OVERLOOKED ㅤkotlc

050

When left alone with your thoughts in a silent room, waiting for a maybe-non-existent elf thief, it's easy for your thoughts to stray to how much you adore Her.

That's embarrassing, considering she's next to me, with a psychopathic evil lady in front of us, and a maybe-made-up thief on the way.

"God, Koray's always late," Gisela mutters under her breath, shooting us an apologetic look. "He's supposed to be here by now."

Rosaleen and I exchange a look. "It's fine," I say after a moment.

Gisela purses her lips. "I suppose you two don't know anything about Koray?"

We shake our heads.

"Might as well then," Gisela sighs, as if we're a huge bother to her. I'd be uncomfortable, but thankfully, I don't care what she thinks of me. "He's a thief, in our debt after Gethen saved him a few years back."

In their... debt?

"He's here unwillingly?" Rosaleen asks, before I can.

Gisela makes a vague hand motion; "You could say that. He cost us a cache once, and so he owes us a cache to get out."

So not everyone's here of their own free will.

The door opens; Rosaleen and I flinch and turn, as if we've been caught doing something we shouldn't.

It's a young man, with brown hair and silver streaks. He has startlingly dark eyes, that are almost black, and a crooked smile dancing on his lips.

"You're late," Gisela says.

He doesn't pay her mind, walking to stand by her side. His face is neutral, and there's something about him that feels like he's amused. "I am, aren't I?" he says, voice light.

"You're not supposed to be," she replies.

He—Koray?—shrugs. "What does it matter? I'm here now, right?"

Gisela looks like she wants to shove a toothpick up his nose. "Fine then. Are you gonna explain the rules?"

Koray finally directs his attention to us. His eyes turn curious, but it doesn't show in his voice. "Sure. Rule One, do whatever the hell you want. Two, land three blows, you win." He smiles. "Easy, right?"

A pause. "Um—right," I say, to fill the silence.

Koray smirks. "Wanna go first, Dex?" He snaps his fingers and a thin sword drops onto the floor in front of me. "You have a preferred weapon?"

I'm still lost. "Wait, I'm going first?"

"It's either you or her." He picks up the sword by its blade and holds it out to me. "Best to get it over with, don't you think?"

God he asks so many questions, I think, then sigh and take the sword (it's surprisingly light). "I guess."

"Gisela, Rosaleen, it's best to get out of the way," Koray says. And then, with a laugh, he adds, "Unless you're crazy, then by all means, stand between us as we throw hands."

"Throw—" Gisela shakes her head. "Rosaleen, come with me," she says. They go stand off to the side, both watching us carefully.

Koray observes me, then laughs. "Let's make this easier for you," he says, lifting his hands up into a surrender before putting them behind his back. "No hands for me."

"Well now you're just showing off," I say under my breath.

He smiles, and it's a knowing one. "Maybe I am."

I swing towards him with the sword, but he sidesteps it easily, with his annoying crooked smile. I try again—he simply dodges. And I try again, again, again, each swing faster than the last, but he evades each one.

He steps to the side and I stumble from the momentum, he trips me and I fall.

"One," Koray says.

I grit my teeth and quickly stand up, swinging with my sword again, to which he just laughs, twisting out of its way, until it's a dance of death;

I swing, and he steps out of my way, moving in a circle around me, as I try again and again.

It's not working, and it's just tiring me out.

I take a short moment—a second or two, really—to breathe, and suddenly his foot is against my chest and my breath is knocked out of my lungs; I land on the ground, hard.

"Two." I look at him for a second, winded on the floor, wondering if I should just let him win. He holds his hand out to me. "Get up. It's not over yet."

I hesitate, then grudgingly take his hand; he helps me up, only to hand me my sword before putting his hands behind his back. "Try again."

I warily hold my sword, and Koray tilts his head with his crooked smile. "What, do you wanna switch your weapon?" he asks. It sounds like a taunt, but I think it's just his natural tone.

"Um..."

He snaps his fingers and my sword disappears. "Are you more of a netherite Minecraft axe kinda guy?"

"What?"

Koray waves it off. "You don't look very strong. Want a knife, or like, a spear?"

"A... spear?" I say; it comes out as a question. "I was, um, fine with the sword, though."

"You sucked with it."

"I—"

He snaps his fingers and a spear appears in my hand. I fumble to get a grip on it; it's long and... pointy. I don't know, none of our guards used spears.

"Thank you?"

Koray just watches me, hands behind his back, waiting with an amused look in his eye. I try swinging it—he blinks, surprised, and his reflexes are too late.

The wooden part of the spear brushes against his shoulder, and he starts laughing. "That's one point," Koray says, "but only because you're stupid. The arrowhead is at the end of it."

I can feel my face turn red. "I know," I say. "Uh, sorry."

He laughs again, and this time I stumble a few steps back, before swinging again, like how I slashed with the sword. The arrowhead almost cuts him, but he dodges it with a smile.

"Better," Koray says.

I'm able to experiment a bit with the spear (or he's just letting me mess around) before he kicks it out of my hands and knees me in the stomach, leaving me doubled over.

"He's bad at spears," Koray says to Gisela, "but even worse at broadswords. His pain tolerance isn't too bad, but he gives up easy, and didn't apply his intelligence to the fight. I'd say that his suitable weapon is a spear for now, mostly because he attacked quickly and didn't focus much on aim, and... yeah. He was pretty terrible."

I make a face and rise on my feet, dusting myself off and glancing over at Rosaleen. She looks a little concerned, but I smile at her and she hesitantly smiles back.

"Alright," Gisela says, after they finish talking. "It's your turn, Rosaleen."

˚ ༘ 🌷 ── author's note!

hi pls give filler scene ideas i am in desperate need of them </3 

so. yk. anything u want with dexaleen or any of the other characters? i may deliver :]

but also, halfway-to-100-chapters checkmark!! that's very cool and says a lot about how much i procrastinate school! :D

and on another note, tysm MagicMuffin774 for reading! <33 i appreciate it tons and i'm glad ur enjoying the story hehe :))