Catch the Stars ||Keith Kogane||

06

"Training level forty-five."

Keith heard the voice of the Olympian commander as he neared the training room. He always went to the training room early in the morning. He made a point of getting up before any of the other paladins did so he could train in the quiet of the castle.

He groaned when he realized that wouldn't be happening today. His footsteps slowed as he reached the training hall. There were other things he could do to train while ignoring her presence.

When he reached the door of the training deck he was shocked at the sight.

He had never reached past level twenty and here she was at forty-five. There wasn't just one bot, there were six. All going at her with speed and force of groomed Galra generals. And she was practically dancing through them. He couldn't stop watching her block multiple blades with her single one.

He didn't like her, but he couldn't deny her combat skill.

Her blade ran through the stomach of one bot, and into the chest of one she had knocked down. The two disintegrated and three were left.

One swung at her head, and he watched boredly, hoping they might spear her. But she evaded it by bowing backward. She grabbed it's wrist, pulling herself up and twisting it at an awkward angle. It's own sword dove into its gut.

She reached out her other arm, sword slicing across the middle of a bots head. Two more down. One more going at her. She gripped the blade as it came down on her, and she used it to lift herself up and drive her foot into its head. The force made it disappear with the other.

Her back was to him as she landed back on the ground. Blood streamed from her hand and onto the white floor from where she had gripped the blade.

"Do you plan on announcing yourself?" She asks as she slides the sword into the sheath on her back, "or do I have to do all the talking?"

She turned to face him, not a single drop of sweat on her forehead. She was barely even breathing heavy. He pushed himself off the wall, walking onto the deck as he tried to appear unimpressed by what he saw.

"Why are you here?" he asks rudely without reacting to her previous question.

"It's a training deck. Meant for everyone." She reaches her hands up smooth down her hair. Over her hours training, she had decided to pin up her hair to keep it from flying around and blocking her view of enemies. Now she had her blood tangled into the dark strands.

"No." He rolls his violet eyes, "why are you here?"

She understood his question the first time but found it unimportant to answer. He and everyone knew why she was there almost against her will.

Her brown eyes looked him over. He was the average height of guys their age but held a more hostile posture. He wasn't exactly scrawny, he had muscle, but not as defined as the warriors on Olympia. He wasn't in the uniform that she had seen him in earlier. He wore a black t-shirt and a pair of long black pants with a brown utility belt. He seemed...ordinary.

"To form an alliance," she says and turns her back to him once again.

"I don't believe that," he grunts, "if you wanted an alliance, why did you have to come on the ship to get it?"

"You ask a lot of questions, paladin." she makes her way to the far side of the room. She had dropped a few of her items that had found to be bothersome in battle. The dagger holster that she had around her legs restricted her movements and to this day she didn't know how commanders before her managed. That's why she had strewn it across the room while fighting.