Just A Normal Day

    Light shines softly through the window of Brandon’s room. He wakes with a grunt and a stretch. The dim lighting seems to hug his body as he stands. His long brown hair falls down to his neck. He hears someone snickering from a dark corner of his room. He rolls his eyes. “Amber, why are you in my room?” She comes out from the corner, “It’s fun hiding in the shadows~” He sighs, “Amber, out of my room. Now.” She leaves with a giggle. He growls and gets changed, walking out to the kitchen. Amber is sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal. “You want anything else?” She shakes her head gently. He sighs and grabs an egg biscuit out of the fridge.

    After breakfast he heads back to his room. Amber follows him, acting the same as a puppy wanting attention. He sighs and sits on his bed, “Come on.” Her face brightens and she moves towards his bed. “R-really?” He nods gently. She climbs up on the bed next to him. “Thank you.” He smiles, “Well, I’m not just gonna let my little sis be all alone.” He pulls out his phone and opens an app, starting to play it, her watching over his shoulder. A dark figure moves behind them, causing her to squeak in panic. “Its okay Amber, he knows not to hurt you.” The figure moves closer, his features becoming quite clear. He stands about five foot, his hair is blood red, his face twisted into a demented smile.

    “Arkonen. Do you bring news?” The figure named Arkonen shakes his head. His voice is deep and hoarse, “You did not ask me to look for anything to report.” Brandon rolls his eyes, “Then why have you come here?” His sister whines again. Arkonen turns to her with a Hellish smile. ”It’s okay, Sweetie, I won’t hurt you. I prefer not to be banished back to Hell.” His voice breaks and goes demonic as he references her. “D-don’t c-call me th-that.” She stumbles over her words. He cackles, “Very well, what shall I call you?” Brandon pulls him away with a snarl, “Her name, Amber.” He shrinks back a little. “Fine.” Brandon turns to Amber and pulls her into a hug, her sobbing into his chest. “Arkonen, go look for others.” He nods and vanishes. “He’s gone now Amber, he’s gone.”

    Off in the woods, Arkonen roams around searching. “Why does he always send me away when I’m having fun.” He stops suddenly, silence ringing out. “I heard you, you can’t hide.” A man jumps down from a tree. “Not many people would’ve heard me, how come you did?” Arkonen laughs, “It’s what I do, I protect those who ask.” the man narrows his eyes “You’re a bodyguard?” He laughs, Arkonen raising an eyebrow. “Bodyguards are nothing to me.” He pulls out a dagger, “Don’t expect you to last long~” The man lunges at him, slashing widely, Arkonen side-stepping out of the way. “Wh-what?” Arkonen smiles darkly, “I’m more than a mere bodyguard.” He stretches his hand, a sword, with a glowing blue line down the middle of the blade, and a circular hilt fills his grasp. “Now, I’m in a good mood, so, I’ll give you three seconds to run, try your best to hide.” He grins and closes his eyes, counting slowly, the man takes off, jumping from tree to tree.

“Three…”

“Two…”

“One..”

    He glares through his dark emerald crystals with a sadistic grin. “Let the hunt commence~” He dashes off into the forest, scanning the trees for any movement. He notices one of the tree branches shake and notices his prey trembling atop of them, he keeps running passed. Just as he breathes a sigh of relief, Arkonen jumps up next to him, “Found you~” He brings the sword across the assassin’s back, leaving a glowing blue gash. The wounded victim falls to the ground with a soft thud. The hunting demon jumps down, “Stand up and fight, you coward!” The injured attempts to push himself off the ground but fails, grimacing with pain. “And here I thought you were an opponent worthy of a chance,” he growls out. With a single swift blow he relieves him of his life.

    Before he heads back to his master, Arkonen disposes of his successful hunt. He returns to the house, bloodied blade still in hand. “There was a hunting rat, too bad there was a prowling cat~” Brandon raises his eyebrow. “Put the blade away, there’s no need for it in the house, I prefer you to not scare Amber anymore.” The demon sheaths his sword and it vanishes. Amber walks into the main room and sees him, instantly running to Brandon. “It’s okay baby sis, I’m right here.” She cowers behind him. “You know, I don’t like it when people I have no interest in hurting, run in fear of me.” Brandon brings her out from behind him, “Come on, he won’t hurt you, he’s here to protect us.” She looks at him in curiosity,”P-protect?” The demon smiles, “As I’ve said, I have no interest in hurting you. Ask your brother why I’m here, he’ll explain everything. I can’t stay right now- there’s someone who doesn’t belong here.”

    As Arkonen fades into the shadows, Amber turns to her brother in questioning. “I summoned a demon, to protect us, mainly you. I’ve been training with him at night, it’s why I’m always so tired and angry when I wake up, It’s because I don’t want to let them hurt you…” She gives a confused glance, “Th-them?” He sighs, “I’ll explain later, but I do want you to start training with us.” She nods fiercely, “I want to learn to be able to defend myself!” He’s taken aback in shock. “I-I honestly didn’t expect you to be this enthusiastic about it,” his tone shifts to a more motivated voice, “But, I’m glad you are, if you want, we can start conjoined training tonight!”

He grabs her hand and pulls her up to his room. “Give me a second.” He throws together some clothes out of his closet and dashes to the bathroom. When he returns, he is wearing a full training outfit; a white overshirt and pants cover his other clothes. She giggles and rolls her eyes, “Do you have one for me too?” He facepalms, “N-not yet…” His tone drops as he realizes that even with all the preparing for her to train with him, he forgot one of the most important things, the training outfit. “Just wear clothes you can move easily in. We’ll go shopping for a uniform tomorrow.” She nods and goes to her room, changes into comfortable clothes, then comes back.

    The day passes by, night finally approaching, and Arkonen emerges from the shadows in Brandon’s room. He jumps slightly when he sees Amber. “Is she joining us tonight?” His sister nods enthusiastically. The demon nods and darkness pours out of him, consuming the room. When light finally breaks through the wall of shadows, they stand in a dojo, practice staffs made of bamboo appearing in front of the apprentices. “Let’s give her a demonstration.” The tutor nods silently, grabbing a weapon of his own. His Shinai  is decorated with gilded flames running up the edge. Brandon’s sword, on the other hand, has shining dragons wrapping the blade.

    The silence emanates out, ringing around the room. Within the blink of an eye, they dash at each other, clashing Kendo sticks. Arkonen’s eyes glow as he starts getting pushed back. They break their hold and throw themselves back. The demon swings at his opposer, narrowly missing. Brandon grunts as he slices through air, a result of his failed attack. They trade blows and misses for a while, when Brandon launches forward and knocks the demon’s defense out of grasp. “Gotcha~” He chuckles and swings in victory. Arkonen, however, dodges and turns the blade in his hand and holds it against the overly cocky fighter’s throat, “You sure?” The now disarmed Brandon’s eyes widen and he taps out. “Ok, you win.”

The two fighters bow to each other. Amber is staring with her jaw gaping wide. Her brother smiles, “You won’t be doing that just yet. You will be doing the starting techniques.” She nods and tries to pick up his Kendo stick, finding it unusual to her how light it is. “It’s so light.” The demon chuckles, “It is bamboo after all, it’s easier than giving a trainee a weapon of metal.” She gives it a slight swing, it breaking through the air with ease. A training dummy appears in front of her, “Go, let’s see what you can do.” her expression changes to a determined glare as she sloppily attacks the target. Brandon walks up, “You are going to have to train hard, but I’ll be right beside you.” He smiles and pets her head gently. Her face starts to subtly burn. Brother and sister spar throughout the night, being watched over by their trainer. As they trade blows he makes slight comments or adjusts their stances. The training session ends and the two go to sleep.

Written by: TheDrep

Edited by: SapphireShion (Thank you for your help!)