The air was still and damp in the Shark's training yard, the morning dew still clinging to the concrete. Vali stood barefoot in the center, shirt off, breath steady. Across from him, Zaria stretched her arms, glass-threaded veins faintly glowing beneath her skin. The tension between them wasn't just battle-born—it lingered like an old scar, healed over but aching at the slightest touch.
"Don't go easy on me now , Mist Boy," Zaria smirked, taking a combat stance.
Vali gave a crooked grin. "wouldn't dream of it princess."
The two clashed in a flurry of motion—Vali's dark mist swirling around his fists like smoke given purpose, Zaria dancing between threads, her body moving with ballerina grace as she redirected strikes with the finesse of a puppeteer. Their movements were more like a duel of rhythm than raw power, an exchange of history, of emotion left unspoken. Zaria rushed forward throwing a well aimed kick at Vali's head, he ducked under effortlessly following up with a backhand that zaria blocked easily with her off hand. She flipped away elegantly wrapping a bundle of threads around his arm and yanking him off balance only to follow up with a devastating palm strike to the stomach
Zaria slipped under a sweeping mist-cloaked punch and hooked her heel behind Vali's knee. He stumbled, but caught himself with a shadowed palm flat to the ground, flipping up and away.
"Sloppy," she teased. "Distracted," he shot back, mist peeling from his forearms. Before their next clash, a soft voice interrupted.
"You two always spar or is this foreplay?" Amy called with a playful smirk, walking up the path beside Kimara. Kimara followed close behind, her sabrelynx Frost curled loyally by her heel.
"We were bored," Kimara added, scratching Frost behind the ear. "You guys heading somewhere?"
"Yeah," Vali exhaled, brushing sweat from his brow. "Gonna stretch our legs. Zaria needs a break before she rips my limbs off."
"You wish, dumbass" she muttered, turning to hide her amused smile.
Minutes later, they were in Vali's midnight blue sports car, the soft hum of the engine masking the unease settling between them. The city lights rolled by in gentle streaks.
"You still drive like a maniac, you dumb jerk" Zaria noted, watching buildings blur past.
"And you still clench the seat when I hit sixty, how cute" Vali said with a devilish smirk "maybe I should crank it up a bit" he teased.
Zaria grinned and then for a short moment.....Silence. Then, softer: "Why do you think it ended like that?"
Zaria looked out the window. "Your family hated mine. My dad's a politician, Vali. You think he'd ever approve of me dating a Yazumēi?"
Vali's hands gripped the wheel tighter. "He never saw past my last name, did he?. Never once cared who I was."
"It wasn't just him," Zaria said, her voice trembling. "You were always fighting. Always making headlines. Every time you got arrested, it landed on his desk. He said you were going to drag me down." "And you believed him?" Vali sighed, She met his gaze. "I was scared. I didn't want to lose everything."
Vali looked away. "I would've given up the fights for you. I just... didn't think you'd run."
Neither spoke for a moment. The silence was heavier now, not awkward—just honest.
They parked near a small urban park. The sky was clear, the trees dappled with sunlight. Children laughed nearby. Vali bought two cones of strawberry swirl and handed one to her without a word.
On a grassy hill, they sat together. Not touching. But close.
Down by the fountain, Amy and Kimara were sparring again. Pink fire arced through the air like meteoric ribbons while Kimara twisted between shadows and ice, her movements getting sharper by the day. Even Frost snarled playfully, leaping in the sidelines.
Zaria tilted her head. "They're good, really good."
Vali smiled faintly. "Well y'know.....Kimara's got that monster blood in her. Amy's... something else entirely."
He took a bite of his ice cream, then glanced at the sky. "Kaz is out there probably having the time of his life."
"Fighting that bear? The sovereign-class one?" Zaria asked with a raised brow
"Yeah. Lucky bastard isn't he" Vali grinned. "Zaria glanced at him, seeing the flame of envy flicker behind his eyes. "You really miss it, huh?" "The battlefield… it's the only place where things make sense."
Switch: Kaz and the Frontlines
Kaz staggered upright, his head pounding like a drum, he had only been unconscious for a few minutes but in that time chaos had ensued, the allied forces were scrambled like like a broken line of ants, Kharzun shot out fireballs relentlessly, troops scurried about like paniced rats.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The ground quaked as Kharzun barreled forward, a towering beast of muscle and magma-like veins glowing beneath matted, obsidian fur. Its eyes blazed like suns in miniature. Eight feet of death. Kaz staggered to his feet and dove to the left, a seismic paw smashing the concrete where he once laid. Fire flared behind him, twisting into a double helix before exploding into a wall of smoke.
Ryusei barked orders stumbling to his feet. "Fan out! Distract it! Keep its attention off the support teams!"
Shin floated slightly above the ground, a gravity field distorting the air around him. He clenched a fist and crushed the weight of the battlefield into Kharzun's limbs, forcing the beast's knees to dip just a fraction. It roared in defiance, its voice splitting the air, the beast's massive frame fought against the invisible force of Shin's gravity.
"Damn it, It's resisting my gravity pull!" Shin grunted.
"Kaz! Now!"
Kaz surged forward, black fire spiraling around his arms. He activated the Radie-forged gauntlets—veins of volcanic metal glowed across the plating. He cocked his right arm back, flame forming a spiraled drill-like shape that with high velocity.
"Eat this, you ugly son of a bitch!" he roared. With a thunderous punch, the flame-drill collided with Kharzun's side. The blast sent molten fur flying. The beast screamed, spinning and swinging its massive paw like a wrecking ball. Kaz barely ducked, the wind pressure alone slicing a line across his cheek, he jumped back landing beside Ryusei.
"You good kid?!" Ryusei shouted.
Kaz stood slowly, bleeding and grinning. "getting real tired of this damn bear."
More soldiers encircled the creature, some with Radie lances, others deploying containment fields. Kharzun, enraged, focused its glowing eyes directly on Kaz.
The beast lowered its stance. "Oh shit," Kaz grinned. "Guess I managed to piss the big guy off."
It charged. Kaz met it head-on. Fire versus fury.