(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 14

Tiffany stood amongst her students. Her arm was in a sling, and she had scars across her arms. Her stony expression still hadn't changed as she scanned her students. "Alright, Apprentices. Line up and stand at attention."

Oh crud, I forgot about this.

Dre stood beside Katherine, who hadn't even looked in his direction since class started. He could feel the anger radiating off of her. There was no way she would actually go easy on him.

"I would hope that you've spent your days sparring with each other instead of goofing off." Her eyes went straight for Dre. Of course she would know that he hadn't been practicing much. She was best friends with his mother, after all, and he knows just how much she liked to gossip. "Take this test seriously, otherwise you have more than just a failing grade to worry about. I will not make you go in any particular order, however you will not leave until each one of you spar.

"The rules are as follows; no head strikes will be allowed. If you make contact with the person's head with your weapon, you both will be disqualified, and you both will fail. If you use your element in any way, you will not only be disqualified, but I will personally see to it that disciplinary actions will follow. You each will have three minutes to fight, or until one of you surrenders. The person who wins between the two of you will be awarded fifty credits. Who will be first?"

"We will," Katherine said, raising her hand.

"What's this we business?" Dre asked in indignation.

"Very well." Tiffany limped to the other end of the classroom, giving both Katherine and Dre well enough room to fight. They both followed. Katherine still hadn't even glanced at him, and now she was making him fight first. He had no idea why he was so surprised, considering he seen it coming from a mile away. "Bow."

Dre and Katherine both sat on their knees; for the first time today, he had seen Katherine eye to eye. Same as ever, she had the eyes of a fierce warrior. Oh man, I'm going to die. They placed their swords in front of them and bowed low to the ground. Maybe it won't be so bad. I'll probably be knocked out after the first strike. They both rose simultaneously, their weapons in their hands. Katherine slid her sword from its sheath, holding the sword with her right hand and the sheath with her left.

Dre gulped, standing in the usual position he had gained since meeting Hiro. For a split second, Dre saw her expression change in a flash, though he couldn't tell if it was fear or surprise. "Shall we begin?"

Dre nodded as he slowly inched towards her. He noticed that she held the sheath in front of her, so he gathered that she would use it to block his attacks. Her sword was placed high behind her; he hoped that the distance would make her strikes slow enough to read.

They were now close enough that their weapons touched. Katherine stood still, her feet planted firmly in the ground. Is she waiting for me to strike first? Gulping, he jabbed the point of the sword at her chest. As expected, the jab was deflected by the sheath, and was followed by her sword. Quickly, he swayed from the strike, feeling the wind from the sword licking at his body. Had he been a millisecond later, he would have felt that full on.

She jumped back out of reach before Dre had a chance to counter. She looked taken aback at his speed, but Dre was probably more stunned than she was. Did Hiro allow him to grasp more of the King's power? He began walking circles around her, looking for a new opportunity to strike. She followed him with her eyes, but her body remained still. Was she really letting herself open for another strike?

After four steps, she finally slid her lead foot to him and turned her body towards him. It appeared that she was baiting him to strike, making herself seem unguarded, and then striking once the person fell for the bait. There's an idea. He continued walking, counting how many steps it would take in order for her to turn. One, two, three, four- She slid her foot to him again and turned. One, two, three­- He slightly lowered his sword, keeping his eyes on her. He glanced down for a split second, targeting his next strike.

Four.

Before she was able to slide her foot, Dre stepped towards her. Catching her off-guard, he sent the sword down, slamming it against her knee. She gasped as she fell to the ground. Dre had to ignore the stab of guilt as he kept his eyes on her. For a second, her dumbfounded expression seemed glued to her face. Then, her face hardened. "Alright then." She rose to her feet, sheathing her practice blade; her hand hovered slightly over the handle.

Is she giving up? He looked towards Tiffany, who continued studying their movements. Once he looked back to his opponent, however, she was already on him. In one swift motion, she seemed to swing at him once before replacing the sword back in his sheath. As she did so, he felt furious, simultaneous bursts of pain from his knee, hip, and ribs. But, how did I get hit three times. She only swung once. He fell to his uninjured knee. Agony pulsed from his chest down to his knee.

Pain is nothing to you, Dre. He thought to himself. You are the King. You will feel pain throughout your life. Don't let it stop you from being the warrior you were destined to be.

Sheer will got him to struggle to stand back on his feet. He had no clue where the idea to keep going came from, nor the idea that he had to keep fighting, but he obeyed the thoughts. I am the King of Elements, darn it! He rose his sword back into position, ignoring the stabbing pain in his side. He slid his injured leg behind him, though pain jolted through his knee doing so. He hardened his face, though his reasoning told him to wince in pain and surrender.

"Don't count me out yet. I'm not finished," he croaked through his teeth.

The class began to murmur to themselves. Even both Tiffany and Katherine looked dumbfounded. Katherine, however, took no time in getting back in her stance.

Dre felt something rising in him. Was it pride? Strength? No. This was tangible.

Uh, oh. That's something else.

He fell back to his knees, vomiting blood.

"Stand back! This match is over!" he heard Tiffany call out as she strode towards her.

"Dre?" Katherine breathed, backing away from him and Tiffany. "Is he going to be okay?"

She murmured something under her breath before a wave of fira enveloped his body. The blue fire seemed to slowly dull the pain. "I think you ruptured an internal organ. If I wasn't spectating it, he probably would have bled out."

She's kidding, right?

"Are you feeling any better, Dre?" Tiffany asked. It was odd, seeing her looking like a concerned mother rather than a drill instructor.

"Well enough," Dre struggled to say. He slowly reached for his sword; seeing this, Tiffany kicked it away.

"Didn't you hear me? You match is over. Katherine," she turned to her, "take him to the other side of the room. And please try to make sure he doesn't get his hands on a sword."

"Yea ma'am." She wrapped Dre's arm around her shoulder and carried him towards the far wall. A dull jab of pain erupted from his knee after each step.

"I thought you said you would hold back on me."

"I did, until you showed me that you actually was a capable fighter." She placed him against the wall. "Who taught you?"

"I was self-taught," Dre answered. He knew that he couldn't tell her that Hiro had been training him. He didn't even want to know how she'd take it.

"You liar. If you were truly self-taught, we wouldn't have been in this situation. Your skills would've shown during class." Dre said nothing. "Look," she sighed, "if you still want my advice, I'd get something defensive to wear with your stance. Have you ever used a shield before?"

"Do I look like Link to you?"

Katherine scowled. "When is your supper break?"

"At seven."

"Then you're coming with me to the armory. If you want to be a better prepared fighter, you'll need something that you can block and parry with and still have your sword arm free."

I've got to go on a field trip with Katherine? This spells trouble. "Fine then," he said.

"Oh, and Dre?" he turned to her, sincerity in her eyes. "I'm sorry for being too serious on you. I truly apologize."