Rise of humanity: The Saga Of Steel

Arden's eyes took on a playful gleam "Well i'd hate to discourage you by beating you too badly" hee joked, he clearly was just teasing her bit

(how does the queen react?)

(whoops)
Ysabel ground her teeth, though refrained from making any comments. He wasn't deserving of her conversation. He was a traitor to his kind in helping that elf. If she discovers he was further feelings for the elf, it will be the last straw. The queen strode quickly, keeping her gaze firmly locked on the path in front of her, as anger shone in her eyes.

~

"Oh, so that's what you think will happen?" She asked, poking him in the shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you." She matched his teasing manner easily. From his chainmail, she figured he prioritized strength over speed, as such heavy armour would slow you down a great deal. It would certainly be an interesting fight if that was the case. She gave him a wicked smile. Oh, this will be fun.

(skip to the fight later?)

(Sure)

That night the group camped in an abandoned, and unusually roomy cave nestled into the mountain side along the path. Rowan had settled in a bit away fro the group mixing something with his mortar and pedestal he had been rather quiet all day, while arden with his sword and shield was just outside getting ready to spar with vesyrn

Ysabel was also a bit away from the main group, though kept beside her children. She wore the scowl that had been almost permanently etched on her face the entire day, and kept her gaze flicking between Veronica and Arden.

~

Vesryn had, completely unbashfully, stripped down to her underclothes, which consisted of linen binding around her chest and what appeared to be linen shorts that held tight to her body. The clothing Rowan had so kindly given her were too loose for her tastes, and worried it may hinder her movement somewhat, and as she had no other clothes, her underclothes had to do. "Blades or fists?" She asked Arden, dumping her clothes and weapons in a pile at the edge of the cave.
Her lack of decency showed off all the scars she had received over the years, including the fading, yellowed bruises from the goblin attack. Her back was a mess; long thin scars crisscrossed her spine, appearing awfully similar to those from a whip. More scars, though this time from a blade, splattered over her shoulders and arms - appearing like she had blocked some sort of blade with her arms - as well as a few more on the rest of her torso. The arrow wound on her thigh had now healed to produce a short, yet raised pinkish scar. Yet another one to add to her collection.

(hat do I do now?! Arden and Vesryn are flooding the scene, I have no idea what to do with my characters XD)

(They could take bets on the winner)

Arden at this point was not at all bashful about seeing her in her underclothes ether, but he stuck to wearing his normal clothes which were at the least lighter than chain mail "oh well i'm better with swords so let's go with that" he said with a smilehe had worn since she had started undressing

"I got five gold on the elf any takers?" shadow called out

(At least that kinda helped)

Parath lied down next to Shadow, her sightless yellow eyes seeming to gaze into the distance. She growled low as she thought of Odette, the first to injure her in such a long time.

Epona smirked at Shadow. "I got 15 gold on the knight." she muttered.

"You're on" shadow called to epona , he sat leaning on the dragon liken the back of a chair and eating an apple, he motioned epona over

"Very well," Vesryn replied, unsheathing both her twin blades from the sheath that now lay on the floor. She strode towards him, though halted a good distance away. Her feet shifted until they were hip width apart, and her grip on the swords were loose. Her eyes twinkled, yet her expression held no clue as to her thoughts. Her gaze switched between Arden's face and body, in order to try and predict his next movement. She would wait patiently, in the same stance, until Arden made the first move.

arden kept his distance , his shield raised and his blade ready to aim for a thrust. He was not an impatient bute like some knights he would not be lured to make the first move

Epona cautiously walked over to Parath. "Are you sure she won't hurt me?" she asked Shadow worriedly.

Parath blinked her eyes and lowered her head a little as she heard the princess' words.

shadow gave her a nod "Like i said, she's a big softy, besides if she did eat someone it'd be your brother, he tends to make people angry, you seem ok though"

Parath growled only as a warning. "I am not a softy." she said, eyes narrowed.

Epona flinched at the dragon's words but she cautiously sat down next to Shadow.

Vesryn tilted her head to the side until a loud pop echoed around the cave. The elf twirled the blades with her hands, purely to show off, as she stalked in a circle around Arden, like a wild cat inspecting her prey. He's well guarded, that much was obvious, but she searched for an opening nevertheless. Ah! His left side was unguarded, and she jabbed her blade in at the opening, aiming for his shield to block it. At the last minute, she withdrew the blade and thrust the other at his other side, which would then be free.

vesryn did not count on arden being able to catch her blade by locking it with the cross guards on his own blade held in his left hand, it made sense she would not see this coming as cross guards designed for locking blades was a human invention, the elves did not have. He pushed forward with his shield, making sure to catch her other arm in his ramming attack so she wouldnt be able to stab him with her free blade.

Shadow just patted the dragon in response "Yeah you'e a real killer" he said with a smirk she couldnt see

Parath bared her fangs in response to his words.

Epona whimpered and accidentally cuddled into Shadow in fear.

shado put an arm around her by instinct and chuckled at the dragon

Epona gasped with wide eyes before she backed away, her cheeks rosy. "S-s-sorry about that." she stammered nervously.

Parath didn't need to see to know what was going on.

"No worries" the assassin assured her quite calmly

Vesryn hissed in response to his catching her blade, but danced out of range to dodge his shield attack. She tugged her blade free, before retreating back to where she was and began circling him once again. The elf loosed a breath, her bare feet near silent on the cave floor as she stepped carefully around Arden. She was counting on him to make the next move, and positioned her hands in order to easily deal with defense.

Arden circled around with her, with her shorter blades it behoves him to let her try and close the gap

Epona gulped nervously before she stepped away and accidentally tripped over Parath's front foot and fell back.

Parath caught her mid-fall with her nose. "Careful." she muttered.