DIVINITY ♛ LEE JENO

SEVENTEEN

"What's a knight doing out here on a Saturday afternoon?"

The frost was growing on the fences of the military base. It was enclosed on the coast of the Republic, forty minutes out from the Capitol. Although the sun was shining over the river, graphite clouds began to form over the coast. The base was fairly empty compared to most days. The coast guards were switching out shifts, the storm radar was alert. Some men practically lived on the base— but not Ten.

Only someone like him would catch a taxi in his eyesore of a uniform to train on his day off. He stood in the humidity with sweat trailing down his neck, palms wrinkled and knuckles growing plum. His blue eyes were tired, but snapped to the unreadable voice.

"Training." he spoke low, turning back around to the target in front of him. He wasn't interested in the Lieutenant. In fact, he wasn't fond of him at all. Though, the Lieutenant stared at him from a far all afternoon, watching him run around the perimeter and hit targets for hours. He raised an eyebrow, cautiously approaching the man who had buckets of water surrounding him.

"The dummy isn't alive. I think you've given him enough beatings for today." his mouth formed into an awkward expression. Ten paused, the water swirling in his palms. He snapped his neck again, glaring at Johnny. "I'm not in the mood for your jokes today, Lieutenant." Ten hissed. His boots were practically unground, grinding against the dirt beneath him. Johnny chuckled, crossing his arms. "Loosen up." he suggested, making the angry water shifter tense up more.

"I don't take everything as humor like you." Ten snarled.

In the blink of an eye, he was met with the ground, a gust of wind being the aggressor. Lieutenant Suh took a couple steps towards him, a smirk plastered on his face. Ten stared up at him with a provoked look, planning out his next moves to splash that happy smile away. "It wasn't a joke. Your form— loosen it up. Too much tension can make you susceptible to jabs; in this case, whatever mysterious gust of wind decided to worsen your day." Johnny rubbed his hands together.

"What do you know? You're some airhead who's stuck in la-la land, I'd rather not take your criticism on my water shifting form." the knight's jaw clenched. His opponent hummed, forming a breeze above them.

"You don't know a thing if you refuse to take advice from other people, Sir Ten." he responded. The air he shifted above their heads held every speck of dust in their proximity, dancing in the sky. "Here in the Republic, we unite our differences." he began. Before he could continue, Ten let out an annoyed sigh. "Yeah, yeah. I've heard it a million times— the Neo Elemental Republic is the heart of peace amongst the four elements." he scoffed.

"There's a reason our military is one of the strongest in the world. If you beg to differ, then I don't know why your Princess is bargaining for our men." he pursed his lip forward. "We share practices. Water shifting is no different from air shifting. The form is all the same." he continued. The air above him was gray of dust and dirt, but it moved with fluidity. Just like water, Ten thought.

"You could learn a thing or two, not by aimlessly hitting these targets though." Johnny shrugged. He then struck the bubble of dust towards the same target, hitting dead in the center. Bullseye. "I'll ask again, what's a knight doing out here on a Saturday afternoon?" he stared into the man's eyes. They were sharp, fierce like a cat. That's what they all compared him to, anyways.

"I'm training to protect my leader. At the end of the day, I've known her the longest, not this General. I don't trust that he can protect her the way she needs to be protected." Ten swallowed the dryness in his mouth. Johnny's eyebrows raised in interest. He thought the cold cat would be harder to crack. Seems like he only needed to be humbled, he thought. He reached out his hand, offering the cat a bit of help- but of course he refused. Ten got up himself, brushing off the dirt off of his uniform.