FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

************

CHAPTER 33

************

I walked through the market place, slightly wary of the fact that I was being stared at, no doubt the rumours of what happened at the hearing were still fresh in every ones minds. I had hid for the last couple of days but I couldn't remain hidden forever. I had to go see someone. I had to see her.

I had to make sure she was okay. I only hoped that she hadn't done anything foolish.

I eventually made my way to Kassandra's place. I had no idea if she'd be here or not, but it was the best place to try. I pushed the heavy curtain aside and called out. Hearing no response I stepped inside and called out again. The place was dark, but for a single candle that burned on a table nearby, and there was an unpleasant stench in the room that lingered in the air.

Like before the place was heavy with the scent of incense, the scent covering the stench that I was smelling. It made it almost impossible to pick up any other scents in the place. The fire pit in the center of the first room was cold, not a trace of heat. But that meant nothing, all it meant was that she hadn't lit a fire this morning.

"Kassandra?" I called out once more.

"What are you doing here!" A voice growled.

I turned to see her emerge from a curtained doorway, from the look of her I'd say I'd probably woken her. She glared at me, her eyes tired, dark bags under her eyes, her hair a mess. She didn't look well.

"I came to see you. I wanted to know you were okay."

"After you told everyone!" She snapped. "I heard about your trial! The only way you could have walked away was if you had told them!"

"I didn't tell..."

"Then why did Kassius come round to talk?!" She snarled. "Making sure I was okay? Telling me he'd help me?"

"Because he saw the whole thing." I paused. She didn't even try to hide her surprise. "I wasn't going to tell anyone... even if that meant I took the fall for kicking the shit out of them!" I sighed. "Kassius came forward and said he saw the whole thing. He didn't mention your name, but the council took his word for it. If it wasn't for him... I don't know what would have happened to me!"

"He saw the whole thing? How?"

"There was someone... hidden... when I was fighting. Once everyone ran they left as well... I never saw who it was. I just assumed it was someone that had come to join..." I didn't finish the sentence, I don't think I could have brought myself to say the word in front of her. "It was only at the trial that I realised it must have been Kassius."

"Why didn't he do anything?" She asked.

"He got there after me." I explained. "He was going to intervene if I wasn't able to stop them."

Any anger that Kassandra was holding at that point seemed to vanish. Some fresh tears began to roll down her muzzle and sat down. I took a seat as well, sitting near her but just out of her eye line. She needed a few moments to herself and I was going to let her have them.

"He said he was going to help me..."

"He said that at the hearing. He is going to help you, just like I am. He couldn't name the others that took part with out naming you." I explained. She looked so vulnerable, nothing like the strong, fierce dragoness I had met my first day in Zangar. "We both want to help you."

"I don't need any help!" She snapped, her voice breaking as she spoke.

"Probably not." I smiled, trying to play to her pride. "But wouldn't it be easier if someone had your back?"

She didn't respond but I knew she agreed. She hadn't given me any back talk after all.

"So how are you going to help?" She asked, her tone betraying her resignation.

"Well first off I'm going to get you back on your foot-paws." I said standing back up. "No offence, but I can smell you over all this incense. You need to get washed up. Then we'll get a good meal in you."

"That's what I've been telling her." A voice came from behind me.

I whirled round to see an elderly blue scaled dragon with a long white wispy beard. He stood with his arms together, his paws hidden beneath the large sleeves of his robe. Even in the dim light it was brightly coloured, intense sky blue with intricate designs on it that I couldn't make out clearly in the poor light.

"Grandfather!"

Grandfather? That's when I remembered him. I hadn't seen him since my first day in Zangar.

"Nice to meet you sir." I said politely.

"Yes, you as well Malakye." He smiled. "And thank you for trying to get my granddaughter out of her pit of self pity."

"Grandfather!" Kassandra exclaimed, obviously embarrassed by her grandfathers comments.

"It's the truth dear. You told me what happened, and I can under stand your anger, I want to hurt them as much as you. And I know a few ways to cause some serious lifelong pain that will never go away."

I got a cold chill and made a mental note not to fuck with Kassandra's grandfather.

"I will deal with them!" She snapped, some of that familiar anger coming back, a fiery anger that held no amount of self pity in it.

"I'm sure you will dear." Kassandra's grandfather smiled, walking up to her and kissing her on the forehead. "Now, let Malakye help you. Sometimes it's better not to try and do everything by yourself."

"I am going entrust my granddaughter to you Master Anaris."

I blushed at his words. His words sounding a little more than simply helping her get back up on foot-paws. More like a marriage proposal. I forced those thoughts from my mind.

"Yes sir... I won't disappoint you." I bowed my head slightly.

He smirked and turned to leave, pausing at the door and looked over his shoulder to give me a smirk before continuing on his way.

"All right..." Kassandra huffed. "So your going to help... what now?"

"Well... I guess we get you cleaned up." I said, guessing it was as good a place to start as any, remembering how a good wash would always help me feel better after a particularly shitty day. "I know where there's a nice, quiet hot spring."

"Don't think you get to watch... perv."

This was going to be a long day...

************

I watched as Kassandra ate her meal, enjoying my own, a delicious stew with some freshly baked bread. We had gone to the restaurant that Laguna had shown me. The food here was good, and not too expensive so that I could actually afford to buy Kassandra a meal. It did wipe out the rest of my coin, but seeing how revitalised she was afterwards was worth it.

There was only a few other dragons here, which suited both Kassandra and I just fine, even though I didn't miss the occasional stare. But that could have been the fact that I was spending time with Kassandra, she wasn't known to spend time with anyone, or the rumours about the hearing were peaking their curiosity.

No one bothered us though. Once we finished I walked her back home. We walked in silence, most of the day had been spent like that. Kassandra didn't talk much beyond arguing with me or to berate me in some way.

My mind left to wander I thought back to the hot spring. Kassandra had agreed to go, I had waited by the entrance, of course being a gentle-drake, with my back turned. I had admittedly, looked over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of her naked. She was undeniably attractive. And very pretty when she stopped scowling.

"Thank you for today." She said.

I was so lost in my thoughts I had almost missed her saying it.

"Your welcome." I smiled.

"You're the first that been nice to me... not expecting anything in return."

I could guess what she meant. Most males wanted females for one reason, and I guess Kassandra being the strong individual that she is, wouldn't stand for someone trying to force her into anything that she didn't want to do. It had taken a large group of them to overpower her enough to...

"Look." I sighed, not sure what to follow that statement with, but I had to say something now. She was looking at me expecting me to say something... any thing. "I just want to help you. I know what it's like to live somewhere and not actually belong there. Living like a shadow. Hoping that someone, anyone... will pay some attention to you just because you're you, and not just to take advantage of you or hurt you."

It seemed that my words struck a cord with her, she looked away, the start of tears in the corner of her eyes.

"I don't want that life for anyone." I continued. "If I can prevent that by being your friend, then I'd be more than happy to be a friend."

"That's sweet." She smiled. "But you don't want to be my friend." She said, a single tear rolling down her muzzle.

After that she turned and walked away, not giving me a chance to talk. I moved to follow her.

"Kassandra... I want to be your friend."

"I know you do." She said, still walking away from me before stopping and slowly turned to face me. "But that won't be enough. Everyone wants more... than to be 'just' friends." There was a sadness there... deep down in her soul, it was obvious that she truly believed that, even though she didn't want to believe it.

"It's not like that!"

"Maybe not now but it will be!" She almost whimpered, turning away from me. "Except for grandfather... no one has ever liked me... unless they wanted something else from me. Even my parents... They just wanted to marry me off!" Her tone was an intense mix of sadness and anger. "I was the youngest... they didn't need me!"

"Look Kassandra..." I sighed. Not sure what to say. There was a heavy silence lingering and growing heavier the longer I didn't speak. "I don't know what your life was like, but I do know that things can change!"

"Your just saying that!" She snapped.

"No! Seriously! I'm living proof!" I exclaimed, gently placing my paws on her shoulders to make sure I had her attention. "Before I met my friends, I felt like you did. Alone, not trusting anyone who acted friendly to me..." I sighed remembering the bad memories.

"But I know that having one good friend... just one, can make a huge difference. If I can do that for you, the same way Eric, Cody and the others did for me... you have no idea how much that would mean to me. Will you give me a chance?"

"..."

Her silence was deafening. She looked away, staring at the ground for a long time before she sighed and nodded her head.

"I'll... give you a chance." She muttered.

"Thank you."

"But if you burn me on this... I will kill you!" Her threat was not what I'd call threatening, not when said in that depressive tone she was using. But it was good to see she still had some fight left in her.

"Right!" I smiled, forcing the biggest goofy grin I could muster, trying to copy Jason's goof-ball smile.

She laughed, the first time I had seen her laugh. She had a wonderful smile, and her laugh was infectious. More girly than I was used to coming from her. I couldn't hep but chuckle a bit myself.

************

"Get up!" Aceh growled, pacing round me as I struggled to stop the room from spinning.

We had been sparring for quite a while now, I could feel myself approaching my limit, my muscles burned with fatigue and my lungs strained to keep my breathing steady. A few sore spots around my body complained with each movement as I began to force myself to an upright position. Even with the use of my nen to buffer the pain and damage... without it I likely would be crippled with the pain right now.

I managed to get up, standing hunched, my left side being particularly painful after Aceh's last attack. I had attempted to grab him, only for him to grab my arm and give me three nen enhanced paw strikes to the my now aching side, followed up with a quick movement that had caused me to flip forwards, head over tail onto the flat of my back. Thankfully I had landed in such a way that I hadn't crushed my wings.

"You are weak!" He snorted. "Must endure the pain!"

I snarled at him but that was about all I could do right now.

"Young Master?"

I turned to see Jovani standing there, his right paw folded behind him on the small of his back.

"Yes Jovani?" I huffed, glad for the momentary distraction.

"I do apologise for interrupting but Warlord Loki is here to see you."

"Kassius is here?"

"Yes, and he would like to talk to you at your earliest convenience."

"Thank you. I will be there as soon as I can."

"I shall inform him as such." Jovani nodded. "He is waiting in the family room, talking with your father." He turned to leave, leaving me with Aceh who I'm sure just wanted to beat me a little more.

I'm not sure why, but Aceh seemed to be a little rougher than normal today. After our usual workout routine we began to spar... if you could call it that. It was more like a beating. He didn't seem to be pulling any punches today.

"Go, we are done for the day." Aceh declared.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you..." I said.

Thankful both for the fact he had ended the brutal lesson early but also because I wanted to at least seem respectful to him. Aceh never did anything without reason, even if the reason didn't make sense.

I limped away, my nen that had been fully active till this point dissipating as I suppressed it. Thankfully the pain didn't grow when I suppressed my nen. My nen simply made it harder for me to get hurt in the first place. I made my way to the family room, where Kaldor and Kassius sat by the fire talking.

"Are you okay?" Kassius asked, standing up and approaching me with some mild concern.

"I'm fine." I assured him. "Just a particularly rough lesson from Aceh."

"Here... take a seat." He insisted.

The idea was a welcome one. Without actually touching me he escorted me to the high backed chair where he had been sitting, next to the fire across from my father who was still sitting with Spryte curled up on his lap. The little dragon creature opened its eyes, intense amber like my father, similar to the flames that licked the air from the roaring fire just a few yards away. Spryte chirped, yawned and then settled down again, closing his eyes and dozing off to sleep.

"What did you want to see me about?" I asked.

"Ah yes... I've spoken to... our mutual friend." He said cryptically, sparing a glance at my father. I was confused at first but quickly realised that he was referring to Kassandra. "They have assured me they won't take any action without consulting me first."

"That's good." I sighed.

"But I have also come to tell you that you may join the adepts for training when ever you feel ready to do so." He smiled. "I have spoken to Warlord Stern, and he assures me that he will allow you train with the adepts ,even though you haven't actually become a warrior."

"And how do I become a warrior?" I asked out of curiosity.

"There are a few ways, the most common is for one such as myself who teach classes to recommend individuals that I believe are ready and capable of taking on the duties required by a warrior."

"Or you just need a recommendation from any warlord, or higher ranked official." Kaldor added. "Once you have a recommendation you may partake in a series of short tests that test your abilities, where several warlords will observe and assess whether you are actually ready. With enough recommendations the tests are not required."

"Oh." Was all I could say.

"Once you become a warrior you swear your loyalty to Zangar." Kassius finished. "Promising to protect Zangar and it's citizens."

"So once you become a warrior... your always a warrior?" I asked.

"Essentially... except in certain circumstances." Kaldor said seriously.

Of course I knew what he meant by that. The three warriors from the hearing had been stripped of their warrior status. I assume there were other ways as well.

But if I wanted to become a warrior that would mean I would be swearing to stay in Zangar, to fulfil my promise of protecting it. If I did that, I would essentially be making the decision to stay here forever.

"So where do the adepts train?" I asked, trying to distract myself from that train of thought.

"They train in the main arena, where the tournament was held." My father replied.

"Unlike my classes, there are no set times." Kassius explained. You simply show up and train with the other adepts. We try and ensure that at least one Master ranked bender is there at all times to give instruction. But that is not always possible. Many of us, myself included, pop by when we have some free time to help train."

"So I may still see you?" I asked. A little happy that I may be able to still train with Kassisus after all.

"Yes." He smiled. "Stern will be there tomorrow morning. It would be best if you report to him upon your arrival."

"I will, thank you."

"Now if you pardon me, I must get home." He smiled, giving a polite bow to me and my father. "I wouldn't want to upset my wife by missing dinner." He laughed.

"No indeed not." My father chuckled.

"Bye." I said and without further ado Kassisus left, Jovani escorting him to the exit.

I leaned back into the chair, the soft cushions felt nice as I allowed myself to relax, sighing as the tension began to leave my body. My side was still quite sore and sitting like this helped.

"So training with the adepts..." Kaldor mused. "You must have made an impression."

"Maybe I did." I smiled, remembering that Kaldor hadn't actually seen me bend yet.

"You've impressed a lot of dragons Malakye, you've made me quite proud." He smiled and I couldn't help but feel a swell of pride in my chest. "And I really do hope you stay here in Zangar... I know you still haven't made up your mind." He sounded a little sad. "I'm not going to force the issue, but I'm certain you can be happy here... despite what's happened."

"I've not made a decision." I admitted. "But I'm not going to hold the incident against my decision in anyway." I assured him.

"On that topic..." Kaldor hesitated. It wasn't like him to hesitate like this. "I told you before that I was not expecting anything of you in this regard..." He stopped again. Now he was making me nervous. "But if you do decide to stay, General Ortavia has offered his daughters paw in marriage."

"What?!"

"I've explained to him that you haven't decided whether you are going to stay or not..." He sighed.

I guess the fact I hadn't decided was weighing as heavily on his mind as much as it was on mine.

"I also told him that it was your choice to choose to marry Luna, and that I would not insist that you do it."

"He wants me to marry his daughter!?" I scoffed. "After everything he put me through?"

"It is his way of apologising." Kaldor insisted. "Luna is his only daughter, he loves her very much, and offering her to you in this way is as much of an apology as he can offer."

"Are you defending him?" I asked. "He accused me of..." I decided not to go down that road. "He was ready to see me locked up and now, just days later he wants me to marry his daughter?"

"I know it sounds strange, but that's how politics work."

Strange was definitely one word for it. I could think of a few choice phrases myself.

"Look... I know he was just doing what he thought was right at the time... and Asurmen knows I didn't make it easy by not telling you or him what actually happened." I shook my head and stared into the fire. "But the guys an ass and I want as little to do with him as possible! And that would include marrying his daughter!"

I was being particularly blunt with my words. It wasn't Luna's fault that her father was the way he was, or that he had set out to make and example of me. But if I chose to be with her I would hate her to be a constant reminder of her father, and that I might take it out on her. No one deserved that kind of relationship. I had seen how miserable some of the wolven wives had been, forced to marry their husbands.

It wasn't unusual to see a few females, always the same select few, sporting a blackened eye, a cut, or moving in such a way that told you they had taken a beating. Because their husbands had taken some imaginary slight from them, or had a particularly bad day and needed someone to take it out on. So they then decided that their wives needed to be shown their place. I would not be one of those males!

"That's fair enough." Kaldor smiled assuringly, stroking Spryte from head to tail enticing a pleasant churr from him. "Although Luna did seem quite taken with you, I'm sure she will be disappointed."

"Yeah well..."

"Relax! I'm not judging." He chuckled. "Just pointing out the obvious. There are plenty of females out there who would jump at the chance to become your mate, plenty of males too I bet."

"So you really wouldn't mind if I never had kids?" I asked.

"I've told you that before. I will not judge who you fall in love with, or who you make love with. But I wouldn't deny that the thought having grand-cubs someday certainly appeals."

"Well you never know." I smiled.

"You never know." Kaldor repeated, smiling back at me.

************

I decided to have a nice rest, get as many of the kinks from my spar with Aceh out of my system, before heading to train with the adepts. Thankfully I woke up, after having woken from the nightmares three times during the night, feeling much better. Only a few niggling sore spots and stiff muscles remained, and a bit of physical exercise would do me the world of good to ease those muscles complaints.

After a hearty breakfast I began to make my way towards the arena where the adepts trained. I was a little nervous truthfully. I knew I could handle myself. But these guys were fully fledged warriors. Warriors who competed and won the tournaments. Their epic fights during the tournament made me nervous if I was going to have to face them in a spar.

There was also the fact I would be an outsider among the adepts. I wasn't so concerned about my heritage, although a couple of dragons had made comments in the past; Hazani sprung to mind. The fact was I wasn't even an adept, or a warrior for that matter. They might view me as more of a nuisance than anything else.

But I couldn't really dwell on these facts, I needed to keep a clear head and just deal with whatever was thrown my way. I needed to show them that I was worthy of being there with them. First impressions and all that. I needed to win a few of them over, make a couple of friends so that I wasn't an outcast amongst them. If the warriors here in Zangar were anything like the wolven warriors, then I just needed to impress them with my ability to fight.

If that meant picking a fight with anyone who gave me grief then that's what I would have to do. If I let them walk over me from the start then it would never stop. I needed to earn their respect. After that I could work on the friends part of my plan.

Okay it wasn't much of a plan... I'll admit to that! But it was better than nothing. First of all I needed to find Warlord Stern. Kassius had told me that he would be here this morning. I only hoped he was fair minded and openly accepting of me. Kassius had hinted that he probably would object to my presence there, but he had apparently agreed, so I was hopeful that things would go fine with him.

The gates to the arena loomed into view, I hadn't seen any warriors coming or going during my walk here. I hoped that this wasn't some big joke on Kassius's part. No, he wouldn't do that... at least I hoped he wouldn't.

Why am I being so paranoid?

I shrugged away my paranoia and made my way inside. The large metal doors were left ajar, wide enough for two dragons to fit through, although the doors were wide enough to allow eight to walk in side by side. I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the sounds of dragons echoing through the hallways.

I remembered the way to the arena floor and made my way through the dark corridors that were lit only by the occasional wall mounted torch. The corridors were cold and dark. That didn't help my growing nerves. The sounds of numerous dragons were getting louder and I knew the door way into the arena was just round the next corner.

I stopped, took a deep breath and settled my nerves, trying not to show my nervousness before stepping out into view. I stepped out of the cold dark corridor, my foot-paws feeling warmer from the loose, soft dirt that covered the arena floor. The area was brightly lit with the familiar light blue haze that came from the large chunk of Anglaor* that jutted out from the ceiling high above.

The was at least three dozen dragons here, some doing exercises, others sparring, some with weapons others paw to paw. Some just milled about talking to one another. At the far end of the arena I saw several bursts of flame from behind a pillar of rock, someone was bending over there.

I looked around to see if I could spot any familiar muzzles, unfortunately the first I spotted was Hazani. He hadn't seen me, he was currently sparring with another dragon, both of them using spears. Great... just who I wanted to see. Some of the nearby dragons had finally noticed me, no looks of contempt or annoyance, just curiosity so far.

"Malakye!"

I turned towards the voice that come from my right. It was Cairn. Thank Asurmen... a friendly muzzle. He was jogging up to me, Leonidus and Garan standing watching a few yards behind him.

"Hi." I smiled, giving him a little wave as he approached.

"Nice to see you again." He grinned, giving me a friendly punch in the shoulder. At least he seemed genuinely happy to see me. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh... yeah... Kassius kinda arranged it so I would be training with the adepts from now on." I said, nervously. Hoping that I wasn't appearing as having received special treatment for simply being an Anaris.

"Awesome!" He grinned. Showing no signs of judgement other than being happy to see me here, which I was grateful for.

"So... do you know where I'll find St... Warlord Stern?" I asked, remembering to refer to him using his title.

"Oh yeah, he's..." Cairn looked round. "He's over there." He pointed.

Looking across the arena at the far wall there was a group of dragons, all of them moving in time with one another, in what appeared to be a strange type of dance. Only they were bending, firing fireballs at a stone pillar.

Standing behind the group of dragons was an older dragon. He held himself with authority as he scrutinised the bending dragons with his stern gaze. He was clad in black leather armour and a black cape that made him a little difficult to see at a distance in the dim light. I guessed that was Stern.

"Come on, I'll introduce you." Cairn smiled.

I followed him across the arena, a few dragons stopping to stare at me while we did. Probably curious as to my presence, but most of them didn't stop their training to pay attention to me at all. Stern saw me approaching long before we got close, and stared at me the whole time with a less than amused scowl.

"Warlord Stern." Cairn spoke when we got close enough. "Malakye is here to speak to you."

"Thank you Cairn." Stern said, his voice gruff and deep, sounding less thankful and more annoyed. "So you are the infamous Anaris heir I've been hearing about."

"Eh... yes?" I replied, unsure if he was asking a question or not.

"I've been asked to let you train here." He huffed. "I have agreed, reluctantly, but Kassius assures me you will be worth the trouble." He looked me up and down before continuing. "You are not an adept, nor are you a warrior, so do not think that just because your father is Lord of the Anaris house that you are entitled to be here."

"No sir."

"Good. If you want to keep learning here then you must prove to me that you belong here." He bellowed, his rough voice making everything he said come out as a growl.

He was quite intimidating. He carried himself with confidence, radiated authority, and despite only being a couple of inches taller than myself the way he looked down at me made me feel small and insignificant in comparison.

But I wouldn't let him bully me, I'd show him every courtesy, but I wouldn't let him intimidate me. I looked him in the eye, his hazel eyes scowling at me, and smiled at him.

"I will." I said simply.

He continued to look me in the eye for a few moments before speaking again.

"Then you will learn the basics of run'nath*. Cairn!"

"Yes sir?" Cairn responded, stepping forward and stood to attention.

"You will teach Malakye run'nath*. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!"

"I will check your progress in a couple of hours." Was all he said before turning his attention back to the group of five dragons doing the strange unified dance while bending fire.

Taking that as my cue to leave I turned to follow Cairn.

"So I think I already know the answer, but have you ever practised lun'nath*?" Cairn asked.

"I don't even know what that is." I chuckled nervously.

"Figured as much." Cairn sighed. "Well it's basically this."

He stopped turned to face a brazier that was a few feet away and thrust his paw towards it. I felt his nen flare and flow from his out held paw towards the brazier. Once his nen reached the fire he retracted his outstretched paw while simultaneously thrusting his other arm upwards, pulling a fire spirit upwards out of the brazier.

He then turned to face the other way, now facing away from the brazier, and thrust his paw outwards again, the fire spirit beginning to make its way towards him. He spun round and clasped his paws together, making the fire spirit stop and hover in front of him.

He allowed his nen to slowly fade, the fire spirit disappeared into a few embers that quickly faded from existence, and he turned to face me with a smile. I knew I was watching with my maw slightly agape. His movements had been almost hypnotic, so precise and deliberate.

"Each movement focuses your nen in a particular way, allowing you to bend in a timed and efficient way." He explained. "Learning these moves are essential in run'nath, and allows you time your nen movements with others so you can successfully bend as a group."

"It looks quite impressive." I admitted. "I only had a couple of lessons with Kassius and he never taught anything like that."

"I suppose he wouldn't. While it does make it easier to bend, lun'nath* also allows your opponents to know exactly what your doing because the movements are so precise and specific." He explained. "Most dragons don't learn this until late into their training so they get used to bending without it. Unfortunately not all dragons are able to effectively do more powerful bending techniques without lun'nath*."

"What about you?" I asked curiously. "You seemed to do pretty well without them."

"I can hold my own in a fight without using lun'nath*." He smiled. "But I'm no way near strong enough to be a na'kari*."

"Na'kari?"

"It's a term used to describe benders." He explained, pausing a second before continuing. "All Master benders are na'kari, some adepts are also na'kari, and they are the ones who have the potential to become master level benders. You are definitely na'kari." He smirked. "Which is why it's a little strange that Stern wants you to learn run'nath*."

"Why is it strange?"

"Well... only those who lack sufficient strength to be na'kari are required to become skilled at run'nath. Na'kari are expected to be able to fight by themselves. Those like myself are known as lu'kari. Because we lack the strength to use bending in a fight by ourselves effectively, we train to fight together to compensate for our weakness. You will find soon enough that there is a significant gap between the two."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... you generally find that na'kari train with other na'kari and lu'kari train with other lu'kari. Only in certain situations do the two actually train together. They are considered superior when it comes to bending and you'll find that a lot of them act like it as well."

"Guess some things don't change no matter the species." I shook my head remembering how those considered alpha wolves were always considered superior to everyone else, and they acted as if they were.

"I guess." Cairn mused. "So we'd better get to it or Stern will come over here and rip me a new one for slacking."

"Okay then. So where do we start?"

"We'll start with the basic movements, push, pull and flow."