So we skipped the whole Summoner-revealing-his-name-to-his-followers bit to get right to the Summoner-befriending-Mindfang bit. Because, if I'm being honest, they're my favorites. I just love them. Don't worry though, we'll get back to the bits I've skipped! (in like twenty chapters or so, when we've all forgotten about it. . . .)

Timewise: This goes after chapter 7 (where Mindfang was Nabbed) and before chapter 9.

Disclaimer: Andrew Hussie owns Homestuck.

Word count: 2,900

"Hey, Summoner!"

The Summoner didn't look around, entirely focused on Pyralspite as the dragon tore up trees and deposited the logs nearby. They needed the wood.

"Summoner!"

He jumped and shouted back, "I'm busy!"

"You're always busy when we're at headquarters!"

Recognizing the voice at last, the Summoner gave Pyralspite some last instructions and turned. Winnia, an ocherblood that was a part of his inner circle, was lounging nearby. He rolled his eyes at her, and she beckoned.

"Come on," she said. He frowned, but fell in step beside her when she raced off. "Hurry up!" Rolling his eyes, he sped up, wondering vaguely why his best psionic was so excited. Winnia had been one of the trolls that they'd rescued from the Nabbers back before they'd actually organized raids. She had been furious and had nearly killed them all with her pisonics before she'd realized that they were there to help her. Since then, she'd been a loyal comrade that willingly partook in the Summoner's cause. She was rather pixie-ish in stature, being short and thin, and she could be both cheerful and startlingly morbid. Her pisonics were weak enough that the highbloods hadn't been interested in enslaving her, but she was easily more powerful than most of the other yellowbloods both at headquarters and scattered throughout Alternia on various missions.

"What's going on?" he asked.

They were running towards the sparring courts, which were really just a series of decently sized meadows that could be used to train and practice. "You better hurry, or it'll be over before we get there!" she retorted, infuriatingly vague.

Ducking underneath a tree branch that Winnia didn't even had to lower her head for, the Summoner complained, "I was busy!"

"Pyralspite is smarter than you anyways. I'm sure she'll figure out what to do."

About to retort, the Summoner was forced to turn his mind on other things when they burst into the largest of the sparring meadows. His eyes widened. A large group of trolls was gathered around two individuals standing in the center of the circle. Leaving Winnia behind, the Summoner pushed through the crowd in an attempt to see what was going on. He found Ruther, a rubyblood in his inner circle, standing at the front. The larger troll grinned upon seeing his friend, "Summoner, you made it!"

"What's going on?" he demanded, gaping openly. Mindfang was standing on one end of the circle, her saber drawn and her lips twisted into a sneer. She appeared relaxed, her one visible eye narrowed as she glared at her opponent.

Kaiare crouched on the other end, her dual swords out and her chest heaving, sweat trailing visibly down her skin. His eyes widened upon seeing the shallow scratch that had torn through the back of her shirt. Umber blood trailed slowly down her back, soaking into the cloth.

Ruther put a hand on the Summoner's shoulders, recognizing the look in his eyes. "Don't do anything," he said, grinning lazily, "You know better than to get involved in the girls' fights."

The Summoner forced himself to relax, although his fists were clenched. Ruther was just as close to Kaiare as he was; if she was truly in danger, he wouldn't be smiling. "I repeat: what the hell is going on?"

Ruther held up his hands placatingly, but both of them watched as Kaiare tossed her long ponytail out of her face. "I don't know quite what happened," he admitted, "One moment, everyone was practicing as usual, and then someone shouts, and then these two are fighting." He opened his mouth to say something else, but was cut off when Kaiare launched herself at Mindfang, a feral scream tearing from her lips.

The Summoner knew Kaiare's fighting style almost as well as he knew his own. She dualwielded, relying soley on speed and dexterity to survive. She wasn't strong enough to survive in a prolonged fight for long, but had built up her stamina so that she could dodge multiple attacks if she had to. As Kaiare swung her blades at Mindfang, he expected to see his best friend's familiar quick attacks. He was unpleasantly surprised.

Mindfang parried each of Kaiare's strikes despite the fact that she had only one sword, the sneer never leaving her lips. Kaiare, thrown off balance, stumbled to the far end of the circle. The watching trolls either cheered or booed, depending on who they were rooting for.

"Personally," Ruther said quickly, before the fight began again, "I think Mindfang's going to destroy Kaiare."

Slightly insulted on the behalf of his friend, the Summoner asked, "Why?"

"You just got here," Ruther replied, "You'll see."

Indeed, the Summoner did see. Multiple times, Kaiare threw herself at Mindfang with everything she had, but the blueblood easily escaped harm without taking more than one step away. It was remarkable, how easily Mindfang had Kaiare dancing in the palms of her hands. And yet she still didn't move to take the offensive. The Summoner winced every time Mindfang's sword clipped Kaiare, silently hoping his friend would accept that she'd been defeated and surrender before this got any worse. The umberblood was growing more and more flustered, until she finally shouted, "Fight me, dammit!"

Mindfang swept her sword in a large arc, drops of umber blood flying into the air. "You wish me to end this?" Her cerulean eye glittering, she asked, "Would you prefer I make your humiliation quick, or that I draw it out?"

Infuriated, Kaiare ran at her again.

"Very well. Quick it shall be."

The Summoner blinked, and he missed it. When he opened his eyes, Kaiare was lying on her back, her sword seven feet away, the Marquise's sword pressed to her chest. His jaw dropped. "How did she move that quickly?!" he demanded. Ruther shrugged, but his ruby eyes were narrowed. The watching trolls had tensed, eyes riveted on the pair that remained in the center of the clearing, completely unmoving.

Mindfang moved the tip of her blade downwards, and the cloth of Kaiare's shirt gave way, threads snapping and tearing. Beads of umber blood blossomed around the tip of the blade. A warning growl arose from the Summoner's throat, but Mindfang had already swept her blade away, smirking.

"Remember this," she said loudly, although her eye never left Kaiare's furious ones, "Remember that I didn't kill you." She turned away, inspecting her curved sword with a disdainful glare. The circle of trolls broke, converging upon Kaiare to help.

Ruther looked around and said, "Looks like Winnia is going to help Kaiare."

The Summoner didn't hear him. He was staring at Mindfang, who appeared utterly uncaring of the chaos going on around her. He narrowed his eyes. The rubyblood recognized his expression, and punched him softly on the shoulder.

"Hey. Summoner. I'm going to go make sure Kaiare is alright. She's probably going to kill me for suggesting this, and you for listening to me."

Still torn between being furious and disconcerted at Mindfang's little display, the Summoner snapped, "Who says I'm going to listen?"

Ruther continued, "I think you should go talk to the Marquise before you talk to Kaiare."

The Summoner's head snapped around and he gaped at his friend. "What?" he demanded.

Ruther held up a hand placatingly, but his ruby eyes were firm. "You need to talk to Mindfang. Kaiare's one of our best fighters, but Mindfang destroyed her in a matter of seconds. We need her if this revolution is going to have any chance of advancing."

The rubyblood turned and dove into the dissipating crowd. The Summoner ground his teeth, furious. Ruther was right, but he hated the idea of asking for help from the very person who had just humiliated his childhood friend like that.

Fuming silently, he pushed his way through the remaining trolls until he stood only a few feet from Mindfang. She stood very still, her sword sheathed and her cobalt eye directed away from him. He cleared his throat and she turned so that she faced him. No recognition flashed in her eyes, no sign that she acknowledged that they knew each other's hatchnames. She merely drew her sword. "Would you like some as well?" she asked, sweetness dripping from her words like poisonous honey. Her lips curled into a smile and, not for the first time, he wondered what had caused her to wear an eyepatch and a prosthetic arm.

The Summoner hesitated only a second before nodding. "Sure. Why not?"

Mindfang's sword flashed and he flinched away, but she merely used the back of the blade to stop one of the rebels. "Give your leader a sword," she ordered.

The troll passed her a look that was half-insulted and half-terrified and did as he had been told. The Summoner smiled apologetically at him but accepted the weapon. It was lighter than his lance, but his lance was useless in a situation like this. The crowd was gathering again, recognizing that another fight was beginning.

"Are you ready?" Mindfang asked. She acted aloofly bored, but her cerulean eye held an intense fire behind them as she met his bronze ones. He nodded, and had barely begun to prepare to fight when she stepped forwards. In a flash of blue and black, he was sent flying. All of his breath escaped him as he hit a tree, and the borrowed blade when flying. As he fell to the ground, he heard the watching trolls explode into roars. He couldn't tell if there were in favor of or against this new development, but he surged to his feet anyways.

Mindfang appeared as if she hadn't moved, standing where she had been before with her sword at her side. She raised her chin when he met her eye. A surprising emotion rose in his chest, and he recognized it immediately.

It was how he had felt when he'd left the Cavalreapers and fled as an outcast.

It was how he felt when he was planning coups and staging rallies.

It had been how he'd felt whenever he escaped from sticky situation on the back of Pyralspite.

A grin slowly grew on his face and he shouted, "Where'd my sword go?"

Someone tossed it at him and he caught it, now grinning widely. He stepped back into the circle and the trolls surged around them, watching with bated breath. As soon as he was ready, he nodded. This time, he watched her carefully. She stepped in and twisted her sword around. She did something different this time, and a stinging pain erupted in the palm of his hand and his sword was quivering as it stuck out of the ground several feet away. The feeling in his chest pulsed and grew and his wings flared open as his excitement thrummed. "That's amazing," he exclaimed, already thinking about how they could use her skills to further the revolution.

She raised her eyebrows. "I know."

He snatched the sword and stood ready. This time, she used the same technique as last time, understanding that he was trying to learn. He was surprised that she was being so compliant, but he was hardly going to complain. His quarrel with her about Kaiare was gone. Now he was entirely focused on helping the rebellion.

Again and again, his sword went flying away. The crowd around them was steadily growing, and the nimbler trolls (mostly the tealbloods and the rustbloods) clambered into the tree branches to watch. Each time, the Summoner was thoroughly destroyed by the Marquise, but he never grew frustrated. The crowd cheered and booed in all the right places. Cat-calls and jeers rang out, mingling with laughter and shouts of inspiration. A particularly memorable tealblood sitting directly above the fight started a betting pool.

Each time, the Summoner learned. He stepped back, brought his sword low, fought back, stepped aside, ducked.

It was nearing midday when he finally figured out how to last longer than ten seconds. When Mindfang darted forwards to disarm him, he stepped aside and twisted his blade down. She reacted as she always did, using the momentum of her attack to dart past and behind him to get him from that angle. Remembering something from his younger days training with the Cavalreapers, he whipped around. Their swords smashed together and shifted against each other, twitching as their owners struggled to gain control. The Summoner was distracted by Mindfang herself. Beads of sweat trailed down her face, and her brows were drawn low over her eyes, her teeth bared in a snarl. Strands of her hair stuck to her face and she looked more disheveled than he'd ever seen her, but there was a glint in her eyes.

She had a flame within her that was fed by the same nameless excitement that was urging him on.

Mindfang darted away and, thrown off balance, the Summoner stumbled forwards. Something caught his ankle and he tripped into the ground, but not before his flailing hand had caught onto something solid. There was a yelp and Mindfang fell beside him. Uproarious cheers erupted from the crowd, and cackling laughter could be heard from the trees.

Mindfang wasn't even fazed. She twisted around, grabbed his arm, and pinned him to the ground. He winced at the pain in his shoulder and exclaimed through a mouthful of dirt, "You win, you win!"

She released him and fell beside him onto her back, chest heaving. The Summoner rolled onto his back as well, rubbing his shoulder and wincing. He turned, their eyes met, and suddenly they were both laughing. His laugh was loud and heartening, completely and totally carefree. Her laugh was softer and colder, the type that made people look into a mirror to make sure that hadn't forgotten to put on pants.

When he finally caught his breath, he stood up, grinning. She was smiling too, her painted lips curled up to reveal her teeth. He held out his hand to help her up. She knocked it aside with a smirk and leaped easily to her feet. The Summoner didn't care. He bounded around like an excited puppy, unable to stop grinning. "That was amazing!" he repeated.

She nodded, not entirely unamused. "Come on," she declared, "You're getting me lunch."

He nodded eagerly, dropping his sword in the grass and beckoning. "This way." The crowd all swarmed after them, reminded of lunch and eagerly talking about what they'd just witnessed. As they waited in line, he couldn't stop asking her questions. "Where did you learn how to do that?" he demanded, awestruck. She could probably beat a subjugglater if she tried.

She inspected her fingernails, which, like her lips, had been painted the color of her blood. "I was a gamblignant, you idiot." she reminded him.

His eyes widened. "Are all gamblignants able to fight like you?"

Mindfang looked at the rest of the line, decided the wait wasn't worth it, and grabbed one of his horns, dragging him to the front. He yelped, understandably uncomfortable, but she paid him no heed, answering his question as she elbowed past other trolls. "No. Need I remind you that I was the queen of the seas?" She looked around before dropping her voice. "And I'd had a very active kismessitude with the Condesce's chief Orphaner."

She released him when they got to the front of the line, and the Summoner smiled apologetically at the people behind them and motioned to Phoryn, one of his inner circle and in charge of food today, to hand them both their shares. The Marquise snatched hers without even acknowledging Phoryn. The Summoner looked around. Most trolls just grabbed their lunches and ate on the go, but a couple sat around nearby. He chewed his lower lip absentmindedly. He had a favorite place to eat, but only his inner circle had ever accompanied him there. She looked back and realized that he was lagging behind. Something occurred to him and he jogged forwards to catch up. "Where do you normally eat?"

She shrugged. "I normally go to where I sleep."

"Which is?"

She pointed towards the direction the sun set. "The tree right at the edge of this place. It's as far as I'm allowed to go before one of your idiots tries to tail me."

He stared at her, stopping short. "You've been sleeping in a tree?!" he demanded, shocked. Did Kaiare distrust Mindfang so much that she made her sleep in a tree?!

The Marquise glared at him. "So does everybody else."

"Yes, but in a treehive." He made up his mind and started walking in a different direction. "I'll show you where I eat, then."

"It's going to be in a tree," she said flatly.

He grinned at her. "How'd you know?"

The Marquise sighed and ran a hand through her wild hair. "You people here are all insane tree-people."

The Summoner laughed. "You're stuck with us!"

She muttered, "I suppose I am."