Blindsided (UsUk)

Three

When enlisting into the guards, the last thing Arthur wanted was to fight one of his comrades.

In the past, Arthur found it difficult to make friends with the other kids from the village. Some were too afraid to talk to him because of how different his eyes looked. They mentioned how 'scary' and 'lifeless' Arthur's eyes were, and how they would give them nightmares with just one glimpse. Every kid knew who Arthur was, and they knew to stay away from him as much as possible. At first it saddened Arthur about the fact that he can never have friends because of his disability, but he's learned to accept it and disregard it.

However, there were those who stuck with Arthur, but it was for an entirely different reason. Their sole purpose of 'hanging out' with him was to torment him everyday to the point where Arthur cries. He would take refuge in his room and cry pathetically. Nevertheless, this did not go unnoticed. A certain trio of older brothers managed to learn about the tortures their little brother was enduring. On the next day, Arthur would find himself puzzled when his bullies cower away from him. He never knew why.

Due to his lack of companionship and mentorship courtesy by his cruel older brothers, Arthur tend to become snappy when it comes to interacting with some people, which would eventually lead up to a fight between him and the latter. But it's not like Arthur ran around asking to fight with people, no, he only bites back if revoked.

An example would be his quarrel with another recruit a few minutes ago.

Oh, boy.

Arthur was already warming up to his new home, and he even managed to talk with some of the recruits at the training area. Training doesn't start until next week, it was only stretching and preparations this week, but the recruits were welcome to familiarize themselves around their area and the weapons they'll be using. Arthur was just doing that until some flashy, smug guy with brown hair decided to repeat history.

He said words; derogatory insults that is. And it was enough to rile up Arthur. The bloody git had the nerve to call Arthur off and insult him about his disability. The blonde expected this type of behavior; people who say he doesn't belong in an environment like this. He was too 'dysfunctional' and 'fragile' to be apart of the Royal Guard.

And that was it. He needed to do something to teach the bloke a lesson. Arthur didn't resort to pouncing on the man and decking him right away. That was too immature - although Arthur did want to do just that. He suggested for them to duel; a friendly battle to prove one's worth. However, the latter, a man named Antonio, stated that he 'refused to fight a blind man', Arthur then announced an initiative.

Whoever wins gets to dine with the King tonight.

Alfred was there, and surprisingly, he agrees about the settlement.

Antonio did not throw away the opportunity. With a smug and confident grin, the Spaniard accepted. And with two sides agreeing for a duel, they were given rapiers and an audience.

During their clash, Arthur noticed how aggressive Antonio was when it came to swinging. The latter was so overly confident that his attacks were sloppy and uncontrollable; his line of defense was unprotected, leaving several huge gaps for enemies to thrust their blade in. If this was a real fight with an enemy, Antonio would be dead right now.

With how Antonio was playing out his game, it didn't take Arthur that long to force the latter on his back, his rapier flying into the air before plummeting to the ground. It clattered loudly, singing Antonio's defeat as the audience stood back in awe.