The Heir and his Knights

1 Training and honey

Dave pov

You grit your teeth as you swing your sword, missing your target. You swing again and this time your blade collided with a pair of sickles.

"FUCK."

Karkat quickly jumped back, panting.

"Pathetic, Karkat."
"SHUT UP, STRIDER."

He sprinted towards you and swung his sickles furiously, just barely missing you neck.

"Woah man, take it easy!"

You used your sword to pull the sickles out of Karkat's hands and fling them into the bushes. You kicked him down end placed your sword at his neck.

"I win. Again"

Karkat glared at you, gritting his teeth, clenching his fists.

"FUCK YOU! YOU CHEATED!"

You laugh and hold a hand out to your best friend, which he took. He grumbled as he got up.

"I SWEAR TO JEGUS IF YOU DO THAT AGAIN, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS, STRIDER."

He quickly ran over to the bushes, searching for his weapons. He pulled them from the ground and examined them.

"IF YOU CRACKED THESE, ILL KILL YOU."

You grinned as you dug your sword into the ground and walked over to Karkat. He ran a hand across the curved blade, searching for cracks in the metal.

"Dude, not my fault if your sickles are cheap."

You dodged the sickle he swung at you.

"Okay, okay! Look man, I'm sorry. Is it..."
"No, it's fine."
"...."

Karkat looked at you, sickles in hand. You sigh and walk to your sword. You pull it out of the ground and wipe it with your sleeve.

"That's 13 to 6. Wanna go for round 20?, you asked, looking up at him.
"Nah, it's getting late. And I promised Kankri I would be home before sundown."
"Cmon! Just one more fight!"

Karkat groaned.

"I'm going home. Later fuckass."

Karkat turned and began walking out of the clearing where you two have trained ever since you were kids. You chase after him.

"Wait up!"

Karkat turned and looked at you, waiting for you to catch up. You then begin to walk to Karkat's house. Yours was just a little further from his, deeper in the woods.

"Oh shit!"
"What is it."
"I forgot, I have to go to the market to pick up some stuff for Kankri."

He searched in his pocket and counted his money.

"Fuck, do you have a dollar?"
"Fine, but you owe me."

~Le time skip~

Karkat dragged you into the kingdom of Prospit. While he searched for things to by, you ran into Sollux, who happened to be selling honey.

"Hey Sol."
"2up."
"So, you sell honey now?"
"Yep."
"Cool."

Fortunately, Karkat saved you from this awkward conversation by butting in. As the talked about God knows what, a bright blue poster caught your eyes. It was pinned to Sollux's stand. You look around and realize that all the other stands had the same blue paper.

"Hey Sollux,what's up with that paper?"
"Hm? Oh, iit2 ju2t 2ome crap about how the kiing's 2on need2 bodyguard2 ii thiink. Every 2tand need2 to have iit up, by law."
"Why the fuck would the heir need bodyguards? Why can't the spoiled brat take care of himself?", Karkat grumbled.
"Well, now that iit2 confiirmed that he ii2 next iin liine to be kiing, more people are wiilliing to bet the kiing would pay hand2omely to get the heiir back."
"And I doubt he has ever even held a sword in his life", you add.

You take a closer look at the flyer. It just stated that any ambled body with experience with combat can go try out to be the heir's knight. Two will be selected, blah blah blah, entry to castle, blah blah blah, food and living space provided, blah blah blah, up to 100 dollars will be sent to their families, blah. Wait, 100 dollars? You reread the paper again. Yes! Up to 100 hundred will be sent to the knight's families! You think about your sisters back home. Ever since your eldest brother ran off with his lover, you've been earning money to keep your sisters fed. Of course they got work done too but you know that they've been hungry for a while. Even with Roxy selling items she's stolen, you can never seem to have enough money to get you all a decent meal. You glance over at Karkat. He also seems to not have been eating well. This could be the thing that can help both you and Karkat's families.

"Hey Karkat."
"What the fuck do you want now. I told you I'll pay you back later."
"Forget about that. I have a better idea."