" I'm not going to let anyone take you away from me..."
" I feel as though I'm missing something or someone..."
" I knew I shouldn't have messed with destiny.."
" I was only trying to protect you..."
" It's been a while Luna."
Luna and Sol begin the...
" Jacket... Check... Gloves... Check... Dagger..." I ran through my list of things I needed.
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( Silver ears, black hair, one golden brown eye, one reddish brown eye, black tail, silver tail tip, fingerless gloves, silver outfit with gold design)
" Hey, Luna." I heard the door open and Sol's voice calling me. I turned to see him panting, his body completely drenched in sweat.
" Did you train that hard?" I asked twisting around to brush out mu tangled tail.
" Well, Jack didn't know anything about climbing..." Sol explained. " I don't get it... He's a manticore; manticores live in mountainous terrains! He should know how to climb!"
" Well, he's probably spent his entire life here, closer to the city, so I'm not surprised." I limped towards the door.
" Hey, Luna, why do you always limp like that?" Sol's wing stopped me from exiting the room.
" It's just an old injury, that's all." I replied and tried to take his wing off my shoulder.
" Really? Then you should get someone to see the leg. If it's an old injury and it hasn't healed yet, its probably something serious. You shouldn't train with Jack either, I'll tell him that you're not going." Sol walked to the door.
" Wait, I can still train, and I'm not going to have the leg examined. It's fine." I slid past Sol and proceeded down the hallway.
" Okay..." Sol called. " By the way, you're going the wrong way!!" I stopped and turned to look at him. He could barely contain his laughter. " For some reason, you keep going the wrong way, opposite of what you're supposed to go."
" Hey... Not funny." I said, playfully batting my tail on him, as I walked past him.
" Ah! Okay, okay, stop.." he said dodging my blows; he stepped into the room and ran away.
" Not until you take back what you said!" I said pursuing him around the room.
" Okay! Okay! I take it back!" Sol howled, cowering under the covers of the bed. I glared at him and turned to go out the door once more.
"Ugh, where is the training arena?" I grumbled as I roamed the endless hallways. Then I saw a door that said ' Training Arena'. " Well, guess this is it. Hope Jack will be in there." I opened the door slightly and poked my head in.
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Torches lined the entrance, making a path to the arena.
" It's outdoors." I thought as I walked down the path. Up ahead I heard an instructor teaching the students how to wield a gun. I walked into the arena to see the students practicing on targets. Loud gun shots rang through out the arena and into the sky above. I dodged a stray bullet that went flying my way.
" Watch out!" a bullet flew towards me as I leaped out of the way of another. I whipped my tail forward, sending a midnight spike through the bullet and impaling the far wall. I flicked my tail behind me, dust flew up where my tail settled on the ground.
" Sorry about that!" a student came running up to me. " I sort of lost control of the bullet..."
" No worries, I'm fine." I responded and scanned the arena. All the students have stopped what their doing to stare in my direction.
" How did she do that?!"
" Wow... She's fast..."
" Her reflexes are as fast as lightning..."
" Are you here to join the class?" The instructor asked as she came running over.
" Actually, I'm looking for Jack." I responded, " Do you know where he could be?"
" He's over there." the instructor pointed to the other side of the arena, where a person was repeatedly swing his tail forward like a whip.
" Thanks." I said and bounded across to Jack. " Jack!" I said as I dodged a wave of spikes. I leaped aside as a spike buried itself in the spot that I was just standing on a heartbeat ago. "Jack!" I said again, a little louder. He ignored me and continued to fire his spikes. I dodged one spike and flicked my tail, aiming at another flying spike. " JACK!!!" I hollered as I fired my own spikes to deflect the onslaught of wildly aimed spikes.
" HUH?? AH! Luna, you're here!"Jack stopped swing his tail forward. " Sorry, didn't see you there..."
" No worries.." I said as I looked at the mess of spikes embedded in the sand." Okay,we should get started..."
" I've never had to use my tail before, so I can't aim properly..." Jack admitted sheepishly.
" Its fine, let's start with, um..., control." I said. " Sol's right! Even a young manticore knows better than this!" I thought. " Well, to start, body motion."
" What?! What does body motion have to do with control?!" Jack whined. " It has nothing to to do with control!!"
" The way you move affects the accuracy, speed, and power of the spikes. I'll show you why." I leaned forward and flicked my tail back and forth. I felt Jack watching with interest. I leaped to the left and spun around, impaling a spike into the wall.
" Oh..." Jack's eyes widened with wonder, " So what does that prove?"
" Well, the way I moved changed the way the spikes behave." I explained. " My tail is left to trail freely behind me; it allows more than one spike to be released and it is a more offensive approach to a target."
" What happens if the tail is kept straight?" Jack asked, " Would it make it harder to maneuver the spikes?"
" The spikes will be unbalanced and will not go to the correct target. How about, you give it a try?" I responded, " It's better for you to try it for yourself. Everyone has their own unique way of firing and deflecting spikes." Jack nodded and stepped forward, arching his tail above his head like a scorpion's tail. He leaped to the left, trying to copy what I did, but his tail snaked under him and tripped him. He fell to the ground with a yelp.
" Ow! Wha-?! Why didn't it work?!" Jack yelled, still sitting on the ground. His tail coiled around his legs like a rope.
" Okay... Let's try something different." I said as I helped Jack untangle himself and stand up. " A manticore's tail is more flexible than a wolf's tail. It works like a scorpion's tail. Maybe using it like a whip more would work better..."
" I already tried that. It just goes all over the place." Jack said sadly. " The spikes ended up going everywhere..."
" Hmm... Let's try a different approach to this." I muttered went away to find something. I came back with some rope, a stone, and two sticks.
" What are you planing to do with that?" Jack asked.
" You'll see. " I responded and began to set up. " This should make it easier to see the problem and solve it."
