I apologize for this late chapter update, but I had so much going on. My mom passed away Aug. 30th from colon cancer. /3 Cancer is a bitch. ;~; Anyway, I hope you all will enjoy this chapter!
"Ichida..." Atrix growled.
"No need for hospitality, but is that really any way to treat your HALF-sister?" Ichida asked, a hidden venom laced in, and a smirk obvious in her eyes.
Atrix knew her words were to get some sort of reaction from her. She wasn't going to give it to her. Therefore, she remained silent, though a glare brightened its way to her sister.
"What's going on here? Training?" The newcomer sneered. "Of course, I can believe you are only HALF as good as anyone else here," Ichida added. By those words, it was apparent she hadn't come alone. She had her protection. She was also mocking her for being a hybrid.
At this time, Dimitri, who had been standing a ways away, finally approached and spoke up. "That is quite the opposite. She has amazing skill," he commented. While he didn't seem to know exactly what was going on, he had sensed the unwelcome feeling in the room.
Ichida glanced over at the Russian Guardian and gave him a lopsided smile. "And who are you?" Dimitri gave a small bow of introduction before asking his own series of questions.
"Moroi are restricted from entering here, so if I may not be so rude, may I ask why you are here?" Dimitri asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Atrix remained where she was, her eyes focused on her sister.
"I merely came to greet my sister," she answered sweetly, and as innocently, as she could. This caused Atrix to roll her eyes. Dimitri lifted an eyebrow but refrained from saying anything.
Someone else came into the gym and bounced in front of Ichida to grab her attention. "Miss! This isn't a place for you to be!" It hissed aloud. From what she could tell, it was someone who served her sister. His eyes darted over to Atrix, where a nasty glare sparked at the sight of her. It motivated the servant to usher the vampire out even faster.
"Oh, you're no fun, Howard!" Ichida whined, "I just wanted to greet the sister I haven't seen in such a very long time." While she pouted, she obeyed the push and left without not much more of a fuss.
After a few minutes passed, Dimitri crossed his muscled arms across his chest and looked at Atrix. He asked the question he has been wanting to ask. "What was that about?"
Atrix decided to feign arrogance as answered with, "What was what about?" Her outer appearance was well under control, though her inner feeling was flaring and churning with anger and fear.
It was clear that the male wanted to press further for answers, but knew not to press for them right then. Instead, he beckoned her to follow him to a side room. The room held practice dummies of various sizes.
"I had something else planned, but this should do. I want to see just how much strength you possess. Please, do not hold back either. If it helps, just think of letting any frustration or anger leak out," The Guardian instructed as he leaned against the doorway.
She was going to have to hold some of her strength back. She'll put a lot into it, but not enough for suspicion to raise. Though, the thought of letting her frustration out was tempting, she needed to be careful. Especially now that her so-called sister was here. There was no doubt her biological parents will soon find out she was staying here at the academy, but luckily, they couldn't do anything publicly about it.
With a heavy sigh, she dashed forward and lifted her hand up into a fist. Using only 3/4 of her strength, she landed a harsh blow against the first dummy. Indeed, it did feel good.
Atrix continued to punch and kick the dummies with the same exact power for the next half hour. A bemused look was on Dimitri's face, but he kept whatever comment to himself.
"Unfortunately, our training had to be cut down some due to the little interruption," Dimitri said as they both cooled down once when the other exercises were over. "We'll continue tomorrow," he added as his deep brown eyes watched her.
Atrix sighed. "Can't be helped, I guess. As long as it doesn't happen again. Or else, I'll really take my anger out on her," she muttered before walking away. She didn't get too far when a hand grabbed onto her wrist, pulling her to a stop. Looking back, she saw Dimitri had stopped her.
"I could tell that the atmosphere between you and your... Half-sister is not good, but what exactly happened?" He asked with genuine concern.
As sweet as that may be, it was a question she couldn't answer. "It doesn't concern you...," she said feebly instead before pulling her arm away and walking as fast as she could back to her room in the Dhampir dorm. Even as she passed, she heard the dreadful whispers already start to circulate. Great. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours yet, and already Ichida had spread rumors about her. Good thing she already planned to not make friends.
She spent the rest of the free time she had left in her room, away from any activity. Sighing, she spread herself out on her bed. Oh, how tired she was. Her stomach growled in protest. Again, she was going to bed without food. Though, her hunger soon passed.
Turning her head, she peered out of the window. The sun was beginning to rise, and no doubt, the Moroi were going to bed, same with the other Dhampirs, of course. Scooting to where she laid in the center of the bed, she closed her eyes.
When she opened them, moonlight was beginning to shine into the room. Gently rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she sat up and blinked. Glancing over at a clock she had, she saw the time displayed in bright red lights. Ten PM. Realization struck a chord through her body as she jumped up and rushed to put her clothes on. Her first class had started a while ago... Or did it? She couldn't remember if she was the only one in that special class or not.
Sighing, she decided it wasn't worth going now. There wasn't much time left of it anyway. The hybrid made her way out of her room, out of the dorm, and towards the gym. That is, until a hand with gleaming fingernails grabbed her shoulder and made her stopped in her tracks.
As she spun around, ready to lash out a comment, she had to hold herself back from doing anything bad. She had expected her sister to be there, but instead it was a group of girls she didn't even know.
"Hey, Ichida told us you are her half-sister," one would have assumed the girl was trying to make conversation, and it would have worked if her voice didn't have a snarky ring to it.
"So?" Atrix responded indifferently. She could already feel what was going to happen here.
"So, wouldn't that make your mom a Dhampir whore?" The girl asked, causing the rest of their small group to do the same. This actually caused Atrix to also laugh. Oh, if they only knew.
"I suppose so," the hybrid answered with a knowing grin before walking away from the stunned group of girls. They had unknowingly called Ichida's mom a whore. It would have been priceless to see the looks on their face if they knew that little fact. That secret must held though.
Atrix was relieved to have made it to the gym without anything further happening to her. It wasn't as though she felt humiliated; she just really hates crowds who pick on someone who appears inferior to them.
"Psh," The female grunted as she entered the gym and sat crossed legged on the floor, facing towards the door. There was twenty minutes remaining before the scheduled training took place. Closing her eyes, she stretched her body down onto the ground.
She must have dozed off not too long after. Atrix felt herself jolt awake as the reflex to dodge burned strongly in her mind. In instinct, she rolled to the side before a supposed attack could reach her. She crouched in an animal-like way, her teeth bared as though she was snarling, or baring her teeth.
"How unusual," the Russian accented voice echoed around the room. "How unexpected," the male added. Seeing that her alleged attack was her mentor, she let out a frustrated groan. She let out a small uncomfortable cough as she stood up and straightened her clothes.
"Give someone a heart attack, why don't you?" Atrix hadn't relaxed her muscles; she was still clearly on her guard.
"I suppose... You could say I wanted to test on whether you were asleep or not. From your breathing, you were, yet your guard remained turned on. That is a good skill to have," Dimitri responded steadily. Something told her that wasn't all he wanted to say, yet she knew by now that he wasn't going to speak his mind. His eyes or expression won't give anything away either.
When Atrix didn't say anything in return, they begun that day's training. Running and even fist sparing. The Guardian even got her to practice half an hour with a silver stake.
Thanks to the strength from both the vampire and wolf parts of her, piercing the practice dummies was quite an easy feat. Dimitri was amused by the progress; it was rare to see someone who has never been trained before, so easily grasping Guardian training.
When the day's training was over, the hybrid was about to leave when Dimitri called out to her. She turned her head to look at him.
"There will be another novice joining us for our training session tomorrow. I would like to see how well you-or her-can spare with each other," the male announced.
With that, the hybrid left waving her hand in understanding. Her stomach was beginning to growl. She needed to eat tonight. Surely, there are animals on campus, right?
Luckily, no one was expecting her to appear in the cafeteria to din. She headed towards the Dhampir dorms at first, making sure no was around when she ventured into the woods.
Once when she was safely hidden behind the trees, she easily shifted into her wolf skin. 'Oh, how wonderful it felt to be in this form after so long,' the she-wolf thought. She'd howl in joy if it weren't for the fact she needed to remain unseen.
Her white ears perked forward as the sound of rustling of leaves on the ground, and the scent in the air, revealed a deer was nearby. Saliva filled her mouth as she prowled towards it. Finally, her hunger will be filled, and her thrust for blood quenched.
Let the hunting begin!