Dark Highlights

First Meeting

          Ravon made her way from the outer battlements to the inner courtyard on her weekly rounds. All was well withing the defences; Lord Demitri would be pleased enough with the report. As she passed through the courtyard, the general saw a man that had never been in the castle before. By his clothing she knew that he was not from the area- or region for that matter.
          "Great, another infiltrator," Ravon muttered to herself as she jumped down to the level where the figure was walking quietly through the shadows, keeping out of sight. Comming from above, she aimed a kick straight to his head to take him out quickly and quietly. At the last moment, the perpetrator doged it, causing the General to land in a roll and come back quickly with a sweep. For several minutes the two went back and forth, Ravon doing the most of the attacking while the stranger defended. The tide turned as her opponent went on the offencive and began to bear down on her. The moves seemed vaugely familiar to Ravon, realization dawning as she found herself on her back looking up at the sky when the officer realized who it was that she had attacked. He stared down at her, a stoic expression on his face as she saw the resemblance. The face was younger, less harsh and angular, but there nonethess. It looked like a younger form of Lord Demitri, only...diffrent. Where Demitri had short cropped black hair with brown eyes and fair skin like most in Destor, He had sholder length black hair, black eyes and a slight tint to his skin that suggested long hours under the harsh light of a bright sun. She scrambled up and went into an instant kneel of obediance.
         "Forgive me, Lord Ryu," she said almost fearfully, "I did not know it to be you." Lord Ryu seemed taken aback by the turn of events and ran his fingers through his hair.
          "Who are you?" he asked after apparently giving some thought to his words.
          "General Ravon, High General of the Lord Pendragon's Forces, m'lord," she looked at him. "Of your father's forces."
          Ryu raised an eyebrow at this. "So you're Ravon. You don't seem that tough to me," he said with a grin looking at her kneeling at his feet. "If all of the officers that I've come across are afraid of you, then this military is in a sorry state." If Ravon registered any emotion, she didn't show it. Her eyes looked at Ryu, in a way that any other man would find unsettling. "Stand up General." She stood, saying nothing, standing stock still as he looked into her eyes, as if looking for something. He then gave a nod. "Much better. I suppose if Demitri has you in charge, you must be as good as they say. We will have to have a re-match sometime."
          "Yes Lord Ryu."
          Ryu turned and went back into the shadows of the hallways, running a hand through his hair in thought as he did so.

         Ravon watched the young lord dissappear into the shadows for just a moment longer before continuing on her rounds quickly, putting him out of her mind for the time being. Other than meeting the Lord Ryu, the day ended up passing like so many before it with training, plans and orders to her subordinates.
         Ryu's however was on the strange general for the remainder of the day leading into the next.

         Ravon's mind was elsewhere that morning as she went through excercises with the officers. It was just the day before when Lord Ryu arrived at the castle and made himself known to everyone there. unlike his father and grandgather, Ryu did not make his presence known overtly to everyone. Infact, until Ravon had come across him making his way through a courtyard, he WAS unnoticed; as he still was for the most part that morning. By everyone but Ravon that is.
         As the General stood in the ring for the morning sparring bouts, he came out of the shadows of the hallways ans stood on the outer ring with the other officers. Normally, they took turns in the ring, the winner of the match staying in the ring until they lost or won ten bouts, which ever came first. That morning, they had several new officers, so Ravon stood in the middle of the ring, chest rising in a slow, steady, measured rhythm, a light sheen of sweat at odds with the misty morning air. At her feet a newly promoted leuitenant worked his way to the edge of the circle before being helped up by his fellow officers. She looked at the young lord as he stood calmly with his arms folded; her eyes never seemed to waiver from his gaze as a captain twice her size stepped into the ring.
         "General, ma'am," the captain said in a slight bow, out of courtesy more than respect. "I reckon that the boys there were takin' it easy on you, underestimating you fer' being female and all." Ravon paid little heed to the Captain, her eyes focused past him on Ryu, still apparently invisable to those around him though he stood in plain sight. "But be sure that I won' be, since the enemy won' be." he said. With the barest of nods from the referee, he rushed at her to punch her right in the face. She moved just a bit to the side, her eyes locked on the lord, and grabbed the wrist of the captain, using his momentum to her advantage, and leaving him on his back before one could even count to ten. He eyes never left Ryu as she brought her foot up and swung it down, stopping just a hair's breath away from the captain's head, sure indication of a killing move if there ever was one. He stood, and brushed himself off, grumbling as the referee led him off to the side, trying to discourage him from a re-match. While he did that, Ravon walked over to the young lord and saluted with fist to heart and clicked her heels together.
         "Do you come to watch or to participate in the morining training regime?" she asked, the others now noticing for the first time Ryu and that fact that Ravon had known that he was there the entire time.
         "I could use some excersize," He replied, making a show of stretching his arms. Ravon bowed her head once in a nod and moved back to the center of the circle.
         "You are new here as well," the referee said giving one look at him. "Then your first round will be with General Ravon. She insists that she have first go at all new officers to the castle."
         "Does she now?" Ryu said a slight smirk comming to his face. Her face was as stony as ever, but her eyes held a bit of repect for him as she stood there. "I will try not to dissappoint her."
         "Try not to get yourself killed," the seargent major next to him said just loud enough for the inner circle to hear. The fact that no one laughed meant that he said it in all seriousness; that gave Ryu a moment's pause before stepping into the proverbial lion's den with the lioness waiting to shred him to possible peices. His smirk vanished as he looked into her eyes and saw a cold indiffernce there to either herself or the well being of her sparring opponent. Some how, he could tell that it was just her focus on him that had kept her foot from actually killing the captain before. The circle widened, makeing more room for them to move about. The referee moved to the side with the rest of the onlookers, staying out of their way. For several moments, neither made a move. Then, as if on a signal, they both moved to strike, catching each other on the guard, and backing off to strike again. Ravon came at him with a high kick, which he caught and twisted, to bring her to the ground. She used the momentum of the twist to kick out with her other foot, landing on her hands and pushing off to flip over to her feet. Ryu swung out a leg into a sweep as she landed, causing her to fall back and flip to her feet to stand. He came at her with no mercy, punching at every openening she presented, and feinting when she gave none. She returned the tirad blow for blow, the two dancing around the ring for several seconds before breaking away and starting again each working to get the upper hand.
         As Ravon came in a third time, she bent low to go for a sweep; Ryu jump and came with a spinning roundhouse kick straight across her jaw, sending her flying several feet to the ground. She landed with a thud, lying still for just a few moments before moving one arm to push herself off the ground. Ryu stood and resisted the urge to take a step to the fallen general, as she slowly pushed herself up, spitting out a mouthful of blood. A collective gasp went up from the crowd, and they all looked at him, still somewhat unaware of who it was that Ravon was fighting. She wiped her mouth clean on her arm and looked at him, a smile comming to her face as she stood. It was feral in appearance, but her eyes seemed to hold the hint of an icy fire of challenge and respect that he didn't see before. At least not with the other opponets that she had faced before.
         "What's your name?" the referee asked Ryu as Ravon slowly made her way to start the next round. "You are the first to ever draw blood on General Ravon in all my time here."
         "Or knock her down for that matter," one of the officers behind him said.
         "Some one was bound to," the Captain that she had defeated before said, "She's just a female after all." This caused people to back away from the captain, leaving a space around him and inevitably putting him into the ring with Ryu and Ravon.
         "He's a Pendragon," Ravon said in that quiet voice of hers. "The Lord Ryu, Lord Demitri's son." She kept that smile of hers as she added, "Only a Pendragon has knocked me to the ground without mercy. But you are the first to hold it back willingly." The officers around him gave a salute of fist to chest once she had introduced her opponent. "You are a wonder, m'lord." She touched knee to ground, fist to chest before standing before him. "My life is yours."
         "Well, Lord Ryu, you should take her out of this military," the captain said, folding his arms. "Tis no place for a wench." This line drew Ravon's attention to the captain who choked on the last words in his mouth at her icy stare, making them come out garbled and muttered. She walked up to him and looked to the other officers, mainly that of general ranking.
         "I will not tolerate such words against anyone in this unit. Make it better understood so that the lesson will not have to be repeated." As they all clicked their heels, she looked back to the captain. "Good bye." Placing her hands on his head, she gave a fatal jerk to it, causing him to frop to her feet in a heap. "Get it out of here," she said, turning to face the spot where the Lord stood and seeing nothing but air.

*******************************************************

Ryu made his way to the room where Demitri took up his residence in providing over the day to day affairs. He entered and placed both fists on the desk his father sat at, leaning over it with a cool fury.

"What is with your...men?" Ryu asked, biting back what he really wanted to say.

"Ryu," Demitri said looking up. "Good morning to you too."

"And such a morning. Do your...generals go about killing people just for the mere pleasure of it, or is that just this General Ravon?"

"Ah, I see you've met the head General. Good. I won't have to take time to introduce the two of you now."

"Head General? You mean that...that...bitch is in charge of the military around here!"

"Yes, she is. You have a problem with that?" Demitri asked coolly.

"She just killed a Captain for disagreeing with her! Yes, i have a problem with it!"

"Ah, well, I'm sure he was warned." Demitri went back to his work, a sure sign of dismissal. Ryu was not about to let it go however.

"Warned? Warned about getting on her bad side? You mean she does this often? You have a psychopath in charge of the military?!"

"General Ravon is not a psychopath." Demetri put down his pen again and leaned back in his chair. "She is the best warrior that we have. Save for me and no doubt, you, she is undefeated in combat. True she is ruthless, but she is fair. Ravon didn't get to be where she is by being nice. As the only one of her kind in the military, she has much against...and for her. She will always be fighting for her place at the top, and she will want no less. You will need to understand that if you are to survive here."

"So she just kills whoever disagrees with her and get away with it," Ryu said darkly.

"No, feel free to disagree with her. Just don't ignore her. I have a feeling that this Captain was only disagreeing with her being female. For taking her on looks instead of merit. That will get you killed as well. Remeber that."

"So if she kills me, you won't think twice about it, is that it?" Ryu said standing up, "Thanks, Demitri. Thanks for nothing." The young lord left his father and marched out of the room. Just outside he saw the General in her custimized armor heading his way. As she neared, she slowed and saluted. He glared at her, and she took note of it, moving on to enter Demitri's room.

Ryu continued on his way, irrated on how a woman could get him so mad by just her mere presence. Perhaps this was why the Captain didn't like her. Somehow he doubted it was just that. He went to his own quarters and paced for some time, taking breakfast there and thinking on his prediciment in this realm. He was stuck here, and had to get adjusted to whatever lifestyle he had been thrown into. Formulating his next plan, he thought about the information that he had gathered over the past few days and found the weaknesses in the defences and decided that if he was going to stay here, he might as well as take over the training so that he could sleep at night without worrying about some attack from some unknow hostiles. He turned to head back out when a knowck came to his door.

"Enter," Ryu commanded. A moment later, the door opened and closed with the person that was on his mind a moment before standing there with her heels together, arms at her sides and stiff as a board before him.

"Lord Demitri informed me that I should speak with you on the matter of Captain Nutis, Lord Ryu," she said without preamble. Ryu stared at her for a moment, caught off guard by her appearance. His mind was going through a million senarios, and none of them at the moment on her being a general. All that he could think about was that She was very fit with a very silky voice.
         "Lord Demitri came only after I reached the rank of General. But he understands how the system works." She looked at him. "Permission to speak freely?"
         "Permission granted...uh, General," Ryu said finding his voice.
         "Sir, I am the best warrior the Pendragons have," Ravon said, not really relaxing to Ryu's perception. "Rank is held with power of Force. Weakness is exploited. I must show none. As a female, I must have none." Ravon gave him a look that chilled him to his bone. "I have none. New recruits must be shown that, others must be reminded. I do not allow complacincy."
         "Understood, General," Ryu said, though he didn't in the slightest. What could have made her so cold? The ultimate warrior, cold, and ruthless. "I will be taking over training while I am here. My father can have his lands and title, but I might as well make myself useful."
         "Yes Lord Ryu."
         "Just Ryu."
         "Yes Lord Ryu." Ravon gave a bow and looked at him strangely a moment. "May I ask a question, m'lord?"
         "I did say that you can speak freely," Ryu said with a wave seeing that she wasn't going to leave. He walked over to a table and poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher there. "Infact, you can speak however you like, General Ravon. Can I call you just Ravon?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
         "Yes, m'lord, thank you and you may call me whatever, it makes no diffrence to me."
         "I'm sure it would if I was a subordinate," he tossed back, getting a glare.
         "You are not, Lord Ryu. You are my superior." She looked at him in that penetrating but questioning glance again. "You see that I am female, and you don't have any trouble with me being here in armor do you?"
         "Should I?" Ryu asked, "You look capable enough for the job, and seem to have held it for a while, I don't see any problem with you being General, well, except for the whole killing thing. You are a bit free with that sword of yours."
         "I did as was my duty. Should I have allowed him to live, it would cause more to get killed under his command, since he would reluctantly follow orders. I cannot have that, as those deaths would eventually fall under me as do all the lives under my command." Ravon explained, watching him with her eyes as he paced back and forth. "Surely they have that in the other places that you have traveled."
         "Well, no. Captain...Nutis was it?" Ryu looked at the general standing at parade rest whom gave him an affirmative nod, "Captain Nutis would have been court-martialed. Given a trial and such for not following orders."
         "Sounds like a waste of time," Ravon said, "I would be in this court-martial half my life, keeping people like him in-line. I do not see how such a thing can work."
         "Well, for one, he would not have been brought in for disagreeing with your sexuality."
         "Why?"
         "Because at some point or other, he would have had a female superior officer before now. And subordinates under his command.
         "There are no restrictions on such a thing in these other places?" Ravon asked, now intruiged. Ryu shook his head.
         "I do not know of all the places, but most of the ones that I've been to allow females as much as males."
         "We must seem rather backwards to you then, Lord Ryu," Ravon said looking at his expression. Ryu shrugged.
         "Not entirely backwards, just...diffrent. There are places where women aren't allowed to show an part of themselves save their eyes. They cover themselves so much that you wouldn't be able to tell if you were looking at a maiden of prime youth or a crone of serious heft."