Fantasy Protectors

[SecretRock]

Everyone stared at the cube, and some seemed to get even more worried.


"I was there with Hunter." Selene spoke up, looking around at the group gathered. "It knew his name, his powers, and his rank among us. If the Decimators have access to this information on something as portable as this..." She trailed off, but her face said it all. It was worrying at the least, and most of them could see it.

 

[Tohoak]

Hunter nodded. "I cannot stress how much we need to be ready for an attack. We cannot live in fear, but have to be prepared. If there are no questions The meeting is over and you need to get to training," he said

 

[SecretRock]

Selene looked around and noted the silence as people started to file out of the room. She stood up herself as it emptied and looked over to Hunter, then nodded and walked over to Azure. She patted him on the shoulder.


"Go get some sleep." She told him, then looked at Luna and Tig. "You two should as well, it's late." She offered them a smile as Azure nodded sleepily.

 

[Tohoak]

Tig didn't argue. She trudged back to her dorm tiredly. Her eyes closed and she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.


Kydlin looked at Hunter sympathetically. He looked exhausted. "You should get to bed. You've been busy today," she said once everyone had left. He started to protest but was interrupted by a yawn. Grudgyingly he let Kydlin pull him back to their dorms.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure followed back to the dorm rooms and fell onto his nest-bed, pulling the blankets around himself into a cocoon before drifting off into sleep. Selene shut the door behind him, then trudged to her own dorm and climbed into bed after kicking her shoes off.


(Shall we skip to the morning?)

 

[Tohoak]

(Indeed we shall)


Tohoak yawned and stretched they had a rough day of training and skill sharpening ahead of them. She watched as Hunter appeared from his dorm and survayed the camp.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure groaned as light filtered into his room through the window. He tried to pull his covers over his face but eventually gave up and rolled off the mattress he used as a bed. He looked at the mirror on his wall and groaned, realising that he'd slept in the clothes he'd worn the night before and started feeling gross. He never liked to keep the same clothes on for more than a day if he could help it. He walked over to his wardrobe, pulling out a fresh tee shirt and clean pair of trousers and getting changed. Once he felt a little cleaner, he left his room, looking around at the others. He spotted Tig and walked over.


"Sleep well?" He asked, dropping into step beside her.

 

[Tohoak]

Tig smiled at him and nodded, "Yes. You?" she asked. Hunter had spotted them and was slowly making his way toward them. He continuosly stopped to talk to another Protector. Kydlin had appeared beside him and she helped answer any questions asked. His face lightened at her presence and Tig felt graditude toward the other mentor. She eased Hunter's mind.

 

[SecretRock]

"Yeah, fine." Azure replied, watching Hunter, then spying Selene making her way over. She grinned at them, and Azure smiled back. He looked around the camp. It was a lot busier than it usually was, so Hunter's words of encouragement had obviously circulated since last night. Thinking of last night got him thinking of Nonie again. He still found it hard to believe that she was a Decimator; that she was his enemy. He realised he was frowning a quickly shook his head to clear them of those thoughts.


"You know what we're doing today?" he asked Tig, looking around again.

 

[Tohoak]

"Training, training, traing," Tig said rolling her eyes, Hunter would want them to be at their best. Finaly he and Kydlin made it over to Tig and Azure."Morning Hunter," Tig grumbled. Hunter raised his eyebrows at her tone.


"Good morning to you too," he said sarcastically. He turned to Azure hoping for a better response. "Monring Azure," he said heartily.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure nodded in greeting, smiling politely but noticing the apparent tension between Tig and Hunter. Selene approached and clapped Azure on the shoulder, greeting the others.


"So, the plan for today, start with sparring?" Selene asked Hunter and Kydlin, looking between the trainees with them.

 

[Tohoak]

Hunter nodded and narrowed his eyes at the two apprentices. "Seeing as you two are right here. You can partner up," he instructed. Tig looked over at Azure and shrugged. After telling Hunter she was going to find more apprentices Kydlin walked back toward the dorms.


Reaching the first dorm and knowing Luna bunked there she knocked on the door and waited for the girl to come out.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure looked at Tig and nodded, stepping back to get some space for the practise. He set his feet at shoulder width apart and raised his arms, with his hands in fists. He smiled at Tig then got into a fighting mindset while Selene stepped back to watch. She could train later, right now she needed to make sure Azure's standards hadn't slipped. She also wanted to talk to Hunter, but that could wait until their protégés were distracted.

 

[Tohoak]

Tig took a deep breath trying to relax her mind. Then she set her feet and raised her fist. She didn't wait for anyone to tell them to begin. No one would be telling them to begin in a real battle after all. She shot forward jabbing toward Azure's throat.


Hunter moved backwards a few steps as the two began fighting. He recalled the days when his own mentor had watched him spar. He had been the best in his class due to his unique ability of sensing. He knew just what his opponets where going to do before they did it.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure hurriedly blocked the punch, careful not to step back. He retaliated to the blow with his own, aimed for her stomach. He liked sparring, but he didn't want to hurt his friends and held back a lot. Selene always told him not to, but it was part of his nature.


"Thumbs on the outside of fists, Azure." Selene called, and Azure instantly changed the position of his fingers. He was always good at learning like that. She continued watching, then glanced at Hunter. "Did you recognise that man last night? The one giving commands?" She asked him quietly, not wanting to distract the pair fighting.

 

[Tohoak]

Tig twisted to the side feeling Azure's first brush past her side. Her eyes flickered with a blue flame for a second as excitment raced through her. Azure was a good sparring partner. Hunter saw the flash of flame and was quick to scold her. "Tig keep you power under control!" he warned. Tig tried hard to keep her power maintianed and as she swiviled to face Azure again she swung her fist toward his side.


Hunter relaxed when he saw the flame from her eyes dissapeared and he listen to Selene as she asked her question. As he thought about it he hadn't known the man. That was strange. He usaly knew these things. Queitly he shook his head frowning. "I didn't," he said.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure stepped back, out of reach, then swung his leg up and around, at about head height, his heel leading. He was glad that he'd changed clothes, as well as not feeling grimy, the clothes he was in now let him move around more. As much as he loved jeans, they were very restricting. Selene sighed quietly.


"He obviously held some command," Selene remembered the way he'd told the soldiers what to do, how he was the only one with a weapon. From what she'd seen, they had a few, but probably not enough for every person working for them. "If we'd known him, that whole 'taking the war to them' thing would have been much easier." She lamented.

 

[Tohoak]

He nodded thoughtfully, "Then perhapse thats what we should be finding out." He said queitly. Tig ducked down with a small gasp of breath and rolled forward landing and jerking her fist forward toward his stomache.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure stepped to the side and grabbed Tig's fist, pulling her the way her momentum was carrying her anyway, hoping to overbalance her. He moved round so he was behind her and kicked at her back. Selene nodded in approval of both Azure's skill and Hunter's suggestion. She thought for a second.


"Maybe if we lure him out again..." She suggested. "We get a clear picture of his face, try that cube on him maybe, we'd get his identity. I don't know if the cube would be programmed with Decimator identities though..."

 

[Tohoak]

Tig let her momentem fling her forward and to the ground away from Azure's oncomming kick. The breath was knocked out of her for a moment, but she didn't let that stop her. She rolled onto her back and flicked her hands into the air, catching his foot and trying to twist it to the side.


"Its worth a try," Hunter said thoughtfully. He watched Tig and Azure carefully. They were doing well. "We need to do a more discret job than we did last time," he add wristfully.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure pushed off of the ground with his other foot, wincing a little as his foot was twisted around. He kicked his free foot at her arms trying to get her to let go.


"Well, discreet isn't exactly my forte, so you may want to consult someone other than me on that." She reminded him, starting to chew on her knuckle. "Maybe you shouldn't go though, if discreet is the goal. You're pretty recognisable."

 

[Tohoak]

That brought a smile to Hunter's face. He nodded with a light laugh. "I couldn't agree more. Perhaps we should caputre him and bring him back to camp for questioning," he said.


Tohoak growled in crustration as her hands were kicked from Azure's foot. She jerked herself upwards while aiming her fist at Azure's shoulder.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure stumbled back as Tig's fist hit his shoulder and sent him off balance. It was a sharp sudden pain, but Azure could brush it off. He swung his arm out, hand flat, towards her neck. Selene nodded in agreement to Hunter's suggestion.


"Well, we still need to find out his identity." She mumbled to herself. "So we need some way to track him down. Maybe if we find out about another shipment of guns or something? Stake it out?" She suggested.

 

[Tohoak]

Hunter chewed on his lip thoughtfully. Suddenly he got a bold thought. "What if we sent someone in undercover? We could reprogram the cube we have to ID them as a Decimator. After they find him they could somehow get word out to us," He said slowly.


Tig clenched her teeth as Azure's hand hit her neck. He wasn't hitting with his full power, but it left a small stinging senseation. It was good to feel pain she thought with a smile. She jerked backwards then brought her foot toward his knees forcing herself not to over power the kick.

 

[SecretRock]

Azure lifted his leg, blocking Tig's kick with his shin, and kicked her leg away, then dropped and tried to hook his foot around her leg and pull her down. Selene wasn't really paying attention to the fight any more, rather thinking about the plan instead.


"They probably have other databases of their agents," she told Hunter, "A traitor would probably make more sense." She gritted her teeth, it would be very dangerous for whoever went.