Astra had been to this field many times over, the only thing different this time was he was coming here together with Mikel and it was early in the afternoon instead of late evening.
Suddenly conscious that he had been holding Mikel's hand this whole time, he let go of it and stepped away.
"This place looks different in day time," Mikel said thoughtfully as he looked around. "The blue grass is still weird though."
"The grass is weird?" Astra asked lazily as he sat on the ground. "Why?"
Mikel shrugged carefully, taking care not to hit his injured side. "I don't know. Wouldn't you have liked it a different colour, maybe green?"
Astra made a face of disgust as he contemplated the idea. "That would be creepy."
Mikel laughed, a pleasant throaty sound and motioned upwards. "Get up. You promised to be my punching bag."
Closing his eyes, Astra turned on the grass with a smile, it was good to hear Mikel laughing again. "I withdraw my statement, wimp."
"What?" Mikel asked incredulously, hobbling over to him. "Then why are we here?"
Astra patted the gap next to him. "This is prime napping space and the grass feels as soft as foam. Not everything's about fighting."
"You offered!" Mikel was outraged and it showed in his voice.
"I know. I also withdrew, didn't you get the memo?" Astra's tone was smug and for the next few minutes there was silence.
"Jolt! Thunder sprites."
From the volume of lightning produced, no one would know Mikel had been unconsciousness for the past few days.
Astra dodged just in time but not before his hair was singed, producing a smoky scent that somehow smelt like goat meat.
He looked at his zigzag brown locks in disbelief and shock. "My hair..."
Now Mikel was the one who looked smug. "Well, since you withdraw your statement, I have no business here."
He turned around to go but he had barely taken a few steps when Astra tackled him to the ground, wrapping both his arms around his midsection as they both fell to the floor.
Mikel was quick to respond, months of training kicking in as he elbowed Astra hard and threw his head back, sure he was doing something right when Astra groaned loudly.
He rolled away, a haughty grin playing on his lips but hunched over when a sharp ache seared through his side.
Play it safe.
Astra rubbed his cheek and glared at Mikel. "Just so you know, the punching bag phase is over. Now I'm a mad sparring partner."
Mikel grinned even wider. "That was quick. You would fail an endurance test for sure. Is this why you're still single?"
As they made eye contact, invisible electricity sizzled between them and then they dove for each other.
Astra feinted at the last moment, grabbing Mikel by the neck and putting him in a headlock. He pushed Mikel to the ground, giving him no breathing space.
"Tapping the ground means surrendering," he informed the struggling Druid breathlessly. "Just so you know."
Mikel pushed back in vain. Astra was practiced and would hold the headlock for however long he had to.
Sending a little electricity to his fingertips, Mikel tapped the arm around his neck and with a yell Astra let go, hissing in pain.
Seeing a chance, Mikel kicked at Astra's shoulder, sending him backwards, before crawling to his feet and taking a few steps back.
"Bind! Vestiges of the earth," he managed as he rubbed his neck. The grass suddenly grew longer, whipping out and wrapping themselves around Astra's legs securely.
"That's cheating!" the Spartanm called out in a high whine as he set to untying himself, never getting far as the grass kept regrowing.
"No rules!" Mikel shouted back, then wiggled his eyebrows in a way that forced a reluctant chuckle out of Astra.
"Just tap when you want to surrender."
Astra surged forward in an attempted surprise attack but the grass held him back just inches from Mikel's unprotected legs.
The apprentice laughed, "Behold, the great knight of the church of Erynla."
He leaned forward with the intention of mocking Astra some more but then the Spartan took advantage of the closed distance and punched him hard, right on his eye.
Mikel howled loudly, and went for him, his fist colliding with Astra's cheek, the side of his lips getting caught in the middle.
Angrily, he called off the binding spell and grabbed Astra's collar but Astra was also quick, raising his fist.
They punched each other at the same time but recovered almost immediately, turning their spar into an all-out brawl.
"I'm going to kill you," Mikel growled out as Astra grabbed his hair, pulling him forward unforgivingly. The wildfire of adrenaline raced through him, and in that moment, Mikel forgot the insistent pain of his wounds, set on one-upping Astra.
He kicked Astra's knee, elbowing his chest simultaneously. The Spartan stumbled shakily and as he fell he pulled Mikel with him, head butting him square in the chest before Mikel fell on top of him.
Mikel felt something prick at him along with the force of Astra's blow, something definitely not hair, and fall to the ground.
As he looked down, a gold hairpin in the shape of a cobra caught his eye and he picked it up, about to give it back to Astra when he froze.
Below him was a young woman with brown hair on the verge of black laughing hysterically.
She put a finger to her lips and when she saw it was coated in blood, she showed it to him, looking at him with those familiar brown eyes. Astra's eyes.
"Gods Mikel, see what you did to me," she chuckled, her words full of mirth. "I didn't know you had it in you."
Mikel didn't understand what was going on and his head swam with a thousand possibilities as he stared like a fool. She talked like Astra, she was wearing the same ridiculous formal clothes Astra wore for the funeral service and she had visible injuries from the fight that had just taken place.
But, Astra was a man.
Mikel looked at the hairpin in his hand and then at the woman still laughing as he straddled her.
"I did a number on you too, didn't I?" she said as she reached up to rub under his eye gently.
For the first time, she noticed the shocked look in his eye. "Mikel? Are you okay?"
Mikel's breathing came a little bit faster, and his heart shuddered. "Astra?"
She cocked her head quizzically then gave him a scolding look. "Don't you dare pull that thunder sprites spell on me or I will send you to hell myself. Besides, I want a peach flavoured sorbet next-"
Suddenly she noticed the hairpin in Mikel's hands and her eyes widened.
Slowly, she raised her head to look Mikel in the eyes, none of them breaking contact.
"Astra," Mikel breathed again, disbelief and shock in his tone as he stared into her eyes. It was if that single word brought Astra back to her senses and she reached up, pushing Mikel off her callously.
She sat up and grabbed her hairpin from his hand, reaching up into the space where her hair parted like a confluence and placed it there.
Suddenly male Astra was back with the crazy zigzag hair and definitely masculine features, scowling with a hardness Mikel had never noticed before.
She stood, with Mikel following her lead, and turned to go, not bothering to dust herself off.
"Astra, wait," Mikel grabbed her hand and on impulse, Astra jerked him forward, and punched him in the chest viciously.
A loud crack filled the air and Mikel doubled over, coughing harshly. His hand left her wrist to grasp at his chest as he slid to her floor, gasping for air.
"Don't follow me," Astra's was ice and frost as she turned away, leaving the fields behind and with it, a friend.
*