Ultimate Assassin Saga: Woodlands

That alone was good enough for him.

He didn't want her to have to fight, but he knew that it was the only way. She would never feel safe again without knowing how to defend herself, and to be honest, he didn't think that he would get any rest if she couldn't protect herself either. He didn't necessarily like the idea of her learning how to fight, but he also knew that he didn't want her to raped again because she didn't know how to defend herself.

"I'll do it." Darville finally said, his voice filled with strength and his own determination. He tried to make her feel that he believed in her, but he wasn't certain how to do that. So, he settled for treating her like she was any other warrior in training and not his baby sister. "But I have one condition. We must begin right now."

The red haired girl blinked at his words as she tried to understand what he'd just said. Then, her lips peeled back into a smile and she nodded her head. It was obvious from the way she straightened her spine and held her spine stiff that she approved of beginning their training today. Good because for him to start so late with her was going to make it more difficult, but he was confident that he could do it. They couldn't do it out here in the open however.

"Come with me." Darville told his sister in a strong, confident voice. Without waiting for her to respond, he turned sharply on his heel and he walked back towards the palace. Built in the palace were several different training gyms that had enough space and padding to train different people how to fight with either hand to hand or blades. He didn't know what he was going to start her on today, but he would figure it out soon enough.

He heard her foot steps right behind him and he smiled. It would seem that Diana was eager to get started on her training and he couldn't blame her. She wanted to feel safe and being able to defend one's self was really the only way to do that.

As he entered the palace, Darville felt that many things were about to change for the better.

XXXXXXXXXX

Diana followed behind her brother as they made their way through the palace towards the training gyms on the west end. She watched her brother walking with long legged strides that took up a lot of space and carried him much further down the hall than she could with her shorter legs. However, she hurried to keep up with him, her shorter legs having to take four steps for every one of his two to keep up.

She'd come to the decision that she wanted to be a warrior for many reasons, but the most important being protection. She never wanted to have to worry about another man attacking and raping her ever again. She knew that no matter how good she was that it would still be possible, but she would no longer be defenseless. The next man who raped her would have to be able to fight and do so better than her. That was all there was too it.

The red haired woman knew that Darville fully supported her and would stand behind her in anything. Hells, he was the one that was sacrificing his time to train her and doing so without a second thought. It was just what siblings did for one another when they loved one another and there wasn't a better brother in the world.

After several more minutes of walking, the female Barbarian noticed that they'd entered the west wing of the palace. She was able to tell this because the west wing had walls covered in paintings only of battle, mostly depicting the Kings over the years as the one's reigning victorious over one enemy or another. There was one that she recognized however at the end of the hall that she was surprised to see.

The painting depicted Acheron standing tall in all of his glory in the middle of the village carrying the two snow wolves in his hands and the rabbits strapped to his belt. It was an amazing sight and anyone who saw it would've thought that he was a King of the Elk. However, she knew better because she'd seen him and she'd experienced him.

Diana sighed as she stared at the painting. She wanted to see him again. She missed the man who'd become like a second father to her desperately. She'd never felt safer than when he was around, and even though her brother made her feel the same, he didn't make her feel anywhere close to that safe. It was something that only a parent could make someone feel, and even though he wasn't actually her father, he'd treated her like a daughter the entire time that he was there, watching out for her even when she didn't want him to.

She smiled at the thought of the man and she wondered what he was doing right now. Would he be proud of what she was doing or would he scold her, citing that he could protect her at all times? She shook her head at that thought. No, he wasn't a fool, he was a realist. He would realize that he couldn't protect her all the time and that her getting some training would be a good idea. However, she liked to believe that he would be the one that would train her instead of her brother.

If he were here, she would've accepted his training over her brothers. It wasn't because she thought her brother incompetent, and thus, not good enough to teach her. No, it was simply because of the father figure that Acheron posed to her and made her feel better about herself. She would want to be around that her entire training, but she would have to settle for what she had now, not that she was truly settling.

If there was one thing she knew about the Barbarian King, it was that he was an accomplished warrior. He took battle very seriously, and if she didn't take it seriously even one time, he would refuse to train her. She'd seen him do it enough times to know that was true. There had been young girls - and even a some boys too - who had asked him to train them, but when they got to their training, it was quite obvious the real reason they'd come to train with him: because they thought he was attractive.

The Barbarian knew that her brother was easily annoyed and on those occasions she couldn't remember him being more annoyed. He didn't tolerate silliness and those people being there simply to moon over him had been far too silly for him. He'd dismissed them and refused to train them from then on, not that she blamed him.

She wouldn't tolerate it either.

Diana had noticed since the Barbarians of the other tribes had joined the Elk that there were several people that were looking her over with an appreciative eye. She didn't really know how to feel about it, but she'd noticed the several young men and women that looked at her, dissolving into whispers among one another, obviously making lewd jokes. The girls were no different from the boys when speaking about her body she knew because she'd heard some of the jokes and they made her blush even worse than the jokes made by the boys.

"Diana?" Darville's concerned voice shook her from her reverie and she turned her head, looking at her brother. He was standing in front of one of the doors to a gym and a curious looked marked his face. She blushed as she realized that she'd been staring at the painting of Acheron and she was sure that her brother probably thought that she was mooning over him which in ways she had been. "Let's get started."

The female Barbarian nodded her head jerkily and she stepped towards her brother. He arched a brow at her, but thankfully, he didn't comment as he turned around and swung open the door to the training gym. He walked in first, and after taking a deep breath, she followed him inside.

She stopped once she entered the room and she looked around, seeing these rooms for the first time ever in her life. It was a large, circular room with no windows so one couldn't be distracted by the outside and the sunlight. The floor was covered in thick mats that would brace one when they were thrown to the mats and there were weapons of all kinds secured to the walls, creating an interesting tableaux of deadliness.

She watched as her brother walked across the floor and stood in the middle of the gym, turning to look back at her. He turned around to fully face her and he moved his neck from side to side, cracking his neck again and again. It was awful popping sound and she cringed softly, but she dared not show her discomfort for the whole thing. She didn't want to appear any softer than her brother no doubt thought she was.

Diana watched in surprise as her brother reached up and began to unbuckle the leather breastplate that he wore. With that done, he allowed it to slip to the floor and he kicked it aside, his rippling muscles revealed to her eye. If she'd been anyone but his sister, she would've appreciated the sight, but as it stood, it was just her brother's muscular frame. Even she could see it was impressive though, but she didn't swoon over his muscular frame like others might've done.

She did wonder why he had taken off his breastplate though. What was the purpose to that when he was suppose to be training her? She didn't want to hurt her brother, and while she knew that he was far more skilled than she could hope to ever be, she also knew that all it took was one slip for a man to meet his death. She didn't want to be the one on the other end of the sword that ended him.

"Come now, little sister." Darville said, breaking her from her reverie and she frowned. He was rotating his arms one after another in a tight circle, obviously loosening up. She watched his muscles contract with each rotation of his arms and she found them to be quite impressive. It was no wonder her brother was such a feared, respected warrior. He was built like a fortress, and from what she understood about his battle skills, he could match an army alone in battle. "Let me see what you can do with your hands. Attack me."

The red haired woman blinked, not sure that she'd heard him right. As she continued to stare at him, she realized that she had. He didn't move to a defensive stance, but continued to stand there with his hands down by his sides and his dark blue eyes on her, watching. She wasn't quite sure that she could attack him, but she also knew that she didn't have a choice. She had no idea how to fight, and if she wanted to learn, it would be her brother who would be the one who had to teach her. So, she supposed that she should go along with his lessons and see where they lead her.

That made up in her mind, the Barbarian Princess took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. She set her feet, and as she stared at her brother, she thought of what she should do. Settling on a simple attack, she lunged forward, running as fast as she could at him. Before she reached him, she brought her right arm back behind her and she sent it flying as hard as she could with a right hook punch, aiming for his face.

At that moment, it was like time slowed down. She watched her own fist careening towards her brother's face, and to her surprise, he wasn't moving. Then, at the last second, he side stepped the attack completely and she stumbled forward, the strength of her momentum carrying her forward a few steps. When she straightened and looked over her shoulder, her brother was standing there with his arms down by his sides, watching her intently.

She felt her cheeks heat in embarrassment, but she didn't allow it to deter her. Turning sharply, the female Barbarian slid her feet to a wider stance and she shot forward towards him once again. This time, she aimed a left jab at his throat and she hoped that this would actually make contact. Before the fist came anywhere near his throat, he held up a hand and caught her fist in one large hand with ease. Before she could say or do anything, he slid his hand down to her wrist, turned, and flung her through the air across the gym.

Diana cried out in shock as she was bodily thrown through the air as if she weighed nothing. She supposed that to her brother, she didn't weight anything. She was just a small pebble being flung across a pond to him. She grunted as she finally came down hard on the ground and she groaned. Slowly, she rolled over onto her stomach and she rose up onto her knees. When she looked up, she saw her brother standing over her and staring right down at her.

Angry for no apparent reason, the female Barbarian aimed an uppercut towards his groin and hoped that she made contact. She would like nothing more than to see him wallowing on the ground, grabbing at his crotch in pain. She knew how badly it hurt a man to be hit there because she'd caught her brothers there before and they'd always given in to the fight that they were having before. She just hoped that it worked as well now as it had when they were small children.

Unfortunately for her, her fist never struck his groin and she never got to see her brother fall. Instead, he simply turned his leg to the side, countering the fist with his knee and making her knuckles hurt in the process. She hissed in pain as she pulled her hand back and clutched her fist to her chest, eyes filling with tears. She knew that she shouldn't be doing that because it left her open and vulnerable to attack, but she couldn't help it. It just hurt to bad for her to focus and continue on.

She heard a sigh from above and she looked up at her blonde haired brother. He was running one large, masculine hand over his face, stroking his beard while he looked down at her. He looked like he was sorry for the counter, but she knew that he wouldn't apologize. She'd asked to be trained after all and a part of training was pain.

She knew that, but she couldn't seem to fight back her own pain.

"We have a long way to go." Darville said suddenly, his voice blowing her thoughts from her mind and she raised her eyes to his face. He was staring right at her as he spoke, neither with a positive or a negative look on his face. Then, he shook his head, smiled, and he held out a hand to her to help her off of the ground. "But you will get there as long as you're training with me."

Blinking at his words, Diana stared at her brother's hand dumbly. It was almost as if she could no longer speak and couldn't think either. Her brother wasn't being negative or positive either, but he was telling her that she could be a warrior with persistence if she had it. Smiling widely to herself, she reached out with one hand and grabbed her brother's hand.

He pulled her to her feet, and when he smiled at her, she felt the weight of the world lift off of her shoulders.

Under that smile, Diana felt that she could do anything.

XXXXXXXXXX

Darville had to admit that his sister was persistent - some might call it stubborn - to get trained properly and all in one day. They'd been training for hours, and even though he could go for several more hours, he knew that his sister needed her rest. That was why he was sending her on her way right now and was watching her walk down the hallway towards her room.

He smiled and turned away from the sight of his sister leaving. He looked around the gym, remembering the times that his father had trained him and his younger brother Darcine. True, they hadn't trained in any of the gyms because the Elk had been a nomadic tribe at that time, but it was much the same. Whether you were training while in the snow or in a gym, you were becoming better with every second of every minute of every hour of every day.

The training had started off rough at first, but once they'd really settled into their little routine, Diana had began to pick up the pace. She was doing far better now than she had been and he was proud to see his sister learning so quickly. Before too long, she could move on from hand to hand combat and into blades. He wasn't looking forward to training her with swords just yet though. After all, one mistake and a blade could end his sister's life. If he accidentally killed his sister, he would never forgive himself.

Sighing, the Barbarian King walked free of the gym and shut the door behind him. Anyone was allowed to use the training gyms, but unless there was someone teaching their children how to fight, they were rarely used. That wasn't any of his concern though. At this time, it was his concern to get his sister trained and ready to defend herself in the coming future.

The blonde haired man turned his head and looked upon the newly finished painting of the Demon they'd become friends with. Acheron looked like a conquering King of the Elk tribe standing so tall and dragging those snow wolves into the village. He had no doubt that one day someone would look upon this painting and think that he had once been a King of the Elk. Not that he cared really, but it seemed a little strange that generations from now, the Elk wouldn't remember just how lucky they were to come across the man.

If Acheron hadn't come to the Tundra when he had, when his father had been killed and his brother exiled him, he would've been alone. He didn't doubt for a second that it was because of Acheron that he'd survived. He hadn't even had an idea of how to get back to the Elk without having to worry about being killed on sight. It had been Acheron who'd come up with the idea to search out the other Barbarian tribes and try to bring them underneath one banner.

Darville could admit that when they'd started out, he hadn't believed it would happen. In fact, he'd been sure that the next Barbarians they saw would kill them on sight and not ask any questions. However, when they'd been taken in by the Bear Barbarian tribe without a cross eyed look, he'd begun to believe. Then, the astonishing had happened: he'd returned with the rest of the Barbarian tribes of the Tundra to his people and liberated them from a ruler who had gotten his throne through assassination and framing the rightful ruler for murder.

It truly was amazing to him.

Sighing and shaking his head, the Barbarian King turned away from the painting, walking down the hallway towards his room. It was late and time for him to sleep. They could begin training tomorrow once more and he was sure by his sister's progress today that it wouldn't take her all that long to teach her.

Darville looked forward to the challenge.

Taro sat behind his desk, his head bent down and his hand scribbling across the page. Just as he'd promised the Chaos Demon, he was going to call on the Warrior Clan and have them attend a mandatory meeting. He wouldn't force them to come to his aid, but he knew that if he told them that the Undead might be driven back with this, every possible warrior would be ready to give the Chaos Demon whatever he needed to do it.

He was holding a long white feather quill pen and the tip of it was dipped in black ink. It was with this pen that he was going to make the message to send out to the Commanders of the Warrior Clan Waves. It was a mandatory meeting so not one of them could turn down coming, but they didn't have to go with Acheron on his mission if they didn't want to. He wouldn't order them to go, but he would order them to listen to what he had to say.

Signing his name to the bottom, the Star Elf sat the quill down and he sat back in his chair. He sighed and ran a hand over his face, tired beyond all belief. He didn't know if it was his age or if it was the stress of the entire situation, but he was feeling tired for some reason. He was heavily fatigued, and try as he might, he couldn't seem to fight that fatigue.

The Elf King allowed his hand to fall to his leg and he stared at the walls of his office. The room was dimly lit and allowed for him to see everything quite well, though through some sort of flickering darkness. The office was large and well furnished, but its walls were completely bare as he'd always wanted it. Despite being the King of the Star Elves, he tried to keep the distance between his subjects and himself as he close as he possibly could.

In Taro's opinion, that was what made him a good King. His willingness to be like his people and treat them equally was what gave him the leg up over other such rulers. That was what gave him the friendship of his people and he hoped to never lose it, but he knew that he would die one day. Elves were mortal creatures after all, and even though they could live for centuries upon centuries, they did eventually die.