Saint Joseph School

The chill in the air was almost as much a hazard to his concentration as the shadowy forms who would attack him without warning. The words of his teachers rung true as the boy fought bouts of biting wind to maintain his balance on his rocky perch.

Your enemies come in more forms then simply man, beast, or machine. The earth, the sea, the sky. Until these are your weapons, they are are your foes.

Arthur Hadrian stood atop a rocky spire in Eden, enduring one of the many training sessions provided by his enigmatic group of tutors, known only as The Masters. After the combat training ceased, he sat, catching his breath. Several of the Masters surrounded him, a sensation that had grown in time from unnerving, to tolerable, to uniquely comforting. Even as fatigue gripped the boy, his racing mind refused to allow him to relax. Today was, he hoped, a way to reconcile things with his increasingly frustrated girlfriend, Vesper. She had been very patient with the demands of Arthur's training, but the increasing periods of absence from all save his tutors had placed a strain on their relationship. A wide shouldered man with intricate tattoos running over his face broke the silence first.

"You understand that her presence will not not diminish our requirements of you. Your lessons will not become easier simply because you have a training partner."

Arthur looked up and nearly shot back his response thoughtlessly, but contained himself. Instead he simply let out a long heavy breath, collecting his discipline before speaking.

"I'm not doing this because it's easier. I'm doing it because I care about her. Don't you keep telling me that the ties of loyalty and love are the ones that give a warrior strength?"

A much smaller woman with jet hair appeared, her almond shaped eyes containing as much intensity of purpose now as they did in life.

"You would state the letter of our lessons without fully understanding the meaning. And what exactly do you think to accomplish by bringing her here? Do you hope to impress her? Or that we will convince her of the importance of your purpose? Your actions must justify themselves, student."

"I know that...and that's not what I meant." Arthur responded quietly. "This is important to me, but so is she. She's a fighter as well. And a damn good one. I just.....I don't know. I want to find a way to share more of myself with her, you know? So I figured, why not share what's important to me? I guess it sounds kind of..."

"Selfish." The cold response of the Englishman fit his stern features. His mustache framed his mouth sharply, his brow furrowed.

"I......." Arthur almost choked out his response to the admonishment, and suddenly he felt very much a child again.

The lush foliage panning by below was, in a way, beautifully breathtaking, but it was merely a façade hiding a menacing force. Ves skimmed low over the tree tops, keeping her eyes open for any unexpected surprises among the branches. The Devouring Earth usually stuck to the ground, well beneath the cover of the trees, but she knew better than to let this place lull her into a sense of complacency. She made her way unerringly toward the fingers of stone poking skyward in the western end of the region.

Whenever she came here, she couldn't avoid thinking that Eden was once a flourishing neighborhood with homes and businesses, where children played and people went about their daily lives. Back then, it was called Woodvale, but that was before the Rikti leveled most of the place, leaving it for Devouring Earth to overtake with their warped sense of "nature."

She was supposed to meet Artie, to join him in training among the misshapen columns. Training. It was hardly what she had in mind when she complained about their lack of time together. She was hoping for a few more nights on the town, dinner, a movie, a play, a concert, anything that was more or less… date-like. Training was more like work, and she was hoping to pull him away from the training. Instead he was dragging her into it. Lately it seemed like every available free moment was wrapped up in the lessons imparted by the mysterious Masters.

As Ves rounded one of the stone outcroppings, she spotted Artie atop another column further ahead. She paused and hovered next to one of them as she watched his maneuvers, a bit of admiration shining in her eyes. He moved with precision and grace, employing a mix of finesse and force in varied swings. She didn't get the chance to stop and stare when they were in the middle a real fight. She could imagine the muscles rippling beneath the sweat suit, and felt the warmth of a slight blush as she found her thoughts wandering to his impressive physique.

Heaving a sigh, she adjusted the position of the small gym bag on her shoulder and resumed her flight. She turned her thoughts back to wondering just how this was supposed to work. Hopefully he had some ideas. Either way, at least they would get to spend some time together.

She approached slowly so as not to overly surprise him, and mustering some confidence that she didn't entirely feel and a grin that she hoped looked genuine, called out. "Hey, Artie! You ready to try to kick my butt?"