Miss Quinn

135 ~ Christmas

Emma slashed at Will with both daggers. He parried with the blade of his sword, and pushed towards her. Emma pushed back with her daggers, and leapt out of the way. Will swung at her again, and Emma blocked his blow with one dagger while swiping at him with the other.

The two children of Apollo were in the Arena at Camp Half-Blood, practising their battle moves. It was extremely difficult to fight a sword-wielding enemy with dual daggers, because without the length of such a weapon, Emma was significantly closer to her target, and therefore more at risk for getting hurt. Granted, even fighting with a sword put her at risk for getting hurt, but Emma felt more comfortable with her daggers than any other weapon, save her bow.

Emma swiped at Will again, managing to slice open the front of his T-shirt, but nothing more. Will slashed at Emma again, grazing her upper arm. It was getting more intense now. Neither of them would go so far as to seriously injure the other, but since Emma was the best healer in Apollo, she could patch them up instantly afterwards. They fought with less care, now, more ferocity. Emma hadn't battled anything living since the Battle of Manhattan five months before. She had decimated the charmed dummies in the Room of Requirement, but it wasn't the same. Real battle was more trying. There was a lot more to consider.

Will faked a stab to Emma's chest, then swipe his blade at her heels, tripping her. Emma fell to the ground, and rolled out of the way of Will's next blow. She stabbed up at him, but her dagger met empty air. Will's sword sliced Emma's side, then her leg. She cried out, and stabbed at him again. This time, she nicked his shin, and he yelled a curse in Greek. Emma got to her feet, bleeding, and swiped at her brother again. She knocked him to the ground, and brought her dagger to his throat.

"I win!" she exclaimed happily.

Will was panting, laying on the ground. His leg was bleeding, and his clothes were damp with sweat. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, heal my leg will you?"

Emma tore off a strip of Will's T-shirt from where it had already been cut and used it to mop up the flow of blood from his leg. Then she pressed her hand to his shin and let her healing magic flow into him.
Emma's own injuries healed along with Will's, and the blood that had escaped her body was soaked into her old shirt and shorts.

"Nice match," she said, helping Will to his feet. "You're getting really good with your sword."

Will slipped it into a sheath. "Thanks. You're not to bad yourself, with those daggers."

Emma shrugged. "I'm just naturally talented."

A roll of Will's eyes sent a grin to her face, and she re-attached her dagger to the chain around her neck, in pendant form. The other dagger, she slipped into her waistband.

"Can't that one become a pendant, too?" Will asked.

"No, that one's my wand."

"Ah. Well, we should go change before dinner."

Emma looked down at her bloodstained clothes, and then at Will's sweat-coated, ripped shirt.
"Nahhh, we'll be fine."

Will let out a laugh. "Right, I hope you're joking. Go shower and change before I throw you in the lake."

"Yes, sir," Emma said sarcastically, leading the way back to the Apollo Cabin.

All day, Emma had been spending time with her siblings and friends. She'd gone canoeing with Sadie, Fawn, and Kayla in the morning, which had been really fun. Then she and Annabeth took Mocha and Blackjack on rides over the bay. Emma had seriously missed flying. The steady beat of Mocha's wings through the air was such a calming sound. Emma felt weightless. Afterwards, she'd gone to visit with Rachel. They discussed the types of dreams Emma had been having lately. Emma didn't reveal exactly what they had been about, but she gave Rachel the general idea. Rachel seemed to think Emma was having prophetic dreams, as Emma had suspected, and suggested that the brunette attempt to find something to make the dreams stop before she focused too much on them. As Rachel knew perfectly well, dwelling on visions and attempting to change them often resulted in something worse.