Chapter 4

The next few days were agony; every emotion possible raced through his mind, and he got antsy as the day for their first lesson arrived. What was he so nervous for? Why was he more nervous training with Cain rather than a full-fledged knight? The night before, he laid in his bed and stare up at the ceiling, trying to play out the lesson's events in his head. What if he messed up? What if Cain got frustrated with him? Perhaps he should tell the redhead he wasn't feeling well, and they should do it another time? No. He didn't want to chicken out of their first lesson, and instead, he opted to see it as an opportunity. This way, Cain could see him getting stronger firsthand. That thought made his stomach churn a little less. By the time the lesson rolled around, he was determined once again to give it his best shot.

"Alright. Lesson one: Don't look at your feet, but know what they're doing." It was a couple days later, and Cain had met up with Matthew in the practice field long after everyone else had left. He'd already determined that he'd have to start a bit further back, but that was fine; under his instruction, he believed he could get Matthew caught up in no time. "The last thing you want to do is be stumbling over yourself right into the path of someone's sword."

Matthew nodded his head at Cain's instruction, and he stood with his feet planted firmly on the ground, shoulder-width apart.

Practices without weapons were boring, but necessary, and Cain integrated them into part of his own training. "Think of it like dancing," Cain suggested with a grin. "Nobody really wants to do it, but it's important to know how."

...

They did drills until Matthew was red in the face and practically drenched in sweat. Cain was breathing hard too, but he could have gone on longer. Still, he didn't want to run Matthew so ragged on the first day that he got burned out. "Alright, alright... Let's call it a day." After a workout they needed to stretch, so he lifted his arms up over his head; his shirt rode up slightly, exposing the lower part of his stomach.

Well, it had gone smoother than he thought. A bit sweatier than he thought, but it didn't have as many failures. Panting heavily, he nodded his head. Coupled with the fact they had done training in class as well, Matthew was incredibly tired. Was he really going to have to do this everyday? He started doing his own stretches, and glanced over to the redhead, watching how he stretched so casually, his shirt lifting up a bit... If Matthew wasn't already red-faced, he would've flushed hard. Perhaps doing this everyday wasn't so bad.

After a few minutes of getting his muscles nice and relaxed, Cain straightened up again. "Lesson's over, but the training never stops." He grinned, and slapped Matthew on the back lightly. "Lesson Two: getting some meat on those bones. Wanna grab dinner?" He was starved, and the loud growl that came from his stomach proved it. He'd already caught his breath, and his face was losing its tint of pink from the exercise. A bit of food and he'd definitely feel rejuvenated. Okay... maybe a lot of food.

There wasn't many times in Caelin one could get a one-on-one lesson with a knight, so Matthew felt a bit bad he was far behind the others when it came to training. It especially showed when the teen didn't seem to have lost any of the fluster on his face when Cain looked fine. All he wanted to do was go to bed, but knew it was best to at least eat something. "I guess so," he replied with as much of a smile as he could muster up.

"Well, you don't have to sound so excited about it," Cain teased, gently punching Matthew on the shoulder. "Need me to carry you?" He laughed as walked on ahead, leading the way towards the dining commons.

Cain's meal consisted mostly of meat as he tried to meet his daily need of protein. Sure, he had some vegetables too, but he wasn't all too enamored with them. It was Cain's idea to sit outside in the fresh air, so they took their meals out and sat up on the stone wall next to the path. Cain had barely shoved the first bite in his mouth when the noise of horse hooves trotting began, and he glanced up; Abel was heading in his direction, with an unridden horse in tow. "Looks like I'll be taking this to-go." He wrapped the rest of his food up and shoved it in his bag, already up on his feet by the time Abel arrived the horses.

"May I have this dance?" Abel teased the redhead as he handed him the reins.

"In your dreams, pretty boy," Cain shot back with a grin as he mounted the horse, settling into the saddle comfortably. "Oh... See you later, Matthew!" He seemed to have forgotten that he was with company, but remembered to wave goodbye at the last second before galloping off.

Matthew hardly got to say goodbye to the redhead before the other was galloping away with a friend. He only waved weakly, before his hand fell to his side and he stared down at his food, feeling less hungry than he had been. Back to being alone for the remainder of the night, it seemed.

...

The training was exhausting. Training normally and then going extra with Cain... he didn't know how he'd keep this up. Still, he told himself, it'd get easier. He sat down on the grass next to the redhead after another hard day of training, looking the other over. Matthew seemed dead on his feet, but Cain... he looked perfectly fine. "I don't know how you do it," he said, breaking the silence with a small smile. "It's amazing how this is so easy for you..."

Cain flopped down on the grass with a huff; they'd been working hard, and deserved a break. When Matthew spoke up, he glanced over and returned the smile... though he averted his gaze, like he was hiding something. "Heh... Yeah..." He liked to make things look easy; he enjoyed the praise of the instructor and the admiration of his peers, though he hid the fact that he worked so hard to get it. Even in the extra sessions with Matthew, he didn't go all out; really pushing himself was reserved for his personal training time. Still, he hated to hear Matthew sound so haggard about it. "It's not easy," he admitted finally, after a period of silence. "If it were easy, anyone could do it."

"I know it's not easy," Matthew replied back with a light chuckle; he knew all too well it wasn't easy. He had been struggling towards the beginning, and he was still struggling, even with Cain's guidance. "I guess you're one of those people it comes naturally to," he mused aloud, though he didn't look the other in the eye. Perhaps he was a bit embarrassed to be admitting to being envious of the redhead.

"I suppose..." Cain responded in a quiet voice, though he was thinking of how long he'd been training; practically since he could pick up a sword without falling over. Certainly much longer than most of his peers. "I think hard work will get you where you need to be. Though, a certain amount of luck doesn't hurt." He smiled in an attempt to lighten the mood; even only a few weeks into the academic year, he was already known for his uncanny luck and ability for things to twist in his favor.

"Yes, I suppose," he replied back softly, nodding his head. That seemed to be what everyone was always saying; work hard, and he'd be better in no time. Matthew desperately hoped that would be true. Sometimes it felt like working harder only set him back, as he felt so tired all the time... he never felt like himself. "It gets easier, doesn't it?"

"Well... Sort of," Cain said with a wave of his hand. "You'll find that things you used to struggle with aren't something you even think about anymore... but that's because you're busy struggling with the next thing." He chuckled, despite their conversation not being funny. "Come on, sourpuss. I feel like I'm giving a failed motivational speech here."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I've often been told I'm not the most positive person ever," he said as he offered a smile before he looked up at the sky. Every muscle in his body told him not to get up, ad simply curl up for a well-needed nap, but he forced his tired leg to stand up. "Alright... I guess I'm ready."

"Nah... You keep going up like that and you'll just fall right back down." Cain reached up and yanked on Matthew's shirt, tugging the other teen back down to the ground. "Besides, I'm still tired." That part may have been a bit of a white lie, but he stretched his arms and groaned anyway. "You're not from Ostia, are you?" Cain asked suddenly, looking at Matthew with curious eyes.

Matthew huffed lightly as he was tugged back down to the ground. Inwardly, he was glad for the extended break. Glancing back over to Cain, he blinked before nodded his head. "Yeah... I'm from Caelin. Was it that obvious I'm not from here?" He chuckled out softly. "I came here at the beginning of the year, so I'm all by myself up here right now."

"It's pretty obvious," Cain agreed with a laugh as he leaned back in the soft grass, letting the cool autumn breeze blow gently against his face. "All by yourself, huh..." Cain couldn't imagine what that must be like, to be in a new place with no one else. "You must get lonely sometimes."

Matthew sat back as well, looking up at the darkening sky above them. It was true, he missed his family and the few friends he had come to know back in Caelin... but he was happy here in Ostia, doing what he had always wanted to. "Yeah... It's a bit hard, not knowing anybody, being behind everyone else in training... But, I think I'll get by. I'm pretty good by myself most of the time." He looked over to Cain. "What about you?"

Cain nodded his head, glad to hear that Matthew didn't feel terribly alone. "Me n' Abel, we were both born in Altea, but then came to Ostia as scraps. It's all I can remember, so I guess I never really considered anywhere else to be home except here." He laughed as he thought of his family, who lived not too terribly far away. "Truthfully, I think Ma was more than glad to have me out of her hair and send me here for knight training. Can't say I blame her."

"I see," Matthew replied back softly, thinking to himself. Abel must be the green-haired one he rode off with a few days ago, then. "At least you have a close friend who came from the same place as you, then." He thought of his few friends back in Caelin; none had shared the same ideals as him, and he had made the journey alone. "You really are lucky."

"Yeah... He's like a brother to me." Cain smiled, though it slowly started to fade. There should have been a third face that joined them in Ostia from Altea, but... He sighed. At the comment about his uncanny luck, he nodded, and then lifted his chin to look upwards at the slowly darkening sky. "I guess I am. Some people can't say the same..." He dwelled on it for just a heartbeat too long, and then he slapped a hand on Matthew's back and started to get to his feet. "Well, that's enough of that. Back to work!" The strange, forlorn expression he'd had moments earlier was replaced by his usual smile, and he stuck his hand down to help Matthew up.

Matthew looked over at the redhead as he spoke again, noticing how the other looked a bit sad when the remark left his mouth, and his eyes softened in sorrow. Just what, he wondered, had the other gone through for him to seem so sad? He watched as Cain stood once more, nodding his head as he took the other's hand and stood once more. "Sir, yes sir!" He exclaimed, returning the smile in a joking fashion.

"That's more like it!" Cain grinned as he pulled Matthew to his feet. "Now then..." He picked up their practice swords and tossed one of them at his training partner. "Come at me!"