Bet with Destiny
)O(
She woke up to the morning sun peering over the horizon, sending a wash of gold over the city. These mornings usually had an unpleasant tendency to be far too bright for her liking, but that day she didn't mind one bit. Keladry was in a cheerful mood.
She got up and dressed in simple breeches and a shirt. They weren't tight against her skin, yet only a fool would have missed the fact that they hid well-toned muscles. Her light brown hair – three inches below shoulder length – was plaited and then secured into a bun at the back of her head.
That done, Kel pulled on her boots and jogged downstairs to the practice yards. There were a handful of rogues awake and already practicing in the yards. They all nodded respectfully when Kel walked past. Being a little-sister figure to the King of Thieves, her job as an assassin was never accepted fully in the Court of the Rogue, but they had learnt to live with it.
She reached the cluster of punching bags in the middle of the courtyard. Grabbing a roll of bandaging, she roughly bound her hands as not to hurt them while training. Then, the brunette stepped up to the punching bags and threw her fists at them steadily, increasing her speed as she went. Her body fell into a relaxed but steady posture, her legs shoulder-width apart with slightly bent knees, and her stomach tight. Her breathing also fell into a pattern, matching the rhythm of her punching.
After her punching practice, Kel unbound her hands and got to work on her kicks. She sped through the front and side kicks, and then spent a little more time on the back ones, cursing her tendency to overbalance. After that, she moved to the flatter, horizontal kick pads, and worked on her axe and crescent kicks. Vertical kicking pads came next as she fired a series of turning kicks at them.
Next came weapons practice. Kel had tried and again to master some type of swordplay, but had had no success. In any case, commoners were forbidden to carry swords and her disregard for the law didn't stop her from not wanting trouble. Thus, she chose instead to avoid swords in general, whether it be short, long or two-handed. Instead, she wielded a halberd as her main combat weapon. She went through a few pattern dances with the weapon. The pattern dances were not uniformed, having been learnt from Rogues and not 'proper' teachers, but they were nonetheless deadly.
Keladry then unsheathed her daggers and practiced with them, both close-range and throwing. This was followed by archery, and throwing stars. Her arrows and throwing stars did not all reach the center of the bull's eye, but none missed by too much and only one failed to meet the target at all.
By then, the sun had risen and Keladry had worked up a sweat. She jogged to the back of the inn and grabbed a towel, then splashed cold water from the well onto her sweaty face and hair. More of the Rogue was up and about by this point, either practicing individually or sparring with each other.
"Good morning, Kel."
She turned, her arms automatically held up in a 'guard' position. Upon seeing who it was, she relaxed and smiled. "Morning, Dash."
"Are you up for sparring, or did those punchin' bags take it all out of ye?" he asked, eyes twinkling with amusement. "Those last jabs could've been deflected by newborn babes."
"They weren't that bad," she protested, then smiled. "As for sparring, I'm always up for it."
Their fellow rogues gathered around to watch with interest as they both assumed guard positions. Kel was one of the only people who could give Dash a run for his money. She had never beaten him, but not for lack of trying.
Dashiel started with a roundhouse kick, which Kel dodged, cursing his speed. She waited for his next move, always preferring to let her enemy lead the attacks. When his fist shot out, she knocked it out of the way and punched back. He blocked her punch, pivoting to swing her arm out of the way and following it up with a backwards elbow jab. Having seen it coming, Kel dodged sideways and attacked immediately with a spinning backfist. It caught the corner of his elbow as he retreated, but didn't hurt him.
He used the precious few seconds she took to straighten herself to his advantage, rushing her before she was composed. Kel blocked hurriedly, backing away despite herself. She was finally forced to throw out a back kick, just to keep him away for a few moments, before following through with a series of punches.
Dashiel knocked her arm down, and hooked his other hand around her elbow in an arm lock, holding her arm behind her back. She winced, as much from her straining muscles as from the fact that she had seen that one coming.
"Give up?" he asked, panting slightly.
"Yes." Had she not been bent over, he would have seen the mischievous glint in her eye.
The moment his hold relaxed, Kel attacked his knee with a grazing kick and turned around, straightening to face him. He swore.
"That wasn't fair."
"You taught me yourself; we don't fight fair," she replied, panting.
Dash gave a lopsided smile in amused resignation, and attacked again. Their fight carried on for another few minutes before he finally had Kel on the ground, panting and too worn out to throw him off. She was used to being beaten by him, but still couldn't resist a sigh.
He got up and she followed suit, moving to get cleaned and changed. She deliberated for a while between breeches and a dress; a man's clothing would provide her with comfort of movement, while a dress provided comfort of an entirely different sort. She went with the breeches, just in case.
Aglaia's porridge was horrid, as usual. Kel hid her grimace as she finished her breakfast and ran upstairs. She was dressed for a day in the marketplace, shopping and gossiping like any other commoner girls her age would do. And if she picked a few pockets?
Their loss.
)O(
AN: Is Kel becoming a Sue? Tell me if she is. And review, please. Concrit appreciated.
