A brief nod and Ryu headed towards the deck, she didn't need to know who it was if this certain someone was going to talk to her anyway. Yet her steps were cautious and slow, at the same time charming as she straightened her back. Stomach in and chest out, so to speak. Whoever it was, she wasn't going to display an inaccurate stance or high temper.

Her eyes swept upon the deck as she noticed the second ship the two were talking about and at first she would say they were boarding their ship. A pity she didn't know what was going on around her. Hands ran along her sides as she tried to flatten the already perfect cloth even more. So she was a bit nervous, all right, but it didn't help to do nothing.

The noble men were the first to attract her fiery eyes before they focused on each, all these people she thought were from the other ship. It took her a moment to take a deep breath and step forward, offering herself to the crowd. Her tone was clear while she didn't seem to lack any confidence at all.

"I've heard people saying that somebody feels the utter urge to see me. Whoever of you it might be, he will have my full attention. I'm all ears."

A figure stepped forth, a sneer on his reddened face as if his temper had flared. Was that? But before she had time to be certain she had been back handed by the person, the force of the blow knocking her down to the deck. There was no pain though seeing how that response had been surpressed by her mind at Aegir's prompting.

Bryce surged forward, though his arms were grabbed as he attempted to lunge forward.

"You bastard!"

But the guy ignored his words, eyes focused on Ryu's prone form. They narrowed on her then relaxed as he spoke to her smoothly. "Quite a chase, but it ends here."

It was Shin, her brother. His gaze flickered to a tall handsome noble near him. "See Ciril, didn't I say we would catch up to her before she docked. It took us awhile, and of course you had a considerable head start on us, after all we had to find a captain that didn't mind getting his hands dirty by meddling in international waters if that warranted.

"But I'm here to take you home."

A hand raised to her cheek as Ryu found herself on the ground, trying to ease the pain which actually wasn't there. The sudden blow had surprised, even partly shocked the red headed woman, but listened to the others words ever so closely. She could tell who it was as her eyes took him in from below, it didn't do any good to help her stay calm.

By the time Shin mentioned he was going to take her home, Ryu raised with some effort and returned to her earlier posture. "Oh, so did the brave hound come all the way to return a single woman back to his parents simply because they told him to? Even you did have a few standards, Shin."

Her tone was nowhere near any anger or hatred though it was fully intended to reach his ears in exactly this manner. She crossed her arms right below her chest as she continued, no matter what he said.

"However, I'm not going to return home. Whatever you thought you would accomplish by seeking me out, I think you have to get it somewhere else because I will stay at Bryce's side. He's the only one who accepts me the way I am!" The last part was underlined with a slight trace of her temper, but it didn't matter.

Her eyes returned to the bound crew, then back to her brother as they narrowed the least bit. If he was going to slap her again she wouldn't offer any resistance as it seemed she felt no pain at all. "Now I would appreciate if you would take your men and leave, brother." Once more the last word was spoken with disgust. "Unless you feel the need to force your own sister to come with you."

Shin grinned at her, his gaze then flickered to the restrained Bryce. "I would think sister that associating with such vermin would be beneath a woman of your stature. You're only lucky that Guido here wishes for you to return for I couldn't be bothered otherwise with chasing you down.

"By father's arrangement you are to return and marry Guido," he seemed oblivious of her recent marital state. His gaze returned to her as he unsheathed his sword. There was a glint of metal against it's rune encrusted blade in the starlight that reflected upon it.

"You can of course stay, if that is what you'd like but it will not be with this cretin. I would be doing the world a service, I would thimk."

The point of his sword raised as he pointed the tip of it at Bryce. He had two blades, the other, a rapier designed more for fencing and dueling still hung on his belt while this blade was broader, a saber designed more for slashing then piercing.

Soon her anger turned into anxiety, she was helpless as she watched him tell her about an arrangement and the man at his side. Obviously he seemed to be the type who simply wanted Ryu due to her outer appearance. However, she grew a bit scared as Shin pointed the tip of his saber at her husband.

"W-wait, wait!", she protested, then hurried over to Bryce in less than three steps. It was a positive thing she had kept her endurance after all. Ryu displayed a living shield and wouldn't give up on her lover that fast. "Please don't harm him, brother. For christ's sake, don't do anything you will regret!"

Ryu was searching for a way out of this, she had to be quick or she was possibly taken away from the ship and her companion. Her mind was set, she wouldn't come with him. "L-let us negotiate. You are a kind and smart man, so why don't you give me a chance to prove how unworthy I am, if that's what you want." A compliment had always been a good start if her brother was going to get her into trouble, now it simply had to work in her own realm. The red head put her open hands together as if she paid homage to a feudal lord, but then again she was simply begging.

"How about a wager, Shin? Like in good old times?", she asked with a faint smile though he certainly didn't deserve it. "If you can defeat me with that blade of yours while I get to use your rapier .." Her eyes shifted to the weapon for a moment. ".. I will surrender and come with you without any struggle. If I win I will stay here with whoever I want .. and of course Bryce gets to be free again. I would even accept any other deal but I beg you to give your younger sister a chance to stay."

"Your father and I had a deal, this is nonsense," Guido protested though Shin raised his hand to silence the other without so much as looking at him.

"A woman? Best me? Oh, that is rich."

His hand drifted down to his waist and unsheathed the rapier from it's scabbard then handed it to her. He grinned, half his face raising in a leer.

"I don't image that it will do you any good though it's far easier then carrying you off kicking and screaming. Alright, I'll accept your wager. To first blood then."

He gave her a little salute with the saber, Guido protesting about the arranged marriage and the deal that he had with their father to which Shin told him there was nothing to worry about as he took upon a typical Spanard stance seeing that he had been instructed by their teachers rather than Italian or French instructors but had gone with a more exotic fighting technique that made more use of his greater physique than cut and trusting motions by his wrist that had not relied on strength but dexterity.

"First blood it is then. Thank you very much for accepting my request."

Her reply was cold, he had always been a jerk and would never change, thus she would let him pay. Then again, this wasn't all about victory. Ryu shifted her stance, standing straight as she raised the rapier in a straight line to the front of her face while the arm which was not in use returned to her backside.

Experience, it was something she lacked though a few fantasies made her get used to it, however the rapier was completely new. Surprisingly the woman wasn't going to rush and while it did seem like a battle with different swords, she certainly didn't intend to use it for any attack but rather defense. Her goal was to strike him with her physical strength instead of depending on the miracle of her getting used to the rapier. "Ready, brother?" A faint smirk was revealed, then the red head moved into action.

Ryu was moving with grace, as if born by the air itself to let her use it to her advantage. Two quick steps forward while she lowered a bit, then used the momentum to extend her arm towards him until it would go no more. This wasn't supposed to hit him, of course, though she aimed at his chest. She had to get an idea of how skilled he was, then her finesse would serve the purpose of defeating him.

"Guido, sword," the other man unsheathed his own rapier handing it over to Shin as Shin gave over his saber. The thing was that the edge of the saber was greater, the slashing blade more prone in delivering large wounds with little finesse or control though the rapier had a smaller cutting point being that it was a piercing weapon rather than a slashing one.

He obiously did not wish to kill Ryu with his blade and thus went for one that he had more control over.

"Ready, brother?"

He gave a few test swings with the rapier then nodded. He figured that he had the advantage here, he had been trained and he did not have a dress restricting his movements. He was calm and impassive other than the smirk that dance upon his face.

As Ryu lunged in at him he side stepped, used the rapier to swat her on the rear as he twirled about to face her as momentum took her past him.

"To predictable, you were always an easy read sister."

Her cheeks had been flushed as she felt the thin object against her rear, but managed to remain calm as she stopped and turned. It had been a hasty movement, she wouldn't do the same mistake twice in a row. Now that she gained a certain idea how fencing works, Ryu decided to include such subtle yet effective moves into her own maneuvers.

"Don't think we're done yet, you pervert." Shin on the ground underneath her blade, that was what she desired. To achieve it proved to be difficult though. A few wheels were grabbing each others cogs, working out a plan in her mind as she prepared her next move.

While it did seem he was taught quite a lot of things, Ryu was unpredictable but didn't show it in the first place. Actually her only advantage.

This time she watched her step, at least partly as she rushed anew. She sent another thrust towards him though she expected him to block it or sidestep, either way she would close the distance betweem them no matter the cost. A simple twist of her wrist could block another attempt to attack her. However, she couldn't be certain that it would work.

Obviously she couldn't keep fighting the whole night, Shin was superior and her only hope was to get close and punch him directly instead of using the sword.

The tip of his blade pointed downward at the deck in a lazy posture though he grinned as she spoke. He seemed relaxed and even remained so as she closed with him. Seemingly at the last possible minute he brought his sword up to deflect the incoming blow, the tink of metal on metal could be heard as he did so though he had not expected her to close with him.

Though as she closed he attempted to counterattack his blade pulling back along with his arm. She was too close to effectively lunge so he did something not know for the rapier and that was to use the weapon more as a slashing tool as he swung it at his sister.

Of course she managed to block his attack as she closed with him. The punch was unexpected and landed flush with his chin causing him to stagger back a few paces. "Fuck!" He gasped and though the skin around his chin had been red with the impact of the blow the flesh had not been broken.

Still it had gotten him out of thinking of this whole thing as a joke as he lifted a knee up to his waist, his left hand drawing a stiletto out of it. Usually one used a main-gauche in conjunction with the rapier as a parrying tool though Shin carried the blade because it was easier to conceal. Plus, he had other sorts of things in mind for it.

He manuevered away from Ryu as he repositioned himself. The tip of his sword clashing against hers as he made a few feints though he had not commited himself to an attack. "Good, though you won't catch me with that little trick again."

He suddenly lunged forward with his rapier aimed upwards towards her left shoulder as his left hand turned the stiletto in an averted grasp within his hand.

Deep inside she laughed happily about her hit, but then again she had to focus on everything he did which sort of denied her joy. Ryu didn't mind the fact he decided to cheat a bit by adding a stiletto to his arsenal, she was rather concerned about the idea to take care of two weapons at once. She took a deep breath as he played with her, it wasn't very obvious he wasn't going to strike yet she didn't give in the tempting moments where he had to pull back to repeat the same action.

It was then Shin lunged at her, Ryu spinned so he would have less of an area to harm her, only her right shoulder, which let him miss her left one the narrowest bit, possibly the tenth of a centimeter. At the same time she moved a bit closer to him as she did a subtle step to the side, however she did notice his secondary weapon took an awkward angle for her position.

In a desperate attempt to evade it, she brought up her rapier though it would be pure luck if she'd manage to block a stiletto at this range. He moved faster than her and could do anything before she could show any sign of thoughtful resistance, given the fact his knife was small enough and he was used to it while Ryu had problems to actually bring hers back up in time.

It had nothing to do with luck as her rapier clanked off off Shin's stiletto. It was more that his grip on the weapon seeing that it was a reverse grip he was unable to use it as much of a piercing weapon as it was intended. He had to make an overhead downward motion with the blade and that gave her an extra second or two to react to it.

Shin grinned though as the thin blade was deflected, his arm going backwards without looking back at his new target - Bryce. The blade pierced his shoulder of the held man. The blade being left in him as his hand came free of the handle of the weapon.

His arm went out to his side as if for balance afterwards, Bryce letting out a scream of pain as the cold steel bite into the flesh of his shoulder.

"B-but .. why did you .." Ryu stood there, paralyzed, as her lover let out a pitiful scream and the stiletto remained in his shoulder, the blade buried in his flesh. For a moment she couldn't decide whether to cry or not as tears started to well up in her eyes. Bryce was the one who married and shared the first sexual experience with her, she wasn't going to give up their love.

Eyelids pressed together as if to supress the sorrow which threatened to overcome her, then reopened them to focus on her brother. The red head lunged forward, aiming to force him to the ground with a simple pull of his legs. In her case this would be more of a rough kick in the back of his knees, however she couldn't knock him out and wouldn't try again since he knew how she would approach him. For the time he seemed unbalanced, she couldn't tell, but she made a run for it. He wasn't far and she was moving fast.

Shin was her brother and would always be, she realized that to kill him wouldn't change anything, but she had to defeat him to comfort her lover. While sprinting, though her dress made it harder, she ducked a bit to aim smooth and take a swing at his knees which added a higher difficulty to parry the red head, it wasn't impossible though.

His aim had worked as he attempted to disjoin her, to cause her not to think before acting by becoming reckless. He had been ready to strike but had not acted quickly enough as Ryu's eyes sprang opened and she kicked at the back of his legs.

The blow had not been strong enough to collapse him to the deck of the ship though his legs did buckle and he performed a backwards soomersault to avoid loosing his balance in front of her. He popped up afterwards, his sword deflecting her own as he did so deflecting it away from his knees as he did so showing just how skilled he was in order to parry the difficult blow. He made it look easy, the motion seemingly effortless as he did so though it was anything but of course.

But then he took a page out of her own book by closing the distance that separated the pair. His now empty hand coming up to her face as he swung it at her though his hand was opened handed, not a fist. All the while his focus seemed to be on her blade as he used his to draw it toward her side so that he had not had to worry about it.

With a thud Bryce hit the deck as he was released, either dead or unconscious either way the men holding him no longer deemed him as a threat.

Ryu was checking the possibilities as his hand seemed to come out of nowhere and she was slapped across the face, the attack made her a bit dazzled as to what had happened and she sent a blind blow towards him, though her blade was stopped by his once more. "Oh you bloody bastard .." She lacked any indication of pain as she managed to recover quickly, even the dull sound of her lover dropping to the ground didn't disturb her by then. He was either fine or not, she couldn't help him as long as she was bound to their bet.

Forth she hurried with the peak of her rapier, coming close to her brother as she did not fall back and neither did he. The woman pushed him back with the little momentum she had left and leaned in to mess with the tall figure. Another slash was sent towards Shin's shoulder then another to his ribs if he'd be able to keep her from hitting.

Meanwhile her body started to crave for rest, what the pair had shared in the room after their marriage didn't necessarily help her with this. Then again she wanted to fight for her true love and was going to physically tire herself if she had to.