Today, Rue would fight Lyn. It had been a year since their first bout, well, first official tournament, to be specific.
Today, just like a year ago, the entire class would participate in a competition to try and secure the class top spot. Last time Lyn had achieved first place.
Today, she would lose it.
Or that was what Rue hoped for. He'd come quite a long way since that first duel, and now he felt like he had to prove himself.
He used the sense almost constantly now, to simply move around, to eat and to cook. He liked cooking, something about it was therapeutic, mixing ingredients, adding spices, creating soups, stews, fried foods, salads, desserts...
Now he was hungry, damn.
He stood with his staff, a long and familiar piece of wood. Sturdy and tested. "Ready" he said, oozing with anticipation. "Ready" Lyn said with her careful preciseness.
"Begin"
The staffs connected, and everything else faded into the background. It was him, his weapon and his opponent, nothing else in the world mattered.
He jabbed forward, holding the staff like a sword, three quick prods to begin. Each was deflected by Lyn, who now pushed a counterattack. She slapped the third jab aside, then thrusted forward, sending her weapon towards him.
He could see it, hear I whoosh in the air, sense it with his powers. He dodged back, the thrust meeting air, but Lyn didn't let up. She brough the staff around, arching it towards Rue's side, his own staff met hers, Lyn's strength slamming into his grip. She was strong, really strong. Stronger than he was. But not as fast.
Rue countered, attempting a strike at her wrist, she pulled back and blocked, Rue brought his weapon around to strike at the other end of her guard, she parried, and this time thrust back towards him, aiming for his face.
That was uncalled for.
Rue tried to step back, but she was too fast. The strike slammed into his cheek, sending sprites of burning pain into his face. "First touch to Holly" Master Ned announced.
The second round went to Rue, and the next. The two stood ready for what could be the last exchange. Rue had clipped her thigh in the second match, then her arm in the third. He was hoping to end it here, 3 to 1.
"Begin"
The two stood and waited, trying to reach into the others mind, predicting and estimating what they'd do.
Rue made his move first, striking with a quick and powerful overheard swing. Lyn stepped to the side expertly, thrusting forward in one simple move. Rue strained to dodge, just barely avoiding the blow with a sidestep of his own. But Lyn didn't give him any time to recover. She attacked from his left, he blocked, but barely. Lyn stepped forward rapidly, closing the distance. Rue was barely able to keep up with the onslaught, dodging and blocking by the skin of his teeth.
Then he felt her begin to tire, her breathing had become more intense, her strikes slower and not as powerful. It was a minor detail, but it was enough.
She jabbed and Rue dodged, spinning in a clean motion. He swung against the strike, putting all his weight and power into the blow, the staff's connected and Lyn's weapon flew across the courtyard.
Silence.
"Kaine wins" Master Ned said, and Rue saw a smile on Lyn's lips.
"One hell of a fight that was!" Yalvin said, running up behind Lyn and Rue. "You kicked her ass Rue!" He was sent scrambling back when Lyn turned around and gave him a deadly stare, raising a fist, "cheeky bastard" she said, fighting a smile. "I'm proud of you Ruth" Gale said, his low, accented voice joining the conversation. "Honestly I never imagined you'd make it this far, it's really impressive" Gale joined the group, and the four of them went to rest by the bench.
He couldn't admire the view. Not really, but his sense gave him a feel for how vast the landscape was from here. It took his invisible hands a long time to reach the hills and rivers that the school overlooked, and even then, it was in so little detail, it might as well have been a smudge on a painting.
"Well done, Rue" Lyn said from beside him, "you're lucky I didn't take revenge for that headshot you gave me"
"Oh come one, a little poke on the cheek? Even Yalvin could handle that"
"Hey! I'll have you know the first years beat me up on a regular basis. I wouldn't even notice a little scratch like that" they laughed, and Rue took a moment to admire where he was. He'd come so far in these past months, he was sure his parents would have been proud of him.
"What are you all going to do after graduating?" Gale said, "probably go back home first, then I think I'll become a trainer myself, I quite like sharing my infinite wisdom"
"I'm going to join the fight to the north, try to hold back the Mad King's armies. Where my father is" Lyn said, sounding a lot more serious than usual, "What are you going to do Rue?" She asked after he remained silent.
He'd thought about it for a while, truth is the school started as free meals and a roof over his head. But now it was more than that. He'd made friends, earned his place, and now needed a course in life.
Then he remembered home, he remembered his eyes, his scars. It felt odd, recalling them, it had been so long since he'd thought of all that.
Then he knew what he would do, for his home, for his sister, for his wings.
"I'm going to kill the Prince."
