The Keys

Prologue

"Kelly! Stop daydreaming and looking out of the window!!!" My cooking teacher yelled.

"Sure Miss." I looked down at the food and saw it was burned. "Oops..."

"Next time, keep your mind on the food, and stop looking at the guys fight!" She chastised me. "Swords are for guys, not for ladies!"

"Yes Miss, whatever you say..." Then, as she left, I muttered grumpily "And I'm not a lady..."

~After class~

"Hey! Kenny!" I yelled after him.

"Oh, hey Kelly!" He turned towards me. "How are you doing?"

"Fine... But I burned the food I was making. I don't understand why girls must learn cooking; it isn't fair!"

"We are NOT talking about this again, are we?" We had this talk many times before, but I couldn't help but bring it up again...

"Oh, COME ON!!! I promise I won't tell anyone that you are teaching me!" I begged. "If anyone finds out, I'll say I forced you."

"Umm..." He started thinking about it. "I don't know... It's risky..." He hesitated.

"PLEASE!!! Pretty please!" I gave him my best puppy dog eyes. "Besides, if girls can't use swords, how would they protect themselves?"

"Arrows would work too, you know!" He argued.

"Not in close range!"

"Ugh!" He groaned at me. He wants me to be safe, so that's the only way that I know I will convince him.

"Please Kenny!" I begged him even harder, making myself look like an innocent, fragile girl... UGH! I hate doing that!!! Why couldn't I just be myself?!

"Fine!" He snapped. "But we must find a hiding place to train you in, or else they'll kill me!"

He isn't kidding either, most will make his life miserable if they find out... Not to mention, banish him, which is as bad as a death sentence...

"I know the perfect place..." He told me.

"The cave!" We said simultaneously.

When we were children we used to go to this cave near the lake. We played there while looking at the swans! I remember...

"It's perfect Kenny!" I told him excitedly. "When do we start?" Right away, right away, right away...

"Well, we have to get all the materials, and then we need to-"

"Oh, come on! I can't wait that long!!!" I whined. "What happens if I get attacked tomorrow?! Or the day after that?! What if something happens to you, and you can't teach me?! Or..."

"Enough!!!" He yelled, clearly annoyed. "I get the point already!"

"So... Does now sound good?"

He sighed. "How does tomorrow after fighting classes sound?"

"Fine!" I gave in.

"...But we'll have to organize it all today, which might take a while, and if we don't finish today, we'll have to postpone the classes until we're done."

"Fine. Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" I rushed out.

"Are you crazy?! We haven't even eaten lunch!"

"Fine, but after we eat, we MUST get moving! We haven't got all day!" I said.

"Umm... Kelly...? We kind of do..." He reminded me, but I waved it off and ran towards home.

"Last one home is a rotten egg!"

He just chuckled at me and walked the rest of the way. "Wait till you need that energy for moving..."