The Dark Side of the Moon

The Team Unites

"The life of a Samurai must be one of discipline and order," Ji explained as he watched Mike, Kevin, Emily, and Mia train in the front yard. Jayden observed from beside him, while Rune watched from the side lines. "Samurai must constantly improve their skills to ready themselves for battle."

"Ah!" Mike winced as Kevin's sword caught him in the shoulder.

Rune blinked and looked up from the game she had been playing. Her mother had already explained to her that she had spoken with Ji about Rune's training regime; she had explained that Rune trained a little differently to her fellow Samurai, preferring to use techniques that she learned in her online games, as opposed to physical hand-to-hand combat with the team. The only time Rune had ever fought against another physical opponent was when she trained under the Mystics, but even then, Kali made sure that her needs were met.

"Are you okay?" Jayden asked, walking towards Mike and Kevin. He sounded concerned for his teammate, and Rune couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at him. This was the first time Jayden had showed any concern for those he now led into battle; often he was pushing them to be the best, regardless of whether they were struggling or not.

Mike nodded, rubbing his arm. It stung, but he refused to show weakness around his new allies. "Of course," he told Jayden.

"Get into your opponent's head. Use your instincts to sense their next move and feel their attack coming," said Jayden. He hefted his training sword into his hand and swung it behind him, his focus still on Mike.

Kevin ducked instinctively.

Jayden followed his sword and slashed down at Kevin but missed as Kevin ducked to the right.

"Wow, Kevin that's amazing," said Mike. He winced as, after swinging his sword up and pivoting around, Jayden smacked the sword against Mike's shoulder.

"Mike, always keep your guard up," said Jayden.

Mike nodded.

"Mike, let me ask you..." Ji started, drawing Mike's attention to him.

Mike turned to his Mentor, wincing again, as Jayden hit in the arm for a third time. "Hey, that's not fair. You distracted me," he complained.

Jayden shrugged, half-heartedly.

Realising the message, Mike grinned. "Okay, I get it. Let me try again. One more time." He tapped his sword against Jayden's, bounced from foot to foot and then jumped up and over as Jayden swung his own sword toward the ground, as he landed, Mike made to turn, but Jayden was quicker and hit him in the butt.

"Now watch this," said Jayden, swinging his sword at Kevin again.

The pair ducked and dodged one another, as Mike stood off to the side. Rune sighed as she watched his face fall increasingly as Kevin and Jayden showed off their skills, and she could tell that, while he wasn't jealous of the pair, he wanted to be just like them.

Heaving a sigh, Mike set down his training sword and walked off, his head low.

Glancing back at the others, Rune jumped to her feet and followed him. She caught up to him inside the house, and caught his arm, wheeling him around to face her. "Where you going?" she asked.

"I need some air," said Mike,

"So, you're heading inside?" Rune asked. "I have an idea. Do you want to head to the arcade? I hear there's a new game out, and I have been dying to try it. It be nice to have an opponent that he knows what he's doing for a change."

Mike frowned at her. "But, what about training?" he asked.

Rune shrugged. "I don't train with the rest of you, anyway," she said. "So, technically, I would still be training at the arcade. What do you say?"