*Chapter 22*
~Playing With Swords~
The sun was barely more than a pale gray glow on the horizon when Kitty rose from her slumber. Normally she was not one to wake up early, but this morning was a rare exception. The young woman stealthily stood from her sleeping spot, a mossy hollow at the base of a tree, and phased her hand through her pack to avoid unnecessary noise. When she found what she was looking for, she padded out of the campsite a few inches off the ground without a sound. When she was phased, she was completely silent and gave off no scent; she truly was a phantom girl. With no sound or scent to alert him, Logan, the only one who might catch her, would remain ignorant to her disappearance, which is just how she wanted it.
Kitty only stopped when she found a clearing that was far enough away from the others so she wouldn't wake them and large enough for her purpose. She first began to twist, flex, and stretch every muscle and joint in her body to shake off the stiffness of sleep. With one final joint-popping stretch, Kitty took a few slow deep breaths to steady her nerves and calm her mind. She reached down at her waist and firmly grasped the handle of her precious sword. With a smooth motion and a faint hiss of steel, she drew her deceptively delicate looking blade from its subtly ornate scabbard. She held the distinctly feminine weapon before her gripping it tightly with both hands as she stood perfectly still. She gazed wordless at her narrow reflection that rested in the mirror-like surface of her sword.
At some silent, internal signal, Kitty abruptly snapped into motion. Her sword faintly hummed as it sliced through the quiet pre-dawn air. Her body was a graceful blur of carefully controlled movement as she danced through the mottled forest shadows. Kitty easily traced through the practice sets that Logan had taught her without any real thought. The first weak rays of sunshine slipped through gaps in the forest canopy and reflected off her blade, giving it a flickering, ethereal glow. A small unconscious smirk slowly formed on her otherwise expressionless face while her swings and thrusts grew increasingly elaborate. Kitty generally abhorred practicing things, especially when she was just beginning or had managed to master something, but sword practice was different.
Kitty loved to practice with her sword. The swift and potentially lethal movements always made her feel strangely alive no matter what her mood or state of mind was at the time. Whenever she felt overwhelmed by some dark emotion, she would seek peace in her sword. And sometimes when she buried herself in the motions, she found the focus she needed to think through things that troubled her. This is exactly what she was doing now, seeking a sense of calm that had been missing since her forced revelations. Jean had almost single-handedly destroyed her second try at live by completely releasing the ghosts of her past life that haunted her. Then Bobby's apparent death had further crushed the broken shards of her fragile happiness. When Bobby 'returned from the grave' so to speak she had been overjoyed at first, just like everyone else. But not long after that, Bobby's supposed savior began to add to her internal turmoil.
Kitty's movements, which so far had been nearly flawless, inexplicably swung out of sync. She overcompensated during a particularly complex strike and most ungracefully collapsed on her backside. She suppressed a growl of frustration as she jerkily wiped a few sweaty strands of hair from her face. The golden-eyed demon had come out of nowhere and turned her already tumultuous life upside-down. He was a complete stranger and yet all of his behavior that she had seen so far reminded her of another person, another lifetime. The way he'd spoken to her, the way he'd looked at her with his glowing yellow eyes, had been familiar but at the same time unfamiliar. She had only just met him last night, but Kitty somehow got the impression that he was hiding far more than his name from her.
With another quiet growl, Kitty picked herself up off the ground and dusted off her rumpled skirt. She readjusted her now damp hair into a fresh ponytail tightly secured by a well-worn hair ribbon. A deep, shaky sigh escaped her lips as she prepared to begin again. A look of fierce determination settled in her lustrous, bright blue eyes, she would finish this no matter long it took. She brought her sword up in front of herself and sliced it through the opening strokes of her last move. But when she hit that one critical point, she again lost focus and fell once more. Kitty stood and tried again and again, but every time she failed. By about her fifth or sixth fall she lost her temper and broke out in a wild flurry of random slashes and thrusts. After many minutes of berserker hacking and slashing she ran out of breath and let the tip of her blade rest in the forest's leafy floor.
"I sense some hostility here." A male voice with a thick Germanic accent purred. Kitty whirled around with her sword on guard to be confronted by a pair of glittering golden eyes.
"Nightcrawler?" She gasped out in confusion before she could regain her composure.
"Of course, who else would it be?" The Germanic demon replied as he strolled out of the shadows and into the lighter clearing. Kitty glared furiously at him.
"What are you doing here?" She growled.
"Watching." He simply replied. "What are you doing?"
"Practicing, or at least I was trying to." Kitty grumbled.
"That's what I though. You were doing quite well until that last maneuver. Funny how a tiny mistake in balance can cause such a spectacular fall, don't you think?" Nightcrawler teasingly asked. Kitty's eyes blazed with fury.
"I'd like to see you do better!" She snapped. The German studied her closely for a minute before a curious spark appeared in his unnatural golden eyes.
"Sure, I'll give it a try." Nightcrawler replied with a strange impish grin.
The German reached up and behind his right shoulder and wrapped his three-digit hand around some object she couldn't quite see. There was a rasping of steel against metal and leather and Nightcrawler produced a sword of his own from a scabbard that was slung over his back. His sword was slightly longer and an inch or so wider than hers was. Despite its simple design, the blade was obviously of a very high quality, certainly nothing that could be found lying around. With a few showy swipes that made the air hum and hiss, he began. Nightcrawler performed a perfect imitation of her earlier motions all the way up to the point where she hit trouble. With a few swift, graceful strokes, he surpassed her and ended on a powerful downward stroke that could easily slice open an opponent's skull. It didn't matter that that was the wrong way to end it, he hadn't seen her finish so he'd had to improvise, and he had outdone her.
"How come I didn't see that sword earlier?" Kitty asked, redirecting his attention away from his small victory.
"It was put away before, I had no need for it." He smugly replied. Kitty struggled not to grind her teeth together at his cocky smile.
"May I ask where one such as yourself acquire such a fine sword?" Kitty asked with forced politeness. For the briefest of moments, she fancied she saw a flash of fear dart over his features, but when she blinked, his expression was once more cocky and victorious.
"I could ask you the very same question Fräulein." He purred back. Kitty couldn't help but snarl, she had not even known him two days yet and already she found him utterly infuriating.
"Where I got this blade is
none of your concern!" She snapped back
acidly. She'd had enough of the
blue-furred imp and turned back towards the camp.
"You say you were out here to practice Fräulein. Can you remind me what the best form of sword practice is?" He called out to her retreating back. She paused.
"The most effective form of sword practice has always been a spar between two sword-wielders." Kitty answered back like any good student would respond to their teacher.
"Yes, I remember now. A spar between two worthy warriors is truly the best way to practice. Perhaps I may be of service to you Fräulein." Nightcrawler quietly suggested.
"Oh really?" Kitty asked sarcastically as she turned back around to face him.
"Ja, I am skilled with the sword so I could serve you as a sparring partner." The Cursed German brightly offered.
"I think not." Kitty snorted as she made to leave once more.
"Do you not trust me Fräulein?" He sadly asked. "Or, is it that you fear that you can never hope to match my superior skill with the sword, let alone defeat me?" Nightcrawler challenged, his voice dripping with smug overconfidence. Kitty saw red.
"I'm not afraid!" She snarled coldly, pinning the unfortunate young man with an icy glare.
"Oh? Prove it." He calmly challenged.
"Fine, I will!" Kitty hissed. "We'll see how cocky you are tomorrow morning!" She threatened. Nightcrawler only smiled.
"I look forward to it Fräulein." He purred.
Kitty's eyes flashed dangerously but she held her tongue. Without another word, she sheathed her sword with a rasp and a click and stalked off to rejoin the group. Another rasp and click meant that Nightcrawler had put his sword away as well, but she did not look back. She angrily pushed her way through the entangling undergrowth, sometimes getting caught so badly that she had to phase herself free. How dare he! How dare that bastard challenge me that way! God damn him to Hell! She thought venomously. He thinks that he is so great with that shiny sword of his. Well I'll show him!
***
Nightcrawler smiled faintly from his perch high in an evergreen tree. She looked so young and child-like when she got angry. He watched silently as she freed herself form another clump of twisted bushes before leaping to the next tree. His smile grew slightly, she was so mad that she had yet to notice him as he followed her by tree. She had only to look up and she could easily see him, but she hadn't done that yet. Every few yards Kitty went, he leapt to another tree so that she did not slip out of his sight. He almost felt guilty for making her so mad, but it had been so much fun. A wicked grin appeared on his face as he recalled the furious looks she'd sent him as he goaded her into fighting him. He chuckled quietly, he couldn't wait until tomorrow morning.
When Kitty reached the edge of the camp, he stealthily slunk away. He very carefully crawled along tree branches as he made his way back to the tree he'd spent the night in. Once there, he removed his sword from his back and wrapped it in a rough burlap cloth. He buried the wrapped sword deep in his pack to avoid the others discovering it and settled down on his branch to wait. His long thin tail swung back and forth like a clock's pendulum as he listened to the Engländer's conversation. They all seemed quite upset with her for leaving without telling them. Kitty calmly assured them that she was perfectly fine and that they shouldn't have worried about her. Then the group began to get excited because she was speaking to them all again. This of course quickly shut Kitty up and the discussion swiftly floundered.
"Well can you please at least promise us not to go off on your own without warning us?" Nightcrawler heard the red-haired Jean ask. Kitty must've shook her head no because of what he heard next. "Why not Kitty? You had us all so worried earlier when we woke up to find you missing. We feared that some friend might've magicked you away while we slept." Jean protested.
"I wasn't worried." Logan's gruff voice interrupted.
"What? Why not!" Bobby demanded.
"Because she wasn't alone." Logan replied. Nightcrawler blinked.
"Who went with her?" A deep accented voice asked. The accent wasn't French so Nightcrawler knew it had to be the Russian Piotr.
"That German went with her." The feral man answered.
"Did you know that he followed you?" Bobby asked Kitty.
"Not at first." Kitty reluctantly muttered in a voice so quiet Nightcrawler had to strain to hear.
"But you did realize he was there, right?" Jean asked.
"Yes." She growled.
"Did he scare you?" Bobby asked curiously. Kitty only snarled in response. Nightcrawler decided that it might be better for him to add to the conversation instead of just listening to it. He quietly dropped from the tree to see that Kitty's hand was gripping her sword so tightly that her whole hand had gone white. He really doesn't know when to quit does he.
"I only startled her a little." He called out to them, making them all start in surprise.
"Will you stop doing that!" Kitty hissed furiously.
"Stop doing what?" Nightcrawler innocently asked.
"You know perfectly well what!" Kitty snapped.
"No, what did I do wrong?" He asked confusedly.
"Stop appearing out of nowhere!" Kitty half-yelled.
"But I didn't appear out of nowhere, I was sitting in a tree." Nightcrawler replied. Kitty glared darkly at him before stomping off to restart the burned out campfire. For a moment there was silence as the sun crested the treetops and birds began to sing.
"You know, I think Nightcrawler makes her angrier than I do." Bobby declared. No one disagreed.