Chris: Well, I'm back. -listens for applause- Thank you, thank you!
Farina: There wasn't any applause.
Chris: I know that! But that doesn't mean I can't bow to non-existent applause! Anyway, thank you all for reviewing and I'd like to address your concerns, but I am unable to due to the new rules enforced by this site! So, on with the fic!
Note: Oh, and Min? Yeah, you can. Sigh…Hopefully it'll be short though. Cause frankly, all my contestants only have one chapter out and it's been a month. So…I dunno, maybe I'll make it last a half-year. Oh, and don't forget, limit is 10 chapters and 4-5 chapters is ideal for the contest. And if still don't finish after a half year, I'm gonna start bugging you guys in reviews.
Chapter 4: The Sword Mistress, Part 3
"I don't like this."
"Karel, you don't like anything." Mark, the ever-so-generic tactician walked up, his arms folded within his voluminous green robes. "I thought you didn't care for your sister."
"And am I to assume that you don't care for your life?" Karel retorted, his hand on the hilt of his katana. "Don't press me any more, tactician."
"Fine, fine! Just seeing what was wrong." Mark shrugged helplessly and walked away, presumably to help with the army plans. Because unlike some other tacticians that shall not be named, he actually did something to help move the army along.
Karel turned and watched the brown haired tactician stroll away. He grimaced and the grip on the hilt of his sword tightened. 'That brown hair…Reminds me of Sain…Grr…That weakling…' The long-haired swordmaster had only recently learned of the romance between his sister and that womanizing incompetent. At first, it didn't faze him. After all, he couldn't care less what his sister did. After all, she was weak compared to him and in all matters, so was her stupid boyfriend.
But now, for some strange, inexplicable reason, this romance was bothering him. Irking him, to borrow a phrase from the often-irked sage, Erk. Karel didn't know why and that only served to bother him further. It was starting to effect his fighting too, and more often than not, his apprentice would be the one besting him in their duels. Of course, it was then that he snapped out of his daze and beat the stuffing out of Guy, but the point was that it was effecting his fighting. And that was never a good thing. He decided to go to the only other male member of the group that had a sister, Raven.
He found the red-haired swordsman slashing the branches off of a tree. Apparently, Raven had no one to train against. The swordsman turned and frowned when he saw Karel. "What do you want?"
'Straight to the point.' Karel thought. "You have a sister, right?"
"Yeah, so?" Raven grumbled, breaking off another branch. "Why do you care about her? She's already got me."
"No, not that." Karel said angrily, rage starting to well up in him again. He restrained himself, reasoning that Raven would not be able to give him advice if he was chopped up into a thousand different pieces. "My sister is acting weird and I thought you would know why."
"You? Coming to me for advice?" One of Raven's eyebrows lifted.
"Yes…Yes, I am. I need your advice….please." Karel spat out the last word.
Raven's other eyebrow lifted and he looked at Karel in surprise. "Karel saying please? That's new. I thought I had seen it all."
"Stop trying my patience before I kill you!" Karel warned as his hand twitched on the hilt of his sword. "Just shut up and help me!"
Raven held his sword loosely in his hand, but Karel could see he was itching for a battle. It was then that Karel suddenly thought of an idea that would get rid of that annoying cavalier and keep his sister free from scum like him. Not like he cared, or anything, but it was the principle of it all. Gruffly spinning on his heel and leaving Raven, he searched for Sain, preparing to end his sister's romance one and for all.
Raven stared at Karel, looking at him strangely. "I wonder what he was thinking." Shrugging, he went back to his practice, only to remember that Guy had been acting a little too chummy around his sister. Immediately, he rushed to confront the myrmidon, with the intention of smacking his ass on the floor. Unbeknownst to him, Karel was headed to do the exact thing, only this time with Sain.
He spotted the cavalier chatting with his sister and he felt an unexplainable anger come over him. Shaking it off, he stomped up to the cavalier.
"Ah, Karel! What brings you here on this fine day?" Sain said cheerfully.
Karel's eyes twitched slightly. "Hello, Sain…" He said, his teeth clenched.
"Ah, I see that you seem a little perturbed!" Sain replied, his face cheerful but one of his hands reaching for his lance. He knew of Karel's reputation and he wasn't going to let his newfound happiness get out of the way. "Karla? Perhaps you could calm your brother down?"
Karla looked at her brother and sighed. "I'm sorry, Sain…But I don't think he'll listen to me." Nevertheless, she stood up, looking at her brother. "Please, Karel, but I hope that you won't do anything foolish."
Karel just glared at his sister before turning his attention back to Sain. "Stay away from my sister. You are not worthy of being with her."
"Karel! You have no say in this matter!" Karla shouted, a hand on her sword. "You never cared about me before, so why should you start now? Although it is a nice change, I would rather not have you messing with my personal life!"
Karel fixed his gaze on her, his eyes narrowed and blazing with anger. "Do not presume to give me orders! I do not care what happens to you! I only care that this piece of filth believes he is worthy enough of being with you!" He drew his blade. "Sain! I challenge you to battle! Or would you like it if I were to cut you down right now?"
"Karel! Stop this nonsense now!" Karla yelled, getting seriously angry with her brother. "Leave us alone!"
"It's okay, Karla." Sain smiled slightly, rising. "I…slightly understand the angle your brother is driving at. Do not worry your beautiful self over my part. I will just have to accept his challenge." Hefting his lance in his hand, he looked over Karel. "One condition. We fight with training weapons. It would do me no good to deprive my dear Karla of a brother, no matter how crazy he might be."
Karel's eyes widened. "You dare insult me? Prepare to die!" He attacked immediately, swinging his sword at Sain's unprotected neck.
Sain just smiled slightly as he brought up his lance to stop Karel's blow. "Like I said, training weapons or no fight whatsoever. I could manage to get you kicked out of this army. You are good, Karel, but you would not be able to stand against our entire might."
Karel spat on the ground. "Very well! I agree to your conditions! If I win, you stay away from Karla forever!"
"Agreed. And if I win, you leave us alone." Sain grinned at Karla. "I would like some time alone with my delightful lark of a girlfriend."
"Fine!" Karel threw his sword and hilt to the ground. "Training sword or no, I will smash you into a pulp and spit on your corpse!" He stalked off, steaming angrily.
"Sain, you shouldn't have done that." Karla said, looking at the brown-haired cavalier disapprovingly. "You know how my brother gets. I wouldn't…want to lose you…"
Sain laughed. "Hah, don't worry about that. I'm a lot tougher than what your brother things." He winked and pecked her on the cheek. "I'm sure you found that out when we practiced, right?"
Karla blushed slightly and pushed Sain away. "Just be careful, okay?"
"If my princess desires it, so it shall be!" Sain said dramatically. "Do not worry! I will return to your side, even if I was pierced with thousands of arrows!"
"I'd prefer it if you returned without the arrows." Karla smiled slightly. "Well, I guess I can't stop you."
Sain smiled, although his expression was serious. "I'm sorry, Karla, but I need to do this. Your brother isn't going to leave us alone unless I do."
"I know…" Karla brushed back some of her midnight-black hair. "Karel, why do you have to do such stupid things?" She sighed dismally. "I want to go with you."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea…" Sain whispered.
"I'm going whether you think it's a good idea or not." Karla said, her hands on her hips. "I don't want to lose you. At least let me be there to cheer you on."
Sain laughed. "Very well! I could always use a fantastic cheerleader like you!" He put his arm around Karla's shoulder. "One kiss for good luck?"
Karla sighed and shook her head. "You always find a way…" However, she turned to Sain and kissed him passionately on the lips. When she released him, Sain was smiling broadly.
"After something like that, I can't lose!" Sain said, his eyes twinkling.
"Hmph, I still don't know why I agreed to be your girlfriend." Karla huffed and hit him lightly. "Come on, Casanova. Let's go."
"At once, beautiful lady!" Sain said as he followed Karla, a smile still at his lips.
---
"You're finally here!" Karel raged, throwing a practice lance at Sain. "Get ready!"
"I'm ready, I'm ready!" Sain cried, holding his lance up in front of him. "Sheesh, don't be so impatient!"
Karel snapped. Yelling angrily, he charged at Sain, swinging his wooden sword straight at Sain's arm, intending to render it useless. Sain sidestepped, and not a moment too soon, as Karel's sword flew right through the place his arm had been before. The long-haired swordmaster turned and lunged at Sain, his eyes alight with battle lust. His mouth twisted in a feral grin, he swung his sword swiftly at Sain's neck.
Sain brought his lance to deflect the blow, sweating slightly. 'Damn, that was close!' Karel was faster than he was and the swordmaster knew it. It wouldn't be long before Karel regained his senses and used his speed to his advantage. Hoping to avoid such a circumstance, Sain moved to the offense, stabbing forward with his lance. Unfortunately, because of the heavy manner of the blow, he missed and Karel took advantage of Sain's opening, swinging his sword at Sain's ribcage.
The sword collided with Sain's armor, causing a small dent in the metal armor and knocking Sain to the floor. The cavalier rolled up, not seriously hurt. 'Oh boy…I hope I'm not over my head here.' Karel attacked again, another light attack whose power was absorbed by Sain's armor.
'Rippuku!' Karel screamed in his mind as he flew into a blur so fast that Sain wasn't able to tell where he would strike. He felt a heavy strike hit him from the back and he stumbled forward, coughing. Suddenly, a fist smacked him on the chin and he fell backwards, lifted into the air. Karel's sword slammed into his stomach and he landed on the ground heavily.
'Urgh…' Sain pushed himself off of the ground painfully. 'That hurt…Even through my armor.' He felt his jaw. Didn't seem broken, so he reasoned it was okay for the time being. Sain looked up at Karel, who was smirking. 'But I can't lose!'
Sain charged at Karel, who simply sidestepped. However, Sain was anticipating this and instead of just completing the thrust, he swung it like a quarterstaff, catching the surprised swordmaster in the side and bowling him over. Sain thumped the butt end of the lance on the ground, grinning triumphantly.
Karel only crouched, his eyes closed. 'Shinkirou!' He disappeared again, only to appear in front of Sain. The cavalier swung his lance to attack, but Karel's image faded again, only to show up at Sain's side. Sain swung again at Karel, only to find out that he had disappeared.
'Dammit! Where is he?' Sain cursed in his mind, swinging at another image of Karel that had appeared behind him. Suddenly, Karel appeared above him and swung at Sain's unprotected head. Sain just barely dodged, but the wooden sword hit him on the left shoulder, knocking the cavalier on the ground.
The cavalier gasped as he felt a huge wave of pain flood through his left arm and he immediately knew that it would be useless in the fight. Groaning slightly, he picked himself up, holding his lance unsteadily with one hand.
"I'm impressed…No one has lasted this long against me." Karel remarked.
"Hah!" Sain coughed. "I'm a lot tougher than the other people you've fought!" He hefted his lance. "Let me show you!" The cavalier attacked again, swinging his lance one-handed at Karel's stomach. Karel, smirking, blocked it with his sword and pushed the lance away, attacking again. Sain smiled inwardly. Apparently, Karel didn't know that his attack wasn't over yet.
As Karel swung towards him, Sain ducked and let go of his lance, head butting Karel in the stomach. The swordmaster let out a strangled cough before plowing into the ground, coughing. Sain stood over him, smiling gamely.
"Had enough, Karel?" Sain stamped his foot on Karel's practice sword, which had flown out of the swordmaster's grip. "Think you can smash me into a bloody pulp now?"
"Grr…" Karel looked away. "No…"
"That's what I thought!" Sain crowed triumphantly, kicking the practice sword away. "So you can't bother me and Karla anymore!"
"Fine…" Karel pushed himself up. "But this isn't finished, Sain." He glared at the cavalier, who was nursing his left arm.
"Hah, I wouldn't doubt it in the least." Sain looked over at Karla, who wrapped him in a big hug. "Told you I would win, Karla. Don't doubt your stunning knight in shining armor!"
"I wouldn't doubt him. But what about my battered knight in dented armor?" Karla smirked slightly, brushing a spot of blood that was trickling down his lips.
"Hmm…I guess…" Sain grinned slightly. "But not too much. It would ruin my gallant image."
Karla smiled. "Very well. I guess I'll continue to trust you, my gallant knight."
Chris: As you can tell, this chapter has almost absolutely nothing to do with the romance itself. However, you get a fight between Karel and Sain and you get that answer to the question, "What the hell would Karel do if Sain was dating his sister?" If my explanation is not to your advantage, sorry.
And yes, I believe Sain would beat Karel. Sain has better defense and his lance would be Karel's sword. But that's just me. You are free to draw your own conclusions. Review please and I hope you enjoyed the Sain/Karla story!
English - Japanese
Rage - Rippuku
Mirage - Shinkirou