Athel and Alder Spar
“You Liar!” Athel roared as she slashed her saber.
“I have never lied to you,” Alder insisted as he clumsily blocked with his own.
“Rampallian! You are lying right now.” Athel spun her silver dueling saber dramatically. Her confidence and poise, her strength and beauty. Everything about her was positively radiant, and it gave Alder pause to look at her.
“My Lady,” he said, gathering his wits about him. “The only time I have ever lied to you was when you asked me if you had gained weight.”
“Oh, you indignant little scullion,” Athel yelled. Sparks flew as she struck twice at the frail young man before her, her blows nearly knocking him over as he blocked. “You feed me cheesecake every night then accuse me of gaining weight!”
“You won't eat anything else. You throw the salads I make out the window!”
Alder awkwardly jabbed at her midsection, but Athel side-stepped the clumsy attack and slashed down, hitting his wrist with the flat of her blade.
“Ow!” Alder yelped, nearly dropping his weapon.
“Oh, sorry,” Athel apologized, looking concerned.
Alder's surprise turned to anger and he came straight at her with a powerful overhead chop.
“Whoa, hey!” Athel yelled, barely blocking in time to stop his sword from hitting her in the face.
Alder stepped forward and chopped again. Athel blocked again, their hilts locking together, but the force of his attack put her off balance.
“Careful,” she warned, but Alder paid her no heed. He shoved forward with all his strength, knocking her down. Just as her rump hit the ground, he kicked with his boot, knocking her saber free from her grip. She looked up to find the point of his sword pointed directly at her face.
“CUT!” the director said in frustration. “You're supposed to let her beat you, Alder.”
“We're completely off-script,” Athel complained as she stood up, dusting her skirt off.
“But I trained saber all through college,” Alder protested. “I want to show what I can do.”
“You can't beat me, I'm the heroine,” Athel corrected, picking up her dueling blade. “You're just the second banana.”
“I'll show you second banana,” Alder said as he expertly spun his saber around then slashed before she could react, knocking her weapon out of her hand. Using his momentum, he spun his body low and swept out her feet from underneath her. A shocked Athel came crashing down to the deck while Alder jump-kicked himself to his feet.
“See, I can do it,” Alder illustrated.
“Dangit Alder, I said knock it off!” the director roared.
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