Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

Soaring

Darya stood on the practice court, already soaked with sweat, feeling the heat of the summer day flush her skin as she spun her blades in her hands, watching her two opponents. She had thrown herself back into training and sparring the day that she had recovered, making up for lost time, improving on what she saw as a severely deficient skill set, pushing herself on the practice courts just as hard as she did in the evenings, hunting down traitors in the lower city.

But it had only been a few days back at the training, and coupled with the long nights, this morning's sparring match against Cansal and Davanos was pushing her to her limits. She had meant her words as a deflection away from whatever had happened between her and Davanos that morning, but he had taken her seriously and both infuriating men had been prepared to spar with her when she arrived in the training area.

Davanos was using the bastard sword and Cansal two Rulin blades, and they weren't pulling their punches or being nice to her.

Darya loved it.

There was no delicate treatment because she was a woman, no drawing back to make it seem as if she were winning when she wasn't. They may have been giving her more space to move than she knew they would if it had been a proper fight, but it was real enough. She had hit the ground several times already today, and her head was ringing with the impacts.

But they had also received their share of bruises and faces full of dirt, perhaps not in as equal a measure as she had, but neither one of them was dry, clean or without a bruise or trickle of blood.

And with very little warning, the fight continued, bringing back the burning of every muscle in her body and the clash of metal as she countered, parried, defended and attacked, until the world suddenly stopped and she was on her back, looking up at the sky, gasping for breath from being close lined mid-movement.

Her arms tingled to the tips of her fingers, and she no longer had her swords in her hands, but before she had fully regained her awareness of where she was, she found herself being hauled back to her feet, looking into two sets of blue eyes, though varying in shades, both looked equally concerned, for the moment.

"So I'm going to count that as a draw today." She winced and moved to pick up her swords. "Seeing as how you brought in a draft horse to kick me."

"Strong and stupid, remember." Cansal sounded amused, and as she turned to look at the two of them, sheathing her blades, she watched them exchange swords. "Beats smart and fast every time."

"I wish I had a couple more months... I'm sure I'd make you eat your words." She muttered, shaking her head, raising a brow as they both gave her a surprised look. When they continued to watch her, she shrugged as casually as she could. "Eventually, the three of us, we're all visitors here, we're all going to go back home. Cansal up north, Davanos back to Rulin, and me, well, Calamity is calling."

Cansal shrugged casually. "I'm not taking over Invenmers anytime soon, if my father can help it, another twenty years. I apparently need some service to the Crown, to get some grey in my beard or something. I figured signing on for this fight was a good start."

Davanos nodded. "Rulin is committing to the partnership with the Clairvalan Navy, probably going to be a volunteer basis for any of the brigades, but I'm looking at doing that most likely."

"And you have a ship." Cansal finished, nodding to her.

Darya looked between the two of them for a moment before offering a shrug and ignoring the confused hope that had sprung at Cansal's suggestion. "I haven't decided if I'm going to sign her over to Tisaso. The Calamity likes less violent pursuits than war." She paused at how wrong the idea of not being around felt, before shrugging again. "But I've heard there are some great captains stepping up into the Navy, with amazing crews. You guys will be hard pressed to decide on who you're sailing with."