An unforseen battle. [DANTE]

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur was alone in the barracks, putting away weapons that had been left laying around by inexperienced soldiers. He had thought it was fairly obvious that weapons needed to be sheathed if they were going to remain useful, but perhaps he was expecting too much from new recruits. He sighed heavily and put the last of the swords into the specially made rack, it was boring work but Arthur had to admit that he had nothing better to do.

He smoothed his hands across his tunic and left the weaponry room, being sure to lock the door behind him. Recent break-ins at the guild and around the city had meant that security at the castle had been tightened significantly. It surprised him though that no guards were stationed here tonight. Odd.

Even more surprising was the fact that the great hall was empty, or virtually. A couple of young soldiers sat in one corner, but other than that the place was deserted and it was strangely eerie to not hear the songs and laughter of drunken men.
Sinking down onto a low bench, Arthur realised that the lack of activity was probably due to many of the soldiers going to visit their families for christmas and he smiled as he thought of how happy wives and children would be to see the men.

Somewhere further in the barracks a door slammed, and the sudden noise caught Arthur's attention. He stood up slowly, expecting footsteps or perhaps a voice, but nothing came.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante crept silently towards his target. He had used the small breach in Castle security, the fact that Christmas was fast approaching, to gain access to the inner halls of the Palace. He had planned this for days and it couldn't have been going better. No one even knew he was here.

He was dressed in his chainmail shirt and cloak, his blades already drawn from their sheathes. It seemed to him that the few guards that were station were inattentive and posed no threat to him, but he kept his weapons ready just in case. He had killed ten or more of the Prince's guard, what were a few more to him? He hugged the wall as he turned a corner and saw the Pendragon sitting alone at a bench.

His breathing began to quicken with his heart rate as he approached his target. He was about ten feet from him when he heard a loud boom, like a door slamming shut. He froze in his place. The Prince jumped up but looked in the direction of the sound, not towards Dante. Dante held his breath as he closed the remaining feet between him and Arthur. He stood up and stabbed forwards with his longsword, straight towards Arthur's back, aiming for the heart.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur dropped to his knees, and just in time. Dante's blade sailed above his head and he swung his left leg backwards aiming for his attackers knees.
"You again." He said, not even needing to turn around to know exactly who it was behind him. This was the third time they had fought, and he was beginning to get used to Dante's methods of attack, just as he was sure Dante was getting used to his own.
Spinning round and rolling all at once, he was out of the boys reach and sprinting for the door he had just locked that was the only thing between him and every weapon he could think of.

He reached the door and fumbled for the key. Where had he put it? He combed his pockets, finding nothing but a hole he hadn't known was there. No, he must have left it on the table. He tried to double back but his way was blocked. He was trapped.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante chased after Arthur down the small corridor. He was trapped. The door at the end was locked. Dante smiled a little to himself. Perhaps this time he would be successful in his mission. He lunged forwards swinging both his blades to the left. The Prince narrowly dodged and Dante followed up with a quick stab. He grunted as his opponent again dodged and his blade slammed through the wooden door behind him. He quickly drew his blade out and swung again.

The Prince was unarmed. This was in no way fair, but at this point Dante was past fair fights with Arthur. His attempts were foiled twice already by the presence of the guards, this time he would not give the Prince any edge. Only Dante would walk away from this battle.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur seized his chance, and as Dante smashed his blades into the door- he ran. It was a close shave, one that left Arthur with a narrow cut across his cheek, but he was clear now and was heading straight to the table he had been sitting at. The key was there, shining in the light fromt he candles that dimly lit the huge room. The ceiling was so high that the roof couldn't be seen, and it all gave Arthur a claustrophobic feeling, like he was trapped in a box that he couldn't get out of, and with nothing but poison to drink.

He had the key now and there was nothing between him and the door to the weapons room, nothing but a well armed, muscular assassin. Oh this was going to be easy.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante tore down the hall after Arthur. His armor was lighter so keeping up was no problem. He saw the Prince grab something off the table and Dante dove at him, knocking him backwards into the table, breaking on of the legs and sending both of them to the floor.

Dante's blades slid away from him as he released them upon impact to avoid hitting his face on the cold stone floor. He didn't need them. He could do this cleanly and quietly. He put one knee in Arthur's chest and wrestled to get his hands around his throat. He would squeeze the life out of the boy. If anything, it would be less for the maids to clean up.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur had the breath knocked clean out of him as Dante connected with his chest. He gasped for air as he struggled to gain an advantage over his opponent who had so far managed to come out of the table collapse on top.
With a knee in his chest and two slender hands around his throat, Arthur was struggling badly. He couldn't breathe and the more he struggled, the more of his precious energy he used. He needed to get away from this boy, to get a weapon and retalliate, it was no good though, the boy had too much of an advantage.

Arthur let out a silent scream as the boys hands tightened, and he practically felt the last of the air leaving his lungs. With one last surge of energy, he kicked out wildly with his legs, not even expecting Dante to shift in his position. Somehow thought the wild kick had managed to give him just a little room to manouveur, and he slipped cleanly from Dantes grasp.

"You did well to hold me there boy." Arthur hissed through clenched teeth, "But should a fight to the death not be fair?" He kicked one of the assassins blades to him, and picked up the other himself. "Enjoy your death assassin." He said quietly, as he lunged forward with an attack so forceful he nearly lost his balance.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante attempted to grab at Arthur as he slithered away and heard the sound of a blade sliding across the floor as he drug himself up onto his knees. The inside of his thigh was beginning to ache where the Prince was able to hit him. "I'm an assassin, to us everything is fair." He replied coldly as his blade was unceremoniously cast towards him.

Dante grabbed his blade, he was lucky and the Prince tossed him the long sword, and jumped to his feet. He saw the oncoming attack and cursed as he stepped to the side, the blade passing within inches of his face. He quickly cut downwards towards Arthur's exposed back, hopefully landing a hit at the boy was already off balance.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur tumbled forwards, feeling Dante's sword pass close to his back- where he was not protected with armour. The blade cut easily through the thin fabric of Arthurs tunic and into his skin, cutting fairly deep but not so much that he was in any immediate danger of death. Had he not been moving when hit, Arthur feared it may have been much worse.

Now a few feet from the assassin, and for the moment; safe, the prince reached around behind him to feel the damage. His clothes were in threads, a shame but nothing that mattered right now. His back was bleeding, but not too much, and the pain was minimal. He could still fight.
Ahead of him he could see the door to the weapons room shining like his last beam of hope. He knew that although his injury was slight, without a better weapon, the assassin would beat him and with little difficulty.

Taking a few steps back, Arthur took a swift run up before leaping on to the long table the soldiers sat at. He ran the full length before jumping and grabbing onto one of the low hanging chandeliers, made of a heavy black iron that Arthur knew would hold his weight. The momentum let him swing over to the door he had been longing to reach and with a thud, he landed on the cold floor once more. It took him only seconds to unlock the door and get inside, slamming and locking it again behind him. At least he a had a few minutes before that creature would get to him.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante growled like a large animal as he saw the door close behind Arthur. He ran full force towards it and kicked it. The force ran through his leg and sent him almost bouncing off it. It didn't budge an inch. He roared in rage and began to rain blows upon the sturdy brass knob. A simple door would not stand in the way of his prey.

After several hits he landed a final blow that knocked the door knob from its hole. He took a step back and kicked the door with such force that it swung open and slammed into the adjacent wall with a resonating bang. He was met with the sight of an armory. Shelves of weapons lined the room. He couldn't see the Prince between them. He slowly made his way into the room and as he passed a shelf grabbed a short sword to replace the one that the Prince had taken. The room was silent.

Dante was enraged. Murder was the only thing on his mind. He had let the boy get away twice, he would have to be mortally wounded to let it happen a third time. He spoke with a whisper that echoed off the stone walls, giving his voice an even more sinister tone, "I swear to God, when I find you, I will hang you with your own entrails." He was shocked at his own statement, he had never said anything like that and meant it before. He shook the thought from his head and he began to search the room for the Prince.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

In the few moments he had before Dante would inevitably come crashing through the door behind him, Arthur swept through as many weapons as he could. There were all sorts in here, maces, axes and of course countless types of sword. He grabbed a claymore, a heavy two-handed sword, that if used correctly, would deal horrendous damage to its victim. The only trouble was that the claymore was a slow weapon and Dante was very agile.

Abandoning the heavy sword, Arthur moved onto the knives and smaller weapons. A poniard was slotted neatly into his left boot. It might just come in useful if the pair were in close combat again. Finally he decided on a katana for his main weapon. It was perfect for slices with its curved long blade, and he could wield it with one hand, making it easy for him to also use the knife he held.

The resonating crash of splintering wood came as expected, just moments after Arthur had selected the sword. He slid on his knees until he was underneath the long wooden table at the far end of the room. Hopefully Dante would come this way and Arthur would be able to striek at the knee.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante moved warily through the racks of swords looking for his opponent. He came to a large table at the far end of the room and saw a claymore on the ground in front of him. By the look of it the Prince had considered using it but decided not to. Wise choice. Claymores could deal incredible damage but they were too slow to pose any real threat. This meant that the Prince was nearby...

Just as he was finishing his thought he felt a searing pain in his right knee. He jumped back, wrenching the blade from Arthur's hands in the process. He cried out in pain as his knee wouldn't support his weight and he collapsed to the floor. He looked at the knife protruding from his knee just between the joint. He cursed and grabbed the hilt and in one swift tug pulled the blade from his body. He breathed heavily as he watched blood begin to drip from his leg onto the stone floor.

He quickly spun the knife around and held the blade and let it fly towards his opponent. It grazed his armor and stuck into the wall behind Arthur under the table.

He jumped up and stood in an off balance posture to keep the weight off of his injured leg. "Son of a pregnant dog!" He yelled and swung both his blades towards his opponent.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur had finally got one up on the assassin. This was the first time that Arthur had actually managed to hurt him before he got injured himself and he was glad. Dodging the poinard that Dante pulled from his leg, Arthur swung up onto the table top where he ducked down and held the katana to Dante's throat.

It didn't take long for the assassin to realise he was there, and with a curse he jumped into a standing position and swung both blades at the prince. Arthur stepped back, but not fast enough and a thin line of blood drew across his chest. The wound was mostly superficial, but it did hurt unlike the one on his back. He knew he had to get away from this man now, and maybe with the leg wound, he could.

He took a leap off the end of the table and ran full pelt back into the main room.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante roared as the Prince dashed past him. He attempted to run after him but found running to be quite the difficult task. He was forced to quickly limp after him. He caught glimpses of the Prince as he rounded a corner back into the great hall.

Dante blocked out the pain, ignored the sticky blood oozing from his wound and making his pants stick to his leg, and ran full force after him. He flew into the air behind the Prince and tackled him to the ground. He positioned himself with his good knee in Arthur's chest and his injured one out to the side of the Prince. He was forced to be slightly off balance due to the wound but he didn't expect to be in this position for long.

He cocked back his arm and drove one of his blades straight for the Prince's throat.

[Prince Arthur Pendragon]

Arthur gasped as the air rushed out of his lungs in a sudden puff. Dante's knee was sharp, bony, and positioned in such a way that Arthur couldnn't get out of his grip. A sudden feeling of deja vu passed through Arthur. The scratch on his chest was stinging with the pressure from the other boys weight and as his breath faded Arthur began to feel tired. Perhaps he should just submit and close his eyes...or perhaps not.

Dante had neglected to remember that Arthur had both hands free at his sides. They didn't have much room to manouveur, for the assassins knee was firmly across the tops of them, but his hands were most definitely free.
With a twist of his wrist, Arthur grabbed at the ankle of the boys bad leg, gripping as tightly as he could and forcing it to bend back on itself. It wasn't a tactic he would ever have used in a normal battle, but desperate times called for desperare measures.