Location - Inside Kina's Training Room
The two duelists, Kira and Kael, locked gazes as the blades of their katana met each other again. Kael jumped backward, hoping to gain some space, but Kira quickly charged after him, her sword swinging to his sides. Kael blocked it with his sword, releasing his left hand's grip on the katana. Kael delivered a solid punch to Kira's side, who seemed shocked as she found herself shot straight to the wall on the side.
"Leader, didn't you explain to Kael how these duels work?" Min questioned, his eyes fixed on the duel, which was halted for a bit. "I may have forgotten about that," Kina responded, turning her face to the side, hiding the huge smile that broadened up her face.
Fin on the stage called for a time as he checked on Kira, who stood up, her malice physically manifested as the floor began to crack under her pressure. Turning to Kina, she asked rhetorically, "It seems that you have failed to inform your disciple of the rules of this duel."
"Yes. I apologize, Young Lady. But this shouldn't invalidate the duel, after all, we'll be fighting unpredictable monsters with little information about them. Or is this too much, Young Lady?" Kina asked, clearly annoying the girl on the face with a striking similarity between them.
"It doesn't matter to me. Continue the duel," Kira answered, her hand gripped firmly on her katana as she retook her stride. As Fin signaled the duel to begin, Kael quickly closed the distance, his sword aimed towards her neck, but before it could travel further, a tearing sound caught the attention of the onlookers as the trail of blood from Kael's chest.
His training vest was ripped through the middle, as his blood trailed through his chest and dropped periodically on the floor. Without any wasted action beat, another sword cut was directed to Kael's neck, and the impending fear of death that lingered on the sword's trajectory enabled him to narrowly escape.
With his duck, Kael smartly made use of his taekwondo arsenal, performing a kick sweep to her legs, hoping to misalign her balance, but she stepped away from the kick and with an impressive air roll that displayed her agility, she dished out a punch to Kael's face, which he caught with his hands and threw her to the ground and then securing a safe area for himself.
"They're going at it quite intensely," Min commented, a smile on his face as he kept on observing the duel. "Yeah. Be ready to stop it if it starts to be too dangerous, Min," Kina ordered, although her gaze was fixed on the figures of Kael and Kira.
"Sure thing, Leader. You can count on me," Min affirmed, his body tensed up as he watched each action in a seasoned gaze. The two students continued the artistic display of their martial prowess as each action was countered and smoothly led to the next.
"You're quite good, Young Lady," Kael struck up a conversation with the deeply angered noble whose predatory gaze was fixed on him. With no answer provided, her left leg was firmly placed on the side of Kael with enough force that it blew him away.
"I do not need foolish talk. This is a duel," Kira added, her gaze narrowed in the direction of where Kael landed, and with rapt speed, she paced around the field as she quickly reached for him, her sword swung swiftly to his chest.
With immediate response, Kael clasped the blade with one of his hands as the sharp blade drew blood from his skin. His free hand was quickly fastened into a punch to which he delivered on her abdomen, his force fully increased by his Detel serum, which blew her away with a searing gust of wind, but not before she, using her hands as a support, lifted her trailing body and with her changed trajectory.
She landed a kick which was blocked by Kael's bleeding hand, his face winced in pain and taking se of that clear disadvantage, her left leg shot up from their position and aimed for his neck to which he dodged by rolling out of the way and with that momentum and her leg in his grasp, Kael slammed her straight and firm into the hard floor of the room.
Dust and rubble flew up from the impact site, and Kael held his hands, pressure placed on his bleeding hand, which, weirdly, didn't stop bleeding. His sword, which he had left before, was collected and placed firmly in his grasp, the black blade of the sword seemingly trapping any sort of light from escaping its gaping maw.
"Is this the end?" Kael questioned himself as he stared at his handiwork, the girl still lying motionless in the crater of the impact. But much to his disappointment, she stood up from the ground, a trail of blood that freely flowed from under her mouth's enclosure and trailed down her chin.
Her hands wiped away the blood on her face, and she stared at it for a bit before turning her attention back to her duel's opponent, who was also bleeding. She picked up her sword and then suddenly, a strange and unexplainable dread befell Kael. He couldn't understand what or why it was, but he knew that all his senses triggered immediately when Kira picked up her sword and took on a weird pose. Warning of dangers blared through his every sense like a musical symphony as it warned of the impending doom.
Underneath her breath, Kira whispered in a hushed and calm tone, serene with tranquility.
"Kiomi True Swordmanship; First Form: Tranquil Breath" and as the words left her mouth, the young lady, with seemingly instantaneous movements arrived next to Kael, her face as calm as a lake, her breath slow and smooth as her katana drew a beautiful arc through the air but not with force but instead, with softness that the blade seemed to propelled by the air itself.
It was at this very moment that Kael understood the warnings he was receiving earlier, but it was too late. This blade neither contained the roughness of her former swordsmanship nor the malice. It was a blade that allowed itself to be carried by the flow, a flow that shall lead to the desire of the swordsman. It was beautiful swordsmanship.
Nothing.
That was the sound the sword made as it landed on Kina's hands before it deflected, and the sword arc flew as it went through the wall of the room and tore up an arc on the wall. With her ever-present and iconic smile, she addressed Kira. "That's a bit too much, Young Lady," Her voice calmed as it spread through the room.
Kira drew back her sword, her eyes locked in a blazing glare at Kina, both of whom weren't going to back down. "Is that so? There were no rules on making use of techniques, Team Leader Kina," Kira argued back, not backing away, her sword sheathed back into the scabbard that lay in her grip.
"That is true indeed, but that sword technique of yours was filled with intense bloodlust, Young Lady. You see, although he is dumb and quite stupid sometimes, Kael is my beloved disciple, and what Master would be able to watch harm befall their disciple?" Kina commented as she stared relentingly at Kira, an intense clash of their will engulfing the entire atmosphere of the room.
The heavy presence that filled the room instantly vanished as Kira stopped staring and, with a quick nod of her head, Kina walked out of the stage. At this point, Kael had started to show some strange behaviour. His skin glowed with the ethereal silvery blue light as it sneaked up through his veins and concentrated on both his eyes. A strange yet absolutely intense energy vibrated from within him and ran rampant through this enclosed area. The world colours faded into nothing as time seemed to stop.
A figure, clad in brilliant light, making it hard to make out its figure appeared in front of Kael. A voice sounded, too mighty to determine who it belonged to.
"Why have you come out? It's too soon, Kael." The voice sounded in the void, as it was addressed to no one in particular. "Sleep. When it is time, your fate will lead you back here again. But for now, it isn't time yet," the voice commanded, but with a tone of softness and sympathy within it. A hand stretched out from the hazy figure as it caressed Kael's face in fondness and then immediately disappeared.
The world began to regain its colours, as time started to flow back freely, and at this time, Kael, whose body was overrun with the silvery blue energy, faded back into normal as everything went back to as it was.
In the room, all those could feel their senses warning them wildly about a threat that could have ended them, but when they came to, they only found an exhausted Kael who was panting with heavy beads of sweat running down his face and his soaked clothes.
"What just happened?" Min questioned, his eyes scanning around, but all while involuntarily leading back to the boy who was the eye of this unexplained chaos. It felt like just now, something out of their understanding and perception had just taken place, and it all pointed back to the boy.
"What happened, Kael?" The Vice Leader Min asked, his voice bearing the weight of his position, but it otherwise didn't. In disarray and confusion after the event, Kael's blurring vision lingered on the people who were present in the room.
Without a sentence formed, Kael just absentmindedly stared at his master, his gaze deeply locked with hers. Kina, without any hesitation, walked forward and then hugged Kael close to her while she warned the rest who were pressed for answers. "My disciple isn't in full health right now, and I would like privacy so I can check up on him," she said as she addressed her vice leaders and her sister.
"But, Leader, you should have felt it too. Whatever happened or appeared isn't human, nor is it of this world. It feels like something above us. We can't just ignore it…" Min pressed, his voice raised a tone higher than he usually talked.
"I see that Team Leader Kina is really fond of her disciple, but I believe that you should know better about the priorities right now, Team Leader," Kira stated, her voice authoritative. Everyone present within the room knew that Kira wasn't speaking as a Pioneer recruit this time, but the Young Lady and the Heir of Clan Kiomi, a great house.
Kina released the full force of her energy it grounding everyone in the room to the positions they were in, making it hard to breathe, much less take a step forward. "My disciple is sick and I wish to take care of him privately," she stated again, her voice filled with malice as it enveloped the whole room.
"It seems you all are mistaken. This isn't a request, but a command," Kael stared through his half-lidded eyes at his master, a warming smile blossoming on his pale face. He was unsure of how to answer what he didn't understand. One minute, he was unconscious due to the killing intent in Kira's blade, and the next thing, he woke up to direct malice and heightened gaze through the room, but he could also feel the dangerous remnant energy that lingered through the air and concentrated mostly on him.
It was so huge that he also knew that he was in a dangerous situation, especially bringing such a being into Sanctuary known as Humanity's Haven and bypassing the Leaders and all the security personnel stationed throughout Sanctuary.
He had no explanation to give, and he also knew that saying he was also clueless would definitely make him seem more suspicious, so he did the only option he had, relying on one of the people that he could call his harbor, his master Kina. Kael had enough trust that he knew that she would definitely choose to side with him, but in the end, it was all a gamble. Kael made his master choose between her duty to humanity and her disciple, a choice that a disciple should never force on their master.
The smile remained on his face as he faded into sleep's warm embrace. "Do you know what this means, Team Leader Kina?" The Young Lady of Clan Kiomi questioned, her authority vehemently displayed through her actions.
"Haha. You know what I'm called? The Crazed Star. I have a reputation for always doing however I please. Do you wish to understand why I was given that epithet?" Kina threatened boldly.
It dawned on both Kina's vice leaders that she was serious about her stance, and after staying with her for so long, they knew about her as much as she did about them. Min dropped his guard and, with a turn, he spoke to his brother, "Leader has made her choice, Fin. You know what we have to do,"
Fin who stood a bit away walked next to his brother, a hand placed on his shoulder as he replied, "Yeah, Min," "Seriously, you always trouble us, Leader," Fin addressed his Leader and with an accepting sigh, he turned to Kira as he spoke, "I'm sorry but Leder said he wishes to take care of her disciple. I won't tolerate any disrespect towards her, especially not in our territory, even if it's the heir of a Great House,"
Kira was fazed with the strange turn of events as she spoke, her voice filled with malice and anger, "Do you not understand the dangerous aura that permeated from him, even now?! Are you willing to risk the safety of humanity over foolish emotions of yours?! I command you to release the Pioneer recruit, Kael Levane, for deep questioning and investigation," Kira stated, not backing down.
"I'm sorry, but to us, the leader's opinion weighs more than any authority in Sanctuary. If she wishes to trust Kael, then we'll also do the same. I'm sorry, but I think you need to leave, Young Lady Kira. The duel has been called off," Min stated, as he stood his ground.
Understanding that she couldn't exercise her authority here, and she also knew that if she kept on pressing this matter, it could lead to some unfavourable endings like the loss of The Crazed Star, one of Sanctuary's military strength against the Pioneers, and Kira knew that this couldn't happen, especially not in these crucial times.
"I won't press this matter, but I believe that Team Leader Kina will ensure that Kael won't be a threat to Sanctuary, as the least you could do for your position and those who have placed their trust in you," Kira announced as she was about to leave, but Kina's statement made her pause in her tracks.
"You've grown to be so smart and a good leader, my little sister. I'm so grateful you've grown so well. I swear that Kael won't harm you or Sanctaury. That is my promise to you, simply not as an officer but your older sister, if that title still means anything to you,"
"This is no time to try to remedy our relationship. I'll keep my observation on your disciple, Team Leader Kina, and… I…I've missed that word so much more than I thought I would, "Kira stated as she quickly walked out of the room, her steps uneven as they trailed through the rubble and messed-up room.
"Haha. My little sister is still so cute," Kina chuckled to herself, her eyes doting on the fading figure of Kira.
Kira whispered under her breath after she caught Kina's statement, her hands wiping the unshed tears that had made a crack in her damned emotions and her facade. "...Stupid sister…"
Kina picked up the unconscious Kael and led him away from the training room into one of the recovery rooms.