Lunar

Chapter 4: Hidden Emotions

When Naddy arrived at the training grounds on Monday morning she found Darry already there, taking swings at a punching bag.

He noticed movement in the corner of his eye and looked up to find Naddy watching him. He stopped the punching bag then walked over to her.

"Hello Naddy, guess what we're doing today."

"Punching?"

"Correct," he said then gestured for her to walk over.

He then demonstrated how to punch properly, after she watched him demonstrate three times, he asked her to try.

Naddy tried to copy him and punch just like he did but she couldn't get it quite right, so he showed her again and she tried once more but with no success.

He chuckled causing her to glare at him.

"Stop holding your breath, punch with your fist not your knuckles, you'll injure yourself if you punch with your knuckles," he said

She tried again and this time it almost worked.

"Better," Darry said whilst he put his hand on her stomach. "But remember to breathe," he continued before taking his hand off.

She took a deep breath, and, remembering to breathe, she punched. 

Her fist connected with the bag and it swung away from her, almost knocking her over when it swung back.

"Well done Naddy! Now keep trying."

For the rest of the morning he got her to practice punching, giving her tips every now and then. She took a break every 10 minutes or so to get a drink and catch her breath before walking back to attack the bag.

By lunch she could punch reasonably well so he taught her how to block punches. He punched her slowly so she could block it, gradually picking up speed as she got better and faster.
Once she could do that well enough, they did both. She punched him and he blocked and he punched her and she blocked.

~*~*~*~*~

The next day, Naddy walked into the training room and immediately noticed the difference.

There were piles of random objects in the middle of the floor and she couldn't see Darry anywhere.

Bending down to pick up one of the jugs she found a tiny mouse staring back at her. "Awwww!" She said while laying the jug back on its side.

The mouse ran out and turned to looked at her again when it was a safe distance from her feet. She waved at it then jumped back in surprise when it transformed into Darius.

Staring at him, she wondered what happened.

As if reading her mind, Darry chuckled to himself. "Remember? Royals can shapeshift? You have to always be aware of that, whenever  you see an animal, check it's eyes. Our eyes always stay the same so if it has human eyes then that's a tell-tale sign that it's a shape-shifted royal."

"Yep okay, sorry, l forget what people can do,"

"That's fine, you're still new to this. You probably can't remember a lot of the powers. We'll go through that for theory next Saturday as well, also, get your friend to help you learn them. Be more careful with animals and royals."

"I will."

"Now that's done and l've had my fun, follow me."

He led her over to a safety pin, the smallest object on the floor. He turned to face her. "If you didn't already know, today you're doing gravity affection. So, you see that safety pin? Stop the gravity that's pulling it to the ground."

"Okay, how do l do that?"

"Imagine tiny hands coming out of the ground, and holding it to the ground. Now imagine loosening their hold and forcing those hands back into the ground."

Naddy stared at the safety pin and imagined dozens of tiny hands letting go of the safety pin. Nothing happened, she glanced at Darry.

"Try again,"he said.

She nodded and stared at the safety pin once again. She tried again, this time the safety pin lifted off the ground for a beat before the hands snatched it down again. She was surprised to find that she instantaneously felt some of her strength leave.

She yawned then jumped and swung her hips in a little victory dance, ecstatic that it worked. Then she turned back to the pin to make sure it wasn't a fluke. It stayed in the air for a few seconds longer this time, once again she felt the drain in her energy.
She glanced at Darry, and found that he was watching her carefully to make sure she didn't tire too much.

Naddy tried again a few more times, every time the pin stayed in the air for longer, and every time she grew more tired.

Eventually she grew too tired and her legs gave way. Darry rushed over and caught her before she hit the ground, a look of alarm plastered on his face.

He carried her over to the bench and laid her down. After a minute or so she regained enough strength to sit up, looking over at Darry, she was shocked to find how much concern and worry was in his eyes, but just as quickly as she had noticed it, it was gone, replaced by the usual steel barrier.

The short glimpse had left her wondering if she had really seen the concern and tenderness or if she had only imagined it. 

For the rest of the morning she experimented with each object, taking care not to expend so much energy and resting every so often to regain her strength.

Author's Note
What do you think of Darry? How bout Naddy?

What do you think of the book?
I love constructive criticism;)

Thanks for reading this far!