Enslaved

Chapter 35

Kaida was breathing hard, Kajeel in front of her with his fists raised and sporting a bloody brow where she had finally landed a blow after an hour of practice. She lunged forward without a second thought, aiming her fist toward Kajeel's unprotected left side and watched as Kajeel whirled around and met her with a block and counter attacked with his wing, causing her to jump backward, her wings flared and flapping slightly to regain her balance. Kajeel folded back in his wing and took one step toward her when he stopped, his eyes locking on something above her head before looking back to her.

"Good job today, Kaida." He told her, lowering his hands and slipping out of his defensive stance. "We will practice again tomorrow morning, okay?"

She frowned, glancing at the barely awake sun as she stepped out of her own fighting stance.

"The sun is barely up, Kajeel." She said, folding her wings back. "Are you quitting on me already?"

Kajeel laughed and opened his wings.

"No, Kaida, I would never. Ryuu planned a raid for this morning, I have to go talk with him and figure out the semantics of this raid before he leaves."

Kaida blinked at him. Had Ryuu gotten any rest at all?

"What if I joined you? I could get some practice along the way."

Kajeel laughed and walked toward her, reaching out a hand and placing it on the top of her head.

"Ryuu would never allow that, sorry. What happened to you?" He asked, his voice still light. "You seem more at ease."

Kaida resisted the urge to roll her eyes and offered him a slight smile.

"Ryuu talked to me." She started. "And I realized that I have to train to become strong enough so nothing that happened to me in those caves happens to me again."

Kajeel nodded and ruffled her hair, causing her to snarl playfully.

"Alright, chill little dragon!" He said and she felt her heart clench involuntarily. "So fiesty!"

She shook her thoughts away and smiled back.

"Why did you call me that?" She asked, not being able to keep the slight edge out of her voice. "'Little dragon'? Ryuu called me that too the other night."

Kajeel gave her a questioning smile.

"That's what your name stands for." He said slowly. "Didn't you know that?"

She shook her head, a soft smile on her face.

"The last person to call me that was my mother, is all."

Kajeel winced but didn't look away from her.

"Well, it suits you." He said gently. "You might be little but you are as strong and ferocious as a dragon. Ryuu's name means something too, you know. Just ask him what it means, he would kill me if I told you!"

She laughed at that and he smiled at her for a second before his eyes shifted to behind her and his face clouded over, causing her to turn around to see what he was looking at. Ryuu hovered there, armor glinting in the rising sun and eyes still lined with exhaustion. She frowned, it looked like he hadn't taken her advice after all.

"There's been a change of plans, Kajeel. I'll inform you when we get over there, let's go."

Ryuu looked at Kaida and nodded once, his eyes softening slightly before turning and flapping off toward the falls and rising up the hill. She ached to follow him but resisted, knowing he would only send her back to the ground. She turned back to Kajeel just as he opened his wings and took off, hovering in the air by her for a second.