Fighting Fair
By: Chaoslace
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Chapter 3: The Last Word
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After more or less everyone had eaten breakfast, pieces of their group congealed in various places around the small town. Those with horses drifted towards the stables, those who needed weapons or armor went to visit the shops in the village center. Some sat or layed in the grassy yard of the inn, resting and enjoying the interlude of peace. The Lords Hector and Eliwood went on their usual morning rounds, taking headcount and chatting lightly while Lady Lyndis went over the inventory with Merlinus.
They had just wrapped up and she had prepared a shopping list for the knights when the two lords approached her.
"Hail, Lyndis!" Hector called out, waving jovially.
"Hail, Hector, Eliwood!" she said, smiling. "Everyone accounted for?"
Eliwood nodded. "Yes, but we've got some late risers. The usual people."
Lyn stifled a laugh. "Shall I go rouse them?"
"Oh no," said Hector. "This is my favorite part of the day!" He gave them a wicked smile, then brandished his axe and stomped off resolutely towards the inn.
Lyn and Eliwood watched him go. "You'd think they would know better by now," she said with a nervous laugh, and the red-headed lord shook his head knowingly.
Kent and Sain came over and she handed them her list along with a small bag of gold, but their conversation was cut short by an earth-shaking roar from inside the building. A high-pitched shriek followed it closely behind, which quickly dissolved into a string of half-formed oaths unmistakably directed towards a certain Ostian lordling. A few minutes later he emerged, shaking with laughter and oblivious to the glares that came from the other troops, particularly those who had been struggling to keep their horses from bolting at the man's noisy idea of a prank.
"A job well done!" he said cheerfully, returning to where Lyn and Eliwood were standing.
"Ah, Hector," Eliwood said, a refined edge in his voice. "Always the soul of tact."
"You know it!" He patted his friend heartily on the back, causing the lording to cough and sputter. All three turned to see the latecomers trickle out of the entryway to the inn. Erk was in the lead, still rubbing his eyes and trying to think of creative curses to throw at Hector. Close behind him was Lowen, sheepishly dragging a comb through his sleep-mussed hair, and taking up the rear was a very rumpled and angry-looking Raven.
Guy, who had been in the kitchen filling his satchel, bumped into the grumpy mercenary as he pushed his way out of the inn. "G'morning, Raven!" he chirped.
"Cram it, Guy."
He shrank back. "Whatever you say, boss." He watched as Raven stalked off towards the well that sat on the outer edge of the yard. Lucius intercepted him halfway and handed him a small package with a warm smile. The anger and tension in Raven's shoulders unknotted a little and he said something that made them both laugh. Guy watched curiously, then shook his head. "I don't get that," he said.
"Well, Raven can be pretty grumpy when he hasn't had his breakfast, after all."
Guy jumped and whirled around. "Matthew," he said, a little breathless from the surprise. "Where did you come from?"
The spy chuckled and gestured at the empty space around him. "Smoke and mirrors?"
Guy wrinkled his nose. "Very funny," he said, turning back towards the yard. "What are you doing, anyway? I've been looking for something to do but everyone seems to be busy with their own things."
"I've been around. Pre-battle preparations aren't exactly my thing, so I made myself scarce. Besides, I wanted to do some eavesdropping on our dear commanders." He grinned.
Guy looked over at him. "Shame on you! You shouldn't be listening in on other people's conversations, you know." Matthew just smiled and they walked a little bit in silence. Guy caved. "Hear anything interesting?"
"They're planning a visit to a port town. I didn't catch it all, but apparently the next leg of our journey is taking us to the seas."
The swordsman paled. "We're going on a boat?"
Matthew nodded. "What's wrong? You look a little green."
He shook his head. "I'm not... I'm fine." Matthew gave him a look and he sighed. "Alright, I'm not very fond of water, okay? Man, if I didn't need this job..." he stretched his arms over his head and took a deep breath.
"Bah, just try not to think about it. If you want, I could knock you unconscious for the ride." He flashed a smile that was only half kidding.
Guy shuddered. "Uh, no thanks. I'll just... um, stay below deck if that's okay."
Matthew shrugged. "Suit yourself."
The wind picked up and stirred their hair, pulling strands from the loose ponytail Guy had tied back. They flopped across his eyes and he batted at them irritatedly for a few minutes before stopping to fix it. "Hold up," he said through his teeth, which held the small leather band as his fingers worked through his hair. He tugged most of the tangles out and quickly braided it into a long cord, which he tied and let fall down his back. He pushed the remaining loose strands out of the way and fastened his headband in place. "Ah, much better," he said, and resumed walking. "Sorry about that."
Matthew just watched him curiously, then jogged to catch up. "Why do you keep it long like that? Doesn't it get in the way?"
Guy shook his head. "Not if I take the time to put it back properly." He squinted up at the sky. "I dunno why I do. I sort of thought I'd cut it when I got married."
Matthew laughed out loud. "Is that so! Well well, I didn't know you had a romantic streak, loverboy. I'm quite impressed, really."
"Huh? What's the big deal? Everyone thinks about that stuff."
"Ah yes, but I thought your only goal in life was to master the art of the sword." Matthew paused, laughter dancing behind his eyes. "Or were we not talking about the same kind of sword?"
Guy scowled. "Shut up, Matthew. Why do I ever tell you anything?"
"Ya got me."
They arrived at the green and Guy stepped forward, unsheathing his sword and holding it lightly in his hands. "At least I can practice for a while," he said. "If that's okay?"
The thief nodded and gestured for him to continue. "By all means."
Guy tested the ground a little and started into a pattern of thrusts and high blocks, which he'd concluded after his last incident that he needed to work on. Matthew settled in the grass, leaning against a nearby tree as he watched his friend practice. After warming up a little, Guy moved quite quickly through the pattern. His form had become much more precise since he had joined their little army. Matthew caught him performing some simple variants too, things that you could hardly see in normal practice but would matter on the battlefield. He nodded approvingly.
"You've really improved, Guy," he said. "You're looking a lot faster."
The swordsman finished up the pattern and put his sword away, nodding gratefully. "Thanks," he said, a little out of breath. "I'm feeling pretty good about it." He trotted over and sat down next to his friend, leaning back against the gnarly tree trunk. They sat that way for a while, watching the sun rise high in the sky. The weather was lovely, if a bit sticky, and Matthew had long since removed his dark cloak. There wasn't much noise, even from the camp, in the muted daylight. Guy swatted idly at a cloud of fruitflies and sighed happily.
It was Matthew that spoke first. "Wanna spar?"
Guy looked at him in surprise. "What?" He chortled a little. "You can't be serious."
"You wound me! I'll have you know I'm perfectly serious!"
Guy stopped laughing. "Are you kidding? You may have bested me with cunning before, but in broad daylight with a sword in my hand, I would crush you!"
Matthew raised an eyebrow. "I trust you won't hurt me," he said, hiding something behind an odd half-smile.
Guy should have known better from the look on the thief's face, but he wasn't really one for details, so he shrugged and nodded. "Well, alright, but this is going to be over pretty quickly." He stood and helped his friend up. They strode over to a nice open patch of grass and he drew his sword. Matthew stood about fifteen paces from him, his arms crossed simply over his chest. "Um, don't feel too bad," Guy said as he got into fighting stance. "If you lose."
"Oh, I won't, dear friend." He smiled and Guy shook his head. The swordsman tensed, waited a moment, then sprang forward towards his waiting opponent.
What happened next took a matter of seconds, but Guy could see it all in horrible slow-motion.
First, he missed. And Guy never missed. He struck down with the flat edge of his blade, meaning to give Matthew a nasty bruise to remember him by, but instead of a thief with an attitude problem he found only thin air. He cursed and whirled on his heels, his feet automatically carrying him into a defensive stance. He was glad for it a moment later when a familiar short sword sliced the air mere inches from his face.
As he brought up his own sword to deflect the blow, the thought trickled through his mind that Matthew had been striking with the edge. The bastard, he thought, anger flaring in his chest. What if he had hit me? He steeled his grip and stepped back into a crouch, ready to lunge forward again. He wasn't just out for bruises anymore.
Their swords clashed and Guy found himself face-to-face with his opponent. Matthew seemed perfectly calm, even jovial, as they struggled in close quarters. It came down to a test of strength, and though Matthew was strong, Guy was stronger. He started to feel confident again as the thief's grip on his weapon waned and finally slipped, sending his short sword spinning off to the side, where it promptly disappeared into the thick grasses. Guy flicked the edge of his sword up to Matthew's neck triumphantly.
"There! Now, what kind of a scar should I..." he started to say, a cocky tone edging into his voice.
Matthew chuckled. "Look down."
Guy blinked, then looked down. Matthew's left hand held a silver dagger, the point hovering just inches from his lower abdomen. He paled.
"That's... that's not fair!" he cried out. "I didn't know you had another weapon!"
"Actually," said the thief, giving him a little poke before slipping the dagger into its wrist holder, "you did. Remember?" He raised a hand and delicately moved Guy's forgotten sword away from his face. The dumbfounded swordsman let his arm go slack and his weapon dropped to the ground. Matthew chuckled and went off in search of his short sword. When he returned a few minutes later, Guy was sitting in the grass looking very dejected.
"Aw, c'mon, it's not that bad," said Matthew, sitting down across from him. "We can call it a draw, if that makes you feel any better."
"I would've been fine if you fought fair like a normal person," he grumbled.
Matthew chuckled. "Guy, most normal people fight anything but fair." He picked a blade of grass and toyed with it idly. "You're an amazing swordfighter. You really are. I've watched you practice and I know that you're becoming truly brilliant." He threw the piece of grass away and his expression became serious. "But you still fight like there's some kind of order to it. Thrust, block, parry. Thrust, block, parry." He waved his arms in mock combat movements. "It's not good for your health."
Guy just closed his eyes and fell backwards to lay in the grass. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the advice."
Matthew looked at him, then shrugged and stood up. "It's just 'cause I care." He brushed himself off and retrieved his cloak from under the tree. "Looks like everyone's getting ready to move. I'm gonna go get my stuff together, okay?"
Guy stared up at the sky for a minute, then sat up suddenly. He turned to call out after his friend. "Hey Matthew, what-" He trailed off when he realized that he was alone in the grassy field. "Smoke and mirrors," he said under his breath, a note of annoyance in his voice. He shook his head and stood, putting away his sword. "What a day this is turning out to be," he said to himself as he trotted back to the camp. "Who needs dignity, anyway?"
Lyn waved to him and he waved back, putting a fake smile on his face. "That's me. Meet Guy, headmaster of the school of Hard Knocks. The ruling king of Important Life Lessons."
There was a quiet laugh and Matthew's voice came from somewhere next to him. "You know, I like the sound of that."
Guy didn't even bother turning his head. He just closed his eyes and set about his business, grumbling to himself about nosy thieves that just always had to have the last word.