Unobtainable

Unreachable

     A month passed and within that time, the streets were growing more restless. Astrea took notes of the things she heard, especially ones of the apparent fire brigade in the area now. It seemed like they were patrolling the area on the king's behalf, but at the very least they seemed much less twisted. They never attacked anyone, and regularly defended the people from unjust prosecution by other guards. For the most part, Astrea and her new team stayed in their base of operations. Everyday was spent undergoing a hard training routine put together by Aneirin and his experience as a Royal guard.

     Early in the morning, Astrea was awoken, she didn't know what time it was but she had already grown well accustomed to waking up this early now. Immediately Aneirin instructed her to follow him. Something about his demeanor was different, as if he was a little more excited than usual. She followed behind him as he walked over to Marcus and then spoke,

     "Loosen up. You will be fighting me, at full power! I just need you to make me hit the floor. All of you..." Aneirin finished with a smile on his face. Astrea, who had been more so focusing on the fact that Dawn and Marcus had slept on the couch together, turned her attention to him suddenly after he said that, and he met her gaze and spoke, "Yes Astrea. All of you. I want to see your growth first hand. Come! Hurry." With that, Aneirin began to walk, they seemed to be heading to one of the rooms, walking into it and then into a closet, which led down a staircase into an underground bunker. It was large, and clearly made by Aneirin since only he seemed to be down here. It was their training area, but now cleared out of equipment and simply just a blank canvas for a hand to hand fight.

     The group followed into the large barren storage room, Aneirin immediately giving Marcus a punch on his shoulder, "Don't pull your punches. But no aiming for serious injury. I'll let you go first Marcus." Dawn and Astrea followed him but did not enter as they reached the clear sparring room.

     Marcus scoffed a bit at Aneirin's words, "How about you try not to hurt me?" He waved a hand with a small eye roll, following Anierin with his eyes as they took positions across from each other. Clearly, Astrea had noticed, he was trying to hide his nervousness.

     "I'll keep your face intact for Dawn~" Aneirin chuckled at Marcus as they took their positions, the two girls now observing from a little distance away. A loud and awkward laugh escaped Marcus from those words.

     Astrea noticed Marcus check to be sure Dawn didn't hear that, his face burning hot. If he could blush his face would probably be red. He was clearly still so unsure about fighting, although he definitely wanted to protect Dawn.

     "Thank you, that's perfect." He joked lightheartedly and scraped his claws together fidgeting, as if unsure how to start. All of this training and Astrea figured he'd be used to it. Albeit he was doing better than he started, but the fossa still seemed unsure. He had to get over that eventually, they can't just rely on Aneirin for everything. "So..who starts?" He had asked, and the moment he did so Aneirin struck him in the chest with his palm. Marcus reacted with a shocked expression and an "UFF", throwing his arms out in surprise, before slowly settling into a more confident position, his look changing to one of determination now that he knew the match had begun. "I guess you are..." he mumbled under his breath now as his hair blew in unnatural directions, and he swung an arm out to send a wall of wind out to press against Aneirin's body. 

   
     Astrea watched intensely, as the wind made contact with Aneirin and his eyes seemed to flash a golden color, before returning to his natural crimson. He then grabbed hold of one of the wooden swords, standing tall, almost in a way to challenge Marcus to attack. The fight had begun, and Dawn was staring just as closely as Astrea was, although the two girls were studying two different people. Astrea watched Aneirn, and Dawn watched Marcus with a wide smile, occasionally cheering as the two began their spar. Marcus seemed a bit worried for a second, he didn't exactly like using weapons himself. He then attacked, which Astrea felt was a bad move. Marcus leaped forward, sending a wave of air on the ground shortly after he landed in an attempt to trip up his opponent. It was a valiant effort, Astrea could tell that much, but it seemed like Aneirin was far too good. It clearly wasn't seeing these attacks before they came out; instead, it was observed more as him reacting to Marcus's movements.