the escaped logician (cadence) wrote in ironman7, @ 2007-10-05 23:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | cadence, magna carta, week 7: prompt 4 |
Magna Carta (Rianna, Raul) [week 7 - prompt 4]
Title: Steady Enough
Author: Cadence
Rating: PG
Word Count: 400
Summary: It's never a good idea to agree to let someone fight along with you before you've even seen them unsheathe their sword.
Rianna grinds her teeth. It's never a good idea to agree to let someone fight along with you before you've even seen them unsheathe their sword. It's downright stupid to recruit a man you meet collapsed in the road, no questions asked. This Raul is likely to be drunk and incompetent, a complete leech on their resources. In fact, he seems to be making no effort to hide that fact.
Well, no matter. Rianna can handle most threats around here by herself. As long as Raul manages to hold his sword steady enough to not chop her head off, they should be okay for long enough for Reith to realize what a liability he is.
Her heart sinks slightly when they run into a pack of monsters. The things look fragile, but there are three of them, and she knows from experience that earth or mountain attacks from don't tend to be very effective. Reith's ice is helpful, but – she glances sideways at Raul – she won't be able to use it much if she has to spend her time keeping their leech alive.
Dammit. Well, no use worrying now.
She strikes twice at one of the beasts, and winces when it doesn't seem terribly fazed by it. It leaps to bite her, and pain lances through her arm where it manages to get teeth in past her block. Reith steps forward and rains down ice shard in front of Rianna. It means she's powered up for her wider spell –
Instead, Raul steps forward. Rianna opens her mouth to tell him to stay out of the way, but then chi starts to gather, and it's too late anyway.
"Dragon… Descent!"
Rianna's groan is cut off by a choking sputter as Raul transitions from his ridiculous drama into a flurry of smooth efficient strikes with his sword. Its – well, okay, it's damned impressive. Rianna's no expert, but it's a better display of swordsmanship than she's seen in a long time, at least, and the untouched creature in front of him is utterly overwhelmed.
She suppresses her surprise as, between them, they finish off the other two monsters with only minor injuries.
"That was amazing!" Reith says happily when they regroup. Rianna presses her lips together to keep from smiling.
"Thank you. It did, however, make me somewhat hungry. Could I…"
"Oh, deal with it; you've eaten half our provisions already." Rianna snaps.