"Wake up."

  A sharp voice and the hard ground snapped Sky to consciousness as his friend dumped him out of his hammock. He let out a shriek of surprise and lay stunned on the ground for a few moments before Deadlox nudged him with his foot.

  "Come on," he growled. "Up."

  "Wha-" Sky's eyes were heavy. "Why? What?"

  "We're going on a little expedition," Deadlox told him, those vibrant violet eyes gleaming. "All four of us."

  It took Sky a second to register what he was saying. "Four..." And then he saw Mitch and Ian, donned in loose, comfortable—but sturdy—clothing, large satchels slung around their shoulders. They grinned at him.

  And, his sleepy mind finally realizing what was going on, he grinned back.

  "There were eighty-six ships, their masts all ablaze, a ship to belong to each bloke," Ian belted out. "One went down, a shout went around, and eighty-five ships were left in the smoke. There were eighty-five ships, their masts all ablaze..."

  "Notch's beard, Ian, quit that racket!" Mitch—who had sung along for the first nine verses and then decided that singing was for pansies—groaned, swiping a branch out of the way in time for it to snap back and hit Ian in the face, ending his song with a yelp of pain.

  "That was Ian?" Sky snorted. "I thought it was a dying cat."

  "Oh, that part was Mitch."

"Hey!"

  Sky could do nothing but smile. The sun filtered through the treetops, dappling the leaves on the ground with patches of gold as the reunited team crashed through underbrush, carving their own path through the woods and frightening away all wildlife. They didn't know where they were going or what they were doing.

  And that was okay.

  That was what Sky had done for the first year of his life, with the occasional stop somewhere. But now, he didn't have to do it alone. These were people that he trusted and he knew he could trust and he could simply just be around them. He allowed himself to push aside the thoughts that obsessed over the recent events.

  "I think there's a clearing up ahead," Mitch said, pointing. "The trees seem to end. " He sped up into a jog, ducking under a thin branch. Sky quickly followed, a consistent smile in his face. Indeed they had entered a small clearing around a creek, by which large, grey stones lay. He almost felt bad that they were about to disturb the quiet trickling of the stream, but he also figured that it would be back to normal as soon as they left.

Dang, he really didn't want to leave.

Deadlox and Ian followed them to the rocks beside the stream and they chose a relatively flat one to sit and rest on, even though it was very tilted. Sky reclined on the stone, which was relatively cool despite the sun overhead. He suspected that it was because of the weather, which was gradually beginning to shift towards winter. Ian produced some bruised apples from his satchel and they all munched on fruit and chatted loudly. Sky could feel that tight feeling of anxiety in his chest starting to ease a bit.

"Sky, I understand that you don't like your classes," Mitch commented, "but the instructor is not hard to look at."

Deadlox rolled his eyes. "Mitch, you're not even into girls."

The boy let out a grin. "False. Guy, girl, doesn't matter to me."

"But his heart always will belong to one and one person only," Sky swooned.

"And that is me!" Ian declared. Mitch pretended to gag.

"In your dreams, weirdo," he scoffed, but a playful grin rested on his face.

"It's obviously Jerome that our boy has fallen for." Sky punched Mitch lightly on the arm. His friend continued to grin widely, a faint blush now touching his cheeks.

"Mitch is cheating on me?" Ian cried out dramatically, but then smiled playfully at his friend and lay back on the rock.

"You all are ridiculous," Deadlox huffed. Ian jabbed him in the side with his elbow.

"Lighten up, you killjoy. I think you're just jealous that..." He glanced at Sky for a split second and cut himself off, which Sky thought was a bit odd. Deadlox gave Ian a warning glare, but then a wicked grin spread across his face and he suddenly shoved Ian so hard that the tumbled off the stone and into the creek with a splash. The three remaining guys howled with laughter at Ian's shrieks. The young man stumbled from the creek, shaking.

"I'm going to kill you!" he yelled. "That is freezing!"

"Good luck with that," Deadlox smirked. Sky's gut hurt from laughing so hard.

"Leave him alone, guys, he's just trying to...chill out." Sky grinned at his own joke, Deadlox rolled his eyes, Mitch burst into a fresh fit of laughter, and Ian let out an exasperated groan.

"That was pathetic," Deadlox informed him.

"Just like your social skills."

In response, Deadlox pushed him into the creek as well, and the cold knocked the air out of him. For a second, all he felt was wild panic, because he could feel his strength ebbing as the result of being submerged in freezing water. Memories of the ocean and its horrors flashed through his head and raw fear spiked through him. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shirt and hauled him back onto the stone. He curled up in a ball, coughs racking his body.

"Dude, what happened?" he heard Ian exclaim in shock. "It's not that bad."

"I shouldn't have pushed him in," Deadlox muttered in reply. "The ocean. The last time he was fully submerged in water he was almost killed."

Sky managed to regain control of his breathing, gasping for air. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he wheezed, anger and frustration with himself growing inside of him. "This was supposed to be-be fun, for a-all of us. I'm...sorry."

"Sky, we're here for you," Mitch said gently. "Yes, it was supposed to be a fun outing, but you certainly didn't ruin it. You're okay. You'll be okay. This is one small incident."

"We're with you," Deadlox murmured from beside him. "And you are strong. We'll be strong with you."

Ian nods and said something, but something Deadlox said repeated over and over in his brain, growing and growing in volume and forming into something: an idea. And with it, determination. I am strong. I am strong.

And he could prove that to Seto, who had become one of his biggest obstacles.

After recovering a bit, the joking and laughing and talking had resumed, and after a few minutes when he had ceased shivering from the cold, he rejoined them. But in the back of his mind, that idea stuck and with every passing moment he became more and more committed to it.

It wasn't until the sun began to sink below the treeline that the group finally started heading back to the city, and it still took them several hours to hike back. By the time they reached the camp, it was dark except for the moon and the glow of Sky's eyes. (Deadlox, of course, could see because of his powers, but Mitch and Ian tripped multiple times and suffered a number of briar attacks.)

Sky split from the group when the city was in sight. "I need to take care of something," he told them, and jogged off before they could insist to go with him.

He had a brief exchange with the guards standing watch over the gate and then entered Spruce City, the streets lit by glowstone lamps. He knew it was still a long walk to the city hall, so he sped up into a jog. He passed groups of youth laughing together on the sidewalks, some couples in late-night outings, and some people who looked as if they just needed to be cut a break. It was different than the city in which he had those fateful encounters with his friends. In that city, people might be out late to be intoxicated or prowling the streets with foul purposes. But here, there was a calm feeling, and no person he saw looked as suspicious or frightening as mainland humans, even the immortals with glowing eyes and talons like an eagle's. I guess demeanor and environment are everything.

Sky slipped through the doors of the capitol building, avoiding the eyes of late-night workers. He was fairly certain that he could find the way to the office, so he navigated through the labyrinth of hallways until he came face-to-face with the familiar, elegant door. It was only now that he realized that they may not even be in the building at this time of night. Nevertheless, Sky pushed the door open without bothering to knock.

He saw Seto's head snap up to stare at him. One of his hands had automatically flown to point at the door and Sky suddenly felt a little bad for startling him like that. He was thankful that no magic had come out of those hands.

"I have something to ask of you," he said, giving him a chance first.

"Yes?"

"I ask that you take me out of the classes with little kids. It's sort of offensive and I can't learn like that."

Seto placed his hand back on his desk like it had been there the entire time. He smiled that professional, infuriating smile that to Sky meant I'm-not-going-to-listen-because-you're-more-inexperienced-but-here-have-a-smile. "I had you placed with the children for a reason, Sky. You must learn their patience. Aren't your lessons going well?" The smile turned a bit sarcastic, and that's when Sky got mad.

"Fine. I challenge you," he announced loudly, "to a duel. Of powers." Seto's eyes widened. "If I win, you take me out of the kid's classes. And I get to join in the physical conditioning, as well as having full access to the library." He had previously been forbidden from the place with several other of the soldiers whose powers were unstable, and he was confident that the place could teach him much more than a class could.

Seto leaned back in his chair, blinking and obviously trying to make sense of this. "Sky," he finally said, "there's no way you're doing this. I-"

"This isn't about you," Sky interrupted. "And yes, I'm doing this. On the mainland, it's shameful to reject a duel. I'd assume the same rules apply here." He gazed coolly at Seto.

The sorcerer was shaking his head, frustration creeping onto his features. "Yes, but...why? Why can't you just cooperate for a while longer? These classes are teaching you valuable lessons about your powers that you can't learn by yourself or in a book. Can't you give it more time?"

"That's the smart thing to do," Sky replied. "But I've taken two classes with children, Seto, and this doesn't feel right. I can't do it, and I won't do it. I've complied to everything else."

Seto just stared at him, but then seemed to grow calm. His expression had a hint of smugness. "Fine, then. I accept the challenge. Tomorrow, at dawn, in the arena. If you lose, you keep taking classes and you have to join patrols." He extended his hand for Sky to shake.

He thinks I'll lose control and be easily defeated. He greatly underestimates me. Little did Seto know, Sky had been training with Jason in his dreams.

"Deal," Sky said coldly, ignoring Seto's hand. He turned and pushed the door open, trying to contain his rising fury at the sound of the general's amused chuckles.

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This fic has been recieving a lot of support lately and I'd just like to say I appreciate it so. much. You all are the reason I continue to write this and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy your comments. Special thanks to two friends in particular:

@Wolf-wisdom for helping me out in a bit of a writer's block. Your idea about the duel is much appreciated!

and of course, TheWhiterFire334 for constant support and friendship (and amazing art!) You've been making this Wattpad experience a great one, whether you know it or not.

I also apologize for the less-than-frequent updates. School and extracurricular activities have taken up most of my timetable. Chapters should be posted a bit more frequently now! Thank you all again!