Day 6

Type

(Selen/Aguma)

She was so proud of herself the first time that she infiltrated the Beylin Fist's Winter Fortress, a vast network of caves under a huge cliff. She wasn't interested in actually joining them; she just wanted to find out whether they had any plans to deal with those pests, Wang Hu Zhong, in the near future. If so, they could expect support from the Garcias for certain. Argo had revenge on his mind for the chaos that had happened at Hades City.

The cloak had been easy to obtain – it was ordinary, pale brown, hooded, nothing special. She blended in with the others perfectly. Give it a few days and she would know people's names and faces, and be able to start putting out enquiries. If there was something being planned, she could go for a more direct approach.

That was when she saw him.

He was tall, easily as tall as Argo if not taller. He wore power and authority like a cloak, and those who came into contact with it seemed to shift subtly out of the way without ever appearing to move. It was impressive to say the least.

But not as impressive as the speed at which he suddenly materialised at her side and pulled her hood down.

"And what are you doing here?" he asked, voice cold.

.

The next time, she hid her hair under a scarf and made sure to copy exactly what the person in front of her was doing. As it happened, that involved taking the vegetable peelings and other food scraps out of the kitchens and off to the compost heap outside. It was easy work, and the weather meant that keeping her hood up wasn't remarked on.

"Ugh," she muttered to the boy she was working with. "Why did I have to get this job on the day it's raining?"

He didn't even glance at her. "The amount it rains here, you were going to get it eventually. It's not as bad as training in the rain."

"Great blades, yes," she grumbled, internally celebrating that she'd found someone willing to talk. "I've got that tomorrow."

"No, you don't," said a voice from behind her. "You will leave, right now.

How on earth had he found her this time?

.

She watched the fortress for a number of days after that, watching the rotation of the guards, the times and numbers of the people entering and leaving, the clothes they wore, the way they walked, even the way they talked. Eventually, she was confident that she could imitate any member of the Beylin Fist perfectly.

The cave that made up the entrance hall was empty, and she walked through it with the high-held head and proudly-set shoulders that she had come to associate with the Beylin Fist bladers. All she had to do was appear exactly like the rest of them and there was no way that she could be caught.

"Ow!" she exclaimed as she walked straight into someone. She looked up at the man she had bumped into. She had to tilt her head right back...

Uh oh.

His spiky brown hair was dripping with water; perhaps he had just come from the baths, or training under the waterfall, as it wasn't raining outside. In the lantern-lit gloom of the cave-hall, his eyes looked almost black. She wasn't quite certain how she had managed to walk into him – the aura of strength around him was as present as ever. She recoiled a little.

"You again?" he asked, and the sound shook her. "I thought I told you to leave."

"You did," she began cheekily, but he just grabbed her by the shoulder and marched her back towards the main door.

"Don't even think about coming back," he said sternly. "Maybe I have the patience to throw you out each time, but what will happen if you run into Bao?"

She frowned. "Who's Bao?"

His expression hardened. "Out."

It was the last word she heard before she was literally thrown out of the doors and into a large patch of thorns.

She sighed. She wished she knew his name. And who was Bao?

.

She found out on her fourth attempt to infiltrate the system. She managed to sneak in and get along one of the darker side corridors out of the way, meaning that hopefully she wouldn't be spotted too quickly.

"I still say that Touryumon is our best bet, Aguma. It's all but confirmed that Wang Hu Zhong will be in attendance, and they will definitely reach the finals. If we get the right pairings in the first rounds, we can beat all four of them at once."

She froze, shrinking back into the shadows of a doorway as the voices approached.

"And I'm agreeing with you, aren't you listening, Bao?"

She knew that voice. It had boomed in her ears every time she had walked into this place. The first one hadn't been familiar, but the second...

Aguma. That was his name. She smiled. It was good to have a name for his face, especially as she now felt like she knew it better than the faces of her brothers. So... so then the man next to him as the two strode down the dark hallway must be Bao.

Fascinated, she leaned forwards a little. Aguma was different when he was talking with Bao. It wasn't that he'd lost the power and authority that she had come to associate with him, but it just didn't seem to be in effect. He might have been a head and a half taller than his companion, but he was speaking to Bao as if to an equal; happy, relaxed, confident. She could see the bond between them immediately. These two probably spent nearly every waking moment with each other, training and learning together until they now moved and even breathed as one being. It was as if they were soul-bound.

They passed her hiding place, and she held her breath. For a second, she thought she saw his eyes flash sideways to where she stood, but she must have been dreaming. She was completely hidden in the shadows.

"Bao, go on ahead. There's something I have to do quickly."

The smaller man looked up at Aguma. "I can wait."

"No, it's fine. I'll only be a minute." The slightest movement of Aguma's head clearly meant volumes to his friend, as Bao suddenly nodded, expression relaxing.

"I'll see you in the mess hall," he said, and carried on into the entrance cave before vanishing down the opposite corridor.

As his footsteps faded, the tall, brown-haired man looked straight across the hall to where she stood. "I am becoming tired of finding you in my home," he said clearly. "Come out."

Staying where she was wasn't an option. "Your name is Aguma," she said, stepping into the open.

"And yours is Selen. I have done my research, daughter of the Garcia family."

Oh, he was good. "Who's Bao? He's obviously important, but..."

Aguma examined her face carefully. "He is my greatest friend and truest ally," he said eventually. His eyes flashed. "And as the commander of our forces he's also the only person currently in this fortress with the authority to detain you on suspicion of trespassing and spying. All I need do is call him back and you will never leave this place you seem so determined to break in to."

"I wasn't spying! Or trespassing!"

"Says the girl who has repeatedly returned to this fortress and attempted to blend in with the rest of us, despite being ordered to stay away," he said sternly. "I know every member of the Beylin Fist. Did you really think that I wouldn't notice a new one?"

At least he was slightly gentler throwing her out this time – she landed in a bunch of heather rather than a thorn-bush.

.

The fifth time, she wasn't sure exactly why she was so determined to get back in. If Bao was the one to find her rather than Aguma, she'd never get back to her family. She'd probably never see daylight.

As it happened, climbing up the side of the fortress was an even worse idea than going in by the main gate. She had been heading for one of the small openings in the rock face that acted as windows for the upper levels, but she never made it. A hand grasped the back of her collar and pulled her straight up and through a lower opening. She had been trying to climb past one of the training rooms, and he had spotted her instantly.

"This is getting ridiculous." His voice was low and dangerous, and his eyes burnt in the gloom. "I am running out of patience with your insistence on getting inside. Do not try this again. Now, get out, or I will throw you out."

In the end, he threw her anyway, though at least she landed in the heather again.

.

Her sixth time was much more interesting. There seemed to be a massive amount of activity going on, and whilst she managed to slot into place without anyone noticing, it was difficult to know who to follow. It looked like the tribe was mobilising for a full-scale assault.

"Everyone's busy today," she whispered to the boy next to her as they lined up for launching drill.

"Of course they are," he hissed back, not looking at her. "It's not every day that the Hundred Schools of Beylin Fist enter a major tournament. Touryumon is the biggest tag-team tournament in China, and with Aguma and Bao, there's no way we can lose!"

"I'm glad of your confidence in us, Takao, but please do not give any more information to those who are not part of Beylin Fist. Four hundred practice launches." The voice was soft but unmistakable. "I thought I told you never to come back here."

She sighed. She honestly didn't know how he did it. Silently, she wished she had his reactions as she pulled herself out of the heather for the third time in ten days.

.

The seventh time, she didn't even make it inside the gate. She was putting her cloak on out of sight of the main passageway into the Winter Fortress when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. His strength was astonishing.

"Don't," Aguma said, voice cold as he towered over her, all strength and muscle and enveloping power. "I grow weary of this game. It is long past time for you to go home."

.

She tried just one more time. This time, she managed to hide herself in a little clump of bladers coming back from the stream where they had been doing endurance training, and so she had reached the first interior courtyard when she realised that Aguma was standing on the far side of it. She had no choice but to continue following the blader group she was with – turning to hide now would just get his attention even quicker.

She drifted behind one of the pillars and hid there, hoping he hadn't noticed that the group was one member down. He shouldn't have – he was talking with Bao, eyes fixed on the other boy. She moved back a little so that she was completely hidden, but could still hear what was going on.

"I'm not saying that we shouldn't try," he was saying. "But we should take one of the groups with us. It's all very well having won Touryumon, but that just shows the world that we are stronger than Beylin Temple. We need to leave people in no doubt that all of Beylin Fist's warriors are trained to the same level."

"I know, I know," Bao said. "But who should we take? If I go and ask for volunteers we'll end up taking the entire school and we just can't manage that."

"Beta Group," Aguma suggested. "They're strong, they're loyal and they need more training anyway. Putting them into a tournament would prove to the elders that you're confident in the abilities of all the Beylin Fist bladers, not just you and me."

Bao nodded. "You're right. You're always right."

"Not always. You made the call at Touryumon. I would have tried to fight on without using that attack to hurt you."

From her hiding place, she couldn't see Bao's expression, but from the sound in his voice she guessed he was smiling at his companion. "That's true. I'll go and assemble them. Wait here."

The sound of very faint footsteps heading off to the left faded, and Selen was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was now alone in the room with her usual captor. She couldn't move from her post or he would see her for certain.

"And just how long did you think you were going to be able to hide there?"

She jumped and spun, coming face to – well, chest with the man she had been trying to avoid. "Oh... hello Aguma."

The sheer force of his persona rolled over her. She had thought Argo was larger than life; he had nothing on Aguma, warrior of Beylin Fist. It made her hands shake, and she clenched them inside the sleeves of her shirt to hide it.

"Why do you keep coming back?" he asked, arms folded.

She knew the answer. She'd rehearsed it a hundred times. I'm Selen Garcia. My brothers and I were in the World Championships. We heard you wanted to take down Beylin Temple, and we want in.

But face to face with him, looking up, up, up into those strange, dark blue-purple eyes, she realised that whilst her mission remained the same, the reason she kept coming back was vastly different.

She should have known the second time that he caught her and her immediate reaction had been wondering how to get inside again. She hadn't even tried to tell him that the Garcia family would throw all their considerable power behind his tribe should they choose to take on Wang Hu Zhong again. Instead, she had been trying to see how long she could stay in the fortress, not before she was found, but before he found her.

"Because I like you," she whispered, the words blistering against her lips with the shock of her realisation. "I... I really like you."

A silence fell across the gulf between them, and she had no words that could cross it. His expression wasn't angry or shocked. It seemed to be something closer to curiosity. Finally, he broke the silence.

"You should go. Leave, now, and never come back."

She felt the words like a physical blow. "So... is that your way of saying that you're not interested?" Something of the Garcia spirit sparked back to life. She'd always thought that if she wanted something, she had to go out and get it. But what if what she wanted didn't want her in return? "Are you that much of a coward that you can't tell me straight to my face?"

"No. It is my way of telling you that I'm already taken."

She blinked. In all her time sneaking around the Beylin Fist group, she had never seen more than one or two women – she'd assumed that this lack of girls had been why Aguma had always managed to find her so quickly. "What?"

"I'm taken," he repeated softly. "Engaged, actually."

"You're too young," she scoffed. "You can't be more than seventeen."

He straightened his spine. "It is no business of yours. Now go, before I get Bao involved."

That was a direct threat. She knew now how dangerous Bao was. "Fine," she muttered, but she didn't move. Neither did he. He had narrowed his eyes and was watching her very carefully.

"Even if I was not engaged, you would not be welcome in my house," he said. "Eight times now you have broken in to our fortress. Do you really expect me to be impressed? To admire your skills?"

"Yes! No-one else could do it!"

"Are you sure?"

She hesitated. No, she wasn't sure. She'd never heard of any others breaking in, but then again she was never in the compound long enough to hear about any of them. Aguma always caught her too quickly.

"All you have taught me is that you do not listen, you do not consider your own safety or that of your family, and you do not respect authority of any sort. You seem to think that the rules don't apply to you. You would have no place in Beylin Fist, let alone in my family."

"And I suppose you can't possibly be with someone who isn't from Beylin Fist," she spat.

"That is true," he said calmly. "That is why Takara and I have been engaged since we turned fourteen."

She froze, utterly confused. "That's ridiculous. No-one gets engaged at fourteen."

His expression darkened so quickly that she was almost afraid. "It was arranged." She was about to open her mouth and point out that that meant it wasn't a proper match when he continued "And, believe what you will, she is the only woman I will ever love. Now, leave. You have had your final warning."

She held her chin up defiantly. "Aren't you going to escort me out?"

"No." For a second, she thought she saw something almost gentle in his face. Then it vanished. "I think you know your own way out by now. Go."

.

It would be many, many years before she would realise that, as close to Bao as he was, he could have had her captured and held beneath the Winter Fortress for the rest of her life with no difficulty whatsoever, right from the first time he had caught her. But he had let her go every time, given her freedom and sent her on her way like a kind child releasing a trapped butterfly.

And, when she finally realised, she couldn't help but wonder why.

Not all romances end in happily ever after...