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The Dark One’s hostile take cover was known as The Invasion. After the event was over and people returned to their normal lives, Ariace village thrived. Life went on as usual. However, many grew concerned and completely scared by The Invasion. So much so that some decided to build underground bunkers just in case something like this ever happens again.
Grandfather Kiev knew that underground bunkers wouldn’t be enough to stop a powerful force like the Darkness warriors. It would only be a matter of time before the Dark One finds exactly what he is looking for. And when he does, the entire planet and everyone in it will feel his dominance.
That’s why as soon as Shella’s mind was ready, he was able to begin her training. Time was a factor in all this. It was more urgent than ever for her to start. The sooner she could fight, the sooner she could venture out and begin her journey. She needed to find the Chosen One.
Unfortunately, not everything was going smoothly. There were setbacks in her training at times. There were moments in her training that she would struggle with. The struggle was not external but internally. It wasn’t a matter of just getting the moves exact. She would doubt herself and keep second guessing every move. Her mind wasn’t clear enough to let her fight. She couldn’t turn off the constant wave of thoughts that kept bombarding her mind. She was overthinking every move, constantly calculating what her grandfather was going to do next when they spar together. She was weighing every possibility to the point that she couldn’t decide what to do with every single thread of information that she was trying to process.
“Sigh….. I can’t do this move grandpa, it's too complex!” Shella falls to knees. Her hands were shaking. She felt a sudden surge of anger. She was disappointed in herself. Her eyes looked completely drained of energy. She’s covered in sweat and exhausted. She takes the back of her hand and wipes the sweat off her forehead and face. She was breathing hard. Her grandfather could see that her face was red, her hair drenched in sweat.
“Shella, please. Calm your mind.” Grandfather Kiev breathed in deeply.
“I give up! Nothing I’m doing works. I’m not making ANY progress with this move. I’m packing it in today. I am going home.”
“Shella, you keep doing this. When you find something that is difficult, you just stop trying and give in. You’re holding back your progress. Every time you do this; it just becomes difficult for you to get back into it. You must stop this destructive habit. You must keep at it and keep practicing.” He watches her stare toward the horizon, shaking her head.
Shella stands up and looks at him. He can see the frustration on her face. Shella is still trying to catch her breath. “You always say this, ‘keep at it’. I’m tired, my mind is spent. I have not slept for two days! I’m stressed out and I can’t focus.” Shella placed her hand on her head. She felt her warm forehead. To her it felt like it was burning. “To keep at it now, in my mental state, would be almost impossible.”
“You always give up on yourself. Why are you even doing all this? You know the reasons why you’re doing all this, correct?”
“Sigh….. Why did you agree to train me? Why me? This village is full of people. Most likely you will find a better choice. A person much more fitting for this than me.”
“Are you even listening to me, Shella? I asked you an important question.” Grandfather Kiev shaked his head, paused for a while and continued. “Alright, you want to know why? Why I chose you instead of anyone else to be my student? It has nothing to do with the fact that your family. It’s because none of them, no one, in this whole village, has the same drive as you do. What motivates you is different from anyone else.”
She looked around confused more than ever. She thought it was the exhaustion that was distorting her grandfather’s words, but she heard him right. “You’re saying…. That, because of my intentions, I can be better than everyone else? My fighting abilities have nothing to do with it?” To Shella that didn’t make any sense.
“No, what I’m saying is that when people do something for the sake of glory and being admired they will not put in the effort. You, on the other hand, will push yourself harder than anyone else I could ever train. And that is what’s most important. Your determination.”
“Determination? Ha. That's not me. Grandpa, you must have me mistaken for some other Shella, from some other village.” Shella shakes her head and gulps down air. “I give up too easily. You know I do. I’m never satisfied with what I can do. I must do it better, and it’s never enough. I’m not good enough, ok?”
“You may give up, but when you think about why you’re doing all this, you will get back up and try again, and again, and again. Many wish to be idolized by others, they want people to look at their strength and feel an awe because of their abilities. Once more, I ask, why are you doing all this?”
Shella knew the real reason in her head why she was training. She had made up her mind. It was to get revenge for her brother Corri and her father. But her grandfather was thinking of something completely different, and she knew it. She could tell by his body language that he wanted her to say something pure and innocent, because Shella was his angel. He wanted her to say that she was doing it to protect others, to save the weak, to defend people from the dark forces. But she wanted none of that. Sure, she would use her abilities for good, but she wouldn’t go out of her way for it. Her mind was made up. She was going to use her abilities to get revenge, to kill the two monsters that are responsible for her family’s death. She could care less about her grandfather’s talk about prophecies and about doing things for the betterment of this world and the people in it. She wanted Anaken and his father Evailos dead. She wanted them to suffer like she suffered. No mercy. And she would stop at nothing to accomplish her goal. Each day that passed by, knowing that her brother was gone only increased her internal rage. Her heart was becoming bitter only when she focused on her goal for revenge.
Shella just stood there; completely zoned out. She couldn’t answer him. Her body was extremely exhausted.
However, Grandfather Kiev continued to speak to her. “No one else in the village would get back up after falling down. You want to know why?” He looked at Shella directly in her eyes with a serious face. “Because none of them went through what you went through. They did not experience your pain. They did not experience your loss. They did not experience your struggle. They are not you. You are unique because of the scars you carry deep within you. You, and only you, will get back up, because there is something you know you must do. There is a feeling in the back of your mind that tells you to get up. And with your last dying breath, you know that you wouldn’t want anyone to experience the misery you went through. Even if you do not know them, even if they do not live in your village, even if they aren’t family, your flesh and blood, you know that what you went through, isn’t something you wish upon ANYONE.”
“I’ve given up so many times and just walked away from you. Grandpa, why do you never force me to stay and keep training?” Shella’s eyes began to tear up.
“Because you cannot force the wind to do your bidding. It is futile to try and change the course of the wind. It goes wherever it needs to go.”
She licked her lips and then spoke softly. “I need to go.” She turned around and walked toward the village to get back home. She wiped the tears from her face. Her grandfather only watched as she walked away. He knew she needed to rest. He was patient with her. He tries to push her, test her body and mind past her limits but he would never force her to continue if she felt like she couldn’t.
As Shella got closer to the village, she suddenly felt a strong tug on her wrist. It completely caught her off guard. Her training kicked in and her fighting instincts told her to attack with her fist, but just as she was about to strike, she saw the face of a boy she knew and held back her fist just inches away from his face.
She jumps back in shock, gasps, and covers her mouth “OH MY! UH ALRIN!?” She screams out, taking two steps back and pulling away from his grasp.
“Whoa! Shella, hey!” Alrin steps back, realizing that he almost got punched in the face.
“You scared me! How many times do I have to tell you? Do not do that! You keep sneaking up on me like that!”
“Hey, hey I’m so so sorry.” Alrin had his hands in the air, a big energetic smile on his face and he kept shaking his head in a playful manner. “You know I do not mean to sneak up on you like that. I-I wasn’t thinking. Won’t happen again, I swear. My apologies, Shella. Oh…uh… “ Alrin paused and quickly decided to say something flirty, “...and…. you look lovely today.” Despite the fact that Shella looked extremely tired and covered in sweat and dirt from training all day, he still complimented her.
Shella began to blush after he said that. “I probably look like a mess.” Shella whispers in a low voice to herself. Feeling a little ashamed. When she felt anxious about something or someone, she kept her eyesight away from the person's eyes. She began to stare at the ground. She almost didn’t know what to say. She felt flattered for the attention Alrin was giving her. But she wasn’t in the mood. Her body was exhausted, and her mind was drained. With a low and shy voice, she responds, “Th-thank you Alrin. It’s okay. You caught me by surprise, again. Just… I-I almost hit you with my fist. Do not do it again… please.”
Alrin looked at Shella confused at her body language. Each time he would bump into her; it was the same. She always kept staring at the ground. But he could tell she didn’t look very well. He felt like maybe she needed him to cheer her up. He was desperate. He wanted to impress her. He thought that by grabbing her wrist and being flirty he could get her attention.
“Look, ummm.” He rubs the back of his neck trying to overcome his shyness. “I wanted to, uh, show you something, real quick, it shouldn’t take much of your time. I-I’ve been working on something.”
“I… I do not know. I have so much on my mind right now Alrin. Can it just wait? I want to get home.” Shella couldn’t resist Alrin’s puppy dog eyes. But she wasn’t interested at all in what he wanted to show her.
He grabs her by the wrist again. “Please. Please Shella, it’s something I’ve been wanting to show you for a while now.” At a certain point her body just started to move forward, even though she didn’t want to. She gave into his persistence. Shella felt an attraction for Alrin, but each time they interacted, she felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety and uncertainty. She didn’t want to say or do much around him. Alrin in his point of view just saw it as shyness. She didn’t know how to act when Alrin was around her. She would feel the urge to flirt back but the moment never felt quite right in her head. Her mind would always be cluttered with unorganized thoughts. She constantly kept over analyzing every word, action, emotion, facial and body expression. She would feel a pull, an attraction to him, something that she felt was a wonderful quality Alrin had like his fondness for plants and extensive knowledge on foliage. But there were moments she just wanted to push him away. It could have been her daily training that made her feel emotions of intense anger and aggression. It could have also been the fresh thoughts in her mind of her brother and fathers’ death. Stepping into a new relationship for her was a scary thought. To lose someone that was close to you, that fear inside her kept growing the more she thought about her little brother Corri. She didn’t want to lose anyone ever again.
At times Alrin would sneak around and saw Shella training many times outside the village grounds. He would watch her train under the cover of bushes and trees. He understood that her grandfather Kiev was teaching her some sort of ancient art of combat. He found it interesting. He wanted to know more about it. In his quest for spying on them, he slowly became fond of Shella. He was fascinated with every move she made. The strength she would display each time she was training left him in awe.
As Alrin pulled her away, taking her to an unknown location, she felt like pulling her wrist away from his firm, yet warm grip and blowing up in his face and telling him no. But then he suddenly, unexpectedly to her, changed the position of his grip. He shifted his hands’ position by slipping it down to her palm. He began holding her hand. She noticed this instantly and started to blush. It was overwhelming to her, the way he was holding her hand, lovingly. They both walked in the direction he wanted her to go. At that moment she didn’t want to disappoint him. Although she was tired and out of it, she didn’t have it in her to say no to him. She was too afraid of what he might think of her if she said no, after revealing to her that it was something he wanted to show her for a while. To her, Alrin seems very excited about it. She would feel horrible inside to take that joy away from him.
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