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"I didn't think you'd be one for wanting to fight, princess." Atitaya says in between grunts, as she continues to focus on the dummy in front of her, not even looking at Atziri.
It has been a hectic few weeks of helping Namaari with expanding fang into the mainland, rebuilding houses and structures, making sure there are enough resources and to top it all off, making sure that the princess of Talon is safe. She was sent to Fang by the request of Dang hai a couple of weeks ago, her uncle not wanting to risk her safety by letting her stay in talon while a political conflict is going on.
Atitaya had just finished some paperwork and had gone out to the training ground to let off some steam. She prefers to train at night, when not a lot of people are out anymore and not like she has a choice what with all the work she has to do in the daytime. Now, one of her day jobs decides to interrupt her moment of peace.
"Your assumptions are correct. I merely don't have anything to do here in fang and I'm growing bored." Atziri leans on the ledge that's separating her and Atitaya, resting her face on her palm.
“And you think training to fight would cure your boredom?”
"Can’t think of anything else better to do at the moment. Wouldn't want me picking things off of nobles out of boredom would you?"
Atitaya takes one last punch at the dummy, almost making it fall over. She takes a second to even her breathing before finally turning to look at Atziri.
"No." The only thing she replies.
Atziri seems to get which question she was answering. Her expression slightly shifts to annoyance as she stands up to walk closer to the general.
"Why?" she jabs back at the single word answer of Atitaya.
She sighs as she gets a feeling that the princess might not easily back down. There are plenty of things to do in the palace if she’s bored enough to want to fight why couldn’t she have chosen anything else. She’s also not supposed to be out at night alone but Atitaya decides to let it slide for now.
"I was only tasked to guard and protect you princess. Nothing more and nothing less."
"Well it's not like I can waltz out of the palace grounds to do other activities because oh! You won't let me."
"We're not sure who's out there wanting to harm you and we can't take any chances. Your uncle has put his trust in fang, in princess Namaari to make sure you’re safe. I’ll see to it that that trust won’t be destroyed and that I make sure you don’t get hurt.” She says matter of factly.
"So you agree that there's not much for me to do because of my circumstances." Her arms are crossed, looking frustrated.
She's not fully aware of the dangers she's in but she knows enough for her not to pry the general to let her out into town. It doesn't mean she can't help but feel bored and trapped, her homesickness not helping her feel better.
Her mind wanders to her uncle, how she'd only reunited with him after being separated for a few years, only to be sent away again. At least this time Dang hai can have peace of mind that her niece is safe. But what of Atziri, not knowing how his uncle is doing back at talon, apart from the occasional letters she receives. Though those do little to help ease her nerves.
Atziri shakes her thoughts away. She came to the general to learn how to fight or defend herself, not to wallow more in her head. If Atitaya caught the change in her expression, she doesn't say anything.
"How about this then. If I can hit you once then you train me, if I can't, I won't ask you for anything else." She proposes. "That seems like a reasonable proposal right? Unless you're scared I'd hit your pretty face too hard?" She adds as a taunt.
Atitaya makes no comment on what Atziri said, only looks at her for a bit, contemplating. She takes a second before she finally relents.
“Fine. Swear to the dragons that you'll stop bothering me”
"Of course, as long as you swear you'll train me when I get a hit."
"If you can get a hit." Atitaya corrects.
Atziri figures Atitaya will be underestimating her. Her build doesn't scream 'Warrior princess' like Namaari, no muscles to show off. She struggles enough to swing a dagger with a hefty weight. She also has minimal experience in fighting, only taught by one of her friends how to properly punch and the proper stance.
The one thing going for her though is her speed. Her hands are particularly fast, a very important skill to have in talon. Pair her fast hands with her little knowledge in punching and she might have a chance of actually hitting the general.
They both get into place and stare each other down. Atziri takes a fighting stance and starts moving, checking where she could hit the easiest. She’s practical enough to know she’ll have a lower chance of succeeding if she goes for the harder or more obvious parts to hit like her face.
Atziri starts to strike Atitaya, feeling everything out as she attempts to get a hit, her first attempt getting swatted by Atitaya. Atziri feels relieved that she’ll be the only one trying to actually hit her opponent because that swat was almost hard enough to make her groan in pain. She wasn't expecting it to be easy at all of course but it's not looking like lucks gonna be on her side. It’s not gonna make her forfeit though, she hasn’t even pulled her faster punches yet.
“Is that all you got?”
“I’m just testing out the waters.” she retorts while taking off her golden wrist cuff and lunges at the general with her full speed the moment it hits the ground.
Her punches become faster but it doesn’t seem to deter Atitaya, dodging or deflecting her attempts, only making her move back little by little. This goes on for a bit before she’s starting to get tired. Her hands are fast but it wasn’t built for fast punches that takes a bit of exertion, only sudden and subtle movements.
She goes for a strike on Atitaya’s leg with a kick but she quickly pulls a feint, switching to move to the right. Atitaya seems to fall for it. Her upper torso has a lot of opening, giving Atziri the opportunity to attempt to hit her right shoulder. Atitaya recovers from her feint and effortlessly swipes her punch.
Atziri jumps away a bit surprised but quickly changes her expression back, hoping her reaction wasn’t noticed by Atitaya. She was getting even more worn down, breathing heavily now. At this rate she really won’t be able to get any hit.
“Not holding back huh?” Atziri taunts.
“Oh trust me princess, I am.” She smirks in return which earns a scoff from Atziri.
“Your prediction’s a bit off y'know. I’m going easy on you so you won’t get hurt but I’m not underestimating you like you thought I would, is that correct?” Atitaya says with an amused look.
“I’ve seen how you work. Your hands are fast,” she adjusts her arm guards, “but not fast enough it seems.”
Atziri gives her a glare and mentally berates herself. She was the one underestimating her opponent. Some strategy based on a gamble won’t work on one of the top generals in fang.
She’s close to giving up when she gets an idea; another gamble, so much for a proper strategy. It’s not like she could come up with anything a strategist or warrior can’t easily foil. Seems like she was going for the obvious hit after all. She takes off her nose ring and sets it in one of her pockets.
“You got me general.” She throws her hand playfully and starts walking towards Atitaya. “It seems I was the one underestimating you instead, a crucial mistake on my part I’ll remember not to do that.”
If she was trying to distract Atitaya, she wasn't doing a very good job.
They’re a few feet from each other when Atziri runs straight at Atitaya and tries to pull another punch, this time to the side of Atitaya’s face. Atitaya dodges and captures her wrist, forcing Atziri to try and punch again with her left. To no avail, Atitaya manages to dodge and catch her other wrist, taking away Atziri’s chance at trying for another hit. They’re even closer now, Atitaya looking down at Atziri with a smug smile, noses a few inches away from touching.
“Did you already forget not to underestimate me?” She says in an amused tone.
“Oh trust me general,” her eyes shut close and her features scrunch up preparing for impact, “I didn’t.” She moves her head back and before Atitaya could react, Atziri lands a blow to the general’s face.
Caught off guard with the strike, Atitaya takes a wrong step back and trips. Still holding Atziri’s wrist, she brings the princess stumbling with her. They both hit the ground with a dull thud, Atitaya catching her. Thankfully they were in a grassy area to cushion their fall.
They both groan in pain. Atitaya opens her eyes to see Atziri raising herself with her right arm, her other arm raised to touch the reddening spot on her forehead. She had a pained expression but she was grinning. The light from the lanterns gave her a backlit glow.
Even with the shadows painting Atziri’s face, Atitaya could see how beautiful the princess was. She wasn’t above admitting if she found someone’s looks attractive. That doesn’t mean she was saying that she was attracted to her though, not at all. She only acknowledged what was right in front of her.
“So, same place tomorrow? Though I’m not sure if the dead of the night would be a good time again.” Her trance is broken but she doesn’t reply.
“Well? Did I hit your head too hard general?” Atziri chuckles, “I’ll give you a minute.”
Atitaya gives her an unimpressed look that doesn’t reach her lips. Instead of a frown to complete the look, she couldn't help but smile. “Yes, that was our agreement after all, princess.” She begrudges.
She already has to guard and protect her on top of doing paperwork, now she has to train her too. Might as well become her personal chef. Training Atziri would at least make her job of guarding her a bit easier. She won’t have to chase her around as much, making sure she’s not getting herself into trouble. Atitaya makes a mental note of asking namaari for a raise.
“Maybe go find a better place to do that than out in the open!” Someone shouts from a distance. Breaking the invisible bubble around them, Atitaya becomes more aware of where they are and that Atziri was still on top of her. They were out in the open, giving any passerby full view of them in an easy to misunderstand position.
She clears her throat which gets the attention of the princess on top of her. Atziri stands up and offers her a hand, taking it and giving the princess a small nod. They both look at where the voice has come from.
“Don’t let me interrupt you though, you can just pretend I wasn’t here, I'll be quickly on my way.” Somwang says with a shit eating grin as she approaches the two. The night just keeps getting longer.
“We were just finishing up actually,” Atziri brushes some grass that clings to her clothes and gets her discarded wrist cuff, “Dragons, I’m most likely gonna wake up sore tomorrow.” She says as she stretches and gives a side glance at Atitaya, deciding to play along.
Somwang was taken back, eyes widening for a second before she burst out laughing, tears forming at the side of her eyes.
“Oh, I like her.” She points with her thumb at Atziri, still struggling to stop her laughter, while she looks at Atitaya who was pinching the bridge of her nose.
Atitaya groans. She's the last person she wanted to catch sight of. Technically Somwang was the one that caught sight of her, in a compromising position with someone no less. She’d beat her ass in a fight right now if she wasn’t tired from the impromptu spar with the princess and everything that she had done during the day.
She sighs and leans slightly to the side to whisper at Atziri. “Please stop egging her on.” She wants badly for this conversation to end and to be in her soft bed, resting. It's been an eventful day.
"Alright it’s getting late. You should get back to your room princess," Atitaya glares at Somwang, "and you too."
"What? not even gonna properly introduce us?"
"That can wait when the sun's up. I'm sure the princess is tired." She turns to Atziri hoping she'd get her hints of wanting to get out.
Atziri nods, amusement still in her eyes but sensing the general's plea. She supposes she's tormented her enough today. Plus she was also really tired. She hasn't moved that much since she was out in the wild trying to survive with her friends. The throbbing pain on her forehead distracts her from thinking about the past, still mulling it over if it was worth it to injure her face.
"Ah of course, from–"
"From training." Atitaya cuts Somwang off with another glare at her direction as she walks away to escort Atziri back to her room. She could hear Somwang laughing again.
"I’m sorry ate I was just messing around. Name's Somwang by the way" She shouts as they get farther away. "Nice to finally meet You princess Atziri."
Atziri takes note of how she knows her name already, deduces she could have heard it from Atitaya. She makes no mention of it, only wonders what would warrant Atitaya to mention her to Somwang.
Atziri turns to see Somwang waving at them, walking backwards and almost stumbling on a rock. Atziri waves back, trying not to giggle at the sight of the buff warrior tripping on a stone. They get further down the path until she’s out of view. Atziri looks to the ground in front of her.
"Huh. She’s... something." She means it in a good way, the fight had just drained all her energy for her to think of a better word or few words to describe Somwang.
"Tell me about it.” Atitaya says with a huff.
“You two seem close, how do you know each other?”
“She’s Namaari’s cousin. I trained them both when they were younger.”
They fall into awkward silence after that, none of them knowing what to say or if they should. Atziri is the first to break the silence. She never really liked small talk and what comes after you’ve said your pleasantries.
"You should go back to your room. I can handle going back on my own." Truth be told she's not fully familiar with the layout of the palace yet but she can't stand the deafening silence between them. Doesn’t help how quiet it was that night too, not even a chirp of a cicada.
Atitaya’s room is just across from the princess but she doesn't mention it. "Don't be ridiculous, it's the dead of night."
"You take your job too seriously, my room's just… a few blocks away." She fails to sound convincing.
"Your room's in that building." Atitaya points at the tallest one that's definitely not a few blocks away.
"I've already told you we can't take any chances. I take my job seriously because there are lives on the line. I'm sure you would as well if you were in my position." Atitaya says while looking sternly at Atziri.
“And as much as I’d like to get out of training duty, we can’t have you getting kidnapped.” She says it in a serious tone but clearly means it as a joke, earning a laugh from Atziri and helping to lighten the mood.
Atziri doesn't reply anymore, only looks ahead, the silence that falls between them not feeling as awkward as before. They go the rest of the way without talking until they reach the door to her room.
"Thank you for taking me back to my room general and for agreeing to train me." She says genuinely.
“Of course.”
They both stood there for a bit, Atitaya wanting to go back to her room but sensing that Atziri still had something to say. Atziri did, she was still trying to decide if she should or if she should just bid the general goodbye.
She decides to go with the first. No better time to try to improve their rapport a bit. They are going to be seeing each other for a while.
"General, I uhhh,” she goes to try and brush a strand of hair on her forehead and winces, momentarily forgetting the injury she sustained, “I’m aware we had a bit of a rough first meeting, but I hope we could start over again?" A small smile forming on her face as she shrugs.
Atitaya's stunned for a second, not used to this side of her. Tiredness must be taking over her, so close to thinking how cute and endearing the princess looked. She quickly shakes the thought away. She shouldn’t even be thinking these kinds of things.
"I'd like that princess." She smiles back. “Before I leave, may I?” Gesturing at Atziri’s forehead. Atziri only nods.
Atitaya moves closer to cup Atziri’s face, slightly tilting it up to get a better look at her injury, struggling a little with how little light the lanterns that lined the walls were producing. She’s a bit annoyed that the princess would think of doing something risky. Atitaya didn’t really think that the princess wanted to learn how to fight that badly. Her annoyance is evident on her face, making Atziri react.
“Is the injury that serious for you to scowl at my face like that?”
“Oh, my apologies I didn’t realize.” Atitaya says, her face returning to a neutral expression.
“No, there doesn’t seem to be a bruise or anything wrong,” she adds, “good.” She says the last part in a hushed tone.
Atitaya instinctively brushes a stray strand of hair on Atziri’s forehead, taking care not to hurt the injured area while she checks it again, just to be sure. Atziri raises her brows at the action, a bit surprised at the softness of the general. Before she could say anything, Atitaya retracts her hands and steps back.
"Don't be late for tomorrow. I don't take tardy students and we still need to make a stop at the healers, make sure your brain isn’t damaged." She exaggerates, before she's headed to her room.
“My head is quite tough actually thank you very much.”
“You are hard headed after all.”
She catches a glimpse of Atziri realizing their rooms were next to each other, rolling her eyes as she closes the door to her room, turning away from Atitaya. She flops to her bed and let the exhaustion consume her. Namaari owes her about 10 more favors now.