TBATE-ONESHOTS

Allegiance 5

Arthur and Tessia walked onto the sparring area to take their positions. Once they were standing approximately seven yards from each other, they turned so they were looking face to face. Tessia didn't show it, but she was secretly excited about this spar because it gave her a chance to see just how strong Arthur was.

Tessia raised her right hand, taking her glimmering silver elven sword out of her dimensional ring. The sword's blade was thin and had a double-edged blade, with a leaf design traveling down the blade from its silver hilt.

Seeing the sword in her hand, Arthur grew eager with anticipation to see just how skilled she was. Arthur flicked his right hand, taking out a beautiful sword from his dimensional ring that had a translucent teal hue, which was a stark contrast to its black handle. It was thin like a rapier and had a double edge, similar to Tessia's.

Tessia's lips separated slightly in awe, seeing Arthur's sword and thinking how beautiful it was. She gestured to Arthur, "That's a nice sword you have there."

Arthur smiled and looked at his sword, turning it over in his hand, "Thanks, it's called Dawn's Ballad." He looked back at Tessia, "Would you believe me if I told you I found it."

Tessia looked at Arthur, surprised, "Really? Where?"

Arthur shrugged casually, "At an auction house of all places." He chuckled and swung his sword around a few times, "I'm glad I found it too. It's probably the best sword I've ever wielded."

Tessia's lips curved in amusement, "And you've wielded plenty of swords before, huh?"

Arthur looked to Tessia and smirked, "I've wielded my fair share." His eyes flicked to Tessia's sword, then back to her beautiful teal eyes. "Does your sword have a name?"

Tessia smiled and nodded, looking at her sword in her hand, twisting it in her grasp, "I named it Glimmer since it shines in the day and moonlight."

"Glimmer," Arthur repeated with a chuckle. "A cute name."

Tessia looked at Arthur with a confident smile, "Well, don't let the cute name fool you. It's deadly in my hands."

Arthur smiled, and his brows raised in interest, hearing the challenge behind Tessia's words, "Those are fighting words there. Think you can back them up?"

Tessia smirked and took a battle pose, "Care you find out?"

Arthur chuckled, and his eyes looked Tessia up and down, seeing her battle pose. He was impressed to see her pose held no shred of doubt, showing she was absolutely confident in her abilities. However, the smile on Arthur's face flickered slightly, thinking her confidence reminded him of another, a girl with earthy brown hair. He took a breath, pushed the thoughts away, and took a battle pose with a smirk.

Tessia looked at Arthur curiously, studying his pose, trying to gauge his next move. But, the longer she looked at him, the more she noticed his stance was familiar with a boy she once knew, with pale, short blonde hair.

Arthur's gaze flicked to the sidelines, seeing Sylvie lying there, watching both of them eagerly, with her fluffy tail wagging back and forth. "Call it Sylv!"

Tessia followed Arthur's gaze and smiled warmly, thinking how cute Sylvie looked. She looked back at Arthur, her smile faded, and her eyes narrowed, prepared to take this spar seriously. Arthur's brows raised in surprise, seeing the seriousness behind Tessia's eyes, and decided to follow suit.

The atmosphere in the arena turned tense, and the noise seemed to stop, with not even a cricket sounding in the distance as Tessia and Arthur stared intently at each other. Neither broke eye contact, just waiting for the signal to begin.