[u]Chapter Sixteen: Reunion[/u] Part Seven "Is what a game?" I rubbed my throat nervously. "This," Crag waved his hand at the area around us, "Being here, doing the Awoken's dirty work, fighting alongside your friends." "Of course it's not a-" I began. "Then stop treating it like there aren't any costs to losing," Crag spoke quietly, but allowed no room for me to finish. "What are you talking about?" I tried for a straight answer out of him. "I've saved you too many times today to think you're fighting unreservedly," Crag's voice was ice and his words were venom, "I can tell that when you're alone you only survive because you avoid fighting altogether if possible, and when with others you rely on them to do a lot of the soldier work." "I'm doing the best I can, Crag," I responded to his accusations. "The best you can isn't calling shots from behind Sierra and Drew, it's being on the front with them and leading," Crag said flatly, and held up a quieting hand when I took a breath to reply, "Sierra's told me about how you've been since the first time we worked together. You're scared of yourself, and we both know it." "Sierra?" my heart sunk. Crag gave an answering nod. "I thought you two didn't talk to each other," I tried diverting the track of the conversation. "We get along worse than most," Crag admitted, "But we talk, especially when concerning you." I tried puzzling out the meaning of that, but Crag kept talking. "We decided I should try teaching you." "Why not both of you?" I questioned suspiciously. "Because I will hurt you and in general people don't find it hard to want to hurt me," Crag didn't seem at all uncomfortable with his answer, and treated it as fact. All I could do was give a small nod. "Why do I need training?" I asked after a moment. "So you'll stop being incompetent on the battlefield." "I'm not useless, I do everything I can for the team." "You get distracted, you ignore vital spots when shooting AND punching, you stay away from the front where you'd be the biggest help to others, and you hardly use your abilities. What happens when you end up against a single opponent as strong as you or a hoard of skilled enemies instead of the weak groups you've been dealing with? You need to know how to hit, where to hit, and WHY to hit. I've seen what you look like when you're not holding back, and I'm telling you now that you will need to let go of your petty pacifism again to survive," Crag hissed at me so quietly and pointedly that I'm sure none of the others would've been able to hear even if they had still been able to listen, "But next time you need control. Wether you like it or not, I am going to teach you those things, because that is the difference between hurting your enemies and hurting your friends." I was shocked by his sudden harsh words and had to take a moment to absorb it all. "Okay, I need some work," I sighed, "But how do we start?" "We start with you trying to hit me," Crag slid his feet apart and raised his arms in a fighting stance, "And end when you stop holding back." "So do I start or do you-?!" I began checking with Crag but stopped when he lunged forward. His right fist swung at my face and I caught it, but then I felt his left jab sink into my stomach. He broke away for a only a moment to let me straighten myself before charging again. This time I blocked his first few blows then grabbed him by the wrists. "You're supposed to hit me," Crag hissed, then swept my feet out from under me. I hit the ground rolling and barely avoided a stomp to the head, then kicked my legs around at the Hunter as I shoved myself up to my feet. Crag merely shifted out of the way, but I got the space I needed to take up a stance and lunge at Crag myself. My knee shot at Crag's ribs, but he used both hands to deflect it downwards and I had to recover with an arcing left hook, which Crag dodged and used as an opening to kick at my leg. I only just avoided the kick and exchanged a few blows with him before my punches started to make him sink down from the pressure. Just when I thought I had him cornered, Crag fell on his back to avoid a blow and grabbed my ankles, using them to propel himself away under me and knock me off balance. He was a slippery one. The rasp of a knife being drawn caught my ear as I stabilized myself, and I turned to see that my sparring partner had taken up a new stance with his knife leveled at me. "I believe you have your own blade to use, I saw you snatch it after fighting that Baron," Crag waved his knife a little in a gesture to hurry me on. Willing the abnormally large Shock Dagger into my right hand, I held the blade out at arms length towards Crag. As expected, the veteran Hunter wasted no time letting me prepare myself and lashed out like a coiled snake. I easily deflected the blow with my outstretched blade, diverting him around me so he couldn't get close enough to stab me, but his next movement was a faint that caused me to open up my guard so he could drive the knife into my ribs. I yelped in pain and tried hopping back, but that helped Crag slip his knife out so he could press it up against my neck again, this time holding my right arm back with his left hand on my wrist. Again he withdrew, waiting a moment for my Light to restore my wound and taking up his stance again. "Ready? We both know you're a quick learner," Crag was probably smirking behind his visor. I took his challenge to strike first and slashed at his hand to try batting his blade away, but he pulled his arm back and stepped forward at me with a strong thrust. I caught his writs and yanked his arm off course, then our blades crashed against each other several times in the ensuing exchange. My form was improving rapidly as we carried on until I was able to move with all of my speed and coordination, but Crag was still just barely quicker than me. He dodged around me, his stabs and slashes only just being caught in time to save me while my attacks always came short of connecting. After a minute of this, Crag slid back away from an arcing slash and held his ground out of my reach. "Now you're up to speed," he commented, then with a flickering movement his knife sunk into my helmet. After a moment I was breathing again and climbing back up to my feet. "I am thoroughly enjoying this," Rush chuckled. "You're lucky you're such a delicate little flower," I retorted. Crag had his knife back in his hand, waiting for me to make a move. Readying my dagger, I stepped forward towards my opponent. Crag's knife flew from his hand again only to be knocked out of the air by me, but Crag drew his other blade and we began exchanging blows again. Our blades locked, mine dwarfing his, and I pushed down, causing Crag to slide back until his heels pressed against the cliff behind him. I was stronger, but Crag's support from behind allowed him to keep my blade away from his neck. "Where is the strength I saw that first mission?" Crag huffed, struggling to hold my arms back as we grappled for dominance. ________________________ Link to Pt6: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/230678658/0/0 Link to Pt8: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/230679351/0/0 Link to ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0