All is Fair in War and Dragon Scales (UNREVISED)

A Nest of Vipers Pt.3

Cailin and King have a stare off for a couple of seconds before the headmaster nods once. Cailin takes a breath, stepping closer to the rope and looking down. He doesn't really have a fear of heights, but this is just a little daunting. The dragons call up to him, grinning in encouragement.

"Cailin, my dear, don't look down," King interrupts, earning a glance from the brunette and the mage grins.

"Just take a step forward."

The teen hesitates a bit longer before nodding to himself and raising a hand. His sword appears in his palm, and Finley shivers. "Be careful..." He whispers, and Cailin makes no move to tell the blonde he heard him.

The teen slowly raises a foot, and brings it down to the cord. It dips with the little weight, and Cailin moves his foot around to test his balance before just going for it, and whipping his other foot in front of him.

He gasps, throwing his arms out and teetering a good lot, the rope bending, before warmth covers his body and he all of a sudden stills.

He stares down at his feet, slowly bringing his hands down and standing on the rope, completely still and perfectly balanced.

Okay. He can do this.

He brings his left foot back, going into a defensive stance of his own, raising his sword. He stares at King who tilts his head. "Come closer. Let's make things as even as possible."

The mage takes a couple of easy steps back, the rope twitching but Cailin stays perfectly still.

The brunette straightens his back, taking another deep breath before taking a shaky step forward, finding it easier than he thought, taking another more confident step.

He continues to walk closer to the mage until things seem pretty even, King grinning. "I'll start when you're ready."

Cailin nods, looking incredibly nervous and refusing to look down and the headmaster chuckles. "Cailin, you can do this. This will soon come to be a second nature, it just takes confidence and focus. Use every single one of your talents. Your assets are important to battle. Cheat."

The brunette's eyebrows twitch in confusion before he slowly nods and closes his eyes. He'll just have to trust his other half to keep him away from harm, and to keep balance. He can do this, he just needs to go for it.

Yeah. Easy.

With his eyes still closed, he blocks the King's staff that tries to surprise him. They keep themselves there, Cailin's eyes opening to glare as the mage shrugs. "What? I needed to know if you were ready. You were taking too long."

He swings his staff towards the brunette's feet and Cailin jumps, landing perfectly balanced again, the rope struggling underneath him.

Cailin continues to grow more and more confidence as King's grin turns mischievous. The teen is ready when the mage begins multiple sequences of attacks with his staff, Cailin defending himself with each lunge. He notices he keeps taking steps back because of the headmasters advances, and tries to come up with something quick.

For a distraction, he wobbles the rope underneath him, the schoolmaster hesitating to make sure he doesn't fall, and Cailin lunges his sword forward. King steps back into a flip, landing swiftly and Cailin blows air through his nose angrily.