Fairy Tail: Swallow the Fire

17. Talking With The Captain

"What? They're helpful."

I just left, pockets empty and lamenting the lost opportunity to buy more scrolls and books.

The party seemed to resume in earnest behind me as the cheers grew louder and the familiar strings of Aki's samisen picked up on the edges of my hearing before vanishing as I continued walking under the walkways that surrounded the various courtyards.

My destination was the training yards, where I'd been practising everything I could in secret for the past few weeks. My mother's words were still prominent in my ears.

She told me to grow strong, and I was determined to do so.

Every second I had I spent studying. Every moment Taiyo wasn't monitoring me I trained my body and magic. Instead of sleeping, I was suffering, resting my body and forcing my mind and magic to grow accustomed to the heat of Allaheargh's Test as I meditated in the bonfire's presence.

When I arrived, however, the unexpected sight of Captain Tatsuo entered my vision. The elderly monster was sitting there in a tank top and sweats, his hair braided over his shoulder as he was holding a flask in his hands and absently watching the moon.

As if sensing my presence he looked in my direction with a quizzical look in his grey eyes. The captain took one last swig before putting the flask in his pocket and motioning to the training field where several rotating wooden dummies, obstacle courses, and gymnastics equipment stood.

"Go on then. Show me what you've got."

Taking a deep breath I took off my hoodie and rolled up my sweats, trying to prepare to entertain my unexpected, and intimidating, audience. Unexpectedly, he came down to the field with me and prompted me to attack him, holding his hands outright with his palms facing me.

"No magic. Just your body."

"I was...going to do stretches first?"

His eyebrow slightly quirked up as a ghost of a smile twitched itself onto his face.

"Good. There isn't any reason to strain yourself while training, especially since you're still in the latter stage of recovery. Lead me through your routine then, and I'll criticise when appropriate."

I did exactly as he said, leading through several minutes of toe touches, Samson, cobra, and quadricep stretches. He only criticised me during jumping jacks, side bends, and lunges.

The captain took the quiet time we stretched to instruct me on breathing exercises which helped relieve the tension I usually felt stretching much easier than usual.

Eventually, the stretches came to an end in my favourite ending pose, the butterfly stretch, as we got to end in a sitting position as a comfortable pull occurred in our upper legs. Subsequently, it also became my meditation pose.

"Why do you put in so much effort?"

My attention was pulled towards the captain as his baritone voice spread smoothly across the field.

"In all my years I have never seen a child so determined as you. Not even my fool of a nephew who tore his knee as a result of his brazenness. So, why?"

Whether it was the pressure of his gaze or the weight of his question that forced my head to hang low I couldn't answer, instead my thoughts ran through everything that had happened since Rosemary, and even what my family must have gone through in the time prior.

He just watched with patience as I was lost in my mind, unaware of my hand rubbing my lower eyelid where my synthetic resided. When my answer came out it was quiet, but held as much conviction as I could muster.