//------------------------------//
// It Was a Good Fight 
// Story: Something Worth Fighting for 
// by Blade Heart 
//------------------------------//

Orisian was standing in front of about 30 new lunar recruits, and 10 celestial recruits that were deemed worthy of being trained by a Kingsman.  At least, that was how Orisian saw it.  He, along with Luna, was looking at each of them, the lunar recruits standing at perfect attention, while half of the rest were slacking.  He also noticed that a good portion of the recruits were female, which offset him a bit.  But, Orisian figured the majority would be thrilled to fight for the Princess, and only some of them might not exactly like his speech.  Either way, this was how they started training in Remor, and this was how he was going to do it.

"So... You boys and girls think you have what it takes to fight for the Princess?  Haha... You will.  If you have the willpower, then you will be strong enough to bring honor and glory to the name you fight for.  For those of you that don't have the guts to put yourself on death's door each and every day... Then leave."

Orisian waited a while after saying that, and when no one left, he continued.

"Good.  Then that means you are all brothers and sisters in arms now.  What you have is far more than any citizen could ever hope to achieve.  Not only do you have each other, but you have the ability to earn the respect of the Princess.  To earn glory, and honor in the name of this kingdom.  The ability to fight for the Princess, is not a duty.  It is a privilege.  It is not something that will weigh you down.  It is something that will push you to new heights.  With it, you will pass whatever heaven exists, and find something better.  But that comes later.  Now you train.  You soldiers will train until your legs give.  Until your muscles tear, and until your body screams.  And then you will fight.  You will fight your weakness, and drive it out of your body.  You will conquer yourself, and then you will train more.  And again, you will fight.  You will do this every day, until there is nothing but strength in you.  And then, you will perfect that strength.  You will fight each other, and hone your skills.  You will prove that nothing will stand in your way, and you will bring honor to your name.  To your family.  And in turn, that will bring honor to everything you care for.  What you have now, is purpose.  I trust you all know what to do."

At the end of his speech, most of the recruits began cheering, while the rest were smiling.  After this went on a while, Orisian interrupted it.

"What the hell are you all waiting for?  I want to see you all training!"

The recruits quickly dispersed, moving to go to the training grounds and immediately beginning.  They went at their full strength, and would quickly wear themselves out, but that would stop a few weeks in.  They would begin to get used to it.

"Thine speech was impressive.  Thou has inspired them.  I have never seen any recruits training so hard on their own."

"Get used to it Princess.  This is what we did as Kingsmen.  When we had free time, we spent it training."

"Then thine kingdom must be strong."

"It was invincible."

"Was?  Has thou grown weak?"

"I'm not sure.  Maybe we didnt grow strong enough."

"Hmm...  Mayhaps, then, thou would like to test thine skills against mine?"

"I'm still troubled by women being in the military.  I do not think I would enjoy fighting one."

"Then perhaps I should not make it a request."

"Very well, Princess.  Where shall we fight?"

"On the sparring grounds.  Take thine weapon of choice from the training rack, and bring me a greatsword."

"Very well, Princess."

They both made  their way to the sparring grounds, and Orisian moved to the weapons rack while Luna waited in a square that marked where two or more would be fighting.  Orisian picked two wooden greatswords from the rack and went back to Luna, handing her one, and adopting the common warrior stance for two handed swords.  His blade coming up on his side, perfectly parallel with his body.  Luna did the same.

Orisian watched her.  She made no move.  It even seemed as if she weren't breathing.  Her posture was flawless, footing was perfect, and she herself emanated a distracting beauty.  Orisian lunged forward, swinging his sword over his head and slamming it down with as much force as he could muster.  Luna brought her sword up in a slashing strike that Orisian had trouble avoiding, even as it clashed with his wooden blade and rendered his attack useless.  Orisian jumped back and leaped forward again, this time doing a 360 cutting blow that Luna easily blocked and tossed aside, continuing with her momentum to also do a 360 attack.

Orisian had enough momentum to dodge the attack, going under her sword and ramming into her with his shoulder, knocking her off balance.  His next attack was a feint, going over her head to be brought back and slammed into her stomach, but she recovered too quickly and saw it for what it was, easily blocking it, and grabbing Orisian by his shirt, knocked him off his feet with a powerful headbutt.

Orisian fell flat on his back, but used the little momentum he had to roll back onto his feet.  Orisian stared at her as she re-entered her perfect combat stance.  Orisian was impressed, if not for the fact that even he didn't have that kind of mastery over his favorite weapon.  He decided it was time to go on the defensive.

After a solid ten seconds of staring at each other, Luna jumped forward, her sword high in the air coming down with surprising distance.  Orisian brought his sword up to block it, and found that she really did know what she was doing.  Her strike completely broke through his defense, putting the perfect amount of force on a weak spot Orisian didn't know he had.  

Her sword slammed into his face, knocking his head down, but Orisian jumped back, his grip a little loose on his weapon.  She came in for another attack, and Orisian dodged it, barely making it away from her perfect execution.  

Before she had finished her swing, Orisian forced himself forward, slamming his body into hers and knocking her down.  She rolled gracefully back to her feet, and immediately charging forward, leaving Orisian no time to ready himself.

Deciding that it would be much safer to test his speed against hers, he attacked as well, pushing his blade point first towards her.  She easily sidestepped and continued her attack, leaving him defenseless.  Her sword slammed into the side of his skull, sending him to the ground.

Orisian now had a headache and couldn't see straight, but he pushed himself up, almost falling down before he realized his sword was still on the ground.  Kneeling down to pick it up, he kept his eyes centered on her.  Once he was steadily on his feet again, she charged, knocking his weak block to the side with her sword and ramming into him with her shoulder, following up with a powerful strike to the side of his head, that put him on the ground and kept him there.





Orisian woke up with a few bandages going around his head.  More than enough to suggest it had hurt at some point in time, but he had forgotten exactly how he got them.  He even wondered if it was all just a dream, but was soon reminded that it was reality when a doctor who had pale white skin and greyish hair, stepped in from his blind side and began to talk. 

"Heh.  Not so tough, are ya kid?  Don't worry.  You're tougher than the rest.  A fractured skull would keep most people out for a few days.  Only kept you down for a good thirty minutes.  Congrats."

Orisian sighed, and fell back onto the gurney.

"Hey, don't worry about getting your ass kicked.  The Princess wanted me to tell you it was a good fight."