No Hero

On me

Freya

"You're the sky warrior aren't you" a blond boy fell into step with me. He came to about my shoulder height. 

I studied him for a minute and tried to remember what I've learned from my time so far in Polis. He was one of the night bloods, the oldest one from the looks of it. Lexa spoke proudly of her night bloods. I believe his name was Aden, the one who showed the most promise. "I am" I said.

He continued to walk with me even though I had no real destination in mind. "My name is Aden" he said. I gave him a nod.

"One of the night bloods" I said.

"Yeah" he grinned excitedly. I looked at him a bit confused. Theres a chance he will die in his conclave why was he so excited to be a night blood? Maybe to him the honor of being the next commander out weighed those worries. "Anyways I have been wanting to ask if you will help me with my training?" he asked toning down his excitement.

I stopped walking to turn to him with my arms crossed. "The commander already trains you, doesn't she?" I asked. Lexa was the commander for a reason, her training advice would be the best based on their fighting style. 

Aden scratched the back of his head nervously. "She does. She trains all the night bloods but she's too busy to ask for extra training. And you're from the sky I figured you might also have some things I can learn" he explained.

I sighed weighing my options here. Ignore him and go spend the day at Ameka's mothers shop or train with him and risk upsetting Lexa's council. "Alright let's go" I said. I wasn't doing any harm to the nightblood and I have nothing but time. 

"Mochof" Aden grinned turning to lead me to his training ground. I followed but couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. It was different than the stares I usually received. And in the week I have been here the stares have began to become less frequent. I was trying my best to fit in and not give them reason to believe I was a dumb sky person. Subtly I watched for anything out of the norm on the way around the tower. A man strolled through the market following us. He was wearing dark hunting colors and had a few furs hanging from his shoulder. For a brief moment I caught his eye. As we turned the corner to the back of the tower he disappeared into the crowded market. "Where should we start?" Aden asked. I brushed the strange feeling off for now.

The training ground didn't have a soul around. Not even the noise from the market disturbed it. Off to the side there was a small hut with training weapons. I walked over to look at our options. Aden followed silently. There were wooden swords, shields and staffs. I smirked grabbing two staffs. They were almost exactly like the one I had at the drop ship. "Have you done many drills with these?" I asked handing him one.

He spun the staff in his hand but it fell to the ground. "Sorry" he said quickly grabbing it and standing up straight.

"Okay" I sighed leading him out to the middle of the clearing. My arm was still healing but it was doing much better now. And the bruises are almost gone except the one on my side that is now a yellowish color. "Staffs like these are good to practice with because it will teach you control and agility" I told him.

"We've practiced with them before but I'm better with a sword" he said. I know he was good with a sword from the few minutes I've seen the night bloods train. Learning control with a staff will improve his skills.  

"Show me some of the drills you've done" I said taking a few steps back to give him room.

Aden stretched for a moment to prepare. Immediately I could see that his drip was slightly off. And his footing could use some adjusting. I've seen him training with the others and his stance was usually perfect when it came to hand to hand combat. Aden ran through a couple drills. "Now you see why I prefer knives" he said with a frown.