The next morning:
Everyone was once again grouped up at the breakfast table, except Hendrix and Akilah.
"I wonder where those two are." Amora said.
"Akilah's in the gym with Jason, doing whatever they're doing." Chase poured syrup onto his pancakes until they were sopping wet.
Vida cut up her pancakes, staying quiet so as to not ruin the surprise Hendrix was preparing. She wouldn't want to spoil the present he had been so excited to share.
"Where's your boyfriend, Vida?" Taro tried to hold back a smirk as he raised his brows at Vida. The rest of the table turned their attention to the girl as well.
"Wha- me? I- no…" Vida stumbled over her words, her cheeks burning from embarrassment. She could see Hendrix walking down the stairs from the corner of her eye, just in time for the subject to change.
"Hendrix! Hi!" Vida turned the attention to Hendrix before she could say something embarrassing.
"Hendrix, where were you?" Chase asked with a mouth full of pancakes.
"Just finishing up these." Hendrix pulled a stack of cloth gaiters out of the pocket of his baggy jeans.
"Woah!" Chase exclaimed, leaning in to see the gaiters.
They all had unique designs. Hendrix spread them out on the table, pointing at each one while he told the group whose was whose.
He pointed to Chase's first. Hendrix had sewn a red crosshair over the front.
Amora's was next. Hers had crudely sewn pink hearts littered around the gaiter.
Kai's mask had jagged yellow lightning bolts stretching from the top to the bottom of the gaiter.
Taro's mask was similar, the jagged lines being colored red on his, to juxtapose his brother's.
Akilah's had the pattern of a finished jigsaw puzzle sewn into it using a rainbow color scheme.
Vida's gaiter had green vines stretching across it, with cherry blossoms blooming from the vines occasionally.
Finally, Hendrix's mask had piercing jewelry stuck into it to match the piercings on his face.
Chase's eyes lit up, "This is so fucking sick!" he grabbed his mask, immediately putting it on, "Somebody get me a mirror!"
Amora giggled, pulling her compact mirror out to show Chase his own reflection.
The boy's eyes smiled as he stared into the mirror, "We're like superheroes!"
Chase's childlike excitement made everyone at the table giggle. Hendrix smiled as everyone grabbed theirs from the center of the table as well, leaving only Hendrix and Akilah's.
Everyone ooh'd and awed at the designs, saying thank you to the pink-haired boy.
"Thank you, Hendrix!" Vida exclaimed. Her brows lifted as she noticed something on Hendrix's face. "Wait. How long did it take you to make these?"
Vida noticed Hendrix's tired expression, small eyebags forming under his eyes.
"Um. I don't know, not that long." Hendrix scratched his hair nervously, "Where's Akilah?" The boy tried to change the subject quickly. Vida's eyes narrowed, making a comical frown as Hendrix chuckled.
"She's in the gym with Jason. I think it's something about the mission coming up." Taro pointed to the gymnasium doors.
"I'll go deliver this to her!" Kai jumped out of his seat, grabbing Akilah's mask. He zoomed across the hall, putting his hand on the door.
"Alright." Hendrix rubbed his eyes, the wind of Kai's sprint almost knocking him off his restless feet.
Earlier that morning:
Akilah had woken up before anyone else. Her mind was too busy racing with thoughts about the Spirit weapon, so much so that it was hard to keep herself asleep.
She got up, freshening up and wandering downstairs.
The sun was barely rising, telling Akilah that none of her friends would be awake yet. She thought to herself about what she would do until then.
"Hey! You're awake! None of you youngins are usually up by this hour." Jason joked, holding his coffee cup in one hand, "I was just talking about you with Alex and Bloom. They're outside at Manny's grave right now."
Akilah looked at Jason, then looked at the gymnasium doors.
Jason noticed her gaze lock onto the gym, "Oh, are you ready to train already? We can start with some light stuff, then we'll get into what I wanted you to get down next." He stood up, chugging the rest of his coffee.
Akilah nodded nervously. She opened the doors to the gymnasium, which was just as vacant as yesterday. The two wooden swords leaned against the wall where her and Jason had left them.
"Alright. We'll go over what we got down yesterday, then we'll get into the new stuff." Jason grabbed the wooden swords, handing one to Akilah.
For the next thirty minutes, they practiced the proper posture for holding a sword, along with swinging straight down.
Akilah began to grow comfortable with the feeling of holding a sword. Her anxiety around handling a weapon lessened, even if just a little.
"Alright, let's move onto the next step. After this we'll get into the meat and potatoes." Jason explained.
The duo spent the next fifteen minutes going through different types of attacks. Pokes, jabs, low swings, high swings, a whole array of moves for every type of scenario.
Akilah memorized each and every attack and when to apply them. That was her strength, after all.
After asking Akilah if she could remember all of those attacks, Jason nodded, "Alright, onto the hard part. I want you to hit me, just once. We'll do it until you get it. It doesn't have to be today, but you'll get it eventually." Jason assumed a combative stance.
"A spar? Am I ready for that?" Akilah's anxiety flooded back in. She nodded weakly, assuming the combative stance Jason had taught her.
Jason noticed her nervousness, "Are you ready? We can do something else if you want."
Akilah pondered, "Wait, I've got to get better. I don't want to fail my friends." She thought.
"I'm ready." Akilah nodded as Jason nodded back. They held their swords in front of each other, their gazes stuck on the other's weapon.
The girl charged at Jason, raising her sword into the air.
"You're open." Jason swung at Akilah's midsection, landing on the girl's ribs.
She reeled back in pain, holding her side as she doubled over.
"You alright?" Jason lowered his wooden sword, scratching his red hair. His face grew worried at Akilah's reaction.
"Y-yeah." Akilah spoke weakly, her breath slowly returning to a normal rhythm.
The girl stepped back into a combative stance, "Let's go again."
Jason chuckled, holding his sword in front of him, "That's what I like to see!"
By this point, the two could hear the hustle and bustle of breakfast time through the gymnasium doors. Neither of them seemed to care, their entire focus going into their sparring match.
Akilah charged at Jason again, this time holding her sword in front of her.
Jason swung his sword at her arm this time. The girl tried to move out of the sword's path, jerking her body backwards.
The attack was too fast. She winced in pain as the wooden sword met the side of her upper arm.
Akilah stepped away from Jason, holding her arm with one hand and her weapon with the other.
"Remember to block. Nine times out of ten it'll be better than dodging." Jason waved his sword like a teacher wagging a ruler.
"Again!" Akilah's eyes focused on her opponent as she grasped her sword firmly.
"Alright, then!" Jason's brows raised. The girl had recovered quicker than the first time.
Akilah charged again, keeping her sword in front of her. Jason swung towards her other arm.
The girl put her own sword in the path of Jason's in an attempt to block it.
Her sword flew out of her hands at impact.
"Remember to grasp it firmly at all times." Jason twirled his sword in one hand.
Akilah jogged toward her fallen weapon.
"Again!" She picked up her sword, ready for another attempt.
This cycle repeated for the next hour. Every now and then, Jason would ask Akilah if she wanted to continue.
"Y'know, we can always pick back up tomorrow. Rest is an important part of training." Jason explained.
Akilah shook her head, "Again!"
As much as the red-head could see Akilah's tired state, the fire burning in her heart was just as visible.
"Alright! Anyone else I trained would have quit by now!" Jason said excitedly, grabbing his sword.
After thirty more minutes of failed attempts, Jason heard the gymnasium door creak open.
"Akilah, look-" Kai froze as he registered the sight before him.
Akilah was doubled over in exhaustion. Sweat poured down her head as her short purple hair weighed heavy around her face. Her jean jacket was tossed aside onto the gymnasium floor, too much sweat surrounded the neck of her purple t-shirt to wear it.
"Are you alright…?" Kai asked.
"Yeah. Just doing some training." Akilah stood up straight, stretching her back, "I think I'm out of energy for today, Jason. Can we pick this up tomorrow?" She asked.
"Yeah, of course." Jason nodded as Akilah walked over to Kai.
"Akilah's doing physical training? And what are those wooden sticks?" Kai's mind began to fill with questions.
"What do you got there?" Akilah pointed at the mask in Kai's hand, snapping him out of his surprised shock.
"Oh! Hendrix made us all custom masks! This is yours!" Kai's excitement returned.
Akilah grabbed the mask, covered in rainbow outlines of puzzle pieces, "This is amazing." She smiled.
She stared at the mask, thinking about the mission that was now less than a week away.