Friendship
#2 of K and M
Here we go, back on schedule. Sometimes, when we are hurting, the only thing that helps is going somewhere else in your head. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
As always, let me know what you think. Love it or hate it, I always like to hear from people.
Ten years ago
"The Knights of Mastira, precursors of the legendary Knights of the Grand Alliance of the Antarian continent, were unique in the feudal era in that they were not only widely acknowledged as being the most elite warriors in the world, but also the most honorable, adhering strictly to a code of conduct that was progressive even by today's standards. This code of conduct was laid out in a book entitled 'The Precepts of Honor", written in a series of stories or fables that are still studied and analyzed today. Each fable's moral exemplified one of the rules of the knight's code, and the rewards of living by it, as well as the consequences of failing to do so. There is much argument today whether the stories are complete fiction, or rather based in actual events. However, there is no doubt that the code of conduct was an important aspect of the daily lives of the Knights, and has been emulated by numerous organizations and nations since the fall of the Kingdom."
_ _ A shadow fell over the page of the book, breaking Michiko's concentration and she looked up, finding that the car had passed into the dim light of a tunnel through a ridge. The young hybrid looked over at her mother, finding the red panda humming along to the music coming from the stereo. They had been driving all day, ever since they left the last hotel, and she had had no reason to suspect that their end destination today was going to be much better. Probably another middle range hotel with not quite comfortable beds, and the usual cleaning staff. The only difference so far had been the species of the hotel staff as they drove, shifting from the predominantly cervine species of the chilly northern area they had lived for six months before their current move, gradually becoming more widely varied. Last night, the hotel staff had been predominated by predators, mostly wolves and coyotes, which had been a first, at least as far back as she could remember.
There were a lot of hotels in her memories, and that thought made her look again at her mother. Yuki Sakai was a little shorter than average, stout bodied and somewhat thick set. It wasn't that she was unhealthy, quite the opposite, actually, it was just a tendency of her species. She always seemed to attract a lot of attention wherever she went, mostly just because of her often unique fur pattern; the distinctive ring tail, socks, gloves and mask that she and Michiko shared, though their coloration was different. Her mother was all crimson and black, except for the white mask that was so distinct, the crimson that traced down from the eyes standing out in stark contrast, almost as if designed to draw the gaze to their eyes.
The red pandas lived predominantly on the islands off the eastern coast, many thousands of miles from where they were now, and, being more than a little clannish, they tended not to immigrate much. Or, at least, so the books she had read claimed; Michiko hadn't met many of her mother's kind. Yuki always put forth the appearance of a woman in the prime of life, happy and full of vigor. But Michiko had noticed for a while now the tired quality in her bright aspen green eyes, the eyes they shared, the stress of uprooting wearing her down. She had never complained, never blamed her daughter for their wandering life, but Michiko knew that it really was her fault. Seeing her mother glance in her direction, Michiko smiled encouragingly, despite her own distaste for the journey. If Yuki could endure without complaint, so could she.
"Almost there, Michi." Yuki said, grinning broadly with a twinkle in her eyes while she used the nickname that Michiko allowed only her to get away with. "I have a surprise for you."
Raising a quizzical eyebrow at her mother, Michiko tried to guess what it might be that made her mom grin like that. Come to think of it, her mother had been in an unusually good mood all day, since they left the hotel before sunrise in fact. Actually, today hadn't been bad, in so far as a long car journey could be. Her mother tried to make the best of the long spans of time shut up in the car together, playing music and what travel games could be played while driving. Sometimes, the times Michiko liked best, her mother gave her books that she had bought in preparation for the car ride. Smiling to herself, she turned back to the book she had been reading, admiring the stylized flag on the front cover. It looked something like a long banner that would hang from a castle wall during a celebration; a stylized wolf rendered in silver and white, surrounded by golden wreaths on a background of bright, vibrant emerald green.
Her mother had surprised her with the book 'A Contemporary History of the Mastiran Kingdom', that morning when they had packed their things into the car. Michiko had always had a passion for medieval history, and it didn't get much more interesting than the Mastiran Kingdom. The kingdom had lasted longer than the other medieval nations of the era, longer even than the huge alliance of nations and vassal states that the Mastira royal family had forged at the height of its power. It had lasted so long that the last vestiges of it had been broken into pieces only a little more than two hundred years ago, with the death of the last of the Royal family, a queen who died without an heir. It had been a fairly progressive nation for most of its history, even by modern standards, which might have explained both its longevity, and its particularly violent history.
Constantly under attack from other nations, the Mastira had built more castles, fortresses and garrisons than any other nation in history, and they had raised martial training to an unrivaled level. Everyone in the world knew that much about them, but according to the chapter she was in the middle of, the Knights of the Mastiran King, the warrior elite of the nation, had been more than just skilled. The techniques that they had developed to train prospective knights were still in use in many militaries the world over, and their code of ethics sounded like something to come out of the recent cultural movements in the modern world, rather than the ancient times. In fact, the knights were so well respected and well loved, that when the Alliance of Antaria had fractured and begun to fall apart, and even the Mastiran Kingdom had finally broken up, the Knights alone had been left unmolested, even when the monarchy and all of the other associated nobles had their holdings taken from them. Even now, the various branches of the Knights across the continent were still very highly spoken of, and their crests could be seen on official documents in dozens of countries.
Michiko had always been fascinated by stories of the knights, and she had often wondered what they would have made of someone like her. She almost felt sure that, if the stories about them were true, they of all people would have been as accepting of her as they had been of the other differences within their ranks. What made them truly unique in her eyes was that, unlike every other noble class of that era, the Knights had accepted members of all species within them, not just the wolves that dominated Mastira. In fact, the famed Knight-Lords, who made up the high command of the knights, were all of different species, and had been for the final three hundred years of the Kingdom. Technically, the Knights even still existed as an organization, the title of Knight-Lord being handed down among the families that descended from the knights, their descendants retaining the code of ethics and the disciplined style of training that had made them so formidable. Although what had been Mastira was now a part of four different countries, Michiko had seen schools proclaiming to teach the ways of the Knighthood all across the continent, almost in every single town they had lived in. Though she would have liked to enroll in such a school, she had never had the courage to ask her mother to let her join, especially because she had always known that they wouldn't be staying in the town for long enough to really learn anything. Or at least, that is what she kept telling herself. In truth, for all of their supposed dedication to being accepting, she had feared deep down that they would never have taken her, if they ever found out what she was.
Just when her eyes had adjusted to the dim light of the tunnel, the car left its confines, flooding the interior with light and Michiko winced slightly. She was about to go back to the book, but her green eyes went wide when they finally adjusted enough to see the scenery below her and she put her bookmark in the page and closed it instead. She had never seen the place laid out before her before, but she knew it, having seen pictures of it for as long as she had been reading books. They were traveling downhill, heading towards a coastal city surrounded by pine clad mountains on two sides, and lush, fertile plains on the third. Nestled in the foothills of the mountains, surrounded as if besieged by modern buildings, was a large, many towered castle, and even from the far distance of the highway, she recognized the banner that flew from the modern flagpole atop the keep. It was a large, modern version of the exact same banner that graced the cover of the book in her lap and she looked at her mother again, finding her grinning so broadly at her obvious joy and surprise that she was almost showing her teeth.
"Welcome to our new home, Michiko." She said, pulling off the highway onto the exit ramp marked 'Mastira City'.
"Really?! Are we really going to live here?" Michiko gushed, a strange sort of soaring joy coming over her. She knew her mother had gotten a new job somewhere in the west that she had said was going to be better than her previous one, but it had never once entered her imagination that it would be here.
"Of course we are." Her mother replied, her grin widening. "I knew you would be excited, so I kept it secret. I didn't want to ruin it."
Michiko kept her face glued to the window as they drove, soaking in every detail she could see as they pulled off the main thoroughfare and into a suburb, her ringed tail wriggling between the seats in her excitement. Overall, the place they were entering seemed like any of the others she had lived in during her life, except for the variety of species she saw out and about. There seemed to be every species she had ever seen represented here, not to mention wolves; she even saw a few of her mother's people scattered around. That made sense, considering, but still, she hadn't expected such a variety. And then, as they pulled off the main road and into the side roads in a particular residential neighborhood, she realized something else, something that she had missed in her excitement. Unlike the many, many other cities she had seen, this one was very...green, was about the only word she could think of. There was green space everywhere, and not just the usual well trimmed lawns of grass and tasteful arrangements of flowers around houses either. Every road had a space in the middle filled with trees and growing things, dividing the two directions of traffic. Even the shopping centers they passed were bordered with gardens. There weren't many fences between houses either, hedges or lines of trees taking their place. And then, her attention was caught by the huge park on her side of the car, completely surrounding the high granite walls of the castle.
'Park' didn't even seem to be the right word for it. It wasn't made up of the carefully groomed expanses of grass that most parks held, looking instead as if the castle and its surrounding land had been ripped right out of ancient history. The stands of trees that stood here and there in the park grew every which way, no discernible pattern to be had. The undergrowth one would expect to find in a wild setting still grew around them, and the grass was tall and unkempt. All except for the space right around the gates of the ancient structure, about half a block in length. That space alone was well tended, looking like something modern, with flower gardens bordering a wide, open expanse of neatly trimmed grass, bisected by a paved path of neatly fitted cobbles leading from the street to the gate. At first, she thought that her mother had driven this way merely to let her look at the castle, knowing her interest, so she was surprised when they took a turn off into the closest neighborhood and pulled up in the driveway of a modest sized house, not four blocks away from the edge of the park and the castle.
"Here we are." Yuki said, pulling up in the driveway and putting the car in park. "Home sweet home."
"You always say that." Michiko commented, unbuckling her seat belt and opening the door to finally get out of the car. Stretching, she examined the house curiously. It looked recently built and well taken care of, from the fresh, un-weathered concrete of the foundations all the way to its slate tile roof. It even had neat flower beds around its edge with bright blossoms. Despite her mother's familiar words, there was indeed something about the house that felt welcoming, something she had never encountered before with a house. When her mother had keyed in the code to open the garage, Michiko retrieved her backpack and book and followed her inside, finding the inside of the house to be bright, open and airy. It smelled of polished hardwood, and fresh air, and she couldn't help but smile. Even empty, without furniture, the house seemed comfortable and warm, even painted the usual, off white color that all houses seemed to be painted when people first moved in.
"I have a good feeling about this." Yuki said, looking around the kitchen with a satisfied smile on her face. "Why don't you pick out a bedroom upstairs?"
Michiko nodded, running up the stairs two at a time. There were three bedrooms upstairs, one that was part of the master suite, which her mother would take, and two smaller ones. The one on the left of the stairs, beside the master, looked like any other bedroom and she instinctually ignored it. But the one on the right, the one that looked out towards the park and the castle was something different. It had a large window seat by a picture window, and she smiled to herself, the room speaking to her in a way that made her tail wag. Dropping her backpack in the room, she went back downstairs to help her mother unpack the car. It didn't actually take that long, both of them being used to traveling light, neither of them taking anything more than what was needed. When they were done, Michiko considered picking up her book again, but she had had enough of sitting still for the day. She wanted to move, and most of all, she wanted to go take a look at the castle, up close. Seeing the way she kept moving from one foot to another, her mother smiled.
"How about you go to the park up by the castle while I call the movers and see where all of our stuff is?" Yuki asked, and Michiko nodded eagerly.
Her mother hadn't even finished dialing the moving company before she was out the door, heading off down the sidewalk. The day was warm, but not hot, the sea breeze coming in from the ocean reaching even this far, bringing the scent of salt and sea to mix with all the others. Her mother wasn't the only one with a good feeling. All her life, she had been forced to be reserved, never to form ties with the other kids, never really to have close friends, because as soon as she seemed to establish such a relationship, it was snatched away, and they had to move. She was going to make an effort to change it this time, though. Her mother's excitement when she had told Michiko about her new job had told her that this really was a rare opportunity for her mother, and she wasn't going to be the one to mess it up, not if she could help it. The walk to the park was almost over before she realized it, and she was waiting at the intersection for the crossing signal to tell her it was her turn when her ears twitched, perking up in the direction of the park. There was a series of sounds she half recognized, an odd, sharp staccato beat that stood out above the rumble of traffic. Shading her eyes from the sun, she peered across the road and spied the source.
Over in the mowed lawn to the left of the path leading to the castle gate, a crowd of young boys of various species were milling around, swords in hand, hitting one another in rapid succession. At first, she wondered what in the world they could possibly be doing, until she noticed that each wore a colored armband tied around one of their biceps and she grinned to herself. Violent as the gathering appeared, they were in fact playing a game called 'Knights and Knaves'.
Originally part of training for prospective knights, the training melees had evolved into an actual game about a century ago. It had gone in and out of fashion over the years, but, when an enterprising toy company began selling foam swords with hollow plastic cores, it resurged in popularity. Those swords couldn't actually do serious damage unless the kid was seriously unlucky, and ever since then, full sets of swords and armbands had been sold, along with 'official' rules. Basically, the game was a form of capture the flag, with the goal being to 'capture' the other team's armbands by pulling them off the arm of an opponent, at which point they could no longer play and had to leave the field. There was supposedly strategy involved, but unless the players were serious, it mostly came down to luck and who could hit hardest, fastest.
Crossing into the park, Michiko walked along the path until she was close enough to watch the game. This was a larger game than she had ever seen before, with twenty or so boys on both sides, and she could tell that there at least four on each side that were taking it very seriously, actually wielding their swords as if they knew what they were doing. The game was rapidly winding down, with most of each side eliminated, until there were only a few boys still playing. Two wearing red armbands, a clouded leopard and an iguana, ganged up on a young stag wearing a blue band, who could only hold one of them off at a time, the other snagging his arm band and yanking it off, leaving only a single blue player still on the field. The last remaining blue team fighter, a skinny wolf with white fur who held a sword in each hand, was left facing three red fighters. But, to her surprise, the wolf expertly twirled one of the two swords he held, actually disarming one of the red fighters before adding his arm band to the fist full he held clasped around his other hand. She watched with interest as the wolf faced the last two red fighters, the remaining kids cheering their side on. The leopard and the iguana separated, circling the wolf, but she caught a sly grin on his face at the move and it suddenly occurred to her that he really had been trained to use a sword, because the moment they were out of supporting distance from each other, the white wolf stomped towards the leopard as a feint, then spun quickly, one sword smacking the iguana on the side of his head, making him stagger, the other coming around in a spin that changed at the last instant into a grab, and suddenly, it was the wolf alone, against the leopard, completing the spin to face the feline once more with surprising grace.
The blue team cheered and clapped at the display and Michiko slipped into their midst, keenly interested now, the show of skill enough to keep her attention despite the riot of scents that assaulted her as she stepped into the crowd. The clouded leopard frowned, stepping back, his sword raised in a guard that she recognized from the demonstrations she had seen of someone trained to fight as a knight, both hands taking hold of the hilt. Then, to her surprise, the white wolf smiled broadly, laying one of his swords down on the ground before taking the same stance, all of the red bands he had claimed in his free fist. For a moment, the two boys faced each other, sword points nearly touching, then they moved, clashing with the familiar clatter, trading blows with impressive skill for their ages. Neither was quick enough to take a hand free to grab for the other's armband, and it looked like a stalemate for a moment. Then, the illusion dissolved, the white wolf smacking the back of one of the leopard's hands with his sword point, and it was over, the wolf darting past his surprised opponent, coming up with the armband in hand.
Michiko couldn't help but join in with the blue team's deafening roar of approval as its members rushed the field, treating the victor to hugs and back slaps while the red team huddled up and cast dark looks in their direction. Both teams deposited their claimed armbands into baskets on the edge of the field that held spare arm bands, while the wolf crossed to the other side, adding a tally mark to the standing chalkboard set up there. The score was eight to five in favor of blue team, and, according to the supposedly official rules, the game went on until one team won fifteen rounds. Making her decision in an instant, Michiko waited until the teams were putting arm bands back on and picking up swords before walking up to where the blue team was gathering.
"H-Hey." She said, somewhat timidly now that she was close to a bunch of strange kids. The boys all turned to look at her, seeming surprised. "Can I play with you?"
"Um..." A somewhat heavy set goat started to say, looking her up and down in surprise. The others all looked at each other, trying to communicate without speaking, but most of them ended up looking at the stag that had been the second to last fighter in the last match. Looking at him as well, she realized that he was a couple years older than her, a full foot taller and already showing mature definition in his muscles. She also noticed for the first time that he wore an old-fashioned leather armband around both wrists, embossed with a symbol she actually recognized. Now she really wished she hadn't spoken up, because the symbol, a rampant stag atop crossed swords, with three, four pointed stars above it was the sigil of one the surviving bloodlines of Knights, and only their members were allowed to wear it.
"No way." He said, shaking his antlered head with a look of disgust on his face. "Girls can't play Knights and Knaves. And even if you could, you would only drag down our team, and we are winning." Shame immediately flooded Michiko, and she looked down, blushing under her fur. She should have known better than this. Like everyone else, they had no reason to accept her, no reason for this to be different. Of course she couldn't will the world to change for her...
"Shut up, Travis." Another voice said, and she looked up in surprise to find the white wolf who had won the last match walking up to the group, one sword in each hand, both resting on his shoulders, crossing behind his neck. Now that he was closer to her, she saw that he was not pure white at all, but he had markings of silver on his head almost like a crown, and extremely intense blue eyes. He could not have been much older than her, to judge from his size, and she was hardly surprised to note that he too wore leather wrist bands. His though, were inset with silver medallions with the sigil of a howling wolf in front of a shield, surmounted by a crown, and now she really was impressed. That sigil was a Mastiran coat of arms, one of the most ancient families that had continued down from antiquity with an unbroken line of succession. The first Knight-lord had worn that symbol, as had more than thirty other famous leaders of both the Mastiran and Antarian Knights. But she was even more surprised at the look on his face. He was angry, and on her behalf, the first time that had ever happened with a stranger.
"Knights are not girls!!!" The stag called Travis stated emphatically, turning to face the other boy, and though he was older than the predator, he didn't seem to want to engage with him, backing off slightly.
"Sure they are." The white wolf replied, cocking his head at the older boy. "There are dozens of women in my family alone that have held that title. If she wants to play, I say let her."
"No!" The stag almost yelled and then Michiko was surprised when the goat and three others shouted 'yes', contradicting him immediately, seeming to take the side of the wolf over the stag. Raising his head like he was ending the argument, the stag crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I'm not going to play with her on my team."
"Suit yourself then." The wolf said, reaching out and deftly plucking the blue armband from around the stag's arm. When the wolf wordlessly handed the armband to Michiko, the stag grimaced, then turned around and stomped away towards the red team, giving a huff of annoyance and a glare over his shoulder. The wolf shouted at his back as he walked away, loud enough for the other team to hear. "That team can use all the help they can get!!" The blue team let out a laugh at that, many of them making faces at the grumbling boys across the way.
"He is probably right." Michiko said quietly, hesitatingly snapping the blue arm band around her arm, just at the spot where her wine red gloves met the orange sweep that covered her back. "I'm not very good."
"Eh, never mind him. Travis has always had way too high of an opinion of himself." The wolf said, smiling at her and offering a hand. "I'm Kael."
"I'm Michiko." She replied, taking his hand and shaking it politely, her tail giving a nervous flick. Then, the flick quickly accelerated into a nervous wriggle as the young wolf swept into an old style courtly bow and knelt on one knee before her.
"Then, milady Michiko," he began, holding out one of his swords on his palms by the blade, its hilt towards her. "Take arms, and lets show them how wrong they are." Taking the hilt of the sword, she lifted it and glanced to the other team. For a moment, she wanted to give the sword back and back out, to forget the whole thing. The other boys all looked bigger than her, and some of them, especially Travis, obviously knew how to actually use a sword. Then, she looked to her right and saw Kael standing there, facing the other side with an eager grin on his face, and she aped his stance, the rest of the team falling in on either side of them. Suddenly, standing in line with the team, she didn't feel like backing out. Instead, as her gaze focused on the stag and his half sneer, she got the sudden strange urge to knock that stupid look off his face. As the red team stepped forward, heading towards them with their swords raised, she heard Kael's quiet voice from beside her. "They are going to concentrate on me, so hang back a little and snag their armbands while they are distracted."
Nodding her agreement, the panda-fox shortened her stride as the blue team started forward as well. It turned out that a plastic sword swung for her head by a scrawny fox boy was enough to wipe out any hesitance on her part, and she swung her borrowed sword high to intercept the blow like she had seen in the movies. To her opponent's surprise, she wasn't muscled quite like a usual girl, and Michiko pushed with both hands, forcing her opponent's sword back over his head, overbalancing as he tipped back, trying to keep hold of it. When he fell over, Michiko reached out and triumphantly snatched the red band around his arm. Finding herself free for the moment in the melee, she took a look around and found that what Kael had said was true. At least three fighters were angling towards the wolf, including Travis, though one of them was intercepted by the goat and she crouched down slightly, ducking her lithe frame, so unlike that of her mother, so she could slip through the clashing boys. The stag and the other red team fighter, whom she now recognized as the clouded leopard from before, were clearly trying to menace the wolf, swinging hard at him from two directions, but the wolf was ready for that, spinning his sword in a figure eight across his body, deflecting their blows with what almost seemed like nonchalance.
It took a few more clashes before she got her chance to be useful, but when it came, Michiko grabbed it with both hands, literally. Reaching out, she grabbed for the red arm bands when the two were maneuvered close together by Kael's skilled defense, surprising herself when she pulled both free at the same time. It took the two older boys a moment or two to figure out what had happened, but then they saw her standing there, their arm bands dangling from her hands, they immediately glared daggers at her, but they were sportsman enough to obey the rules, holding up their hands and walking off the field. As they went, she looked at Kael and found the wolf panting from exertion, but grinning broadly. Giving her a wink, the wolf moved off into the melee again, Michiko following him a few steps behind.
Michiko ended that game with six armbands in her grasp, finally being eliminated by the iguana Kael had dueled with the previous round, who cornered her against two other duelers. The round after that, she and Kael used the tactic to even greater effect, eliminating almost half the other team. But then, the Red team got wise to their trick and they lost three rounds in a row, when Travis led four other red team fighters to take on Kael all at once, eliminating the wolf early. But Michiko was learning, and the round after that, she surprised everyone, including herself, by being the last blue team fighter on the field. Then, the goat, who she learned was named Gregg, teamed up with her, Kael and another tawny colored wolf to ambush Travis' party when they came at Kael, allowing them to win another two rounds. The last four rounds devolved into more of a general melee in which everyone got bruised and battered, but, as the sky turned gold with sunset, blue team came out on top the last time, ending the game. Michiko was standing with Kael and Gregg after the game was over, getting her breath back after the spirited fight when she saw Travis come up to them.
"Kael." He said, and the wolf looked at him with a curious expression. The stag looked uncomfortable for a moment, then he smiled in a chagrinned sort of way and offered his hand. "You fought well, and proved yourself the better warrior today." Kael took the offered hand and shook it, accepting the statement. Then, to her utmost surprise, the stag turned to her and gave a similar courtly bow to the one Kael had given her, though not quite so deep. "I apologize for my behavior and words, and I ask your pardon. It was unworthy of me to doubt you, and I hope you will forgive my rash words."
"Oh!!" She said, giving an awkward bow in return, sweeping the strands of her copper hair back out of her eyes as she stood up. "Of course. It was nothing." The other boys were already breaking up and walking away when Travis turned and left without another word, picking up the baskets of arm bands on his way out of the park. Gregg bid Kael and her goodbye, then left as well, leaving her and the young wolf alone. Giving a smile and wincing as her arm twinged, she offered the hilt of the sword to the wolf. "Thanks for letting me borrow it, and for letting me play."
"You are welcome." Kael replied, then pushed the sword back towards her, not taking the hilt. "Keep it. All knights need a sword." Blushing again beneath her fur, the hybrid nodded her thanks and laid the sword on her shoulder the same way he did. "Which way is home?" He must have instantly understood her confusion at the question because he smiled again and explained. "I could hardly call myself a knight-in-training if I did not walk a friend home."
"Oh. Its that way." She said, pointing before what he had said registered in her head. "Are you really..." She almost said 'my friend' but caught herself in time, knowing that was hardly a polite thing to say, and continued instead with "A knight-in-training?"
"Yes." The wolf replied, starting off in the direction she had indicated, Michiko falling in step beside him. His simple statement caught her off guard, but he chuckled before it became awkward. "Not like I have much of a choice." At her questioning glance, he explained. "I'm decided from one of the knight families, and we still keep to the old ways. Every generation has been trained to be knights for as far back as we can reckon things."
"I wondered why you were so good." Michiko said, her guess confirmed. "You actually know how to sword fight."
"Well, kind of." Kael said, self-effacingly. "I'm not that good yet. Just, by comparison to everyone who doesn't know how, I seem like an expert."
"Oh don't give me that." Michiko said with a laugh, making the wolf beside her laugh as well. "I can tell you are pretty good."
"Well, I guess." Kael replied. "Better than Travis is, at any rate."
"No kidding." She said, grinning at the memory of the last fight, when Kael had dueled circles around the stag, tagging him with his sword five times before finally darting in to take his armband, the last touch a swat across his butt that made the older boy jump into the air. "He was so mad..."
"Well, it serves him right, behaving like that." Kael said, grinning from ear to ear. "His family were Knights too, but they fell out of practice a long time ago. They still keep to the ethical code though, or at least he claims they do. And he did apologize for being rude."
"Only after you spanked him." Michiko commented and the wolf laughed. The journey back to the new house actually seemed a lot longer than the walk to the park did, but so much more pleasant. It turned out that the wolf had just as much passion for history as she did, the pair amazing each other about what the other knew while they walked. That discussion led them to talking about the city, and the various places that Michiko had lived. Kael never asked why they had moved so much, never even gave the slightest indication that he was going to ask about her father and why he wasn't with them. She found that refreshing, since that was usually what people asked first, and she found herself opening up to Kael more than she had to anyone before. When they were finally standing on the sidewalk outside the house, Michiko felt very reluctant to part company with him. "Well, this is me."
"Yeah? Awesome! My house is only a couple more blocks down that way," He said gesturing with the sword he still held, and she nodded her understanding. "Hey, you should come over sometime. I bet you would love some of the stuff my family has kept from the old days."
"I'd love to." She replied, grinning broadly.
"Great!" He said, resting the sword back on his shoulder. "Oh hey, that reminds me. Gregg and I practice our sword work at the park every afternoon. You should come. We could teach you a lot."
"Sure." Michiko said, nodding. "See you tomorrow?"
"You bet." He replied, walking off down the sidewalk with a parting wave. Waving back, Michiko turned and walked up into the house, finding her mother waiting for her on the porch.
"Making friends already?" Yuki asked, a teasing note in her voice as she took in Michiko's disheveled state and the sword that rested on her shoulder.
"Actually, yes." She said, looking after the wolf as he walked off down the street. "Yes, I am."
***
Coming back out of her memories, Michiko looked around, trying to get her bearings once more. She was stopped at another red light, but she didn't recognize where her day dreaming had taken her. Leaning forward so her nose was almost touching the glass of the windshield, she peered upward, past the dim reflection of her masked face, trying to make out the street sign. Unfortunately, the name on the sign didn't ring any bells, and she frowned to herself, settling back against the seat. Hoping that her subconscious knew where she was while her conscious mind was lost in the past, the hybrid girl continued straight through the light when it went green. A couple of blocks later, the dark cloud of worry that had kept her mind from drifting back in time once again was dissipated by the bright neon sign of a movie theater complex, the one that proudly advertised its twenty four theaters in garish tones of red and violet that shone out in the rain like a lighthouse. She really had almost lost herself that time, having missed the turn completely in her musings. She had blithely gone on well past where her friend lived, but fortunately, she knew where she was now.
Turning into the parking lot of the theater and then coming back out the entrance, Michiko started back the way she came, silently berating herself for having gotten lost. Of course, she knew that that was hardly surprising, considering the wild swirl of emotions that was only barely kept at bay by her focus on driving in the storm. Why is it always like this?_She asked herself while waiting at the very same light she had paused at before, only going the other way now. _Why does this always happen? But, almost as if answering herself, another thought occurred to her. No, not always. As a matter of fact, it had been a very long time since the whole crushing weight of this issue had come crashing down on her. Before she had met Kael, it had happened all the time, every single time it had come up, as a matter of fact. But,_She reflected, making the correct turn this time, _Ever since that day...
_ _ 'That day', had been another day filled with chill, stormy weather, almost as if there was some sort of correlation between thunderstorms and days when things changed. That day had been the very first time that the pattern had been broken. 'That day', had been the beginning of the change, the first time in her life that things didn't come crashing down at the slightest provocation, almost as if the foundations of the world had suddenly been shored up. And even now, with the all the pain and sorrow and betrayal welling up inside, it wasn't the same, soul destroying, life crushing emptiness that she had felt before. Now that she was on the right road again, she couldn't help but go back there, seeking solace in the bright memory of that strange day...