The Man Above

3 - Duel #2

Beast Series 1.02

I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.~

~~~~~

Aster felt a bit silly, wandering around town looking for her opponent, but she also knew she hadn't exactly specified a place nor was her opponent particularly likely to show up. Despite knowing this, still she looked for him and happened upon a very curious sight. There her opponent was, sitting down in the restaurant at the exact booth they had made their appointment at yesterday. With him we're three individuals: two men and a woman. They seemed to be having an engaging conversation that greatly upset the captain; he stood and stomped out of the restaurant and took off up the hill towards the mansion peeking out over the trees.

Aster decided she quite wanted to know what had distracted the captain from such an important appointment.

"You ate him!"

"That meat was delicious!"

"Monsters!"

"Why are you looking at me?!" This conversation was almost too good for Aster to interrupt.

"I hardly think that's accurate considering cannibalism is rather frowned upon in most, if not all, civilizations." All heads turned towards the knight as she waltzed up to the table.

"It's the scary lady knight!" She spared a dry glance at the three boys who gaped at her.

"You really need to stop calling me scary. It's your captain that ran out on our duel." The orange hatted kid snapped his fingers and pointed at Aster in realization.

"That's right!"

"Speaking of, do you know where I can find him? I've got duel to the death to win." Her choice of words obtained the desired effect as the kids' eyes all bulged in fear once more.

"Don't kill our captain!"

"Yeah, we were just kidding about him kicking your butt!"

"Who're you?" Aster turned towards the girl, a red-haired young woman, who looked her up and down with apprehension while her two seat mates just looked interested.

"I am Aster Leonova, Lady of the Wood, Keeper of Cair Paravel, Champion of Kings, and Daughter of the Great Lion." She grinned down at the uneasy girl as her hands came to rest on her armored hips. "But most call me Leonova or Aster, you pick."

"So cool~!" The three boys plus the straw-hat wearing male at the table chorused with sparkles in their eyes.

"So you're a knight?" The straw-hat boy asked. "You should join my crew!"

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen, boyo. I'm a soldier who prefers to fight on the ground, not the sea. Speaking of," she turned to the three young boys of Usopp's crew. "Lead me to your captain, we have unfinished business."

~~~~~

"So you're an actual knight?" Aster casually walked beside the green-haired swordsman while they headed towards the mansion.

"I am. Knighted twice actually. First by my father and then by High King Peter for saving his life from the White Witch Jadis." At the man's confused look, Aster realized he was, too, not familiar with Narnia. "Two kings of Narnia, the country I come from."

"What sea is that in?" Aster paused before continuing with a frown.

"I- I am not sure. I was not aware of these six oceans until I awoke on this island."