The War

Sparring

"Again! This time don't let him get the advantage." Aldolfo stood there, overlooking the fight infront of him. His arms crossed, as he wiggled his mustache in thought watching Edward and Mark dish it out. 

His students created a circle around the sparring pair, their faces stoic and set except for his newest addition Amber, who's gaze appeared elsewhere. His eyes briefly flew up to her watching her emotions, he quietly looked over his shoulder to see where Amber held her gaze at. She was starring at the surrounding forest, if only Aldolfo had the ability to read minds would he delve into her thoughts and finally figure out what the child was looking at. 

Aldolfo then looked at Phillip who stood next to him, his unruly shoulder length hair now pulled into a messy bun. He was too distracted watching the boys spar to pick up on Aldolfo's message he was trying to put across. Phillip's face broke into a small smile as he watched Edward slowly begin to overpower Mark and get the advantage of him. Aldolfo turned his gaze back just in time to watch Edward catch Mark's left leg, hoisting him over his shoulder and throwing him to the ground, knocking the air right out of Mark. 

Aldolfo's eyes connected with Edward's for a moment after their sparring match ended, and Mark quietly stood from the ground defeat in his eyes. Aldfolfo wasn't surprised Edward had overpowered Mark again, he was quickly becoming one of the fastest and strongest children he had in his complex. No doubt his Alpha genes finally starting to show himself. 

Edward quickly broke eye contact from Aldolfo and chanced a glance at Amber, who still had her sight fixed on the trees behind him. It was a quick gesture but Aldolfo caught it, and this quick glance made Aldolfo turn his head to the side in wonder. Why had he looked at Amber? Was there something else going on? He sighed. 

"Mark you are to sit out..." He hesitated a moment looking around the circle his students avoiding eye contact with him in fear they would get called to spar next. Finally his gaze landed on Amber. "Amber, I want you to spar next with Edward. See what we need to work on." He stated dryly. 

Amber finally brought out of her trance looked at him with a curious gaze, her mind looking like it was processing what he was saying. "I haven't even started conditioning yet-" She attempted to argue. 

Aldolfo could feel Edward's eyes starring holes onto his face, yet he ignored the child's gaze. "Do as your told." He simply said. 

Amber hesitantly gazed around the circle of students around her, Crystal who had quickly become her mentor gave her a reassuring smile, gesturing with her hand to enter to center of the circle. Her gaze pleading with Amber. 

Amber began to take a step into the circle when Edward finally made a comment, "You can't be serious." He stated dryly. "She's a girl.." He stuttered "S-she hasn't even started training yet. She could get hurt." He said before gesturing to Amber who stood in her spot. 

Aldolfo looked over at Phillip who also had a questioning gaze on his supervisors orders on the young girl. He sighed before looking back at Edward who now was looking at him expectantly. 

"Genders don't matter here." He said quickly. "If anything you should understand, that Ferals don't treat women any differently from men. They kill whoever they can get their hands on." He paused looking around the group, "Men, women and children are all free game to a angry feral." He stated dryly as he glanced at Crystal whose gaze was now diverted to the ground. He knew he had struck a nerve with her, her entire family was killed in a feral attack on her neighboring town. Her entire family slaughtered infront of her face, leaving nobody to take care of her at such a young age. Thankfully Alpha Brutus had made a quick decision to put her under Aldolfo's care, and she quickly became a daughter to him. But she, out of any of the children, would know first hand that Ferals didn't stop for anyone. He looked over at Amber again, his patience waning. "Again... Amber I want you to spar with Edward." 

Amber hesitantly took a step further into the circle, Eddie now turning to face her. He got down in an attack stance, his legs spread apart and his shoulders set. Amber a little overwhelmed at what was going on, mimicked him. Her knees bending slightly, and her back stiff from nervousness. 

"Begin." Aldolfo sternly stated, before the circle backed up once again to give the sparring pair more space. 

Amber suddenly felt her anxiety kick in, her blood pounded in her ears, and her hands began to sweat. She hadn't talked to Eddie since that night he revealed he was the Alpha's son. He didn't need to in Amber's opinion, she wanted to avoid him at all costs. 

"Come on Amber! Kick his butt!" She heard Crystal mention from behind her, her hands balled into fists with excitement. Her lips drawn back into a large smile.  

She sighed before she began to start for Eddie, her expression set. She charged at him head on, attempting to ambush him and get under him quickly. Eddie swiftly moved to the left, making Amber stumble quickly past him. She caught her balance and turned just in time to catch in her peripheral Eddie coming towards her, his gaze distant. 

Just then as if a flash went off inside of her head she saw another image. This time it was another boy, he appeared to be the same age as her. He had a large smile on his face, his sand brown hair flowing behind him as he ran for her. They looked like they were running through a dense forest.  She could hear the sounds of giggles coming from him as they ran through the forest. She turned behind her to see a monarch butterfly gently flying behind her. As soon as the image ended, her gaze returned back to her situation at hand.

At this point Eddie had realized that her gaze had glossed over, and he hesitantly took a step. His mind confused as to what just happened. Amber took this sign of vulnerability and charged at Eddie full force, her mind set. She quickly grabbed his left arm, her hands just barely fitting around his forearm and twisted it behind his back. In return Eddie let out a yelp of surprise, his shoulder stuck twisted. He froze in fear of dislocating his shoulder, and instantly turned to face Amber, whos eyes went back to their normal hue of blue a surprised look on her face. With this Eddie spun around, untwisting his shoulder and receiving a gasp of surprise from Amber. He then grabbed her by her waist and easily picked her up, gently pinning her to the ground. 

Amber once on the ground had another flash of a memory. It was the same boy as before! This time he laid on top of Amber, a large toothy smile on his face. She could see the blush quickly rise to his face, she quietly reached up with her thin fingers to touch his face, the image feeling all too real in her mind. When Eddie pulled his face away and looked down at Amber he saw her eyes had glossed over again and her  expression was blank. He quickly got off of her. His gaze looked up to Aldolfo who also starred at Amber, his face consumed in question. 

Amber's image quickly disappeared, she shook her head attempting to clear the image from her mind. When she finally realized she was on the ground, she quickly got up and dusted herself off. 

She could feel fresh tears prickling the backs of her eyes, and she fought the urge to let them spill. 

Eddie quickly felt his confidence drop as he realized he had let a little girl get the advantage on him, and he became vulnerable. If she had known how to keep his shoulder behind him the way she had, then she for sure would have won. It made his palms slightly sweaty, if she was able to made quick decisions like that without being trained he grew nervous for her potential when she was conditioned and trained. 

Phillip felt the tension through the air and quickly cleared his throat gaining the attention of Aldolfo whos eyes were fixated on the little girl. 

Aldolfo sighed, "Thank you, that is enough Edward. You are dismissed." He said before looking down at Amber who looked just as confused as everyone else watching the match. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly. 

Amber nodded her head gently, her mind begging to succumb to the splitting headache she could feel coming on. "I feel fine." She stated, before walking back to her spot next to Crystal. Aldolfo watched as Crystal bent over to quietly talk to Amber about the events that just played out, her voice low and quiet. He could see her nod her head a few times and give Crystal a small smile. 

"That's it for training everyone. Dismissed" Aldolfo stated before he heard a few arguments come from Root, Mark, and all the others. "Continue with what is assigned for you today, the gym will be open for the remainder of the day." He turned on his heels and began to quickly walk back to his black dodge pickup that sat in the training facilities' parking lot. He could sense Phillip trotting to keep up next to him, his mood dropping as he figured what Phillip was going to ask him.

"What about the child?" Phillip asked, stopping Aldolfo in his tracts. 

"What are you talking about?" Aldolfo asked, his hand coming up to rub his face from exhaustion. His own brain soaring with questions. 

"She isn't all here... Is she?" Phillip asked, his voice dropping so the others wouldn't hear him speak. 

Aldolfo watched his group of students head back into the building, Crystal Amber and Alissar staying outside to start their push-ups and sit ups. "I don't know where that child's head is at." He stated before his attention was drawn back to his assistant.

"So are we just going to ignore the fact she caught Eddie off guard?" Phillip asked, using Edward's nickname. 

Aldolfo shook his head, "no." He stated quietly. "The child knows what she's doing. She may not physically know. But the beast inside her is protecting her." He stated, before watching Phillip. "I need to meet with Chance" he said shortly, "he must know more about the child." 

Phillip hesitated. His mind wandering. He was about to speak, he opened his mouth when Aldolfo stopped him. "Up her training. She can handle it. Don't treat her like a weak link-" his face broke out into a smile, something Phillip hadn't seen in the 11 years he worked under him, "because she might just be one of our strongest." 

At that Phillip watched Aldolfo get into his truck, he brought out his phone to no doubt call Chance. He watched him pull out of the parking lot and drive down the road. 

"Make sure you check on Edward." Phillip could hear Aldolfo through a mindlink. "His pride is probably a little hurt." He could hear the smile in Aldolfo's voice through the mindlink.  

At this Phillip quietly shook his head as he felt the packlink tapper off as Aldolfo closed it. He turned around and started to walk back to the girls who were still working on their push ups. His mind wandering on questions without any answers.