Princess of O'Khasis (OFFICIALLY DISCONTINUED)

Guard Camp

Melody was standing on a platform suspended over the water. She was wearing a light blue long-sleeve shirt, ripped brown pants, and black shoes. She had taken Garroths' scarf and tied it around her head to help keep her hair back, and she wore a simple necklace, brown thread with the stone from Vylads' bracelet at the bottom. The now-18 year old girl stood with her legs together, unmoving. Her eyes were closed and she was waiting, listening. There, the sound of footsteps, well masked, but her ears were trained to pick up the slightest of sounds. Now that she knew where he was, all she had to do was wait for him to attack, and from behind, a figure tried to kick the back of her knees to bring her down, the move worked, but only because Melody had let it. As she was falling, she used to momentum to somersault over, and stand up sharply, facing away from the figure behind her. Her opponent took the offense again, attempting to grab her arms, and twist them behind her back. But Melody evaded the attack once again, as the figure lunged for her arms, she did a backbend walkover, using his momentum against him. Since the boy had tried to grab her arm, he had closed the distance between the two, and when Melody did the walkover, her feet connected squarely with his chest, knocking him down. She didn't waste one second, Melody whirled around, and when the boy fell, she pinned his legs by kneeling down and putting her leg over his knees, preventing him from getting up. Soon after, she grabbed his wrists and folded his arms across his chest, completely immobilizing him. The boy under her chuckled, and said,

"Alright, alright, you win this round Mel." Smiling, Melody got up, and extended her hand to help him up. Going for a surprise attack, the boy tried to grab her hand and pull her down, Melody did a front flip, holding onto his hand so it twisted his arm, but letting go soon enough so that it didn't break.

"Really Jason? Thats the oldest trick in the book!" She said, brushing off her pants. Jason accepted his defeat and got up too, walking over to where a chair was set up with some water bottles on it. Jason grabbed one for him, and tossed one to Melody, who caught it with one hand.

"I gotta say Mel, I'm really proud of you. In only two years, you have covered most major fighting techniques, your a natural." Jason told her. It was true, Melody had trained almost every day since she took up fighting lessons with Jason, and she had become all but a master at hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, and surprisingly, acrobatics. She loved doing it, and Jason was a great mentor, he had been one of the top-ranked soldiers at guard camp, and he could have joined the jury of nine, but he decided to live a more peaceful life instead. When Melody had arrived, he had found her punching a wall in frustration. He had given her pointers on how to improve her punch, and eventually, she became his pupil. He was very tough and didn't sugar-coat anything, which Melody had appreciated, she had had enough of that in O'Khasis. But he was also encouraging, and kind. In fact, other than Donna, he was her closest friend. 

"Thanks Jason, but I'm only good because I had a good teacher." Melody told him, and Jason smirked.

"Yup, I guess I'm pretty great huh?" He said jokingly.

"You? No, I was talking about the blacksmith, I learned everything I know from that guy." Melody said sarcastically.  Jason laughed, but quickly sobered.

"Melody, in all seriousness, your practically better than me now, I've never met someone with so much natural talent. I don't have much more to offer you, but the guard camp at Nahakra village does." Melody just looked at him.

"Jason, Nahakra village? You know how far that is right? Besides, if I'm as good as you say, then I don't have anything more to learn." The last thing Melody wanted to do right now was go to guard camp. Especially the Nahakra village guard camp, it was revered as one of the best camps there is, and it was the one that Garroth had been sent to. In fact, he was probably still there, his ten years of training weren't completed yet.

"Distance doesn't matter, and you always have more to learn. Just, consider it, okay? I have connections there, starting late wouldn't even matter. It could be a really good opportunity you know."

"I know, I know, I just..." Melody trailed off. Jason looked concerned

"Just what?" He asked her. Melody stopped to consider her answer for a moment, and replied,

"I used to know someone who went there, and I don't want to run into them." She told him.

"Well, thats what a mask is for." Jason said as if it was obvious.

"Huh?" Melody said, slightly confused.

"Here," Jason said, taking Garroth's scarf off of her head, and tying it around her face, so it covered her mouth and nose. Then he tied back her hair so it was in a ponytail. Once finished, he stepped back, pleased with his work. Since most of Melody's face was covered, it was harder to recognize her, and because her hair was pulled back, it made her hair color difficult to immediately identify. All in all, she was hard to recognize. 

"See? I can hardly tell who you are anymore!" Jason said.

"I don't know Jason..." Melody trailed off. Nakahra village was practically neighbors with O'Khasis, and there was still a chance that Garroth could see her and recognize her, and she didn't want him to see her like this. The Melody Garroth knew was gone, she left when she threw herself into the ocean on that fateful day. She was afraid that Garroth wouldn't like the person that she has become.

"Just...give it a chance, please? I really think that this is a good opportunity for you. And whoever your avoiding won't be able to recognize you, I promise." Jason said, taking her hand in his. All he wanted was the best for her, and Melody could see that he really did think that it would be good for her.

"Maybe guard camp wouldn't be so bad." Melody said with a small smile. Jason grinned in reply.

"Great! I'll contact Nakahra right away!" Jason said, running off. Melody chuckled. Maybe it won't be so bad, she thought, risky, but not bad.  I guess its settled then, Im going to guard camp! I just hope this isn't a mistake...