"First I summon Fire Shadow Hunter (1800/1200) in attack mode. Then I activate pot of greed, and draw two more cards from my deck. Now I activate Shadow Boost, which adds the attack points of the last monster destroyed in battle to my life points. My life points rise to 5200 and I sift through my cards. "I activate Fire Shadow Hunter's ability, which allows me to take an equip spell from my deck and add it to my hand. And now with the power of Monster Reborn I special summon Dark Shadow Hunter!"
I look to the watchers, and see how Syrus is trying to keep track. This is definitely a complex turn, I'm going to end up quite vulnerable if it fails. But who says taking a few risks once in a while is bad?
"And now I activate Polymerisation, and summon Shadow Prince Azarias (2500/1500) onto the field! Now I equip Shadow Cloak, which prevents Azarias from being destroyed in battle. Limbo has increased Azarias' attack points to 3500, and since your Dark Elf is back down to 2000 attack points as spell book of power only lasts until your end phase, I think I'll just attack him. Azarias, let's go!" Azarias closes in on Dark Elf, but Elly activates one of her face downs.
"I activate the trap Negate Attack-"
"Too late, should have used it to protect Gemini Elf from Dark Shadow Hunter, but Azarias is immune to trap spells, as it is one of his many interesting abilities. Continue your attack Azarias!"
"With Pleasure." I hear his voice murmur as I close my eyes. Elly's life points go down to 1800.
"Fine, you got that one, I-" Elly starts but I interrupt her.
"Oh, I'm not done." I say, a slight smirk appearing on my face.
"She's definitely not." I hear Alexis mutter, and my smirk widen more.
"I have one card left in my hand… your nightmare. I activate de-fusion, and my Prince Azarias changes back into Fire Shadow Hunter(1800/1200) and Dark Shadow Hunter(1600/1600). Now, Dark Shadow Hunter, attack Elly directly!"
"I activate Negate Attack! This stops your attack completely." She says happily.
"I know. Hence why I attacked with the monster with lower attack points first." I admit. Realisation floods through her and I wonder how she didn't see it. She has 1800 life points left, and I need at least 1800 attack points to defeat her.
"Fire Shadow Hunter, finish her off will you." I say carelessly, watching from the corner of my eye as the fire arrow pierce Elly's chest, making her fall backwards, landing on her back.
I draw in a sharp breath. Damn it, I lost the control… again. At least this wasn't as bad as Tom… right?
"Tommy?" I ask suddenly, taking a few steps towards her, my expression suddenly scared and anxious. It hasn't happened again, hasn't it? Tom just stands there frozen, his eyes clued to Elly still on the floor, groaning slightly.
Then a tall broad figure comes from nowhere and kneels down at Elly's side, and helps her up.
"Wait… who's he?" Jaden asks, and I wonder the same thing as I don't see his face as he's turned the other way.
"Hey!" Jaden says louder. "What are you doi-"
"Walk it off." A musical voice says gently to Elly, as he helps her to her feet and pushes her lightly to get her to start walking. "You'll feel better in no time, you probably just fell from the surprise."
The figure starts to turn around as Elly looks at him in bewilderment.
"Who are you?" Alexis asks, just as he stumbles backwards from me bounding onto him.
"Hunt!" I yell loudly, squeezing my well-missed brother round the shoulders.
"Wow, Azure, calm down!" He laughs, swinging me around.
"When did you get here? Why are you even here?" I ask, planting my feet safely on the ground after one of his manic bear hugs.
"Mum thought you needed me more." He says gently. "And I arrived just in time to see you duel apparently." He adds, raising his eyebrows.
"Hang on… can someone explain what's going on?" Chumley wonders aloud.
"Well Chumley, it would appear this man is Azure's older brother." Bastion says, examining Hunter as her turns to face my friends. He must have caught sight of the badge on my brother's coat as… "… wait, are you from Exodus International?"
"Haha, yeah I am. Why do you ask?" Hunter replies, smiling cheerfully. Bastian's eyes widen.
"What's Exodus International?" Syrus asks confused.
"It's a big research company, it researches pretty much all different aspects of duelling. But I'm part of the charity side of it. I go around the world to teach less fortunate kids how to duel. Give them some cards and help out." Hunter explains. "So these are your friends Azure?"
I look around at Alexis, Jaden, Syrus, Bastion, Chumley, and see Zane standing away at the back watching me.
"Yeah, they are. This is Alexis, Jaden, Syrus, Bastion and Chumley." I tell him smiling, leaving out Zane as I know he wishes to be. Then I remember why I was here in the first place and… "Oh, and Tom's over there." I add quietly, and Hunter finally turns his attention to Tom, standing unsure of himself next to Elly.
"…Hey big brother." He says awkwardly. Hunter walks up to him seriously, his dark green hair going against the blue of Tom's and I suddenly worry for Tom.
"So… when did you start dating Elly?" Hunter asks suddenly, and Tom breaks into a grin.
"I was sixteen and 3 months old. You were seventeen when you started dating Jane, am I correct?" He answers.
"No, I was sixteen alright." Hunter replies, and takes Tom into a bone-crushing hug. "Good to see you bro!"
"I don't mean to cut the reunion short, but if we're out here for much longer, I'm going to get a detention, and I'd rather not." I say sheepishly.
"Of course Az, you'll have to tell me why you were out this late at night in the morning. Go on, to sleep, the lot of you. Or I'll have to report you myself!" Hunter says with a laugh, and we all scurry away to our different buildings.
I wake up from the late night at 6 as usual, this time not feeling the tiredness due to my excitement. Hunter was here! I can't believe it. I opt for a pair of dark navy skinny jeans instead of the skirt today, but go along with the white shirt and my cropped navy long-sleeved jacket. I feel more comfortable in the jeans… but I also don't want Hunter to make fun of me for wearing such a short skirt. I do a waterfall braid around my head leaving my fringe down, then apply the usual concealer to cover up the dark circles and tightline and do my waterline with the usual black eyeliner, coating my lashes with mascara to finish of the usual look. I lace up my black wedge boots and walk out the door, searching for Hunter.
It's a Saturday, so the island is full of duels and students chatting. I start wondering where I'll find my brother, and bump into someone while lost in thought.
"Hey." The familiar voice says to me as he holds me up from falling down.
"Hey Zane." I say quietly, blushing as per usual at my clumsiness.
"Your brother is in the Obelisk Blue Common room talking with Dr Crowler and Chancellor Shepard if you were wondering." He says gently, helping me up but not stepping away from our close proximity.
"Yeah, thanks." I say my thanks. "You were there last night." He nods.
"I was." He replies.
"…why were you there? You didn't need to be…" I say, not wanting him to have lost sleep for me.
"I would have been there if you were duelling or not, remember." He says, and I mentally smack my forehead for forgetting our meetings in the middle of the night. "And I heard about the challenge. I'm sure Alexis has explained to you the challenging system here."
I nod to his question.
"I find it a bit unusual though. Duelling's supposed to be for fun here, but for the last few weeks that I've been here… well after the tournament I thought I hadn't gotten a single challenge."
"I should have told you sooner." He says regrettably.
"No worries. I was kind of glad about it… you know how anxious I get when someone challenges me, especially if I know who they are." I admit to him in the deserted grass field. Leaves blow in the wind lightly, from losing their trees nearby.
He brings me closer to the cover of the trees.
"Something's been troubling you." Zane murmurs to me as he holds me gently in his arms. I look up at him surprised. "I don't think you've even realised it's been troubling you." I look away from his piercing eyes, looking at my hand loosely held by his.
"It happened again last night." I whisper anxiously. "I underestimated her, and fought too hard to win the duel. If I had felt more against her she could have ended up in the medical wing like Tom."
"Azure… I've told you before." He tells me gently. "You don't need to worry about it. You-" I interrupt him, surprising myself. I never interrupt people, except my brother.
"You haven't seen me Zane. It's been a lot worse than Tom. A lot worse. Buildings destroyed, broken bones, injuries that took more than a day to heal."
"…Maybe I haven't seen it, but you've learnt to control it. Azure, if that was so, you could've done a lot worse to Tom, and Elly. But you didn't." He tells me, and I take a deep breath as he turns my face to him.
"I know." I say to him, and he lowers his lips to mine lightly and I kiss him back, curling my arms around his neck. I feel his hands around my waist pull me closer as his tongue curls around my lips, teasing me. I rake my fingers through his hair carefully, not wanting to mess up his hair too much. I breathe in through my nose and catch the fresh scent of him, relishing this feeling. He finally stops teasing me, letting his tongue gently caress mine as we kiss. It feels like hours have gone by as my mind slows down time for this kiss, but as I bring my hands down to his chest to break away, I'm suddenly aware of how long that kiss actually was. It must have been a good 10 minutes. Thank goodness no one ever comes near here.
I take a small step back, breathing hard as I look to him to see his cheeks tinged with pink. He's blushing. I never thought I would see that. I smile, a bright blush grazing my cheeks immediately. Just before I'm about to tell him I'll see him later, I notice a strand of his usually perfect hair drifting the other way. I supress a grin and reach up onto my tip-toes and place it into its regular place, while he looks at me with his eyes wider than usual.
"I should get going." I say nervously after that kiss, and he nods at me.
"I'll see you later." He says, his voice low and as I notice slightly more husky than usual. I blush as he kisses me on the cheek, before we both walk away in opposite directions. As I walk towards the Obelisk Blue common room I try to remember exactly why I was going to see Hunter, failing miserably as my thoughts linger on the past kiss. It's only when I catch sight of him and Chancellor Shepard speaking just outside the magnificent white building that I force those thoughts away.
"Of course, I can't wait to get started… Azure!" I hear my brother's voice as I close in on them. My brother was dressed in dark grey trousers with a khaki green shirt, with his standard white two-tailed coat on with the Exodus International badge on. "I'm glad you found me, I was wondering how I would find you here."
I smile, "A friend told me you were here." I tell, him, trying to ignore my thoughts on how little words there were in such a long conversation.
"Miss Roarke, you'll be happy to hear that your brother Mr Hunter will be staying for the next few weeks, talking to the students about the work at Exodus International. He may even do some demonstrations for us!" Chancellor Shepard explains to me with a smile on his face.
"I'm guessing that's your way of challenging me to yet another duel you'll win?" I say to Hunter. He laughs but replies,
"This one I'll be winning Azure. Just because you won the last two, doesn't mean you'll win this one!"
"I'll leave you to your work then Mr. Roarke." Chancellor Shepard says and he shakes hands with my brother before going off to who knows where.
"Tom should be in there if you want to go and get him. But we should probably talk somewhere a little more private." I say to Hunter, and he goes back into the Obelisk Blue common room before coming out joined by Tom, chatting naturally. It brings a smile to my face.
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