Morningstar

Agrion forces himself out of the bed. The sun is still hidden. He tries not to make any sound. He has seen Icarus walk soundlessly. He doesn’t tiptoe. He walks planting his whole feet. He tries to do that as he walks towards the wardrobe. He picks his uniform and armor and heads towards the bathroom.

“Another early practice session with Icarus?” Hakea whispers.

“Go back to sleep,” Agrion whispers back.

“Are you going to keep being angry with me?” Hakea asks. Agrion sees him in the dark sitting on the bed.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“You’ve changed, Agrion.”

“No,” he says. “You just don’t like that I have grown a backbone.”

He closes the door of the bathroom. He does his necessities first before brushing his teeth. He undresses quickly and dresses with the uniform and armor. He throws the rest of the clothes in his laundry bag. He then opens the door slowly. Hakea has gone back to sleep. He grabs his rifle and leaves the room as quietly as possible.

He meets Icarus outside of the students’ dormitory. He only nods when he sees Agrion and begins to walk away. Then he advances into a jog and in seconds into a run. Agrion tries his best to keep up, but even he knows that Icarus is too fast.

“Is running all that we are going to do?” he asks as he tries his best to reach him. That’s all that he did yesterday.

“You need to become faster,” Icarus says. He doesn’t sound tired. “Most jobs that rogues receive are to kill and escape the scene. Escaping takes a lot of running and climbing.”

“All right,” he says, agreeing to what Icarus said. He wants to do something else. He wants to learn how to be silent or how to fly like Icarus when he jumps. He wants to have the same abilities as Icarus.

They run for half an hour. He has never liked running that much. He uses a rifle. He was trained to be behind the main lines shooting whoever comes. Even then he was not much of a shooter. Hakea, Xeon, and Drew always did everything for him, but not anymore. He is going to get better and better.

“Here,” Icarus says. He hands him two daggers. “These are long daggers. They are more difficult to hide than any other dagger, but they are easier to strike with.”

Agrion continues trying to catch his breath. “How can you run and not get tired with that mask on?”

“Years of practice,” he said.

Agrion takes both daggers. “What am I supposed to do with–”

Icarus launches. What Agrion sees is Icarus’s dagger as it comes from above. Agrion rises one of his daggers to stop his attack and as he does, he swipes his other dagger at his chest. Icarus bends his back, evading the slash. Then with his momentum, he does a back handspring. Agrion sees Icarus’s legs coming a little too late. He covers his face with his arms, but Icarus kicks him under the chin.

Agrion falls back as pain erupts in his jaw. He hits the floor on his back. He needs to get up. He grabs the dagger that fell with him and launches again towards Icarus. He throws one of his daggers at Icarus. As he evades it, Agrion stabs his other dagger at Icarus’s stomach. He is stopped by Icarus holding his wrist.

“Not bad,” Icarus says as he lets go of him. He pockets his dagger. “Go back to sleep. I’ll see you at practice.” He turns to walk away.

“What about your long daggers?” Agrion asks.

“Keep them,” he says. “You are better with them than with your own rifle.”

Agrion picks up the dagger that he threw and his rifle. He might have found his real weapon.

***

Icarus is sitting on the edge of the bed. He places the cup on the nightstand and continues to hold the other. He watches Phoenix. She is lying on her side with her eyes closed. Her hair is laying loose on one of his pillows. He forgets for a second all of the factors that are between them and that could destroy each other in seconds.

Yesterday, she spent the rest of the evening with him. They talked and kissed, forgetting about everything and everyone. Then night came and he offered her to stay. They slept together on his bed, cuddling each other.

Icarus reaches for a strand of her hair that is covering part of her face. She takes a deep a breath at the touch. She opens her eyes slowly. When her blue eyes spot Icarus, she closes them and smiles.

“Can’t I sleep a little more?” she asks.

“No,” he answers. “We have practice today and you have to leave before me so that no one can see us.”

“Right,” she says as she sits up. “If they know about us, they would do anything to keep us apart.” Her eyes are still closing every second. Icarus leans in to kiss her, but she pushes her back. “No kiss. I haven’t brushed my teeth.”

“I don’t care,” he says.

“I do,” she says. She then spots the cup that Icarus is holding. “What is that?”

“Coffee,” he says and extends it towards her.

“How did you get it? Coffees are for instructors and…” She smiles as she realizes it. “And mentors.” She takes the cup and drinks from it. “At least I get some perks from dating you.”

His smile disappears. “I am opting on ignoring you.” He grabs his cup that is on the nightstand and stands up. “I suggest that you drink that before leaving. No one is allowed to carry food outside of the lunchroom besides the mentors and instructors. Everyone will know that something is up if they see you with it.”

“Are you bossing me?” she asks.

“Maybe,” he answers. “I am going to take a shower.” He looks at her again. “Can I get a kiss?”

“No,” she answers. “But I can join you.”

He instantly erases the image that starting to crawl into his mind. “Don’t rush things,” he answers.

She rolls her eyes. “Fine,” she answers. “See you at practice.”

He smiles. “You are mad at me.”

“I am not.”

“Sure,” he answers sarcastically.

“Just go shower!” He then moves as fast as he can. He steals a kiss from her and disappears into the bathroom. “I told you! No kiss!” She grunts and Icarus smiles at himself.

***

Ilya grabs her rapier and shield. Icarus was right about giving her a shield. She likes using it. When she feels that she is ready to leave her room, she stands in front of her mirror. She starts swinging the rapier. She likes how she looks with the rapier and the shield, but she also wishes her shield to be different. Her shield is currently a round metal shield with no ornamentation.

Someone knocks on the door and she loses her balance. She feels suddenly silly of what she was doing. She places her rapier in the belt on her waist. She looks again in the mirror to see if everything is in place before moving to the door. When she opens it, she sees that Tilray is standing outside.

“I’ve been standing hours out here,” Tilray says. Ilya knows that Tilray loves to exaggerate.

“But aren’t we supposed to meet at the lunchroom in twenty minutes?”

“Yes, but we have plans before that,” she says. “Come on.” She pulls Ilya by the hand and Ilya struggles to close the door of her dorm. She begins to follow Tilray, who is walking quicker than usual.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” Ilya asks when they step out of the girls’ dormitory.

“Because Phoenix is seeing a mentor,” Tilray says. Ilya does not understand but lets her explain herself. “And we are going to catch her in the act.”

“Why?” Ilya asks. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want to know who the mentor is, but why are we catching her in the act?”

“You are starting to sound like Norm,” she says. “Because we want to have something against her.”

Ilya only sighs. “You and your war.”

In a few minutes, they find themselves standing behind a tree, waiting for Phoenix to appear. Ilya, meanwhile, thinks about how Tilray’s rivalry with Phoenix started. They were friends before. No, not only friends, they were best friends when they were kids. But as they grew older, they started to become jealous of each other. They both wanted to be the best gunslinger. The boys that Tilray was interested in were interested on Phoenix and the other way around. Their friendship became a constant fight of who was better.

“There,” Tilray says. She moves from behind the tree and leans in against it. She waits for Phoenix to spot her. When Phoenix does, she acts as if she didn’t see them. Tilray decides to intercept her path.

“What?” Phoenix asks, stopping.

“What were you doing there?” Tilray asks.

“Fucking,” Phoenix answers expressionless. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Ilya notices someone approaching. He is a big man, older than them. He has golden hair and a beard of the same color. He has blue eyes, and above his left eye, he has a scar that cuts through his eyebrow. He is wearing a red shirt that shows his muscles.

“What are you pretty ladies doing here?” he asks. Then he spots Phoenix and extends his arm to lay it on her shoulders. “Ah, it is you. Are you coming for more?”

“Don’t touch me,” Phoenix answers. The man backs off.

“You are Demetrio, aren’t you?” Tilray asks, smiling. Does she think that that’s the man that Phoenix is seeing?

“Yes, and let me guess, you ladies are from Icarus’s team?” he asks.

“Yes,” Tilray answers as Ilya nods.

“I should have known,” he says. “Icarus got the prettiest ladies at Morningstar.”

“What is going on?” someone says. Ilya spots Icarus approaching.

“Speaking of the devil, here he comes with a gray mask,” Demetrio says as he turns. “I was just talking to these ladies. I am allowed to do that, am I not?”

“To my students, no,” Icarus answers. He looks at Tilray, Ilya, and Phoenix. “Go on. Eat breakfast. I’ll see you at practice.”

Phoenix is the first one to start walking away. Tilray remains a few seconds, but when she turns, Ilya does too. They walk away, leaving Demetrio and Icarus behind.

“I didn’t know that you liked beefy men,” Tilray tells Phoenix. “Quite a change from Drano.”

“Don’t mention him,” Phoenix hisses.

“Drano seems like a toothpick compared to him,” she continues. “He even would seem weak right next to–” but Phoenix is already on top of Tilray and sending her fist down at her face.

***

“I’m quite disappointed at you two,” Icarus says. His voice is icier than his eyes.

“She started it,” Phoenix begins.

“Really, Phoenix?” Icarus asks. Tilray wants to smile but she doesn’t. “Are you that childish?”

After Phoenix punched Tilray, Icarus intervened. Demetrio only watched with a grin on his face, and Ilya stared while keeping her distance. Icarus sent Ilya away and told Tilray and Phoenix that they won’t eat breakfast today. He even forced them to head to Draconic, where they are now standing in front of.

“What is wrong with you two?” Icarus continues. “I knew when I chose this team that it was going to be a challenge, but I thought that by now, you would at least tolerate each other.” He shakes his head. “It was so naïve of me to think that.” Phoenix opens her mouth to say something, but Icarus is the one to speak. “Drop and… keep doing pushups until my anger disappears.” Tilray and Phoenix do not move. “You do not want to test me.”

Something in his eyes makes Tilray believe him. She lowers herself and begins to do pushups. It does not even take a second for Phoenix to join her. Tilray tries not to smile again. She does not care that she is being punished and that her face hurts. She only cares that she now knows that Phoenix is seeing Demetrio and that she is getting punished too. Besides, doing pushups is a soft punishment comparing to what the instructors and Morning do.

“For how long?” Tilray asks after minutes.

“Until I say so,” Icarus answers.

Tilray continues. She goes up, then down, up, and then down. After several minutes, she can feel her muscles ache. Now this is the worst part of this kind of punishment. She continues through the pain. She will continue until Phoenix gets tired.

Tilray then hears steps. She looks up. “Don’t look up,” Icarus warns. She looks back down. She can see feet walking past her. She knows who they are. They are her fellow teammates arriving and watching them being punished.

Then, to her luck, she feels a raindrop hit her then a few more until the rain pours harder. She hates doing pushups in the rain. The ground turns to mud and it becomes slippery. Still, Icarus remains standing, watching them do pushups.

“That’s enough,” Icarus says after minutes. He goes back inside Draconic.

Tilray lets herself fall and she is not the only one. Phoenix falls in the mud also. Her whole body aches. She has to rest for a while.

“It was worth it,” she says. “It was worth getting punished in order to see you get punished.”

“Fuck you,” Phoenix yells over the rain. “I can’t believe that we were ever friends.” They remain quiet for a few seconds, lying on the mud. “He is right, you know. We should at least tolerate each other.”

“He is an asshole,” Tilray says. “I refuse to pay attention to assholes.”

“I…” Phoenix begins. “Yes. I am seeing someone. Would that be enough for you to leave me alone?”

“I knew it,” Tilray says. “But no. I won’t leave you alone.”

“What do you want from me, Tilray?” Phoenix yells. “Why can’t you leave me alone? What have I done to you that you cannot leave me alone for one damn second?”

Tilray chuckles. “It is too late to ask.”

“So what? Are you holding a stupid grudge from when we were kids? Grow up, Tilray.”

“Grow up?” she asks. “You do not understand what it is like to grow up. We were friends once, Phoenix. You, me, Meer, Zanna, and Rin. We were the original group of gunslingers and then we both separated, and you got all of our friends. I was alone. I had to grow up on my own until I met Ilya, Norm, Killam, Shin, and Urho!”

Tilray pushes herself up with the ounce of strength that she has left, wishing to leave Phoenix alone on the mud.