A wide open area of flat, grassy land and rocky trenches, supposedly a wide range of ancient civilizations once lived here. Species that like wide, open areas, such as Gyrophants, Serraptors, and Sahound, thrive here, though only the agile survive. (+3 Speed)

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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 04/16/2017 2:07 AM

It wasn't that they looked forward to these conversations, though they sometimes felt as though they should, considering how little the two of them spoke, compared to other kids and their parents. Actually, if they were being completely honest with themselves, they kind of dreaded them sometimes. The thing was, it wasn't like they wanted to feel that way. Mostly they just wished it was easier.

Fade's mom never asked them about their real best friend, for example. It was kind of funny. She must have known, right? Fade had talked enough about Stray, and Stray even lived in the same house as Nova. At first, she had been a little interested, for that reason if nothing else.
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 04/16/2017 2:13 AM

As time went on, though, she cared less and less, and it didn't take long for her to lapse back into that air of indifference. Fade was genuinely disappointed, though they were also beginning to feel a little foolish for expecting anything else. It was hard to put into words, how it was in their family. People talked about being heartbroken, but this was like a slow kind of sadness, never big enough to put into words. And if they talked about it--- if they spoke up about how it felt stifling that their mother never seemed to care--- what would she say? That Fade was being unreasonable, maybe; that she was busy; maybe even that she was sorry.

But nothing would change. They'd tried it before, complaining about how their mom never spent any time with them. These trips had come of that, and the training. It was better than nothing, but the way they felt now was proof that the problems were still there.
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 04/16/2017 2:17 AM

However, it wasn't in Fade's nature to sulk, or to dwell on things for very long. In time, their melancholy thoughts dissipated under the hum of the road, the lulling motion of the car. Eventually they fell into the kind of doze that happened on cars, where you didn't really sleep because you were sitting up, but you weren't awake to remember the ride either.

By the time they came to, their mom was already dragging the cooler out of the back seat.

"If you're awake, you can help me with the bags," she said. It was kind of funny how she noticed. Fade was sure they hadn't made any noise; they certainly hadn't moved yet. Was that secret hero training, or just mom magic?
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 04/16/2017 2:59 AM

Fade hoped it was the former. Maybe if they trained hard enough, they could learn that sort of thing someday. Actually, they sort of looked forward to these trips for the training, though their friends who knew about it thought that was weird.

Maybe it was weird. Fade wasn't a good judge of what was and wasn't unusual, though privately they thought none of their friends were ones to talk either. But it gave Fade and their mom something to do, which helped, and Fade always admired their mom for her skills. The idea that they were getting closer to that, somehow, made it worth it, even if the actual training got pretty miserable sometimes.
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 04/16/2017 3:02 AM

Rule number one of training was that mom's word was law though, so Fade wasted no time in unbuckling themselves and getting out of the car. They woke quickly, and without being very disoriented, mostly because of their mom's drilling. Danger isn't going to wait until you're awake for it, she would say. In fact, a smart enemy would strike while your guard is down. It wasn't practical to abandon sleep altogether--- only uncle Nihil's powers let him do that without facing the consequences--- but being able to wake quickly was still the next best thing.

They lugged the tents out by themselves, one under each arm, then went back for their bag and their mom's luggage. Fade's mom made no move to help them. They weren't big or tall for their size, but they were a lot stronger than they looked.
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 04/16/2017 6:43 PM

That was the training too. And if Fade's mom thought they could handle something by themselves, generally she left them to it. When she interfered was when Fade knew they'd done something wrong.

They hadn't brought much with them this time, so Fade quickly got to work setting up the tents. Theirs were an old and unwieldy model, chosen especially to give them a challenge; there were much easier ones at home for the few times Fade's mom actually needed to bring one on a job. Still, everything got easier with practice, and Fade was an old hand at setting it up by now. They would likely still have been at it if they hadn't gotten used to it, actually. That was generally how things went: practice until you not only knew how to do it, but could do it half-awake, and knew it like the back of your hand.
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 07/08/2017 3:38 AM

After the tents were set up, Fade's mom ordered them to start on warm-ups. This--- the workouts, the drills--- was all things they did at home, and therefore nothing special, but the point of going through them now was to get Fade ready for what was coming up next. Fade's mom didn't much care for this step either, since if your enemies weren't going to wait for you to wake up, they certainly weren't going to wait for you to get limber. But Fade was still young, and their mom did understand that they couldn't become proficient all at once.
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 07/08/2017 3:40 AM

They had Aunt Sunny to thank for that, probably. Fade remembered conversations the two women would have together, Aunt Sunny chiding their mother in a soft, playful tone that she couldn't push children too hard. She was the only one who spoke that way to Fade's mother, who generally didn't take attitude from anyone else.

Nova didn't fight at all. Most of them didn't. Fade always wondered what their mom thought of that, but hadn't quite managed to bring themselves to ask.
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 07/08/2017 3:44 AM

Warm-ups passed quickly. Fade was being slowly phased out of needing them anyway, outside of days at home where they did nothing but drilling. Their mom called an end to it with a sharp pattern of claps, and Fade stopped where they were, having completed a pattern of martial arts movements, to stand more or less at ease.

They couldn't see their mom. That was normal too. This was what they had really come out to do--- combat. Their mother could strike from any point now, and it was up to them to read the signals, anticipate the attacks, and react appropriately.
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Re: "Bonding Time" [self]

Postby crow » 07/10/2017 12:23 AM

They breathed, and fell into the kind of concentration they'd cultivated specifically for fighting. They'd learned early that there was no point in getting nervous. Easier said than done, of course, but eventually they'd adjusted. It had been that or keep failing, after all.

The first blow came. Fade had no idea how long they'd been waiting, only that they were ready for it, when a knife materialized off to their left. They sidestepped it neatly, movements efficient, just the barest minimum necessary to cleanly evade the attack.


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