The One Amongst Me

Page 21 - To Fight The Wind

As Alec slowly forced his eyes open, he moaned in discomfort, finding himself lying sideways on a table, feeling his hand numb as he reluctantly got up, yawning in sleepiness as stood on his feet, beginning to walk towards the backroom.

As he opened the door, he rubbed his eyes, finding Renei undressing, causing both of them to blush and for Alec to force the door shut immediately, looking the opposite way. "...I feel something bad coming!" he thought as he quickly took a step forward, creating a small distance between himself and the door as he witnessed Renei opening it slowly.

"She's not angry...?" he thought as he watched her emerge fully clothed, paladin sowed in hand, scaring as she swung with full force, her face still red. "Look, I didn't mean to!" he yelled as he dodged her swing. "Doesn't matter! Be more thoughtful of your surroundings!!" she yelled as Siya and Chinia also exited from the room, finding Renei swinging the sword all over the bar, causing Siya's eyebrow to twitch as Chinia slowly stepped back.

"O-Okay! I'll be more careful!" he yelled as he pulled out his sword, blocking hers as Siya slowly walking in between them, putting her two hands on the blades of their swords. "H-Hey, Ms. Fronego--" Alec tried to say as Siya gripped both sword, pulling them out of their hands and hitting Alec in the stomach with both handles, putting him down to the ground. "But...she was the one who was attack...ing." he mumbled as he held his stomach, falling to his knees.

"Hell if i care! She's destroying my bar, you're the reason. Do I need more context than that?!" she yelled as she handed Renei her sword back, causing her turn her head in frustration, then stabbing Alec's sword into the ground. "You got your Maiden back, so it's time for some practice, fool." Siya declared, shocking him.

"Wait, why? Aren't you supposed to kick us out now...?" Alec asked in confusion and suspicion. "Yeah, that's what I'm doing; I'll use the forest and a training session as the excuse to throw you out. Now, move, damn it or you don't get food!" she explained, causing him to slowly get back up on his feet.

"Thanks, Ms. Fronegood! It means a lot. Maybe this is why dad admired you so much and always rambled about you..." Alec let out, causing her to raise an eyebrow, looking away quickly. "Sure, whatever... Get your things and wait outside." she ordered, causing him to nudge his head to the right slightly, taking his sword. "I'll...do that." he said in a oblivious tone, beginning to walk towards the exit. "Finally..." Siya let out as she slowly turned around, finding him standing next to the exit.

To her surprise, he turned around in a flash, pointing at her. "He said you're just a soft cushion filled with spikes!" he yelled with a smile, causing her to blush as he exited, laughing as Renei looked at him exit with a worried look. "You're coming, too, right?" Siya addressed Renei, still blushing and speaking in an embarrassed tone. "Y-Yeah...!" she replied as she ran back into the backroom quickly. "That's utter fool still calls me those things...? Moron..." she mumbled to herself.

~One Hour Later~

"Aim higher!" Siya yelled as Alec swung at Renei with her dodging his attack and sweeping at his legs, Alec jumping back just as easily, causing Siya to sigh. "You've become a lot more cautious, Renei!" Alec pointed out, causing her to grip the handle of her sword. "That doesn't matter, right? Come at me!" she yelled as Alec charged in

"Hey, Maiden? How does the fool's fighting look to you?" Siya asked as she turned her head towards Chinia, finding her concentrated on the wind surrounding Alec as he moved awkwardly left and right. As Siya watched in surprise, Chinia took a step forward towards Renei and Alec, causing them to stop their fight.

"Is something wro--" "I require a fight, Alec." Chinia declared, surprising him and Renei. "You, Chinia?" he asked as she nodded. "Renei, I request you let me borrow your sword." she let out, surprising her. "A-Ah, sure!" she quickly replied as she walked over to Chinia, handing it to her in a slightly confused look.

As Chinia took it, she narrowed her eyes, beginning to scan the sword from top to bottom, her eyes moving up and down immensely fast, suddenly stopping. With Alec watching, Chinia stepped in front of her, placing the sword in front of herself. "She's using the same stand as me...?" Alec thought as the wind began blowing slowly as Siya and Renei watched from the side.

As Alec's eyes widened, he found Chinia disappearing from his eyes, immediately feeling his clothing on his shoulders getting torn slightly as Chinia stepped down on her feet behind him. "I...couldn't even are her..." Renei mumbled. "Of course you couldn't; she didn't intend for us to see her movements." Siya added, surprising her as Alec turned around, finding Chinia in the corner of his eye to the left, quickly turning in that direction.

"So you're quite skilled, Chinia...!" Alec yelled as Chinia raised her hand, pointing the sword directly at Alec, causing him to take a cautious stance. "I can see the pure anxiety and lack of confidence, Alec. Explain to me, what occurred in my time of disappearance?" she asked, clearly feeling equally concerned, causing him to avert his eyes as Chinia suddenly stomped, shocking him as a slash appeared on his arm and Chinia appeared behind him.

"I insist on an explanation, Alec." she demanded as she turned around, looking at his back, watching as he turned around, giving her a wide smile. "That's something I can't do..." he replied to her demand as he gripped the sword's handle with all of his strength.

"The fool doesn't wanna tell the Maiden about killing me, huh...?" Siya thought as Renei clenched her fist, watching Chinia slash at Alec again and again. With Alec unable to keep up with Chinia, she swung forward, stopping the sword steadily in front of Alec's throat.

"Could you explain why you cannot explain?" she asked in a bitter tone as Alec kept on forcing a smile. "I can't. Sorry." he let out slowly, lowering his sword. "Your win..." he added, taking a step away from her sword's blade, prompting her to lower it.

"What would you do if I asked you about your past, Chinia?" he asked in a serious tone, shocking Renei and Siya and causing Chinia to step backwards once. "I would not reveal it as easily as that." she gave an honest answer, causing him to shake his head.

"Of course you wouldn--" he tried to say as Siya ran behind him, surprising him as she pushed him to side, causing Chinia to step away as a bullet landed where Alec was standing, causing his eyes to widen. "Is it him again...?!" Alec thought as he quickly got back up on his feet.

"He dodged it. Do I fire again?" Alec heard a voice from the woods. "No, they know we're here. Just get down." a second voice said as the two men got down from a tree, slowly beginning to walk towards the four of them.

"It's the same man from before!" Renei yelled as she ran over to them. "Chinia, try to keep away from them!" Alec yelled as he ran over to her, beginning to protect her, despite his demand. "Alec, that is unneeded." she pointed out, not getting an answer.

"So...how about round two?"