Princess of O'Khasis (OFFICIALLY DISCONTINUED)

Camp Tour

Melody arrived at guard camp a few weeks later. It had given her time to reflect on things, and she was confident in her disguise, and besides, it was a rather large camp, it was unlikely that she would run into Garroth. Yes, Melody was feeling rather good about things when she was greeted by the head instructor, a tall man with a hard, cold face. Beside him was someone dressed in the guard camp uniform armor, judging by their height and stature, it was a young man. The instructor gave her a short summary of what was expected of her, and the camp rules. He left shortly after, leaving her and the boy alone. The boy took off his helm, revealing short blonde hair, blue eyes, and a warm smile. When Melody laid eyes on his face her heart filled with dread.

"Hi, My names Garroth, and I will be giving you a little tour of the camp." He said to her cheerfully. All her earlier confidence was gone, as Melody stared at her brother. He was much like he was as a child, kind eyes, and a warm smile. He had grown into a handsome young man, and Melody would have given almost anything to be back home.

"I-Im...Mel." Melody said, shortening her name in an attempt to lessen the chance that he would recognize her. He seemed to realize that she didn't want to talk, so Garroth simply smiled and gestured for her to follow him. It was a strange feeling, being so close to her brother, and yet so far away. It was painfully obvious that he had no idea who she really was, and Melody was all to aware of who he was. It hurt her heart to see him, really. She wanted to throw her arms around him and yell, 'Its me! Melody, your sister!' but at the same time she wanted to run away and hide from him. Unfortunately, there was no way out of the situation, so Melody was stuck following her brother around campus, listening to him talk about the different building and activities. The only thing she could do was pray to Esmund that the disguise would work and he would not recognize her. Melody was so lost in her thoughts, that she nearly didn't hear him saying her name.

"Mel? Are you listening?" He asked her.

"Yeah, sorry." She replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Don't worry, its fine. I asked if you wanted to spar." The question surprised Melody.

"Spar?" She asked him, looking into his bright blue eyes.

"Yeah, its break right now, come on, it'll be fun! I'll go easy on you!" Her brothers energy was infectious, and before she knew it, Melody found herself agreeing to it.

"You know what? Sure."  She figured that if he hasn't recognized her, the disguise is working, and sparring would only make him more opposed to the idea of her being his sister. Back in O'Khasis, Melody had never fought, she hadn't been allowed to. So Garroth had never thought of her as being a fighter. And so Melody used this logic to tell herself that she agreed to it so Garroth would not find out who she is, when really she missed him dearly, and as much as it pained her, she did not want to leave him yet. 

So the two retrieved sturdy wooden swords from the weapon racks, and stood on the grass in stance, each waiting for the other to strike. Melody had known her brother better than she had known herself back when they were little, he would wait for her to make the first move. So Melody used a battle tactic that Jason had taught her. She deliberately shifted her footing as if she was going to try and swing her sword in an arc to hit his shoulder, and she did just that, moving her stance had given Garroth time to prepare for the attack, and he easily blocked it. Melody used the same technique two more times, going for different areas each time. However there was good reason for this seemingly pointless method. It made Garroth consider her as an unexperienced fighter, and he would underestimate her. And he did just that, Garroth expected her to do the same thing, and that he would be able to easily overpower her. So as they circled each other, Garroth kept an eye on her footing, a result of the past three attacks. Underneath that mask, Melody smiled slightly. He had fallen for it. As his eyes flicked down to her feet, Melody shot out her right arm, and hit him square in the chest with the heel of her hand. The unexpected move caused Garroth to stumble backwards slightly, and it gave Melody ample opportunity to swing out her leg and hit him behind the knees. Garroth fell to the ground with his legs underneath him, but when he looked up at Melody, he was smiling. He recognized now her talent for fighting, and he would not underestimate her again. In fact, Melody could see in his eyes that he was going to enjoy this challenge.

Melody extended her hand to him, as if to help her brother up, and Garroth reached up to grip it, but before he could, Melody did a backed walkover, jumping out of it, and drawing her wooden sword, raising her eyebrows teasingly. Garroth chuckled softly, and stood up, drawing his own weapon. And so the two went at each other and sparred for the rest of the break hour. No one won in the end, for the bell sounded before the fight was over. But they left each other on good terms, with promises to spar more often. As Melody walked to the girls barracks were she would be sleeping, she realized that she had fun fighting with Garroth. It was great to see him, though she did still fear that he would find out who she was. The 10-year old Melody that Garroth knew is long gone, and though today he seemed to approve of her as a friend, she was still fearful that he would not approve of her as a sister. But Melody did not dwell on such things, instead, she decided that she would try to enjoy guard camp for what it is, even if she had to hide a big secret in order to do so.