Concealment - Tiger's Eye Book 2

Chapter 33 - Training Session Number One

I smiled, “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Good,” she laughed, “Because when you get the hang of that you can do flips in the air and everything. Pilote taught me.”

“You lead,” I told her, “I wanna practice.”

“Deal, let’s go to the other side of town. When we get there I can teach you another technique that we’ll use on the way back.”

“Great plan,” I agreed.

            A few people came out of their houses when they heard us land on their roof. They stood outside a while when they saw what we were doing. When we landed on the library on the other side of town we stopped so Rolla could explain what we were doing next. Apparently when Pilote trained her he taught her these techniques.

“Use your gymnastics here,” Rolla told me.

“What?”

She nodded, “What do you think that practice is for? War isn’t exactly going to be in the middle of a field. It could be in a city, maybe Murera itself. I lost count of how many times I’ve had to use my training in a city like this.”

“Really?”

“Definitely,” she replied, “Because most of the time our training and our abilities are faster than using a car or taking the bus. Being Tigmas we can train ourselves to get around quietly too. That takes a lot of practice though. We’ve had to walk across ropes and edges of buildings. We’ve jumped from building to building to get where we wanted to go. Training like this will get you prepared for actual fighting… it’s also fun.”

I laughed, “I can see how it would be fun. Where do I start?”

“With the edge of the building: use the ledge as the balance beam.”

I nodded and stepped up to the ledge. I can do this. It’s a balance beam. I took a deep breath. Where do I start? I should probably start by doing something simple. I did a cart wheel first followed by another with one hand before moving to something more complicated. I started with a back walkover before trying a back handspring after hearing Rolla suggest I try one. I stepped off the ledge when I finished the handspring and turned to Rolla.

“That was oddly fun,” I told her.

She laughed, “Told you.”

“Where did you practice this exactly?”

“New York City.”

“We’re below there aren’t we?”

She nodded, “We are actually just outside the city. With my abilities it was only a few minute run to get to the city. I would sneak out to get there and after I found out my parents were spies and all that drama I ended up living on my own for a while before finding Pilote and living with him.”

“What was it like? They didn’t know about you right? How’d you get away with training?”

“I mostly trained at night. I could sneak into gyms and work on their equipment or sneak around the city practicing when everybody else was asleep. It was easier at night. When Pilote trained me we tried to be careful because we knew anybody could easily spot us during the day. That’s why it takes so much practice: you have to learn to be quiet and not to be seen.”

“Can you teach me?” I asked.

“I’d love to. We can start tonight. It comes in handy. I’ll tell Pilote and you can tell Carter and we’ll all practice together.”

“Awesome,” I smiled.

“Go home,” she told me, “Get some rest if we’re going to be staying up tonight.”

“Race me to the palace?” I suggested, “I want to find Carter and I’m sure he’s still at the palace.”

“He is but they’re just finishing up now.”

“Do you make a habit of reading each other’s minds?” I asked.

She nodded, “All the time. Pilote used to do it more than I did because I had a hard time getting used to it. Now sometimes it feels like we have one brain because we’re constantly reading each other’s minds.”

We both laughed.

I replied, “I have a hard time with that too. It seems weird but I also love having that connection with someone.”

“I agree,” She said, “Everybody should have someone in their life that completely knows them.”

            We jumped to the nearest building and ran all the way back to the palace. Rolla ran upstairs after telling me Carter was in my room. I walked in my room and found Carter taking a nap on my bed. I laughed and laid next to him. He looks so peaceful I probably shouldn’t wake him up but I can’t help myself. I put my hand on his stomach and leaned forward kissing him gently.

“Tired?” I asked after his eyes opened.

He nodded and put one arm around me, “Take a nap with me.”

“Sounds good to me,” I smiled, “We need rest before tonight.”

“We do,” he agreed, “I heard you talking to Rolla earlier.”

“I should have known,” I laughed.

He chuckled, “You should have. Night.”

“Night,” I replied resting my head on his chest.