Make Love Not War

[Evie Perroy]

Evie perched on top of a slab of grey rock overhanging the river. She could hear the soft rush of water below her, and allowed her thoughts to drift while she waited for Dante to find her. They had organised a meeting, in which Dante agreed to help her train. He knew nothing of her being a member of the army, and so Evie was happy to let him think he was helping her purely for self-defence purposes. She knew she would learn a lot from him. Although she hadn't seen him fight herself, the brotherhood tavern was rife with stories of his skills and accomplishments. She wondered how his fighting would compare to Arthurs.

Despite it being mid-winter, Evie wore nothing but her sparse leather studded armour- living in the slums she was used to the cold, and her arms weren't even goose-bumped. Her blonde hair was plaited away down her back, the wind swishing the usual whisps around her face. She scratched as some moss on the rock with a fingernail and began to hum quietly to herself, content to wait for Dante's inevitable appearence.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante limped silently through the snow to where he was supposed to meet Evie. She had asked him to train her, and as he was training constantly himself he figured that it might be good for both of them. His right knee ached where he had been wounded by Arthur almost a week before, but during his training he had reopened the wound and it hurt like new.

He saw the lone figure of Evie standing by the frozen river. He approached and called to her, "Hello beautiful." She did really look beautiful even with her skin drained of color by the cold. He couldn't imagine wearing so little in such cold weather. He had two shirts, two pairs of pants and his chain mail, plus his heavy cloak. And he was still cold.

He realized how haggard he must look from all of his sleepless nights and ceaseless training. Cuts and bruises marred every visible part of his body and he had dark circles under his eyes. His hair was unkempt and his face unshaven. He offered a smile when he approached her, trying not to laugh at himself.

[Evie Perroy]

She hadn't even heard Dante's footsteps approaching her, and the first thing she knew of his presence were his words of greeting.

"Hello beautiful."
Evie flushed pink, turning to look over her shoulder, then stood and jumped swiftly down from the rock, landing neatly just infront of Dante.

"Hello you." she replied, unable to suppress a smile. For a moment, she stood quietly in front of him. He looked tired, no doubt from his excursion with Henry and his other brotherhood endeavors. She wondered if he was happy, if he ever thought about taking time out to just rest. It was hardly an appropriate topic for conversation though, and Evie kept her thoughts to herself.
Instead, she stepped forward reaching out both arms and stretched them over Dante's shoulders. She had to step up on tiptoes to kiss him, slowly leaning in to his warm cloaked body. She pulled away after a few seconds, (or was it minutes?) and reaching under Dante's cloak unsheathed his sword, handing it to him with an impish smile.

Wordlessly, she stepped back, grabbing her own sword from where it lay on the frozen ground and turned round to face him.
"So... where do you want to start?"

[Dante Grixis]

Dante took the blade from her and looked over her. He would have to be careful not to hurt her in the process of this training. "Well before you can attack, you must know how to block." He said and held his sword up. He was not used to fighting with one blade but he was getting as good with one as he was with two.

"Get ready." He said and swung slowly toward Evie's midsection, ready to stop the blade if she missed the block.

[Evie Perroy]

"Well before you can attack, you must know how to block."

"Okay." Evie replied seriously, looking back at Dante unblinkingly. She was going to have to forget who she was fighting in order to focus properly. She raised he sword as he did, and waited for his instruction.

"Get ready."

As he spoke the words, Dante simultaneously swung his sword and Evie only just bought her own across her midsection to block him. She moved awkwardly, and as the two swords collided with a metallic clang, the impact reverberated up her arm causing her to almost drop her sword. She swore, stepping back and shaking out her arm to stop it tingling. Dante was quick and strong. She raised her sword again, making eye contact and waiting for either his response, or his next move.

[Dante Grixis]

Her form was good and she would soon get used to the impact tremors that vibrated through her arms. "Good." He said and swung down towards her head which she also blocked. It seemed to him that she already had some experience in fighting. He shrugged figuring that her father had taught her to use a blade.

"Try to attack me." He said and held his blade in a loose defensive position.

[Evie Perroy]

"Try to attack me."

Evie stepped back feeling her feet planted firmly on the ground, then swung her sword at Dante's side. She used both hands and her full strength; Evie had no worry about hurting Dante as she knew he would be able to block her with ease until she was much improved. As a woman, it was inevitable that her blows would lack power in comparison to his, and so it was movement and technique in place of brute force that she focused on.

Moments after the first strike, she used the momentum of the block to swing again at Dante's other side, higher this time- about level with his neck. Her eyes never left his the whole time and she allowed herself a small smile- it reminded her of training with her father in her early teens.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante was impressed with her form. Most people new to the workings of a blade tended to prefer power over finesse. It seemed that she was the opposite. He easily blocked her first attack and took a step back as her follow up attack came in high. Dante ducked low and retaliated by holding his tip blade dangerously close to her neck. He held it there for a moment then snapped it away.

"Good form but the wide swing leaves you open for a counterattack. You must always be wary of sudden attacks or changes in attack direction. Try again." He said calmly, raising his blade for the next set.

[Evie Perroy]

For the next twenty minutes or so, Evie continued as before, swapping between attempting to attack Dante and blocking his blows. Now her arms felt leaden, her cheeks flushed and she felt drained from the constant concentration that fighting required. Dante didn't seem to have tired at all, and was still effortlessly blocking her increasingly desperate attacks, giving her a few words of criticism or encouragement before they resumed.

Evie let her sword clatter to the rock and held up both hands,
"OK, I need a rest!" she declared, tilting her neck, and arching her back to stretch out her tensed muscles. "Are you not hot?" she asked, eyeing Dante's heavy cloak, "I'm boiling- feel." As she spoke she stepped forward, taking Dante's hand in her own to press against her fevered forehead in demonstration.

The background noise of the river caught her attention, and Evie moved down to kneel beside the river, then cupped her hands to splash some of the icy water over her burning cheeks. Cooler now, she sat cross-legged on the bank watching her reflection and began to unplait her hair.

[OOC: Hope you don't mind that I sort of powerplayed Dante at the beginning of the post just to speed things up ]

[Dante Grixis]

((My bad! I totally thought I replied to this a looong time ago...))

Dante felt Evie's warm hands and closed his eyes. He was still freezing and the heat felt good. As she walked to the river he briskly rubbed his hands together and sheathed his sword. He watched with amazement as she splashed the icy water over her face and he walked over to her. "It must be that you've lived here you're whole life. This is one of the coldest day's I've ever known." He said and sat down next to her.

[Evie Perroy]

A few minutes of silence followed Dante's last words, Evie was both deep in thought, and getting her breath back after the sparring session.

"Hmm," she began, staring at her reflection and finally replying to Dante's last statement as if there hadn't been a gap in the conversation at all, "Sometimes I forget that people have had lives before they met me... Sometimes I forget that there's so much more than Camelot. Other kingdoms and places and people that don't exist for me." she was talking to herself now more than anything, a distant dreamy expression on her face, and realising this she trailed of, turning to face Dante with a smile.

"I'd like to see other places someday. Maybe we could go together..." she uttered these last words cautiously, only just managing to bring her eyes up to meet with his. This was her roundabout way of telling Dante she hoped to be with him in the future. Normally, she had no trouble with words, she spoke as she found or felt- but with him it was different.

Evie hesitantly slid her hand over the cold ground to rest on his; the look on her face anything but distant now.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante smiled softly and spoke equally as soft. "I would love that." He gently took her hand in his and noticed the difference between the two hands. Hers was small and soft, Dante's was large and rough with calluses and scars from years wielding a sword.

His mind suddenly wandered to his upcoming battle with Arthur. He didn't want to trouble her, but he loved her, and he had to tell her. He held her hand a little tighter and looked her in the eyes. "My days on this Earth my be numbered. In just a few days I am supposed to meet Arthur in the arena for a deathmatch. I can honestly say for the first time in a long time I am genuinely scared for my life. I can't imagine dying and leaving you or Henry behind." He said and shook his head slowly. He had been training like a madman but what if it wasn't enough. "I love you Evie." He said after a moment.

His master's words that an assassin can never fall in love suddenly had a new meaning. It wasn't that they were incapable of that emotion, it was that the feeling of love made them question their line of work, their motives and ultimately made an assassin afraid to die. Fear was often deadly. Dante spoke none of these thoughts aloud and decided that he would rather die loving Evie and the enjoying close friendship he had with Henry than live alone.

[Evie Perroy]

Evie smiled, content to watch Dante watching their linked hands. His brow was furrowed as if in thought. Her mind wondered also; she had never been the type, or had the sort of lifestyle where she could ever see herself settling down. After all, who would be interested in a dead assassin's daughter... but looking at the man before her, Evie felt like she may have found the answer. When she felt him squeeze her hand tighter, she looked up, tilting her head attentively whilst Dante spoke, his voice both gentle and serious.

"My days on this Earth my be numbered. In just a few days I am supposed to meet Arthur in the arena for a death-match. I can honestly say for the first time in a long time I am genuinely scared for my life. I can't imagine dying and leaving you or Henry behind."

As Dante spoke these words Evie's stomach tightened into a knot. Perhaps if she'd have been a different girl she would have burst into tears and begged him not to fight, begged him not to leave her. Instead, she squeezed his hand tightly with the one he already held, bringing the other round from her side and placing it gently on his knee.

I love you Evie

She faltered at this. She knew that Dante had feelings for her, but it was rare for men of the brotherhood to voice their emotions. Evie's throat tightened, and her voice trembled with emotion as she spoke these next words.
"It seems like I've always been in danger of losing the men that love me, first my father..." here her voice cracked, and whatever she was going to say she never voiced. She looked down to the ground for a few moments to compose herself, then looking back up she continued, "This is something y'have to do, and you fight well. I hope more than anything you win." The prospect of a death-match is hard enough for anyone to cope with mentally, and Evie hoped that by being understanding she could ease the burden; Dante would already be aware of the hurt his death would cause her, it didn't need to be said.

She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand, and shifted from a sitting position to a kneeling one. "You know I love you too right?" she bit her lip, "And, we're both here now..." she continued in a lower voice, leaning in toward him, "Maybe you can take an hour or two off of training..."

[Dante Grixis]

Dante listened to Evie begin to talk about her father then stop as if she was going to cry. He sighed, perhaps he shouldn't have said anything. She might be better off that way. He looked up as she spoke again and smiled a bit. He knew she loved him, and that is why he had to win. He couldn't imagine what would happen to Evie if he didn't come out of the fight alive. He turned to her and kissed her gently.

"I would like nothing more than to stay here with you."

[Evie Perroy]

Curled close to Dante by the riverbed, Evie had never been happier, even with the knowledge of Dante's impending fight with Arthur. She pushed it from her mind, which was easy to do; when Dante was kissing her, she wasn't really aware of much else. Still, there was a niggling guilt at the back of her mind. Something she hadn't told Dante. Evie unsuccessfully tried to push this guilt to the back of her mind, along with all thoughts of the fight...

"Dante," after several guilt-wracked minutes, she pulled away from him, and biting her lip, looked down at her bare legs, wondering how she was going to phrase this next sentence. She looked back up at his face with concern, unsure about how he would react.

"I've done something really bad..." Here she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, before continuing in a quiet unwavering voice, "I lost the egg."