Flying Blades

Thunk.

A knife quivered in the trunk of a tree, and chips of bark rained down into the soil. Evelyn stood twenty feet away, still as a statue, as if the slightest motion would make the blade fall away. Her heart made a small leap of triumph and a victorious smile spread across her face when it didn't. She stood up straight and prepared to throw again, turning her body sideface with her left foot in front of the other.

Crying for weeks on end had a curious affect on a person. Eventually, they would run out of tears, and all the left over sadness would turn to anger. It had first been an anger directed at herself after the event at the library. 'How could you be so stupid?' she'd said to herself over and over until it became a mantra. Her quiet soliloquies at night turned into frustrated screams into the pillow, at herself, at the Academy, at everything. She'd ripped up the diary that the English Professor had given her after reading the first and only entry and seeing how excited she'd been to attend Beata and meeting so many people.

The confines of Dorm 101 had made her agitated and restless, and that was enough to summon up the courage to ask for more weapons. Namely, five throwing knives and a sheath for her dirk. She'd tried taking to strapping the dagger to her thigh, but she'd figured out, much to her embarrassment during the inter-period rush in the Courtyard, that she would not be able to pull out the knife without lifting her skirt up for everyone to see. Maybe she was stupid for

It had come down to a choice between carrying around the dagger she had used to hate or skirts. She'd decided that she'd just wear jeans from then on.

The throwing knives were a different story. They didn't have a grip, instead the hilts were just plain unsharpened metal black. For the last few hours each one had simply bounced back or fell into the soil, but the effort had paid off. Evelyn had finally a stuck a knife into the tree. She liked to pretend that it was Mr. Spion, and that she'd just landed it in between his eyes.

She spun on the sole of her feet, swung her right foot in front of the other, and flicked her wrist, letting the blade fly. It whirled end over end, burying itself into the wood only inches away from the other knife.

Thunk.

A small wolf pup, or what appeared to be one at least, seemed to be watching from afar, trying to stay out of sight. Montare, who the wolf really was, simply watched, mentally noting her accuracy and such as she threw the knives. He acted much more keen than before, and he quietly moved as to see Evelyn and the tree from the side, so he would be able to see the knives fly though the air more easily. He had also gotten closer, likely within the girl's peripheral vision, hoping he was not noticed.

The knife quivered, but didn't fall. "Aha! Yes!" she exclaimed despite herself. She was getting better and better with each throw. Startlingly, the knives had become a bigger and bigger comfort and joy to her... something that gave her tranquility amidst the chaos of every day life at Beata, something that had only previously been the piano. She felt an acute pang of nostalgia thinking about it. It had been awhile since she'd played... perhaps she would give the Studios a visit if nobody was around.

Then something was in the corner of her eye. Gray, silent, watching. That made her shiver as she turned her head to look. A dog? No, not a dog, a wolf, and it was staring at her. That could mean only one thing. She'd heard whispers that he was back, but she'd paid it no mind.

Her heart beating at a million miles an hour, she moved her hand to her waist, her fingers wrapping delicately around a metal hilt. In one fluid movement, she turned, drew the blade, flicked her wrist, and let the knife fly in Montare's direction... sailing only inches above his head. Evelyn froze in her position, petrified. I nearly hit him.

Montare reacted quickly to this, jumping to the side, even though the knife was destined to miss. Seeing as stealth was no longer an option, he shifted to his human form, wearing the same kind of clothes as before, with his carved dagger with a seemingly gold hilt at his waist on his right. It was also obvious that he allowed his tail to remain when he had shifted. Montare simply stood there, staring Evelyn down. "That's quite a nice way to greet someone who has been gone for quite awhile, especially after they've changed." he said, still standing there with a plain expression, on hand at his side near the hilt of the dagger.

Evelyn grit her teeth and reached for her own dirk at her side. What was he going on about? Was he trying to get revenge for his brush with trouble? She'd overpower him if she needed to, the same way she overpowered Jace. "W-what do you want?!" she blurted out, trying to sound strong and threatening but it coming out too quiet and shaky. She wanted to convince him -- and herself -- that she was unafraid, but the truth couldn't be more different.

Montare continued to stand there, picking up on the nervousness in Evelyn's voice. He leaned on a nearby tree, still looking at Evelyn. "I just wanted to prove that I have changed, even though that must be hard to believe." Montare said calmly, waiting for a response out of Evelyn, wondering if she would believe a word he said. He didn't expect it, given what he had done before and what his reputation was.

Evelyn narrowed her eyes and slowly began to draw her dagger out more. What was with him? "C-changed how?!" she snapped, sounding more strong this time. "Is that why you were watching me in s-secret, huh?!" She surprised even herself with her out of place frankness, but she was growing angrier and angrier with each passing moment.

Montare noticed Evelyn starting to draw her dagger, drawing his own and holding it at his side. "No, I wasn't even planning to tell you yet, but I saw you throwing knives at a tree when I passed by, and thought I might watch so I could get an idea of how skilled everyone is now." he told her, his calm tone still present. Montare looked over Evelyn as he waited for a response, watching for if she tried anything.

What was that supposed to mean? Evelyn finally dragged it out of its sheath and held it in front of her in a threatening manner as he drew his. He wants to gauge how strong I am before he attacks me, he means. Her lips curled into a snarl. She wouldn't be a submissive quiet girl now of all times. And 'just passing by'? How stupid did he think she was?

This wasn't good. She couldn't trust a thing Montare said, or herself to outrun him... Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind. Before she could stop to second-guess herself, she dropped the dirk to the ground and again reached to her side. Suddenly, there was a flying blade whirling end over end towards Montare, and Evelyn was already drawing her final knife by the time it left her hands.

Montare, having been expecting Evelyn to try something, quickly sidestepped and turned to narrowly dodge the blade, shifting into an adult wolf partially to decrease his height. Montare dropped the dagger from his mouth to speak. "This is why I didn't plan on telling you first. I had a feeling you wouldn't react well, albeit I didn't expect this much aggression." He got down into a defensive stance, ready for the second blade to be thrown.

Evelyn didn't have time to see if the knife had hit its target by the time she threw the next one. She felt as if she wasn't even in control of her actions as the next one left her arm. The rage and fear pulsing through her veins had taken over, and any doubts or concerns about hurting the boy had been blotted from her mind. She froze as she watched it spin towards him, not even listening to him speak. She knew it had only left her hand a second ago, yet it seemed like the whole world had slowed down for it and the trees and foliage blurred past. She became faintly aware that she was running now, with the dirk in her hand. When had she picked that up? And not just running away, running towards him. Blood rushed in her ears, wind howled past, and soil flew up behind her with each step.

Montare jumped aside as the second blade flew, although his growing inability to focus on Evelyn prevented him from dodging fully, his side being cut just enough for blood to be drawn. However, using the sound of Evelyn running at him as well as the kicked up soil helped him to know where she was. He quickly picked the dagger up in his teeth before jumping back and shifting to a human form once again, his dagger now in his hand as he held it defensively.

By then, though, she was already on him. She rammed into him full force, or as much force as she could muster with her light frame, and tackled him to the ground. Evelyn was faintly aware of sharp sting as she crashed into him, probably from how he'd held out his knife as she ran at him, and of her dirk flying away from her as they tumbled to the ground. It was only then that she was fully back to her senses and the world seemed to return to normal speed. There was a sharp line of pain along her forearm where Montare's own dagger had bit into her. She pressed a knee into his stomach and grabbed at his wrists, trying her hardest to hold him down before he could give her another cut...

Montare offered little resistance, able to shift in order to get free if he really had to. "Stop this before more damage is done." he said fairly calmly, noticing the wound Evelyn had sustained as well as the pain in his side from where he had been cut. "If I was trying to be hostile, I could have you in a pool of your own blood. Do you still resent allowing me to explain myself?"

Evelyn felt a shiver go through her at his words and how calmly he spoke them. There were strange things she'd experienced since her new life at Beata, but someone like this was just too unsettling. Was this even the same boy who'd wept uncontrollably on his knees when he'd been rejected in the conservatory? She wanted to say he was bluffing to avoid further pain, but... she scarcely passed a hundred pounds, he was armed, and seemed completely unfazed. "What do you want? Honestly?" she growled, pressings his arms flat to the ground as she leaned over him. She was still puzzled over that. Did he want anything? To hurt her, or worse?