A soft shake on his shoulder woke Grey up. Exhausted he looked up to see Snowflake. Standing there with a worried look on his face long silver hair framing a face with those peculiar slanted purple eyes.

“How are you feeling?” His friend asked him.

“Like I was hit by a Ghul” Grey grunted.

“You made these as a remembrance?” Snowflake asked running his hands over the weapons. Taking Sansieri’s chained bracelets in his hands with a saddend look on his face.

“Once we get a chance to bury them I think they deserve being buried with the weapons they fought with. It was the least I could do.”

“I think they would have liked that.”

“They would have liked living more.” Grey snapped in answer. “ Sorry. It’s just you know, We got ripped a new one by that monster and there wasn’t much we could do, that I could do.” Gazing at Snowflake’s eyes he turned his eyes back to the floor shaking his head. “We need to get stronger, We can’t let anyone else die.”

“With that I agree it means we should get you off your behind now and start training!” Snowflake said grabbing Grey by his wrist helping him up. “Plus you should see wat Mist has done.”

Staring at his friend confused he followed him to the training hall. There stood the long heavy wooden table. Like it always did. This time with only 8 plates on it however. Just seeing that was enough to make the 2 hesitate for a while. Feelings of loss once again coursing through mind.

Sitting there on the table was a girl Grey barely recognized. The pale beauty that once had long waving green hair to frame her pale, yet gentle face. Had changed into a woman with the sides of her head shaved until nothing but short green fuzz remained to give it colour. The rest of her hair was tied down in a braid. The gentle, teasing look that usually showed itself on the girls face was nowhere to be seen. Her face even seemed to have changed form a little. No longer a girl amused by the world, she was now a woman who had made a decision with fierce determination. Angular, furious and deadly serious. That was the kind of vibe she sent to him now.

Mist stood up and walked to Grey. Even the way she walked had changed. Usually a soft sensual swaying of her hips would have caught the attention of any man but now she stalked more than she walked. Purposefully setting every step she made.

“I want you to teach me the way you walk.” She told him staring into his eyes.

“Ok” Grey simply answered.

Taken aback a little by how he simply decided to teach her without any fuss or comment. At first he hadn’t wanted to teach anyone the way he walked. Most of all because it was really straining on the muscles on their feet and that he was unsure on how he would teach anyone else to walk this way when he himself just did it by seeing how many ripples he made and changed it till there where nearly no ripples left to be seen.

“Wat changed your mind?” She asked

“All of us have to get stronger. By any means possible, If that means I have to teach you how to walk without causing the ground to ripple then so be it.”

Nodding Mist went back to her seat and focused on her food. She wasn’t the only one who had changed her tune after the first encounter they had had. The faces around the table had lost all signs of humor and amusement. The mood had obviously darkened.

The food even though it was probably just as delicious as it had always been had lost all of its taste. Chewing mechanically all of them ate without talking much. The ominous mood seeped into the pores of the people on the table. Even the instructor seemed to have lost all appetite.

Oak was the first one who finished his meal. Once finished he just stood up and moved away from the table. He grabbed his mace and tower shield and started his training routine. The low whooshes of the heavy mace reverberated throughout the hall. The sounds the swinging of the mace created did nothing to improve the move. The rest finished off their meals and joined Oak in swinging their weapons through the stances each had created. Mist and Sling were shooting projectiles at their usual scarecrows.

After about an hour, each of them finished of their respective routines. Mist motioned Grey to follow her and they headed to the forest area where they had gone through the team fights before. The memory of the fights they had gone through together hit both Grey and Mist. Sighing and walking with the weight of the memories in their footsteps they moved on.

“So wat exactly was your plan?” Grey asked

“I want you to teach me that weird way you walk. This area with its respawning magic will help us use it in practice. I want to become as silent as you. This forest will help me learn”

“Very well. You should know that the way I walk puts a lot of strain on your toes and the Achilles heel muscles. It will take a while for you to be able to use it permanently like I do. It took me near a year for my muscles to get used to it.”

“Time is about the only thing we have plenty of.” Mist answered.

Nodding to her words he started teaching her how to walk. Not holding back he was planning to reprimand her every time she loosened up a bit. The thing was there was no need to reprimand her. She did plenty of that herself. Every time she let herself loosen up a bit she cursed to herself and her face changed back to that fierce expression she had taken to wearing lately.

Days flew past like this. Training, teaching and forging occupied his days for the next few weeks. The routine he had gotten used to, was broken by an announcement from the instructor.

“Tomorrow the buying of slaves will start. After what had happened the first time you guys saw battle I expect each of you will be bought by someone. You won’t see who buys you or if the rest of you gets bought. The auction will be held today and you won’t know the result till you find yourself in the respective rooms the buyers will put you in.” The instructor told them with a face that showed no emotions.

“I’ll be honest with you guys the buyers can really differ. Some of you may be lucky and be bought by someone who has respect for you fighting style and are simply admirers. Some of you will be bought for looks. These will not be so lucky as you will have to do whatever you are told. That magic is bound to the brand we all have on our backs and there is nothing we can do about it. The last group is the worst off. These will be bought by the people who just wish to do whatever they wish with you. Some of them just love to inflict pain.” He looked each of them in the eyes in turn.

“All of this will happen tomorrow, Be prepared. Now get some sleep”

The group went to bed already worried about tomorrow.

Sorry for the trouble, but i really want to make this something good, so im doing things properly! Takes time though, stick with me! as always thanks for reading :D

Sorry for the trouble, but i really want to make this something good, so im doing things properly! Takes time though, stick with me! as always thanks for reading :D