As the days passed, Ty grew. While his mind was absorbing what most thought of as the basic, he learned equally simple elements of fighting. Defense, countering, recovering, and attacking were now all able to be used proficiently by Ty. Socially, Ty was an enigma to the other students. He spent most of his free time outside of the campus and rarely talked with his peers. To most, the answer seemed obvious: a girl. Clearly though, this was not the case. The sister and small group of orphans remained unknown to all those around Ty. Strangely, his only friends consisted mainly of those he had defeated. These, above all others, respected the young boy. Their adoration bordered on obsession and their actions around him on worship. The only exception to this was Alex. This boy was the only person in the entire academy that treated Ty as an equal and for this, Ty valued him above all the others. Alex was the only one he said more than a few words too. Once or twice he even directed an entire sentence towards the boy.

Ty had succeeded at everything he’d attempted at the academy and with this success came the attention of those above him. One boy, in particular, of sixteen years took particular notice. He was highly respected throughout the academy and was known as Zain, leader of R1. Ty had been climbing quickly over these last few weeks, making it all the way to the seventh spot. Many in the division were praising him as the next leader. Zain, having the ego required to be in such a position, did not enjoy this sort of talk. When the boy who had been the first to lose to Ty, whom Ty now knew was called Jude, walked into the dormitory one day talking about some sparring match Ty had been in, the last straw was broken. Zain stood up loudly and stalked out of the dormitory, attracting a plethora of stares. He began walking towards the practice field, his eyes scanning the ones making their ways towards the dormitories. Finally, he found what he had been searching for.

With jealous anger oozing from every pore of his body, he grabbed Ty by the neck and spun him around. “Practice field, now!” he ordered. Ty obeyed, a confused look growing on his face. When they reached their destination, they found the area empty.

“What’s this about?” Ty asked.

“You need to be put in your place,” Zain answered. When Ty’s face remained perplexed, Zain continued, “Many have been hailing you as the next leader of the Rogue Regiment. Before your head was puffed up to the size of a small planet, I thought I’d give you a small taste of reality.”

All of this still made little sense to Ty. Nonetheless, he saw another fight was in order. He’d actually been hoping for something like this; with his confidence increasing, he’d wanted to test himself against one of the finest for quite some time. In the short amount of time they’d been there, a crowd of spectators had already gathered. Four daggers were drawn simultaneously and the two figures charged towards each other. Ty tensed slightly, and shot forward. He sliced diagonally with both daggers as he reached his opponent. Zain’s right arm extended and reflected Ty’s left attack. Suddenly, Ty was caught in a disorienting spin. His right arm had been unhindered while his left wanted to send his body flying backwards. Helplessly, he collapsed upon the ground in an unorganized heap.

Ty scrambled to his feet with a resiliency that could only be acquired after years of living in squalor. As he regained his composure, he looked to where Zain had been and found nothing. He stepped back in surprise and looked around desperately for his opponent. His eyes narrowed, and he strafed to the left. A moment later, Zain’s dagger sliced through what had been Ty’s side only a millisecond before.

Ty straightened up and smiled, “Come on, don’t go easy on me. There’s no way someone as good as you could make that much ruckus in circling around me.”

Zain said nothing for quite some time before a smirk grew upon his face, “Fine.” Without any warning, he dashed towards Ty. Ty jumped backwards, only to find Zain waiting for him. Zain brought his left dagger up in a cleaving motion directly towards Ty’s shoulder. Ty grimaced and grabbed Zain’s approaching arm. Using his already existing momentum, he flipped himself over Zain and sliced for Zain’s back as he did so. The familiar clash of metal echoed throughout the field. Ty landed nimbly from the flip, something he would have failed to do a month ago, and stabbed viciously. Zain’s dagger flashed forward, deflected Ty’s attack, and countered all in one smooth movement. In desperation, Ty strafed to the side, only to find Zain attacking him once again.

For five more minutes they continued and Ty was never able to get off the defensive. Suddenly, Zain let up and retreated a few steps. Ty breathed hard, having not had a moments rest since the battle begun. “I’ll end it now,” Zain said evenly. He exploded forward and Ty’s breath faltered. Desperately, Ty threw up a pathetic defense, only to have it cast aside by the older boy. Zain stopped in front of Ty, dagger extended towards Ty’s neck. “Be happy with what you have, outsider,” Zain said bitterly. Then, he turned his attention towards the crowds, “This outsider may have a few tricks, but nothing worthy of any real value. Find someone else to obsess over.” With a flourish, he sheathed his dagger and left. A hole in the crowd was made instantly for him, the crowd now silent. For many, that seemed to be the dramatic ending to Ty’s short legacy.

Ehh, not my favorite piece of action. I just couldn’t get it to work for me. Maybe you thought differently? I don’t know. In MS news, I soloed my first JRog today, only to have the next one kill me. -_-; Now, a short letter:

Dear Ninja and Aliyah,

If you’re reading this, POST ON THE RP.

Sincerely,
Tarheel