Chapter 23

Clash of Steel

Nightcrawler gazed up at what he could see of the early morning sky. The black blanket of night had faded to a misty gray and the millions of tiny silver stars had all but vanished. The night insects continued to chirp as they knew all the birds, which feasted upon them, were still sleeping. A faint sound, perhaps a distant owl's cry, whispered into the demonic young man's blue pointed ear. The light was so faint that no colors were visible except for two glittering points of golden-yellow, Nightcrawler's eyes. The Cursed German sighed silently as the last few stars winked out of existence before the ponderous arrival of the mighty sun. Morning was very near now.

When the sun crested the gray horizon, it would be morning and it would be time to fight Lady Katharine. His mouth quirked into a weak half-smile as he remembered how he had gotten her to agree to fight with him. The previous morning he had told her that he looked forward to their little battle and he meant it. He'd been so excited that he'd had trouble sleeping last night and now he was completely awake far earlier than he needed to be. His tail was firmly clenched around the branch that he was resting on so that it wouldn't thrash around and disturb the others. His three fingered hands tightly gripped the handle of his sword in eager anticipation of the upcoming fight. If she was as good at actual combat as she was at performing practice sets, then she might prove to be a real challenge.

A bird began its early morning song and Nightcrawler had had enough with waiting. He dropped out of the tree with barely a sound and scampered a few feet over to where Kitty had spent the night. She was still fast asleep. Nightcrawler paused; this could be a serious problem. Unless Kitty woke up early on her own, it was difficult to wake her and she was always in a sour mood. But if he didn't wake her up now the others would wake and begin making breakfast before they moved on. So what should he do? Let her sleep and miss their little duel, or wake her up now and suffer her sleepy wrath? Nightcrawler crouched down in front of her sleeping from and rested his sheathed sword against his shoulder as he considered his options. He would wake her.

Nightcrawler leaned forward, grasped her shoulder with one hand, and gave her a gentle shake. She groaned a little and turned on her side, but she didn't awaken. He sighed and tried once more with the same result. He moved a bit closer and tried poking her. There was still no response. He tried tickling her exposed arm, but, aside from a small sleepy smile, there was no sign of her waking up anytime soon. Nightcrawler frowned, this wasn't getting him anywhere. He tried shaking her harder again but she still stubbornly clung to sleep. The German snaked his talented tail around to poke and tickle her while he shook her shoulder yet again. Her eyelids flickered and he thought that she might finally be rousing, but she only sighed and settled deeper into her sleeping blanket. Nightcrawler clenched his teeth in frustration and tried not to growl. On impulse, he tried one last thing; he leaned in closer still and kissed her lightly on the cheek. Kitty began to stir again.

"Kurt?" She mumbled sleepily. Nightcrawler's eyes grew wide and his face burned. Did she just say-? Kitty's blue eyes slowly opened and focused on his golden ones. "What do you want?" She growled tiredly. It took several minutes for Nightcrawler to recollect his scattered thoughts.

"It's morning." He said softly.

"So what?" She grumbled.

"Do you remember what you said yesterday?" He quietly asked. Her sleep fuzzed expression darkened.

"I've changed my mind, go away." Kitty hissed.

"So you admit that I am better than you?" Nightcrawler whispered teasingly.

Kitty's sleep-fogged eyes immediately burst into flame. She stood up so suddenly that she knocked Nightcrawler onto his back. By the time the Cursed German regained his posture she had her sword belted around her waist and was waiting impatiently for him. Nightcrawler grinned wickedly, this would be fun. He slowly stood and carefully strapped his sword behind his back before calmly leading her away from the camp. He deliberately went slower than he normally would just to see how badly she would take it. By the time the orange sun no longer brushed the horizon he was certain that she was ready to slay him.

"Could you walk any slower?" She hissed sarcastically.

"Ja, of course I could." He brightly replied. "But I won't." He hastily added upon seeing her thunderous expression. Thankfully not long after, they came across a clearing that would serve their purpose just fine.

"Any special rules?" Nightcrawler politely asked her as he took his place at one end of the forest clearing.

"No, the basic rules should do just fine." She growled as she stretched out at the opposite side.

"Alright then, ladies first." He called out teasingly as he drew his sword.

Instead of answering, she drew her blade and rushed him head-on. If she'd been hoping to catch off guard, she was sadly mistaken. Her sword crashed solidly into his but he did not flinch. He threw back her blow and forced her on the defensive with several quick strikes before backing off slightly to allow her to recover. She retaliated with a low thrust at his legs, which he easily escaped with a small jump. She pressed forward with a slash at his midsection, which he casually blocked with a simple twist of his wrist. Kitty then tried a downward stroke aimed at his shoulder that he easily sidestepped. Nightcrawler once more switched to an all-out offensive and within five strokes sent her sword flying and had his blade tip poised to pierce her bare throat. All this occurred in barely more than a minute.

"Aw, that didn't take very long at all." Nightcrawler complained. "How about we do a best out of three?" He cheerfully suggested.

"I think that's enough for now." A gruff voice intruded.

Nightcrawler's blood turned to ice in his veins and Kitty looked similarly frozen. He slowly lowered his sword until it's sharp tip hovered less than an inch from the ground. The Cursed German very slowly turned to face the speaker who had interrupted his fun. He found not only Logan standing at the edge of their makeshift practice circle, but the rest of the group as well. A terrible feeling of foreboding settled over his soul as he saw their varied expressions. Logan's face was stony and unreadable, Remy looked mildly impressed, Piotr and Jean both looked worried, and Bobby looked furious. What sort of mess have I gotten myself into now?

"Explain yourselves." Logan demanded.

"He challenged me yesterday and I accepted." Kitty answered before Nightcrawler could think of a response.

"Is this true?" Logan asked the bluish demon.

"Ja, I wished to see how skilled she was and now I know." He nervously replied.

"Alright then, that makes sense. Now put those away and don't let me catch you sparring like that again." Logan declared before walking back to camp. The rest followed him; some were more reluctant than others.

Back at camp there was no conversation. Everyone did their own part without complaint or discussion. Kitty re-lit the fire, Jean cooked breakfast, Logan stood guard, Piotr fetched water, Bobby and Remy packed their things, and Nightcrawler tended the horses. When breakfast was ready, they all settled down to eat. A heavy oppressive silence hovered over them all as they ate their simple meal of boiled oatmeal and hard biscuits. No one spoke; they just ate and finished their preparations to leave. They wordlessly mounted their horses and formed into a line as Nightcrawler led them back to the path. As the line of horses curved out of the woods and onto the path, Nightcrawler glanced back at everyone. Their expressions remained the same as they were earlier, except for Kitty. Before she'd been embarrassed but defiant, now she looked very sad. I'll have to fix that later...

The sun had almost completely set by the time Logan called a halt for the night. Kitty numbly went through the motions of settling Phantom for the night, pitching camp, and eating dinner. Remy and Piotr tried to get Bobby to tell one of his famous stories but he refused so the group turned in early for the night. Kitty selected a spot furthest away from the others and curled silently up in her warm travel blanket. When the last rays of sunlight finally faded from the sky all the others were asleep, leaving Kitty awake and alone in the dark.

She'd been beaten. In less than two minutes, he had disarmed her and had his blade at her throat. Not even Logan had defeated her so quickly the first time they had fought. Did that mean that Logan had purposely gone easy on her then? Had she really improved at all? True she had learned many new techniques, but it seemed that she lacked the skill needed to use them properly in a fight. If that had been a real fight to the death, he could've slain her in an instant. And her defeat was made all the worse by what he'd said to her after the fight was over. She hadn't been much of a challenge for him at all. He'd expected more from her and she had disappointed him. Despite all that she'd learned and how hard she'd tried, she still wasn't good enough. She'd never be good enough.

"Fräulein, why are you still awake?" Nightcrawler whispered.

"Why are you still awake?" Kitty whispered back.

"I'm still awake because you are still awake." He whispered in reply. "So why are you still awake?" He asked.

"I'm just thinking, now go to sleep and leave me alone." Kitty muttered pulling her blanket over her head.

"What are you thinking about?" Nightcrawler curiously asked.

"I'm thinking about how much I want you to leave me alone." Kitty growled.

"No you're not. You've been thinking all day and you look so sad. Please tell me." Nightcrawler begged softly. Kitty peeked out from under her blanket to see the Cursed German's glowing eyes staring straight at her. How was he able to sneak so close without her noticing him?

"Will you promise to go away if I tell you?" Kitty sighed.

"Yes, I promise." He sincerely replied.

"It's silly really. I guess that I'm just a sore loser. The fact that you beat me so quickly and easily bothers me, though I know that it shouldn't." Kitty firmly answered.

"Is that what's wrong?" Nightcrawler half-mumbled to himself.

"There, I told you, now leave." Kitty sternly commanded.

"Alright, I'm leaving. But I must say, you are the most talented female sword-wielder that I have ever had the pleasure of fighting and I hope that we might fight again sometime." The German purred as he vanished into the darkness of the night.

"But Logan forbade us from sparring." Kitty sighed.

"He only warned us not to let him catch us sparring like that again. He never expressly forbade it." Nightcrawler whispered from somewhere above her.

Kitty sighed. She really couldn't decide who was worse, Bobby or Nightcrawler. Bobby had relentlessly, single-mindedly sometimes, sought her affections. He was a foolish love-struck boy who could be quite annoying, but Kitty could easily understand him and predict his actions. Nightcrawler, however, was a true enigma. When he first entered their group, he hung around Bobby most of the time. But when he found her, he attached himself to her and rarely left her alone. He seemed to seek her affections as well, but more as a friend then a suitor. Sometimes he was kind to her, but other times he drove her near madness like he had earlier that morning. He was a stranger to her who buried his secrets deep inside and Kitty found him unpredictable and impossible to figure out. With another sigh Kitty snuggled down under her blanket. At least we'll reach Karlsruhe soon and I won't have to deal with him anymore...