6 Nations

Ch 6

Amber walked into her apartment with her mind somewhere else. As she was taking her jacket off, she stopped. She stood there just looking around the room, something not sitting right with her. During her search, she noticed that the shadows in one particular corner seemed a bit darker than they should have considering it was still early in the afternoon.

"Show yourself," she said after a few minutes.

As she watched, the shadows lightened revealing Casey sitting in a cross legged position as if he was meditating. When the shadows were as they should be, he opened his eyes and looked at her.

"What are you doing here?" Amber asked as she took her jacket off.

"Do I really need a reason?" Casey replied.

"Considering you're in my apartment, yes you do."

"Well, I was wondering if you could really fight like you were saying you could the other night."

"Is that so?" Amber asked crossing her arms. "And why should I believe you?"

"Well if you don't think you can actually win," Casey started.

"I know I can, especially since you won't have that orb of yours to help you," Amber said heatedly.

"Prove it then," Casey said with a sly smile.

"Fine, follow me."

With that Amber turned and walked out of her apartment and Casey got up and followed. Amber lead the way to a gym that was part of the apartment she lived. They went to one of the empty rooms that had a padded floor that was large enough for them to spar in. After making sure there were enough pads on the floor and walls, they took their positions on opposite ends of the room.

"Now let's see if you're as good as you say you are," Casey said as he took his stance.

"Just don't be mad when I win," Amber replied taking hers.

"You actually have to win first."

Amber rushed in to attack in response. When she reached him and attacked, she seemed to pass right through him. Turning around, she noticed that it was just an image of him and it was already fading away. Before the image had completely vanished, Casey attacked from behind. Amber turned just in time to block his attack but he vanished again just as quickly. Amber was unsure if he was just moving that quickly or if this was some technique he knew. She turned around in time to block another attack and countered with a quick kick before he could move again. Casey dodged the kick and caught her leg. With a smirk, he threw her across the room. Amber recovered mid air and rushed back in as soon as she landed.

Instead of vanishing again, Casey waited for next attack. Even though Casey stood his ground and simply defended, Amber knew that he could vanish again at any moment. Their fight was starting to go like it did the last time they fought, with Casey giving her little time to respond to his attacks. As their fight went on, Amber found she was starting to keep up with Casey's speed. Soon they were going back and forth. First one would have the upper hand and be on the attack, and then the other would go on the attack.

After a few minutes, they both jumped back, ready for the other to attack again. While they were watching each other, Amber was considering using wind attacks. The only reason she hesitated was because she really didn't know if Casey had the orb with him. For a while, neither of them moved. While they were standing there, Casey placed shadows around his arms and legs. Amber readied herself for his next attack. She didn't have to wait long. Casey rushed in low to attack. When Casey reached her, Amber went to jump over him, but Casey seemed to anticipate this and jumped at the same time. Since she wasn't expecting it, Amber wasn't able to defend against Casey's kick. It took her a few seconds to get up.

"I guess I should tell you that when we have shadows wrapped around our arms and legs like this, Shadow warriors can actually hit harder," Casey explained to her.

"And why is that?" Amber asked as she got up.

"Simple really, since we draw our strength from the shadows, using them when we fight increases our strength and allows us to deal more damage."

"And let me guess, doing it at night further increases your strength?"

"Basically, with the added part of our limbs vanishing from sight as well, like I'm sure you noticed when I fought that other Shadow warrior."

"Yeah, I noticed. I was wondering about that."

Casey took his stance again while Amber recovered then took hers. While in her stance, Amber began swirling wind currents around her arms and legs. Seeing this, Casey smiled getting an idea as to how the fight was going to progress from here. Amber charged first, moving faster than before. Casey wasn't surprised by her increased speed. However, despite the fact that Amber was moving twice as fast as before, Casey had little difficulty keeping up. Their fight started going back and forth, neither willing to give ground. They kept up their pace for quite a while, even speeding up at times. After some time passed, they jumped back. While Amber was starting to breath heavier from their fight, Casey didn't seem to be winded at all.

"You must quite of bit of energy left to still be breathing so easily right now," Amber panted.

"You could say that," Casey replied with a smirk.

"You're still holding back aren't you?"

"Well this is just a sparring match. No sense really trying to kill each other."

"You have a point," Amber admitted. "What do you say we call it a day then?"

"Sure, but I thought you wanted to prove that you could beat me in a fight?"

"Considering you're not even winded right now despite the way we were fighting, I think it's a safe bet that you actually would've won."

"So you're admitting that I would've won the other day?"

"Yes I am. Believe me; I know when I've been bested. One of the members of my unit thought you might've been holding back that day."

"Is that so?" Casey asked as they got ready to leave.

"Yeah, he thought you weren't taking everything seriously," she answered.

"Well, he isn't entirely wrong. I was just having fun with it."

"Well considering where your level of strength is, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"I am a Shadow Knight, as you found out the other day."

While they were talking, they reached Amber's apartment. Even though she seemed a bit hesitant about the idea, she invited Casey in for a bit. They spent most of the time just getting to know each other. Each told the other their story of how they entered the ranks of their respective elite warriors. Casey told her about some of the random gadgets he's created.

"So what's the real reason you decided to stop by?" Amber asked suddenly.

"Well two things really. I was wondering if you've deciphered the disk I left you, and the other reason is that I really just felt like stopping by."

"You just felt like stopping by?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds strange but it's true."

"Is there anything that I should be worried about?"

"From me, no and that assassin's been taken care of, so there shouldn't be any reason to."

"Speaking of, why did you save me that night?"

"I told you, I find you interesting. That alone was reason enough for me."

"So you have no other reason than that?"

"Do I really need one?"

"I guess not."

For a while they were both silent. While they were silent, Casey started staring out the window, while Amber was watching him. Despite what he revealed about himself, she felt he was still holding something back.

"There's something you're not telling me," she said suddenly.

"Of course there isn't," Casey replied. "You didn't expect me to tell you everything so easily did you?"

"I guess not," Amber said, shaking her head. "But what's with all the secrecy with everything?"

"The people of the Shadow Lands have always been that way," Casey answered. "I think it has to do with our history but who really knows."

"Well from what I remember being taught, that sounds about right."

Their talk continued on until well past nightfall.

"Wow, I can't believe it's that late," Amber said when she saw the time. "I guess I should head to bed."

"I guess I should head home then," Casey said with a yawn.

"You're actually tired?" Amber asked somewhat surprised.

"Remember, I said we have to sleep once every few days. We can push ourselves to go without sleep for longer but it can start to wear on us like everyone else."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you don't cause any trouble," Amber said after a moment's thought.

"Are you sure I won't be imposing or that I'm not threat?"

"Like I said, as long as you don't cause any trouble."

"Well thank you for the hospitality."

After saying good night to each other, Amber went to her room to get ready to bed while Casey made himself comfortable her couch.