Chapter Ten

"Let's settle this once and for all old friend. Let's see who is truly the strongest after all this time."

"Yes, lets."

"No fancy tricks, no weapons, just you me and our strength and agility," Guui extended his hand for her to shake.

Grasping his hand tightly Vuui shook it, "Just like old times than right. What was the score last time, ninety-six to eighty-eight wasn't it?"

"More like two hundred to sixty if I recall."

"I sincerely doubt that; you were never one to be known for your memory."

"You got me there. Ninety-six to eighty-eight it is then," getting ready to fight Guui bent his knees and brought up his hands with his fists clenched, "we all know I'm the ninety-six though," he gave a throaty laugh.

"In your dreams Twin Fists, I'm the ninety-six and you know it," Vuui copied his stance and within an instant the two ran at each other, both dodging the attacks effortlessly and ending up at the opposite sides of the rings from which they had started.

"I know you can do better than that, where's those legendary fists I remember so well?"

"I can say the same for you, weren't you supposed to be the fastest women in Erinn?"

They collided again, this time their fists meeting and bouncing off of each other from the impact and sending them back to their original spots once more. "Now that's more like it!" Vuui teased as Guui charged at her, fists raised as he aimed to smash her into the ground. Dodging his attack, the woman in question jumped and pushed off of his head and tipped him over so that he landed face first into the dirt.

Guui righted himself, "it definitely is. Just as quick as ever I see, but can you dodge this?" Flipping over he grabbed at Vuui's legs and caught her ankle as she went to leap away from him then threw her hard down onto her back. Dirt and dust flew from the impact and a soft laughing could be heard throughout the ring as the woman twisted her legs around his arm and knocked him down as well. The newly restored ring was quickly getting destroyed all over again as the two tussled, wrestling back and forth trying to keep the other down. They fought leisurely, neither one of them pulling their punches and both going at full strength and speed but keeping their moves timed and precise, neither of them rushed or hurried, both trying to keep the fight going as long as possible just like back when they were younger. The way they moved was like watching a dance that had been rehearsed many times before, the familiarity between them oozing with every move they made against the other. The spectators around them watched in silence as the two dueled, no one wanting to interrupt what was happening in front of them. Change was in the air and everyone could feel it.

They were evenly matched, both landing hits and kicks equally against the other and dodging attacks easily as if they were nothing. The fight was nothing like the fight between Vuui and Mewecho, where she had been testing the younger demigod and pulling her punches the fight between her and Guui was fierce. Both contestants striving to win and knowing that they didn't have to hold back in fear of hurting the other too significantly, being able to go all out.

"Getting tired yet?" Guui asked with a hurtling punch.

Dodging the attack with a dive Vuui swiped at his feet with a windmill kick, "It would take a lot more than this to tire me out," the giant jumped over her kick easily not even breaking a sweat, "what about you? Feeling sore?" When he had jumped over her kick Vuui bounced upwards and punched him in the jaw and knocked him a few feet away, his shoulders skidding in the dirt and sending rocks soaring into the crowd making them scatter.

Feral grin in place the giant laughed and stood back up, dusting himself off, "Not even in the slightest."

Mewecho couldn't believe her eyes. She had woken some time into the fight after having the most peaceful slumber she had ever had in her entire life and she was both disappointed and puzzled. Somehow she had lost…. She had lost to the Blood Mage. The former leader of the Hunters who had been imprisoned for years without even a moment out of chains had beaten her despite the fact that the elder demigod hadn't even a second to practice her skills in all that time. It amazed her that even at the weakened state that the woman most likely was in that she was still able to taunt her and treat Mewecho as a child in their fight. That she had been testing her and trapping her the entire time… That she had fallen into the trap without even an ounce of suspicion on her part.

She would now be traveling with the Blood Mage on her quest to take down Cessair with or without Guui depending on how her comrades match went against his former commander. Mewecho didn't know how to feel about this, part of her despite herself was hoping that he would lose just so that she wouldn't be left alone for a year with the mysterious infuriating woman, but another part of her wanted him to win because she couldn't fathom Guui ever losing a duel. The giant was just too powerful to lose. From the moment that they had met he had never lost once when it came down to battle, and even now with him not using his knuckles, tricks or skills but his bare hands and speed she couldn't even imagine the Blood Mage keeping up with him. He was a man and a Giant after all and even at the simplest level of combat he was unstoppable.

So why was the Blood Mage able to keep up with him…?

That's what puzzled her. She could tell that the elder demigod wasn't holding back, unlike when she fought her, that she was using all of her strength and agility to fight the colossal man before her and was keeping up with him blow for blow.

Guui and the Blood Mage fought viciously, both were throwing the other around and knocking their opponent to the ground as if the other weighed no more than a pillow. Part of her swore that the woman must be cheating, that there was no way that she was as powerful and strong as a male Giant, but as she watched the fight and the witty banter falling from both parties she could see that the elder demigod wasn't using her powers or even her enhanced abilities that being a demigod afforded her. She was fighting as a human would against a person four times her size and staying with him blow for blow.

Despite the indignation that she felt towards the elder demigod Mewecho couldn't help but admit that she was in both parts impressed by the strength that she held and jealous of how she interacted with Guui even as she fought with him. Even when Mewecho would practice duel with the Giant he never smiled like the way he did against his former commander, he didn't banter with her in a rival like fashion making snide jokes and offhanded insults that were never meant to be taken seriously. When they fought he pulled his punches, he always questioned if she was ok and treated her with a fragility that always annoyed her. With the Blood Mage, he treated her like an equal, never holding back against her regardless of her size, letting loose and being free and fluid with his actions that he rarely showed anyone of his crew.

It made her fume. Every comment passed between the duo as they fought drove a deep bubbling burning ache into her gut that was threatening to erupt at any moment. She hated the Blood Mage. She hated her for being as close to Guui as she was. She hated her for beating her and being so damn powerful…. And she hated her for making her feel the things that she was feeling at the moment.

Vuui and Guui continued to circle each other, landing blows and bickering playfully with each other for nearing on two hours now. The fight was going nowhere, as had most of their fights from back in the day when they had been in the Hunters together. Whenever they had fought, and that had been often, most of the time it had ended in a draw. There fights ending with one or both of them passing out from exhaustion or from the smell of food being brought to them from one of their crew brave enough to actually get in the middle of them while they were brawling. They were rivals, even after all this time, the fire between them had never died. It both exhilarated and frightened Vuui.

She wasn't supposed to be rekindling her friendships with the Hunters, she had a mission to take care of, a potential apocalypse to end. But she couldn't help but fall back into the old rhythm of Guui, fighting and playfully arguing with him. There wasn't another person in all of Erinn that she could interact with the same way that she could with him and in all this time she had never realized how much his influence had shaped her into the person that she had become and how happy he made her. Just as how the others were sure to make her feel as well.

An ache filled her heart and she failed to react as quickly as she should have when Guui swung at her with both fists clenched together and was sent hurtling deep into the ground beneath his feet and stomped on for good measure. Now wasn't a time to get lost in her thoughts, but it was hard not to when she knew that she was using her old friend. That she was in a sense betraying each and every single one of them all over again with what she was doing. If they ever found out, which she was sure they would at least at the end of it all, then….

Breaking herself from her wandering thoughts Vuui grabbed Guui's foot that was still stomped against her chest and pushed, toppling him over. She didn't want to end the fight so soon, she could easily go for a few more hours, and she knew that he could as well. But with her thoughts wondering as they where it would be best for her to end things now than risk losing later on and not getting him on her team.

Sorry, I have to do this Twin Fists, keeping hold of his foot Vuui moved quickly and launched herself on top of him, twisting with all her strength and breaking his ankle and making him roar out in a pained screech. She then bent his leg further and pinned him down in a tangle of limbs, stretching his leg to the point of breaking until he began to tap the ground with his hands relentlessly screaming "YOU WIN! YOU WIN! LET GO! LET GO!" and released him with a giant thud and huge release of breath.

One Hunter down…...