Author's Note:
Disclaimer see previous chapters.
Kate slept well that night, but Neo was restless. He lay in bed beside the young woman, thinking to occupy himself in lieu of sleeping.
There's something about that man that I just don't like, Neo thought wearily to himself. There's something very off about this Troy character.
Kate rolled over in her sleep, snuggling closer to the man. The swordsman wrapped his arms around her with a sigh, pulling her tight against him. He rested his head against hers, feeling her breath against his bare chest every time she exhaled. It wasn't long after that Neo dozed off to the feel of her breathing and the sound of her steady heartbeat.
The next morning, Onyx woke everyone in the corridor with a loud bang on each door.
"Out of bed, all of you! Training in twenty minutes, than repairs to the village!"
Kate groaned as she rolled over, hitting something hard. She opened her eyes quickly when she felt light kisses being placed on her face.
"Neo!" She squealed before he captured her lips with his.
"Morning Kojika." He said softly as he looked into her hazy green eyes.
"Morning." She echoed, swiping a stray strand of hair from her face.
He grinned before kissing her again, making her giggle.
"Neo," She finally said. "We have to get up before Onyx yells."
"Let her." He murmured as he kissed her again.
"Neo, out of bed, NOW!" Onyx's voice boomed from the corridor. For having a relatively soft, albeit deep, voice most of the time, she could nearly roar when she had reason.
Neo groaned to himself as he sat up and let the girl go. Kate stood up before quickly changing out of her nightie and into her usual, tight black pants with a light green shirt that hugged her frame slightly. Neo eyed her for a second before grinning and swinging his well-toned legs over the edge of the bed. Kate walked over to her closet and came back out with a number of shiny metal objects.
Dumping the pile of metal on the bed with a great deal of clattering, Katie glared again at the sword-wielding mage. Groaning, the blond man rolled slightly to the side so the armor would not land on him, and Katie began sifting through the mess of armor on the bed. Plucking out the lighter of the two mail shirts, she wriggled it over her head.
Breast plates and back plates, shoulder guards, and several lighter, shaped pieces for the upper and lower arms and legs, all lay on the bed in a jumble, hers and Neo's alike. Katie smiled slightly as she picked up her breastplate. Specially made for her by Elven-smiths, the armor was incredibly strong and light. The majority of it had been colored to a deep, sapphire-blue, although in the center of the chest plate, etched in silvery lines, was the image of a wolf's head, her insignia. Around the arms and neck of the chest plate, as well as the bottom edge, where two-inch wide strips of glittering silver steel, uncolored, leaving a distinctive edge. The rest of the plates were designed quite similarly, sapphire-blue centers with silver edges.
Watching her from the bed, Neo permitted himself a faint smile. He would have to get into his own armor soon enough. His own armor was no simple affair, and was not of lightweight Elven-make either. Swirls of sage-green and navy blue covered the chest plate, while the shoulder guards, deep blue with gold trim, each glinted with brilliant red and gold stones somewhat like rubies. The monster was rumored to have picked the stones up in a land a great distance away before he had come to serve Onyx as his Master and Katie as a lover.
Their sword belts, Katie's black leather trimmed with silver and Neo's a plain band of brown leather, still hung in the closets, although their swords lay within easy reach of the bed, in brackets set into the wall. Pulling her cloak on, Katie walked to the closet to retrieve her sword belt before returning to the bed to get her sword.
As she placed her sword in the sheath she looked back over at Neo. The blond man hadn't moved an inch aside from his eyes.
"Come on, lazy. Get up before she yells again." She said as she walked over to the bedside again.
Neo grinned before grabbing the girl's arm and pulling her towards him. "Oh, but Kojika..."
He kissed her lips softly before moving to her jaw.
"Neo, I mean it." She whispered, giggling lightly.
"Kojika." He whispered letting the word roll off his tongue.
Kate leaned against him. "It's not fair, you know what that does to me."
He grinned. "Of course I know. That's why I...."
"Neo! NOW!" Onyx's voice boomed through the doors once more.
Kate cringed and before she could blink, Neo was up and dressed in his armor, tightening his sword belt around his waist with his cloak flowing from his shoulders.
He took off out the door without another word. Kate walked out of her room giggling and into the corridor.
"You're not much help." Onyx rumbled, glaring at the girl. The Yami was still slightly annoyed with her.
Dressed in armor of identical style to Katie's, close-fitting and light, the Yami was a commanding presence. Her armor was emerald-green where Katie's was blue, and in the center of her chest the silhouette of a rampant stallion in gold. That was the insignia of Onyx's ancient past, and one she bore proudly even now. The trim, which was silver on Katie's armor, was gold on Onyx's, and the hilt of her sword was gold and set with emeralds. Onyx, however, was carrying a shield as well, tall enough to reach to her waist when she set it's point on the ground.
The light-green door behind the Yami opened at that point and Sarah and Celtos walked out. Sarah, who was not a morning person, was carrying a cup of steaming tea in one hand and blinking wearily. While Sarah was dressed identically to Onyx, also carrying a shield, Celtos was wearing a pair of tight brown leather breeches and a white tunic, belted at the waist, and carrying a tall wooden staff in one hand. Damus emerged from Onyx's black door a moment later, dressed almost identically to Celtos and carrying a staff with him as well.
Once they were all ready, everyone proceeded down the stairs, but Kate hesitated. She still wasn't feeling good when it came to going and training with Onyx, especially when the older woman was angry with her. Kate turned to her right when she saw the movement from the door to the left of her own. She watched as Troy emerged looking tired and uneasy. She cocked her head to the left at the sight of the thin wound on his neck.
"Morning, Troy. What happened to you?" She asked, pointing to the wound.
"Slipped shaving," he lied. "Nothing to worry about."
"Oh." She said quietly.
He looked her over, admiring the armor for a moment before speaking.
"What's going on?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.
"Training time." Kate said, not sounding overly thrilled.
"But..." Troy blinked. "It's only seven in the morning."
"Six forty three to be exact. It's how we start our day." She began to walk away.
Quickly Troy followed, putting on his boots as he walked, which forced him to hop awkwardly. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" She asked over her shoulder.
"Know the exact time?" He was interested in finding out everything about these people in order to complete his mission.
The girl just shrugged as she walked out of the house. "Just something I picked up, I guess."
Troy walked next to her eyeing the sword that hung from her belt. It shone a bright silvery color that reflected the sun as it hit. The handle had stones of emerald and topaz embedded inside it. He wondered how well she could use it.
"What kind of training are you doing here?" He asked.
She glanced over at him. "Different kinds. Sword training, hand to hand combat, staff fighting, you know, things of that nature."
He caught her eye as he spoke again. "You train for battle?"
She nodded. "You never know when someone might try to destroy your home. We're prepared for just about anything."
"Oh." Troy took in his surroundings.
He took in the sight of a few burned buildings from the night before, and the deep caves at either end of the Village where the dragons slept. They walked on until they came to this large area where most of the monsters were standing around an open circle. Some were actually in the middle of different forms of fighting while others watched. Kate stopped and turned to Troy,
"We train for everything. You never know when someone is going to come at you."
With that she turned, pulling the sword quickly from its sheath and blocking the blow Neo was throwing at her. Troy's eyes widened. He hadn't been prepared for that attack. Neo grinned at the girl.
"Very good. Do you think you can beat me today?" He asked.
"With pleasure." She growled playfully.
As the two of them began to fight, a grey-skinned man with blond hair walked forward to Onyx and Sarah, leading two horses with him, both wearing saddles and bridles. One was a small, silvery-grey horse with a light build and long, slender legs, built for speed. The other, taller and heavier, was jet-black with a very long mane and tail. Troy, who assumed Onyx would have taken the dark stallion, was quite surprised when the dark woman quietly mounted the small grey, leaving her light to swing easily into the saddle of the black. The two women tied their horses' reins up short and dropped them on the fronts of their saddles. Steering with their weight and legs, they rode the horses over to an isolated patch of well-trodden ground before drawing their swords and raising their shields.
Damus and Celtos selected a grassy circle not far from Neo and Katie's match and leveled their staffs at each other, readying for a good battle. All around him, he could see monsters of all descriptions pairing or grouping off. Some were wielding swords, others staffs, and some even held palms full of crackling majic. Onyx stood up in her stirrups and called out a few words in a language Troy didn't understand. The moment the last word left her mouth, the peaceful Village could have been mistaken for a war zone. Dozens upon dozens of matches were taking place at once, and the dull thudding of staffs, the clash-clang of swords, and the shouted incantations all combined to create a roar of sound.
In front of him, Neo backed off slightly, allowing Katie the freedom to attack him. She did so immediately, a hard blow towards his left side. Neo swung his sword around, point down and his hands over his shoulder, and blocked. A fast twist and he was striking at her head, but the girl ducked under the blow and came at him again, straight on. Neo ducked fast, hitting the ground and rolling, coming up just in time to block a blow to his neck. Katie swung again, this time down against his head, but was blocked once again. Neo pushed back hard with his own sword, throwing the girl back two paces, and used the time to leap to his own feet.
Troy, watching from the sidelines, had to admit that he was good. Then again, Katie was proving herself fairly well, too. Neo, though... Neo was excellent. His speed, his coordination, all of them were amazing. And by what Troy had overheard, he wasn't even the best swordsman in the Village.
A short distance away, he could see Damus and Celtos, both shirtless and already gleaming with sweat, in the middle of a staff fight. The Elf moved almost blindingly fast, many of his movements little more than a blur to human eyes. The mage had less speed, but more grace, and was using his agility to its fullest extent.
Looking to Onyx and Sarah, he found that the two women were practicing sword fighting from horseback. Sarah had the advantage of height and power on her black stallion, but Onyx's sleek grey was more agile and had the advantage of speed. Both women were using shield and blade with ease born of experience.
A sizzling noise near his ear caught Troy's attention again, and he turned his head in time to see a ball of blue-white majic miss his elbow by inches. It shot by him, striking the chest of a blue-skinned man with wild looking black hair. A flash of light surrounded him, and a moment later, a duck with a faint bluish tinge to its feathers was standing where the man had been. Following the course of the majic ball backwards, Troy was not surprised to find Mirai had been its source.
Turning his attention back to Katie and Neo, he found that they were standing only inches from each other, their blades crossed and jammed between them. Katie, breathing hard, spoke to Neo with her voice low, barely hissing the words.
"You're holding back on me."
He didn't answer, which seemed as good as a reply to the blond woman. With an angry growl, she gave him a violent shove that sent him reeling back three paces. Racing to him, she swung her blade into his side while he was still off-balance, sending him to the ground on his side. He was back on his feet immediately, though, their blades clashing as they met.
"Stop. Holding. Back!"
"If that's what you really want."
Throwing her back with a savage blow, the swordsman began striking again. She met him blow for blow, and their swords clashed so hard that sparks flew. Neo aimed a blow at her neck that nearly connected, but Katie rolled her shoulder at the last second and his sword struck her shoulder guard. The armor rang like a gong and Katie stumbled to one knee, but drove a solid blow into the armor on the back of his thigh. His knee buckled and Neo fell onto one leg, and a second blow to his chest sent him onto the ground on his back. Within the space of time it took to blink, he found the point of Katie's sword at his throat.
"My match," the girl informed him.
A short distance away, a horse's ringing neigh attracted Troy's attention. Looking over, he saw Sarah's horse rear up, striking at Onyx's shoulder with his forefeet. The Yami, caught off guard, was thrown from her horse and onto the ground. Almost immediately, there was a short cry of "Master!' from Damus, and a pained yelp. Turning over, he saw that the mage was on the ground, a handsome bruise blooming across the side of his jaw.
Back in the horse ring, Onyx rolled over and got to her feet. Her left arm, covered with the shield, hung uselessly at her side. Her shoulder had been dislocated. Leaving her horse and her light where they stood, she stormed over to where Damus lay and used her right arm to haul the mage to his feet.
"Damus, keep your attention on your opponent." Her voice, low and harsh, carried easily to everyone around her. "If you go into battle more concerned about your bedmate than yourself, than it's not a fight, it's a suicide mission."
Picking up the mage's staff from the ground, she slapped it against his chest. Walking over to Celtos, she silently unfastened the leather bindings that held the shield to her arm, letting the heavy metal drop to the ground. Lifting her limp left arm with her right hand, she held it towards Celtos until he grasped her arm. Setting her good hand on his shoulder, she pulled back until the appalling crunch of a bone realigning was heard.
Troy cringed at the sound and turned his attention back to Kate and Neo once more. The girl still had the sword pointed at his throat and was panting slightly as she moved it.
"Get up and take off your armor." She said.
Neo grinned. "But Kojika, we just started the day. Isn't it too soon...."
"Quiet you!" She said trying not to laugh as she sheathed her sword.
Neo jumped to his feet and began peeling off his armor, dropping it to the ground with numerous thuds as Kate did the same with her own. Troy watched curiously, wondering exactly what the swordsman had meant by his comment. He looked from the girl to the swordsman and back again. There was something between them, he hadn't quite figured out yet but he had a good sense of what it might be and for some reason it angered him slightly. When all the armor had hit the ground, the young woman stood ready. The swordsman grinned at her for a moment before also standing ready.
Smirking, Neo adjusted his weight. Then, in the blink of an eye, he charged. The change from stillness to speed was so fast that Troy missed it entirely – he was not aware Neo had started moving until the monster was halfway across the ring. The blond man had thrown his first punch before his foot had landed, using his momentum to increase the force of the blow. It caught an unprepared Katie in the shoulder, driving her back several paces. She rebalanced quickly, aiming a sideways kick at his right side. He dodged sideways, but it connected regardless, sending the man to the dirt on his left elbow and hip. Troy thought, for a moment, that the swordsman was defeated, but Neo was back on his feet in an instant, crouching low and assessing his opponent.
This time, it was Katie that moved first, aiming a high kick at the man's shoulder. He dodged, using his speed to his advantage. Ducking under the end of the kick, he aimed a punch at the girls stomach. It connected solidly, knocking the wind out of the girl and knocking her backwards. Troy thought for certain the match had been won then, but much to his amazement, the girl simply caught herself on her hands, turning over in a flip. She landed in a crouch, her knees bent and her fingertips resting on the ground, her mouth open as she struggled to catch her breath.
"Close your mouth, Kojika, you're giving me ideas!" Neo's taunt rang from the opposite corner of the ring.
Katie snapped her mouth shut, anger coloring her face, and charged. She caught Neo around the midriff and knocked him on his back, straddling him, but the monster seized her shoulders and flipped them over in a practiced move, pinning the girl to the ground. He clasped both her slender wrists in one hand, his other hand on her throat.
"My match," he said simply. Katie nodded as best she could over his hand, and the man rolled off her, satisfied.
"Katie!" Onyx's voice cut sharply across the ring and the girl winced.
Picking up her shield from the ground, the Yami walked over, sliding her arm, now healed, back through the straps and tightening the shield down. Leaning over the girl's prone form, she treated the blond to a faint smirk.
"Lesson One. Never. Attack. In. Anger." The clear, biting distinction of each word made the girl wince again.
Calmly, the Yami extended her hand to the girl. Not wishing to anger her further, Katie took the callused hand and allowed the Yami to pull her to her feet. Nodding briefly to the girl, Onyx walked back to her horse and mounted in one fluid motion. Standing up in her stirrups, she glanced over the battlefield, nodding slightly to herself when she found that all of the matches were done.
"All right!" she called, her voice ringing clearly over the field.
"Winners, log your victories! The rest of you, get changed, get breakfast, and report back in an hour to start repairs to the Village. Dismissed!!"
It was amazing, really, how quickly almost two hundred monsters could disperse from a field at a single order. Troy stepped back, allowing the monster that had briefly been a duck to walk by, and found himself next to Neo. The blond man smirked at him by way of greeting.
"Troy."
"Neo, right?"
A nod answered him, and Troy turned away, intending to start back towards the house. However, he heard Katie's footsteps behind him and turned slightly. The girl was standing beside Neo, and the monster had caught her elbow in one hand, leaning close to whisper in her ear. Straining his hearing,
Troy could just catch what the monster was saying. "... make that mistake up tonight, Kojika. I'll give you a little personal training."
It was not the words themselves that were so suggestive, but the tone they were spoken in. The blond monster's voice was thick with lust and desire. It made Troy's blood boil slightly. He shook the thoughts from his head and followed everyone inside. Most of the monsters headed for this building off to the right before the mansion but Kate, Neo, and most of the others from the night before headed towards the mansion. Troy followed a few steps behind the two blondes and noticed that Neo kept leaning closer to whisper in her ear. Sometimes she would smile while other times she blushed. Either way it annoyed Troy.
I can't let this mess with my mission. He thought. Damnit, why does she have to be so good looking?
When they all got into the mansion they went directly to the dining hall.