Chapter Text
My axe bounced hopelessly off the flat of his sword. I jumped backwards before a well choreographed swing of the knight’s sword. I knew he was going easy on me. It only made it sting more that way.
Meta needed to see my strength before I could be trusted out on the field, he needed to make sure I wouldn’t be a hinderance. I was tired of having to keep myself busy with minute tasks, not that they weren’t important. I just don’t like them.
Keep my head in the game, if I win this duel then I can join Mace and the others when they go out to patrol. They weren’t much, but their services to the public had stopped quite a few situations from escalating. And I wanted to be helpful, to prove that I am someone.
I don’t want to be left behind anymore.
My weapon slipped from my skeletal hands again, clattering to the floor to summon a deafening silence. I turned my gaze from the shiny blade and to my purple boots. They were gifted to me by my friend Mace, they were the first actual gift I had ever gotten. I could feel the tears start to brim over my eye sockets, I wiped at them furiously so Meta wouldn’t see. I didn’t want him to pity me, I wanted to prove myself.
“Calm yourself Axe. This is the third time you’ve dropped your weapon, is everything alright?”
The knight walked up to me, my weapon in one hand and his in the other. He was wielding a training sword at the moment, he always did when things weren’t dire. His normal sword, Galaxia, was extremely volatile with its magic and he had yet to fully control its outbursts. Last thing he likely wanted was to cause unnecessary damage when it wasn’t needed. We were peacekeepers after all. At least I am trying to be one, not sure how long it’ll be.
I nodded as I accepted my axe, it was nicely polished and practically brand new. I don’t have much to do, Sailor and Vul never gave me enough stuff to keep busy with so I’ve taken to my own projects. Cleaning and polishing every weapon is almost a hobby, I guess that would make it my first one too. The only issue with my weapon was the leather grip, being worn thin and having practically no use to the use of the axe. It had never bothered me before, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the frays and rough patches. No matter how often Mace redoes the grip, I wear it down in a matter of uses. My hands were the culprits, they caused issues left and right.
“Focus please. Why do you keep dropping your axe?”
I turned my attention back to the knight, he was relatively short compared to most but he towered over me. I wasn’t very accustomed to talking just yet, I didn’t know how to form complicated words or even make certain sounds to form some simple words. I just used my free hand to point at him sheepishly, then aiming my finger at his weapon, then at my own. After that I motioned my axe like it was flying away from me, without dropping it of course.
“I haven’t been trying to disarm you…”
His words were less to me and more just him staring something to himself, I’ve realized that he tends to do that a lot. I stared at the ground as he thought, this wasn’t going to be the time for my triumph to finally occur. I hugged my axe close to me for comfort, hugging things helped with my wandering mind most the time. It didn’t this time.
What was I doing wrong? Was I just not cut out for this? Scaring everyone I meet and turns out I can’t even fight properly, I guess Mace was right about everyone having no reason to fear me. Maybe I should just-
“Give me your hand.”
I reigned my mind back enough to look at the emotionless mask before me, his bright yellow eyes studying me. I shivered as I focused my efforts on creating sound, it was still very awkward and my voice, if you could even call it that, was hard to understand even for myself.
“Why?”
“Just give me your hand.”
Oh no, was I in trouble? He held his hand out expectantly, I slowly loosened my grip on my weapon and reached for his gloved hand. Was he mad at me for something or did I screw up somewhere? Was he going to hurt me? I didn’t want to be hurt again, my hands were only recently put back together. He wouldn’t, right? I don’t know him very well but Mace talks highly of him, and he was there for me when I was damaged… But why does he care about me at all?
Meta took his glove off and fit it on my hand awkwardly, it felt very weird. The thick fabric feeling was a constant while it was on and it gave the skeletal hand much more weight than before. I looked at the knight for answers, he chuckled lightly as he pat me on the side with his still gloved hand.
“Even I have a hard time holding a weapon without proper grip. My gloves fix that, luckily they seem to fit you alright. Move your hand around to see if it’s comfortable, I’ll get you fitted for some after if you want.”
…What? I did as I was told, moving my hand around despite the padded cloth restricting it. With how thick the fabric was, I was surprised with how little I actually noticed it. A little extra weight and a sensation that was a little bit of tingling and a little bit of just light pressure. I even traded my axe to the gloved hand and it didn’t fall or anything, actually I felt like I was holding it better like this. How did that work?
“As I thought. You wearing through the grips of your weapon is impairing your abilities. Let’s try a round with my gloves then we’ll see if that holds up.”
The knight removed his other glove and offered it up, somehow holding it without an actual hand. He had nubs like Sailor and some of the other creatures I’ve seen, how did he move his gloves? I still took the offer and let him put the accessory over my other hand, backing up and drawing his sword as I tossed my weapon between my hands. I wasn’t worried about dropping it this time, I was actually sure that I would catch it each time.
I finally hopped back to my side of the arena, adjusting the grip on my weapon so I was ready to strike. Meta crouched a little once I was ready for the battle to start, he always let his opponent get the first move.
“Whenever you are ready Axe.”
I charged forward, my axe ready for a swift swing once I got in range. The knight easily parried my attack and went in for a counter, I ducked and rammed my horns into his helmet. That threw him off balance briefly and allowed me to run in for another attack. I was pushing him back for once, no longer fearing being disarmed.
Meta slipped around me and readied for a strike at my back. He wouldn’t actually hurt me, he was using a rather blunt sword and he would have to hit my mask to actually hurt me, but it would still scatter me enough for him to get the upper hand. I abandoned my boots briefly to fly up in the air, avoiding the attack entirely and allowing me to face my opponent again without the hassle of actually taking four or five steps to do so. Walking was really annoying, but it was comforting to be somewhat like everyone else around me. I dashed forward and actually struck the metal of Meta’s mask. This caused him to have to back up a few paces, barely giving him the time to parry my next attack. Was I finally going to do it?
Suddenly the knight flapped his wings and retreated a small distance. He adjusted his stance and charged back at me, his eyes were narrowed and ready for an actual fight. I parried his first attack and just missed a jab to the side, again it wouldn’t hurt me but it would cause a forfeit. A forfeit I wasn’t willing to give just yet. Meta was using more serious attack with me, being more spontaneous and unpredictable than before. I still held my standing, parrying and countering when I could.
Finally I got to his side, aiming a strike at his side. He always parried or dodged my attacks, why didn’t he this time? I caught the area right under his nub before I realized, I didn’t want to actually hurt him. I was going to be in so much trouble, my reaction time was off and he was going to be mad. I wouldn’t be allowed to get in on any missions or cool stuff, not with this. But… was he laughing?
Meta laughed warmly as his side healed almost instantly, I dropped my weapon for the first time in a while. He sheathed his sword and flapped his wings before pulling them around them like a cloak. I think he finally noticed my reaction, was I not supposed to be worried or something. He chuckled again, this time laughing at me.
“You don’t think I’d just give you a dangerous weapon if I wasn’t sure you couldn’t kill me with it right? But your fighting skills have improved, and I would be honored to have them fight by my side.”
He bowed his head briefly and I bowed back, not as low as him because of my horns hitting him on the head before I could quite reach it. Meta just sighed at me, not a disappointed type of sigh though. It was much more light-hearted than that.
“That was great! Congratulations Axe, I knew you could do it!”
I jumped from the sudden shout behind us, I turned and Mace hugged me tightly. Sailor, Sword, Blade, Vul, and even Trident were there too, were they watching me and Meta fight? Oh no, how much did they watch? Did they see all my fumbles and screw-ups? I snuggled into Mace’s chest out of embarrassment, hitting him a few times with my horns.
“Welcome to the team Axe. You’ll fit right in.”
Sword rarely talks to me, him and Blade are always off doing one thing or another. I turned my face so I could see the brothers, Blade was clapping for me and Sword had my weapon in hand. Either no one saw me actually hit Meta or none of them really cared for it. That is a little concerning if it’s the latter. A hand rubbed the top of my head roughing, making me cower back to Mace’s chest and use my newly gloved hands to shield my head. I got a nice laugh from everyone, why was that so funny?
“Gee kiddo, growin’ up so fast. I want ya stayin’ safe out there.”
Vul pointed an accusing finger at me when I looked at him, did he think I was going out to get hurt on purpose? I could hear Sailor’s distinct laugh as I was put down, I was practically tackled by the Waddle Dee. Their hat was sitting the wrong way, I quickly righted it they way they liked. With the time that I’ve known everyone, I knew that this one was very particular about how their hat sat.
“Oh I’ll miss you bud! But don’t let the pressure get to you, you always have me and Vul to hang with as long as you don’t forget us.”
I joined the laughter this time, backing out of the tight hug and almost backing into someone. I turned and stared up at Trident Knight. He had never talked to me before, and right now he just stared at me from under his helmet. I couldn’t quite see his eyes under that thing, he was rather intimidating.
Then he held his hand out for me, wordlessly offering his congratulations. Could he just not talk or something? No, I sometimes hear Mace and him arguing so he can talk, he just isn’t someone of many words. Likely, but then why wouldn’t he spare a word or two for me? I took his hand and we firmly shook hands, a near silent chuckle coming from under his faceplate. Then his raspy and worn finally spoke, he pressed a button on the side of his helmet to reveal his deep purple eyes.
“Welcome to the crew Axe.”