Four
An almost silent sigh passed her lips as fell into a light crouch, flicking her sword daintily around herself and unnerving her opponents.
With the litheness of a Purrloin, Hikari sprung forward swiped toward one of them. They glanced to each other uneasily, clearly having seen her slaughter their brothers in arms and was still ready for more.
Three men slashed forward at the same time, and she narrowly evaded with a sharp step backwards. This gave her an opportunity as they clanged together, temporarily muddled. She swung her blade horizontally to slash at their chests, only one surviving because he was furthest away. She soon fixed it with a jab in his direction as he recoiled in pain. What did he expect wearing so little in the way of armour? Her armour was light, and wouldn't take strong blows, but she was too fast to be hit by one strong enough. He slipped off her sword, and two more stepped forward. These men were clearly higher class than the last group, but still none outshone her. Her only worry was the sheer numbers. If she took out enough, hopefully, they'd be too threatened to attempt another attack.
The two were very good at coordinating attacks silently, keeping her on her toes as she clashed with both of them, her arm screaming as it pulled her blade to and fro, up and down, no time to take the offensive. Sweat ran behind her mask, and she focussed on finding an opening. Finally they pulled together and swung as one, her blade only just holding them back from them slashing down on her shoulders.
With a low grunt, she ground her feet into the sand to find leverage, but they just shoved her backwards. Her light weight meant she was sent soaring, and she rolled away in time for a third man to attack where she'd landed. She found herself locked against three of them, all overpowering her, but in no way faster than her. Each of their blows recoiled back at them as she turned to the next attack, and eventually she turned and smacked the hilt of her blade into one man's head just because it was faster than turning her blade. As he fell, he managed to nick her side, but not deeply enough to stop her. She gritted her teeth and continued, but the third man, the leaner, and obviously smarter man, began to assault her from that side, where she was significantly slower.
She hissed as the wound bit at her stamina, but she didn't have a choice but to continue. Rapidash would be long gone now... And if she died...
A new ferocity found her, and she shocked the man with new strength. But it was in vain, as she went to lash the final blow to his life, the other man's strong hand found her wrist and began twisting her so her arm contorted around her back. She grunted as her wound protested, her other arm swung round to punch the man, but that hand was grabbed too, and her blade landed in the sands. Ignoring the pain, she used the man's strength to lift herself and kick the first man who'd grabbed her, and as he fell, they all did. Using the momentum to her advantage, she landed another kick onto the other man's head. She heard the crunching of a nose or part of his skull, but she was too busy scrambling for her blade.
Just as it was in arms reach, her wrist was trodden on, and the man who'd done so lifted her blade.
"A Solaris Warrior. We thought we'd killed the last one."
She managed to kneel, but his weight wouldn't budge from her arm. If she pulled it would break. Instead her other arm reached for her shoulder sheath, only to have that one grabbed once more. They handled her roughly, learning from the last mistake and kept her kneeling. She cringed as they pulled her arms out and behind like a crucifix, the pull being more than uncomfortable after her muscles had been so tense.
"Remove the mask. I want to see the man I am to execute."
The bloody-nosed fighter who had one arm did as he asked, pulling some of her hair out as he did so. Her blue locks fell over her face, and she looked from under the bangs to glare at her executioner.
"You?" He looked shocked, his tough stance suddenly halted in surprise.
She paused in her anger to flick through her memories, none seemed to correspond to the man who recognised her, not even a resemblance of a young child.
Still, he looked at her like he knew her very well, his eyes tight with recognition and confusion.
"Sir, would you like me to finish her?" The man who held her bad side asked.
"No. She is to be taken prisoner until the king decides what is to be done with her." The leader commanded, lifting his hand to signal his guardian. It was a large Skarmory, who loyally swooped in to watch as she was bound; arms and feet.
The bloody-nosed man lifted her like he would his newly-wed, only she had very nearly just killed him and was now dangerously vexed. "That was impressive, little lady."
She did nothing but spit on the blood that trickled down his nose. The other two laughed.
Two more guardians swooped down; a Pidgeot and Mandibuzz. She was placed on the former with the bloody nosed man. He did not look at her as he threw her onto the guardian's back and sat behind her to keep her in place. With a loud click of his tongue, the pokemon lifted them both with ease, zipping toward the metropolis with ease.
A few more men had joined their comrades in escorting her to the Archis, - the palace, in her terms - and made sarcastic comments about her gender relentlessly. Of course, she'd grown up getting used to them, and very easily ignored them, knowing any reaction would cause instant death.
As they entered the main hall, where an assembly of men were facing their monarch, she was completely shadowed by the guards surrounding her. She glanced over the shoulder of a shorter man to see their monarch, a tall, wise looking man shadowed by a beautiful yet terrifying golden Arbok. It swayed side to side behind him, its eyes never leaving her. They were the only eyes on her though, as the rest fell upon their monarch.
"Your majesty." The leader - the man whose nose she had broken - who had recognised her stepped forward and bowed his head, their gesture somewhat peculiar to her. He pushed his forearm horizontally across his body at a distance, and then sharply pulled it back down to his side again.
"Legati Jun." The monarch replied formally; "To what do we owe the honour?"
"We have captured a Silencer, who was heading toward our Kingdom." The Legati relayed, his chest swelling with pride.
"Oh? And why was he not put to death at the scene of the capture?" The monarch asked.
A few of the men around her shuffled, ready to step aside as Jun gestured toward her; "Because we were sure you'd want to meet the Silencer before-hand."
The men in front stepped aside, and one behind kicked at the backs of her knees to have her fall onto them. Her tied hands were behind her, so she couldn't have caught her fall, but she balanced herself and glared up at their leader. He stiffened and sat up straight, eyes wide upon seeing her. However, it was the two younger men beside him who were more shocked, the youngest of the two springing from his seat and taking a few of the steps down to her.
Her heart missed a beat as she realised where she'd been led. She kept her cool gaze locked with his as his mouth opened and closed like a Goldeen's, no words finding their way out.
"...Archduke Shinji?" Legati Jun questioned, his voice meek as he questioned his superior.
The other, older Archduke sprung to his brother's side and clapped a hand onto his younger sibling's back. "Father, I think this is the girl who helped Shinji."
The look on her face told them this was true.
Archduke. The word rang in her head. Not only had she helped the enemy, she'd helped their damn Prince. She felt traitorous and mendacious to her kingdom, but even worse, to her tutor.
"Son?"
The two turned to face their father, who had been observing silently until that moment. He was looking to his younger son.
"This warrior saved your life?"
Shinji nodded, albeit reluctantly. He glanced over his shoulder and scowled at her, but she was already firing her own look of hate at him.
"Then this is a predicament." The monarch sighed, his older son agreeing with a nod of his head.
They stood silently as he thought. She knew what was their problem. A warrior's honour was a life for a life, she gathered they had a similar tenet. So now they were conflicted with their morals and the fact that she was an enemy.
"Take her to the prison cells, for now. We shall sleep on this." The older archduke decided.
They started to lift her, but were stopped with a wave of a hand. "That is no way to treat the woman who saved your brother's life, Reiji." The monarch had stood, and all eyes fell on him again. "Take her to Shinji's room, it's... Secure enough."
"And where does that put me?" The young man growled, never once taking his hateful eyes of Hikari. He rubbed his shoulder absently, grimacing as he did so.
His only sibling provided the answer; "With me, brother, of course."
Shinji grunted, reluctantly nodding his head and once again stopped the guard escorting her out. "I'll take her, it would be... Nice to catch up." He didn't sound as kind as the words implied, and the guards seemed to understand. However, they were hesitant to hand her over, aware of what she could do.
"Sir, she has been much trouble to us, will you not let us escort you?" The tall, no longer bloody-nosed guard pleaded. His voice was ridiculously admiring as he spoke to Shinji, Hikari had to raise an eyebrow.
"Legati Jun, I think Shinji is well able to deal with a woman." Reiji's eyes twinkled, and although Jun desperately wanted to protest again, he knew better than to question his superior in the ranks any further.
She allowed them to lift her to her feet, being unable to place her hands in front of her for leverage, and shrugged from their grip as she eyed Shinji walking closer.
With a light nod toward their Monarch, she turned and followed his youngest son.
Their walk was silent for a while, as both were distracted with hate to find anything civil to say to one another. Instead, she focussed on the Archis, the rooms beautifully adorned, bright and colourful with a sea of tiny tiles in spectacular patterns. It couldn't be more different from the Solaris Palace, the dark wooden walls and floors lit by brilliant chandeliers, everything that adorned the palace were richly plated in gold, but aside from that it seemed somehow dull compared to the Archis.
Even Shinji's armour was much more grand than her Monarch. The metal she did not recognise, but it was lightly engraved in the pattern of fire that raised up his chest-plate and along his right spaulder, where at the back of it a fiery red half-cape flowed.
"Why were you sent here?" Shinji finally spoke up.
She glared at the back of his head, the wave of calm that swept over her was just as quickly swept away. He stopped and turned to her.
"I thought you'd be happy to see me, Archduke." She spat sarcastically.
He stiffened, turning back and continuing to walk, hiding the flush of red in his face. "You shouldn't have come."
"Believe me, I wish I hadn't." She hissed. They rounded a corner and began climbing a grand staircase, the steps equally colourful in tile shards as the rooms before.
They stayed quiet a little while longer. She writhed between the bonds around her wrist. He eyed her as she did so and seemed to enjoy her discomfort. They approached a large red door that he pulled aside and gestured for her to enter.
"It's a little luxurious for a prisoner, isn't it?" She muttered, though she didn't complain too much. She had been placed in a Prince's bedroom, but she couldn't help notice the security of the room was far stronger than the ones she had passed.
"Been trying to escape again, Shinji?" She smirked, turning to look at him.
He growled; "No. You managed to persuade me not to try again."
She snorted and turned to look at the room; "Then why do you have locks on the door?"
"Just in case." He muttered reluctantly, clutching his hands together behind his back to refrain from clenching them.
A laugh muffled through Hikari's lips; "Not trusted?"
He didn't reply for a moment, instead he'd focussed on her waist. "You need that fixing."
She glanced down at her wound, which had finally ceased bleeding. "Challenging, being bound like this."
"Sit."
She did as she was told, and he pulled open a pack that had been resting on a table. She eyed him suspiciously as he revealed cream bandages and a balm that smelled strongly sour.
Sitting beside her, he moved her arm back, only to have her hiss and move away. "Untie me and let me do it myself."
"Fine." He snapped, throwing the bandage at her and yanking a dagger from his sheath. She almost flinched, but knew he would dishonour his family if he were to kill her. He released her, and already her wound felt better just from not being stretched.
He stormed out, not looking back at her as she rubbed her wrists.
"Thank you." She muttered as he slammed the door shut and locked it.
He swore he'd imagined it.
So yeah, they already have a past.
Jun and Reiji appeared too! So excited. For reference, a Legati is a high leader in ranks, almost like a Lieutenant. And as I explained, an Archduke is equal to Prince. Hikari doesn't understand these terms either, so don't worry. ^^
Reviews? :)