Caelan glanced around nervously as he followed the Abyss Watcher deeper into the forest, the light of the camp fire behind them slowly growing smaller and smaller as they gained more distance from it. Looking at the Abyss Watcher it appeared that he was looking for something if the slight shifting of his head to the sides every so often was any indication.

The Abyss Watcher stopped before a decently sized tree, looking up and down it's trunk in an observant manner. He then turned to one of the smaller branches, jumped, and sliced down into it with his sword, which went through it as though it were butter. The branch fell to the grass with a thud, the many smaller branches and twig's leaves rustling loudly in the silent forest.

The Abyss Watcher placed his sword next to the branch and unsheathed his dagger. With that he began to slice away at the myriad of branches attached to the main one, his dagger, much like his sword, passing through the presumably hard wood with ease. After that had been completed he cut the branch in half, turning it's length from that of an average sword to an average dagger. The Abyss Watcher then carved away at the tip of the branch, sharpening it to the point where it could very easily pierce a man.

Once that had been done the Abyss Watcher stood up once again, carefully inspecting the small wooden stake he had made before nodding to himself. He then offered the stick to Caelan, who blinked in confusion before tentatively taking it. The moment his hand closed around the stick a sharp pain spread throughout his chest, quickly followed by the forest around him moving rapidly. He let out a cry as he collided with the dirt, rolling uncontrollably from his momentum.

When he finally came to a stop he gasped for air, his chest filled with an intense pain. Looking to the Abyss Watcher revealed him picking up his sword from the ground and gently leaning it against a tree before turning back to face Caelan. He raised a hand and beckoned Caelan forward as he crouched down slightly. Still coughing, Caelan stood up and held the stake he still had in front of him.

So he was one of those teachers huh? Well it wasn't like Caelan could fault the man considering that this was likely the only way he would be able to teach considering that he couldn't talk. Caelan grit his teeth. He would get better. And if this was the only way to do that then he would try his damn hardest.

He let out a defiant roar as he charged forward, tucking his stake in as he readied a stab. He blinked. His eyes widened as a fist suddenly appeared in front of them, colliding with his face violently. This time he ended up hitting a tree, the air rushing out of his lungs. He coughed violently as he strained to look at the Abyss Watcher. He held a single finger against his mouth.

He groaned as he got up, nodding in understanding. Don't scream when you attack. Honestly he didn't even know why he did that himself. He panted as he tried to ignore the pain, the Abyss Watcher waiting patiently ahead in his stance. This time silent, Caelan charged forward as he willed his legs to go faster. At the last moment he turned to the right and sprinted, as he made it to the Abyss Watcher's right flank he dashed into him.

This time the pain came from his arm. He skidded along the ground, his clothes being covered in even more dirt as he did so. He grit his teeth as he got up, stumbling slightly as he did so. Thankfully he had managed to keep his grip onto the stake, and so readied it again. He took deep breaths. He just had to control his breathing. If he could do that much then he could focus better. He shut his eyes as he focused. Just in and out. In and out.

His body quickly began to feel the effects of this, as he began to feel each of his limbs for what they were. This was a technique that his previous instructor had taught him when he was still alive. Granted he was quite rubbish at most of the fighting stuff he was taught he somehow managed to hold onto this singular breathing technique. Just focus inward and imagine a flame. Focus only on the flame.

He opened his eyes, ready for another charge. A purple gloved fist filled his vision. His back collided with the tree, knocking the breath out of him. He felt something close around his throat as it pushed him against the tree, squeezing just tight enough to cut off his airway. His gaze trailed up the arm strangling him, finding it belonging to the Abyss Watcher who stared right back with cold uncaring eyes.

Raising his right arm he stabbed down with the stake, hoping to at least cause enough of a distraction so that he could free himself. His hope fell as the Abyss Watcher's other free hand caught it effortlessly, leaving it frozen in his grasp. Why was he doing this? Caelan scrambled with his remaining free hand to attempt to release the Abyss Watcher's iron grip to no avail. He desperately gasped for air.

He was going to die like this. He felt the last of his breath leave him. He would start to black out soon, and then his brain would eventually stop working. He stopped his clawing, accepting his fate.

...Any minute now...

...Uhhhhh...

He blinked in confusion. He was...alive? He double checked that the Abyss Watcher was still holding onto his throat with the same amount of force. Nothing had changed. So why wasn't he dead? He tried to breathe but found that he still couldn't. He should have passed out from a lack of air by now.

The Abyss Watcher let go of Caelan's hand and pointed to Caelan. He then made a slitting throat gesture across his throat that while it may have seemed threatening to most, instead gave Caelan more understanding. He was dead. He didn't have to breathe. The Abyss Watcher released his grip on Caelan, causing the small undead to drop to his knees, and walked back to where he had been standing originally.

Caelan opened his mouth to let that sweet air back into his lungs before stopping himself. He knelt there for a few moments, focusing on not breathing. Once he had gotten the hang of resisting a habit that was necessary during his life as a human, he stood back up focusing on the Abyss Watcher. He still thought as though he were alive. He grit his teeth. He wasn't, and he had to come to terms with that.

He charged forward with renewed vigour. At the last moment before he reached the Abyss Watcher he ducked down and drove forward at even faster speeds. The stake neared the Abyss Watcher's abdomen. The Abyss Watcher stepped to the side casually.

Caelan sprinted head first into the tree behind the Abyss Watcher.

He groaned as he lay face down on the ground, his head feeling as though it had just been wacked by a particularly large club. Actually, if you thought about it, he essentially did get wacked on the head by a large club. He rolled over onto his back, his gaze suddenly filled with the view of the dense foliage above, rays of moonlight shining through the rare spaces between the leaves.

He would just lay here for a while. Just a little while. He closed his eyes.

Celest damn it, why was training so hard?

The Abyss Watcher blinked. Did he just fall asleep? He waved a hand in front of Caelan's face, unfortunately not gaining even a muscle twitch. He frowned and made to shake him awake before stopping, a hesitant look in his eyes. He glanced to the tree he had been standing in front of, particularly the small dent that had appeared.

He had run into that tree pretty hard. The Abyss Watcher glanced back down. And he was still a child. If Caelan wasn't a child then the Abyss Watcher would have gone much harder on him. At least, he thinks he wasn't going too hard on him now. He really wasn't that sure how this whole training thing was supposed to go on his part. At least he had managed to convey Caelan's big mistake of breathing when it wasn't necessary.

Even if the methods were a little extreme. But still, it had knocked him out of the illusion of being alive and so had done it's job relatively well. It wasn't looking good for Caelan in terms of how skilled he was. He lacked almost any battle strategy and seemed to just charge against his problems head on, which was actually quite stupid. He had potential though.

Looking back to the camp he frowned in worry. If any of them had seen the way he had been training Caelan then he would have quite a bit of explaining to do. That worry was immediately banished however. After all, it's not like they can interrogate him and it seemed like Caelan mostly understood why the Abyss Watcher had done what he did.

Crouching down he picked up Caelan and began walking in the direction of the camp before halting in his tracks. He glanced behind him, gazing into the dark of the forest behind with narrowed eyes. He continued to stare, eyes flicking between the trees. Slowly he continued to walk towards camp, never taking his gaze off the forest behind him.