Vessel

Sentinel

We followed Hornet through the tightening caverns, with the occasional drop off. Before long, the tunnel widened into a large room. Hornet stopped, and when we entered, she drew her needle. She pointed it at me, and spoke. "Vessel, this fight is not your own. Wait outside." Not wanting to get stabbed, I waited outside.

The gate closed, and Hornet gave her big pre fight speech. After a bit of talking, the wind picked up quite a bit, as if Hornet had willed it to happen, and she wrapped it up. "My needle is sharp, and I'll feel no sadness in a weakling's demise. Prove to me, that you can bear the secrets of this kingdom, and hold it's fate in your hands!" And with that, the battle began.

There was a brief moment of hesitation on both sides. Hornet made the first move. Charging across the room, the knight barely had time to block her. The two locked blades momentarily, before a hack and slash back and forth took hold. Hornet was easily getting the better of the knight, and proceeded to kick them in the chest.

Landing a bit away from Hornet, the knight wasted no time getting back on their feet, and throwing a vengeful spirit at her. Hornet leapt over the spell, and came down hard on her nail, narrowly missing the knight. They swung at her, but Hornet was quick. She wrenched the nail from the knight's hands, and attacked.

The knight was surprisingly nimble as well. Dodging strike after strike, they eventually seized an opening and dove for their nail. The knight only had one advantage, and that was that they would never get tired. No vessel did. It looked like the knight's strategy was simply to outlast Hornet.

Hornet, however, was not cooperating with this plan, and so far seemed to have quite a bit of stamina herself. Running towards the knight, she revealed three objects, that looked almost like sea urchins. She threw them at the knight in rapid succession. The knight dodged the first two, and deflected the third back at Hornet. She caught it midair, and spiked it into the ground.

Taking advantage of Hornet's momentary vulnerability, the knight used Oro's signature nail art, the dash slash. Hornet was caught off guard by the technique, but was able to leap over the knight. The knight turned to face Hornet, but caught a face full of thread. Backing away, the knight cast another vengeful spirit, clipping Hornet, as she dove out of the way.

The knight kept the pressure on, charging at Hornet, nail swinging wildly. Hornet was able to stand and fight, deflecting the knight's attacks. But she was starting to get tired. Breathing heavily for a moment, Hornet launched an all out assault on the knight. How the knight survived, is still a mystery to me, but they blocked every attack Hornet threw at them, before sweeping out her leg.

Hornet hit the ground hard. She was determined though, and quickly sat back up. However, the nail in front of her face prevented her from standing all the way up. The knight appeared to have won.

Hornet just sat for a moment, breathing heavily. The fight had taken a toll on her. She was exhausted. Not that she would hand the knight a victory, that easily. Rolling away, Hornet leapt to her feet, somewhat rejuvenated by her quick rest. The two went back at it again.

Staying on the offensive, the knight threw several swings at Hornet. Hornet continued to deflect the strikes, mounting her own offense to counter. They locked blades, with a back and forth sword shoving match. Eventually, both blades were flung from their wielders. Wasting no time, Hornet threw a kick, knocking the knight in the head. The knight however, was not to be underestimated, and threw several punches of their own. After a long back and forth, the knight managed to flip Hornet over their head. Retrieving both blades, the knight returned, to find a still fighting, Hornet.

She attempted to wrestle her blade from their grip, but the knight kicked her aside. They then planted a foot on her back, and crossed the blades behind her neck. Hornet knew she was defeated. She yielded to the knight, who returned her blade. In a defeated voice, she told the knight to take the object in the cast off shell, and receive the title it would grant them.

The knight walked off, and the gate opened. Hornet turned to me. She was clearly exhausted, but spoke anyways. "Vessel, we need to talk."

I know, I know, You guys are sick of cliffhangers. But I had to put one here, and it's the last one. At least it's the last cliffhanger I have PLANNED. That being said, I hope you enjoyed, and if you did, I'll see you in the next chapter!