The Little Fairy
Chapter 8
Nataly
Vidia's fingers had just curled around the bar across the door when Nataly seized her arms and swung her around, knocking her onto the ground.
"Vidia! Are you okay? Who's that?" Vidia could hear Fawn and Tinkerbell outside, trying to get in, and their voices jumbling together, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. She snatched up the pencil, then tried to throw it like Jacquie did, but it didn't fly straight. Nataly easily knocked it away, then reached down to pick it up. Vidia made a dash for the window, and reached for the lock.
She heard a strange whirring sound, then one of Nataly's razor-sharp pins was sticking from the wood crossbar of the window, only a few hairs' width from her her hand. It was quivering slightly from the force of being thrown.
Vidia snatched her hand away from the window, and backed across the room as Nataly stepped to the window and yanked her pin out of the wood.
Block that way if she swings, and that way if she stabs. Vidia tried to remember all that Jacquie had tried to teach her.
Vidia didn't back up as Nataly held the pencil easily, the way that Jacquie had always did. Nataly jumped forward and swung the tip toward Vidia's chest, trying to impale her. All the motion around Vidia seemed to slow, just slightly. She knew it counted as a stab, so she bent her knees and circle-kicked the pencil so hard that it whipped across the room and sank into the wall.
Vidia raised an eyebrow, surprised. She could hear Tinkerbell and Fawn cheering from the window, and Nataly seemed to be more on her guard.
They think they're impressed. Vidia snorted a near silent laugh. "Are you still sure you want to fight me?" she challenged, crossing her arms in a the careless, arrogant manner that Jacquie only adopted when she knew she was outnumbered and that there was no way her enemies would win.
Nataly didn't speak, but turned as if to walk away.
Vidia blinked, very surprised.
Nataly paused, her hand resting on the back of a chair, then suddenly she grabbed it, spun it around, then flung it across the room.
Vidia had no time to duck, but found herself flipping backward into the air. She landed on the table, then rolled off and slammed into the wall.
"Vidia!"
"Vidia, are you okay?"
"Can you get up?"
The window rattled, probably Tinkerbell trying to get leverage.
Vidia shook her head, dazed, as she tried to focus on the voices that were shouting from outside. Nataly was standing, silent, across the room. She hadn't moved forward.
She could have killed me right then. She's playing with me. Vidia didn't think before that she could be more angry, but she found herself growing more furious by the second. She felt very sore, but she climbed to her feet and picked up a leg from the shattered chair.
She walked around the table and stood still for a moment. She charged Nataly with the wooden club and swung, but Nataly stepped away, grabbed the club and twisted it away. Vidia coughed, not sure how Nataly had just flipped her onto her back. Nataly kicked her in the side, and Vidia used that momentum to roll away, then roll gracefully to her feet.
"Be careful!" Fawn was calling, and Vidia could hear Tinkerbell building some mechanism for getting the door open.
Vidia crossed the room and went to the pencil that was firmly stuck in the wall. She grabbed it firmly with both hands, braced her feet against the wall, and pulled, hard. It didn't budge. She felt her hands slipping, so she got another grip and pulled again.
Nataly, seeing that Vidia had her back unguarded, silently approached her, pulling a pin from her belt, and drawing her arm back, ready to run Vidia through from behind.
"Vidia – look out!" Fawn shrieked.
Vidia felt the pencil move in the wall. I'm not letting go now. She thought, determined. Her left hand slipped slightly, but she held on as tightly as she could. Just a little more force and . . .
Vidia's hand slipped off the pencil and swung in a circle. She accidentally belted Nataly in the mouth so hard that she spun around and dropped to one knee.
Vidia backed away, not having realized that Nataly was so close.
As she and Nataly both waited for the other fairy to make the first move, she took a quick look around. The beams going across the ceiling were just thin enough that she might get her hands around them. She knew she wasn't good enough to use it to power a kick like Jacquie might have, but she had other ideas.
Nataly suddenly darted toward her, about to attack, so Vidia ran straight toward her. At the last moment, Vidia jumped and grabbed the beam, flipping herself into the air, then jumping down once Nataly was past. She spun around, trying to use Jacquie's usual fighting stance. She hoped it made her look more dangerous.
Nataly seemed slightly nervous – almost worried. Vidia suppressed a smile, knowing it wouldn't work well with a fighter image. She didn't move, imitating Nataly's technique, but suddenly the room tilted around her and she dropped to her knees, dizzy, disoriented.
"Vidia?" Fawn was trying to find out what was wrong with her. "Vidia! Get up! Look out!"
Vidia couldn't quite hear what she was saying. She felt numb, and had no idea what was wrong. She blinked several times, then recovered. Everything was normal again. She frowned, slightly, then realized that it was her advantage. She pretended to still be dizzy. She heard Nataly walking up behind her, then the soft ring as she pulled a pin from it's sheath at her side.
"Vidia! Look out! Run! Vidia!" Fawn was screaming. Vidia turned her head slowly to look at Fawn, who was staring at the pin right behind her head. Nataly stabbed it through where Vidia's head had just been.