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Post by Yuliya Dukhkin' on Aug 3, 2009 13:03:07 GMT -8
Yuliya looked right and left accusingly before putting her hand on the top of the wooden fence and nimbly jumping over it, landing with a quiet thud in the dark that was brightened only with the faint glow of stars. The gibbous moon was covered with dark clouds that had been illuminated with what they were trying to hide. Is the world trying to tell me something? Yuliya asked herself. She certainly had something to hide, but she was determined that unlike the clouds, she would not let it bring knowledge to herself. She would remain a ghost on the edge. No one would ever even get close enough to touch her outer skin.
She crouched down as her dark shape stalked across the grass that was in the process of collecting dew. Her dark blue hood was pulled over her head the hide the light hair that would give her away and the sides were pulled around her light skin. She wasn't doing anything wrong, but she was acting suspicious enough that anyone would've thought otherwise. But she seemed to be the only one who had noticed, and it couldn't wait. Now, if the farmer woke up, he would probably think that she was trying to steal his cow rather than treat the injury that he hadn't noticed.
It was lying on its side, a gash in its stomach. She guessed that it had been there since twilight, right when the owner had gone in for the night. She made soft cooing noises in the back of her throat as she knelt by her side, putting her hand up so the gentle creature could sniff her, and then laying a hand on her shoulder to stroke her. Yuliya took out the bag she had with her, and removed some herbs, a canteen of water, and some bandages.
"I'm going to help you," she told her, "It won't hurt anymore."
It was then that Apollo leaped over the fence like a black ghost and prowled to her side, eyes like the stars in the sky, the stars that lit up Yuliya's world when the clouds of her memory came over her moon.
"You know it was probably a wolf that attacked her, for food," he said.
"Yes, but he didn't succeed, and if she dies, it will be a human who takes her meat, not a wolf whose just trying to survive."
She poured the clean, cool water over the wound and wiped away the excess blood with her cloak. Then she shoved the leaves in her mouth and started to chew, though she was careful to not swallow any of the precious juices, and when they were a pulp, she spit it all out and spread it around. Yarrow, arnica, comfrey...they would all help. Then, with the help of Apollo, she lifted the cow slightly off the ground so she could wrap the cloth all around. When she tied the knot, she was already breathing less heavily, and her eyes were more calm. That allowed Yuliya to allow a slight smile to come onto her face.
A door opened, and Yuliya froze like a deer in headlights as man holding a lantern shone the light into the pasture, right into her face. She couldn't help it, and just stared at it. Everything in her head was messed up at the sudden change, but Apollo's bark snapped her to her senses.
"You!"
She flew up and ran, jumping the fence and not stopping until she found Black Jewel. The mare already knew something was wrong, so when Yuliya hopped onto her back, she hoped she would let her. Thankfully, the Arabian decided that this was a good time to show off her speed, the kind of speed that could only be learned on the plains of the Cossacks tribes where she had come from. Yuliya leaned forward into her mane as they galloped away with Apollo running alongside them on the ground.
When she was far enough away, on the outskirts of town, Yuliya slipped back off her mare and collapsed on the ground. She still knew she had done nothing wrong, but the farmer wouldn't have listened to explanations, even though the wrapping around the cow would've proved her theory. Anyway, she didn't need to interact with people. Her secret needed to be kept safe, and so a ghost of the night she would remain.
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Post by Ceara Mindelan on Aug 4, 2009 15:49:33 GMT -8
It wasn't really all that unusual for Ceara to be out this late at night. Whenever she couldn't sleep, or she didn't feel like being in the same house as her family anymore, she would come for a walk late at night. Sure, it was dangerous, but she was confident that she could take care of herself. She carried her sword with her wherever she went, and she'd been trained to use it. Sure, she screwed up sometimes, and some people had had to save her at some point or another, and while it did hurt her pride a little bit, she was still confident that she could take care of herself.
Tonight, she couldn't sleep, which was why she was outside. She hadn't had a good night's sleep for a few nights, actually. Ever since she'd kissed Emlyn, she'd been regretting it and she found it hard to think about anything else, which in turn made it nearly impossible to sleep. She couldn't help but think that she should have handled it much better than she had. Now he'd likely think she was a freak of some sort. She shouldn't have let her temper get ahead of her. She should have just talked it through with him, not launched into a kiss he definitely wasn't ready for. All she could think of was the taste and the feel of his lips, even in that brief second...
But no. They'd likely never see each other again. She doubted Emlyn would be brave enough to face her again, and while she would be brave enough to face him, she was not about to go looking for him. She was sure that would only make it much worse than it already was, and that was saying something.
Ceara had been looking up at the sky as she walked, but now she lowered her gaze, pausing slightly at the sight of a horse and a dog standing near a woman who seemed to have collapsed. She glanced behind her at her cat, Blackheart, who was following after her, as he always did, but at the sight of the dog he took off. Well, at least now she wouldn't have to worry about that rotten cat being mauled to death by the dog.
"Excuse me? Are you okay?" She asked, moving forward quickly, thinking maybe the woman had been attacked or something.________________________________________
Words: 419
Mood: Content
Notes: None [/size]
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Post by Yuliya Dukhkin' on Aug 4, 2009 16:41:47 GMT -8
Yuliya scrambled to her feet and eyed the newcomer with wide, distrusting eyes, almost like a deer in headlights. Inside, she was cursing herself for staying so near the village. She shouldn't have stopped until she was deep in the woods, where no one would tread in the night, and she definitely should have not let herself look weak. In the great run of things, the weak were always picked off. but she was not weak. The man suddenly coming out with the lantern had startled her, that was all. She took one quick breath.
Apollo uttered a deep growl in the back of his throat, while Black Jewel took her front two legs off the ground in the part-rear while showing the whites of her eyes. Without thinking about the stranger at all, Yuliya lowered her eyelids and stroked her mare's sides, murmuring softly to her. She didn't care about being polite; it was the middle of the night and her horse was scared, the same formalities did not exist, and even if they did, she would've ignored them. She didn't care much for this country, or its people.
But the second Yuliya saw that the girl had a sword, her eyes flashed and she drew out her own sword, Straykar. She held the gold-hilted blade like it was an extension of her arm, and the previous suspicious look turned to a glare. She didn't believe that this stranger was worrying about whether she was okay, no one did that. She wanted something...perhaps she was going to try and steal Black Jewel. Well, that wasn't going to be very easy, as long as Yuliya had something to say about it. The only thing was, she wasn't going to say anything. In all reality, she was more like the animals she spent most of her time with than an actual human, speaking mostly in body language, and if she spoke at all, it was usually the type that others couldn't hear. The hair on the back of Apollo's neck stood up and Yuliya placed her free hand on the top of his head, never taking her hard eyes off the girl.
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Post by Ceara Mindelan on Aug 4, 2009 18:49:41 GMT -8
Ceara watched the woman curiously as she scrambled to her feet. She frowned slightly in confusion, wondering why the woman had been on the ground if she wasn't hurt or anything like that. She was tempted to ask, but the woman didn't seem to trust her very much, which was completely understandable. Both her animals seemed not to like her, either...then again, not many animals seemed to be taking a liking to her. First Blackheart, now the woman's horse and dog? At least Treasure and Talisman hadn't seemed to dislike her...though then again, they hadn't seemed to particularly like her, either.
Shut up! Stop thinking of Emlyn's animals! she scolded herself, giving her head a sharp shake to clear it. Instead she just watched the woman and her animals again, doing her best not to look threatening. That was, however, before the woman drew her sword. Ceara's eyes flashed and she put her own hand on the hilt of her sword, though she didn't draw it. She did fall into a defensive position, ready to dodge an attack at a moment's notice. "I don't want to fight you," She said quietly, keeping her hand on the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it to defend herself should the need arise._________________________________________
Words: 230
Mood: Happy and muse-filled xD
Notes: None [/size]
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Post by Yuliya Dukhkin' on Aug 4, 2009 19:55:26 GMT -8
A zephyr blew past Yuliya, lifting locks of her wavy blonde hair past her face. A strange fierceness was on her face, like she couldn't control what she was doing at all. Instincts were all that were directing her action, primitive blood driving each move. It was a tense moment as the air seemed to crackle with electricity. Gone was everything that made her a girl. She was a wild beast with the ability to strike and strike hard. Her eyes, which could sometimes look like a field of grass in the morning were cold grey stones.
"You are a stranger," she said simply, keeping her eyes fixed. She expected everything. At any moment the stranger could lash out at her, but Yuliya wouldn't be caught off guard. She strengthened her fighting stance and brought her sword in front of her, ready to parry any attack. "Therefore, you are not welcome." Yuliya wished that Black Jewel was safe at home and that Streak was flying the air above her, and even for Luna to be close enough that she could speak to her, but none of those were true. However, Apollo was there, as he always had been and always would be.
'I don't trust her,' he growled, 'what kind of person takes walks in the night?'
'I agree. Jewel, if she's lying, run.'
The Arabian tossed her mane, 'I will not run far. If you need to get away, remember that I'm the fastest in the world.'
If she had been in any other situation, she would have grinned. Normally Jewel wouldn't volunteer her assistance, but now it seemed that Yuliya could depend on her, the creature she loved more than any other, the one being who had stolen her heart away completely.
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Post by Ceara Mindelan on Aug 4, 2009 21:18:18 GMT -8
Ceara narrowed her eyes, watching the other woman closely. The thought of a sword fight got her blood pumping hard, filling her with adrenaline. It promised an escape from all her thoughts of Emlyn that filled her mind and refused to leave. Perhaps she should challenge this woman. Not to the death, of course, just for a sparring match...however, she doubted the woman would want to. She didn't trust her, obviously, which wasn't surprising since they had just met, after all. A wild look was coming to her eyes and it took everything she had to keep herself from lunging at the woman, just to get her mind off of everything, even if it was only for a few minutes.
"Oh, well that's friendly. You must have a ton of friends, then." She said sarcastically, and drew her sword, holding it up and at the ready. She knew this was stupid of her, that she was practically initiating the fight, but at the moment she found it hard to care. "I'll be sure not to ask if you're okay next time I see you on the ground. Wouldn't want you to think I'm trying to attack you, or something." She said, her voice still sarcastic and mocking. Though she held her sword at the ready, she didn't lunge. She hoped the woman would be the one to actually start the fight.________________________________________
Words: 247
Mood: Not very good, and extremely tired
Notes: They should fight <) xD [/size]
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Post by Yuliya Dukhkin' on Aug 5, 2009 7:24:18 GMT -8
"Ouch," she said sarcastically, feeling her snark settle in, "You must have lots of enemies if this is the way you handle dismissal." Apollo barked loudly at her and showed his teeth as he continued to growl even louder. It would be difficult, but Yuliya wanted to keep him out of the fight, if there was one. This girl needed to be taught that not everyone enjoyed the company of humans, of course, her actions were strange. Ask if someone is okay and if they send you away, fight them? No wonder she liked the company of her companions better.
"You dare draw blades with a Cossack? Not many people would do that without reason." As she said so, she studied the girl's sword. I twas thicker than her own, but much more bulky, and in Yuliya's opinion, it lacked a certain grace that she thought swords should have. Her own sword had come from the Orient, a gift from her uncle that she had been glad to receive. Yes, hers was superior, she was sure of it, but the skills she had didn't also come from the Orient. No, her skills had been taught to her one-on-one by her father, who was the greatest man alive. One day she would prove that she was worthy to be his daughter, and on that day she could return home to her people.
She was itching to fight, but seeing as she wasn't exactly the aggressor in this situation, she knew she should wait for the other to attack. Technically, she was on the stranger's land, and if had ever found a Falcon Flight warriors on the Spirit Horse land, she would've been the one to attack, not them, and so she waited patiently.
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Post by Ceara Mindelan on Aug 5, 2009 18:20:02 GMT -8
Ceara couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head as the woman guessed she must have quite a few enemies. She could appreciate a good insult every now and then, even if she was insulting her. She was sort of unpredictable with insults, however. Sometimes she got furious, other times she herself couldn't help but laugh at them. She couldn't help by wonder, however, whether the woman had forgotten that she had pulled her sword on her. Not the other way around.
"I'll admit to having some enemies," She said, a grin on her face. "And you seem to be forgetting that you're the one who drew your blade because I asked if you were alright." She said, snorting slightly. "Who's to say I'm not just defending myself?" It pained her to do so, but still Ceara didn't lunge. Sure, she wanted to fight, but not if there was really no reason to.
"And hello!? Again, you're the one who pulled out your sword first. It doesn't matter to me if you're a Cossack, anyways. I don't know much about them." Ceara said, shrugging her shoulders. Still she didn't attack, but she didn't back down and sheath her sword, either.________________________________________
Words: 231
Mood: Surprisingly good, considering the day I had =)
Notes: Who will attack first, or will they attack at all? Only time will tell xD [/size]
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Post by Yuliya Dukhkin' on Aug 5, 2009 18:57:12 GMT -8
Yuliya sighed. She thought the warriors of this country would at least be taught basic battle etiquette, but obviously not, "You have been taught poorly. It is common knowledge that the first person to draw swords is for defense and being prepared, it is the second person who starts the fight, for a battle is never fought with one blade." The last part was recitation from what her father had told her, when he had first taught her the rules of fighting. How old had she been? It had been before the accident, in that short period of time when all had seemed...well, relative to now. She had been the proud and respected daughter of the Ataman. What was she now? A ghost on the edges will no real purpose other than to dwell in the past.
"If you had studied harder, you would realize how much it does matter, or did you not know that your head is not only for putting a hat on?" It was one of those small joys in life when she had the chance to use a Cossack proverb, it brought her that much closer to home, where things like that would be heard from every direction. She remembered Vivek's favorite saying, 'the road to home is icy and the pub is close by, but I will walk carefully." She had to remember that and stay on the path that would lead her back home no matter the temptation or her temper.
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Post by Ceara Mindelan on Aug 5, 2009 21:45:43 GMT -8
Ceara rolled her eyes, still holding her sword up and at the ready as she shrugged. "Things like that never interested me much. Besides, that sounds just plain stupid to me. The first person to draw their blade could easily have the intention to kill the other person, in which case the other person would just be drawing their sword to defend themselves." Ceara said, smirking slightly. She enjoyed the taunting part of the fight, though she wasn't sure why. No, actually, she just liked every part of a fight, the taunting, the actual fighting. Even the pain of getting hit was worth it. "That's the way I see it now. I'm just defending myself." She said, still grinning.
"People that are so confident in their abilities are always so annoying. So you think just because you're a Cossack that you can beat me?" She asked, rolling her eyes once again. She was being a little hypocritical, since she was rather confident in her abilities to defeat this woman as well. It was obvious by her demeanor, sure, but she didn't actually say anything out loud. Of course there was always the possibility that if she fought this woman she'd lose her life...right now she didn't much care though. The thought of fighting her and getting Emlyn off her mind was all that occupied her brain. She'd worry about the consequences afterwards. Of course, should she win she had no plans on killing the woman, but she couldn't promise that she wouldn't get hurt in battle, should they fight.________________________________________
Words: 279
Mood: Quite good =)
Notes: None [/size]
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Post by Yuliya Dukhkin' on Aug 6, 2009 8:26:33 GMT -8
Yuliya rolled her eyes. Unintelligent foreigners with no logic behind their actions, "I guess every sea snake has wished to fly instead," she chuckled. That one she had come up with herself, "But...you wouldn't know what a sea snake is, would you? They only exist on a small island off the coast of the Orient, my uncle brought me back one of their shed skins." She remembered clearly the proud look on Voda's face as he had handed her the translucent tube. According to him, all the men on the expedition had wanted to find one, but only he had succeeded. He had told her that he knew he had only found one because, unlike the others, he hadn't been planning to keep it himself, so really it was all because of her that he had been lucky. A pang came into her stomach as she thought of her uncle. How she missed him...he had promised that one day she could go with him and see all the strange animals and strange people. That would've been wonderful.
"No, not because I was born a Cossack am I confident, only that I was trained as a Cossack by the very best." Her uncle was the most fascinating man in the world, but her father was the strong warrior. He was the Ataman, and the strongest and bravest one of all the tribes. Yuliya was actually more trained in fighting and horseback riding than what girls normally learned, but since she first failed at cooking pierogi, and Vivek wasn't very good either, they had both given up and let her brother do the cooking. Perhaps if her mother was still alive, Yuliya would've finally succeeded in making the dumplings.
Thinking about her mother brought a strange feeling throughout her, but it didn't have anything to do with sadness. It was more of a longing...to fly. That was weird. She had always wanted to fly, but...this seemed to be a rather odd time to think about it. And now there was a pain on his back, where her birthmarks were, the same birthmarks her brother had...like something was trying to get out. Oh no...she knew what this meant, it had happened before. She looked down. Yep, she was floating, barely two inches. s***. This was not a good time for this.
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Post by Ceara Mindelan on Aug 6, 2009 21:36:39 GMT -8
Ceara blinked, looking a little confused at the woman's first words. What did sea snakes have to do with anything? It was true, she didn't even know what a sea snake was, but that didn't really matter. The woman probably thought she was so clever...though again, her words hadn't really had anything to do with anything. Even though Ceara didn't really know what a sea snake was, she still got a little annoyed as the woman assumed that she didn't know what they were. People that assumed things and said it out loud were annoying. For all the woman could know, Ceara could have come from that little island or something.
"You know...you're kinda annoying." Ceara said, sounding serious. She wasn't even really trying to mock the woman this time, just telling the truth. "Still, lucky for you that I don't hate you enough to want you dead..." She paused here, a grin coming to her face. "So this battle will be solely to get my mind off things." She said, nodding before lunging forward, swinging her sword downwards at the woman's shoulder. Ceara meant what she said, even if she won she had no intention of killing the woman. In fact, she hoped the woman was a good fighter, just because she didn't want to hurt her- not seriously, anyways. She really hoped the woman wouldn't sic her dog on her, too._________________________________________
Words: 256
Mood: Okay
Notes: Warning in advance: The next few posts might have a lot of 'woulds' and 'would aim at's' xD [/size]
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Post by Yuliya Dukhkin' on Aug 7, 2009 8:05:15 GMT -8
Yuliya would've dodged the attack if it weren't for one thing: if she moved, the sword would've gone straight to Black Jewel. Fire lit up in Yuliya's eyes as the woman endangered her horse, her love. She would rather die than hurt her horse, so she accepted the blow as it hit her left shoulder, cutting into her skin and...pop, yes, dislocating it. She winced, but turned around and rubbed her hands on Black Jewel.
'Did she get you? Filthy, vile, despicable scum...run.'
Black Jewel whinnied, but as she trotted away, she turned back, 'Concentrate on the fight.'
Yuliya, though, had no need to worry about her back, she knew Apollo was there, snapping his teeth like a wild wolf. However now, Yuliya was really pissed, and her feet still weren't touching the ground.
"Only a truly horrible person would come near the animal of another with a blade."
Hard breath came out of her mouth. Apollo was still in front of her. She desperately wanted him to run with Jewel, but she knew it would be pointless to ask. It was his duty to always remain by her side, and he had taken those words to heart. Now, she was more than ready to fight. If Black Jewel had been hurt...her whole life would've ended, for what killed her the most was not her own pain, but the pain of animals. Her eyes flashed as she lunged with her sword. At first, it looked like she was going to attack from the shoulder, the same way the girl had, but she knew better. Using the shoulder was an elementary mistake. She swung her blade in a circle to move it upwards and attack at the woman's left side from the elbow. She would be faster.
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Post by Ceara Mindelan on Aug 7, 2009 9:00:23 GMT -8
Ceara sighed, disappointed that her very first attack had hit. She took a few steps back, distancing herself and holding her sword up in a defensive position, though she had a feeling this fight was going to be very boring, and very one-sided. However, only a few seconds later she realized that the woman had actually let the attack hit her. No, she hadn't done it to make Ceara feel good or to give her a handicap, nothing like that. She'd done it because her sword may have actually hit the horse standing behind her had she not.
Ceara stared at the woman as she turned her back to her, her mouth dropping open for a moment. The woman was turning her back on a woman with a sword just to make sure a sword that hadn't even been aimed at her horse hadn't hit it. Of all the stupid things people could do in fights, this topped Ceara's list. Of course, she wasn't about to stoop so low as to attack the woman from behind, even if she did deserve it. She'd already said she wasn't going to try kill the woman, after all. Attacking her from behind would be horrible...then again, the dog had stepped in front of his mistress, probably to make sure Ceara didn't attack her from behind. Well, she was not about to attack a dog...one that looked pretty angry, either. She just really hoped the dog stayed out of the fight.
The horse finally turned and ran off, which surprised her a little, only because she hadn't seen the woman do anything that would send it running. Still, that was no where near as strange as the next thing she noticed. The woman was floating. She hadn't noticed it before, but now Ceara stared directly at the woman's feet, not believing her eyes. She snapped her gaze back up to the woman as she spoke, her eyes narrowed slightly. She was fighting something who wasn't human? Great, what was she, then? Hopefully not something who would be able to use some sort of power to kill her...especially because the woman looked very angry now.
Ceara sighed and rolled her eyes at the woman's words. "I wasn't aiming for your horse, calm down." She said, sounding annoyed. "You're not human, though. What are you, then?" She demanded, wanting to know immediately whether maybe she should turn and run for her life instead of challenging this woman. It all depended on what the woman was, really. Finally the woman lunged at her. She stepped to the side, turning her sword quickly so that the hilt faced upwards and the blade downwards so that she could parry the blow that had been aimed at her side. The woman had been fast, sure, but Ceara wasn't new at this. She may prefer attacking from the shoulder than the elbow, even if the elbow was faster, but that was her own decision. It didn't mean that she didn't know how to attack with the elbow, or that she wouldn't.
As soon as she'd blocked the woman's blade with her own, she'd pull back and make a jab towards the woman's gut. She would come up short, so that she didn't hit the woman, she was just testing her, to see whether the woman would have been fast enough to block it or not. If not then Ceara would be sure not to jab her._________________________________________
Words: 617
Mood: Good
Notes: You got my muse flowing, can you tell? xD [/size]
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Post by Yuliya Dukhkin' on Aug 7, 2009 10:16:39 GMT -8
So, she had noticed the floating? d***, it was one of those things she preferred to try and keep to herself, but it was rather hard to when it was something she couldn't control, and she wasn't about to just walk away. Plus, even if she wanted to, she couldn't exactly walk away. She didn't know how, but she was somehow able to still control her movements in the air. But everything was...better. Her movement was more fluid, her actions more graceful...almost like she belonged, but the thought was ridiculous, and nothing more than a dream.
"Of course I'm a human. As much as I'd like not to be I know there's no use wishing for the impossible." It was true that she wished she wasn't human. The only humans in the world that were actually and truly honorable were the Cossacks, but she wasn't with them anymore. No one here cared about the thoughts of animals or tried to feel the earth beneath the earth. Everyone just walked around, worried only about their own petty little problems. Where was the depth? Where was the reason that exceeded their own desires?
Wind swirled around her, and almost...in her, coming from her. It was nothing out of the ordinary, for air was her element, but somehow it seemed so much more real, like she really was controlling it instead of just borrowing it. Whenever she floated, she found she was much better at the air, but then her physical strength would decrease. Indeed, she already felt more weak. It angered her, for she could not show off the fighting style of the Cossacks like this, she had to improvise, something which bugged her greatly, for it made her feel less in control.
Still in the back of her mind was a great desire to lift off into the sky. Along with the dislocated shoulder she now head, her back was still burning. None of it made any sense to her. The only thing she could come up with was that her brother had the same birthmarks she did on her back, but her father had nothing like them. In fact, neither she nor her brother looked like their father very much at all, but that wasn't really out of the ordinary. Was it?
Once she was shoved away, she brought up her sword like lightning to knock the woman's blade away, wind following her sword and helping her in her weakened state. Along with that, Apollo jumped up and snapped at the sword, but fell back, growling to her side. Yuliya's eyes widened in horror. She would not let Apollo get hurt. This was her fight, a fight between humans. Animals had already put up with enough, the least she could do was fight their battles for them.
'Apollo, you must stay out of this.'
'I will crunch her face in my jaws.'
'Not today. She insulted the Cossack and she isn't difficult,' she commanded, but she didn't know why. Perhaps he would stay mostly out of it, but she knew if he felt like it, he would launch himself in, the same way she would do for him. She swung her blade in a circle again, and lunged exactly the same way she had before, but to the right side. Only, at the last second, she would pull back and then hit hard on the shoulder.
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