Dance of the Silent

The tension in the air exploded as I leapt forward toward Takehito. Lydia dealt with the arrows while I kept Takehito busy; it was like we were locked into a stalemate that would only get worse if we changed our plans. Takehito executed a butterfly roundkick to my chest and I was knocked back as an arrow veered toward me. I spun and conjured a wall of flames around my body to protect myself from Takehito and the arrow.

I clicked my tongue as I found myself in the same situation as before. Ava was too far to reach quickly enough, and Takehito was standing between me and Lydia, making it almost impossible for us to group up. I charged forward and watched as several arrows arced toward me from above, and a plan began to form in my head. I continued my charge, even as the arrows neared me, and a large smile began to spread across my face.

The arrows dug into my flesh, but they didn't slow me down in the least. My flames devoured the arrows and healed my flesh in mere seconds as I threw out a forward jab with all of my strength. Though I was still a good ten feet away, the shockwave was enough to send Takehito sliding back toward Lydia with great momentum. Lydia reared her arm back before slashing out with her clawed hands, sending four crimson lines of flames flying toward Takehito.

A smile crept onto his face as a mass of arrows flew in front of him and formed a shield to block the flames. Takehito took this as an opportunity to get me back for my earlier attack. Lydia formed a massive wall of fire to block Ava's view as she darted toward me with lightning fast speed' each step creating molting footprints of fire that sunk into the ground beneath her.

Takehito began to laugh as he dodged my punch before blocking Lydia's slash and sidestepping my counter. "This is beginning to be really fun you two!" Takehito leapt back and flourished his arms as several longswords began to raise from the ground behind him. The swords darted toward him and began to hover around his body, reacting to even the slightest movement from me or Lydia.

Takehito held his hand out toward me and said "Go..." causing three of the swords to shoot toward me with a massive amount of killing intent. I tried to raise a wall of fire, but the swords pierced it and continued toward me. I deflected the first two with my forearms before sidestepping the third one, but they just arced midair and came back at me.

"Tch. Should've figured you had something similar hidden away..." I muttered as I bat the swords away. An arrow shot into my back, but I felt nothing more than a small pinch as the flames on my arms hungrily devoured the arrow before healing my body. I kept trying to keep the swords off of me, but I became distracted when I heard a yelp from behind me.

I spun and saw Lydia on the ground as Takehito raised his hand; the rest of his swords ready to obey his command and impale her on the spot. The three swords around me took advantage of my opening and pierced me through my stomach, right shoulder, and left calf, but the pain I felt was nothing compared to the sinking feeling in my stomach. I released a primal yell and punch out, causing a large, needle-shaped projectile of black-blue flames to shoot out toward Takehito.

He responded immediately and was able to narrowly avoid the projectile, but not my crazed fist. I managed to dash over to his position faster than he could react to before slamming my fist into his face. Takehito recoiled and I kneed him in the gut before kneeing him in the chin. I reared my fist back to deliver a finishing blow when he spun and kicked the back of my knee, causing me to fall as he held a sword to my throat with a large grin on his face.

"Almost, but not quite my pupil! How'd you like my take on a villainous expression?" Lydia laughed lightly and asked "What, did you actually believe I was in danger? Mr. Takehito had this grand idea, and it looked like it worked..." I furrowed my brows in confusion as Takehito held back a laugh and said "While I was keeping you busy, Lydia and I decided to see how you would respond if she was in danger and man that was good!"

I couldn't tell if he was happier about my reaction or the hits I had landed on him...

"I thought this was supposed to be a training session..." I said as I got up to my feet and shook the dirt from my hair. Takehito shrugged and said "It was...until I had that amazing idea enter my brain, ahaha!" I gave the man-child a deadpan stare before releasing a heavy sigh and letting my flames return to my body.

"If that's all for today, I'd like to go visit the prisoner we captured from the forest." Takehito's eyes widened as he put his fist into his palm and said "Oh, I totally forgot about that guy! Let's go t-" I stopped the excited man with a shake of my head before saying "No. I'll go alone. Please, don't follow me."

I had a few questions to ask, and it would only make things more complicated if everyone found out that the other robed figure was someone I knew. I didn't want them thinking I was a spy or something. I walked out of the training room and stopped to recall the layout of the building before moving toward the labs.

I remembered overhearing something about how they found an interesting anomaly inside of the robed man's body, so they wanted to experiment on him while he was locked up in the dungeon below the academy. I walked past the ;abs and found no one there, so I immediately went toward the dungeon. The air was stale and ridiculously warm, and the stench of decaying flesh hung about like a parasite, but that did not stop my advance.

I stepped off of the stairs and a familiar voice began to echo out through the dungeon. "Oh? It's the little bastard from the forest. The hell do you want, weakling?" I walked up to the man's cell and I was able to fully see his face now that he had his robe taken. His skin was wrinkled and deathly pale, and his eyes were sunken into his face, but he had this youthful vigor about him that made me realize he was just as old as I was.

"Who are you? I want to know who sent you here as well. There's no use in hiding it anymore." The man scoffed before bursting into laughter. I stoically reminded the man that he was in no position to refuse if he wanted to live. Seeing my flames mere centimeters away from his throat, the man smiled and said "My name is Killian Hynes, and I work for the Shadows. I'm part of a special squad known as the Deceivers. We're like scouts that cooperate with each other to get the most information possible. I've all ready told the academy head about this, there's no need to tell him."

I furrowed my brows and asked "Why sell out who you work for?" The man gave me a wry smile and said "The Shadows are merely a means to an end. I was going to leave sooner or later, one way or the other. Giving up information about them for the right price is no problem for me, as long as I keep my life." I scowled and let my flames retreat to my arm before walking toward the stairs; the man's howling laughter mocking me the entire way up.

I wanted to ask him about the woman that was there with him, but I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with his answers. I needed to ask her myself, or I would be questioning everything told to me at every second. Many questions whirled about in my mind as I began to wander the academy, half knowing where I was going and half lost.

Before I knew it, I was standing outside of my dorm room with my I.D. card in hand. I took a deep breath and opened the door; a sweet smell entering my nose as I walked in. "That you, Kenji?" Lydia asked from the kitchen. I was tempted to not say anything and just walk past, but i stopped myself before sighing and responding.

"Yeah, It's me." Lydia peeked her head out from the corner as I took my shoes off and walked toward the living room. Lydia had a small smile on her face as she rubbed a piece of chocolate from the side of her mouth. "Here, follow me!" Lydia grabbed my arm and led me toward the kitchen where numerous cake pans lay on the counter.

"What's all this?" I asked as I picked up a cake pan with a few crumbs left inside. Lydia tugged at my arm with a small pout on her face, so I put the pan down and let her lead me toward the oven. Lydia gestured for me to look into the oven as she opened it, and I saw a large velvet cake with vanilla icing on top. It was the only sweet that I really liked. "How did you know I liked these?" I asked as I raised a brow at Lydia.

She smirked and said "I browsed through your files." in a seemingly proud voice. My eye twitched and I tried to keep my rising panic under control. "What did you see?" Lydia tilted her head to the side and thought for a second before saying "The security around your files were really tight, so I was only able to get your birthday and the foods you liked and disliked."

I breathed a sigh of relief before smiling and saying "Thank you. You always know when, and how, to cheer me up. I would've thought that was your power instead of your flames if I didn't know any better." Lydia's smile that followed after was so bright that I was almost blinded. Her eyes sparkled like stars as she leaned closer to me, obviously expecting something.

She glanced up and leaned her head closer to me, and I realized what she wanted. I released a sigh of exasperation before plopping my hand on her head and watching as she practically melted under my hand. The oven timed went off and Lydia snapped out of her daze before opening the over and donning a mitten to grab the cake pan.

"Ta-da! One velvet cake with vanilla icing for you!" I chuckled before asking "You're mot going to ask what happened?" with a curious glance as I grabbed a knife to cut the cake. Lydia shrugged and said "I know that you'll tell me when you want, so I'm not too worried about it since you seem fine. Don't force yourself to tell me if you don't want to, though. I'm just a bit worried about your mentality is all."

I didn't know what this warm feeling spreading through my chest was, but I didn't stop it as a smile made it way onto my face as I stepped over and embraced Lydia tightly. "Thank you. You have no idea how much it means to have someone looking out for me. Thank you." Lydia's face turned beet red as she awkwardly returned my hug. I laughed and said "I've never seen you this flustered before. Who would've guessed that it would've been this easy to embarrass you after all the things you said to me..."

Lydia turned even redder and I couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. It was nice, being able to cut loose like this every now and then. My only worry was how things would turn out after the academy, but that was four years away. I had time.