My Little Light

Chapter 21

I was still thinking about the weird conversation Kheen, I and the girl had just held, when we arrived at the gym.
Both of us went into different changing rooms. Trixi had given me some sporty shorts and a gray top along with sneakers which were a bit too small for me. But I was fine with my feet hurting a bit. I wanted to learn how to fight after all.
As I arrived in the dressing room basically every girl looked at me. Awkward silence.
I sighed. Time to introduce myself. Great!
"Hello. I'm Alysia."
The words broke through the silence and a flood of greetings and names flew in my face.
One girl, Anne, whose name I had surprisingly understood pushed her bags together to make space for me.
I thanked her and started changing as quickly as possible to get out of the room with everyone watching me.
"Where are you from? ", Anne asked.
She seemed like the friendly, popular kind of girl that everyone liked. I assumed that she simply wanted a bit of smalltalk.
" I was living in the Riverside Forest before I... moved here. And you? "
I smiled politely.
" I've always been living here in Cledae. Like my parents. I never really got to see many other places... But it's nice here as well so I have no problem with that. " She giggled in a friendly way.
With another polite smile I nodded and started leaving the room while hoping for her not to ask why I moved here.
The city we were in was called Cledae and Riverside Forest was at the edge of it, framing the eastern side.
It was a small city and even the closest city, Toulis, was quite far away. I had been there once. It was three years ago when my parents had something to work on there during the holidays. They simply decided to take me with them, letting me roam through the city on my own while they did what they needed to.
Suddenly a memory flashed through my head.
"Here you go, little birdie. " I threw a piece of bread towards a tiny bird sitting in front of me. I wasn't hungry anyway. I had been walking through Toulis for a few hours now and needed a break. Now I was sitting on a bench in a calm, beautiful park. More birds hopped towards me, hoping to get some food as well.
"Hungry little cuties... ", I mumbled as I kept throwing breadcrumbs which they picked up excitedly.
I smiled.
I wasn't really surprised when my parents told me to entertain myself on my own. They did that all the time. I did not expect them to leave me alone in a city I didn't know though.
But since it didn't bother me, I said nothing against it.
When I questioned what they had to do here I received no response. As always.
I didn't care anymore.
At least they had given me money to buy some food.
The city was very calm and quiet. The buildings were much bigger than the ones in Cledae. Actually everything in Toulis was made for more people to live here. Bigger houses, wider streets and so on. I enjoyed being away from home. It was refreshing.
I heard shouting a few blocks away. Smoke was rising in between a few buildings and people were running away. I watched them while staying where I was.
Some high pitched screams found their way towards me and I got up.
What was going on?
I started following the screaming. Maybe I could help?
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I turned around.
A boy stood behind me. His brown hair was a bit curly and framed his face. A part of my mind realized how well his brown eyes matched his hair. He seemed to be at my age. His chest and arms were covered with some kind of armor.
"Don't go there, it's not save! We'll take care of it!"
Without another word he ran forward, leaving me there.
I didn't follow him.

I shook my head.
So that was why Alec felt so familiar when I had seen him at first.
I had seen him there.
I decided to ask him about what had happened back then later.
Now it was time to enter the fighting gym.
A few students were carrying weapons, mostly different kinds of blades.
I saw Kheen swinging a katana through the air.
I smiled at the sight of it. They were my favorite kind of weapon because of their dangerous elegance. I walked in Kheen's direction, avoiding a boy who swung a sword around without caring about his surroundings.
Kheen noticed my arrival and put his katana aside.
"Hey Ally!"
"Hi. Nice sword!"
He grinned proudly. "Thanks. That's my own."
It seemed logical for someone like him to have his own weapon. I took a close look. The katana was very pretty. Tangled patterns were carved into the blade and the handle was decorated with a purple, soft-looking band.
All in all it looked as beautiful as it was dangerous.
"Where did you get it? It's really pretty. ", I asked while still admiring it.
Kheen took a second to answer so I looked at him. He was blushing. Very unusual for him.
"Ty gave it to me as a birthday present..."
He smiled at the katana.
'Naww... How adorable... ', I thought while smiling at him.
"Wow, you two must be extremely close considering that that must have been a very expensive gift."
Before Kheen had the chance to answer, a voice behind us responded.
"It was worth it. "
I turned around. Ty was there, watching us adore the Katana. How long had he been standing there?
Surprisingly, he smiled. Normally he just seemed grumpy but now... He smiled at the sword and then at Kheen. It was just for a second but I saw it.
Trixi and I would have a lot to talk about later.
Then I heard Mr Lambert calling all of us together in a circle around him.