Waging War | The Amber Duology #1

4 | A Second Friend

Kai was strutting. Given he had never strutted in his life, it was quite a head-turner for the people he passed by. Holding his chin up as he did, the smirk never left his face after he was dismissed from General Garmadon's tent. He was to become a drill instructor for the next few months and the title managed to swell up his pride.

Being in charge of all those teenagers also meant that he could boss them around however he wanted, which–he had to admit–seemed fun. A perfect opportunity to both scare them and prepare them for battle.

If he wanted to beat Morro, he had to step up his game.

"What's gotten you looking so high and mighty at a time like this?" He turned his head to find Cole, the army's expert in field testing new weapons and not that bad in the battlefield either—compared to him of course, making his way to Kai's direction with a crate labeled 'Extremely Flammable' in his hands.

Kai wasted no time in showing off his new position. "Guess who gets to train the new batch of recruits this year." He ran a hand through his hair.

"They chose you? Ha! You couldn't even handle the team building exercises during our training." Cole's mocking was loud enough for a few soldiers to snicker as they walked past the duo. "What was General thinking when he chose you?"

"Hey, now!" Kai nudged him, clearly offended with how his friend took this news. "It's also an opportunity to work on my leadership. Besides," He slung his arm around Cole's shoulder and rested his weight against him. He leaned close, enough to whisper, "I would do much better than you." in his ear.

With that, he broke out into a run, leaving a good distance between him and Cole who yelled back, "I will throw this at you, Smith!" making the boy laugh.

He came to a stop when he saw a familiar elemental master training behind one of the tents. His dark, black hair–with a little green highlight on the corner–moved around his shoulders with his every step.

He'd recognize that hold on a sword anywhere.

Kai took this as an opportunity to check out the competition. Perhaps even get in his head with a phrase or two. "Well, well, well, look what the wind blew in." He taunted, pride radiating with every step he took against the hard ground.

"Smith." The boy uttered with a harsh tone, the hatred in his voice could be heard from a mile away. "Breeze ruin your hair?" He didn't even have to look at the boy to know he was already checking his brown locks.

"What breeze?"

With a quick flick of his wrist, a strong wind came from nowhere and hit Kai straight in the face. The boy shielded himself with his arms and planted his feet firm onto the ground.

His smirk radiated past the camps. "That breeze."

Kai huffed, running a hand through his hair to try and get the spikes back up.

"Heard you were promoted to drill instructor this year." The boy lifted his sword to strike the dummy he was beating up. "I don't think you'll make it, Smith." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Wanna bet on that, Hiroto?" Kai narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms in the process.

Morro let a taunting laugh escape his lips. "You know I love a good bet, Smith." He stated and Kai knew he wasn't lying, different scenarios of the punishments they received flooded into his mind. "What's in it this time? Prank General Garmadon?"

"We both know Lloyd would tell his father once he figures out what we're up to." Kai rolled his eyes. "How about when I win, and one of my trainee's win that award this year, you will volunteer for Oni duty."