FicWad

Chapter Four: Robber

"Um, Ryuon? That boot goes on the other foot, Sorceror."

Looking down, he saw that Kagero was right. "Oh. Sorry."

Kagero chuckled, ran a whetstone down his sword one last time; they'd be using wooden weapons for the trial, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared. "What is wrong with you? If you were any paler you'd fade away. If he picks you, he picks you. Why put yourself under all that stress?"

"Because I saw him with my cousin!" Ryuon turned on his friend, eyes wild and blond curls swinging. "It was starting to rain and she was holding her cloak above his head. Then she walked over to the front desk and...gods, Kagero, how could I have been so stupid? No wonder she wants to join the goddamn army. Never mind that it's backbreaking labor no woman should undertake and requires complete trust when she's never even admitted an emotion without me wearing her down! No, it's worth selling her soul to the art of war because Soldier Baby has a pair of pretty ruby eyes. Do you think his eyes are pretty, Kagero? Cause she sure does!"

"I wouldn't know..." Kagero began, confused. "But I'll check when I see him. Get a real good look. Then I'll let you know."

"Shut up. Do you see me laughing? Damn!" Ryuon slammed his fist against his locker, causing Shesta two benches over to jump. "I thought she was better than that. Now she's gonna get herself killed...and I might end up following the man she died for. The overprivileged, underaged, immature, bloodthirsty--"

"Um, Ryuon?"

"colorless homicidal selfish berserking--"

Wham.

Something collided with the side of Ryuon's head; his mind blanked, then exploded in pain as he slammed into the locker and bounced off to land face-down and sprawling on the bench. Blinking through shards of pain, he felt his nose began to dribble blood, could sense the ginger tenderness of an impending bruise on his temple.

"Go on," said Dilandau's voice. "Quite a creative string of words there, soldier."

Feeling his teeth with his tongue, Ryuon found that none were gone and he could speak. "Forgive me, sir," he mumbled dumbly, more ashamed of losing control than what he'd said. "I forgot my place. Thank you for correcting me, sir."

Someone in the audience snickered. Hearing the sound, Dilandau pointed in its direction. "You there. Whoever that was. Pack up; you're out. Anyone else having fun?" Dead silence greeted his words. He smiled. "Too bad. I am." Still smirking, he pulled Ryuon to his feet, who wavered uncertainly and had to steady himself against the wall with one hand while pinching his bloody nose with the other. "Fix that," the commander told him, handing him a handkerchief. "But don't take too long. I want you following in at least three miets. Everyone else-move out!" The barrack emptied in record time, Kagero giving his friend a final pat of encouragement before hastening away. Ryuon was left alone on the bench, throbbing head and pulsing nose keeping him company.

"Rephina, you idiot," he muttered to himself. "What have you done?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0

His head still hurt, and the steady rainfall had kept the blood on his face from drying completely. Only two recruits beside him were left in the line-the line that would determine their destinies.

"Next!" Dilandau ordered as Gatty limped off the field, bruised but unbroken after the longest sparring round of the afternoon. He'd actually held his own, seeking to exploit Dilandau's weaknesses instead of just resorting to the patterned attack strokes the privates had been taught. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't found any.

Kagero made room for Gatty in the coliseum stands; he'd been early in line and performed, in Ryuon's eyes, admirably under the circumstances, putting up a defense despite the fact that the rain had fogged over his glasses completely. All right, so Dilandau had nearly literally wiped the arena floor with him. At least Kagero had given it his best try.

"Which is more than I'll be able to," Ryuon grumbled. Every inch of his body seemed sore, or stiff, or both from landing on the bench awkwardly. Damn it all to the cursed halls of Atlantis and back.

"Next."

That had been quick. How could the man still be going strong after sparring all morning? Was he even human? Looking at Dilandau's wide, giddy eyes as the fight began, Ryuon had his doubts.

"Weak-weak-you're all weak!" His opponent's wooden sword went flying and Dilandau knocked the boy to the ground. "Next!...oh. It's you. I thought you would leave."

"I don't run from anything," Ryuon replied, brushing his hair out of his face and trying not to wince as he lifted his sword. "Especially not what I don't fear."

"You're a feisty one...I like that!" Grinning wildly, Dilandau charged. "You should have left while you had the chance."

"I pleaded forgiveness," snarled Ryuon as he dodged a blow, though he felt something in his frame creak. "If you didn't accept--"

"You aren't sorry. Why did you say it? I'll make you sorry!"

A blow to the knees made him stumble; a hit to the gut emptied his lungs, but Ryuon forced himself not to fall. "My cousin. You-seduced my cousin!"

Dilandau stopped in mid-feint, a blank look on his face; Ryuon's wooden sword came crashing into his shoulder but he didn't even flinch. "You..." he giggled, pointing at Ryuon, "you're the..." He broke off and even lowered his sword, laughing to himself in a surprisingly girlish fashion that made his would-be soldiers trade worried glances. For his part, Ryuon tried to take advantage of the situation and charged, slipped--

The mud squelched around his head in mere moments as he was knocked flat on his back, staring up at the dreary sky-and Dilandau's dripping but victorious form.

"I hate rain," Dilandau commented to himself, surveying the clouds and still smiling. He shouldered his practice sword after the blow. "It always makes me so depressed. And I hate rumors like that!" Kicking Ryuon, the young commander exited the field, leaving his hopeful followers to wait in the elements for their results. No one, not even Kagero, helped Ryuon ease his sore body back onto his feet. So he lay where he had fallen, letting the sky weep down onto his face.

He was still there when Dilandau returned with a list of names, and he stayed long after his comrades had departed for the barracks and the bars, either to celebrate or drown disappointment. Unlike Dilandau, Ryuon was grateful for the rain. As long as it drizzled, it would hide the other moisture trickling down his cheeks.

O0o0o0o0o0o0

"What did he do to you? Mud wrestling?" Rephina asked when her cousin finally made his entrance to the flat. Ryuon hadn't bothered to shower. He didn't care about the dirt. "And where's Kagero? I cooked extra because I thought he'd be coming."

"Celebrating with the other Dragonslayers," said Ryuon dully, tracking mud across the floor and depositing his slimy person at the table. "He might drop by later."

"Oh, you mean you didn't make it...Wait." Putting down the dishtowel she'd been wiping plates with when he arrived, Rephina sat across from him. "What did you call them?"

"Dragonslayers," he replied in the same flat voice, studying the mud beneath his fingernails like he'd never before seen such a phenomenon. "Because they'd be staring down death. Any ideas as to how he came up with that reasoning? Because I'm baffled..."

Rephina pursed her lips. "So we met. He did me a favor. I took him out for a drink as a thank you."

"Do tell."

"What exactly is wrong with that?"

"You hate the army!" Ryuon burst. "You've always said so, and while I've disagreed I honored your right to differ. And I'd honor your right to change your mind, but...Father told me what happened when you quit. What you said. Then I saw you and...that man together. I'm not stupid. I can figure it out. The pretty eyes, right?"

"I thought you admired him!"

"That was before he robbed you of consideration for others. I can't admire any man who does that to people." The pot on the stove began to clatter, but he motioned for her to let it be. He wasn't hungry.

She stared at him in dumbfounded anger. "Robbed?...He's liberated me!"

"Oh, I bet he liberated you of a lot this afternoon," Ryuon quipped, agitation leading him to voice his unfounded suspicions. Jaw dropping, Rephina gaped at the accusation, then gathering her skirts jumped out of her chair and stalked away. From the direction of her bedroom he could hear vague crashing sounds but made no move to investigate.

Finally she reappeared, face flushed but no less frustrated. "If you must know," she said in deliberately calm tones, sitting once more and fastidiously smoothing her skirts, "he didn't touch me. Indeed, he didn't even pay much attention to me. I'm sorry for worrying you; in fact, I'm sorry for mentioning him to you at all."

He cracked a smile, his first of the day. "A fat lot of good that does us. I'm a Dragonslayer now."

o0o0o0o0o0o0