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“Oh? And what would the favor be exactly?” Maevis asked as she took a seat on Skye’s shoulder.

Skye crossed her arms over her gargling belly; “I need help figurin’ out a solution.. I was thinkin’ about somethin’ Shasta and I had talked about a wee bit ago. She suggested I not tell Tidas about me, Ah.. tricks, so to speak; because of the trials. But now that I’ve thought about it a bit, there’s a good chance that he might see me practicing with Shasta. I can see Tidas showin’ up to train himself or others.. Or he could just randomly stop by to see me as well.”

Skye began to pace her room as she spoke; “There’s also the possibility of another mage tellin’ him.. The new recruits train there all the time, and he trains them. I could see some tryin’ to use gossip about me as a bridge to him.. I need to find a way to train without bein’ seen..”

“Outside the city limits there’s a bunch of open farmland. You could buy a chunk of land and train there?” Shasta suggested half-jokingly.

“Terrible idea. Farmland is meant to grow food, not feed your bloodlust,” Klaus replied stiffly, still not happy about Shasta coming into the princess’ room.

Shasta narrowed her eyes at Klaus as she spoke; “Watch it, kid.. Just because I like your spunk doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate blatant disrespect..”

Before the two could get into it, Skye jerked her head up and asked Maevis; “Is there a way to put up a wall around the ring?”

Maevis grinned at Skye confidently; “I can definitely make it, but what is it you don’t want Tidas knowing about? A strategy of some sort? ”

.....

Skye smiled at her fairy friend before she hesitantly replied; “Ahh.. You and Nic won’t be likin’ it, Mae..”

Skye looked to Klaus and asked him to step out of the room for a moment. She apologized to him and explained that it was an extremely private matter. That she would explain it to both him and Ronnie as soon as she had it figured out, and that he needed to trust her.

Klaus was worried for the princess, but had still agreed to it right away. He had pledged his life to her, and that included his trust. He and Ronnie both owed Skye their lives, making trusting her a nonexistent issue.

Once Klaus shut the door, Skye told Maevis about her fourth trait. The blatant panic in her eyes made Shasta extremely curious as to why it was there. Maevis didn’t seem to fear much, and Skye gaining more power was an odd thing for her to be afraid of. She wanted to ask about it, but lost her chance when a knock came from the door.

When Peggy and Ronnie came back, their arms were filled with food. Klaus had to grab a basket from each and open the door for them just so they could get in to the room. Peggy had grabbed two large baskets filled with mini rounded loaves of bread hanging from each of her arms. Her hands held a tray that had two plates on it, both piled high with breaded pork and chicken cutlets.

Ronnie’s setup had two bottles in one basket with cups and plates in the other. The tray he carried had four smaller plates, but were just as stacked as Peggy’s. One plate had cheese and two medium-sized jars of sauce, while another had shredded greens and carrots. The third plate had raspberry jam thumbprint cookies stacked neatly, and the last had slices of pickles on it.

One of the bottles was chilled cream while the other was a bitter merlot wine. Shasta’s ears perked up happily at the sight of the cream while Klaus grinned at the wine. He imagined it was meant to pair with the sweetness of the sauce for the sandwiches, which it did well. He’d never seen the meat breaded how it’d been either. The simplicity of the meal mixed with the flavor combinations had Klaus eating four sandwiches by himself.

Peggy and Ronnie wound up making another trip for more food. Peggy had given the palace cooks a few of her recipes that specifically used up leftover ingredients. The crunchy, greesy cutlets had been a huge success with the king. They had been serving the same things over and over again for so long.. Peggy’s suggestions and recipes had been welcomed by everyone.

After a lively meal of mostly defending the food from Zazzy and laughing, the group departed for the arena again. As they walked through the halls, they passed by Marco and Karena with their entourage. She’d flashed Skye a disgusted look when she’d seen what she was wearing, but quickly covered it. Marco greeted her with his fake courteous grin, then continued on into the banquet room with their guests.

As the doors closed, Marco looked back at Skye with amusement. She’d caught the look, but maintained her stoic stare. She didn’t want him to think that he unnerved her in any way, even though he did. As they exited the palace, Skye spoke low so only Maevis and Shasta could hear her; “There’s another reason I want to keep.. That, to me self.”

Knowing exactly what and whom Skye had meant, the group continued on to the stables, then the arena..

**********

Klaus and Ronnie waited outside with the horses as the three women went inside the competitor’s entrance. Skye and Shasta changed into their armor quickly, then headed out onto the field. There were only four other trainees there, but Skye didn’t want to take any chances. After some constructive discussions about how to go about making the walls, Maevis decided that sturdy, tall, and insulated ones would work for now.

It took Maevis no time at all to funnel her magic into the ground, sort through the elements available to her, and create sound-dampening walls. She fluttered up to the top of the walls and sat down on the edge to watch the impending spectacle. As the old fairy watched the two chat a few minutes, she prayed that they’d start soon. Her mind was going over the bits of the legend that she could remember off of the top of her head, and she desperately wanted a distraction from it...

“Are you sure you want me to? We can-”

Skye cut Shasta off; “No, it has to be done this way.. I need you to really come at me, like ye want to hurt me. I need to feel desperate to save me self, or it might not work.”

Shasta scratched behind her ear as she hesitated; “Ok... Just don’t get mad at me if you get hurt.”

Skye smiled at her friend as she simply replied, “I won’t.”

Skye stood still while Shasta walked a few feet away, then turned to face her; “I’ll hit you once. If you don’t block, we’ll do it again. If you block, I’ll keep trying to hit you until I do.”

Skye shot Shasta a flat expression; “That kinda defeats the purpose of what I just said.. I need you to come at me-”

Shasta interrupted Skye with an understanding tone; “I know, but you barely have any combat experience, and it’s not like what you’ve been through was actual hand-to-hand, either. You need to get used to how close-combat feels, and how fast I am, too.”

“Getting a feel for your opponent is a major part of any combat situation. This will allow both of us to properly gauge you. If you can keep up with me, then we’ll start your real training in earnest..”

Skye thought a moment before she spoke; “Aye, I can agree to that. Just don’t hold back too much. I specifically asked Maevis to help so I could devote me power to me Shaman and Tank traits. No use in doin’ this if yer not gonna push me.”

Shasta flashed a grin that sent an nervous chill throughout Skye’s body as she spoke; “Don’t you worry about me pushing you, little princess.. Just try to keep up!”

Skye barely saw Shasta move before her fist was coming into contact with Skye’s face. She hit the ground hard enough to cause her to roll twice. Her ears rang and her head pounded as she focused on her Shaman trait. After a few seconds, Skye’s ears stopped ringing and her vision was able to focus.

If Skye didn’t have her Shaman trait, she most likely would’ve been unconscious. She knew of Shasta’s strength first-hand, but could never have imagined how her hit would feel. It now made since to her why Magnus had been so adamant about how strong her hit was allowed to be the first time they’d met and fought.

If Shasta would’ve been using her full strength, she most likely would’ve taken Skye’s head off. A terrifying imagine of Shasta on a battlefield flashed through her mind’s eye. She stood on top of a pile of bodies with glowing eyes and a demon’s smirk. It was Skye’s imagination giving her a visual of how her new friend’s strength and abilities seemed to her.

Skye shook the image from her head as she stood up. Shasta had walked back to her starting point and was waiting for the princess to signal herself ready. Fixing her sights on Shasta with intense focus, Skye said, “Again.”

In less than a blink, Skye was on the ground again. She spit the blood from her lip on to the ground, then healed the split in her lip as she stood. Locking eyes with Shasta, she repeated herself; “Again.”

Over and over, the two continued their pattern..

~Smack~

“Again!”

~Punch~

“Again!”

~Punch~

“Again!”

~Smack~

“AGAIN!”

“No! This isn’t getting us anywhere... Skye, I’m gonna keep comin’ at you, alright? Get ready! If you don’t, I might accidentally kill you!”

Skye barely had time to get her arms up before Shasta began her assault. Her fists felt akin to being pelted with rocks. Skye could feel her legs bending due to the sheer force of Shasta’s onslaught..

That was when Skye realized that her arms weren’t being broken during the barrage. As Shasta’s fists pummeled her, the princess realized she hadn’t thought when she’d put her arms up defensively; it had been instinct. Suddenly the things Shasta had said earlier flooded her mind.

‘Willpower..Don’t think.. Instinct.. Don’t think.. Survival.. Don’t think.. Protect Tidas... JUST DO IT!’

A dense, heavy magic began to charge the air around them as Shasta continued to beat on Skye.. As she went to pull her right fist back to swing again, Skye grabbed it. A massive surge of magic filled the ring as Skye’s eyes and hair began to glow. She yanked Shasta forward in an attempt to hit her, but she shifted her weight to the side to avoid the strike.

Breaking Skye’s grip on her fist, she hopped backwards to gain distance and collect her thoughts, but Skye was right in front of her. She swung high with her left fist, nearly taking Shasta by surprise. She hadn’t realized that the princess was left-handed. It would make predicting her movements more difficult as their fight intensified.

As Shasta ducked down to avoid the swing, Skye’s knee came up. She barely had time to put her arm up to block it from making contact with her face. Using her tail for extra balance, Shasta pivoted on her ankle to try and connect a low kick, but Skye sprung into the air. As she did, she extended the leg she’d just tried to knee Shasta with, forcing her to flip backwards to avoid it.

The moment Skye’s feet hit the ground, she lurched forward and began to pummel Shasta; exactly how Shasta had been beating on her moments ago. Instead of simply throwing her arms up defensively, Shasta went blow for blow with Skye. As their speeds steadily increased, so did their respective smirks.

Skye was nearing her limit already, but she didn’t care. She was so close to landing a hit on Shasta, she could see it; or so she’d thought. With a light cackle, Shasta increased her speed...