Well, the fight went along bitter-sweetly. Not to say that Yuri and Tai were losing, in fact the opposite was true. Despite not really fighting long enough to be categorized as a team, the two were really pressing the knights back and getting more shots in. But it wasn't as promising as everyone wanted.
Basically, Yuri kept stealing Tai's spotlight. Maybe it was because he was more into the fighting, or maybe that he's the stronger one of the two, but the fact is that Tai was only really able to get some shots in. That doesn't mean that Yuri completely hogged all the fun; Tai was able to land some good kicks and knockdown blows that were impressive. But whenever he got into trouble, it seemed that his partner didn't think he could do it by himself and switched "man" constantly with him.
Besides, it wasn't long before Yuri was able to take down Adecor by himself. The latter tried his Sonic Thrust arte, but Yuri backstepped and quickly did a chain of Destruction Field, Pyre Havoc, and Severing Fang. Once the knight had hid the ground, he had gargled in pain and just twitched on the ground, like Yuri told Tai he would. After that, he then made a beeline towards the other knight.
Boccos was putting up a good fight. However, Tai's bat had connected with him and it showed by how sore he moved. The teen did well guarding and trading clashes, but there was one opening he saw. He went to strike, but suddenly a sword came in front of him, causing him to open his mouth in shock and back up. Yuri proceeded to catch the knight's attention and fight him.
"How dare you! Can't you see Tai and I were fighting? That's hardly proper manners!" Boccos snapped at him.
"You honestly think manners matter in a fight? You're kidding, right?" Yuri asked with a smirk.
Sighing, Tai just shrugged it off and put his bat away. He simply stood there and let Yuri take care of it. Hey, not his problem anymore.
Yuri smiled in confidence as he landed five straight blows onto Boccos, then followed it up with a chain of artes.
"Lone Wolf Charge! Cerberus Strike! Azure Storm! Tiger Blade! Frigid Blast!"
With those artes finishing up, Boccos soon went down as well. It caused Yuri to swing his sword a bit confidently as he soon looked at the two knights defeated.
"Heh, I got a little worked up," he said one of his famous battle speeches.
"This battle is over! The winners are Yuri and Tai!" Flynn stopped the battle and announced.
A bark coming out of Repede, he ran over, soon to be followed up by Estelle, Patty, and Akihiro. Bending down to scratch his partner's ears, he listened to the praises of fighting that he was told.
"Yuri, that was wonderful! You defeated them with barely any injuries!" Estelle giggled as she said joyously.
"Yuri! That was like soooooo cool! You were so awesome like you always have been!" Patty cheered as she swayed from side to side.
"Dude, you gotta teach me some of those moves, man!" Akihiro grinned as he clenched his fists and grinned with excitement.
"Heh, thanks girls, and sure, when we have time, I can, Akio," he thanked and promised, much to the boy's dismay about the name.
The mage and the old man came over too, as Leblanc and Flynn began to treat the knight's wounds from battle. Raven looked carefree as usual, but Rita actually seemed upset.
"Hey, what's the matter? Aren't you glad we won?" he asked, looking at her with a curious face.
"Hmph, idiot. Don't you mean that you won?" she blurted out.
"Huh?" was the only thing he could come out of his mouth, as Tai came over.
"Well, no offense, Yuri, but... um..." Estelle looked down, holding her hands while trying to find the right words.
"What Estelle and I are both trying to say is that you hogged the whole battle to yourself," Rita glared at him, "Tai rarely even got a shot to do anything."
"Oh, come on. I get the fact I really get into a fight when it comes down to it. A win's a win, right?" he asked, trying to compromise.
"Well, that may be true, Yuri, but ol' Raven would've loved ta see what Tai could do back there," Raven shrugged as his glance caught the teenager.
Tai waved it off as he looked away, "Ehh, I don't really care. If he can take out both those guys for me, it's all good."
Suddenly, he realized the eyes of Patty were sparkling in delight and admiration. No, more than that. In pure... bliss? She giggled as she looked at him so ecstatically as she soon jumped up and down, running around Tai and grabbing onto him. Scaring him a bit by not telling him that she was gonna do that, he flinched.
"W-..What...!?" he asked her a bit rushed.
"You're so super duper cool!" she said happily as she giggled.
"Awww, lookie there; Tai's got a fan," Raven winked to the teen, making the boy sigh.
"What's a matter; shy and embarrassed of a girl liking you?" Yuri teased with a smirk, but was ended with a slight scolding from Estelle.
"No; I'm not one to let people just grab onto me... Rita," he said, looking at her.
"Hey! The hell are you saying my name for?" the mage demanded an answer, though it was clearly obvious what he meant.
Despite the millions of good burns they could've answered with, the group soon ended their conversation with the knights and decided that since it was pretty far into the afternoon that they wouldn't waste any money for a night cruise. They'd stay in the new modified inn that had more rooms now and could fit the group and more. It wasn't long before Adecor and Boccos would be healed of their wounds and conscious to declare that this was far from over. Yuri taunted them in that little way he does things, but Tai just walked off, with Patty still clinging onto his leg. Parting ways with the Schwann Brigade, the group began to head back into the port city.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Patty joined the party.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – So cool!
Patty: (hands holding face, eyes like dots, slight blush, freaking out face) OH MY GOSH! I JUST CANNOT BELIEVE IT!
Estelle: (head turned to the right, scared face, Tai's shoulders perk up, head raises up with shocked face, raised eyebrow, Akihiro's eyes narrow comically, screaming/shocked face) What's the matter, Patty? Are you hurt?
Patty: (neutral face) Huh? No, it's nothing bad like that. It's just that Tai's so cool! (Tai's neutral face, Akihiro looks stunned, Estelle looks surprised)
Akihiro: I-Is that all you were screaming about?
Patty: (eyes semi-close, incredulous face) Uh, yes, Mr. worry-wort. (Akihiro's neutral face) I just think that Tai looked soooooo cool in that battle!
Estelle: (looks surprised) Oh really?
Tai: (looks to his right, uncaring face) What exactly is your definition of cool? Like what did I do to be cool to you?
Patty: (neutral face) Well... you were cool in fighting and stuff, and you were so cool when you said to Yuri that you didn't care as long as the fight was over, and the way you walked away was just (hands holding face, eyes like dots, slight blush, freaking out face) SOOOO COOOL!
Tai: (closes his eyes) Whatever floats your boat, I guess...
Patty: ! He knows I have a love for ships! SOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOOL!
Estelle: (looks down, sad) I thought that when you're asked a question like that, you're supposed to give a more elaborate answer...
Akihiro: (grits teeth, angry face, closes eyes) Darn it... I wish I can be viewed like that.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – Operation Repetai
Tai: (grumpy face, when Repede's portrait is getting closer to him, his portrait moves away) Not again...
Repede: (growls frustratedly)
Flynn: (head tilts to the left, incredulous face) Huh? What's the matter with Tai and Repede?
Estelle: (neutral face) Oh, that. It's just that Repede really likes him, but Tai doesn't like people being really close to him.
Yuri: (head tilts to the left, curious face) It's kind of different for a change, isn't it?
Flynn: (neutral face) Yes, I do believe I've never seen this before. Well, possibly except for Rita, but...
Patty: (neutral face, closes eyes) I see... Well, then, (head turning to the left, confident smile) I guess I must undergo Operation Repetai!
Estelle: (all look surprised) Operation... Repe...tai...?
Patty: (closes eyes) Yup-yup-yup! It's a combination of Repede and Tai's name. The operation's main focus is to bring Repede and Tai close together as friends! You can count on me to get that done!
Repede: (barking upwards, sounds excited, neutral face) AWWOOOOOOOOOO!
Flynn: (eyes closed, laughing/joyful face) Ahaha! I'm sure you will do marvelously at your goal.
Estelle: (neutral face, smiles) Yes, I can't wait to see what kind of progress happens!
Tai: (head moves down, the shadows covers his eyes, his mouth covered by his hoodie) Suddenly... I feel very cold...
Yuri: (Yuri leans his head to his left, incredulous face) Hmmmm...
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – Interrogate the old man!
Rita: (eyes narrow, irritated face) Hey, you.
Raven: (eyes narrow, unimpressed face) I have a name, ya know.
Rita: Whatever. Spill it already, all right?
Raven: (head tilts to the right, eyes shorten, curious face) Huh? Whaddaya mean by that?
Rita: Everything about Tai and his glove. You're really the only one he talks to. I wanna know what you know.
Yuri: (neutral face, eyes closed) I'm guessing Rita's a bit steamed that I 'hogged' the battle all to myself and didn't give Tai enough time to use his artes, (opens eyes) so she is getting frustrated.
Raven: (closes eyes) Ahhh...
Rita: Come on, spill it.
Raven: Sorry, kiddo. But that's private info. I'm afraid ol' Raven made a promise ta Tai on keeping that sealed beyond these old lips.
Rita: (closes eyes) Don't make me use fireball...
Raven: ! (head turning to his left, scared/shocked face) Wha!
Flynn: (portrait comes onscreen, neutral face) Ahh, yes, Raven. I've been looking for you. (Raven's neutral face) I need to talk to you about some planning I had with the knights.
Raven: Sure thing! Let's hurry! (portrait goes off-screen quickly, Flynn's following, Rita's face blushes, widened eyes, shocked face)
Rita: HEY! GET BACK HERE! (angry/determined face, fists in front) Rooooogh, that scumbag thinks he can get away that easily! I'll get that information out one way or another!
Yuri: (closes eyes) There's gonna be an all out war if she doesn't learn about Tai soon...
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Later that night, the water waves were the only noise heard throughout the whole town. It was peaceful and somehow rather mystifying. Leaning against the bridge, the old man hadn't seen a good night's view of the ocean in a long time. Not like this was a scene this relaxing in Dhangrest; usually the work Harry made him do wore the poor ragged man down that he'd drag his body to bed and just collapse in his clothes once into it. It was this special time at night where he was so happy to just relax without the usual stick of being the 'old man' of the group.
"Raven... how usually perky to see you here in the middle of the night," he heard Yuri say, coming up on his right.
The younger man gave a wide yawn and wiped his eyes as he walked over. Repede had joined him by his side and laid down next to him as he stopped and leaned against the bridge with him.
"Ahh, well, gotta be; don't know when ya'll find a be-u-ti-ful ladeeehhh..." Raven emphasized with his eyebrows raising.
"...It's 11:30 at night; most women are smart enough not to be caught outside where a perv could get them," Yuri said with a smirk-turned-grin, and ignoring the outburst of 'hey!', looked at him as he asked, "So, what are you doing out here, Raven? Normally, you'd be in bed snoring as loud as one of Rita's spells hitting its target."
Raven looked over towards the docks and smiled, "Ehh, I don't know... I guess I'm just watchin' over him..."
Yuri and Repede took the moment to both look down and see that Tai was just lazily resting against a post of the wooden walkway. His hoodie was off and his hair was being blown by the gentle sea breeze coming in. His eyes were closed, but he looked so peaceful. It was the first time the man and his dog ever saw him like that.
"He's definitely enjoying himself there," Yuri said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yessir," Raven smirked, "That Tai loves peace and serenity. Guess he really does love non-social areas."
"I just... I don't understand him," Yuri finally admitted, "I feel like he's a threat somehow, yet... I don't. It's just he's a mystery; his attitude, his glove, his abilities; it's so unknown."
Raven looked him in the eyes and defended, "Hey, now, Tai's a good kid; a lot better than you and me. Trust ol' Raven on this."
"Trust you?" the man responded in a tone that couldn't tell you if he was joking or not, "Raven, you're not exactly a trustworthy person..."
Glaring for a millisecond then relaxing, the old man responded, "Well, at least trust me on this, okay? Even I'm still figurin' him out, but he's not a bad kid. I know that much. Ya just gotta... take the time to learn about him, ya know?"
"Or get the information out of you like Rita proposed," Yuri said, mockingly cracking a knuckle.
"Hey! Don't be like that! I gotta survive enough with Rita as it is!" Raven backed up scared, then smiling as he added, "Look, ya gotta take the risk and try ta get ta know him. That's how it worked with me, for all I know."
Giving one more look at the boy, then back at the old man, he buckled, "All right, I'll give it a try when I can. Just... at least tell us if he starts to get emotional or angry, okay? I'd like to keep the group in one piece. Anyways, I need some sleep. I gotta prepare for the talk with Akio tomorrow."
"Right-o. See ya later."
With that, Yuri and Repede soon headed to the inn again. And with that, Raven looked back at Tai, who got up and started to head back into town.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Well, how was that? Was that a good technique I came up with? And YAY, Patty joins! What kind of adventures can we get from her? Find out next by reading more!