She wasn't a fighter. Not by any stretch, but between the terrifying incident with the witch, everyone returning injured from their own hellish missions and the dream, Ro's mind was trapped in a state of anxiety that had not abated, even after her earlier rest… And the perpetual thought in her mind was that she needed to do more. To
be more.
And so after waking in Selene's room, rested, but far from refreshed, she set out to find Ronin, to train… meeting the man in the training room with a sheer determination the southern ginger wasn't particularly known for.
Ronin desired to fall under the stubborn urge to crawl back into bed, considering the briefing wasn't until later in the day and that Bethany encouraged that he'd be mentally ready to go out at some point during the next few days. Besides, the witch yesterday had left him feeling sore and anxious over the fucking chimera lurking nearby the guild. Whoever thought that was a good idea was about to get their ass beat in the arena…
Trudging to the training room, somewhat sleepily, Ronin ignored any possible presence and plucked his shield from the safety of its corner of the room. Strapping it to his forearm and grasping the handle of his blade, he turned to see Europa. He blinked sleepily. "You look much too happy for this."
Blinking, looking up from where she'd been stretching minutes before, Ro frowned in thought. She wanted to be happy. She did. It was something she'd always wanted to invest in before, training, but she never had… Yet her excitement was undermined by a sense of foreboding she just couldn't shake. She'd been told time and time again she wasn't fully prepared for what the world had in store for her…
Forget that. She would be, now…
Rising to her feet, biting the inside of her cheek, she looked to the weapon in Ronin's grasp before moving to the wall to find one for herself. In her mind she remembered the flash of steel in her hand.. The curved handle. Shivering, she plucked a dagger with a straight hilt, before turning to Ronin with a nod, "Let's do this, then."
"Take it easy there, you look like you're a leaf off a branch." He mumbled, approaching her and placing his hands on her shoulders to help them sink. Taking a step back, he tapped the tip of his weapon against the wooden tile. "Your form isn't quite right, either. Let yourself be a little loose, grab a shield if you need one. Now, let your feet spread a little bit and give yourself some room. When you give the go ahead, we will try this, okay? Defeat comes when you can pin the other to the floor for fifteen seconds. Sound fair?"
Concentrating on his instructions, Ro shifted her stance and gave a firm nod. Her eyes drifted briefly to the shields, but she gave a shake of her head as she let her shoulders relax slightly, holding the weapon up at the ready, "Sounds fair…" she noted, "Ready when you are."
Without waiting for her to finish, he raised his weapon and slammed it down against the knife she held, directing her weapon down towards the ground before swinging around her. Slinging the blade around her neck and hovering it centimeters from her skin, he offered her a gentle smirk. "I can beat you really fast, sugar plum. Try to keep me amused for as long as you can. Come on...get out."
Her eyes widened as he suddenly bolted forward, and with a small gasp, she stepped back, as the knife nearly flew from her grip. Breathing in, a small flicker of a smile touched her lips as well, and ducking back away from the blade, she swung her own up, swiftly.
Ronin avoided the blow narrowly and threatened to skim the metallic blade across her flesh. However, he removed the katana from her throat and with his foot to the small of her back, he pushed her to the mat and twirled his weapon in his grip. "Come on, fight me like you mean it."
Hitting the mat, Ro glanced back over her shoulder, her expression shifting as her eyes narrowed just slightly… not angry, but there was a glimmer of challenge to it, and pushing herself upright, she swung hard again with the dagger.
Ronin caught sight of her initial swing, attempting to deflect the blow with the brunt of his weapon. However, she was swifter than anticipated, and his weapon barely managed to block the strike. Trying to swing his weapon downwards to send her weapon down, Ronin missed his mark by mere centimeters and pulled the blade back to his side, holding his shield before his torso.
As he accounted for his miss, Ro swung suddenly, not with her knife, but instead her fist, aiming for the mark on his chest… the same place he had unintentionally bruised the night prior.
Ronin flinched as her fist came in contact with his chest before the shield could have blocked the area. Grimacing, he used that opportunity to drop the katana, grasp her by her wrists, proceeding to shove her onto the mat and placing the heel of his shoe onto her stomach. "Ow, that fuckin smarted, Europa. Not bad."
Even as she hit the mat again, Ro couldn't help the grin that split her lips, and dropping back as his foot forced her down, she gave a small, innocent shrug of her shoulders, "I may be a good girl, Ronin… but I ain't beyond a little vengeance." Without warning, her foot shot out, aiming for his other leg, to take advantage of his current shift in balance.
"Ah sh-" The curse came with the sudden flare of pain administered to his knee, causing him to crumble on the other side of her. Gasping briefly for breath, he rolled over to her side, firmly wrapping his arms around her neck and pinning her in a choke hold, as light as he could manage. "Look, I said I was sorry, but fucking A…"
With a small squeak, Ro gripped his arm, to try and shove him off, laughing dryly, despite the discomfort of the position, "You amused yet, Darlin'?"
"Not yet, you sound like a freaking mouse." Rolling his eyes, he attempted to flip their positions, pinning her to the floor and keeping his arms loosely around her neck. However, the discomfort of his position didn't serve well, and he found that his grip loosened too much to keep a decent grip upon her. "Fucking butter neck." A slight tint of red entered his cheeks. That sounded a little too Ro for his taste.
Grinning wider, Ro squirmed free as he adjusted his stance, and her arm swung out to grab the dagger that she's discarded when he flipped her. Twisting, she swung the blade towards him, in a swift upwards slash.
Ronin had to admit, he wasn't ready for the dagger that was about to slash him across his torso. Having a part of his shirt torn was bad enough, but having his katana on the ground beside him had been a mistake. He figured his strength would have been good enough, and thus he assumed poorly. Rolling aside and guarding himself with his shield, he scooped up his weapon and struck towards her, catching her dagger against his blade. Attempting to wriggle the weapon from her grasp, he thrust his blade and narrowly missed the opportunity to flip his opponent's weapon. "Shit."
Dodging around the attack, Ro swung again, a brow raised half in amusement, but not without a flicker of determination, as her own weapon clashed against his once more.
Seeing an opportunity as her blade struck his, he lowered the tip of his weapon and, with a simple flicker of the wrist, he managed to pry the blade from her hand and let it scatter to the floor beside them. He held up his weapon towards her throat with a playful smirk.
The dagger flew, but swinging to the left to dodge, Ro reached past his hand to grab his wrist, diving beneath his arm and tugging it at the elbow to bend it behind his back, with a small smirk, "Nice try…"
Ronin's teeth grit as the much smaller woman managed to do something he wouldn't have thought possible, pinning his wrist behind his back and leaving his hand scrambling for the handle of his weapon. "Oh, saucy don't you think?" Rolling his eyes, he slammed his shield backwards and wriggled out of her grip.
Her knee had shifted for the back of his and she laughed softly as he wriggled free instead, ducking back away from his shield, "Gotta be quick there, sweetie!"
"Yeah yeah yeah." He grumbled, swinging around and bouncing back to ground himself. Seeing an opening, he lunged for her, shield first, hoping to knock her off her feet.
With another quick dodge, Ro bucked her arm forward towards his chest again, an open-palmed strike where she'd punched earlier.
The breath was taken out of him briefly as her palm snaked past his shield, slamming into his chest and leaving a bruise he would have had to hide later, snaking his sword around her neck, he pulled her into his chest. The shield separated the two as he pressed the blade to her skin. "You come here often?"
Yanked close, Ro smirked, slightly flushed, as she looked up at the man with a small, sly shrug of her shoulders, fingertips tracing the outline of the shield, "Not often enough…" Came the teasing retort. Her hand reached the lower rim of the shield and shoving it up towards his chin, she dropped, sliding free of grip and sword, towards the floor.
Ronins jaw straight up into his teeth, a quick flash of pain disorientating him from the mission at hand. Seeing her slide, however, gave him a chance once his vision cleared and his mind became fruitful once more. Hooking his foot around the back of her leg, he pulled her back towards the floor underneath him. He pressed the blade to her chest. "One...two...three…"
As she toppled back and the point of his sword angled towards her chest, a brow rose, "Well, gee. Looks like you got me…" She murmured, before swiping her feet to the right, swiftly, taking the man down to the mat. As soon as his back hit, she was moving, knees hooked around either hip, fingers cuffed around his wrists, pinning them to the floor, "Come here, often?"
If Ronin wasn't so infuriated or in shock, he would have been able to detect the faintest hint of red flooding his cheeks. Somehow the woman's strength was sturdier than he had initially expected, her fingers digging into his wrists as he struggled. "You better start counting because Im not staying here all day." He grumbled, finally finding a loosening in her grasp. He wriggled his shield hand free, slamming it towards her before crawling from underneath.
Buckling back, Ro grinned, and shaking her head, launched forward again, tackling the man back to the mat, this time leaning her full weight against him, "I don't think so, sugar. One… Two…"
"You like pinning guys or do you just have a fetish for blondes?" His brow perked up as she began counting, and for a moment, he thought he was going to lose. He thought she was going to pin him down and hold him there and claim she reigned victorious. As proud as he was of her, and as proud as he would be, there was an inner pride that demanded to be filled. His fingers looped around her wrists, and with his weight, he rolled her over onto her back and pinned her down, his knees upon hers and hands wrapped firmly around her wrists. "One….two...a three…"
"You'd be the first, darlin'" Ro remarked casually, but her expression shifted as his fingers gripped her wrists, "No, you don't!" Then he did, and with a gasp, Ro's back met the mat, eyes widening slightly, as she squirmed under his solid grip, "Ronin!" She half whined.
"Ten...eleven…" He cooed down at her, smirking at her haphazard struggle to reign supreme over him. "And fifteen. Sorry,
sugar." Shifting to his knees, he released her from the pin and rested the back of his head in his hands. "That was a damn good fight, I will admit. I wasn't expecting you to even be able to pin me. Nice work." He offered her a hand to stand, eyes twinkling mischievously.
Shaking her head in disappointment, but unable to mask the smile the flooded her features at his praise, she wrinkled her nose, reaching up to take his hand, "Guess you underestimated me, hm?"
"I suppose so. It was a fool's move." Once he had a grip around her hand, he pushed her back towards the mat and decided to shift himself, back pressed against her stomach as he laid perpendicular to her. He made sure that his hands were lifting him from the ground, propping him up and erasing any fear of crushing her. "Now, before we leave...I should nap, but you can try and get out if ya want…"
Breathing in sharply, Ro gave a small squeak, that turned swiftly into a laugh, despite the color that flooded her cheeks, "You underestimated me once…" Swinging her leg around his, Ro slid first back on the mat, then forward, rolling out from under him, then over him, she angled herself in the opposite position, arms holding her upright to hover just over him, "Why would you do it a second time?"
Ronin blinked as the woman snaked through his hold, positioning herself on top of him and giving him an image of surprise. He chuckled, placing his hands on her shoulders and in an attempt to push her off of him. "Whatcha gonna do now? I don't think you are gonna get revenge on me anyhow…"
"No?" Reached for his wrists, Ro adjusted her weight and shoved them up over his head, leaning close enough that her nose could've brushed his if she'd wanted, a grin meeting her lips, "One. Two…"
"Hey! This is way too kinky for my taste." He grumbled, balancing his knees against her torso and using this to flip her off of him, taking the chance to bolt up to sit. He brushed his hair back with a laugh. "You can't beat me, sugar plum."
Flopping back on the mat with a breathless laugh, Ro shook her head, "Then I guess it's a good thing we're on the same team, Sweetpea." Tipping onto her side, elbow resting on the ground, she looked over at him, "Thank you, Ronin. Not just for this. For… for last night. You didn't have to stay…"
"Eh, it's no problem. Don't mention it." Stammering back to his feet, he placed his hands on his hips and let his back creak as he stretched. He placed the shield back in its proper place, tucking the katana behind it as he swung around to greet her again. "Anytime you need me, just give me a knock or somethin. But not while Im sleeping. I'll kill you if you do that." He gave a subtle wink, despite the stone demeanor, turning his back on her once again.
Pushing herself upright, she grinned as she moved to tuck her knife back into place, "I mean… you could try to kill me. But we both know now I ain't such an easy target…" With a wink, she reached to gently punch his arm, "I've got a mission later… You gonna miss me, proper?"
"Fair enough. Besides. I'd feel guilty. And have quite a few hunters coming after to kill me. Wouldn't want that now would we?" With a smirk, he bumped her shoulder in return, a shrug gracing his form. "No. I know you are gonna come back safe and sound, so I have no reason to worry or miss".
Chuckling, Ro nodded, brushing back her hair, "I am coming back safe and sound, cause you and me, Ronin? We're not done. Rematch…" Fingers pointing to her, then him, she grinned, "And next time, I ain't goin' easy on you."
"Oh, I thought that was all you had sugar plum. Please do surprise me when you get back." He turned back to face her, hands stuffed in his pockets. "Meanwhile I think Bethany is gonna have to have a chat with some of us but...be sure to relax before hand."
Yeah…" With a nod, she brushed her fingers along the hilts of the other knives in the rack, pausing as they touched the edge of a curved variation. For a moment, her chest tightened, "You, too, sweetie. Need you rested up for when I take you down…"
"Oh, don't worry. I can take you sleeping." He reassured her, quirking a brow. "Now then, I think we can call this session ado. Good luck, Europa."
With a small smirk, she shook her head, pulling her hand away from the curved handle, "Now, now, Ronin. Not that kinda rematch." With a flicker of mischief, she turned away from the wall of weapons, "See ya soon, sugar." And giving his a nod, she started for the exit.
Trigger's brow furrowed the moment three words hit her ears in rapid succession: Delilah, Hiroki, and Disappearance.
"W... W-what? Our dear Delilah and Hiroki have...?"