About one meter before reaching the spot where his daggers supposedly had to lie around waiting for him, Brandon found himself staring at the tip of an arrow once more. Fortunately, said arrow had not left its place on the bow yet, and neither had the green-and-brown cloaked man an angry scowl on his face. “Looking for these?” came his deep voice, fitting perfectly well with his grizzled features, while he shoved the blades towards the bat with the tip of his boot. Brandon frowned, the sweat of fright and shock the point of the projectile had brought him already vanishing. The wind had turned, so Brandon hadn't smelled the man. The leaves rustled and the gusts roared, so he hadn't heard him. And the shadows of the trees served as the perfect camouflage, so the bat hadn't seen him either. Well, it wasn't like he'd been paying attention, he'd thought himself to be safe after beating the first Bowman, never considering the possibility that there could be more around.
Warily, he grabbed the daggers gingerly, sheathing them all while keeping his eyes fixed on the armed man in front of him. “That was quite the fight,” the hunter spoke pensively, his voice not betraying any emotions. “...” Brandon did not respond, not quite knowing what to say and not understanding what Bowman II meant with that statement. “I haven't seen Johnathan go down in a fight since... well, a long time.” And why would Bowman II say something like that in this situation?
“Ah, pardon me!” he added quickly, seemingly noticing only now that he was still keeping his arrow aimed at Brandon, lowering it immediately and putting the projectile back into his quiver. “I am Robin Hodd, and he there-” he nodded towards the floored Bowman, “is my apprentice, Johnathan Lytlle.” He bowed shallowly in greeting. Brandon returned the courtesy. “Djas.”
After the exchange of names, Robin Hodd got to the point quickly. “Usually, I'd shoot you in the leg and deliver you to the Shinya patrolling the woods, but you're lucky. You've helped me a great deal, so I'll let you off the hook.” The Kelvic thief could only question the man's words with a quizzically raised eyebrow. The hunter seemed all too eager to clarify, “Yes, I said it had been a while someone had bested John here, right? Well, the guy who succeeded in doing that was a man twice as bulky as him. He's let it get to his head of course, and has become rather haughty and arrogant. I've been wanting to have someone teach him a lesson, and well, you just did.”
“Ah...”
“John isn't used to losing, he was a boxing champ in his younger years and even in the ring he was undefeated. Until he quit because he deemed it too boring. You are a lucky man, Djas, if John hadn't become rusty you'd have had a hard time. In that regard you are also fortunate he can't really hit his marks when practicing his archery.” One of the thief's hands reached up to the crust that had formed on his cheek, the thin wound where an arrow had left a cut. Bowman couldn't have been that bad if he'd been able to scratch him. “But I digress. I'd like to thank you for letting John bite the dust. He'll probably be humbled by that, having been beaten by someone with your build. Though I'm sure he'd call your style of fighting cowardly and underhanded.” Cowardly? That was perhaps the case, the bat had to admit, but he had used no petty tricks this time, but genuine strategy and fair fighting to defeat his opponent. That alone steeled the bat's will to use his slowly developing style. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't use dirty tricks every so often. Not because he didn't have honor, but because sometimes it was necessary to win.
“How long have you been watching, exactly?” the Kelvic asked curiously; suspecting the man had been around for a while.
“From the beginning,” Robin Hodd confessed with a grin, “I was going to let John know his five days of solitary training in the Peaks were over, but I decided to stay hidden for a while longer when I saw the scene unfolding.” He chuckled.
Brandon too could not help but smile at that, shaking his head in disbelieve. Wasn't a master supposed to protect his students? Apparently not, but what did it matter to him? He was free, he was no longer hungry and he had tested his new combat style on someone stronger and tougher than most other individuals. In short; it had been a great day.
While the hunter strode over to his companion to see if he could wake him up, the thief stepped out of the clearing and into the brush, headed back home.
Warily, he grabbed the daggers gingerly, sheathing them all while keeping his eyes fixed on the armed man in front of him. “That was quite the fight,” the hunter spoke pensively, his voice not betraying any emotions. “...” Brandon did not respond, not quite knowing what to say and not understanding what Bowman II meant with that statement. “I haven't seen Johnathan go down in a fight since... well, a long time.” And why would Bowman II say something like that in this situation?
“Ah, pardon me!” he added quickly, seemingly noticing only now that he was still keeping his arrow aimed at Brandon, lowering it immediately and putting the projectile back into his quiver. “I am Robin Hodd, and he there-” he nodded towards the floored Bowman, “is my apprentice, Johnathan Lytlle.” He bowed shallowly in greeting. Brandon returned the courtesy. “Djas.”
After the exchange of names, Robin Hodd got to the point quickly. “Usually, I'd shoot you in the leg and deliver you to the Shinya patrolling the woods, but you're lucky. You've helped me a great deal, so I'll let you off the hook.” The Kelvic thief could only question the man's words with a quizzically raised eyebrow. The hunter seemed all too eager to clarify, “Yes, I said it had been a while someone had bested John here, right? Well, the guy who succeeded in doing that was a man twice as bulky as him. He's let it get to his head of course, and has become rather haughty and arrogant. I've been wanting to have someone teach him a lesson, and well, you just did.”
“Ah...”
“John isn't used to losing, he was a boxing champ in his younger years and even in the ring he was undefeated. Until he quit because he deemed it too boring. You are a lucky man, Djas, if John hadn't become rusty you'd have had a hard time. In that regard you are also fortunate he can't really hit his marks when practicing his archery.” One of the thief's hands reached up to the crust that had formed on his cheek, the thin wound where an arrow had left a cut. Bowman couldn't have been that bad if he'd been able to scratch him. “But I digress. I'd like to thank you for letting John bite the dust. He'll probably be humbled by that, having been beaten by someone with your build. Though I'm sure he'd call your style of fighting cowardly and underhanded.” Cowardly? That was perhaps the case, the bat had to admit, but he had used no petty tricks this time, but genuine strategy and fair fighting to defeat his opponent. That alone steeled the bat's will to use his slowly developing style. However, that didn't mean he wouldn't use dirty tricks every so often. Not because he didn't have honor, but because sometimes it was necessary to win.
“How long have you been watching, exactly?” the Kelvic asked curiously; suspecting the man had been around for a while.
“From the beginning,” Robin Hodd confessed with a grin, “I was going to let John know his five days of solitary training in the Peaks were over, but I decided to stay hidden for a while longer when I saw the scene unfolding.” He chuckled.
Brandon too could not help but smile at that, shaking his head in disbelieve. Wasn't a master supposed to protect his students? Apparently not, but what did it matter to him? He was free, he was no longer hungry and he had tested his new combat style on someone stronger and tougher than most other individuals. In short; it had been a great day.
While the hunter strode over to his companion to see if he could wake him up, the thief stepped out of the clearing and into the brush, headed back home.
Credit goes to Engghaen
)
