Speechless

2: China Town (Part One)

Persephone sped through the crowds of people at the airport, running and bumping into people every few seconds. She had slept through her alarm and was now racing to get to her flight to China with the rest of the Bladebreakers.

Dammit! Today of all days! They're gonna kill me!

Persephone could feel her heart pounding in her chest, drowning out the people around her and their snarky comments about her rudeness as just sprinted past them. As bad as she felt, she couldn't stop to apologize. All she could focus on was getting to her gate.

Dragging her bags along, Persephone finally reached her gate, handing her ticket to the lady behind the counter and sprinting toward the open plane doors. She slowed to a stop as she reached the entrance of the plane, her breathing fast and labored, and her mind spinning. After taking a second to breathe, Persephone looks up to see Max, Kenny, and Mr Dickinson waving her over from midway in the rows of seats. Her eyes drifted to her grey-haired team captain, his eyes sharp and trained on her, his mouth turned downwards into a scowl.

"H-Hey guys. Sorry I'm late," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper as she did everything she could to avoid Kai's cold crimson eyes.

"No worries!" Max said with a cheerful smile, one Persephone assumed rarely disappeared from his face, "At least you got here before Tyson."

Upon hearing this Persephone scanned the surrounding seats for her blue-haired teammate, and just as Max said, he was nowhere to be found.

"Y-Yeah," she replied, forcing a small smile before looking for a seat other than the one Max was saving for Tyson with his carry-on.

Much to her dismay, the only open seat was next to Kai, whose gaze had not softened in the time since she had boarded the plane. She gulped and silently took her seat, hearing a soft scoff from the boy next to her.

He's so scary.

She shivered slightly, tucking her own carry-on under her seat. She peeked up at him, relieved to see his gaze had moved from her to staring out the window, the scowl lessened but still visible in his features. Persephone felt a small wave of relief wash over her.

Maybe this won't be so bad.

She could barely get the thought processed before Tyson burst through the entrance, skidding to a stop.

"Made it!" He cried, throwing his fist in the air.

"Tyson!" Max cheered, moving his bag and patting the seat next to him.

Persephone flashed him a smile as the doors to the plane closed.

"You're late." Kai growled, his harsh stare now focused on Tyson.

The two bickered for a moment, resulting in Tyson sticking his tongue out at his captain and turning to talk to Max while taking his seat.

Kai huffed, "What an idiot."

"At least he made it, right?" Persephone said, offering up a small smile.

Kai stared at her for a second, his eyes scanning her face for any sign of sarcasm. When he decided there wasn't any he looked away, not giving any response.

Persephone gulped, trembling slightly.

Come on Shae. You're gonna have to talk to him eventually! You're gonna be working with him for the next few months.

She looked down, noticing the red arm guards covering his forearms.

"So what are those for?" She asked softly, her finger grazing over to the tip of one of the fins.

Kai tensed slightly before clearing his throat, "Training," he replied simply, his eyes following her hand.

Her eyes narrowed quizzically, "Training?"

He pointed to the grey ovals on the arm guards near his elbows, "These are weights. I've been working with them for a while, so I've gotten used to them. I'll need to make them heavier soon."

Persephone's eyes widened a bit, "And you wear these all the time?"

Kai nodded, "Pretty much, yeah."

"That's...."

"Overboard?"

"I was gonna say impressive," she breathed, a smile creeping into her features, "No wonder you're so good. I'm proud."

Kai froze. No one had ever acknowledged his hard work, never mind taking pride in it.

He cleared his throat, "T-Thank you," he forced out, turning away a bit flustered.

Persephone laughed softly, her eyes drifting over the other passengers. The same lack of sleep that had caused her to oversleep was now taking over her with a yawn. She adjusted her position slightly and closed her eyes, slowly falling asleep to the sound of the plane soaring through the sky.

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