Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

Enemy in Sheep's Clothing

"What is it?" Darya asked softly, shifting her stance ever so slightly, letting her hands fall to the sword hilts at her waist.

"I think those are Kethan's men. I recognise them, and not from the Guard. Enough of the Guard has chased me. You learn how they move and do things, those two... they're wrong." Treasa whispered, her hands clenching into fists, her whole body tensing up then.

Darya nodded, moving one hand out to drag Treasa to back away, trying to guide them both enough out of sight that the two men wouldn't notice them. It almost worked too, except one of them glanced at his friend, before his gaze moved past the man's shoulder to catch sight of them.

They looked surprised for a moment, both sets of eyes focusing on the girl beside Darya, before they exchanged a few words and turned to stride towards them.

"They recognise me." Treasa's voice had dropped in fear, and Darya side glanced at her, seeing her poised to run.

Darya glanced up at the sky, seeing it clear of any potential winged help, and the grounds around where they were, was empty of any patrolling guard, or even anyone else strolling around in the mid-morning sun.

"It's okay, Treasa. I'm here." Darya tried to keep her voice calm, barely moving her lips, hoping the men wouldn't notice what she was saying. "If you run, and I can't keep up, I can't help you. And I don't know where the nearest help is. But stay with me and I'll protect you. Trust me. Do you trust me?"

It was silent for a moment longer, before she heard the soft whisper from the girl beside her. "Yes."

The two men stopped in front of Darya and sketched sloppy, unconvincing bows. "Lady, you caught her."

"Caught her?" Darya asked innocently enough, watching them, not looking at Treasa, hoping the girl didn't panic and bolt.

She didn't know if she could run after anyone, let alone two men and a scared girl.

The other one spoke. "Yes. We got word that a street rat had got onto the grounds, and we've been looking for it. We know this one. She's a thief. If she's here, she's definitely up to no good. Our commander can deal with her now."

Darya frowned at the two of them, wondering if they honestly thought she believed them. Then she stopped, realising that most nobles wouldn't bother questioning the fact, not for a commoner, that this girl would normally be handed over without so much of a sideways thought. "That's alright. If Sir Reynald wants to see her, I know where he is, I can take her over."

The two of them paused, frowns clouding their expressions, and they shifted into more aggressive stances, as if preparing for an oncoming attack. Darya saw it, but she didn't respond, already standing in a defensive pose, not wanting to set them off too soon, hoping that someone else was around, knowing people had to be close, hoping that it was the right people, and maybe people with good hearing to boot.

"Lady, she's a troublemaker, really. Just give her to us, and you can continue with your morning." There was a threat there now, brooding violence and intimidation, as if they thought she would be scared into just handing the girl over, when she'd already been so unpredictable.

Darya wondered if that had ever worked, intimidating someone who should have stood their ground for someone weaker.

She feared the answer to that question.

"No. Let's cut the bullshit. You're not guards, but you also weren't here for her. You were surprised to see her. Why were you here?" She said finally, knowing that there was no backing out of it now, seeing the anger clearly on their features now.

The two guards looked at one another, before the one doing most of the talking shrugged and dropped his hands to his swords. "Kill them both."

Darya stopped feeling the pain in her bruises and stitched wounds around that moment, she didn't pay attention to how hard it was to breathe with cracked ribs while standing still, let alone moving, she just drew her blades and stepped forward to meet the two men's attack, yelling sharply. "Stay behind me, move as I do, and don't let them get between the two of us!"

She hoped Treasa could manage that, hoped that she could protect the kid, even as she was meeting a barrage of slashes, thrusts and parries from the four blades, shifting between them like she had practiced so many times with Cali and Freiza, grateful that these two would be killers were far less talented than her sister's famed Knights, that they were brunt strength and ugly tactics more than they were skill.

She knew how to divert power and how to fight dirty.

Darya grinned to herself when she heard the sounds of yelling, recognising the voices of those same two women rushing in her direction.

But she didn't look away from her fight. She didn't dare, knowing she had limited strength and movement to work with.

As much as the two men weren't as good as the Knights, they were still challenging sword fighters that didn't give her a moment's break. Still pushed her beyond her injured and broken body's comfort.

But the pain didn't matter then.

Only the sound of a small, frightened girl behind her, feet shifting with hers, following her direction with the faith that she could manage this fight mattered.

Then winged warriors descended from above at all sides, blades already drawn. The would-be guards turned to run, but were promptly disarmed and brought down to the ground roughly.

Darya stumbled back, feeling her breath burn as she tried to drag it in, her body screaming at her from all the old wounds and a thousand other places as she sheathed her blades. It felt like the world was shifting beneath her feet as she tried to focus on the surrounding scene. Treasa remained at her back, though there were a few more Rulin guards surrounding her now, thankfully taking up guarding stances.

Then Darya realized that her sister's two knights were now facing off with the Rulin fighters, who were not standing down.

Because the men she had been fighting were in Clairvalan uniforms and trying to attack a Rulin ward. Which meant Clairval was the enemy for the moment.

"You're hurt, Captain." Treasa murmured behind her.

"Not so bad... but I gotta prevent war from breaking out." Darya murmured as she pulled as much energy as she could to do something about it.

Again.