphira had hatched, but she had already become extremely popular. As of now, the Straighter siblings were lounging around the mess hall with Kyra and watched as Saphira played her first and favorite game.
Quick as a snake, Saphira's head shot out and rearranged the board back to the starting position. "You know." Max told Angela as they watched another challenger step up for a match against the dragon. "If we start charging for people to take her on, we could make a lot of money."
"People would stop playing, and I'm pretty sure we don't want that one." Angela pointed out. "What time do we have sparing practice?" She glanced over her shoulder as Max pulled out his schedule.
"1:30." He replied, flicking his wrist and closing the book with a snap. "We got enough time for lunch." They left Saphira in the capable hands of Kyra and fetched their meals, some of the people in the room watching them go. Max rolled his eyes and got his food, not entirely surprised when he heard gun shots as they tried to take his dragon.
"They just don't learn do they?" Angela said as she swiped the medkit on her way out. Lying down on the ground with various limbs having holes in them were some hot shot boys that wanted the dragon for themselves. They were crying in pain up until the point that Angela beat them upside the head with the medkit, nocking them out. She then tossed it to a bystander and walked back to her spot. "Nice shooting." She told Kyra offhandedly.
"Still don't understand why I have to make sure they can recover." Kyra said, leaving to grab her own food. Saphira wondered over from her game and started to snap bits of food out of the air as they tossed it to her. Max trying to get her to eat a bit of lettuce, but she just blasted it out of the air with a little ember of fire.
"Hey, can we sit with you?" Max looked up from his burger. A group of kids crowded around the table and looked at the group timidly. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence to find kids amongst the white fang, some being orphans or runaways, while others came with their families. Max looked over to Saphira, who gave them a quick glance before going back to eating.
"She's fine with your presence." Max said, returning to his food. He smiled slightly as Saphira jumped when one of the kids reached out to touch her.
No touching. Saphira scolded the child, giving his hand a quick sniff before turning back to Kyra, pulling of puppy dog eyes that could put Ruby to shame. Kyra froze, her impulse to spoil the little dragon colliding with her hunger. The internal debate ended when Angela told Saphira if she was still hungry she could ask the kids behind her to accompany her while she hunted mice. Saphira replied by hoping off the table and scampering off, the kids in hot pursuit.
"Do you think she will be able to catch anything with such a noisy lot following her?" Kyra asked, taking a bite of her food guilty.
"Naw. She just ditched them." Max replied, keeping his mental link with Saphira open to monitor her situation. The clever little dragon had lost the kids almost immediately by slipping around a bush near the barracks and made her way back towards the mess hall, the kids racing past her.
I am going to the woods outside of the arena. There should be plenty of rodents for all the food you foolish faunus leave all over the place. Max gave her the go ahead and returned to his meal.
After the three of them finished their food, they made their way to the open part of the beach that the white fang had cleared and marked off for practice. Most of the people who fled to the white fang didn't bring along weapons and had been given the standard sword, while those who did have their own weapons were permitted to have use their own. You would occasionally find an odd one with a unique weapon, most likely hunters deserting their kingdom, but most had a simple weapon.
Kyra left them to go to the gun practice section, a simple shooting gallery and house invasion practice zone. Max and Angela found themselves a clear point amongst the bodies in mock combat and readied their weapons.
Day Break let out a clear metallic ring as the edge of Repentance struck the flat of the blade. Angela started the battle a well aimed thrust, Max barely reacting fast enough to lean away and block with his sword. With a twist of the wrist, Max pushed the halberd away from him and retreated a few steps. Angela spun her weapon over her head as she stepped forward, sending a high speed slash from the right as she finished the spinning.
Max, being left handed like his dad, threw himself to the ground to avoid the weapon. Rolling to his feet, he threw a vertical slash at his sister as he rose to his feet. Angela blocked and countered, her motion fluid with perfection. Max staggered slightly as the pole of the weapon hit him in the ribs. Angela disengaged to let him catch his breath.
Max straitened up and raised his sword. He dashed forward, quickly dropping low to avoid his sisters attack, and launched a diagonal cut towards her left shoulder. Angela side stepped and attempted to brig her weapon down on his unguarded back. Max stopped abruptly, tensed down as low as possible, and quickly bounced back up leaning backwards, the blade of the halberd passing less than an inch from his face. Not missing a second, he sprung forward and hit Angela in the chest with an open palm strike, nocking her to the ground.
Max allowed himself a feeling of accomplishment before he retreated and readied for the next bout. It was extraordinarily hard to land a hit on Angela, and her Mimic would guaranty that move wouldn't work again. For a girl who never wanted to be a hunter, she could definitely stand head and shoulder over a good deal of the population.
Angela began to walk forward, Repentance spinning and weaving around her body. At times Max could only see the little bit of red string at the back of the blade. Then she began to dance with the blade, putting on an elegant and dangerous display. She then floated at him with extraordinary speed, the weapon creating a wall of attacks. Max dodged and blocked as best he could, even drawing his second sword, but in the end she got him in the side of the head. She had expertly maneuvered the weapon and distracted him with red tassel, flicking it so it appeared that the weapon was coming from the left when it really hit him on the right.
"You ok?" Angela asked, lowering her weapon. Max had fallen to the ground and was clutch his head,supporting himself with his left hand and sat on his knees.
"You know, sis." He said, pain heavy in his voice. "You should never let your guard down." She didn't have time to shout in surprise as he landed over 20 cuts on her, depleting her aura enough for him to get the victory. "I'm not dead yet. So I can still fight." He sheathed his weapon and helped her up. There was a chorus of clapping and a few cheers. Max looked up to find that most of the people on the battlefield had stopped and had been watching the siblings battle.
"you would have made dad proud." Angela told him.
"Yeah. To bad I resented him right up until the end." They walked over to where Kyra was blowing holes into targets. She wasn't as good at the sniper as Lucas (see chapter: a friend of the past, now teacher) but she could usually land enough shots to causes serious problems for her enemy. Much to their surprise, they found Saphira siting on the ground next to her, sounding off hit or miss like her personal spotter with wings.
What took you so long? Saphira asked, looking away from the target dummy. Her green eyes were as sharp as a hawk, looking over them carefully before turning back to the target as its head exploded with a three round burst. Bullseye. She said.
"Good hunt?" Max asked offhandedly, following the little dragons gaze to the target as the girl with the gun opened fire.
Caught a squirrel. She said proudly. Max scratched her chin. After a few more minutes, Kyra finished up with her practice and the group walked off to wander around the island.
Hey Max.
"Yes Saphira?"
Your dad says hi.
