The Bonded: Lost And Gained

~ Chapter 10 ~

The crowd cheered wildly, waiting in anticipation for the fight to begin. All of them secretly wondering who would be fighting.

"Please pick your fighter, Lycanthropians!"

What the heck is this? Prince Arata thought to himself.

He couldn't understand what was going on, his mind just couldn't get a grasp on the purpose of this fight. He peeked his head over to Noriko, who seemed to be very angry at the events happening.

Red said, "A good natured fight between werewolves and humans. This might be a good fight."

"I didn't even know they had traditions like this," Aoi said. "Father's great! I can't wait to see who's fighting!"

Why are they so excited about this? Arata asks himself, deadpanning.

"Our fighters have been chosen! From Maho, we have Head Commander of the Knight Unit, Noriko Lillinight!" the King announced loudly.

"What?"

Noriko stepped forward into the arena, her expressions practically telling everyone that she was not enjoying the result of the participants. Arata sweat-dropped.

I don't think she's happy about the selections.

Her partners flew down behind her, looking tough and mighty and waiting to fight their werewolf opponent.

"And from Lycanthropian, we have Etsuko Borin of the Borin, noble family!"

The classy lady stepped forward, her fan gone from her hands and a serious face currently adorned her features. Her fingernails extended into wolf claws, her eyes slitted into sharp, beady eyes, ready to take down her prey.

Noriko sighed, removing her sheathed swords from her waist and throwing them to Lieutenant Sakura, who caught it with ease.

"Go Nori-Nori! I know you'll win!"

Etsuko asks, "What are you doing throwing away your weapon?"

"If I kept it, you might be dead. I don't need it anyway, I have other means of fighting. I don't want to kill an ally in a good natured fight."

The woman rolled her eyes, clearly not taking her words seriously. Etsuko was just thinking about how arrogant the young girl was, but she didn't seem to see the dangerous aura that surrounded the blackette. 

"It's not like you could kill me anyway."

Drake and Winter laid down on the ground with their ears alert and body's ready to attack, anticipating what was to come. They were not at all alarmed in the least that she was in a fight with a werewolf, the only thing they were alerted about was the fact that they were fighting in the first place. They seemed relax, a little too relaxed for creatures having their 'master' put into battle.

"Let the battle begin!"

The noble lunged towards the young girl, snarling like a beast but Noriko easily slipped through her attack, ducking the second attack and blocking the third. Her hairs' end tinted with red as she charged towards the noble and palmed the woman in the chest. Etsuko flew back with a strong blast of wind, crashing into the ground.

She quickly bolted upright, growling. 

"You're not too bad for a child."

"Just because I'm young," Noriko said.

She readjusted her stance into a defensive position, preparing to block the attacks that she knew was to come.

"Doesn't mean you can underestimate me, noble."