As they disappeared, Ro turned her attention to the stands. Even from where she stood, she could read the expression of intense hunger in Alexi's eyes and pride, written across his face. She glanced at Lady Alexandra. She looked mildly and pleasantly surprised. The Ro shifted her eyes to the clan leader. His expression was dark and furious. It was apparent that he had wanted Ro to be the one going to the medical tent.
"Tiny!" He yelled. The smallest crow stepped forward holding his spear. "You will fight her." Alexi's face turned worried.
"Father." His voice was sharp.
"Honey." Lady Alexandra said patiently. The clan leader shrugged a vicious smile on his face.
"It was over too quickly for us to gauge her capabilities." Tiny walked forwards to face Ro in the center of the court. As he walked, Ro noted the sword hanging from his belt. He stopped opposite her, and Ro sunk into her crouch once again.
"First blood only. Begin." Called the clan leader. Tiny smiled and charged. He was lightning quick.
Ro stepped back barely avoiding the strike aimed for her middle. He came again in an overhead arc. Ro jumped to the left. Tiny was so fast it was all she could do to dodge his blows. He swung diagonally down from the right. Ro caught the spear as it came down. She ground the tip into the dirt and her legs and body followed her into the air. Kicking hard at the spear's shaft as she went down, she pushed it from the crows grasp. Her feet hit the ground and her torso came up. She turned quickly, ready for the next attack as she kicked the spear away. The crow was smiling.
"I prefer to fight with my sword anyway." He told her drawing his blade. It flashed in the sun as he closed the distance between them. He was faster with the sword than he was with the spear.
Now Ro was forced to block and deflect with her daggers instead of dodge. As the minutes dragged on, she found herself tiring quickly. She needed to go on the attack. Jumping backward from him she thought of how best to do it. She was breathing heavily now and sweating but as she looked, she realized that Tiny was doing the same. Ro steeled her nerves and charged Tiny. He sliced for her and she was forced to change her attack into a block. However, she was now in range to attack. Immediately though, she had to duck backwards to avoid a blow directed at her gut. She twisted to the left twice barely dodging two more strikes. Righting herself, she found she was in the step out position. She fluidly shifted into her chain attack, but Tiny was ready for this after seeing her fight with Daryol. He pushed his sword out behind him, and she had to dodge rather than strike at his back. Ro moved to the next attack, aiming for the sensitive skin where neck met shoulder.
Tiny bent back, causing her to miss. She spun again and aimed for his liver. He blocked her with his sword, but Ro was on the attack now. She fell into the next chain easily, her body remembering long hours training. She sliced for his throat and Tiny stepped back. She spun aiming for his right femoral artery, he blocked, stepping back again. Stepping forward Ro sliced for his left brachial artery. He barely got his sword up in time. Ro whirled again, slashing at his chest. He backed up. Ro ran at him and feinted a strike at his left thigh, instead she spun to her right around his back. A burst of air caught her around the middle and pushed her back. Ro dug her heels in and prepared to charge.
Tiny still had his back to her. She ran and jumped, daggers positioned to strike on either side of his neck. He whirled suddenly and swung at her. On reflex, Ro crossed her daggers to the block position. When they struck Tiny's sword, she pushed off with them and her momentum caused her to neatly back flip over his head. She landed in her range just on the other side of him. Thrusting her daggers blindly behind her, she felt one of them slide through something with resistance.
She pulled them back to in front of her. The left one was stained red for about half of its length. Ro turned again and looked at Tiny. He was half turned to her and had his hand pressed to his back. Blood was slowly seeping from between his fingers, but he was smiling slightly. Ro felt guilty in a way she hadn't when she had hurt Daryol.
"I'm so sorry." She told Tiny. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Don't be it was a good fight. That was an unorthodox last move. You are good for a beginner." Ro blushed.
"How did you guess?" She asked softly.
"Beginners tend to use unusual moves when pressed. I didn't know until you were one until you did that. But if you don't mind, I will go to the medical tent now." Ro's face turned redder still.
"Sure yeah, go ahead." Tiny nodded and slowly made his way to the tent.
Ro watched him go, then she made her way to the bleachers. The clan leader was beet red in anger. Lady Alexandra was smiling happily, and desire was written in every line of Alexi's body. His dark eyes were trained on Ro as if he could make her his just by watching her.