April widened her eyes as a gray stone samurai suddenly pierced through the cloud of dirt and brought its stone katana down on her in a downward slash.
The girl froze in place, numbed and her tails froze as she cringed.
…but in less than a heartbeat, Saka suddenly appeared in a blur in front of her and received the devastating blow with his left arm. He stood still, but the rock beneath his feet cracked and a shockwave from his arm and the sword burst diagonally out and instantly cleared the cloud of dirt.
Simultaneously, another stone samurai appeared on the right and attacked.
This time, Safatore also appeared with his broad falchion and met with the samurai's stone blade and stopped it, blue fire bursting forth.
The one who had jumped at April pulled her sword away and kicked at Saka's arm, propelling her stone body back and away. She spun through the air and landed gracefully on the ground; the katana held in front with both hands.
April quickly made out the statuette's features. They were Asian and beautiful with a hint of Western, seemingly carved out of the same rock as the steely mountain rock. Her head was covered in the typical samurai helmet with antennae and her katana was sharp despite being a rock. The other samurai was the same but with a slightly older face. She made her way to the other stone samurai and held her sword at eye level, right arm pulled up and back, and the left arm angled down and forward in front of her. Their legs were far apart and bent to seem as if they would spring into action at any moment.
…But before they did, Saka hollered:
"Kuri! Kakuro! The first to make a move! Will answer to my fist!"
April – who was now too scared to move, clutching onto her tails – watched the two stone warrioresses carefully. Their passive faces were stern and frightening. They were the creatures that had rained rocks on them. Well, that explained a lot!
They stood there motionless and posing in their battle stances.
Saka took a step toward them and growled:
"Damn it, you could have killed us!"
The first to react was the one which held her katana in front of her. She suddenly straightened, held her scabbard with her left hand and thrust the katana inside and frowned.
"You're late!"
April lost her breath when the gray stone skin of both samurai statuettes …faded and exposed sunbaked flesh and scarlet samurai armor. Two pairs of bright blue eyes suddenly appeared.
The two girls' faces suddenly filled with emotion and they ran toward Saka and threw themselves in his arms, embracing him.
One of them whined:
"Benefactor, you promised you'd be back in a week!"
The other whimpered:
"We thought you were dead. But when we saw you were just late, and you made us worry for nothing, we got angry."
"You're late…"
Saka sighed.
"I know. It's Safatore's fault."
Safatore turned pale and hid behind Semacoar, the Asian girls started sobbing while Safatore's gang released pained groans. April on her side, couldn't believe her eyes.
"What the hell? You could've killed us. Whoever thought it was a good idea to throw rocks at people like that? And you attacked me."
Her frustration, however, suddenly turned into raw fear when the scarlet samurais turned, unsheathed their swords and pointed them at her.
"Benefactor, we also didn't recognize her!"
"State your name and regiment."
April was flustered.
"W-what?"
The older looking one took a few steps to the girl and said:
"You're the reason we attacked. Safatore's cohort had not taken you with them when they left for Linwood. We naturally assumed you were a monster which had taken over their minds so they could give away the location of Xander. Now that you are here, would you mind telling us who you are and where you come from?"
Her graceful katana aimed at April's heart.
For some reason, April felt insulted by this act. She had already gone through a lot to confirm to Safatore and his gang that she was not a shapeshifting creature – and now this? She grabbed an arrow from Saka's quiver and threateningly pointed it at the young woman.
"Back off, sister."
But when the Asian girl blinked in confusion at her, April cautiously looked at the arrow before her eyes widened.
"It has… no arrowhead?"
"What the…"
Well, that explained why Saka never bothered to take them out. That meant she had poked the tiger in the eye by pointing a blunt weapon at her. The samurai scowled.
"Precious little thing... Are you challenging me?"
The headless arrow fell out of April's hand, and she ducked behind Saka:
"Forgive me, sister, for I have committed great offense."
Safatore sighed.
"No, she's not challenging you, Kuri. She is just… impulsive."
Word.
The samurai however was not listening.
"No. This precious thing has just challenged me. We fight!"
April frowned.
"What?! No!"
"Um. She doesn't know how to fight." Semacoar said.
Kakuro – the other samurai – smirked.
"I didn't hear her say so herself. I believe what she said was "Back off, sister!" That's a fight waiting to happen."
April shook her head.
"No, I can't fight you. I'm not an idiot. And I don't know how to fight!"
Kuri's eyes ignited with a menacing flame.
"I just witnessed you dropping three thousand meters from the sky. You're no ordinary elf. Fight me, precious thing."
A disagreeing clamor of Safatore's buddies filled the mountainous air as Kuri eyed April with a growing hunger.
"Kuri, something happened a while back. She can't, under any circumstances engage in combat lest you wish to inflict harm upon me." Saka firmly stated.
"My apologies, benefactor but either she fights me or none of you enter. I have the power to ensure that. Remember, benefactor?"
Saka's mouth hung open, a finger raised.
"That's… actually correct."
His friends turned to him with bewildered eyes. Semacoar voiced his complaint:
"Saka, that's crazy. She'll skin her. You'll both die. Again."
"I'll do it!" April squeaked.
The mountain peak became deathly silent for a while. Kuri grimly stared at April for a bit, flung her head back and then burst out laughing.
"Yes! Let's do it."
Kakuro, without hesitation, threw her sword to the raven blonde.
The katana flew and landed tip-first into the rock in between April's feet. Hesitating at first, she grabbed its hilt and strenuously pulled it out of the ground before Kakuro's intimidating voice said:
"Sister, do give her at least a fighting chance." She chuckled menacingly.
"Grip… cross guard… blade…" April felt her spine melt. "What the hell am I doing?"
Even if she knew the parts of the katana, fighting was more than just knowing your weapon…
It was also about knowing how to use it. How to use it to keep your head on. And the hands, definitely your hands. You had to avoid being handicapped in a swordfight.
As April studied this simple yet intricate blade, the rest of the elves scattered and made a circle around the two. Akka dragged her scepter along the ground, leaving a white powder that indicated the edge of their fighting ground.
April raised her head to find samurai Kuri standing a few meters away, her sword inside its sheath, lazulite blue eyes having no particular emotion.
She took in a breath, took a stance with her legs apart and bent, both hands gripping the sword in an almost batting position – but in front of her chest – blade pointing to the sky. Her onesie top was unzipped and tied around her waist with its arms to reduce restriction. The vest she wore underneath was dyed in red and mostly purple. Oh, and a bit of green from those blasted Tree Goblins.
In a sense, she was creating more surface area for the samurai to attack – but cloth wouldn't have stopped her blade anyhow. She stood her ground in this stance eyeing Kuri with malice.
A voice inside her head went:
[What are you doing? Stand like straight! You look ridiculous! Get a better form!]
Her face turned grim.
"Shuddup! You were no use when your twin girlfriends picked on me."
The voice sighed.
[Ugh. Just try not to lose any body parts. I already went through that.]
April turned to Saka and scowled.
"How about less judgement and more moral support, huh? Or better yet; you fight this harridan!"
Saka wore no particular expression and looked away, making April feel no less than doomed.
Kuri finally blinked and a small smile appeared on her Asian face.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, we will not be having a physical fight…"
Saka turned back to face the samurai with a scowl. "Kuri, I never agreed to that..."
"Sorry, benefactor, but this little one does not seem to have any physical capabilities to withstand me even if I'm a blind cripple."
April paused and looked at herself. By Jove, she was a weakling!
Saka was still trying to make the woman reconsider:
"Kuri…"
"Don't worry benefactor. I'll be gentle with her."
April had curiously raised her eyes when she felt a shift in the environment. Her feet felt light and she was suddenly pushed to the ground before a gust of wind blew by. When the dust cleared, she was still on the top of the mountain.
But it was just her and the older samurai.
She threw her gaze around in trepidation, seeing no one else around, not even Saka, and she was still holding that katana.
Kuri held her waist, a smirk on her face.
"You're really cute, it's hard to believe you're a monster."
April shot the woman a look, feeling her heart skipping a beat.
"I'm not a monster! And what is this? Where's Saka?"
"You seem pretty attached to him. What are you, a Leech Spec?" The woman questioned.
"What are you talking about?" April cried, clearly confused.
"Hm, then are you a shapeshifting goblin?"
April lost her breath to a shocked scoff.
"Pfft! Lady, you are one crazy person."
The samurai's blade instantly made it to April's face and nicked her cheek. She yelped to the pain and held her face.
"Ow! What are you doing?"
Kuri placed her blade under April's chin and lifted her face up with it, her expression hard and serious.
"Listen here, Precious Thing, Longshaw is a very important person to my family and I'm not about to let a random thing glue itself to him and jeopardize his life. I sensed the ethereal bond you two have."
"That's not my fault!" April choked out, the sword falling out of her hand. But Kuri was not appeased.
"Wether it's his fault, or your fault or my fault - doesn't matter. All that matters is you take this sword…"
She picked up the other katana with her foot and held it out to April with her hand, the stern look still on her face.
"...and fight me."
April looked at the sword with trepidation, her pulse beating against the blade of Kuri's katana.
"Or I chop off your tails."
The moment the samurai said that, April's heart almost stopped beating and her pupils shrunk. Losing a body part, no matter how unwanted that part was, was not something she was willing to do. She was not a masochist. For crying out loud, if this samurai wanted to kill April for whatever reason she had, she would have to work for it.
April clenched her jaws and held the katana by the hilt. The moment she held it, the coldness of Kuri's blade left her neck and the samurai appeared several meters away from April again, wearing a smirk. April snarled at the woman.
Kuri chuckled.
"That is a very cute expression you have on you. Just remember one thing though; whatever injury you receive while fighting in my Dream Pocket will be transferred to your real body. A fight in here is fatal."
April's hands trembled and she gripped the katana in anger and terror.
"Well, I've already died once so I don't care!"
Her trembling cry of anger echoed through the open mountain. Kuri stared at the girl, slightly taken aback. She sighed and covered her eyes, a small chuckle escaping her lips.
"My, my. You truly are so adorable. I could just kiss you to pieces." She said.
April squinted in confusion.
"Alright! Let's do this; I shed my armor to make it at least come near to a fair fight. Also, if you can land five cuts out of ten on me, I'll stop challenging you and I'll take you in with us."
Pieces of metallic scarlet armor fell outside the fight circle. Kuri was left wearing some fairly red robes. Not even the vambraces and greaves were left. In that light costume, Kuri looked like a fantastical ninja, with lazulite eyes and badger-like hair tied into a neat bun at the top of her head.
She was the absolute epitome of a fighter. April on the other hand... Bless her.
"Wow, she's so tall, beautiful, sure of herself and a kick-ass warrior… I'm dead."
[You better not die, you little brat!]
April gripped the hilt of the katana tightly. Saka's voice was still able to reach her in this Dream Pocket? How absolutely useless!
"Shuddup and get outta my head!"
The mountain peak was silent for a long while as the two girls eyed each other menacingly, one standing in a practiced stance while the other, standing like a statue. None dared to make the first move. The first to charge always had the misfortune of falling first – but sometimes the first to attack would gain leverage of surprising the other party. April was busy thinking about this when she felt a warm liquid trickle down her cheek. She blinked, touched it and saw blood.
"Blood?"
Kuri smiled from where she stood. Her katana went back into its sheath. She said:
"One-zero…"