New Beginnings

Meeting the Parents (Part 2)

After a while of chatting they all decided to get some fresh air, much to Fire's delight. The queen lead them all down the winding halls until they came across the training fields where the king himself was at the target range, a bow in his hand with an arrow notched in it. He pulled the arrow back behind his ear and let it fly, hitting the target right in the center.

Danny inched his way behind Phantom while Âme sighed, still a bit disgruntled by Spiritus' attitude earlier. Phantom tensed, his posture straightening and shielding Danny's skinnier form.

Fire glanced around at all of them, frowning lightly. She created a knife out of fire crystal and quickly aimed before throwing it. The blade zoomed passed the king and straight to the target, splitting the arrow in half.

She smiled broadly with a laugh, "Still got it."

The king lowered his bow, turning towards the group with a raised brow, "Quite a display my lady, you would make a fine assassin."

Phantom growled low in his chest, "Presumptuous..." all the rest was lost as he muttered. The queen frowned reproachfully and whacked the prince on the back of his head to shut him up before looking back at her husband.

"Spiritus, that is very rude. You need to treat our guests with more respect," she scolded.

"My apologies, I did not mean to come across in such a way," Spiritus said, seeming to be slightly abashed, but kept his composure as he went over and put the bow and arrows away on a nearby rack. Âme rolled her eyes.

"I swear, I have no idea why I put up with you sometimes," she muttered.

Fire took a deep breath and let it out through her nose in the form of flames, "Who says I wasn't already trained to be?" She muttered.

The wolf girl tilted her head and created an ax, twirling it for a second before throwing it at another target where it hit dead center.

"May I ask who-" Danny growled this time, daring to look over Phantom's shoulder as he glared at the king. The unspoken warning came loud and clear: 'Don't ask.' Spiritus raised a brow, but decided not to press.

"Pardon, what I mean is, would you like a contest of skills miss...?"

The wolf girl turned toward him, brow raised, "Fire Wolf and," she crossed her arms, "what kind of contest? I'm skilled in a lot of things." It didn't sound smug, just a plain fact.

The king hummed, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "How about..."

"Spiritus..." Âme warned.

The brunet king picked up a long sword made of wood, looking back at Fire with a mischievous glint in his green eyes and a challenging smirk, "a contest of swordsmanship, one of the first weapons that knights and royalty are taught to use."

The smirk grew, "You say you're skilled in many things Miss Fire Wolf, this should be simple for you." At this point, all of them could see where Phantom got most of his attitude and expressions from.

Fire chuckled darkly, eyes blazing red at the challenge as she created a blunted broad sword, "I can do that, but regardless of whether or not I win, I want to choose the next challenge." Mischief sparkled in her eyes and it put Danny and Phantom at ease knowing that she wasn't going berserk.

"As you will," Spiritus replied as he walked to the middle of the training ground, turning and taking a fighting stance with a roguish grin. Âme sighed and shook her head, unable to help the amused upturn of her pink stained lips as the boys chuckled beside her.

Fire walked over and stood at the opposite side, looking absolutely relaxed as she looked the king up and down. He had a strong stance so it would be hard to knock him off kilter, he was taller so he had that advantage too. The wolf girl twirled the blade like she'd been using it for centuries before getting into her own stance, purposefully leaving her right side more open, "Ready when you are."