Echo XII

So you’re leaving soon?

If all goes according to plan. I hope I don’t regret trusting you.

Of course not!

How’s your student doing?

She’s okay, I guess, but I worry about her health. She seems too eager to surpass Echo. I just think she wants attention from the person she admires most.

Don’t we all?

Speak for yourself Demitri.

I arrived at the piloting classroom at exactly 10:00. I was one of the first one’s to get there. As I walked in the professor looked me up and down and smiled. She had thin framed glasses and long black hair. She was wearing a blouse and a tight black skirt. She was attractive, but had that kind of motherly feel to her that made you keep your distance.

“You’re the new kid who won the event right?” I nodded. “Awesome. That was an impressive display of piloting skill; I’ve never seen anyone use a ship like that before. Have you ever considered tutoring?” I shrugged. “I guess it’s not for everyone. Anyway, take a seat in the front row. I want my star student right next to me.” She put her hand on my back and ushered me to a seat in the front row of the auditorium like room. As we walked she slowly moved her hand down my back and into my back pocket. I kept walking but I didn’t say anything about it; even though I felt like jumping across the room. When I got to my seat she walked away, slowly and dramatically. She turned her head around and licked her upper lip. I shivered and pretended I didn’t notice.

After most of the students trickled into the room; class finally began. She pulled up a hologram of one of the ships used in the earlier event. She spent most of class explaining the power system of the vehicles. Apparently, the ship has certain abilities, which can only be accessed when a certain type of energy is used as its fuel source. Energy is drained from the pilot when he first enters the vessel, and it is stored underneath the control panel. When energy is used, it is taken directly from the reserve. Depending on how much energy the ship has, different options become available, like the boost, or charging your weapon. Officially, the ship’s wont start until it has enough power for at least fifteen minutes of flight and one discharge of its weapon. More energy can be added though, the more energy added, the less you have to worry about the ship stalling in mid-flight. Throughout the whole class the professor kept winking at me, or taking seemingly innocent walks around the classroom, casually caressing my chest as she walked by me. The boy sitting next to me gave me a thumbs up. I thought about it for a while, and then slapped him, hard.

I also arrived at Target Practice right on time. I was greeted by the cold metal of a steely throwing star, right across my cheek. A small trickle of blood dripped off my face and onto the white floor tiles.

“What the hell!”

“You’re late for class.” It was the professor. He had and almost bald head, I say almost because there was a faint trace of hair growing around the sides of his head. He wore a white robe that touched the floor, hemmed completely in a rich looking black fabric.

“I am not.” I pointed at the wall clock.

“You should be here at 10:00, not just arriving.”

“So you throw a freaking steely at my head?”

“Relax, you didn’t die did you?”

“No but . . .”

“Listen, if you think you’re going to get special treatment just because of your little performance earlier think again. You’re not the star of this class.”

“I never sai . . .”

“Roy! Get in here and show this kid a real performance.”

<Oh brother.>

{Roy . . . I wonder if . . .}I didn’t have to finish my thought. Roy walked through a curtain in the back of the room. The other students took a break from watching the professor and I argue and stepped aside so he could pass. When he saw me he lit up.

“Hey Echo!” He waved cheerfully at me.

“You know each other?”

“Yeah came in on the same boat I did.” The professor scoffed.

“Whatever. Just hit these targets.” He pressed a button on a controller that was hidden inside of his sleeve. Sixteen target dummies popped up from the ground on the wall. When they fully emerged from the ground, they started shuffling around a bit, trying to escape to who knows where.

“Sure thing.” Roy dislodged the Vaulter from his back. I recognized it as a part of the 2000 series, a simple yet deadly bow. He loaded an arrow, aimed, and let it fly. The arrow flew into one target, completely shattering it and passing through to a dummy directly behind it. Before I could even look back at him, three more arrows flew by me and downed three other targets. I looked back at him, right as he released another arrow. His hand seemed to move inhumanly fast as he grabbed an arrow, reloaded, and fired. Before I could blink, all the targets lay motionless on the floor. I whistled.

“Wow.” He blushed and put the bow back in its holster.

“That’s my Roy.” The professor ruffled Roy’s hair then turned back to me. “I bet you can’t do that.”

“Of course I can’t, I don’t have a bow.” The class laughed, but I think it was more to alleviate the tension than to respond to my joke, because frankly it wasn’t that funny.

“If you think you’re so smart . . .” He kinda walked away without finishing his statement.

<Is that conversation over?>

{Uhhh. . .}Suddenly, I felt a powerful gust of wind blow past my ear. Without really thinking about it, I ducked and leapt forward, landing in a somersault. I turned around to see an awfully disturbing puppet with its arm extended, being controlled by the professor. It looked basically like a modification of a straw target dummy, but instead of one huge target on it’s chest, it had several: one on both wrists, one on both shoulders, one on the neck, two on the kneecaps, two on the ankles, and two at the hips.

“This is my training dummy for melee characters. Normally I don’t have any bandit’s in my class.” He glanced at my field dagger, which I have to admit was becoming a little embarrassing. I mean, people were hailing me as some sort of prodigy and I was using a weapon even the trainee’s were past by now. “I hope you can do some damage with that weapon of yours.” The way he put emphasis on weapon proved he agreed with my thoughts. With that the puppet began to move, slowly at first, but soon it began to pick up speed, right for me.

I jumped to the side and the puppet passed me, only to stop almost instantly and backhand me in the back of my head. I stumbled forward, clutching my head.

“Are you trying to give me brain damage?”

“Well I wasn’t trying, but I wouldn’t have any objections.” The puppet, span around with its arms outstretched, like a really slop top. I ducked underneath its arms and spun around with my leg outstretched, knocking it’s feet out from under it. I ran backwards and directly into the path from the professor and the puppet; but strangely I didn’t feel any strings to cut. That was weird, because the professor was moving his fingers to control it.

I tuned around and rushed directly at the professor. If I could disable him, I would also disable the puppet. I lunged at him, dagger outstretched. Before I reached him, he dropped onto the floor and stuck his leg up, kicking me right in the chest. Before I could react, he pushed his leg into my chest even harder and flung me over his head. As I spun head over heels in mid air, I saw the puppet appear seemingly out of no where above me. It arched back its arm and punched me so hard where I just got kicked that I blacked out for a second from the pain. Unfortunately, I regained consciousness just before I slammed into the floor, hitting my head on the hard concrete.

For some reason, my body just wouldn’t give up. I slowly crawled to my feet; coughing up blood and stumbling around in a drunken haze. No matter how hard I focused I couldn’t see straight, and my view was almost completely blocked by a hyperactive gang of dark spots dancing around my head. I could feel my body slowly healing itself, but it wasn’t fast enough. Before I knew it, the puppet was on the offensive again.

“You shouldn’t have bitten off more than you could chew.”

“What the h . . .” I didn’t even get the chance to finish my rude and sarcastic comment; I was too busy getting punched in the face. I fell back to the floor, coughing up more blood. This wasn’t good. Before I could get up, the puppet jumped on top of me, repeatedly punching me in the face. I mustered up all the strength I could find and raised my left hand, catching the puppet’s fist. At fist it tried to break my grasp, but when that didn’t work it punched at me again with it’s left hand. I blocked that with my right hand and grabbed its wrist. I have no idea where this burst of strength came from, but somehow I managed to flip upward and over, launching the puppet over my head and breaking its right wrist. Soon my vision began to clear, and my muscles became more responsive.

I quickly picked up my dagger and threw it at its chest. It easily dodged, but I took the opportunity to make a direct attack. I charged directly at the puppet; it tried to counter with its left arm, but I grabbed its fist and followed through with a punch to the shoulder. I kept moving though, elbowing it in the target on its chest and finishing my assault by following through with my forearm and chopping it directly in the target on the side of its neck. It fell to the floor, completely unresponsive to the professor’s commands. I fell too my knees, completely exhausted. My body hadn’t completely finished healing itself yet, and fighting like that probably wasn’t my wisest choice.

I heard some clapping from behind me. “Congratulations, you managed to defeat my level one puppet.” I coughed up another mouthful of blood. Slowly I climbed to my feet and wiped off excess blood from my mouth.

“What the hell!” I advanced toward him as angrily as I could. My internal organs screamed out in protest. It was hard to get my muscles to cooperate. “This is supposed to be target practice, not beat your students down with an unnaturally strong puppet class!” It was hard to say that last part without wincing at my awkward argument.

“Well I don’t see how I’m supposed to test your accuracy otherwise. I suppose you’re in this class for a reason. Don’t complain to me just because you’re a sub par thief!” As soon as he finished his little speech the bell rang. He blinked, breaking his homicidal stare at me, and announced to the class, “Time for lunch.” He glared at me once more before walking back behind the curtain in the back of the room. Roy jogged over to me.

“Are you okay?” I was still clutching my stomach.

“I’ll be fine, I guess.” I didn’t really believe myself. “What’s up with him?”

“Ehh, he just knows a good student when he sees one. He did the same thing with me the first few days.”

“So you’re saying you’re a good student.”

“No, I’m saying he thinks I’m a good student.” I smiled.

“You shouldn’t sell yourself short. I saw your shooting in the classroom, that was amazing.” He grinned.

“Well, it’s not all me. It’s mostly my ability.”

“Ability?”

“I’m an adept.” He looked at me quizzically. “You didn’t know that?”

“Of course I didn’t. How could I have possibly known that?” He shrugged. “Anyway, what’s your power?”

“Super speed. Wasn’t it obvious?”

“Well it could have just as well been super accuracy or something like that.”

“No need to get defensive; but my accuracy is all mine.” He smiled. “Blood, sweat and tears. The speed merely helped out a bit.”

We walked in silence for the rest of the way to the cafeteria. When we got there, we collected our meager rations and sat at a table with Roy and some of his friends. They talked about meaningless things, like what girls they were into at the moment, or how many girls they had been with before, or how many girls they planned to be with in the future. I sat to the side, pondering what that stuff in the package was. As soon as the dismissal bell rang I ran directly to the dorm, got the book and the scarf, and rushed directly to meet Demitri.

Soon I arrived at the room I spent all of yesterday fighting Demitri. I walked inside and looked around, but he was no where to be found. I set the book and scarf down on the side of the circular platform, and sat down cross legged in the middle, facing the door. I tried to focus on Yian again, in hopes of lifting him into 3 dimensions, like I did the other day, this time without waving my arms around like an idiot.

Sitting like that on the floor was strangely peaceful. My find seemed to stretch out of the confines of my body, touching everything in the room. It was odd, the regular collection of two dimensional images I had remembered the room as were slowly coming together, forming a three dimensional model of the space around me. All the shapes and textures were so clear; I could see the machinery underneath that made the platform turn, the individual imperfections in the walls, the paper thin gap between the door and the door frame. It was too much sensory information at once, and quickly I opened my eyes. It was then I realized I hadn’t been breathing. My chest was raw as I earnestly gasped in breath after breath, trying to restore order to my respiratory system.

However disorienting the experience, it was still incredible. I quickly sat back down; I for some reason had been standing, and tried to repeat the three dimensional effect. I have no idea if my mind was actually reaching out of my head, that sounds a little ridiculous, but maybe meditating like this allowed my brain to relax enough to work more efficiently. I didn’t have enough time to work it out in my head, because soon I became aware of Demitri’s presence. I realized I was sitting facing away from the door. His footsteps were quiet and purposeful, I don’t think he was aware I knew he had entered into the room.

I got up and slowly turned to face him, my eyes still closed. “Hey Demiri.” I said quietly, trying to shake the image of the room from my mind.

“Hello Echo.” His voice sounded cautious. He glanced over at the items I brought with me. “I see you brought them.”

“You told me too.” He pinched the top of his nose, bowed his head, and closed his eyes, a stance that conveyed frustration.

“Is something the matter?” I tried to make my voice sound concerned. He sighed.

“I’m just having a hard time figuring out what to teach you.” He paused for a while.

“What do you mean?” He sighed again.

“A student like you has so much potential,” He trailed off in the middle of his sentence. He seemed really distracted or bothered by something. “I could really take 100 different paths . . .” He paused again, but this time he didn’t continue. He continues running his fingers along the ridge in his nose for a while longer, and then looked up at me.

“Let me see that.” He was gesturing toward the gun I received at today’s event. Necros, I believe it was called. I casually took it out of its holster and tossed it to him. He caught it, and began to look it over closely. Slowly, his eyes began to brighten with relief.

“I think I just figured out what you’re going to be!” His voice was kind of excited, well excited for him. It really sounded pretty much the same. He was definitely not passion’s slave. (Hamlet reference, when Hamlet was talking to Horatio and telling him he was his best friend because he was so even tempered and didn’t falter his mood from day to day. I thought that may be interesting for those of you who read Shakespeare. =()

“What?” I asked, confused. I could have sworn I wanted to be a Bandit . . . maybe I was wrong?

“You know those old stories, about the pirates?”

“Uh, vaguely. Why?”

“Let me elaborate.” His shadow morphed into a comfortable looking mat, on which he sat down cross-legged. I casually leaned against one of the metal pillars. “Back in the early days, right after the gods made the four races, there were . . . minor conflicts in the provinces. Several individuals ignored their natural natures in pursuit of money. Contrary to popular belief, most rogues aren’t actually thieves . . . they only got that name because of their extremely swift and clever nature. Anyway, these said individuals went around, stealing from innocent civilians. Eventually they were caught. The human’s wanted them all killed, to keep the peace, but the gods were more in favour or mercy. They let the thieves go one condition; they were never to return to their towns again. Reluctantly the thieves agreed. Naturally, some of them tried to sneak back in, but they were promptly killed in various, painful fashions.

“The more obedient thieves left and scattered, making casual alliances with other one’s like themselves. Teamwork was essential outside of the towns, because meals were scarce. In the beginning, they were able to create a booming port city named Ho. However, when success is mingled with a large populous of cutthroat thieves, trouble usually arises.” He took a breath. I wonder why he was giving me this textbook like explanation, although I said nothing. I didn’t want to piss off the guy I would probably spend the next few years of my life with.

“The peace lasted a few years at most. The inhabitants broke off into several different factions, called crews, stole sky ships, and took of into the skies. They patrolled the space between Victoria and Orbis, intercepting ships traveling back and forth and stealing from the passengers. Their thieving behavior earned them the name “Pirates,” and they terrorized the skies, often fighting with and destroying each other, but never coming close to extinction.

“Most pirates were simple minded brutes. They took the skills they learned in their towns and used them to terrorize the civilized society. But a select few viewed piracy as an art form. They became pirates not for the money, but for the fresh challenge. These pirates learned to master powerful melee combat, so they were ready to fight at a moment’s notice. At first this worked well, but eventually they realized their need for a long range attack method, to destroy attacking pirates that chose to stay away. They learned to forge the intriguing new weapon, the pistol, as a reliable and surprisingly accurate ranged weapon. As time passed, the guns became like an extension of their bodies. They were a whole new breed of threat, and the cities had no idea what to do to counter them.

“The provinces were becoming uneasy. It was no longer safe to travel between the land and sky. Something had to be done. That’s when they formed the first Navy, if you use the term loosely. They had a single sky ship, but their captain was a military genius, and his soldiers were some of the most promising from the towns. He captured ship after ship of the brutes, building up his forces until he could go after the new sophisticated pirates. At the end of his campaign, he had over 100 ships and 8000 soldiers. The final battle between the true pirates and the Navy was a slaughter. The Navy lost over 70% of their forces, who had little to no defenses against the pirate’s new attacking styles. However, in the end, the pirates were wiped out from the earth.”

He stopped talking, but I gave him a minute to see if he was finished. When he didn’t say anything I asked, “What does this have to do with me?”

“Well I’m going to train you in the way of the Pirate. I thought it was obvious.” He frowned.

“Well isn’t that forbidden?” He rolled his eyes.

“Why do you think you got this in the first place?” He stated his question in a way that made me think it was obvious. I frowned this time.

“You staged the event?” He grinned.

“Staged is such an ugly word. And it’s inaccurate. All I did was supply the prize, you had to win on your own.” I shook my head in disbelief.

“So . . . what? You plan on teaching me techniques that are forbidden in a government funded building? That doesn’t seem like it’s the wisest course of action.” His impatience was plastered all across his face. That annoyed me.

“Well obviously we can’t do it here. We leave at the end of the week.” He grinned, expecting me to grin back at him. My mouth curled into a frown. I didn’t want to leave Fye, I would miss him.

“Well, if that’s ok with you?” He added when he saw my reaction. He sounded kind of nervous. Backing out now would obviously cause him some sort of inconvience.

“Well if it’s for the good of the world . . .” I trailed off. He looked at me with an expression I couldn’t quite understand.

“You have no idea how important you are.” He gave me a dazzling grin that instantly won me over.

“Fine, I’ll go. But you’re still going to tell me about those right?” I gestured toward the book and scarf. I couldn’t help but wonder about my only connection to my past, maybe even the parent I lost . . .

“Of course!” He looked surprised I would even doubt his promise. I think I was going to like him. “In fact, I’ll show you right now.”

Yep, I was definitely going to like him.

Ok thanks again for reading. Next chapter I’ll explain the book and scarf. I may even have a rough draft of the book version done, so keep your eyes peeled. I’ll be working on it tomorrow to hopefully try and finish it. Oh, and sorry this one is kind of short and boring. I tried to make that target practice a little interesting, but I don’t know if I succeeded. Oh well, too late now. Oh ya, before I forget, If you want to be in the story just PM me for an application. I may be able to squeeze you in if i like your bio and stuff. Part one of the series is coming to a close, so I’m going to need new people for Part 2. Don’t worry people who’ve applied before. I haven’t forgotten you. Okay, comments are appreciated. Thanks again.