Hello everybody! Hope your ready for a fun chapter today.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I was inspired for the way Dante spars in this chapter from a personal experience I had with it. Yes that's right. I've actually fought that way. I use to be a black belt in martial arts, so I'm fairly decent in writing fighting scenes. I'm just too lazy to...write them...or something like that...moving on...
Anyways, the sticks they use in this chapter are called escrima sticks. They come in various colors and materials, but are usually made of wood (or foam for beginners) and are around two to two and half feet in length. Since they hold them properly, there's about an inch or so space from the end of their hand to the end of the stick where they're holding it. You'd hold it that way so if you miss your target with the big part of the stick you can still hit them with the stick.
Muse/ViH: You sure it's wise to tell them that?
Um...probably not now that I think about it. But they deserved some background on how to fight with an escrima stick.
Muse/ViH: Just get on with the story.
Yes mother.
Muse/ViH: I'm not your mother.
(Thank god) So here's the chapter. In some strange, alternate reality where I am god I own this stuff. But we're not in that reality so it isn't mine...sigh...
Dante looked at all the weapons in the training arena. Several members of the Atlantis expedition were sparring off to one side. Dante ignored them and picked up an escrima stick. It was about two feet in length and made of solid wood. He expertly twirled it in his hands as Teyla walked up to him. He glanced at her as she watched him. Without a word she picked up a pair of the weapons and arched a brow at him. He shrugged and grabbed another stick.
The two combatants began circling each other. Dante had his weapons held on his right side. His left escrima stick was slightly tucked under his right arm. The right escrima stick was hovering above his right shoulder. Teyla held her escrima sticks in front of her body.
Teyla suddenly lashed out her right weapon, swinging from left to right. Dante's right arm flashed out and the two escrima sticks clacked together loudly. The vampire's right escrima stick was immediately followed by his left weapon. Teyla quickly blocked the attack and the two circled each other again. Dante's escrima sticks were in a similar position as they were on his right side, only the arms changing position.
Teyla's hands still trembled from Dante's attack. "You are holding back," she stated more than asked.
He grinned. "Maybe," he admitted. The two fought for several more minutes, Dante easily blocking each attack Teyla made. He suddenly dropped down and leg swept Teyla. She fell to the ground and almost flipped up when Dante's sticks rested against her throat.
"Impressive," she said.
He removed his weapons and helped her up. "I've had about five centuries of practice," he said with a shrug.
"And you're a vampire," Sam said from her position against the wall. The two combatants turned and saw SG-1 along with John and Ronon.
"Looks like you owe me ten bucks Sheppard," Cameron said. Dante realized that the six must have seen their fight.
"You bet on our fight?" Teyla asked.
"Well, I thought you'd kick his ass, vampire or not. You've kicked mine plenty of times with those," John said.
"Dante has an unfair advantage though," Daniel said.
"All right. If you guys want an interesting fight, I'll fight Sam," Dante said.
"I don't think so," Sam said.
"Come on Sam. Go kick your brother's butt," Cameron said.
"Sammie couldn't kick the broadside of a barn," Dante joked with a grin.
"Sammie?" Ronon asked, an amused smile on his face.
Sam glared at her brother, her eyes cold. "You're going to pay for that," she growled, arms folded over her chest.
"Then get over here and make me," Dante challenged.
Sam took the escrima sticks from Teyla and faced her brother. The siblings faced off, each holding their weapons against their right side in the same way. Dante suddenly smiled and attacked with his right escrima stick, the left close behind. Sam met his two attacks and blocked them. Dante suddenly lashed out with his right arm and Sam met his attack. The two tucked the escrima sticks under their left arm and began circling each other. A smile was on Sam's face. The two began attacking each other, the banging of the sticks become faster and more frequent.
As the two attacked each other they moved in a circle. Occasionally, one of the pair would kick at the other with their foot only to have it blocked by the other. As the sparring went on, the fight became harder to watch. Dante would spin around away from an attack only to try and attack Sam who would spin in towards Dante trying to hit him. He would then drop down and try to leg sweep her. Sam would jump over his leg and tried to bring one of her escrima sticks down on his head. Dante would roll out of the way and jump back up to his feet.
"They appear to be evenly matched," Teal'c observed.
"Twenty bucks say Sam kicks Dante's butt," Cameron said to John.
"You're on," John agreed.
"I have never before seen such fighting," Teyla said.
"Me either," Ronon said. "Wouldn't want to be a Wraith if I met one of them on a bad day," he said.
"Or a good day for that matter," Daniel said.
The fight paused long enough for Dante to shed his black shirt. A faint sheen of sweat glistened on his skin. Several stray strands of his hair were plastered to his skin from the sweat. Sam took the opportunity to shed her SG-1 jacket. Her hair was also sticking to her skin, but she ignored it. Dante rolled out his shoulders and the sparring match resumed with renewed fervor.
Vala sauntered into the room, idly munching on a granola bar. "What are we watching?" she asked.
"Dante getting his butt whomped by his sister," Cameron said with a smirk directed at John.
"Other way around," John said.
Vala saw that Dante was shirtless and smiled. "Not a bad view in either case," she said to no one in particular.
Daniel rolled his eyes, silently grateful that she had stopped chasing after him. "I don't think this fight is going to end anytime soon," he said.
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed. "Both are formidable warriors."
Dante paused in his attack to catch his breath for a moment. Sweat was now dripping from his body. He could feel his body becoming tired but also knew that if he was getting tired, Sam was getting exhausted. He smiled suddenly and arched a brow at her. She returned the grin and the two made to rush each other only to calmly walk over to the towel rack. They each grabbed a towel and began wiping themselves off.
"What the hell?" John demanded.
"Aren't you two going to finish the fight?" Cameron asked.
"Nope," Sam said.
"Why not?" Daniel asked.
Dante shrugged. "I think the both of us didn't see the need to keep sparring each other," he answered.
"Besides, of the times we've sparred each other, neither of us has ever won. It's always a stalemate," Sam explained further.
"But you still could have fought," John protested.
"And what, pray tell, would that have accomplished?" Dante asked.
"The bet John and I had would've been resolved," Cameron said.
"Not this time," Sam said.
"Well, I miss watching the fight," Vala said. "Or at least one of the fighters."
Dante hid his smile while the others ignored the comment as best they could. The vampire picked up his shirt and pulled it on. "Maybe another time," he said. He left the sparring area to go shower.
"I stink, don't I?" Sam asked.
"We weren't going to say anything," Daniel teased. Sam smacked him on the arm and headed for her room. Daniel rubbed his arm. "Ow…" he muttered.
"Would you like me to kiss it to make it better?" Vala asked with a wink.
"Uh…no thanks…" he said, vacating the room. The thief shrugged and strolled out of the room to wander the city.
I'm still trying to figure out which way this story is going to go, so yeah...still trying to find a good idea for it all...
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