The Thrill of the Hunt(Arthur)

[Dante Grixis]

Dante groggily rose from his bed and was momentarily blinded by the sunlight pouring through the open window. The embers from the fire he had made the night before slowly radiated their warmth through the one roomed house that he called home. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and yawned loudly before throwing off his quilt and stepping onto the wood floor.

He went to one of the numerous chests laid out around his room and got a tunic and breeches. He put them on still dazed from waking. Then he stood there for a moment thinking about what he would do with himself today. He figured that he might as well check the guild hall for a mission.

He went to the other side of the room and pulled his chainmail from its hook. He looked over it for a moment, many of the rings were chipped and scarred from battle. A small patch on the right shoulder were melted where he was hit with lightning by a mage. He couldn't fathom how many times this simple steel piece had saved his life. He donned his armor and strapped on his belt with his trusty blades and slung his cloak over his shoulders. He pulled his hood up and exited his house.

The early day was chilly and it appeared as if it would stay that way all day. Winter was encroaching on the mild autumn weather and soon people would be rushing to collect wood to heat their houses through the cold months to come. Except in the slums where he stood that was. Few had houses and fewer still had a fireplace to burn fuel. He began making his way through the streets tossing a few coins to beggars sitting in the gutters.

As he rounded a corner he saw something that could drastically change his day. His hands instinctively gripped the hilts of his blades and his hunter instincts engaged. The Pendragon Prince was no more than six houses down the row.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

"Search in there!" The prince yelled to his men, pointing to a tiny hovel, barely standing in the strong wind that swept the alleys that day. "Leave nothing unchecked!" He rode further down the street, if it could really be called that, sending more men into more tiny huts. Women and children stood clutching at one another in fright as the prince ruthlessly turned their homes upside down.
Arthur wished he wasn't here doing this, but as soon as his father had discovered Arthur's attack on Kingsway a week or two past, there was no stopping him. He had demanded a thorough search of the slums, to ensure the execution of the assassin.
So far the prince had had little luck, only finding scared and innocent beggars and cripples, but he knew that he would be amongst them somewhere, perhaps in disguise.

"Out of the way!" He yelled again, this time at a small girl standing in the centre of the road. "I said move.." He tried again, softer now. Her lip began to tremble, and Arthur dismounted feeling terrible. It was not in his personality to scare children and she looked lost. The other Lows had disbanded to safer territory.
"Don't cry..." He tried, patting her on the head tentatively. "Where is your mother?" He knelt down and looked into the girls grubby face, her large eyes instantly filled with tears and Arthur's heart melted. She shook her tiny head and Arthur scooped her up into his arms without a second thought.
"Take her to Avalon." He ordered Sir Neolt one of his most trusted knights. "There will be someone there who can feed and care for her. Tell them i will send any money they need." He passed the almost weightless figure over and Neolt carried her off. The last thing he saw was a tiny smile over Neolts shoulder.

Instantly trying to forget the child and her forlorn expression, he took to organising his men again. It didn't take long until they were all continuing to search the houses, although somewhat more politely now. Two, three...soon five houses had been searched and there were few left. Arthur himself tethered his horse to a rotting post and entered the sixth house in the row.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante watched as the Prince entered one of the shacks on the row. He had missed the exchange with the poor girl and if he had seen it things might have gone differently. Instead he stalked to the house Arthur had entered seconds before, drawing his blades. He silently made his way into the one room shack. The residents on the home were not there at this time. Or perhaps it was an uninhabited dwelling, from the look it was hard to tell either way. There was no bed and the few pieces of furniture were old and more or less destroyed. The smell of rotting wood permeated the room.

The Prince had his back to Dante and in a silent step he had cleared the distance between them. He held his breath, this may be the chance he had been waiting for, he didn't want anything to ruin it. His adrenaline was racing and his senses were beginning to enhance. He pulled his long sword back and struck out towards Arthur's exposed back, urging it to hit his mark.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur was disgusted by the inside of the house, but at the same time he pitied the poor people who had been allowed to live in this state for so long. He felt ashamed that his father had let the slums of the city develop into something so dank that it seemed an impossible task to change it into anything livable.

The house, if it could be called that, was more or less empty and the few peieces of furniture that were there, were broken. It didn't look inhabited although Arthur was beginning to wonder if this was how all Lows lived, for many of the houses had been in similar states. He ran a finger along the window sill, picking up a thick layer of black dust, he flicked it away and just happened to catch sight of a reflection in the dirt smeared window.
Behind him a figure stood, raising his sword and about to strike. Arthur spun to his left, crashing into an already broken dresser just in time for the sword to crash into the window glass. He breathed a sigh of relief but quickly had to move again as the assailant attacked.
"I'm not here to harm you!" Arthur yelled, "We're looking for-" He dodged another attack and finally looked into the face of his attacker, "-You..."

Within seconds Arthur had his sword unsheathed too, his face set into a deep frown.
"I thought I showed you what would happen, the last time we fought." He breathed, smashing his sword down into the flooboards, narrowly missing Dante. He pulled it out, sending a spray of splinters all around the room.

[Dante Grixis]

As Dante dodged the attack from Arthur he said "Yes... but last time you had backup." He swung his sword hard towards the Prince's head. He ducked and Dante's blade went crashing through a shelf sending wooden shards flying across the room. "Well, you found me. What now Prince?" He said, his voice full of venom.

He parried a strike with his long sword and stabbed upwards towards Arthur's chest with his short sword. If it connected it would slide through the plates in his armor hitting the soft flesh beneath it, hopefully destroying at least one major organ. Even if he walked out of here with a ruptured liver or lung he would likely not even make it back to the castle. Human bodies were a fragile thing, and all it took was a hit in one vital area to destroy them completely.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur grabbed his sword at the blade end as well as on the hilt and forced it forwards, colliding perpendicular with Dantes. The two blades ground together, making horrific grating noise, and Arthur gritted his teeth in protest. As he threw Dante and his blade off, he hissed through still clenched teeth, "Now I show you what I am really made of boy!"

For what seemed like hours the two men crashed swords together sending shards of wood cascading through the air. Neither of the men broke through each others defences and the only wounds Arthur had were those that he had gotten from broken furniture and the splinters that whipped past his face. The two men were equals and there was nothing either of them could do to get the upper hand.

The house was completely destroyed. The wooden walls were so thin that each time a sword collided with it a gaping hole was formed letting the bright light flood into the tiny hovel. The trouble was that the place hadn't been structually sound to begin with, and each hole left it even mroe unstable.

"Give up!" Arthur yelled, smashing his sword once more into Dantes. The resounding force caused Arthur's sword arm to swing wildly back and break through another huge section of wall. Unlike the other times, a huge creak resounded causing Arthur to stop and look up. The house was collapsing.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante breathed heavily as he responded. "Never." He swung his blade again, it connected heavily with Arthur's blade and the sound of crashing metal resounded through the house.

Dante's eyes widened at the loud creaking sound. It would only be a moment before the whole house caved in on top of both of them... or maybe just one of them. He jumped up and grabbed one of the rickety rafters and swung forward, his feet flying towards the Prince's chest. At the apex of his swing he released the rafter and flew across the room to the open door and ran outside. His weight had caused that particular beam to crack only increasing the instability of the house.

As he rounded the corner and flew out of sight of the guards he heard the sound of the house collapse, and he could only hope that the Pendragon was still inside, crushed under the weight of the wood.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur barely saw where the Low had disappeared to when his feet came suddenly, swinging at his chest. He dodged to the left as Dante let go and practically sailed to the door, leaving Arthur alone in the collapsing house.

"LOW!" He bellowed angrily as the boys face disappeared round the door and bits of the tin roof started to fall down around him. Luckily for Arthur, most of the wood of the hovel was rotten and it crumbled rather than fell in which meant he had a little less to worry about. The most dangerous and difficult part to avoid was the roof, for it was much heavier and also much sharper around edges where holes had formed.

Crouching down into a ball, Arthur braced himself for the force that he knew was about to slam into his back. The door frames were gone, leaving him surrounded by a tomb of wood with no way to escape. All he could do was wait, wait and hope.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante stalked around and alleyway that led back to the house. He shouldn't go back but he had to know. He leaned around the corner and saw three knights sifting through the rubble. He cursed quietly as he saw the Prince helped out of the pile of what was once a house. He was still alive. He should turn and run the other way. But he didn't.

Blades in hands he ran towards the collapsed house. He would not fail twice. One knight had his back to the assassin and was quickly dispatched. As the body fell towards the ground spurting blood from its chest Dante spun to his left, swinging his blades in a deadly tornado of steel. The two knights jumped back and Dante stabbed his long sword towards the chest of Arthur.

He would not end up in the dungeons this time. This time he would either kill the Prince, or flee.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur cursed as the barrage of wood and tin smashed into his back, knocking him flat onto his stomach. The impact hurt, but he didn't think any lasting damage had been done. Maybe just a few cuts and bruises but nothing he couldn't handle. No, the main trouble he had was how to get out of the debris.
He was face down under the weight of the house and there was little he could mov with his hands trapped underneath his as they were. He tried to call out, but under the noise of still-collapsing walls and the fact that he was buried, it didn't do much good.

Eventually though Arthur began to feel and hear the beginnings of a rescue. His men had probably heard the collapse, and noticing that the prince was no where to be seen, had figured out he must be in the wreckage. Thankfully, Arthur had brought enough of his army along that they soon had much of the weight on Arthurs back cleared, and finally- he was helped out.
"Thank you for-" He began, but they were suddenly interrupted.
Drat Arthur thought to himself. He had forgotten entirely about the assailant that had caused all this in the first place and now before any of them had time to react he had plunged his blade through one of his mens backs.

It didn't take long after that though for Arthur and the other men to unsheath their weapons and once again Arthur and Dante were engaged in another battle. The first attempt on his life had been a disaster for the assassin and Arthur guessed that the failure had only spurred him on and made him that much more desperate to kill the prince. Revenge could do terrible things to a man.

He dodged the sharp stab at his chest by spinning to his right and brought his sword up to parry another blow. He did so easily, and then continued to block more as the two fought across the wreck of the house. It wasn't easy to fight on piles of tin and wood, especially as the tremors they caused in the pile caused it to slip and that in turn forced more of the house down around them.

Dante hurled his sword at Arthur, and Arthur brought his own blade up to block it again. The sheer force of the blow reverberated through to the pommel, despite the specially designed hilt that was designed to stop such things happening. He could only assume that the same had happened to Dante as he dropped his sword, unable to hold it with the force that now tarvelled into his hand.

If Dante had felt the tremor, he too would have dropped his blade for no one could withstand such a force and that would mean a fist fight for the two men.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante cursed as the shock of his last blow coursed through the blade, his hand and his arm, causing his limb to go temporarily numb. He dropped his blades onto the pile of wreckage and shook his arm to try to get some feeling back. After a few seconds he balled his right hand into a tight fist and punched out into the Prince's chest.

The force of the blow put a small dent into the Prince's armor. Dante cursed in pain as he heard the loud popping sound of his small finger's knuckle dislocating. He had not thought that last attack through, his fists could do nothing against the heavy plates on Arthur's armor. He dodged a punch from the Prince and he knew that the only way he would stand a chance would be to regain his blades.

He was fueled by vengeance and little would stop him now. The Prince's guard was standing back, watching as their leader was apparently winning against the assailant. That made his task a little easier. If it came to it he would flee, and wait for another opportunity. He wouldn't survive another stay in the hospitality of the Pendragon dungeons.

He failed to see a strong left hook coming towards him and he was knocked to his knees by the sudden blow to the jaw. He spat blood onto the remains of the house and his right leg flashed out at Arthur's ankles in an attempt to knock him over.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur laughed as Dante punched his armour, clearly breaking at least one of his fingers. The tiny dent in his armour was nothing, he'd just get Merlin to take it to the blacksmith and get them to smooth it out later, that or he'd have more comissioned.

He sent a punch at Dante's jaw, and luckily it connected sending him onto his knees. He expected another attack from Dante though, and managed to jump over Dante's outstretched leg, still laughing but unable to make another attack. That meant that Dante managed to get one in, and the force made Arthur's nose explode, over himself and his opponent.

Hi eyes filled with blood, meant he couldn't see properly, and while injured, Dante got a few more hits in and Arthur fell to his knees.
"Guards!" He spluttered, blood flying everywhere.
He tried to scrabble backwards, but the uneven surface they were fighting on meant all he could manage was a few paces before Dante came at him again.
"GUARDS!" He yelled again, and this time they came racing over, to the rescue.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante wiped a bit of Arthur's blood from his own face. It was good to wipe that smile off the Prince's face. He poised to strike again but he heard Arthur calling for his guards. He cursed loudly, quickly scraped up his weapons and blocked a wild swing from one of the several guards. "Damn your guards!" Dante yelled and hacked into ones arm sending him to the ground screaming.

Dante felt the pain of a blade slash his back. His armor held up against the slice but he could feel a large, painful bruise forming. He took a sharp intake of breath and realized that one of his ribs on the left side was broken. He cursed and slashed the inept guard's throat. He turned to strike the downed Prince and saw a mob guards rushing down the street. He screamed a few choice profanities before sheathing his weapons and dashing off down the street, disappearing into the crowd.

He had been closer than before to taking Arthur's life, but as with the last attempt he had fallen short due to the guards. He had sustained real injuries this time, a dislocated finger that throbbed with pain, and a broken rib that stabbed him with pain every time he drew breath. He could've killed the Prince but that would have cost his own life. It wasn't worth it... not yet at least. His pride allowed this loss.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur was still struggling to both see and breathe, due to the sheer amount of blood that had cascaded from his nose. He gently managed to clear some of the blood from his eyes and just in time, for he had to dodge the lifeless body of one of his men as it fell to the ground.

The assassin had gone. Gathered his things and fled, leaving a trail of death in his wake. Arthur rushed to the side of one of his men who was bleeding out on the ground.
"Are you badly wounded?" Another of Arthurs men asked, and Arthur shot him a glare. It was clear that the man was at deaths door, his limb completely severed beyond repair. It was always terrible to lose a man, but one to whom death came slowly was the worst.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine." Arthur assured him, hating that he had to lie like this. He gripped the mans good shoulder and looked him in the eye.
"I will kill him for this."

The man smiled, gripping Arthurs arm with his hand. As his eyes closed, the grip slackened and Arthur had to blink back tears of both anger and remorse.
It had been bad enough the first time, but now this was a war he was not going to lose.