"Come on, Drake," Duaka pleaded, "You must be able to help me with something! Anything!"
"Duaka, you still know more than me," Drakon said, "I'm not a Tokken. I can help you with free running and martial arts, but that's how far my expertise goes."
Drakon put down the groceries on the kitchen countertops, "Your mom's training was wasted on me. You'll have more luck asking Daze or Juku."
"Come on, don't say things like that."
"It's true, she gave up on trying to teach me waza theory. I wouldn't pay attention." Drakon said, "She wouldn't let me get away without learning the meditations though. But I'm sure that also goes for you, and I fail to see how that would help when you actually need to learn a waza."
"Noted... Well, it's not like Daze and Juku are easy to get in touch with these days." Duaka sat down, "One being the Ryoku's Hand and the other being a ... "
"A hermit or something."
"Great."
"Listen, cousin. I'm really proud of you for going back to the Academy. I'll try to run this by Daze, but in the meantime, keep trying to break through on your own." Drakon tapped Duaka's back, "I know it's tight, but don't lose hope."
"Tight is an understatement," Duaka clapped back as Drakon was jumping out the window, "Someone's in a hurry."
"Yeah, I'm going to scout the forest outside the city," Drakon said.
"Why?"
"Some alarms were raised last night. Probably nothing," Drakon reassured Duaka before leaving.
"What am I supposed to do if I don't hear back from Daze?" Duaka asked.
"You can grab a map and use a Pathfinder Waza," Drakon joked, then he jumped out of the window.
If only I remembered the runes I would.
Duaka got ready to leave, and went to his yard to grab a shirt from the drying rack.
He saw his father from the other side of the river, in the yard of his own home.
His father waved at him with a smile.
Duaka waved back before going back inside.
Dad... When did you get so old?
He used to be a legendary Tokken, rivalling the power of the Ryoku himself.
Or so the legends said.
I think his element was water, if I'm not mistaken.
Duaka held his hand up and focused, producing a bit of steam from his fingertips.
Is that what this is?
No... Probably not.
I don't have steam as an element either. I don't have the bloodline for it.
If only Shadow was here to lend me a hand now... I didn't take her up on any of her offers these past two years.
Let's go train, Duaka. I'll teach you something, Duaka. Get off that damn couch, Duaka.
I don't feel like it, maybe next time.
Figures. Little brother of the year.
Knock Knock
Huh?
Duaka opened the door, it was Rex, sweating under the morning sun, breathless.
"Is everything alright?" Duaka asked, "I was just getting ready to go to the academy, you didn't have to come pick me up."
Rex took a moment to gather his breath, "Yeah, about that. Class was cancelled, at least the morning block."
"Because?"
"Chosee and the other squads were called for a last minute meeting with the Ryoku."
Could this be because of the forest thing Drakon was talking about?
"Come with me," Rex glanced down and then back at Duaka, "I think there's something you should see."
Duaka hesitated, but soon closed the door behind him and followed Rex across the city streets, into the city's woods, a central park protected from the derelict civilization.
They walked quietly until they reached a denser region, with more vegetation that resembled a wall of bushes.
"Come now, and be quiet," Rex whispered as he crouched and passed through a hole in the vegetation.
Duaka followed him until they came upon a clearing. They hid themselves behind the bushes.
Duaka focused his eyes and saw multiple people with dark blue clothing, their hair different shades of dark blue and black.
They were surrounding a girl and three training dummies, almost like they were evaluating her.
Is that...
"Engel..." Duaka whispered to Rex, "Why did you bring me here? Is everything alright?"
Rex shushed Duaka.
They observed silently as Engel bowed to her family members and then bowed to the training dummies.
She moved into combat position and waved her arms, painting clouds in the air, her hands slowly turned into blue crystal.
She pointed at the first training dummy, and crystal burst from below her feet, continuously charging through the dirt and sprouting into a spike that impaled the dummy.
She raised her hands, pointing at the second dummy and crossed her arms. Seven shards of crystal were produced from her body and floated around her, until she uncrossed her arms and they were shot at the second dummy, tearing it apart.
For the third dummy, she ran towards it, then did a somersault and kicked the air a few feet from it. A blade of crystal was ejected from her feet, and propelled forward, decapitating the dummy and shattering against a faraway tree.
She bowed down to the destroyed dummies and then to her family, as they clapped and commented among themselves.
Duaka couldn't tear his eyes away from the shattered dummies. Crystal dust still drifted through the clearing.
Duaka watched, mouth open, "Beautiful..."
Rex grinned.
"T-That was a beautiful performance," Duaka coughed, "But we clearly shouldn't be spying on her, Rex."
"I know, but don't you get it? None of that was a waza and it wasn't any of the base elements."
"What are you getting at?"
"Well, Kaminari said yesterday that you must know at least one waza to qualify for the testing grounds," Rex explained, "But I've read somewhere that's not always the case."
Duaka gestured for Rex to elaborate.
"You see, the crystal is her roo-cats."
"Her what?" Duaka asked.
"Roo-cats. It means it's her family power," Rex said enthusiastically, "While Tokken normally have to channel the prana through a waza in order to manifest the elements, if your blood is too pure on a certain element however..."
"... you can control it innately," Duaka finished where Rex trailed off, "That, itself, is a form of waza."
"Precisely, I was wondering if you had a roo-cats, you might be able to qualify without having to cram some waza."
"Rex... Could you by any chance mean to say Ryuketsu?" Duaka asked.
"No, it's not that, it's a different thing," Rex scoffed and shook his head. Then he paused, puzzled, "... Oh... What does it have to do with cats then?"
"What?"
"I thought..." Rex paused, "Never mind."
Duaka laughed under his breath, "And I've thought about that, it's a good idea but steam is not my Ryuketsu."
"Well, I wasn't exactly thinking about steam," Rex paused, "Your cousin, Juku, was in the same squad as my sister."
"And?"
"She used to tell me about how his arms turned black, it was like a Tsumetai thing," Rex looked up at Duaka from the bush line, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
The Hametsuzen.
Duaka got up and flexed his knees, "Of course I do, but it's not something I have awakened or anything. I might never-"
Duaka was interrupted by the loud chiming of crystals.
"Who's there?" Engel shouted, "Show yourself!"
"Oh, crap! Let's bolt," Rex pulled on Duaka's pants.
Crap, she's gonna make short work of us if she fires that thing.
"It's me, don't shoot," Duaka said.
Engel got closer, cautiously.
"Duaka?" She asked, incredulous, powering down her crystals that faded into smoke.
"How's it going?" Duaka asked awkwardly.
"It's been so long..." Her eyes glinted, "Have you come to watch me train?"
"Well, Rex wanted to show me something about Ryuketsu," Duaka said, pulling Rex up from the bushes by his shirt.
"What are you doing here?" Engel snarled at Rex, "Peeping from behind the bushes, like some perv."
Duaka scratched his head with a faint smirk.
Rex pouted, "Oh, is that what-"
"Miss?" the butler came out of the house looking for Engel.
Engel lunged towards the bushes, pulling Rex and Duaka down low, "Get out of here, quick. I'll be in huge trouble if they find you guys."
They crawled back through the vegetation, Engel stayed behind.