Diary or the Dead

Dew watched as she was slammed into the ground. She gasped for air but Jona bored his knee into her chest. Avery's hands reached for his collar and threw him down before he could get a proper hold on her. Her sword was stuck in the ground next to her, she had lost it seconds before, so she reached for it and pressed it against Jona's throat. The man had struggled before, shaking and clawing at her to imbalance her, but as soon as he felt the cold blade on his skin he practically deflated and admitted defeat. She stood up and reached out her hand which the hybrid gladly took. "How can she still stand up straight after that?" Josephine asked next to him. She held a basket, her hair was tied up into a knot and she wore a yellow summer dress which nicely complimented her chocolate skin. Dew smirked bitterly. "She's been through worse." "Oh my, do you think Patrick will be treated like that as well?" she was worrying. Her paranoia had not left her even after several months of her husband being part of a different work field, it had gotten worse if anything. Shawn blamed it on pregnancy, Frederick said it was a logical response due to the high potential of a civil war breaking out in the kingdom as well. Still, the last time there was a bigger fight going on which involved the royal knights had been the year before and if they were lucky, several months would pass before there would be any need for violent involvement.

Jona and Avery stood opposite each other again, swords drawn, watching the opponent's every move. The last three fights Dew had witnessed this day on his and Josephine's way of returning to the castle with newly bought goods from the market, were close to a tie almost every time. Their strength wasn't all that comparable, the same could be said about their reflexes and durability. He had the strength, she had dirty tricks up her sleeves and a higher body control. For Dew it was easy to see her getting more and more tired out by every hit she threw and every hit she took. There was no way she could last another hour against this bundle of suppressed rage.
Jona's voice echoed over the training area: "Come on, don't hold back this time! It's no fun if you're tired and you handicap yourself!" She didn't waste another second and jumped, no, she swung herself into the air using one swing of her wings and had her claymore come crashing down on the man underneath her. He barely managed to stay on his legs and had to take several steps back. He whistled in respect before having to get back on defending his life. Dew threw a glance at his colleague and chuckled at the sight of her wide eyes. "She can fly with those things?!" she exclaimed. "Did you think they are for decoration or what? Yes, she can fly a little."

Still, Avery ended up losing because her legs gave up underneath her moments after Jona knocked the weapon out of her weakening hands. She didn't immediately sit up. As Jona was bending down to him, Dew assumed he would ask for her well being. Instead, he grabbed her by the collar and forced her to stand up. Her voice was too quiet for Dew to hear from this distance but he assumed it to be her telling him she would have to rest now because she started walking towards the path Dew and Josephine were standing on, using the sword as a crutch. "So quick already? You used to last longer!" Jona complained while following her closely. "Well, I'm not doing all that well anymore and if I continue I'll black out again. Just find someone else to entertain you," Avery huffed.
His arm shot up towards her head and held her by the horn. Instinctively she slapped his hand off of herself. He kept on trying to get hold of her again while pleading: "One more time, just one more time. It's all I ask for." She seized his hand. Quickly he struggled it free again, grinned provocatively and once again touched her horns. This time she didn't hold back and the man went down in pain as Avery broke the fingers of his right hand. "I told you it's sensitive, dickhead," she shouted at him before letting go and continuing. Josephine's mouth stood slightly open. Dew patted her on the shoulder to signalize her they should get going as well.

In the past two months or so Jona had adapted well to his new circumstances. Avery described him as being reliable and punctual as well as sociable enough to get along with a majority of people. His status as a hybrid had made him even more popular. It wasn't unexpected when he boasted about the amount of marriage proposals he had gotten by women and opportunistic fathers all around the area to Dew and how he had rejected all of them. It was obvious he wasn't planning on permanently settling down in a place like this. It was supposed to be his temporary entertainment before he would leave to find adventure and challenge somewhere else. Over the time Dew spent with him, he had gotten the impression that Jona saw him as a friend while Dew himself didn't. He disliked how he tried to get under almost everyone's skin once a conversation got too friendly for his taste and his loud voice got to Dew's head to a point he felt a slight headache and had to shake him off somehow. At least Jona had stopped asking for money after the first month which neither Avery or Dew had ever given him. Both of them agreed on the matter of alcohol consumption: Avoid it if possible. They hadn't gotten wasted even once, Dew had an unnatural resistance against the substance and Avery didn't consume any kind of liquid at all, but they had seen the effects it could have on people. Dew could have sworn Frederick would have been kicked out years ago if it wasn't for Shawn repeatedly encouraging him to double down on cheap booze. Of course Jona wasn't an alcoholic but his idea of enjoying his nights consisted of losing control in a crowd of people also losing themselves, an idea Dew couldn't in any way relate to. His own perfect night would consist of sitting at or in a lake to gaze at the countless stars above and perhaps enjoy a snack and a cuddle. Another option would be a rainstorm outside while huddling up in a warm set of blankets and listening to the quiet drums of raindrops hitting the window.