~ Chapter 6: Cheater's Secrets ~

Nearly a week had passed since the duel in the dojo between Valleroy and Knight, however, despite the amount of time that had past, everyone of Feh's dojo still seemed tense. Of course, the air was not as tense as the first few days after the duel, but still it was tense. Or it could more accurately be put as heavy. Rumors spread quickly across town and by the end of the week, nearly every person in town had heard some kind of rumor regarding the "dojo duel" as it was called. But since the event, things seemed to have calmed down a bit.

Knight had finally settled into a routine and was finally getting back to some normalcy in his life. However, even after a week, the other students still looked on him with uneasiness. At first their looks bothered him; but after a week, Knight merely passed off their eyes as if they were nothing. He knew that he had done the right thing. So it didn't matter what the other students thought of him. It only mattered what he thought of himself. And he had done what none of the other students did… the right thing.

The labor at the dojo was hard work; it was almost as hard of work as training. But Knight figured out that if he worked quickly enough, he could finish his assignments and leave before the other students were dismissed. This was a welcomed change from his usual schedule because it meant that he had more time to relax in the afternoon. And he would have a lot more time to train and get stronger, but only if he wanted to.

It was the last day of the week and, as days before, the back doors of the dojo slide open and a dirtied Knight walked out. He had to shield his eyes from the blazing sun which had made this summer season rather warm. Knight slowly walked around the dojo admiring how blue and cloudless the sky was. He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes feeling his lungs fill with fresh summer air. He exhaled softly and slowly opened his eyes once again.

"What a beautiful day to be outside!" Knight stretched out his arms and yawned feeling his joints creak from a day's hard work. Knight leapt down from the dojo platform and landed on the ground without so much as a sound. Dust clouded around his feet but quickly settled back down. He stood up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. Knight glanced back to the dojo and said aloud to no one in particular, "Feh can be such a taskmaster. Making me paint and polish and mop… Ugh… I am so ready for a nap."

Knight turned north and began heading to where his hideout was. He only took a few steps when he noticed a young girl walking in the opposite direction as him. Her hair was roughly shoulder length and was colored a violet hue almost the same shade as Feizhi's hair. She had a very feminine physique, and she filled out her sleeveless purple robe nicely. The purple robe with its light purple cherry petals designs complemented her hair color well. Her robe was tied with a purple ribbon and fell a little past waist level covering her shorts which only reached to about mid thigh. Her smooth legs glimmered in the sunlight and ended in some brownish colored sandals that she was wearing. But the most striking feature about her was not her clothing or even the alluring curves of her body; the most striking feature about her that drew Knight in the most was her sparkling golden eyes.

"Woh!" Knight gawked. He then suddenly caught himself not only for staring but also for speaking out loud. He awkwardly rubbed his mouth as he passed her by. Wow! She is really, really good-looking! And… Knight sniffed the aroma that wafted to his nose as she passed. Ohhh… And she smells really good too! Like… apples or something… Mmmm… I like apples… Knight shook his head in vain trying to rid her scent from his mind. Wait, No! I can't think like that! I have a girlfriend! And I have to stay true to her… But still… Knight started to run to his hideout; but, he couldn't help but take one more look back at her and smile.

The girl smiled feeling the tingle on her neck telling her that someone was watching her. "Hmph. Well that wasn't too hard. I certainly made an impression on him." She smiled and looked down at her chest. Her robe was folded in such a way so as to show off the crease of her cleavage. "All it takes to lure men out in is to show them these." She huffed. "Men are so disgustingly predictable. And speaking of being disgusting and predictable, I'd better check up on Ichon. I'd definitely get a bonus if I complete my mission and take him down as well."

She was at the warehouse within a few moments and expected Ichon to come running out in a hurry to probably conceal whatever illegal activity he and his buddies were up to. However, no one came running out to stop her. There weren't even any guards posted to keep a lookout for the rumored "thief."

Hmmm… she thought. Where is everybody? She walked up to the front of the building and started to walk around it. Empty crates and boxes were thrown around haphazardly and various pieces of paper and trash littered the grounds. What a mess! And he tells us that he has everything under control. She dodged around the various obstacles and was about to round the corner when she heard a noise. Instantly she placed her back on the side of the building near the corner and reached for her weapons but didn't draw anything out. Instead she calmed her breathing and focused on the source. She heard the sound again this time coming from inside the facility. It was hard to describe, but it roughly sounded like a squeak… almost.

She looked around the corner but didn't see anything or anyone. She did see more boxes and crates piled up all around. Quickly and without a sound, she rounded the corner and hid behind some of the crates. At least these are good for something. She heard the sound again, but it sounded like less like squeaking and more like wet smacking, lip smackin'. She looked up and saw a small open window with boxes and crates stacked up to it.

With all of the training she had received, Wynn silently climbed on top of the numerous stacks of crates and boxes and cautiously peered inside. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the difference in light. But once her eyes adjusted, she could clearly see what was going on.

"Ohh… Ichon!" moaned a female voice. "That feels soooo good!"

"Ohh yeah? You like that, Maranda?" Ichon asked mischievously.

Wynn looked on from her vantage point seeing everything that they were doing. The pair wriggled together kissing and making out on a make-shift kind of bed composed of a few layers of wood from the crates and a few layers of blankets for softness. As she watched on, her face contorted more and more the longer she watched. Ichon reached for her shirt when he was stopped by the girl.

"Wait!"

"Huh? What is it, Maranda?"

Wynn crouched back thinking that she had been spotted.

"What time is it?"

"I dunno. Does it matter?" Ichon asked flirtingly as he started to advance again.

Maranda pushed him away slightly. "I'm being serious! I just don't want him to get suspicious and think that something is up between us."

"We've been doing this the past couple of days now and have been late before. So why's it matter now?"

"Hmm… Yeah, well, I guess you're right. But still…" Maranda said with a sliver of worry. "I don't want him to find out."

"Well then, we'd better make this quick, eh. You ready?" Ichon asked mischievously gazing deep into her eyes with lust. She nodded and they started to remove each other's clothing.

Wynn had seen enough. She backed away from the window repulsed at what she had seen. She expertly climbed down the boxes and landed quietly on the ground. Her body shook as her mind recalled what she had seen.

"Ughh! Disgusting! Ichon you truly are disgusting. Not only am I scared for life but now I'm gonna have to go throw up somewhere…" Wynn shook her head and started to head towards the woods. "Whoever Ichon and that girl were talking about must be a real sucker. I almost feel sorry for the kid… almost."

WK WK WK WK

"Achoo! Achoo! Ahh… ahh… chooo!" Knight shook his head and wiped his nose clean. "Man, how's that sayin' go? Something 'bout sneezing three times means someone's talkin' about you, or doesn't like you or something like that…? Oh well! Whatever! Let them talk. Like I care what people say anyways…" Knight leaned back against his shade tree and rested his hands behind his head. He inhaled deeply letting the cool forest air soothe his weary body and soul. A gentle breeze blew through the woods causing the leaves and grass to wave aimlessly. Knight closed his eyes for a second and, just for a moment, a smile appeared across his lips and he felt relaxed and at peace. But the peace he felt was short lived as his mind began to bring back recent events, and about what he'd heard people say about him.

"Why me?" he sighed half expecting an answer. "Why is all this happening to me?" He gazed up into the sky only to see a wooden canopy of leaves and tree branches overshadowing him. "I did the right thing, didn't I? So then why am I the one being punished for his open defiance of the rules?"

He reached out to the trees and pretended to grasp at the branches of the tree tops. He then opened his hand his palm curling downward. Knight simply stared at his hand and slowly brought it down to chest level. He brought his other hand out from behind his head and next to his right hand. Knight slowly narrowed his eyes on his hands and summoned that familiar static power that dwelt within his body. The hairs on his hands suddenly stood up. Gentle sounds of crackling electricity soon became more audible. A small blue spark leapt from his right thumb to his right ring finger. Then he clenched his hands into fists and watched as blue lightning bolts danced across his fists. Knight then slowly opened his fists and pointed his fingers at each other a few inches in distance. The blue bolts danced from his fingertips and from hand to hand. He twisted his hands slightly and watched as the lightning contorted to still connect his fingers with electricity. Then Knight clenched his hands and dispelled the lightning. Blue particles leapt from his hands forming tiny balls of light that dissipated within seconds.

"I just need to get my mind off of things. I…" he sighed. "I just don't want to think about them anymore," Knight told himself as he slowly stood to his feet. He stretched out feeling the familiar cracks of his joints and the tension of his muscles. He yawned a great big yawn then fell into a battle-ready stance. Knight fluidly waved his arms in around his body while he concentrated his breathing and focused his mind. Then as he finished his initial warm-up, Knight bowed his head, closed his eyes and extended both arms outward from either side of his body. He then inhaled deeply feeling his body totally relaxed and his mind keenly sharpened.

Suddenly, Knight leaned to his right foot and brought his left hand across his body as if to strike an opponent in the chest while his right hand retracted. Both left and right hands moved in perfect opposite unison. When Knight stepped with his left foot, his left hand didn't extend forward as if to strike, but angled upwards in front of his face in a defensive position. Knight then brought his right hand outward and struck the invisible enemy. Imagining another enemy approaching from his right side, Knight kicked his right foot out into where the stomach would be. Knight then dropped his right foot and swung his left foot across his opponent's head. Using his momentum from the kick, Knight spun around 180°, planted his left foot, and readied his hands in a low position.

A brief moment passed before Knight moved back into action, this time coming up on one foot as if to front kick. Then he saw two enemies approaching from both his left side and his right side. Knight halted his forward kick and kicked out with his right foot then with his left foot. When he planted his left foot downward, Knight saw that there was another enemy approaching from behind at the spot where he initially would have front kicked. Using his momentum, Knight spun around, feigned a left kick and attacked with aerial knee to the face.

The moment he touched ground, Knight's hands came together and he focused on a group attacking from behind. Focusing his powers into his hands, Knight stepped forward with his right foot and shot out blue lightning bolts from his both of his hands. He then kicked his left foot back up into the face of another opponent. Knight then focused on another element and flicked the fingers of his right hand outward to his right side. Small jagged particles of ice sprayed from his fingertips and outward embedding themselves into the trees. Knight then did the same thing this time with his left hand and out in front of him. The inch pieces of rough ice impaled into the trees ahead of him making audible thudding noises. He paused and took a few breaths allowing himself to catch his breath. The sounds of his training started to calm down if just for a moment. Knight then focused on his Jupiter element and smirked. A little bit longer won't hurt.

Suddenly, Knight heard a sound of a snapping twig behind him which caused him to inhale sharply. Instinctly, Knight charged up his left hand and swung it back. He then let loose four glowing blades of lightning. But by the time his eyes caught up with his hands, it was too late to recall his attack. Standing behind a tree and in the line of attack was a girl with purple hair, golden eyes and wearing a purple robe with light purple cherry blossom designs on the robe.

It's her! Knight exclaimed mentally. That's the girl from earlier!

The girl who had been peeking around the right side of the tree tried to avoid the attack by taking a step to her right. But she tripped on one of the tree roots and started to fall to the ground. The lightning blades pierced through the thin tree trunk sending bits and pieces of wood flying. One of the blades that passed through the tree grazed across the girl's left arm as she fell.

Ohhh noo! This is bad! Knight said mentally feeling his body tremble with nervousness as he awkwardly walked/jogged/ran over to the girl. "A-ah-a…" Knight's hands were visibly shaking when he neared the girl. Then the smell of apples wafted up to his nose. Oh, that smell was so intoxicating! So fresh and clean and…

Knight shook his head and cleared his throat trying to regain control over his body. "A-ah… are you all right?" he finally managed to ask as he extended his hand out towards her.

The girl who was holding her left arm with her right hand looked up at him. Their eyes met and just for a moment, she couldn't speak. There was something in his eyes, something innocent and sweet. His ocean blue eyes washed over her as calming waves on a beachfront that made her feel… safe.

She mentally snapped out of her few second daze and dropped her right hand and reached for Knight's extended hand. "I'm fine."

The moment her hand touched his, Knight felt an unusual sensation wash over his body. He felt somewhat giddy though he couldn't understand why. Who is this girl? he wondered as he looked at her hand. Her hand was so smooth and soft not to mention it was warm. Knight pulled her up off the ground gently and once again smelled her aroma. He couldn't get enough. Just what was it about that smell? It was so alluring. He couldn't remember the last time Maranda had smelled this… this… delicious!

Stop it, Knight! he screamed at himself. Focus on helping her! Besides, you already have someone who loves you! And she's a handful as it is. Knight tried to suppress his giddy feelings but still sort of half smiled at her. It was hard not to smile at her. She wasn't just cute, she was beautiful! Still… she looks… great. Almost better than Maran… he didn't finish his thought and took his own advice.

"I am so sorry. I…?" he paused noticing her left arm. "Your arm? You're hurt!" Knight exclaimed as he rotated her left arm around to look it more carefully. He noticed that the cut on her arm wasn't very deep, probably about 2 or 3 millimeter he estimated. The actual cut was roughly two inches long. But something was out of place about it. Normally, a cut to the surface of the skin such as this one would cause one to bleed even just for a little bit. However, the cut not only wasn't bleeding but looked as though it were seared shut. And on top of that, there were black scarring marks radiating out from the cut. "That's weird," he thought aloud.

The girl wrenched her arm away and placed her right hand back up to cover it. "It's nothing. I'll be all right. I've been through worse," she smirked as her eyes dropped. She'd been through a lot worse.

Knight's head jerked slightly noticing that slight shift in her eye movements. But he just filed that into the back of his mind. "For someone like you, I kinda find that hard to believe, miss…"

"You can call me Aella…" she smiled at him and reached out to shake his hand. She didn't use her first name because that name was too soft for an undercover job. She felt her first name personified an aspect of weakness that she could not afford to have if her objectives were to be fulfilled. However, her last name was the embodiment of who she was, of what she could do, and of what she was known for. She couldn't afford meaningless friendships. She had come too far and been through too much to let something like friendship stand in her way. "Well, believe it or not," she remarked. "I've been through quite a lot, um…"

"Ohh! Knight! Knight Yarvon! It's a pleasure to meet you," he answered as she gently shook her hand.

"Same here," Aella replied smiling at him.

"So what brings you out here?" Knight asked.

"I, uh… well, I was, um… just taking a walk through the woods when I heard some noises coming from this direction and decided to check it out."

Knight eyed her incredulously taking in every subtle movement of her body that seemed to indicate something amiss about her story. "You were just walking through the woods, by yourself?"

"Yeah! Um… why?" Aella asked feeling a bit uneasy but never showing it.

"I don't know. I just think it's kinda odd that you'd be out so far from the regular paths through the forest. And that you're not with anyone. I mean, surely you must have a…"

"…boyfriend?" Aella finished. "No. I've… I've been single for a long time now. Besides, I haven't really had time to have one 'cuz of all the work I have to do." It was true. Between her training and her checking up on her master's shipments and the various other tasks he made her do, she'd be lucky to even have a guy let alone maintain a relationship. But what she didn't tell her was that her master wouldn't allow her to have a boyfriend, a real boyfriend and not for an undercover mission like this one. And besides, what good would a boyfriend do her?

Knight's eyes slowly started to linger downward taking in the smooth feminine curves of her body. She was certainly a lot skinnier than Maranda and though she was not as blessed as Maranda up top, Aella still had enough to make him notice. "Ohh… I see…" Knight's face started to blush as he swallowed a lump that had developed in his throat feeling a desire long since dormant coming back to him as he beheld this beautiful young girl. He quickly averted his eyes only to have them meet the gaze of this gold-eyed vixen.

Aella noticed the subtle shift in of Knight's eyes as he looked upon her and could sense his growing desire. She saw sweat start to bead up on his forehead as he swallowed. His face flushed as their eyes made contact. She raised an eyebrow and smiled seductively at him knowing what he was probably thinking.

"So… how about you?" Aella spoke in her most smooth, sultry tone. "See anything you like?" she asked seductively tracing the trim of the front of her robe with her fingers as she bit her lip. She looked up at him with eyes of desire as her fingers went from the top of her robe down to the middle of her chest.

"I…" Knight began but had to swallow again. He cleared his throat and rocked his neck back and forth to stretch it out. "I'm a… al…ready taken." He chuckled nervously. He clenched his hands into fists feeling the sweat that had already soaked his palms. Why had it gotten so warm all of the sudden?

"Oh… That's too bad…" Aella said sadly pouting her lip. "So, what's her name?"

Knight suddenly became aware of his situation. He was alone with a girl in the most secluded place in the woods. The last time he had come out of the woods with a girl, Feizhi, Maranda had accused him of cheating and they hadn't even done anything! But after all the hurt that Maranda had put him through, he was gonna make sure that he would never make that mistake again. Maranda would kill me if she were to find out! It's probably about time to meet up for dinner anyways. I'll have to make this quick.

"Her name is Maranda. Maranda Aker."

Something in Aella's mind clicked when she heard the name. Her brow furrowed as she thought aloud, "Hmm… I've heard that name somewhere before… but…"

"Ohh… well, um… I'm sorry. But I have to go now. I have to meet up with her for dinner. And I don't like being late," Knight said already taking a few steps away from Aella. "It was, um," he swallowed again, "nice meeting 'ya."

Aella smiled at him and waved gracefully. "You too! Well have fun! I'll see you later!"

Knight smiled gently but furrowed his brow in confusion. "Oh… Okay! B-bye!"

Aella watched him as he retreated nearly tripping over a root. He regained his footing and laughed nervously and then disappeared into the woods headed back towards town. Aella relaxed feeling the pressure of having to act all cute and lady-like vanish away with the absence of her target. It was hard enough pretending to be all flirty with him even just for a few minutes! How was she supposed to keep this up? And for how long?

She looked away and around the natural seclusion the forest offered in this spot. As she started to look over herself and readjust all of her clothing, she couldn't help but smile and shake her head as she recalled his eyes roaming across her body. "Men…" she said still shaking her head.

Then, as she finished adjusting her outfit, she looked up and in the direction of where he had ran off to. "Still… he is quite charming and rather cute. But he was nervous, that much was obvious!" She smirked. But her smirk gradually turned into a smile. She recalled looking into his eyes and feeling calm and relaxed, and for the first time in a long time… safe. There was a certain innocence in his eyes as well as a certain charm that she hadn't seen in men's eyes for a long time. And he had a very gentlemanly approach, for the most part. She'd been in similar situations where her target had taken advantage of their situation of being alone. Besides his roaming eyes, this target exhibited much more restraint and gentlemanly conduct than most nobles she had come into contact with while undercover.

"What am I thinking?" Aella suddenly burst out. "My mission is to get him to my master. Nothing more." She shook her head trying to push back her thoughts to focus on the task she'd been assigned. She couldn't afford to be distracted. Distractions meant death. Her master had drilled those words into quite well.

Aella sighed looking up slightly at the closest branches. "Guess I should…" She suddenly stopped as the name Maranda rang back through her mind and where she had heard that name before. Her eyes grew wide as her mouth dropped. "No… way…! It couldn't be!" She stood her ground stunned by the thought she'd just had. Could she be… Aella closed her mouth and focused her attention forward. There's only one way to find out! Using her Jupiter powers, she leapt up to a low lying branch and made her way to the town in the branches of the trees.

WK WK WK WK

"Where are they?" Knight said as he sighed again. "They're late. And I am so hungry. I wish they'd hurry up. I don't understand what's keeping them so long. I mean, I try to set the example to her to be on time but she just doesn't seem to get it." He sighed again looking around exasperatedly. "Why does she think that she can be late just 'cuz she's a girl? If I'm late just a few minutes, she explodes in my face! That makes a lot of sense…"

Knight paced back and forth in their usual meeting spot looking for any sign of them. He sighed again and stretched out his arms. Seeing a bench nearby, Knight walked over to it and sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. Something in the trees nearby caught his attention. He looked up and over to the trees where he had just come from but saw nothing. Just the wind blowing the leaves of the trees around. Hmph. Weird. Coulda swore I saw something…

"Knight!"

The boy looked up at the sound of his name being called and saw coming down the road both Maranda and Ichon. He sighed finally gonna get the chance to go eat.

"Sorry we're late. It's, uh… my fault," Maranda began. "I just couldn't seem to find something that didn't make me look fat."

Ichon smirked and chuckled to himself, but Knight blew him off as him being his usual weird self. Knight kinda sighed and rolled his eyes. "I told you before, you're not fat."

"But I am!" came the protested cry. "Just look at this fat roll!" she said grabbing her belly and tugging on her fat.

She was right. She did have a roll of fat on her belly. But if there's one thing Knight had learned about dealing with women and their weight issues, it's a losing battle. Still, he tried his best to encourage her and then jump off the subject as fast as possible.

"No you're not fat. You're very pretty And I love you even with that."

"Then you agree with me that I'm fat…" Maranda said.

What? Did she not just hear me say that she isn't fat! Come on! Open your ears! Knight smiled and replied a bit more harshly, "No you're not fat!" Knight could feel his emotions start to rise and the tension increase in his voice. "Maranda, look… I love you no matter what you seem to think about yourself. I think that you're pretty and my opinion is all that matters."

"Really?" Maranda asked in a child-like tone.

"Really!" Knight said affirmatively.

"Ewwwch! Come guys!" Ichon commented. "I'm hungry! Let's eat!"

Knight just looked at the doped-up bear guy and rolled his eyes at him. Shut up! We would have already been at dinner had you guys gotten here on time! As they headed off for dinner, Knight felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end. He briefly turned to look behind him expecting to see someone watch him; however, he didn't see any one person staring in his direction. He shrugged his shoulders and turned around and looked at both Maranda and Ichon. He couldn't help but feel that something was out of place. Lately it seemed like Ichon was the first one to arrive in their group, but today he was late. He was always late before. Just in the past couple of weeks or so, he'd been not only on time but early! Maranda being late didn't surprise him 'cuz she was always late… always, save for two times which Knight had taken note of. Despite what he felt and sensed, Knight just passed off all of those thoughts and feelings off thankful that he'd finally be able to have some food in his stomach.