Chapter One

“We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.” " Fydor Dostoevsky

 

The fairy tales she had read as a child told elegant stories of love at first sight. She didn’t believe in such a dream.

However, as she turned around to face the young man that called himself Seth, she found herself believing in trust at first sight"the feeling that despite her father’s warning, her life and story would be safe in this boy’s hands.

He explained that he was in need of a trainer; someone that could help him fight better.

Later she wouldn’t be able to explain why exactly she agreed. It could’ve been hormones, since he looked around eighteen, and was decently attractive. It could’ve been the desire to finally trust somebody. Or, she supposed, it could’ve been sheer boredom.

“Fine. Meet at the Closed Arena tonight at seven,” Kyari said finally.

 

*           *           *

 

Kyari stood in front of him casually, hands in her pockets, eyes on his face. "Ready?"

"Sure!" Seth replied cheerily. "So, how should we do this? As far as I'm concerned, learning by doing is the best way to train.”

"How would you like to start? Or more specifically, what would you like to train?"

"Actually, I was thinking about simply starting with a spar and seeing what pops up.”

She nodded in agreement, drawing one of her many daggers. "Then let us begin," she said, throwing it at his chest.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" he shouted as he quickly snatched his quarterstaff from his back and knocked the knife off course. Running at her, he spun, trying to sweep her feet from under her with his greaves while lashing out at her head with his staff in the same motion.

She backed up quickly. "Nice," she pointed out, pulling her hair out of her face.

"Geez, you're light on your feet, aren't you?" he growled as he dug his foot into the ground, grinding his spin to a halt, returning his quarterstaff to its holster as he did so. Rapidly digging through his bag, he withdrew a medium sized pouch and one of his many steel playing cards.

"I won't get anywhere if you keep hopping around like that," he chuckled as he hurled the small sack at her, his card following it in quick succession. "Now what do I have to do to get you to stop!?" he asked as he followed his projectiles, wrenching his staff out of his holster and swiping upwards at her in the same motion.

As she watched the card come flying towards her, she put up a wall of air, stopping the card and the bag midpath, and then dodged out of his way. She pulled out another dagger, trying to decide whether to throw it at him or stab him, but still stayed out of reach.

He slammed his feet into the ground the moment he saw her block the bag midair, smirking with satisfaction as the card slit the bag almost neatly in half. Changing targets mid-swing, he ignored the dodging girl in favor of the damaged bag, ramming his quarterstaff into it and sending the caltrops contained within flying into the air.

"Your turn," he grinned as the metallic tetrahedrons rained down on the battlefield. He transferred his quarterstaff to his left hand, and withdrew his deck of cards, putting them into a holster on his hip.

She transferred her shield of air to above her head, missing only one caltrop. It glanced off her shoulder, leaving a bruise and a cut. She glanced down at his cards. Perhaps I can collect a few to create my own deck.

She looked around, and then turned, sprinting a short distance away. She then whirled around, throwing her dagger towards him, and in quick succession, pulled out her bow and shooting four arrows, each fletched with silver feathers.

His eyes widened as she ran over the caltrops with relative ease. What does she have in the soles of those boots, steel plating? he wondered, only to hurriedly drop that train of thought as he swung his staff in front of himself defensively, knocking away her knife. His sigh of relief caught in his throat as he noticed her arrows speeding towards him, and he made a snap decision.

Well, aren't I just a genius? he groused as he threw himself out of the way of the deadly shafts, right onto the caltrops he had spread out just moments ago. He dragged himself to his feet, doing a damage check as he tried to slide out of the caltrop field. Three in the arm, one in the hip, one in the thigh, and a cut across the ankle. Thank goodness, that last one only grazed it and didn't hit the bone, he wheezed.

She raised an eyebrow. I didn't hurt him, but he hurt himself. Not the smarter, but probably the better of the two options.

Why do all my weapons seem to hate me? Well, except my staff. My staff hasn't hurt m-. No. No I am not completing that thought...he complained as she created a gust of wind that spun his staff towards him.

He gasped in surprise as his staff jerked itself out of his shaking hands, spinning quickly in the air before clocking in the back of the head and sending him face first into the ground.

 I knew that was going to happen, he grumbled as he pushed himself off the thankfully caltrop free ground. Why must everyone insist on adding insult to injury?

"Ok, ok, I give!" he chuckled weakly as he turned himself over and started pulling the stinging pieces of metal out of his body. "I was hoping these things," he shook one of the caltrops he'd just pulled out of his arm for emphasis, "would slow you down, but they didn't do anything! What are your boots made of, sheets of steel?"

She walked towards him, this time more carefully walking around the caltrops, putting her bow away. "They do have a metal underside, mostly designed to help me stick on ice. It's a really thin lightweight metal, but extremely tough. Custom made."

He winced as he pulled the final caltrop from his thigh, looking at it almost wistfully before pocketing it along with the rest. "I hate to think how much something like that would cost you." Seth said conversationally as he slowly got to his feet. "Do you have a supplier, or were those a special case?"

"Special case," she said, bending down to pick up a few caltrops and the card, and adding them to her knapsack. "My father got them for me before he died. It was my last gift from him," she said quietly. "I'm not sure how much they cost him."

He winced again, though not due to pain. "Sorry, I didn't know,” he mumbled as he moved along, collecting what caltrops he could. He didn’t complain about her picking up a few of her own: she earned them, and he wasn’t really in any position to complain.

"It's fine. It was four years ago. I've had enough time to get used to it." She smiled wryly. "I'm just glad my feet haven't grown out of them."

She reached into her pack, pulling out a roll of bandages. As she bandaged her own shoulder, she asked him, "Can I help you with your cuts?"

"It's all right. I'll just take a quick stop at the medics.”

 

*           *           *

 

It had been at least a week since Seth had asked her to train him. What exactly training him all entailed"she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t even sure if she would see him again.

The saying “old habits die hard” ran through her head as she pocketed a snack for later.

 “Hey,” his voice called out to her. “This is lucky: I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find you again.”

Kyari looked up, a quizzical look on her face. He noticed, and replied, “I need more training.”

“That’s certainly true. But why me?”

“Why not you?”

In resignation, she sighed, “When do you want to fight?”

“Why not now? I already looked. The Closed Arena is open now. Please?”

“What’s your hurry?”

“I just…” he fumbled, trying to come up with an answer.

She sighed again. “It’s not as if I’m doing anything else right now.”

 

*           *           *

 

"Do we want to make this fight a little more weapon specific or keep it the same as last time?"

Seth flipped his quarterstaff out of its holster, spinning it speculatively. "Actually, I was thinking on trying to stick with close combat," he proposed. "No weapon restrictions or anything; just no running away."

Kyari cocked her head, considering this. "Fine.”

He stopped spinning his hardwood stave, letting the length of wood snap back into his palm with a satisfying smack. "So, seeing as you got the first turn last time, I think it's only fair I get the advantage now!" he laughed as he hurled himself at her, not even giving her a chance to reply as he jabbed his staff at her midriff.

Her reflexes kicked in, and she sidestepped it, coming up behind him.

"Geez, fast as ever I see." he grumbled exasperatedly as he changed his grip on the staff, throwing himself into a spin, hoping to hit her as she went past.

She ducked, tumbling past his legs, aiming for them with her knife, hoping to slash a tendon. Her dagger had just entered his leg when the momentum of his spin brought his greaves around, the metallic boots screeching against the knife as the blade was deflected from his leg.

That was close! He stopped his spin, momentarily disorientated by the dizziness it produced. Note to self, stop cheaping out and actually get a real pair of greaves sometime, he grumbled as he tried to catch up, bringing his staff down on the rolling girl, his swipe made clumsy by his dizziness. She rolled out of the way, avoiding his staff and then stood up quickly in front of him. Taking advantage of his dizziness, she threw her knife at his chest.

With her left hand, she pulled out a silver playing card. She glanced down quickly at it. Jack of hearts. Let's kill him with 'kindness.' She held it just up her sleeve, tucking it behind a bracelet for quick and easy access.

His swing, made wild by his disorientation, slammed into the ground, sticking fast. Mumbling a few choice curses under his breathe, he tugged his bludgeon out of the ground. Stumbling to the side as his staff came free; he inadvertently avoided the worst of the knife, receiving only a slight cut across his right arm as the dagger flew by.

He regained his bearings, wincing at the new cut as he locked on to Kyari a short distance away. Quickly rummaging in his bag, he brought out a knobby, black ball, a touch bigger than the average softball, and clamped his teeth onto one of the protruding knobs.

"Time's a wastin',” he mumbled around the sphere in his mouth, as he quickly sprinted towards her, taking a wary horizontal swipe at her. She pulled her sword out of its sheath, quickly parrying the swipe that came at her. He moved along with the force of her parry. Letting go of his staff with his right hand, he quickly plucked the ball from his mouth. Letting her parry fuel his spin, he grabbed and tugged on a small metallic latch on the ball. The release pinged open, letting the ball blossom into a small net which he hurled at his opponent.

No! she panicked slightly, thinking as quickly as she had time for. She pushed a ball of air at him, at the same time creating a large patch of ice beneath him and extending far behind him. As the net fell on her, she quickly cut at it.

He had only just let go of the net when a blast of air rammed into him. He instinctively tightened his grip on his main weapon as he was flung off his feet, though he almost lost his hold on it when he landed, to his surprise, not onto earth but solid ice.

Instead of trying to stop himself, he slid along the length of frozen water until he hit dirt. Getting up slowly he brushed himself off, keeping an eye on Kyari in the distance as he did so.

"So she's bringing out the big guns is she?" he muttered to himself. "Well, then it's time to up the stakes." He drew out a pack of matches from his bag, along with a bonsai tree, and what looked like a cigarette.

Sticking the cigarette in his mouth, he placed the bonsai in one of his pockets before striking a match and lighting the small papery roll, and placing the matchbox into his other pocket.

"Ahhhhhh... now we're cooking with GAS!" he chuckled as he took a deep drag, and set off towards her at an easy pace, his quarterstaff at the ready.

She froze the ground beneath him once more, and then slid her sword back. She sent another blast of air at him, hoping to put out the cigarette looking thing. The moment he started to slip, he slammed his staff into the ground. This is why I hate fighting mages, he thought, turning his back to her, protecting his cigarette even as he took another puff.

She threw a dagger at his back. Why do people smoke? It just gives me an opportunity to try to kill him.

Turning back as the wind died down, he took the knife full in his left arm. "I really could have down without that, you know?" he grimaced as he momentarily let go of his staff to pull out the dagger. Keeping the dagger in hand he grasped his stave once again, taking one last drag before letting the smoldering roll fall from his lips.

"Well, I guess I can't complain. Now I've got some shiny new steel," he smirked as he tried to move to unfrozen ground, uprooting and stabbing his staff into the ground to steady himself as he went.

She continued to freeze the ground around him, doing so until the whole arena was covered in ice, her boots keeping her from slipping. He planted his staff into the ice once more, surveying the frozen arena before turning to his opponent.

"Have ever mentioned much I hate fighting mages? Ah well, lemons to champagne and all that," he sighed, his eyes laughing at some unheard joke.

Gripping his quarterstaff, he pushed off, his metal greaves sliding easily over the ice. It took one or two pushes, but soon he was 'rowing' his way towards her. As he got closer, she slipped a dagger out of her boot, and held it tightly in her right hand.

A short distance away from Kyari, he stopped pushing himself along, letting his momentum carry him. Quickly placing his staff in his holster and his new dagger in his mouth, he withdrew his box of matches and took out a match. Match in hand, he grabbed his bonsai from his other pocket, struck the match, and lit the little tree.

"Heh, eat this!" he growled as he sent the potted plant skidding along the ice towards the young thief.

The tree came towards Kyari, orange and red dancing in its branches. She sprinted to the left and behind it, running towards Seth, sending a blast of air towards it to blow it away from her. Her burst of air sped the bomb on its way, increasing its distance from her by a fair margin before it exploded, the violent reaction aided slightly by the abundance of air.

"Well, here we are. Do or die, it's time to roll the dice," he chuckled as the explosion rang out, ignoring the minor shrapnel as it flew by and taking the dagger from his mouth. She was a lot closer to him now, about her height away.

"Cards, dice, are you sure you're not a gambler?"

"I won't deny that," he replied, making a feint at her neck with the dagger, "but the rewards can be so worth it."

She stepped back, avoiding it swiftly. "I avoid it myself."

"Ahhh, but maybe you can afford to." he pointed out, continuing to slide forward as he took a swipe at her left side. "I, on the other hand, don't have that luxury."

She spun to the right, avoiding his swipe and coming up behind him, attempting to stab him in the back. "It's not that I can afford it. Personally, I rather lose more honorably than by a trick of cards or dice."

His half-hearted strike sent him into a counter-clockwise spin, and he probably would have fallen over soon afterwards had she not attacked him. Tracking her as she strafed around him, an anticipatory grin spread itself across the sliding boy's face as he saw her spin around for the strike.

Perrrrrfffeectttt...he purred to himself. Instead of trying to avoid the dagger, he brought his left hand up, taking the blade full on. That's good steel, he mused as the metal slid smoothly through his palm. Girl seems to have an excess of it. His fingers grasped the hand holding the knife as its hilt hit his skin.

"I do hope that's not a philosophy you take into an actual battle," he mentioned conversationally as he brought her knife to her neck. "So, do you give?"

With her left hand, she slid the card out of its resting place, and slammed it into his gut. His eye twitched in annoyance as the card sliced easily into his stomach, though he didn't move an inch.

"Now look what you've done. I'm going to die if I don't get medical attention soon," he mumbled as tightened his grip on her hand, before looking her in the eyes. "You're not giving up are you?" he pressed the knife harder against neck, just hard enough to break the skin.

She slipped another dagger out of her sleeve. She looked him the eyes, her own silver ones flashing and dancing behind her glasses. "If you're going to die soon, then we should end it, for your sake. If you rather die than forfeit, that's your loss. I will never give up," she ended, putting her left hand holding the dagger up to his neck. She pressed it against his neck ever so slightly, leaving a line of blood. "I will never give up."

His eyes flicked down to the knife pressed against his neck and sighed before slowly slipping back, drawing her knife from her neck as he did so.

"Stubborn girl," he muttered as his left hand slipped free of her dagger. "Some training fight this turned out to be." Looking down, he cautiously poked the card in his stomach, deciding to leave it alone as some blood leaked out. "Fine, it’s your win. Now could you please get rid of the ice so I can get to the infirmary before I keel over dead?"

She withdrew her dagger pressed against his neck and flicked her hand upwards. The ice melted, the water quickly sinking into the soil. "Don't forget the subtle things. They'll kill you when you least expect it," she reminded him, before pulling out a cloth to clean her daggers with.

He pulled out his quarterstaff, wincing as he did so. Hobbling off towards the medics, he couldn't resist a final parting shot. "So, what would you have done if I didn't bother threatening you, and just let your knife do its job?"

"Does it matter? It didn't happen. If you really wanted to kill me, you would've done so without threats. There was a hesitancy there. I do have to thank you for that." She glanced up. "You won't die. At least, I hope not. And I want that card and dagger back."

He snorted as he made it to the arena's exit. "That sounds like a rather unfair trade. You shredded my net, and if I remember correctly this card's mine in the first place." he slipped through the door, letting his parting words drift behind him. "If you're going to play finders keepers, then you shouldn't be risking things you aren't willing to lose."

"And there goes the jack of hearts..." she muttered to herself, "and one of my daggers." She chuckled. "What am I thinking? I'll just steal them back from him." She slid her supplies away, gathering up anything she had left in the arena, and followed him out.

 

*           *           *

 

Seth slept peacefully under a white linen cover, his belongings placed on a small table next to the bed. Kyari snuck in, snitching the dagger and card from off his table. As she stood outside, she scanned the dagger for the telltale initials. When she found them, she breathed a sigh of relief. I'm glad he's not keeping this. This one was Father's.

Hours later, he slowly woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"Wow, haven't slept that well in ages," he yawned and stretched his arms, "and I'm not dead, that's got to count for something." He poked at his stomach, wincing slightly at the raw, yet fully healed patch of skin. "I wonder how much cash they've got floating around this place to keep doctors like these around..." Spinning to his bedside table, he started to do a brief inventory, and noticed that something was off almost immediately. After all, he didn't own any other blades, not real ones, and the dagger that he'd recently acquired had been particularly fine.

"Oh, we are going to have words," he muttered ominously, hastily putting all his gear on and leaving the medics.

Add more...

Author's Note

I'm planning on adding more at the end. Obviously...

Comments much appreciated

Reviews

[KahYee.Chiang]

beautiful :)

first sight"the feeling
entailed"she
I'm not sure if the above was intentional, but try to avoid it, maybe? :)

Wow, that was a long chapter. Very nice though :) kept me reading, and for a person with a very small attention span, a job well done ;)