Chapter Text
knock knock
“Come in!”
Tig opened the door to Diana’s house. Inside, Diana in her former glory is seated, waiting with a teapot, 2 cups of tea and some cookies she ordered from Banquet Hall on the table. Tig walked towards the table and took a seat in the opposite direction from Diana.
“Hello, chief. Didn’t expect you of all people to send me a letter of challenge” Tig put the letter on the table.
“Hi, Tig. Thank you for coming here today. Also, it’s not just a simple letter of challenge, you know?”
Tig looks back at the letter. It wrote:
‘My dear Tig,
Since you become a hero, I see that you have developed mentally and physically and became a very capable werebeast. You became a great chief candidate. However, I must see for myself if you are capable of protecting the village better or as good as I did. Come to my house tomorrow and prepare yourself. We will fight so that I can see and judge how capable you are personally.
-Diana’
Tig looks at Diana from head to stomach (the lower half is blocked by the table). She saw it once, but Diana’s body in her prime didn’t fail to amaze her. It’s as if Yggdrasil itself forged a magnificent figure made specifically for combat and blessed Diana with it. However, she must be way past that point. So…
“What are you looking at?” Diana puts down her cup before staring at Tig.
“How did you return to your prime? You should be way past that point” She saw it once, but it’s an isolated case. Diana should not be able to return to this state on command.
Diana chuckles “I asked master to use his connection to Yggdrasil to borrow some power. Thanks to him, I can return to my glory days, altough it’s temporary. I did it just for today to test your ability”
Tig drank the tea while wracking her brain. If her capability is recognized, why didn’t Diana declare her as the new chief? She knows about heriarchy by strenght and thought the werebeast used that system, but werebeast in general is very free so they don’t follow a fixed custom. She doesn't need to defeat Diana in combat and Diana don’t need to officially challenge her to make her the new chief. Tig puts down the cup and began asking “Why did you challenge me? You can just declare me as the official chief. There’s no need for us to fight”.
Diana looked down at her cup while answering “I have to see for myself, if you are capable of protecting the village”
The answer doesn't satisfy Tig “Everyone saw my capability when i became a hero. Everyone knows I’m strong enough. You can declare me the new chief and no one will question it. Plus, everyone is responsible for the village’s safety. The chief is there to make sure everything doesn't go out of control. So why must we fight?” Tig isn’t afraid to fight Diana. She’s just concerned about Diana’s wellbeing. Borrowing power to return to her prime self must be taxing on her body.
“As I said, I must see your capabilty myself to judge if you’re ready” Diana sighs. She looks annoyed.
“But-” Tig stood up to protest, but the words was stuck in her throat. Diana’s voice when she sighed is not beacuse of annoyance when a kid refuse to listen to the parent. It’s more like when the kid questioned and slowly realized about their lies. Diana realized Tig might’ve caught on and smiled. It’s not a sincere smile. It’s a smile with hidden meaning.
“You… You just want to fight? For fun?” Tig smiles in disbelief, while Diana slowly nods while smiling. Tig slowly sat down, with her shoulder shaking. She let out a chuckle, before they both burst out a laughter, though Diana’s laugh is more controlled than Tig’s.
“Haaah… I can’t believe you still have that impulse in you. I thought the chief has let her past self go, but it seems like that desire has returned since you somehow returned to your prime last time, huh?” Tig wiped her tears after calming down.
“Hm. It’s just an excuse for me to fully bask myself in my former glory. Now, finish up before we fight.”
They calmly finish the tea and cookies. Even though this fight might be pointless, Tig was looking foward to it. This will be her chance to see Diana in her strongest form in action, and she can challenge herself to overcome it to make herself stronger. Even though she was worried about Diana, it seems like Diana wants to do this just for fun. She must know her own limit, so Tig does’nt worry about Diana anymore. Now, her only concern is can she handle Diana in her full power? She’s looking foward to it.
After finishing the foods, Diana stood up and readies her axe. “Let’s begin as fast as possible. I hope we can finish it by today” she stares at Tig. Despite being a deer (or is it roe deer? Diana please don’t hunt me), she’s glaring at Tig like a predator on a hunt.
Tig calmly stands up “I don’t want us to break this this house. How about we fight outside? Your front yard seems big enough for us” she points with her right thumb at the front door.
Diana smiles “Good idea. I don’t want to break my furniture either” they both walked toward the door. “You have grown so much. It feels like yesterday when you don’t care about other people’s property”
Tig blushed “Please forget the old me. It’s embarassing”. When they reached the door, Tig opens it and offered Diana to go first. “Elder’s first”
“My, my. So polite. I almost can’t recognize you anymore, Tig” She took on that offer. After she stepped out, behind her, Tig silently unseaths her sword and raised it high.
BAAMMM!!!
Dust from the impact raised and blurred her vision. As it slowly settles, the image became clearer. Diana was standing perpendicularly to Tig, just 2cm away from the impact. “Excellent. Striking from behind at the earliest oppoturnity. Dishonourable? Yes, but it is effective. You really have grown to be a great warrior”
Tig carved a nervous smile. This old woman can counter it easily, or step back to gain distance, or refuse the offer to go first. But, she chose to test Tig and more importantly, flex her combat skill and experience. Is this how Diana really was in her youth? It's nothing like her usual calm and composed self (seriously Epid, why is base Diana's personality mad and the prime is the opposite?)
Diana smiles, baring her teeth. “Now, let’s begin” She grabs Tig’s dominant hand that’s holding the sword and threw her outside. Tig flew 10 meters before she reached the ground. She plants her feet and it took her another 5 meters to completely stop the momentum. A shadow slowly envelop her and when she looks up, Diana was in the air with her axe raised high. Tig steps far away to gain distance and regain her footing. The place she stood exploded by the sheer impact by Diana's attack, creating a huge cloud of dust. Tig grins nervously while cold sweat fell down her cheek. That's not an attack she can just block spontaneously.
Diana walks out of the smoke with her axe on her shoulder. They both took a stance, ready to charge and react to the opponent's action. The battle begins.