---
The courtyard smelled faintly of dew and iron, the air still clinging to the coolness of dawn. I rolled my shoulders, wincing at the stiffness. For the past few days, the others had been drilling, training, sharpening their skills for the Moonlit Games. But me? I'd been doing the grand total of nothing except resting, eating, and trying to convince myself that being gone for five months wasn't going to crush me the moment the Games began.
Not anymore.
Today, Akane had decided it was my turn.
She stood across from me now, arms folded, her expression as composed and unreadable as ever. The faint glisten of sweat already shone across her collarbone from her earlier training, but her breathing was steady, calm. A predator at rest.
"All right," she said simply, tapping her bare foot against the packed earth. "We start with the basics. Stances first. Without balance, nothing else matters."
