If I reach Pewter, I can find a place to sleep… I have no trainer card, and I'm not sure how much money I have… Maybe I'll just camp outside the city again.
"So, what are you heading to Pewter for?" Tony asked, breaking the silence that had followed them since Claire and him had started travelling together.
"Not much, I normally just travel to wherever I feel like." Claire responded, shrugging.
"Have you been to a lot of places?" Tony asked, looking at Claire with wide eyes.
"I guess."
"Have you ever been to Sinnoh?"
Claire paused. "No, not in a while." She responded, her voice a bit more curt.
Tony frowned. But before he could ask what was wrong, a gruff male voice called out.
"Alright, girl, time's up."
Both trainers stopped. Claire sighed.
"I just can't have a moment's rest, can I?"
Tony looked at the black haired girl in confusion. "Wha-"
Just then three men and two women dropped down from the trees. One man had a broadsword, one man and one woman had regular swords, and the last man and woman had daggers.
"Oh, look at that." The woman with the dagger taunted. "The girl made a friend."
"I didn't know that was possible." The man with the broadsword leered.
"They look kind of cute together~" The woman with the sword cooed, though clearly mocking.
"Too bad none are allowed to survive." The dagger wielding man growled.
"Uh-huh." The man with the sword agreed.
"None of you, at least." Claire responded, her face neutral.
"Claire what's going o-" Tony began to ask, only to be interrupted by Claire grabbing him and moving him to the side, narrowly avoiding the woman's thrown dagger.
"I'll explain later." Claire said, quickly dropping them both down to avoid an attempted beheading from the man with the broadsword.
Just as both of the stood up, Claire pushed Tony forward and stepped back to avoid the woman with the sword's a stab attack.
Claire grabbed the woman's wrist, twisting her hand, forcing the woman to drop the weapon.
The orange eyed girl grabbed the weapon as it fell, before stabbing the woman in the gut, causing the woman to collapse.
"You… You killed her!" The man with the dagger screamed, rushing forward in a blind rage.
Claire shoved Tony out of the way again, dodging herself. Claire used the time she had just gained to summon her sword and change outfits. When the dagger wielding man charged again, she deflected his blade, and slashed him across the chest, making him collapse as well.
Quickly turning, Claire blocked a downward swing from the man with the broadsword, her hand pressed against the flat side of her blade, locking them in a standstill.
They remained like that for a few seconds, glaring at each other. Then the man smirked. "Game over, girlie."
Claire glanced out of the corner of her eye to the left. The woman had retrieved her dagger, and was now holding it against Tony's throat.
Glancing to her right, Claire saw that the man with the sword was poised, ready to strike should she move.
Looking back up at the man whose sword was locked with hers, Claire smirked. "You'd think that."
Claire quickly took a step back, sliding her sword along the man's blade til it reached the tip, causing the broadsword to swing harmlessly into the ground between Claire's feet.
Claire kicked the now kneeling man in the face, while turning to her left and flinging out her left hand, releasing a fireball from her palm at the woman's face.
The woman screamed, dropping the dagger and releasing Tony. She began to try to fruitlessly to bat out the flames that appeared on her clothes and hair, but instead the fire continued to spread until it engulfed her.
Claire wheeled on the man with the sword, knocking his blade out of his hand before he could react, and stabbing him in the gut.
The man with the broadsword watched in horror, now the only one still alive.
"You…" The man stood up, clutching his broadsword. "You… little…"
He looked over at Tony, pure hatred in his eyes.
"Let's see how you like it!" He roared, dashing towards Tony, sword prepared to strike.
Claire raced after him. She jumped into the air, and plunged her sword into his neck just as he was about to strike.
The black haired girl jumped off the man as he collapsed to his knees and then to his side.
"They'll never learn, will they?" Claire wondered aloud, transforming back to her old outfit and turning her sword back to light.
Claire looked up at Tony, who was staring at her with wide eyes.
"You-you just- you just killed them…" He muttered.
"Well, yeah. It was necessary. It was us or them." Claire responded.
Tony blinked. She's so calm about this…
Before either of them could say anything, Claire jerked her head to some trees nearby.
I heard a sound…
Claire stooped down scooping up the dagger the woman had dropped and throwing it at the sound.
There was a thunk as the dagger hit, and a thud as a person fell from the tree, the dagger between their shoulder blades.
Claire rushed over to the person. In their right hand was a notebook. Picking up the notebook, Claire began to read what was written inside.
It was an analysis of every move she had made during the fight.
Claire stood up, scanning the surrounding trees. She heard a few more rustling sounds, but she knew there was no point in throwing any more daggers.
"Dammit, they were watching us…"
"Th-they?" Tony asked.
Claire sighed. "Looks like I'm going to have to keep you with me."
"W-wait, don't I get a say in this? I'm not exactly inclined to stay around a person who just killed six people!" Tony voice became a little high pitched.
Claire eyed him. "Of course you have choice. Though, now that they've seen you with me, they're going to think you know something about me, which means they'll want to find out. And they aren't exactly the nicest people in the world."
Claire turned and started walking away. "Your choice. Though, if I wanted you dead, you wouldn't still be breathing."
Tony hesitated, before shouting. "Wait up!" And running to catch up with Claire.
Claire didn't slow down, and just continued on her way to Pewter.
I hope I didn't just make a huge mistake…