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The morning meditation was a habit the wolf had yet to shed. He technically no longer needed to beseech the Void for his power. But the chat was nearly always calming and it helped him focus as the day wore on. This morning differed however. The Void spoke to him of an approaching presence. Female by her aura, but she gave off no scent that his mundane senses could detect. That pegged her as an Elite Amarokine female, or dragon trained. An Amarokine female does not know how to protect herself from detection via channels through the Void. This approaching female could protect herself, at least temporarily from a Void master, as he was. His ears caught the flutter of clothing and feathers as she turned and sat next to him silently. Despite his tight control, he could not help but smile at her familiarity. "Chiko-san. I am glad you have arrived and happy you are safe and healthy here on my Estate." He said. She chuckled, her giggling a well cultured tinkling of bells. Her voice carried the honey and sincerity of a courtier, with the added tone of warmth and friendship as she spoke. "You are a Grandmaster Ceberune-sama. The Void masks my sensei taught me were meant to last days against Grandmaster inquiries." She stated with amusement. He bristled slightly at the honorific she added to his name. "You show me more respect than I deserve Chiko-san" he said humbly. She laughed at this as she answered. "Do I? Here you are, a Grandmaster of the elements. Two elementals at your beck and call, bleachers erected around your training area, and a unit of Kitsune mercenaries that refuse to spar against you, even all at once." She said with amusement again. "So either you are showing false humility or your sincerity lessons need to be resumed." She teased. He chuckled. "I was never one for courtly crafts Chiko-san. I always left that up to you and Bianca. You are the voice of honey to soothe tempers. She is the mistress of courtly webs. Able to weave her own or unravel another's. I fear I can only recognize threats. Stopping them is beyond my ability short of violence." He said. She chuckled again. "Violence is a very effective countermeasure. Most courtly intrigue can be stopped cold with a well placed blade. It is the ones that survive that event that have a tendency to cause problems." He chuckled. "Hence the reason why I did not kill Bianca after that little unpleasantness with Kado." She laughed. "You would never harm her, even if she had meant for you to be there for that duel." She said. He shook his head. "Not now...But then I was impatient. I knew what needed to be done, but was heedless of the price to be paid." She smiled as he opened his eye to gaze on her after years away. She had matured greatly in those years. Though about the same height as Bianca, she lacked the bunny's substantial breasts. They were still more than a pawful if the wolf had decided to fondle them, and risk her possible wrath. As with all of her race, her plumage started with a bright white at her stomach, and as the eye moved further from it, her plumage became yellow, orange and finally red. Her family had picked up much brighter plumage than most, lacking the darker reds and possessing more white and yellow. Some say that the brighter plumage represented their loyalty to the Emperor. The Akahoshi family had been one of the first and most loyal families to serve the empire. Hers had been so when he knew her back in school. Her maturity, or perhaps her training as a Ghost Hunter had darkened her plumage to that of a more average coloring.

"See something you like Ceberune-sama?" she teased. He chuckled. "A friend and sexy avian sparring partner?" She had meant to embarrass him as such questions had back in school. His swift answer however caused her to blush, and without her courtly fan, she could not hide it from him. He chuckled as she turned from him in embarrassment. "Blame Bianca for my comeback speeds. I was forced to deal with her insults, jabs, and wit for too long. Once I had a good grasp on language in school, I worked hard to be able to fire back off the cuff as often as possible." He said. She smirked and turned back to him. "Then what you said was in jest?" she asked with ice in her honey voice. "No, it was truth to the letter..." He responded and suddenly realized his error as she opened the front of her kimono, shamelessly displaying her sex and breasts to the stunned wolf. "Then perhaps the lord of the estate would prefer a better view." She said with a mischievous tone in her voice. He chuckled. "Only if you are looking for me to spoil your Awakening." He teased back. The young phoenix smiled. "Tempting..." she commented. "But I do believe you may be correct." She said and covered herself back up. "You know, now that I know you do not have anything on underneath that kimono, it would be so easy to..." he said and she interrupted. "Find the message I have for you? It is right here." She said, smirking as she pulled the scroll from her obi and offered it to him. He gave her a sideways glance then opened the scroll, deftly catching a few things that fell from it as it was unrolled. He spent a moment looking it over then shook his head briskly a moment before his eye glowed bright blue. Chiko chuckled. "I should have warned you that it used an elemental cipher." She said. He looked her and growled playfully as he read the missive quickly and rolled it back up. He smiled at Chiko who looked at him expectantly. "Have you eaten yet Chiko-san?" he asked. She clapped her talons together and looked at him joyfully. "You learned our greeting at last Ceberune-sama!" she said with amusement. "Keep it up lovely bird, and you may find your way to the sparring ring yet..." he teased. "A spar you say? Physical or verbal?" she continued to tease. "I believe the verbal part is over, unless you can embarrass me as much as I did you." He fired back quickly. She pouted playfully. "Very well. Where is your ring?" she asked. He smiled and led her to a large rectangular area.

There were several spars in progress, however the participants quickly stopped when they saw the approaching lord and moved off to the nearby bleachers to watch. "This area seems a bit excessive in room." Chiko commented. Most of the sparring rings she saw in the east were small affairs, no more than ten meters in diameter, often much less. This ring was easily one hundred meters by about fifty meters. The wolf smiled. "This is more than just a sparring ring. It acts as an all-purpose training area. Long enough for the archers to ply their trade, spacious enough for most of the magi and druids to practice casting, and nearly big enough for training drills. And the perfect size for two dragon trained to test their skills." He said. They walked to the middle of the ring faced each other and sat in a lotus position. "What are the terms of this spar?" Asked Chiko in a respectful tone. "No weapons, save those granted us by nature. No direct elemental attacks, but enhancement is allowed. The match continues until one of us is out cold, or yields." She nodded. "And flight?" she asked. "Allowed, but should you take flight, I am allowed direct elemental attacks as you have moved beyond my range." Another nod. "Very good." She said and stood, as did he. They took two steps back from each other and bowed, taking their preferred styles stances. Chiko knew the wolf's stance well. It was widely known to be slow and ponderous, using muscle over speed and finesse. Chiko remembered well what her Sensei had taught her about the style. "Remember that any starting stance your opponent shows you is deception. A true master of hand to hand will be able to switch styles and even more frighteningly, improvise. Our beloved Emperor teaches his students how to win. Honor has no place in his teachings. You achieve victory through any means. All dragonstudents are taught along a similar vein. Here the honorable teachings of your family will be erased and replaced with the desire to win. This school however will not remove your honor, simply redirect it to a useful end. You have been chosen to take up one of the most difficult positions in the world Chiko-san. A Ghosthunter's life is always sacrifice. People will fear you and hate you because of that fear. Your title is whispered about in legends and myths. You will likely live a lonely life. Few can walk beside us knowing what we do." Her sensei had said. She had found those that can, and do walk beside her as she squared up with the Amarok. She smiled grimly as her arms burst into flames and the winds whipped through her clothing and feathers as the elements she was trained in moved to assist her. The few in the audience who weren't paying attention were now riveted with runners being sent to get the rest of the unit to watch. The Amarok smiled. "It would seem your preference for flash still has not dissipated Chiko-san. Now that I have had some years to catch up, allow me to reciprocate." He said as he stomped the ground under paw. She shifted nervously as the earth beneath her rumbled. Her eyes grew wide with surprise as the wolf put out his arms, palm up and parallel to the earth below. Then she watched as his forearms were covered in stone and crystal. Her eyes grew wider as the wolf was suddenly draped in a cloak of starlit shadow shortly thereafter. "Earth as offense and Void as defense? The only one who has ever used Void as defense was..." He smiled. "My sensei; and he abandoned it because he did not have the speed to capitalize on its strengths." The wolf interrupted. Chiko smiled grimly as the wolf's stance changed to something more familiar and fitting for his style of fighting.