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Will Grimm, (Y/n) and Winter stood just outside the hut, and Grimm had (Y/n) and Winter stand on top of two boulders and try to balance.
"People think you can't be tall if you're short. That you can't be strong if you're not."
...
(Y/n) and Winter each held a sword as two of the dwarves practiced with them.
"But a weakness is only a weakness if you think it is."
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Chuck held up a slingshot and fired it at one of three clay pots sitting on tree stumps. His shot hit the pot and shattered it completely while Winter and (Y/n) watched him.
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Grub sat at a table across from (Y/n) and Winter and placed a small cherry underneath one of three cups. He then mixed the cups around.
"Never, under any circumstances, give up the high ground."
(Y/n) uncertainly pointed to one of the cups, and Grub lifted it up, showing her she was wrong.
...
Winter and (Y/n) sword fought with Napoleon and Half-Pint, clashing their blades together. Winter and (Y/n) were doing alright, but they weren't able to beat the two dwarves.
...
"Before you even draw your sword, you must make an impression on your enemy."
Winter and (Y/n) flopped onto the ground, having been beaten in hand to hand combat by the dwarves.
...
"If your enemy is deceived by how you look, the battle's half won."
Napoleon looked (Y/n) and Winter up and down, noticing their now dirty costumes that they had worn at the Queen's hall and decided they needed a change.
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(Y/n) and Winter were flipped over onto the mat by Chuckles, who chuckled at their losing, and Wolf who howled in victory. (Y/n) sighed in frustration, while Winter panted in exhaustion.
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Winter and (Y/n) stood in the hut, trying to find outfits that better suited them.
Winter came out wearing a large pirate hat and (Y/n) had a red jacket on over her dress.
Napoleon analyzed the outfits and shook his head in disapproval.
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Grub mixed the cups up again, while (Y/n) and Winter watched with confused and slightly overwhelmed faces.
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"People think of you two as harmless. They don't expect you to fight dirty."
(Y/n) poses in a new yellow dress with frilly sleeves, while Winter was adjusting the puffy shoulder and his new shirt.
Napoleon shook his head again.
...
"Use that to your advantage."
Wolf and Chuckles once again tackled Winter and (Y/n) onto the mat, and cheered at their victory again.
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"Concentrate." Grub told them, eating the cherry he had put under the cup.
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(Y/n) struggled to fit into some very long, thick boots, while Winter tried to help her, pulling at the frilly collar around his neck as Napoleon shook his head at them.
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"Your weapon isn't your only friend. The environment can be an ally too."
(Y/n) swung her sword at Half Pint who ducked and tripped her, sending her falling face first into the snow.
"You're so cute when you're mad." Half-Pint said.
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"Often times it is the difference between victory and defeat."
Winter came out wearing a loose blue shirt, with a black vest over it, along with black pants and black boots.
(Y/n) came out a few seconds later wearing a (f/c) shirt that exposed her shoulders, a black corset with black pants and boots.
Napoleon analyzed their new outfits and smiled lightly, nodding.
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Winter and (Y/n) confidently tapped the top of a cup, and Grub lifted it up revealing the cherry.
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(Y/n) and Winter fought against Napoleon and Half-Pint with swords, showing more improved skills than before.
(Y/n) ducked under Half-Pints sword, and swung her own, causing him to jump back, while Winter carefully dodged Napoleons blade, and blocked all his other swings.
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(Y/n) laid down on the mat and stuck her foot on Wolf's stomach, flipping him over her onto the mat.
Winter tripped Chuck and pinned him on his stomach, holding his arm behind his back.
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(Y/n) and Winter fired their own slingshots, perfectly shattering all the pots as the dwarves watched and cheered for them.
Suddenly, a snowball came flying at Winter, hitting him in the back. Everyone looked up and saw Butcher standing on top of the hut, looking smug.
The other dwarves started throwing snowballs at him, and he dodged and danced mockingly. Winter and (Y/n) snuck up behind him and screamed loudly, making Butcher jump and fall off the hut, into the snow.
...
Winter and (Y/n) walked through the forest, arm in arm laughing and talking with one another.
"Did you see Butcher's face when he fell onto the snow?" (Y/n) giggled.
"I did. I highly doubt he was expecting us." Winter chuckled.
(Y/n) shook her head in agreement. "No, definitely not." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "I must say, I like this outfit of yours. Blue is definitely your color."
Winter raised his brows. "Really? Well, thank you my lady. And might I say, you look quite ravishing. Although I do miss that butterfly costume." He whispered teasingly.
(Y/n) lightly hit him in the shoulder. "Oh, shut up. You know, when you defeat the Queen and take over as ruler of the kingdom, maybe you can throw parties that have a less ridiculous theme." She suggested.
Winter suddenly slowed down and stopped in his tracks, his carefree smile falling into a look of conflict.
(Y/n) became slightly concerned at his sudden change in attitude. "What's wrong?"
Winter inhaled deeply. "I...I don't know if I want to go back."
(Y/n) furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"
"I mean...what if we just...ran away? You and me. The Queen thinks we're dead. We could leave that place behind. There's nothing left for us there anyway." He suggested.
"We can't just leave. What about the people? If we don't do anything the Queen will just keep terrorizing them." (Y/n) reminded him.
"The dwarves managed to rob one of the Queen's caravans and give the people's gold back. We could do that as well. Stop her taxations and protect the people without actually having to fight her face to face." Winter explained.
(Y/n) shook her head. "It won't be enough. She'll keep finding ways to make them miserable. If we want to stop her, we have to confront her."
Winter hung his head. "I...I can't."
"Why not?" (Y/n) asked.
"I just can't." He repeated firmly.
"No, something else is going on with you. Now what is it? Tell me!" (Y/n) demanded.
Winter huffed angrily and went to walk away to try and avoid the conversation, but (Y/n) wasn't letting him off that easy.
She drew her sword, and stuck it into a tree trunk in front of Winter, blocking his path. "You're not getting away from me that easily. I know you Winter. You've never been one to give up without a reason."
Winter started to become even more annoyed. "It's nothing, (Y/n). I just...I don't want to rule the kingdom anymore."
He tried to walk around the tree, but (Y/n) moved in front of him, pointing her sword at him.
"(Y/n), move. I don't want to fight you."
"Then tell me what's going on." She negotiated.
Winter kept his mouth shut and narrowed his eyes at her.
(Y/n) took a small swipe at Winter. She wasn't aiming to hit him, just wanted to give him a warning.
Winter was taken aback by her behavior, and grew angry. Why did she have to be so pushy? Couldn't she just accept his answer and let it go?
Winter drew his own sword and got in a defensive stance. "Do you really want to do this?"
(Y/n) hit her sword against his, and that gave him his answer. He ducked as she swung her blade again, and took a swing at her as well which she ducked under.
"(Y/n), stop this at once!" Winter yelled at her.
"Not until you tell me why you don't want to face the Queen!" She replied, swinging at him again.
Winter dodged her blow, and managed to knock her sword up into the air and it landed below the rocky ground they were standing on.
(Y/n) glared at Winter, who smirked in reply. (Y/n) jumped down from the rocks, and ran towards her sword and grabbed it again, just as Winter jumped down to follow her.
The two clashed their blades again, ducking and dodging one another until Winter grabbed (Y/n)'s wrist and pinned it behind her back, pulling her closer until her chest was up against his.
"Hello my lady." Winter mockingly greeted.
(Y/n) pushed him away with her free hand, kicked his chest, nearly shoving him to the ground.
Winter swung at her and she dodged it, ducking under his blade, but as she came back up, Winter swung again and swiftly hit her in the butt with his sword.
(Y/n) gasped and glared at Winter in shock. He smirked at her and she groaned in frustration and began attacking him again.
"Why are you being so stubborn?! A minute ago you were saying how you wanted to give back to the people, and how you're the rightful ruler of the kingdom, and now you're throwing it all away because of a reason that you won't tell me!" She ranted.
"Exactly, glad we're both up to speed." Winter replied sarcastically.
He swung his sword and knocked (Y/n)'s out of her hand again. She went to grab it, but Winter beat her to it, now holding both swords.
(Y/n) ran around a tree, but Winter stuck one sword in front of her face and hit her butt again with the other.
She tried to go in another direction, but once again, Winter blocked her with one sword and smacked her rear with the other.
(Y/n) shot him a venomous glare, while he smiled smugly at her, pointing both of their blades at her.
"Yield."
At this point, the seven dwarves had come looking for the both of them and found them trying to kill each other.
"Should we interfere?" Wolf asked.
They watched as (Y/n) threw a handful of snow at Winter's face, and tackled him to the ground, grabbing both swords from him.
Butcher shook his head. "Nah."
(Y/n) swung both swords at Winter and he ducked, and reached his hand around to tap her on the butt yet again.
She then kicked him in the chest, knocking him on the ground. She swung the swords at him, but Winter rolled onto his side and stood back up. He grabbed her arm and dipped her down, taking his sword back.
"You know, if you weren't trying to kill me, I'd be tempted to kiss you." Winter confessed.
"I guess I better keep trying then." (Y/n) retorted.
Winter spin her out of his hold, still holding onto her hand, and pulled her back in so her back was against his chest.
"Remember this?" He asked, referring to when they danced at the ball.
"Yeah. Remember this?" (Y/n) harshly stepped on his foot, and Winter yelped in pain.
He released her, and (Y/n) swung at him again, nicking his hand. Winter hissed and shook his hand to try and ease the pain.
(Y/n)'s eyes widened and filled with regret. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you."
"I'm sorry too!" Winter exclaimed, knocking her sword out of her hand once again and catching it in his.
"Now enough! Just yield and we'll be done with this. Or did you not learn enough from your spankings?" Winter asked teasingly.
(Y/n) sighed and hung her head, tired of fighting with him. "Winter, I just...I want to help you."
"I don't need your help! I have my reasons for not wanting to go back!" Winter exclaimed.
"I don't understand what's going on with you!" (Y/n) shouted.
"Of course you don't! I wouldn't expect a scullery maid to understand what I'm going through!" He spat.
(Y/n)'s eyes widened, and her anger filled eyes changed to hurt ones. Although she knew she was just a maid, Winter had never made her feel like that. Never used her status to make her feel any less than him.
As soon as the insult left Winter's mouth, he wanted to take it back. He saw how hurt (Y/n) was by it, and guilt ate at him.
"(Y/n)...(Y/n) I'm so..."
(Y/n) turned and started walking away as fast as she could. She was too embarrassed to be able to talk to him right now.
Winter turned and saw the seven dwarves giving him looks of disapproval, and shaking their heads.
Winter sighed and threw the swords to the ground, chasing after her.
"So, do you think I have a chance with (Y/n) now?" Half-Pint asked.
The rest of the dwarves responded by pelting him with snowballs.
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