Bounding

We looked at each other for a long time. Dominic took my arm and put it around his neck, his face slowly approaching mine and his eyes closed. I just imitated him.

His lips touched mine lightly. I felt a chill in my belly and something else that I didn't know what was. I tried to control my breathing; however, it was impossible. Dominic's lips moved smoothly and a pleasant feeling dominated my body. His hand held the back of my neck and I just followed his lead. We kissed for a time that seemed to have been too short and too long. Suddenly we pulled away and stood there. I felt that my breathing was uncontrolled and loud, and my heart was racing at a crazy speed. When I noticed Dominic, I saw that he was not much different from me.

A charming smile then appeared on his lips. I smiled too, still in doubt about what I had just done. I felt the blood rising to my face once again. At that moment, we were just Althea and Dominic and not the Descendant and her Warrior.

Dominic suddenly hesitated a little. He then stood by my side, leaning his back against the wall and sighting. At that moment, hundreds of thoughts occupied my mind, and I was confused about what that kiss meant. Was it maybe something that happened between friends? Or could I allow myself to think that Dominic and I had something beyond friendship? No. It was not wise to create false hopes. In any way, I had no idea what the difference was between friends and something else.

"That felt very… good." I said, still blushing while breaking the silence between us.

"It was." he said, his voice also failing.

"Dom..."

"Al..."

"You first." I said.

"No, you first." he replied.

"Well... there's something I want to tell you…"

Everything was going well, however, as always, someone had to show up and interrupt.

"Althea!" shouted a voice from inside the ship. "Where are you?"

"Heath." mumbled Dominic.

We immediately headed for the side door, which led into the living room where Heath would probably be. In no time Dominic released my hand and I felt a bit of relief from my embarrassment.

When we entered the room, Heath was sitting on one of the sofas and shook his head when he saw us.

"I've been looking for you for an eternity, I even got tired of screaming! Where were you? Well, it doesn't matter. What time will we start training? Before or after lunch?" he asked.

"Training? Ah yes! Well, I think it's better after lunch since we will have more energy." replied Dominic. "That still gives us plenty of time to get some rest."

"Alright then. I think I'll take a nap then." Heath replied, a bit disappointed that the training was postponed.

"Right. Where is Joseph?" asked Dominic.

"He left for a walk to get to know the surroundings. He said he'll be back soon."

"Hmm. Perfect. We will go check for some books."

He then pulled me out of the room and took me to the library, on the other side of the ship. On the way, he mumbled something like "everything conspires to hinder me".

"Can I have the honor of your company for a while more?" he asked.

"Of course."

He then sat on the couch, pulling me next to him.

We stayed there for about half an hour, talking about random things, enjoying the last few moments together until Joseph arrived, and I joined him to help with lunch preparations. I was the happiest person in the world at that time.

"Why are you two so radiant?" asked Joseph for me and Dominic.

"The food. The food is good." I answered unconvincingly while taking another bite.

"I think all this good mood will disappear soon." Heath said, smiling. "Soon we will start our training and I hope to exhaust all your energy."

I took a deep breath and ate the last pieces of chicken from my plate. Even though I knew training was necessary, it was very difficult for me to enjoy it.

I changed my clothes and put on my pants, a grey colored tunic and a pair of black boots, all comfortable vestments. Dominic, Joseph, and Heath were faster and were already waiting for me on the shore. The three wore equally comfortable clothes and I was impressed to see that Heath was wearing leather gauntlets while Dominic was carrying a sword and Joseph was holding a gun. I was really screwed.

I took one more deep breath, trying to keep myself calm. At least, it couldn't get much worse than that.

Or so, I thought.

"Are we starting our training here?" I asked innocently.

All three smiled and shook their heads in negative.

"You see that mountain?" Heath asked.

"You have no mercy at all…" I said softly.

"Don't worry. We will not let you fall." said Joseph.

We then entered the dense forest. The trees were so tall that I was unable to see the top, and the light that illuminated our path was weak, making the environment a bit gloomy. More frightening than the darkness were the perverse roots that spread across the floor, as a perfect trap for my feet. The moment I saw them, I left all my pride and dignity aside and I grabbed the first arm I found - in this case, Joseph's arm - and rightly so: in less than ten steps I managed to trap my left leg in a hole and slip into a damp log. It took us almost an hour and a half to get to the bottom of the mountain and most of that time was attributed to my slow speed.

The place where we were going to train was a plain, made up of just more bush. As always, there was not a single soul around. That meant that I didn't need to worry about hurting any innocent person.

"Okay, so what is today's goal? What kind of training do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Today you will try to face three opponents at the same time and three different types of combat technique: I will be using a sword; Joseph will use a gun and Heath will focus on body combat. After being able to face this challenge perfectly, we will move on to a battle involving our skills." Dominic explained.

"You should use any way you can to attack us. We obviously won't hurt you. Not a lot." Joseph continued, in an effective attempt to terrify me.

…

It had definitely been a long and terrible afternoon, at least for me. I had to fight Dominic first, then Joseph, and then Heath. The most difficult of the three was, without a doubt, Joseph.

"Are you crazy?" I kept on shouting. " Stop shooting me!"

He laughed without mercy. Even though the bullets he was using couldn't cause real damage, it still hurt me when they managed to hit my skin.

With Dominic the fight was easy. It seemed that day, he could barely attack me. Whenever he was going to hit me, I gave him a smile, which made him lose focus. My techniques for softening his heart were infallible, especially after that morning. However, I could see how incredible his skills with two swords were. He was so fast and I was sure that he could cut through anything, even steel. It made sense that he was in one of the highest positions in the army even though he was so young.

With Heath, it was completely different from the other two. His skills were unknown to me and equally impressive. He managed to hit me a good number of times, and each time, the pain was horrendous. He smiled all afternoon and every blow I used to defend myself or attack was a surprise and excitement for him.

At the end of the day, I was already an expert in deflecting bullets and destroying them in the air, avoiding sword attacks, and supporting and defending myself from deadly punches. I was also able to understand a little more the extent of my powers and learned how to use them in different ways.

Besides all that, I had noticed something within my abilities that was somewhat different, a new technique perhaps, that I could use in future battles: I could control my opponents' movements for some time, as long as I could maintain eye contact with them. However, none of my three opponents seemed to notice this, and I preferred to keep it quiet until I was certain of what I was able to do. I would try to use it the next day.

It was already six o'clock at night when we finished the training for that day. After we rested for a while - and tried unsuccessfully to repair the damage done to our battlefield = we decided it was time to return to the ship, which brought me the terrible reminder that there was a long way back. The pains in my body were intense and I feared that I would not be able to walk for so long. My fears were correct.

After we walked for half an hour my legs faltered and I collapsed with all my strength on the floor. Heath and Joseph couldn't hold their laughter, and Dominic told them to shut up while I stood up.

"Argh! These useless legs!" I said with eminent anger.

"Don't be angry Althea. It is normal that your body still doesn't have as much resistance as ours. Let me help you." Joseph said while holding me. "I think we better train a little closer tomorrow. We forgot that we would have to walk so much and made you drain all your energy. Part of this situation is also our fault." he finally admitted.

And the other part was entirely my fault.

"Damn it!" Heath suddenly exclaimed. "Your leg is bleeding."

I looked at my left leg and saw blood pouring out of it. I was so tired that I couldn't even feel the pain.

"Joseph: get me water to clean the wound. Sit down, Althea." Dominic said. "Heath, hold her leg."

Joseph came back in a matter of seconds bringing clean water and Dominic dumped it on my leg, rubbing the cut. Finally, Dominic wrapped my leg around with a piece of bandage that Joseph had in his bag and insisted on carrying me in his arms. The injured leg was the perfect excuse I needed to not have to walk anymore.

"It has just occurred to me that we must urgently find a doctor for our crew before someone gets seriously injured and needs special care." Joseph said, sending me a nice hint.

"Certainly. We may find one after Venus. Do you agree with that Dominic?" Heath asked.

"Sure, why wouldn't I?" he replied absently, not understanding what Heath meant.

"Who knows. You seem to enjoy moments like this very much." Heath laughed provoking Dominic's anger. He also whispered a word that I didn't quite understand. Something like "wicked". Joseph turned to laugh, and Dominic gave them a fatal, deadly look, but couldn't avoid getting his face blushed.

"Dominic, what does "wicked" mean?" I asked naively since I didn't recognize that word. At that very moment, Joseph hit his face in a tree branch and Heath stumbled. The laughter that came out of it was even louder than before.

"I'm sorry for asking" I said softly.

"Don't be. Just ignore what these two idiots are talking about." he replied, now taking the lead. Our companions were still unable to walk and their laughter echoed through the forest, almost contagious. However, I didn't dare laugh as well.

We arrived at the ship quite fast since there was one less obstacle: me walking. I realized how easy and skillful it was to make a trail when no one had to worry about me falling again. We both arrived first and soon afterward came the others who still made fun of Dominic.

As predicted, it started raining at half-past six. Dominic had "reserved" one of the sofas in the room just for me and sat on the floor with Heath and Joseph to play poker. Again, I wasted my time trying to pay attention to the rules of the game. The best part of it was the unkind comments of the three and Joseph's notable cheating. It was impossible to beat him. The game lasted until late hours and I ended up falling asleep on the couch. After two days without resting and an exhausting afternoon, fatigue took over my body.

I had no dreams. I woke up a little later and realized that I was in my bed " some good soul had taken me there. And that good soul was still in the room with me.

I was surprised to see Dominic sitting on a chair in the left corner of my room. His expression was serene as he stood there, distracted by a book. When he finally noticed that I was awake, he turned his appealing green eyes in my direction, causing me immediate goosebumps.

"Good afternoon." he said smiling.

"Good… afternoon?!" I exclaimed in shock. Had I slept that much?

He just laughed.

"We were worried about you. You always wake up early and today there was no sign of life coming from your room. I think we really overreacted with training."

"Actually, I was tired even before training yesterday. This is my first time sleeping in two days. Spending all that energy was my limit." I replied.

He looked at me seriously, got up from the chair, and sat next to me on the bed.

"You're not sleeping well? Are you having nightmares? Or are you feeling unwell?" he asked, worried.

"No, that's not it. Stop worrying Dominic. I just got a little excited with the new ship and with our mission on the island of Venus. But even so, I never slept very well since I was a child. I have frequent nightmares, and I am used to sleeping only a few hours a day." I said trying to calm him down. It didn't work out very well.

"This is not normal, and we can't let you continue this way. We might need to see a doctor or think about something that might help you." said Dominic. "Now get ready and come eat lunch. I'm going upstairs to tell the others that you are awake."

He then kissed my hand and left. I stretched my body and got up to take a shower. When I looked at my face in the mirror, I realized how terrible my semblance was. I couldn't believe that Dominic had seen me in that state. I got ready quickly and went to meet the others.

The three were waiting for me seated around the table. Before Joseph made any joke, Dominic slapped him on the head. We had lunch calmly and agreed to rest for an hour before starting the new workout. Joseph was pleased to say that I did not need to rest any longer. Soon after, he went to the shore with Heath to fish and I sat in the living room next to Dominic.

"Today will be the last day of training. Tomorrow we will go to the city and leave the island in the afternoon." he said.

"I suppose then that this is my last chance to improve before Venus." I concluded.

"Yes, however, I must confess that you are fighting in an extraordinary way. Both your speed and defense are surprising, but not as much as your attack. Your attacks are quite precise and strong. I also realized yesterday that you were also using some technique that made my movements difficult. My swords seemed to weigh twice as normal." said Dominic, sounding excited.

"It might have been because my powers allow me to have control over every object around me and, sometimes, I do it even unconsciously... but I thought you knew that." I explained.

"Yes, but I didn't imagine that you already mastered this technique so perfectly." he said. I concluded that Orion was also capable of doing similar but better-developed abilities.

The wind was strong outside despite the sunny day. We continued talking about fighting techniques and the possible extension of my powers. The minutes passed as if they were seconds and it was already time to train. The wound on my leg was almost completely healed, which made things easier and, this time, I was aware of how exhausting the day would be.