Chapter Text
Today was going to be a long day, he could just tell. The trials were soon, and Teia and Viago had put forward two candidates each.
Spite had been watching them closely, conferring with Teia and Viago to make sure they were the right fit for the crows. Once they passed the trials, the real test would begin.
Spite would gaze into their souls and take their measure.
He had no idea how Spite could tell a person's intentions from their scent, but he did, and his test never failed to separate the wheat from the chaff.
He glanced down at the four Crow pins prepared for them should they pass Spite's test and smiled. He had been reluctant to take the role of First Talon at first, but with Altara and Spite's Support, he had taken to the role well.
Caterina had not approved of how he ran things at first, but in the end, it didn't matter, she wanted him to be First Talon, so he took the mantle, and he ran the crows his way, not hers. She had relented eventually.
He sighs, he missed her, despite all the pain she had caused in the beginning, he missed the sound of her cane tapping on the tiles as she walked, her voice, even when she was upset with him. But she was gone, it was just Him and Illario now, the last of the Dellamorte Bloodline, at least until Amika had the baby.
Spite landed on the balcony, his wings furling behind him, then dissipating like smoke. He ducked under the curtain and smiled when his eyes landed on Lucanis.
"Lucanis." He purred, sauntering into his office. And leaning against his desk.
"Spite Mi amore, how are the fledglings coming along?" He asks, leaning back in his chair.
"Good, very good. Quick, Clever." He nods his head.
"Excellent." He smiles. "What are you wanting for dinner tonight?" He asks, changing the subject and threading his fingers together.
"Steak." Spite grins, an unsurprising answer.
"You can't just have steak for dinner." He chuckles.
"Can." He growls, "Would, if you let me." He pouts playfully.
The training grounds were busy, Altara was running a short lessen on throwing darts, long ranged weaponry was a must for a crow and she was one of the best, which made her the perfect teacher for this session.
She paced in front of the fledglings, waiting for the last of them to arrive before she did her demonstration.
Dante De Riva wasn't usually the last fledgling to show up for training, they understood the virtue of being early after all, timing could mean life or death, a lesson they knew well.
However, a stray cat they haven't seen before had caught their attention and they had spent a little bit more time then they should trying to pet it on there way to the training grounds.
They were a little embarrassed about it. They quickly took there place beside the other fledglings and stood straight, trying to catch their breath, they had ran for nearly two blocks straight to make it here.
"Good of you to show up Dante," Altara teases with a smirk, glancing up the mechanical clock on the wall, they were not that late, a few minutes at most.
"The trails are soon, so we will be working with throwing darts today." She says walking back and forth, gesticulating with her hands as she explained.
"Throwing darts are great for long range kills, whilst maintaining stealth, they are versatile tools, especially if you use poison." She lectures collecting some darts from table on the left.
"We will not be using poisons today for obvious reasons." She laughs, holding up three darts.
"It's is best to target the neck with darts. Like so." She lifts her arm and throws a dart at one of the targets hitting it dead centre in the neck. She turns to the fledglings watching there reactions for a moment.
"If you find yourself with an enemy that knows you are there, you can use your cloak to disguise the direction of the throw." She spins quickly, using her cloak to conceal the direction of her throw, there is a thunk as the dart hits the target knocking her previous dart to the floor.
"Take your darts and lets see how well you do with basic throws first." She smiles stepping back to watch.
The Fledglings move to the table collecting there darts, several targets where arranged in a row, one for each fledgling.
She watches with interest, she had a good feeling about Dante, they had done well in previous lessons, they seemed to adapt and pick up things faster then others.
The sound of darts hitting targets echoed in the hall as the fledglings practised.
Noticing a fledgling struggling she sighed, walking over to them.
"You need to balance it like this." She says taking the dart from them and showing them how to hold it correctly. "This way you have more control over its direction." She explains handing it back to them. "Try now." She orders.
They nod holding it just like she told them to, then threw it hitting the target in the chest, they cursed but at least they hit it this time.
She chuckled.
"Aim higher, you will get it eventually." They nod there head as Altara moves behind the other fledglings, watching with her hands behind her back.
She glanced up to the first Talons office balcony and smiled noticing Spite watching from above. she sensed he was reading the fledglings, watching them closely, part of his test.
Dante takes aim, Deep breath, hold, throw, exhale. The first shot landed to low, hitting the collarbone, which would have been fine if they hadn't been aiming for the neck. Magic was much more straightforward they muse, they let out a displeased noise and tried again.
Altara notices her hitting just off target as she makes her rounds and smiles, walking behind her.
"Not bad for a first throw." She comments her arms behind her back.
"I know you can do better than that." She encourages, noticing they were already holding the darts better than the other fledglings.
"Thank you! I forget that pesky thing called gravity. It's much easier with magic." They joke before taking aim again, they throw, this time hitting the neck, just a little bit left of centre.
She nods in agreement.
"Magic is always easier if you have it, but sometimes your opponent can counter your magic, or put you in a position where you cant use it, magic could also give away your position if used in the wrong situation. Never rely on one skill." Altara explains.
Suddenly there is excited chattering amongst the other fledglings, Dante hears footsteps behind her followed by the clearing of a throat.
"How are the fledglings getting along?" The first talon asks, his hands clasped behind his back as he joins Altara.
"Smells like sweat and frustration." Spite purrs behind him.
"They are doing ok, some better than others." She grins looking in Dante's direction.
"Good." He says before leaning closer to her.
"I'm heading home Mi amore, Spite wants steak for dinner, is that ok?" He says in a low voice to not distract the fledglings.
"That's fine, See you at home." She whispers back sneaking a kiss to his cheek. Then to Spites when he pouted playfully feeling left out.
He smiles noticing Dante watching them and nods.
"Keep up the good work." He comments before leaving the hall, Spite following after him like his ever present shadow.
"Of course." Dante nods back taking her last throw but it goes a little off target and they curse.
They couldn't help but be a bit flustered by the acknowledgement of the First Talon. All the other fledgling eyes seem to be turned on her now, she hates being the centre of attention.
"I don't hear dart throwing." Altara says, a warning in her voice noticing the other fledglings distraction.
"None of you will make it as a crows if you don't concentrate." She lectures walking down the line of fledglings, she glances at the clock and frowns.
It was late afternoon now, the sun was hanging low in the sky, the fledglings had been training for a few hours now, Altara had been running later sessions as the trails drew nearer as if every hour counted.
Viago notices Altara is still running a training session as he passes, he wanted to make sure his investments were paying off, he had noticed Dante's potential when they had first joined his house.
"I trust they are at least hitting the target." He sighs, noticing a few fledglings missing there mark before Altara corrected them.
"Of course they are, I'm offended." She pouts. "You asked me to train them, and I am." She crosses her arms and Viago sighs.
"Your training them late again." He comments, his blue eyes scanning the fledglings as they throw there darts, he tilts his head noticing Dante hitting there mark more often then not.
"At least my fledglings are doing well." He smirks.
"You wouldn't have put them forward if they were not." Altara smirks back.
Dante roll's her shoulders a bit, feeling how tense they were getting. She looked at the pockmarked target with a satisfied smile as they stretch.
"You have been teaching me well. I wouldn't be as far as I am today without it." she says, catching the tail end of their conversation.
"See." She grins at Viago and he rolls his eyes.
"If they fail the trails I will blame you personally." He smirks crossing his arms in amusement when she pouts again.
"Viago." She whines and he sighs.
"Remind me again why you are one of my favourites." He chuckles.
"Because I let you test poisons on me, because I made a poison more potent than any of yours." She grins proudly.
He Lets out a low laugh.
"Ah yes I remember now." He nods his head.
"I'm heading out if you see Teia let her know I'm looking for her." He says as he strolls out of the training hall.
Altara lets out a sigh of relief once he has gone, he was impatient this year, his ongoing bet with Tiea over how many fledglings of his would pass this year was making him a pain in the ass.
Dante takes a deep breath and smiles. "Is the poison thing a rite of passage in this house? Will I have to do that too?" There tone part curiosity, part amusement, part awe that anyone would let him get close with his poisons willingly.
"Letting him test his less lethal poisons on you maybe, but you don't have to specialise in it, if you don't want to at least. Though you will have to earn your wings first." She chuckles at her enthusiasm.
She glances at the clock again.
"Alright that's it for today, tomorrow we work on the obstacle course." She says, several fledglings let out an excited shout. "With live traps." She adds with a grin and they all groan.
The Fledglings put there darts on the table on there way out, while Altara starts packing away the targets, she grunts when one is stubborn and wont collapse.
Illario strolls past and pauses noticing Altara was still there.
"Have you seen my cousin, I have some intel he might find interesting." He asks sounding amused at her struggling with the target, and making no effort to help.
"Ask him at dinner." She grunts looking up in annoyance when he shrugs and walks off.
Dante glare's at the him as he walks off.
"He could at least have asked if he could help." They mutter. "Can I help?" the offer, kneeling next to her.
"Don't worry about him, he's just sulking because Amika isn't putting out." Altara jokes. "I mean she is heavily pregnant so I cant blame her." She laughs.
"Help would be appreciated." she finally says letting them help.
"It's nice to see though. Feels like a big family. " Dante says with a soft smile.
"Even with the rest of the fledglings it feels like..." They trail off. a bit lost in there thoughts, as I they try to help with the stubborn target. they tap a piece back into alignment.
"That's it." Altara grins as the target collapses down. "Help me move it over there with the others." She asks lifting it up.
Dante help's out, still thoughtful.
"You... You really think I'll pass the trails without problems?" They ask still a little unsure.
"We shall see if you can get through the obstacle course with live traps first." Altara grins, it was a test of agility and reflexes, it was a lot safer than when she trained as a crow.
Lucanis had changed a lot of things since becoming First Talon. but that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous, there was still a risk of injury should a fledgling not be paying attention.
"Well, no pressure then!" Dante jokes, looking around, everything now in its place .
"I suppose we'll see tomorrow." They let with a small sigh.
"Have a good evening." She says grabbing her things and heading out.
"See you tomorrow." Altara smiles packing away the last of the equipment with a sigh, she stretched and headed home, she was looking forward to Lucanis's cooking.
Treviso is quiet as she walks the streets, the market still busy like it always was, she notices a fledgling is looking around the market looking at the knives being sold, she notices they are one of house Cantori's candidates, they are tall with slicked back black hair, a scar on there lip and cold green eyes, the fledgling notices her and there lip curls in disgust as they walk away.
A few other fledglings had complained about him, he was always putting other fledglings down, setting them up to fail it had not escaped Tieas notice but she didn't seem to be doing anything to correct him like she knew something the other fledglings did not.
Dante takes a deep breath. They should probably head home and decompress before tomorrow's training, but that look pissed her off, she discreetly follow him.
The fledglings name was Pike, he was an asshole, everyone knew he was in the crows because he didn't want to inherit his dads job, he wanted to make a name for himself, be a legend like the Demon of Vyrantium.
He knew he wasn't as good a crow as some of the other fledglings so he made sure to trip them during agility training or put doubt in there heads with snide remarks.
Some fledglings had even dropped out of training completely, now that it was an option, because of him.
He was walking towards the canals to the drowned district, he looked like he was itching for a fight, there were rumours of a secret fight club in one of the abandoned buildings.
If Tiea knew of his activities she never said anything, Viago had smirked when someone had mentioned it before like he also knew something.
But both Talons were tight lipped
Dante kept an eye on him, trying to keep it as quiet as possible keeping an eye on there surroundings too, the last thing she needed was to get mugged.
As long as he was not hurting anyone, he was free to do as he wished. If it was punching a tree or someone else who was willing to be punched, then so be it.
He was following strange markings on the wall, but they where not crow marks which was odd, he disappeared down an alleyway, and she could hear shouting and cheering faintly.
They keep following and hide themselves in the crowd, watching what was going on.
The crowd cheers, two men where fighting, money was exchanging hands, it was bare fists, no weapons or at least it was, until one of the fighters drew a knife.
The crowd seemed to grow more excited, more bets being placed, Pike was watching the fight, but he didn't place any bets, the man that had drawn the knife grinned.
There was a man stood on a platform watching, He didn't look worried in the least about what was going on. as if weapons being used was a common accurance.
The fight ended pretty quickly with the man stabbing the other man in the neck, they gargled on there own blood and collapsed to the ground dead, the crowd cheered, bets where collected, the dead man was dragged away.
the man on the platform patted the other man on the back then yelled at Pike to clean up the arena.
Pike did not look happy about it but did as he was told whilst the man continued to congratulate the other man for a good kill.
She left quietly, mulling what she saw.
It was very late evening as she made her way back, even the market had gone quiet, the stars where shining, the moon high in the sky painting the city in silver hues. She notices a few crows coming down the zip lines towards the Diamond, probably returning from contracts.
Treviso had been transformed since the Antaam had been evicted from the city.
Most of the evidence of the Antaam occupation had been pulled down but the process was still ongoing, some Antaam banners where still up but they where defaced with graffiti, awaiting demolition.
She always loved sitting on the highest perch she could find and watching the stars. It Reminded her of her old family and how, no matter how separated we were, the sky stayed the same. Or so her father had said.
She was sad that she didn't have time for that tonight. she made her way back home, getting themselves ready for the next morning and its trials.
Sleep took some time to come to them, there mind still churning with what they had seen and what they could do about it.
but eventually they fell asleep.
The sun was not quite up yet but there was light on the horizon and bird song indicating it was nearly morning, crow training was early today so she would rise before dawn.
The obstacle course was hard on most days but today there would be more hazards, the most dangerous being the pendulum blades and pit falls, though the pit falls no longer had spikes at the bottom just a net.
The other fledglings where excited because Spite would be there, watching, waiting to catch them should they fall and miss the nets.
Some even fell on purpose so Spite would catch them but Altara had warned them if they did it to often she would tell Spite to let them fall to there deaths
This time Dante was at the training grounds early, a bit bleary eyed and yawning, but somehow awake and not distracted by cats this time. She was looking for Pike, waiting for him to come in.
"Early bird." Spite comments, walking up to her when he notices her, passing the time whilst Altara did final checks on the course.
He was watching Dante waiting for a response.
She looked up.
"Oh! Hello! Yes... I didn't want a repeat of yesterday and I was hoping to catch someone and have some time to talk to them before the start of our lesson." She explains.
She was a bit nervous, but he wasn't the only reason why. She took a deep breath, held it and exhaled.
Spite sniffed the air.
"Smells like salt and burnt wax, up to something." He says narrowing his eyes at her.
But there is a smirk tugging at his lips, the points of his teeth peeking and glinting in the light.
"Spite I need you." Altara calls from the other room distracting him.
He perks up hearing his name being called and glances at Dante in suspicion one more time before he walks over to see what Altara wanted.
For a moment she felt like she was pinned like a butterfly on a corkboard but they take it in there stride and take another deep breath And start to do warm ups.
The rest of the fledglings arrive soon after, gathering and waiting for Altara and Spite to finish what they were doing.
Pike was keeping to the back, his knuckles are bloody, and one of the other fledglings has a black eye, though she isn't sure if those two facts are related.
"Alright you lot, we will run the course three people at a time." Altara points at Pike, the one with the black eye and a young girl. "Group one." She orders, the one with the black eye goes to complain but shuts up when Altara shoots them a glare.
She points at Dante, an older women and a man. "Group two." She says walking back and forth until everyone was in a group.
Spite is watching Dante, Pike, a young women with blonde hair and a boy with piercing blue eyes closely. All of the candidates for the trails.
He is studying them all with interest. He notices Pike pushing the boy with a black eye and his eyes eyes narrow but he doesn't say anything, and only smirks.
"May I switch groups?" Dante asks. pointing between herself and the boy Pike was bullying. She watches Pike to see his reaction. He smirks but says nothing.
Altara opens her mouth to say something but Spite stops her and whispers in her ear, she nods her head.
"You." She points at the kid with the black eye. "Your in group two now." She turns to Dante. "Get moving, group one is up first." She orders.
Spite sniffs the air as Pike walks past and growls at him in warning, like he senses something. His eyes narrow at Dante for a moment before he lets her pass with a gruff laugh.
He mutters to Altara again, to low for Dante to hear, before following after group one, he comes to stop on a podium that overlooks the course, while Dante moves to the start.
"I'm starting the blades, Concentrate, follow the timings and you will get through." Altara explains her voice echoing slightly as she pulls a lever.
Huge sickle blades on chains begin to swing across a narrow walkway, followed by some tall posts moving back and forth after it, Dante would need to balance across the beam, dodge the blades, then hop from one post to the next to get past the first part of the course.
"I'm timing you so you better hurry." She laughs when nobody moves at first.
One, two. Back and forth. Dante steps on the walkway first and approaches it like a dance to keep the timings.
The girl with blonde hair joins her on the beam when she gets passed the first two blades, two more to go before the jump beams, a few steps behind her, Pike moves.
"Hurry up." He growls and the girl shrieks when he bumps into her deliberately, she loses her balance, and falls, its an awkward fall she was going to miss the net.
The balance beam was several feet in the air, if she hit the ground from this height she could break her neck.
In a flash of purple Spite flies up and catches her mid fall, he spins out of the way of the moving beams with agile grace and lands on the podium setting her on her feet, his wings disappearing.
"Again." He orders, she thanks him then nods, rushing to climb the ladder up to the start of the course.
Pike laughs, hopping past a blade easily, then nearly loses his balance, he manages to catch himself before he falls, and watches the blades swaying back and forth, waiting for the chance to get past the next one.
Spite is watching him with narrowed eyes like he is taking notes, he does not look happy with him, his gaze flicks to Dante for a moment before returning to Pike.
"Pike. You don't have to be like this, you know, I followed you last night and I know why you don't want to follow in your family's footsteps. but anger like that will destroy you. You need to talk to someone!" Dante tries to reason with him.
Talking was difficult whilst dodging blades but they persevered.
She hoped that she would get through to him, Though It was more likely to make him angrier. But it worth a shot at least.
Pike laughs. "Shut up, like you really care." He jumps past a blade getting closer to her. "Get moving, I need to be a crow so I can.." He trails off and shakes his head like he was about to let something slip. "Go faster." He growls angrily, why was this fledgling even bothering anyway.
Spite tilts his head like he can hear the conversation, Altara joins him on the platform and he leans down to whisper in her ear again.
She looks up at Dante and Pike for a moment before her gaze turns to the blonde girl, she was catching up.
"I do care. Like it or not." Dante tries again, her timing is a bit off and she almost took a misstep.
"Keep moving, why are you so slow." He growls.
"Less talking more doing please." Altara calls across the room.
"Talking, talking but not listening." Spite grumbles next to her in agreement.
"Do you mean Pike?" She asks, and he nods his head, she looks up again. "Pike never listens." She sighs, he was a pain in the ass.
Pike looses his patience and shoves past Dante when she finally passed the blades, he hops from one platform to the next until he reaches the end, he turns to her, smirks then climbs down acting like he was better then her, as Altara makes a note of his time.
She followed suit quickly, angry at herself for letting him push her around and disappointed that her words didn't reach him. She make's her way to the end and climbs down.
"Not bad, but you could have been faster." Altara says, Pike grunts in annoyance before moving to the next course. It was always like this, no matter what he did it was never good enough.
"Group two up you go." Altara orders before turning to Spite.
"Watch group two Marina is in that group I'll keep an eye on the other two." She says before following after them
He nods moving back to the observation platform.
The next course was several feet higher in the air. A long raised platform with hidden pitfalls, Dante would need to be aware of her surroundings and look for inconsistencies in the floor to avoid the pit falls.
As soon as she stepped on the platform a barrier drops behind her and begins to push forward. She would need to move fast to not be pushed into a pitfall or off the raised platform itself.
"Sometimes on a contract you need to think on your feet." Altara yells climbing up to a platform to observe.
"Better move fast unless you wanna fall." She laughs as the girl who fell earlier gasps and stumbled forward nearly falling into a pit but manages to avoid it.
Pike laughs at her before rushing ahead nearly falling several times before leaping over the last section to safety. He smirks again climbing down the other side.
Slightly different colour there, a little raised or lower edge here. This felt easier then the pendulums.
She leaps to the side as a pitfall opens then follows the lines between the tiles like they're tightropes. A hop here and a hop there and there. and she was on the other side. It helped that Pike already triggered several of the pitfalls.
Altara smiles making a note that instead of rushing, Dante thought it through, literally thinking on her feet.
whilst Pike just relied on luck, and while luck played a factor on contracts it was not something you should rely on.
Dante hears applause from the other course as Marina speeds across the blades and hops between platforms with the ease of an acrobat.
She tries to talk to Pike again, she had always been a little to stubborn to accept defeat.
"Has nobody ever ask you how you are, Is it so strange? I'm sure you can be better than the bully you are right now." She pleads.
"Stop bothering me, your a distraction." He gripes, why was this fledgling even talking to him, he wasn't here to make friends he just wanted to get away from that stupid fighting ring.
Altara joins them noticing Pike looking smug, she smirks. "Being the first to finish the course doesn't mean you did well." She scolds him and he crosses his arm and lets out a frustrated growl.
"You did well Dante, sometimes its better to let someone else set off the traps." She laughs and Pike glares at her.
"Time to move onto the last course." She says pointing to the highest platform.
The trapeze section was the hardest test of endurance and agility, there were several high walls with grapple holds. with Trapeze between them.
Dante would need to swing across to a grapple hold, and climb up to the next platform, each section taking her higher and higher, there was a rope at the end leading to a lower platform with a ladder that would take her back down to the ground at the end.
Illario walked past the obstacle courses heading for the First Talons office with several dossiers in his hands, he pauses and watches group three making there way across the swinging blades, he looks up at Spite and waves before heading to the far end of the hall.
Lucanis could see the entire hall from his balcony, he was watching the fledglings doing the courses when he spotted Illario, he waves him up before heading back into his office. as Illario climbs the steps.
Dante shakes her head and looks up to the last course. Endurance and agility. Not speed. she could do this. she could do it.
She climbs up toward the starting platform and the first trapeze.
The sound of feet moving on platforms and shouting from the fledglings bellow from the other courses got harder and harder to hear the higher she climbed.
Pike was right behind her climbing faster
"Come on, what's taking you so long, we have to do this for real in a week." He grunts in annoyance having to wait for her to climb higher.
The blonde girl climbs up behind him.
"Chill out Pike, this isn't the trails yet." She tries to be friendly despite him pushing her earlier, she knew about his dads fighting ring.
"Nobody asked you Lucia." He growls.
"This is why nobody likes you Pike." She snaps at him and he pauses mid climb to look down at her.
"I didn't come here to make friends, Stop trying." He growls before resuming climbing.
Spite flies up to the highest platform to observe the final part of the course, while Altara returns to the other courses to watch the other candidates. Spite could see further than a normal person so he was the best at observing the Trapeze.
The observation decks position, also meant he could catch anyone that fell faster.
"As much as 'you're not here to make friends', you realize you can't do everything alone, right? And there's missions where you will have to work with one of us?" Dante retorts with a bit of annoyance in her tone as she kept climbing and reached the first platform.
"I can just take solo contracts." He spits back. "What does it matter to you." He growls angrily. shoving her nearly off the platform before grabbing the trapeze and swinging up to one of the walls, he grabs hold and starts climbing up.
She follow suit wanting to beat him to the goal this time around maybe even wipe that smug look off his face whilst she was at it.
Pike was already at the 2nd trapeze and was flying across the hall to the next wall section, but in his haste to get to the end, he misses his grapple and falls.
Spite growls calculating his fall and leaps into the air his wings spread wide as he soars past Dante catching Pike by the leg and bringing him back to the first platform behind Lucia dumping him on the ground none to gently.
"No rushing." Spite warns him, and Marcus growls angrily.
"I don't need advise from you demon." He spits, and Spite bristles.
He growls low baring his teeth, his eyes flaring angrily, Pike backs off and lowers his head. Spite grunts before flying back to the observation platform.
Well... That helps, Dante slows down. Endurance and agility, not speed, or she would fall like he did. Still, she was sweating and that's not good for grip. Some of those hand holds looked so tiny, she would need all the grip she could get.
She somehow makes it up to the next platform and looks down for a split second and regrets it, before grabbing the trapeze bar.
Don't look down, never look down she reminds herself.
She notices Lucia taking the trapeze and swinging to the next platform bellow her with ease, she could tell this was her forte. Pike was just making his way up the platform she had just swung from, he caught up surprisingly quickly.
Spite smiles looking up at Dante, he liked her, liked that she was using her head. He glances at Pike and frowns.
He does not like him, he smells wrong. He narrows his eyes before his gaze falls to Lucia. she was smart, a shame she was not a candidate, perhaps next year he thinks.
"I am glad you where able to find out so much." Lucanis comments to Illario as they walk down the steps.
"I am glad your pleased, It should make things easier I hope." He pats Lucanis on the back before walking off, he had other duties he needed to attend to.
Lucanis makes his way over to Altara, joining her on the pit fall course observation deck. "Things are going well I see." He notes watching Marina flying past the pit fall traps without setting off a single one.
"Some more than others." She comment's glancing over to Spite who did not look happy.
He frowns sensing Spites anger directed at Pike through the bond.
"That's not going to do him any favours." He chuckles.
"That's his problem, not ours, he will find out soon enough." She says leaning her head on his shoulder affectionately.
He smiles at her.
"Not in front of the fledglings." He teases, only half joking it was not like people didn't know she was his wife. He glances up at Spite sending him his love through the bond.
Spite Glances down across the hall and smiles before returning his gaze to Dante.
It was always the last section that was the hardest. She rolled her shoulders a bit, trying to get the strain out of them. Lucia manages to climb up the platform joining her, Okay. This was it, the last one.
Lucia grins, glancing back at Pike who was just swinging across to climb up.
"We should probably get across before Mr popular joins us." She jokes. "You got this." She smiles at her in encouragement.
Spite watches them with a smile playing on his lips, he was not watching Pike anymore, he was no longer interested. He knew enough about him now.
Dante smiles back.
"Thanks. You're far better at this than I am, so the support means a lot. See you back down at the bottom, yeah?" She grins.
Grabbing the trapeze she makes her way towards the last platform. Maker, her arms are going to feel this for a couple of days at least.
She makes it across to the next grapple hold, and latches on and climbs up, the Trapeze falls backwoods and Lucia catches it just as Pike makes it to the top of the platform red in the face.
"See you at the bottom." Lucia smirks at him before swinging across and catching the grapples on the other side as Dante climbs higher.
Once at the top all she had to do was ring the bell and then slide down the rope and to the lower platform and take the ladder back down to ground level.
She notices the other candidates from group two and three are now climbing the first platform to do there run, She should probably hurry up.
She rings the bell as loud as she can just as Lucia reaches the top. She nods then slides down the rope with a little flourish and then down the ladder, barely gripping it at all.
Altara waits until Lucia and Pike join them before speaking. "Congratulations, that was a good run." She comments
Pike snorts and walks off, Lucia gives Dante a high five.
"Forget about Pike, he wont listen to reason." She sighs watching him walk away. "Did you hear about his dad?" She asks in conversation.
As she peaks Dante notices the First Talon talking to Altara, a moment later Spite joins them, they were watching the last of the fledglings run the trapeze, the younger fledglings where only allowed to run the first two courses, and where now running through sword drills with Illario.
"Yeah. I kind of feel sorry for him if it's that's his life is at home. " Dante shrugs.
Lucia nods.
"Some people don't want help, they just want to be miserable, and make everyone else miserable while there at it." She laughs, the guy with the black eye joins them and grins.
"Thanks for swapping with me." He says.
The others kept there distance from Pike who was leaning against a wall by himself looking pissed off as usual.
Lucanis, Altara and Spite finish conferring and climb down.
"You did good today, I hope this was a learning experience, tomorrow will be sword drills." Altara explains.
Dante could faintly hear Illario shouting out tips and tricks from the other room.
"Right the rest of you can go home for the day, gets some rest, Pike, Dante, Marina and Clive you stay behind." She orders.
Lucanis crosses his arms a serious look on his face. His lips where drawn a tight line like he was holding himself back.
Spite fidgeted impatiently waiting for the other fledglings to leave.
"Yeah... It would be nice if things were different." Dante replies. "You're welcome. You're good though, with your eye? Need me to punch him for you?" She jokes Before she straightens up and looks toward Altara hearing her name called.
The other fledglings begin filing out of the hall, the kid with the black eye shakes his head.
"Nah, he aint worth it, good luck." He says noticing the tense air and leaving, Lucia gives her a nod before doing the same.
Eventually its just the four of them alone with the First Talon and his left and right hands.
Lucanis narrows his eyes at the four fledglings and begins pacing.
"My spy master had some interesting things to tell me today." He begins to explain his voice deadly serious.
Spite moves behind them, Altara could feel his agitation coming of him in waves.
She glances at Dante and Marina and nods her head to the left, subtly indicating for them to move away from Clive the tall man with striking blue eyes. Pike picks up on it first and moves away.
"Clive!" He says suddenly and the man tenses. "Or should I call you Ventus." Lucanis chuckles drawing a dagger and holding it loosely at this side. "Care to explain why my Spymaster found you talking to known Venatori still hiding in the city." He asks taking a step closer.
The man curses and tries to attack him, only to gasp in pain as Spite grabs him from behind, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back, Dante hears the shoulder pop out of its socket and he cries out in pain.
Lucanis chuckles, swapping his blade between one hand and the other.
"You and I will be having a little chat, Spite if you please." He nods his head and Spite begins to drag the man away through a previously hidden door, with Lucanis following closely behind.
Altara turns to the three remaining fledglings.
"What you just witnessed didn't happen, am I understood." She says, deadly serious, her usual light hearted expression nowhere to be found.
The speed at which things were resolved shouldn't have startled Dante this much, but it always did. Practice and drills are one thing, seeing the First Talon and Spite in action was another thing entirely, the way they had acted in tandem, knowing exactly when to maneuver proved there experience.
She nods in reply and glances in Pikes direction for a second.
He looks at her in shock for a moment and visibly swallows before glancing at Altara who was watching him with narrowed eyes.
"Understood." He stutters.
"Good, training will be early again tomorrow, don't be late" She smiles Saccharine sweet.
"Now if you don't mind I have potions to prepare for our little traitor." She grins before exiting through the side door Lucanis and Spite had gone through.
The younger fledglings had just finished there sword drills and where leaving as they the three of them made there way into the room.
Illario was tidying away the equipment when he notices them filing out of the obstacle course room, he raises an eyebrow noticing Clive was not with them and smirks.
He could always trust his cousin to act quickly when it came to traitors. He couldn't wait to hear the gritty details over dinner at the villa later tonight.
He wondered how long it would be until Lera Valisti the Third Talon was called into the First Talons office to explain why one of there candidates was associating with Venatori, or what was left of them.
Were they trying to infiltrate the crows to get to Lucanis, revenge for foiling there plot to get Spite perhaps. there were far to many unanswered questions, but he would find out, he always did, that's why he was Spymaster.