Bladewarriors Book 1: Refresh

"You! Peasant! Bow down before your leader!"

"I would rather die." Ivy sighed, trying to ignore the frozen fool as Frost barked orders from across the room. Perched atop the teen's mass of unruly hair was the strange, white, droplet shaped hat that had once belonged to The White Priest.

"Your death can be arranged, weedy wench!" Frost exclaimed, leaping atop a nearby chair to point down at the green-haired tomboy.

Ivy's eyes instantly flicked to the side, staring up at the brazen idiot with an apparent wish to die.

"Weedy… wench?" Ivy repeated the phrase, seething the words through her teeth as she slowly turned to face the irksome pest.

"Open your ears when your ruler speaks to you, you herbaceous whore!" Frost shouted in response, his voice echoing through the room in which they sat.

"Oh that's it; I'm going to murder you!" Ivy screamed, leaping from her chair at the icy idiot. Frost let out a squeal, leaning back quickly to force the seat on which is was balancing to pull away. The tomboy stretched out her hands, attempting to capture the fallacious king as he tilted away, the chair crashing to the ground with a resonating thud.

"Soldiers! Defend your monarch!" Frost screamed, leaping away as Ivy scrambled after him. "Protect me from this verdant villainess!"

Flare laughed as Myst sighed, a mixture of annoyance and amusement circulating between the two of them as they sat in their respective spots in the small room, watching as Ivy dashed after Frost while the icy 'king' dove from one corner of their quarters to the next, tossing pillows and blankets hap hazardously at his determined pursuer.

"Sorry, sir, but I don't live within your realm of influence." Flare replied mockingly, staring as the pest bounced off one of the beds, literally back-flipping over Ivy before taking off in the other direction.

"Calm down, you two!" Myst scolded, sighing as Frost and Ivy ran past her, nearly stepping on her feet. "You're going to get us kicked out of here!"

The blue-haired nymph was probably right. Their group had only been hold up in the room for a couple of hours, and had already been the focus of at least three different noise complaints – all of them seeming to stem from the maladjusted relationship of the two who were, once again, running around the cramped quarters they had been given. Despite the limited space, it was a welcome retreat from the rain after a couple days of walking.

The Bladewarriors had stayed the night in Sentinel Bay following the defeat of The Sentry, and enjoyed the impromptu festivities that followed. It had been a night to remember, but a night many people would likely forget considering how many of the townspeople had gotten completely and recklessly wasted. Even when the rain had picked up again, and the streets became – nearly literally – flooded, the party had still pressed on, into the early morning, and even after The Bladewarriors had retreated for the night. As much as they all would have liked to have stayed and enjoyed the festival being thrown in their honor, they all had also known they needed to head out early the next morning, and believed it best to call it an early night.

Except for Frost. Frost had made it his business that night to stay out until the last citizen passed out on the street. Coincidentally, that was also the moment the rest of them had woken up, ready to continue their journey. They had quickly learned that an exhausted, depleted Frost was actually much easier to tolerate. At least for the twelve minutes the fool managed to stay awake before simply crashing to the ground, asleep.

They had had to postpone their departure a full day. While a minor annoyance, there was at least one of them that hadn't minded. The extra day in Sentinel Bay had given Myst a chance to say a proper goodbye to her mother, and make sure she and her aunt got on their way. In fact, being stuck in the town, Flare and Ivy had assisted in helping to evacuate the villagers while Frost caught up on his rest.

Once the idiot had managed to restore his energy, though, they had been on their way, continuing their journey – eastward, now – to find The Serpent's lair. A couple days of walking and another cramped night in the still too small tent had forced them to seek shelter in another roadside inn that night – or, more accurately, Ivy had forced them to seek shelter in the roadhouse that night. Of course, rooms weren't free, and seeing as how Myst was the only one of them with any form of accepted currency, they hadn't had much option in size or amount of rooms. Leading to their cramped conditions, and quarreling companions.

"As amusing as your antics are," Flare began, watching as Ivy struggled to catch the arctic acrobat leaping about the room, "Myst is probably right."

Ivy slowed, breathing heavily as Frost danced a few steps further away from her before turning to stare back at his follower, grinning as he stared at the miffed and fatigued expression covering the girl's face. Scoffing, Ivy turned, moving back to the chair she had been sitting in moments ago, letting her body fall back into its clutches.

"Fine." She replied, her breathing still slightly labored. "Not worth the effort anyway."

Frost frowned a moment, disappointed by the girl's surrender. He reached up, plucking the strange looking hat from his head, and moved toward one of the beds, leaning back to let himself fall onto it's surface.

"Probably for the best." Frost sighed, folding his arms beneath his head to act as a pillow. "Not like you could have done much if you managed to catch me anyway. You're not exactly a formidable opponent, after all."

A twitch of anger snapped through Ivy's body, but lasted only a moment as she realized the truth behind the words. The rage quickly subsided, being replaced by despondence. She couldn't exactly argue with the fool – when they had been battling the Sentry, the most she had managed to do against the foe was to be knocked away. She had barely even tried to attack.

"Frost." Flare stated the name in a chiding tone, admonishing the fool's choice of words.

"What?" Frost replied, lifting his head to stare at the only other male in the room. The fiery youth nodded his head toward Ivy, prompting the boy to turn his gaze toward the girl as well.

The Arctican couldn't help but frown as he stared at the tomboy's dejected eyes, watching her stare at the ground as her face twisted into a discouraging and depressing frown. He suddenly realized his teasing had gone too far – he had actually managed to attack a sore spot for the girl. While he was always happy to anger and annoy the girl, depressing Ivy was never his objective.

"Hey, I was just joking." Frost stated, twisting to fully face the girl. "Not like you're useless or anything."

Ivy's frown widened and she lowered her head further, beginning to pick at the edges of her shirt as she tried to ignore the boy.

"I-I mean it!" Frost struggled, trying to sound sincere – truly sincere. He had forgotten how hard it could be. "You might not really know how to summon your blade's power, or use your sword, but… uh…"

The Arctican paused, suddenly unsure where he was trying to go with that train of thought. Wherever it was going, he was fairly sure it was headed in the wrong direction.

"I think I need to start over…"

"It's fine." Ivy replied, shaking her head as the fool tried to pry his foot from his mouth. "You're right. I'm pretty useless in battle."

"Th-that's not true!" Myst objected suddenly, injecting herself into the discussion. "I wouldn't be here still if not for you, Ivy."

"Yeah, I suppose." Ivy shrugged. "But maybe if I could actually fight, you wouldn't have been hurt in the first place. Frost is right… I'm kind of useless."

"Alright, that's enough of that!"

Flare pushed up from where he sat, marching quickly across the small room. The fiery haired teen reached down, slipping his fingers around Ivy's arm to tug her from the chair as he continued toward the door.

"H-hey!" Ivy shouted, alarmed as she was forced from her seat, stumbling to stand and follow the boy as he roughly tugged on her. "What are you doing!"

"This attitude is annoying me." Flare responded, pulling open the door to the room and dragging the girl into the hallway. "We can't have you down on yourself. It'll just put us more at risk."

"So… what are we doing then?" Ivy questioned, trying to match the boy's quick pace as he pulled her into the lobby of the inn, headed toward the doors and the rainy night outside.

"We're gonna fix it." Flare answered succinctly.

"Fix what?" Ivy followed the Flamian through the front doors, out on to the front porch of the inn, and then into the pouring rain. It took only seconds for her to become drenched – she had just managed to finally dry off, too.

"Your attitude." Flare replied, finally releasing his grip on her arm as he moved further out into the rain, taking at least seven more long strides before turning back around to face her. "Take out your sword."

Flare reached over his shoulder, pulling the flame shaped brand from its sheath on his back, wielding the weapon before him. Ivy blinked staring back at the fiery youth a moment before patting her sides.

"No sword." Ivy replied plainly. "It's still in the room."

"Here you go!"

Ivy spun around, facing the inn as Frost called out to her. As the white-haired blight came into view, so did her sword, already hurtling through the air toward her. The tomboy let out a small shriek of surprise as she leaped back, allowing the blade to crash to the water-soaked earth rather than trying to catch it.

"The hell!" Ivy screamed, glaring at Frost as he slid a chair from their room into position on the patio, collapsing onto it – Myst emerging from the inn behind him.

"Don't mind me." Frost replied, lifting a hand as if to shoo Ivy away. "Go about your business."

"Pick it up." Flare ordered before the green-haired girl had a chance to berate the fool sitting on the porch. Ivy turned her head back, staring at the flame warrior as he lowered his sword, pointing its tip toward her own weapon on the ground.

"Pick it up." Flare repeated forcefully.

Ivy frowned, turning to stare at the blade. She bent down slowly, reaching out to wrap her fingers around the sword and slowly pull it back up with her.

"I don't understand," Ivy began to say as she turned back to face Flare, but she didn't have the chance to finish her thought. The tomboy's statement was cut off as the flame-headed teenager rushed toward her, sword trailing behind as he quickly closed the distance between them. Ivy gave out a startled shout as the boy swung his sword down at her. Reflexively, Ivy lifted her own sword to block. As the weapons clashed together, the force of the redhead's strike knocked the sword from Ivy's hand, sending it crashing to her feet. The tomboy clenched her eyes shut, half-expecting the boy's sword to cleave her in two, but no sword ever touched her.

Peeking through one eye, Ivy stared up as the sword frozen less than an inch above her head, following along its length until her gaze rested upon the swordsman's face. He grinned, pulling the sword back, and turned to walk away once more.

"What did you learn?" The redhead inquired as he paced back to where he had been seconds ago.

"That you're nuts!" Ivy shouted, sighing as she let herself slowly slide down to her knees, sitting in the dirt. "What the hell was that!"

Flare turned, resting the more subdued edge of his flame-shaped blade against his shoulder, staring down at the girl. "I'm teaching you to fight."

"Huh?" Ivy responded dubiously, glancing around. "Are you joking!"

"No." Flare replied, hefting his blade in front of him once more. "Now stand up. Let's go again."

"It's pouring out!" Ivy shouted, lifting her arms to motion to the torrent around her. "And it's already night time! Is now really the best time for this!"

"It's the only time for this." Flare answered stoically.

The girl on the ground blinked, staring up at Flare through the rain, inwardly wondering if he had lost his mind as she repeated her earlier inquiry:

"Huh?"

Flare sighed, lowering his sword as he shook his head.

"I'm using the Fire element," Flare explained, motioning to his blade. "And you're using the element of Plant. In a normal battle, with perfect conditions, and equivalent skill, I'd beat you every time. I'd burn your power away."

Ivy closed her gapping mouth, beginning to understand.

"Out here, in the pouring rain, my power is greatly weakened." Flare continued, motioning to the water. "It douses my flames before they can inflict their full damage. On the other hand, your power is strengthened by the rain. Plant's live and strive off of water – by fighting out here, your powers will increase."

"It's still night time…" Ivy complained, staring at the darkness around them.

"Nights are colder." Flare shrugged. "Fire is an element of heat. When the sun sets, its power tends to diminish. So if we train now, the only advantage I have, is my skill."

"That's still a pretty big advantage." Ivy sighed, pulling herself back to her feet and lifting her blade.

"Which is why I'll go easy on you." Flare responded, hefting his sword once more. "Are you ready?"

"I gue—"

Ivy didn't even have time to finish responding as Flare rushed towards her once more, sword trailing behind him again. Just like the first time, the redhead lifted the blade up, swinging down at her. Actually prepared for the strike this time, Ivy shifted her sword, lifting it up to block, gripping the handle properly to avoid having the weapon knocked away once more. As the swords clashed, Flare slid his down, easily pulling it off of Ivy's. The redhead followed by quickly tilting the tip of his blade toward the girl and thrusting. Ivy let out a squeak of fear again, but once more managed to avoid harm as the tip of the weapon stopped just short of piercing through her shirt.

"Good." Flare smiled, pulling back his weapon as he turned to walk away once more.

"Good!" Ivy responded incredulously, unable to see how being skewered by her opponent would be beneficial.

"What'd you learn that time?" Flare asked, ignoring her response as he reached his usual starting location.

"That you're really fast…" Ivy sighed, raising her sword defensively once again.

"That's true." Flare smiled, turning back to face her. "But that's not right."

"Huh?" Ivy asked again, unsure what the redhead meant as he nodded toward her, indicating she should ready herself. What did he mean 'that's not right'?

Flare didn't give Ivy much time to ponder the question as he rushed forward once again, beginning the same way – with a downward slash. Once more, Ivy raised her sword to block, but added an extra push against Flare's blade to knock it back slightly, trying to keep the redhead from sliding the blade down for a thrust. It seemed to work as the boy stumbled back a step. Ivy grinned, proud of herself, but wasn't given enough time to revel in her success as Flare planted his foot and quickly spun around, swinging his blade toward her side – again, stopping it less than an inch from cutting her.

"Good." Flare replied, pulling his weapon back as he turned away once again. "What did you learn?"

"I'm not sure I'm learning anything." Ivy sighed, watching the redhead trek back to his starting position once more.

"Wrong." Flare replied, spinning around to face her as he lifted his sword once more. "Let's continue."

The boy rushed forward once more, with similar results. And like every time before, he would halt his attacks at the last moment and return to where he began to start again. As time went on, Ivy would slowly start to discover Flare's pattern, paying attention to the order in which he tried to attack. And just as she would start to pick up on his order and timing, Flare would change his strategy, sending her back to step one: completely clueless on how to defend against the flame swordsman's assault. Minutes turned into hours as the patterns repeated dozens – and then what seemed like hundreds of times.

"What did you learn?" Flare questioned Ivy again, stretching out a hand to help the girl up after knocking her to the ground. The girl's green braids were a mess, half undone as she breathed heavily, glaring up at her tormentor.

"I'm learning that you're going to kick my ass every time we do this!" Ivy shouted, slapping the hand away. "I'm not learning anything. I'm just losing."

Flare frowned, sighing as he shook his head.

"Wrong." He replied, turning to head back to his starting position again.

Ivy scoffed, turning her head away as she continued to sit on the ground, staring over at Frost and Myst who sat waiting beneath the porch of the inn, grinning at her. She felt like they were laughing at her weakness – finding amusement in her failure. They just kept smiling at her, and shouting things like 'you can do it, Ivy' and 'keep it up, shrubbery swordswoman'. On some level, she was sure the words were meant as encouragement, but somehow they just sounded like they were mocking her.

"I don't understand the point of this!" Ivy screamed, punching the ground beneath her as she turned back to face the redheaded warrior. "Are you just trying to show me I'm hopeless! That I have no chance!"

Flare stared across the short distance at first, silent as he looked at the frustration in her eyes. As she stared back, Ivy felt like she was being pitied. She was getting fed up with this whole thing.

"That's it, I'm done!" Ivy exclaimed, pushing herself to her feet. "I don't feel like getting my ass kicked anymore tonight."

"We're not done." Flare stated calmly as the girl turned away from him.

"You can feel free to swing your sword in the rain as much as you like!" Ivy shouted back, beginning to move back toward the inn. "I'm going to go dry off and…"

Ivy trailed off as the sound of quick repetitive splashes echoed through the area – a sound she had come to recognize over the past few hours. The tomboy spun, lifting her sword up as Flare swung his down, blocking the strike.

"I said we're not done." Flare stated coolly, eyes cold as he stared at Ivy. The boy pulled back on his sword, spinning around as he swung at Ivy from the side. The girl grunted, moving her sword over to block that strike as well.

"I've had enough of this!" The tomboy yelled, pushing the flame swordsman's blade away. Flare allowed the weapon to be pushed back as he turned slightly, thrusting forward with his shoulder. The redhead's upper body crashed into Ivy, knocking the tomboy back and to the ground, water splashing up around her as she fell.

"I said enough!" Ivy screamed, staring up at her attacker wide-eyed as the boy spun around, lifting his sword back above his head.

"No."

The emotionless word carried over the redhead's lips as he swung downward at the girl sitting prone on the floor. Ivy's eyes widened as the weapon careened toward her, her gaze flicking to the attacker's eyes as they stared down at her. There was something different there – this wasn't like the past twelve hundred times the redhead had attacked her that night. As she stared up at him, she could tell one thing: he wasn't going to stop his swing.

Ivy quickly rolled to the side, barely dodging the sword as it crashed to the ground, startled eyes finding there way back to the swordsman's face.

"What the hell are you doing!" Ivy shouted, alarmed and a little frightened as Flare's eyes spun to meet hers once more.

"Instructing."

Flare swung out towards her, prompting Ivy to lift the Thorn Cutter in her hands up to block. The swords crashed together with a loud metallic clang, and the force of the strike was enough to push Ivy a few inches across the lubricated surface of the ground. The green-haired girl gasped, feeling the force behind the blow – it was suddenly very obvious to her how much Flare had been holding back before, and that he was no longer playing around.

"Are you actually trying to hurt me!" Ivy screamed, scrambling to her feet as Flare rushed towards her again.

"I'm trying to teach you!" Flare shouted back, swinging at the girl once more.

Ivy ducked beneath the slash, the sword slicing through a few strands of her hair as it flew over her head. She wasn't sure what the hell had prompted the change in attitude, but she could tell her 'teacher' wasn't going to simply stop like before.

Gritting her teeth, Ivy plunged her sword downward, piercing the earth below with her double-bladed sword. As she did, vines burst from the earth around Flare, stretching up around the boy's legs much like they had done two days prior when Ivy had attempted to help support Myst during the Sentry's assault. The tomboy was almost surprised to see the vines return – only half-expecting the sword to actually respond to her.

Flare glanced down as the vines stretched up his legs, attempting to hold him in place as they slinked further and further up his body. The first signs of a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, but he was quick to steel his expression once more. The Flame Swordsman concentrated, pulling the energy from his magical blade. The next instant, a wave of fire pushed out from the sword, flowing down the redhead's arms before engulfing his whole body. The fire fought to stay lit over the deluge around the boy, but managed to accomplish its task: burning away the vines that gripped him.

Flare pushed forward again, free from his restraints, and swung out at the green-haired girl. Ivy gasped as the redhead moved toward her again. She had known the element of Fire bested her own, but that had been the first time Flare had actually summoned it against her that night. Gritting her teeth, Ivy rolled forward and to the side, freeing her sword from the ground as she dodged beneath Flare's strike.

With a wild spin and swing, Ivy attempted to counter Flare's attack, but the redhead wasn't so easily caught. Just as the girl's sword approached, two small bursts of flames erupted beneath the redhead's feet, propelling him upward, and over Ivy's strike. With an aerial display of his acrobatic skill, Flare flipped forward, landing behind the girl as he spun around to attack again.

Ivy tried to follow the boy's movements as he spun over her head, watching as he crashed to the ground behind her. She tried to raise her sword to defend against the oncoming strike, but she could tell the boy's blade was moving to quick for her to reach. She was going to get hit this time – she was going to be cut. Unless she could think of something quickly. Her mind flashed back to her last moments in her realm – the moment The Tree Frog and moved to finish her and the Thorn Cutter had summoned a shield of vines to protect her. As she stared at the incoming strike, she could tell a gaggle of vines wouldn't be enough. She needed something stronger.

As if responding to her desire, the Thorn Cutter began to glow. As it did, a shield of dense wood flourished up from the ground between the two warriors, acting as a shield for the young girl as it bent back over her. Flare's sword crashed against the surface, cutting into the wood, but not through it. The tomboy stared up, unsure what to make of the barrier of ironwood before her, but not bothering to spend much time fixated on it. Using the brief moment, Ivy pushed away, trying to put some distance between herself and her antagonistic ally.

Ivy glanced back as she dashed away, watching as a pulse of light flowed down the length of redhead's sword, causing a small explosion to shatter the chunk of wood the blade was lodged in. She groaned as he turned toward her, rushing forward once more. Why the hell was he doing this! The tomboy gritted her teeth, thinking back to her encounter with The Tree Frog once more, recalling the shower of needles he had bathed her in, pulling inspiration from the attack. Ivy swung her sword outward, and once again, the blade responded to her desires. As she slashed at the air, a wave a tiny wooden darts cascaded from the double-helix edge of the weapon, plunging toward the fiery youth.

Flare responded quickly, waving his own sword in response to mimic the wave of thorns with a wave of fire. As the flames pushed through the torrent, though, they're power was quickly quelled, leaving little fire left to intercept the thorny darts. Flare let out a muffled cry as a dozen or so of the tiny wooden spears plunged into his flesh, but pressed forward despite that.

The Flame Swordsman raised his sword high as he drew close, ready to slash downward at Ivy once more. Growing increasingly annoyed by the boy's attacks, Ivy gritted her teeth and raised her own blade in response. Nearly in unison, the two slashed toward each other. As they did, the Plant Bladewarrior was graced with a scrap of luck. Slashing toward each other, the tip of the fiery brand made its way between the twin spiraling blades of the girl's sword. Inspiration surged through the girl, forcing her body to act instinctively as she saw the sight, and she twisted quickly to the side while spinning her sword as well. Even Flare was slightly surprised as the motion forced the weapon from his grip, bending his wrists at an impossible angle. A moment later, the flame-shaped weapon crashed to the ground below, leaving him unarmed.

Ivy stepped forward quickly, tilting her blade back up as she pressed the tip of her blade up against the redhead's chest, seething as she glared at him.

"Enough!" She shouted, her annoyance apparent as she pressed her weapon lightly against the teen's shirt. The redhead grinned back, eyes focused on the blade being pushed against him.

"Good." He stated, eyes flicking back up to the girl. "But what did you learn?"

Before the girl had a chance to answer, Flare swung his arm up, hand opened wide. Ivy wasn't sure what to expect – the hand wasn't moving toward her, and it wasn't moving toward her sword. But a flash of red from below quickly informed the tomboy of what was coming.

Clattering from against the ground, the Flame Sword shot upward, the handle of the weapon careening into the hand of its owner. Flare wrapped his fingers tight around it as he pressed up, crashing his sword into the girl's and knocking it from against his chest. In the same fluid motion, he swung out, the edge of his weapon plunging toward Ivy's neck. The green-haired girl clenched her eyes shut, anticipating a quick end, but not receiving it. She felt the jagged, wild edge of the fiery sword press lightly against the skin of her neck, but stop right there. She cautiously opened one eye, staring across the short distance at the flame-headed teen.

"So?' He asked, the cold look in his eyes gone, replaced once again by the warrior's kind demeanor.

"Huh?" Ivy repeated her question again, turning to look down at the blade pressed against her as Flare pulled it away.

"What did you learn?" Flare asked, repeating the question once again.

Ivy was silent, unsure how to answer. Over the seemingly hundreds of times Flare attacked her, she had tried to answer that question both seriously, and angrily. She tried to answer it in both a discerning and sarcastic manner. But no matter her response so far, the boy had always told her she was wrong.

"I learned you're crazy!" Ivy shouted, shaking her head. "I learned you're cheap!"

Flare frowned, sighing as he began to reach back up to his sword.

"I learned not to underestimate you."

The redhead paused, looking back down at the girl, tilting his head toward her slightly. "What was that?"

"I learned you're crazy!" Ivy shouted again, glaring up at him.

"No." Flare shook his head. "The last part."

"I…" Ivy paused, staring up at the glimmer in the redhead's eyes. He looked as if he were on the verge of cracking a smile. "I learned not to underestimate you?"

"Good!" Flare grinned wide, lowering his hand from the hilt of his sword, and holding it out to offer to help Ivy up. "About time you learned something! Never underestimate your opponent. Even when you think they're down for the count, you never know what crazy stunt they might pull to try and turn the tables on you."

Ivy scowled, allowing the boy to help her to her feet even as she glared at him.

"That was it!" Ivy inquired sharply, pulling away as soon as she was standing. "You attacked me for hours so I'd learn that!"

"No." Flare replied, shaking his head as he met her wrathful glare. "But that's a decent take away from lesson one."

"Lesson one?" Ivy shivered, partially from being cold and wet, but mostly from the thought of having due endure this sort of training again. "There are more!"

"There's plenty more for you to learn." Flare replied, shrugging. "When you can give me the right answer to my question – the real answer. That's when we'll be on the final lesson."

Ivy groaned, sagging her shoulders as she slowly turned and began to walk back towards the inn.

"I don't think I want anymore lessons." She whined, pouting as the approached the inn's front deck.

"But you did good." Flare countered, patting her on the back as the stepped on to the deck, joining Myst and Frost who were still sitting there. "You even managed to disarm me!"

"Yeah…" Ivy scoffed, turning to glare at the boy. "And then you used some cheap magic and rearmed yourself!"

"How'd you do that, anyway?"

The two of them both turned, looking at Frost as he leaned forward. In an odd moment, it appeared the fool had actually been paying attention to something other than himself.

"How'd you summon your sword like that? Is it something unique to your blade?"

"No." Myst answered for the redhead, shaking her head as she patted the sword at her side. "I can do it too."

"So can we all do it?" Ivy questioned, turning to glance back up at Flare, Frost doing the same.

"Eventually, yeah." Flare nodded. "Once you learn to communicate with your blade properly, you'll be able to pull it to you pretty much whenever you need it."

"Communicate?" Frost frowned, reaching to his back to unsheathe the blade there, holding it before him. "So… I just talk to it?"

"It's not so much in words." Myst laughed, staring at the fool as he held the sword close to his mouth and began to whisper. "It's more… feelings, or desires. The blades communicate with emotions and urges, though I can't say I don't occasionally hear some sort of voice, as well."

"A voice…?" Ivy paused, thinking back to the moment Myst had been dying in front of her – to the moment the girl nearly died from the wound the Sentry had inflicted, and to the strange voice she had heard. There hadn't been anyone else around at the time, and though it had never seemed to actually be emanating from the blade, there was nowhere else for it to come from.

"I think… I've heard it." Ivy added, looking down at the sword at her side, wondering if she was right.

"What!" Frost bellowed, turning to stare at the tomboy dubiously. "Can't be!"

"No, I think so." Ivy argued, shaking her head. "Back in Sentinel Bay. I think the sword was the one that taught me how to heal Myst."

"No way. That. Can't. Be." Frost replied forcefully. "There's no way you're sword's talking to you before mine talks to me. You've barely had yours a week! I've had this blade for over a year! If you're hearing yours, then why aren't I having pleasant conversations with mine about the weather!"

"Maybe it finds you annoying, too." Ivy suggested, sighing.

"Or maybe you're just not listening." Myst offered, trying to prevent the fool from growing discouraged.

"Listening?" Frost questioned, turning to stare back at his sword. "I thought you said it doesn't really speak."

"Just because it doesn't talk," Flare responded, placing a hand on Frost's shoulder, "doesn't mean you don't need to listen. You need to be open to its suggestions and ideas – even seek them out. If you just try and use it like a tool, it's going to treat you the same way."

Frost sighed, staring at the sword in his hand, pondering the redhead's words.

"Maybe you should think about that next time we're in a battle." Flare suggested, shrugging. "Really try to stay open to the sword's voice."

Frost was silent, continuing to stare at the sword a moment before lifting his eyes to look at Ivy. Of all of them, she was probably asking for help from her sword more than anyone else. Maybe that was why it responded so quickly. He had taught himself to use the sword outside of actual battle, and when he had suddenly been thrust into, he hadn't considered the idea that he didn't know what he was doing – he was pretty awesome, after all. But maybe that was it. Maybe that was the reason the sword wasn't talking to him like it was the others.

"Maybe I'll try that…" Frost mumbled, staring at the translucent blade. What did he have to lose?