White Strings

Episode 9 - Deeper

"When can you take me to that dedicated area for the fallen?" Silk asked Kaon first thing in the morning. She wanted to wait for him last night but she ended up falling asleep.

"No good morning?" Kaon replied with a smile. He had his three frems twirling around him, as usual, as he packed food for the day.

"Good morning," Silk corrected herself.

"It's in the trials area, which is currently closed for the mock familiar trials. I will take you there first thing after we are done with that."

"But you said..."

"Yes, I forgot about the trials, sorry."

Silk sighed but then shook it off. Ash was gone regardless, it would make no difference to see his name on a grave, wouldn't it? If anything, it would probably just get her all depressed again. That was the last thing she needed.

"Later, I guess. What are we doing today, then?" Silk asked.

"Work on your stances again, that's for sure." Kaon handed Silk a little packed cloth bag. "You seem to learn fast, so I will also teach you a few basic swings today as well."

"Really?" Silk's eyes widened. "Already?"

"Don't get me wrong, your stances are far from perfect." Kaon smiled at Silk's excited reaction. "But we have to pick up our pace, I want you to get your first marking as fast as possible."

"Me too!" Silk lifted her arms in the air. "Let's go!"

Kaon shook his head as Silk already took off, probably running outside to the Mansion's arena. He lifted Dream in his hand and looked into the fluffy creature's eyes, smiling.

"She's cute, isn't she?" Kaon said as he gave Dream a little pat. Dream, on the other hand, rejected Kaon's pat and jumped off his hand. His little body quickly tapped away and sneaked out the door as well.

"You're right, I can't get distracted," Kaon nodded. "Mock trials."

Outside, Silk already put on the safety gloves she was given yesterday. She was impatient, walking back and forth with clenched fists. She was going to receive proper training, finally! Ever since Ash, no one had ever helped her practice. She just did it for the sake of it. But this time, this time it was about to change!

Kaon's figure caught her eye, finally, and she watched him as he took his time putting down his bag and preparing his training gear. Silk was reminded of Sir Falant as Kaon looked focused, tying his hair up. Was Kaon worried about his father? Or did he not care? Or maybe he was used to it?

"You like my face?" Kaon asked out of the blue.

Silk choked on her own saliva and looked away as she coughed a few times, trying to catch her breathing. When she was done she turned back to face Kaon, a little angry at his weird remark. Before she could say words of protest, Kaon had already started giving out instructions.

"Your arm to your left, that's right." Kaon circled around her as she followed his every word. "Now switch. Great, now do them all in order."

Silk felt the same rush from yesterday hitting her again, this time she managed to properly enjoy it. Now that she knew the movement, she could switch between stances quickly without much fixes from Kaon. It felt great, so great that she didn't even care about her muscles turning into goo again.

"Such an improvement from yesterday, that's great!" Kaon boosted her confidence even more. "We have some time before our familiar session, so let's use it to learn some basic swings."