"Uh, hi. I'm Dawn Caramella. Prince Regis asked me to come today?" I told the guard at the palace gate the next morning. He looked at the clip board in his hand.

"I don't see your appointment." He said.

"I know her, Clive. His Highness asked her here. Follow me, Miss Caramella." Duratos said. He motioned to me to follow. I did as I was told. I was just in a black tank top, jeans, and grey sneakers with my hair tied back with the same scrap of cloth I wore at the BAR.

"Cor will be training you today, Miss Caramella." Duratos said.

"Excuse me? Training? What?" I asked.

"Consider this your preliminary to joining the crownsguard." He said. I hit the breaks.

"Whoa, hold up. I never agreed to this. I have no interest in being a soldier." I said.

"I see. So I am escorting you to the dungeon." He said. I bit my lip.

"Fine, just take me to training. I guess I'm a soldier now." I sighed. He smirked at me over his shoulder. I glared at him. He lead me in to the training room. A boy about my age stood in there, but I could tell he was raised by palace people.

"Cor, this is Dawn Caramella. Teach her well." Duratos said and left. The boy looked at me.

Wow. He had really pretty eyes.

"Cor Leonis." He said.

"Dawn Caramella." I said with the same tone. He tossed two daggers to me.

"Wha-" I started but was cut off when he swung a Katana at me.

"Whoa! What the hell?!" I asked.

"You are here for training, aren't you? So show me what you know." He said and swung again I quickly dodged, dropping to the ground and rolling over and kicking his leg out from under him, knocking his Katana from his hand and pinning him down.

"What I know is fist fighting. Weapons were never allowed in the ring." I said. Cor cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Ring?" He asked.

"That's right, Cor. We found her in the Back Allies. Have fun." Cid said as he entered the room. Cor scowled and pushed me off of him.

"A street rat." He said.

"Yeah, a street rat. One your prince brought in to the palace. Got a problem?" I asked.

"Are all street rats as mouthy as you?" He asked.

"Yup. The more mouth you have the higher on the chain you are. I'm the reigning champ." I said.

"Were, girly. Yer BAR days are over." Cid said. I glanced over at him.

"You know, you could have given me a little heads up of what I was even doing here last night. Guess the whole recruitment thing is new to you fellas, aye?" I asked. I was suddenly on my back with Cor standing over me.

"Best keep your eyes on your opponent, aye?" Cor said. I scowled and kicked him in the gut, then leapt to my feet, slamming my shoulder against him, knocking him on his back again. I knelt on his chest.

"Best keep your mockery of my speech pattern to yourself, aye?" I snapped. He glared at me and I glared back at him.

"Now now children, play nice. Back to your training." A man said. I stood back and let Cor stand.

"You May be used to fist fighting, but get used to having either a sword, gun or machinery in your hands." He said and handed me a greatsword bigger than I was. I grunted as the weight of the sword was more than I could lift.

He summoned his katana and swung at me. I let go of the heavy sword and jumped away.

"What now?" He growled.

"How do you expect me to fight with what I can't fucking lift? Just give me the daggers again." I said. He handed me the daggers and went back at me.

I don't know how long we went that day, I just know that I went home sore. And it was the same story the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. I walked around the corner to the training room the fourth day and heard Cor talking to Cid and Regis.

"I have no idea how you could have lost to her. You both over power me in fights every time, but this girl can barely stand." He said.

"Because you're facing her with a weapon. She confirmed to us the night we met that she had never used a weapon before as they were forbidden in the back alley fights she was in. Fists only. If you were to face her in fisticuffs, she would overpower you easily. And she took her glasses off for every fight and she was the champion of the BAR." Regis told Cor. I heard Cor scoff.

"With all due respect, Your Highness, I think you've made a mistake with this girl. Let her go to her alley fights. She's not fit for the crownsguard." He said. I scowled.

"That's not for you to decide, Cor. Last I checked, Clive Amicitia was the one in charge of who's a guard an who's not." Cid said.

"Cor, your job is to train Dawn to face Clarus and Clive would watch their fight and determine her worth, not judge her." Regis said.

"I just don't think-" I cleared my throat as I stepped around the corner. The three turned and looked at me.

"If you're gonna talk about someone, make sure they're not with in ear shot, aye? Now, am I here for training or should I just show myself to the dungeons?" I asked. Regis gave Cor a look for my comment.

"No need to put yourself in imprisonment, Dawn. Cor, I believe your sparring partner is waiting for you. You shouldn't keep her waiting." Regis said and turned.

"As much as I'd like to watch, father has assigned me tasks I must attend to." Regis said and left with Cid not far behind. I scowled at Cor as he led me to the training room. I grabbed the daggers there for me to train with since I hadn't been taught to summon yet.

Cor summoned his katana and ran at me. I deflected his sword with the daggers and skid back. I shoved his katana away and swung for him. he deflected with his wrist.

"Sloppy." He said. I swung again.

"Widen your stance, you're too closed off." He said. I swung again.

"Watch your step, it would be easy to cut off your leg." He said. I swung again and again and again.

Finally, I was on my back, Cor standing over me with a deep scowl embedded on his face. I glared up at him.

"If you can't keep up, just leave. We need able bodied people for the crownsguard, not street rats that think they're hot shit." He said. I had enough. I jumped up on to my feet.

"And you think you're any better than me just cause you're swinging a sword clearly meant for overcompensation?" I asked. He turned on me unamused.

"Is that you're attempt at riling me up?" He asked.

"Oh, trust me, sweetheart, I ain't even started." I snapped. I stepped closer to him.

"You carry yourself all high and mighty 'cause you were raised in the palace walls, the people here telling you that you were destined to join the crownsguard. You've been trained to wield that sword since you were old enough to stand so you think you're better than me. Here's a newsflash for ya, Cor. You wouldn't last a second in my ring. I threw down Cid faster than you could sneeze and threw down Regis like he was a stick of your fancy cheese. Just cause I wasn't raised in your palace with your weapons don't make me pathetic. Not everybody is lucky enough to be raised to be destined fighters, some of us didn't have a fucking choice." I said.

"You always have a choice. You chose a life that put you here today. I can tell by the way you carry yourself that you think the same as me. That you don't belong here. But I've been tasked with training you, the only one that can end that is his highness and you, so if you don't want to be here, leave." He said. I threw the daggers to the side and squared up.

"You and me, right here, right now. No weapons, none of your fancy magic, just our fists. If I win, you shut your damn mouth and teach me right rather than try to force me to give up. You kick my ass, I walk out." I said. He glared down at me.

"A foul temper." He said.

"Refusal to fight is a forfeit." I said. He sighed softly and squared up.

"Fight!" I called. He swung for me and I deflected his punch and hit him square in the chest. My knee came up and hit him in the gut. My next punch was for his head. He caught my wrist and twisted it. I kicked his leg out from under him and threw him. He slid across the floor, but quickly recovered and came back at me. I blocked his punch and went for his gut again. We both jumped back for distance. I ran back at him and he was ready to counter me.

"Enough." A voice ordered as two hands grabbed both our wrists. I glared at Duratos and tore my arm from his grip.

"Don't interfere!" I snapped.

"This room is for weapons training, if you wish to train in fisticuffs, take it outside." He said. I growled and turned.

"You know what? Fuck this. I never signed up to be your goddamn guard. I was blackmailed by the Prince, aye? I'm done." I said.

"Then you chose prison." Duratos said.

"Wrong!" I turned and pointed at him. "Prince Regis only said I had to show up. He never said I had to stay. Now if you'd excuse me, I have my senior year to finish." I said and grabbed my bag from the corner of the room and left. I huffed as I crossed the courtyard, heading for the gates.

"There she is!" I heard a voice call. A hand slapped my ass and I turned, ready to fight. Behind me stood a woman with brown hair.

"Always ready to go! I like that!" She said. I blinked at her.

"Do I... Know you?" I asked.

"I'm Crowe! One of the other gals in the guard. It's nice to have another girl on. Not many other gals in the guard and all of us get stomped on by the men. I heard you're from the streets. Nice. We could use a gal like you." She said.

"Sorry, ya got me all wrong. I'm not crownsguard member. I'm just a pathetic street rat that got lost." I said. Crowe frowned at me.

"Too bad." She said. I looked over at her again in confusion.

"I saw you slug Cor. He deserved it. He likes to jump to conclusions about those that join the guard after being civilians for so long. But seeing you go at him like that was pretty cool. You would have had him if Duratos hadn't stepped in when he did." She said. I looked away from her.

"Let me guess, Cor's been trying to keep you on daggers and the only other thing he's let ya touch is a greatsword and he stepped on a nerve he shouldn't have?" She asked.

"Does that happen a lot?" I asked.

"Eh, normally the Amicitia's are the ones that lose their tempers, but Cor isn't unknown for it. In other words, with Clarus, yes, Cor, not as often." Crowe said.

"Gee, I feel great." I said.

"But, by slugging Cor in there, you just showed him that you're not a gal to be messed with. So, how about I test you on all our weapons, see what fits you, and you come back tomorrow and show Cor what you're really made of?" She said. I stared at her.

"You can do that?" I asked.

"Of course I can. I'm just as kick ass as Cor. Just a little more understanding." She said. I smirked softly.

"Alright, Crowe. Lead the way." I said. She grinned at me.

"Glad to here you're not giving up. By the way, never caught your name." She said.

"P- Dawn. Dawn Caramella." I said. I had almost introduced myself as Primal.

Crowe ran me through different drills. Some were difficult, but others were easier.

"Alright, looks like your skills lie with guns and katanas. Ooh, Cor's gonna be pissed he's no longer the only katana wielder after this. See you tomorrow, Dawn?" She asked. I nodded.

"Count on it." I said.

Next morning, I sat in the training room, waiting for Cor. He stepped in and seemed surprised to see me.

"You're here." He said.

"Expecting someone else, aye?" I asked. He shook his head.

"You walked out yesterday saying you were done. His Highness was upset." He said.

"Well, I'm here, so are you going to train me or should I just leave?" I asked.

"What changed your mind?" He asked.

"A little bird." I said. He blinked at me as I stood.

"Are we training or are you gonna ask stupid questions all day?" I asked. He sighed and summoned his katana. I walked over to the weapons rack and grabbed a katana myself.

"No daggers?" He asked.

"Even ground." I said. We stared our sparring match. I wasn't as frusterated this time.

Months of training with Cor passed. A few times Regis stepped in to train with me in swords, and Cid helped me out with my guns.

A month before graduation, I went against Clarus Amicitia, with Clive Amicitia watching as well as Regis and King Mors. I got my ass kicked, but His Majesty seemed to like me.

I was pulled aside by the King himself after everything was over.

"So, you're the young one my body guard has been training upon my son's request." He said.

"Your... body guard?" I asked. King Mors nodded.

"Yes. Cor passed the test to join the crownsguard when he was thirteen, he became my body guard when he was fifteen after fighting Gilgamesh. Everyone started calling him "the Immortal" after that." The King said.

"Holy shit I told the King's bodyguard to suck a dick!" I thought.

"However, I have told Cor to join my son on his trips outside the kingdom. I suppose Regis wants you to replace Cor." King Mors said. I shrugged.

"To be honest, Your Majesty, I have no idea why Prince Regis wanted me to join. I was just a street rat. And now here I am." I said.

"Yes, Regis has told me much about you. He says that you have a strong sense of mercy and a fighting style unlike any other." King Mors said. I said nothing.

"Dawn Caramella. Daughter of Brook Argentum. Your father was a good man. He died protecting a small child from a terrible fate. He had a sense of mercy as well." I looked to the ground.

"Prepare for intense training. Upon your high school graduation, you will be joining my son's retinue."