-9 months earlier-
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Have you ever looked into a mirror and didn't recognize the person who stared back? Or just stared at the ceiling wondering how the time had past so quickly?
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It seems like it was only a minute ago I was sitting on my bed...not knowing how scary the world was. Not knowing that the world were shades of grey that it's not just black and white. That it's not just good and evil. I'm-
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"You Highness!"A middle aged man keenled infront of me. Cole Heartwood. He is my second trainer. He is supposed to be the best of the best. He has trained many other before. All of them has grown to be strong brilliant, famous shadows. "As an heir to Phoenix, you should know the rules by now. R3-4678, A Ruler shall always protect his or her subjects, you have to be strong enough to protect everyone. You have to train more if you wish to be Queen Phoenix, you highness" My trainer countinued "Your 10 minute break is over. We have to get back to training, your highness." He finished, while handing me my daggers. We walk back to a wide space, which where I usually do my physical training. I close my eyes, and take a deep breath. "An shadow should also be ready be prepared" I quietly whisper.
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*FLASHBACK*
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A small girl no younger than four sits in a dark, empty room, too scared to move, so she stared at the back wall, with her back turned toward the door. The strong smell blood frightens her. Sure she has been in there multiple times, but instead getting used to it only seems to scare her more.
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The door slowly opens, showing a tall dark haired man. The white tips of hair was covered in blood. His once white t-shirts and blue jeans was now had dark red spots all over it. Has watery grey eyes that screamed dangerous stared at the little girl.
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After a while the man threw a knife. Hearing that the girl finally faced her fears and turned around. Sadly the girl was still to afraid to move to deflect the knife with one of her daggers. She stared at the knife waiting for it to hit her, maybe it would finally put her out of her misery. She finally closed her eyes, waiting for her life to finally end.
Only to hear a loud clanck. The sound of meltal hitting each other. She opened her eyes. The man that was at the door was now right next to her. "While I would love to kill my sweet pathetic daughter sadly I can't because you might prove to be useful in the future." The man now known as her father grabbed the girl's hair.
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"Time to start training! First question. What is the first rule of Shadows?" The man said harshly, pulling her hair. "I-I do-dont kno-know I'm s-sorry" The man threw the girl across the room. "I have told you a million times. The first rule is that an assassin should also be ready. Get that through that thick skull of yours" The man didn't stop yelling, Ingoring his daughter's crys for help. "An assassin should never be caught off guard. They should always know there surroundings. If you can't remember it through the easy way we are going to do it that hard way"
The girl already knew what was going to happen. Getting through the pain she slowly got up. The man grabbed five more knives and started to throw them "Now what it the first rule of Shadows" The girl started to move, doging the knives as best as she could. "A shadow must always be prepared" she said out of breath. "Rule two" the man said impatiently "A sh-shadow must nev-never t-trust anyone" she felt like was about to collapse.
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*FLASHBACK END*
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"Let's say 15 minutes" Cole asks. I slowly nod my head. I start to take a few more deep breaths while he sets the timer. "Begin" I quickly open my eyes and throw my dagger at him. My trainer moves into the shadows. Both knifes and daggers start to come at me. I dodge most of them, while hiting others with my own daggers. I need to find him. I know for a fact that the knifes are just a distraction. Cole then appeared infront of me. He slides back and throws a few knifes then moves back in for an attack. I quickly throw my daggers and block his attack. He's trying to put me on defense.
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I just need to stay calm , I sprang sideways, Cole's first punch missing me, and there was a crunching of shredding grass as he twisted on one foot to snap the other out at me in a powerful kick that I swept aside with both arms, dodging a follow-up punch and throwing my elbow at his chest.
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It missed, of course.
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I landed on my forearms and immediately went into a roll. Once my back was underneath me, I pushed off, clipping his chin with my feet as I jumped back upright, but he wasn't dazed, easily jumping the foot-sweep I attempted as I spun around to face him.
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I heard the rustle of cloth, the sound that meant he was throwing a punch, and ducked it quickly, whipping around again, mentally cursing and springing away from the uppercut that grazed my cheek.
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It was an instantaneous act-react-act-again fight, neither of us losing or gaining any ground as we exchanged blows that were either blocked or dodged, both unable to get in a solid hit as we ducked and weaved between each other's punches and kicks, moving as fast as we could.
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Finally he surprised me with a kick disguised as a punch that I blocked and twisted my other arm, expecting to get a knee to the stomach, and instead felt the solid impact of his foot against my chest. It was a strong kick, too, all the force of his leg behind it, and I hit the ground with a heavy thud, slamming the back of my head against the dirt. For about half a second I stared blankly straight up at the sky as I tried to force air back into my aching lungs, before remembering I was in the middle of a spar, and immediately rolled over backwards.
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I got halfway through my roll before he landed on my legs, obviously having been aiming for my stomach, and found himself being flipped with my momentum, and he was thrown off easily as I flipped myself back upright and spun to face him, where he'd hit the ground with a thump and rolled away to get his breath back.
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We were both panting, breath rushing in and out of our lungs as we tried to get oxygen into our systems, having just been winded. I sound worse than Cole right now, straining for air, but then again, I'd had a precious few extra seconds. We were both waiting for the other to make a next move, the next wave of attacks stalling, neither of us wanted to leap straight in. Again Cole throw five daggeres before rushing in.
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I quickly dodged them. Then we both moved in the same instant, rushing back into the fight.
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I was grinning fiercely as I spun on the ball of my foot to get around him.
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I heard his back hit the ground, already midway through a roll, and I spun again, blocking his next punch and striking out with my own, swiping at his legs once more and tilting my head to the side to avoid a high kick. We had gone back to the complex dance that made up our spars, barely grazing each other with our attacks and dodging everything with a finesse that made it seem even less like a fight.
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I heard him draw his fist back through the rush of adrenaline, and mirrored the movement perfectly. Our fists slammed together The timer went off. Cole slowly backed off.
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"Your getting better" He countinuties. "There is still a lot room to improve. We still need to work on your foot work a little more and your Martial arts. Your old trainer taught you two styles, correct?" I winced at the mention of my old trainer, still I noded. " I'm not saying that the two styles that you know are useless,but to be safe I will teach another one. It is known as the Cobra Chi Fa. While the Mizu ni Arashi, Hi-ryu, are both powerful in combat, they both have the same weakness, which is their defense. The Cobra Chi Fa Style focuses more on defense and also gives some offensive power. I can teach you more about it next week, as it seems we have ran out of time, your highness." Cole bowed once more before leaving. Once again I was left with my thoughts...
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