The Wait

3.) Training

"The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit."
  -Morihei Ueshiba

Erik's POV

I've been restless every time I attempted to at least get some sleep. The sun was barely creeping out, keeping some of the darkness at bay with its light.

I reached over underneath my mattress and pulled out my journal. Whenever visions or something meaningful happened on days, I would write it all down and revisit those memories.

As I was writing, there was a consistent pattern tapping somewhere.

The noise echoed throughout my room so, my ears picked up where the source of the sound was generating.

It was coming from the corner of my room where the window was. Placing my journal back underneath my bed, I headed to the window.

I was relieved when it was only Phantom. Phantom is a raven I named that had first appeared a few weeks ago.

This had happened after I had prayed to the moon goddess endlessly. He just so happens to appear in my room as I woke up that day.

Of course, I freaked out but thought that perhaps this was one of the Luna's gifts instead of actually appearing herself. That had been the only strange thing that happened since I had that dream nine years ago. Ever since then I've tried contacting her and only Phantom had been an answer.

I still don't know why he appeared and what purpose he holds over me. Though his company is nice, he usually appeared when I'm unsure of what to do. He would visit every now and then when I'd least expect it.
I opened my window and smiled at the large black raven.

"Hey, Phantom. Where've you been, buddy?"

The only response was a deep throaty cawing sound.

I always seemed to pick Phantom out of a crowd of ravens due to his feathers giving off a blue gleam.
Reaching underneath my old wooden desk, I pulled out a large bag filled with seeds. My aunt mentioned that Phantom would probably be hungry the next time he visits. She was fascinated with the whole ordeal of my dreams and the reality in which they merged into one.

She said in a spiritual sense that perhaps Phantom is some type of guide that will lead me to my journey.

Though we all knew that ravens and wolves had an unknown sense of understanding when our two species were together.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Come in."

Olivia appeared with a look of determination. Before I could ask if she needed anything, she had beat me to it."You said you'll try to make up for our friendship, right?"

"Yes, of course." I was becoming a little curious as to what she would say next.

"Train me."

"Excuse me?"

"You are going to train me to defend myself." She stated adamantly.

"You know you'll always have me to defend you."

"You're not listening, Erik. I want to learn to defend myself and fight when I have to. I'm tired of being defenseless all the time," she exhaled then continued. "You owe me this."

I looked down at her leg expecting to see her cast, but I didn't see it. "What happened to your cast?"

She looked down then up to meet my eyes. "I took it off. I just kept the cast on because I feared the worst. It's better though."

I wasn't too happy about the physical pain she'll feel when training, but I was ecstatic that she wanted me to teach her. She was finally ready to break her shell to become better.