For Balance

what happened to all your spunk?

A man enjoyed a steam bath with his eyes closed, "well?" he asked in a stiff tone to another who walked in

"it took a general, his aid and two kids to take out the keji we sent and according to the bawa, none showed prowess that could rival one of our generals",the man responded

"so the usual setting then?", he askee again

"yes, boss Dante, should i go?"

Dante looked at the face of the messenger and noticed it pasted with determination, he turned his eyes shut again, "no, giano, you will remain here, send bara instead"

"yes!!!, the scout also said one of the kids was able to use lightning and this said kid apparently could see him in with his cloak on" giano furthered

"irrelevant giano, now leave me to my bath",he demanded calmly

"yes boss", giano took his exit

Basil's compound

Jethro with a wooden sword closed in on akin, akin went in with his own powerful swing, both swords clashed but akin's sword shattered on impact, Jethro continued with quick jump kicks to akin's chest sending him flying into a wall, Jethro stayed on him and lifted his sword for a power gripped downward strike

"jethro",basil called out, Jethro paused his strike before impact, akin grab unto Jethro's offered aid and left the ground which he sat, "what happened to all your spunk from the other day?", basil askes arrogantly, basil suppressed anger was noticeable by the audience in the training arena, akin let anger gently pasted on his face in a staring contest with basil, "-this is a waste of time!!",basil utherered, "jethro, come with with me, the kid can find his way back to his shack"

Temi felt disappointed and compelled to put words in her father's ears, she followed him on his trail, "we have to try harder", she said softly, "why? how much difference is one kid going to make?",he questioned in his deep tone, "i don't know dad, but i just have a feeling in my gut",she responded, basil stopped in his track and locked eyes with temi, "i don't have time to train him", he said, "i will, it's not like I'm part of the war commitee",she opined strongly

Her resolve was burning in her eyes, basil felt the burn and dropped his hubris armour, "you're yoyr mothers daughter after all","do what you may but within the confines of these walls, not everyone tolerates his presence here,", basil passed in a firm manner before turning to the exit, temi had a big smile as she watched Jethro and her dad exit the compound, she stroted back to akin with his back laid flat on tbe ground and his eyed closed, "get up, we have work to do",she commanded just like her dad, he followed her into a room filled with books, "you know what i think?", she asked in all seriousness, "i couldn't possibly",he replied in a jest, she took offense in his carefree tone, "i think you just got lucky, i think the rope to your neck boosted your adrenalne making you",she pointed around him in an insulting manner, "do what you did", he took a slightly serious look to her taunt, "okay", he replied

Sje walked to another book, "what book have you read",she asked with her back turned at him while scouring through the shelf for a book"

He scratched his head in ponder, "some playboy mags, walking on the bed edge of Africa, and some others"

She turned with a disoriented face, "what are you those?"

"books", he answered plainly

"books on aura",she said, "oh, none",he responded

She pulled out a book, "let's start with your foundation then", she sat on the floor pointing for him to do the same, he sat cross-legged, she opened the last page of the book taking out a flat white card attached to the back, she placed that in front of him and kept the book aside

"i thought you were gonna read to me", he jested, "she ignored his joke with a ca response, "we don't have time for that so a brief explanation is what you'll be getting" she said

"what do you know about ashe",she asked, "not a clue",he Answered,

"Ashe is that energy that the world have granted all humans," she raised her hands releasing a bit of aura, "it flows in all animals and plants"

"so everyone out there can use this ashe",He asked

She halted her aura demonstration, "not really, it flows through all lifeforms but not everyone can use it, it's not easy to use, some try and fail but others manipulate it as easy as moving their fingers, and those who can use it excel more than the others", she said

"and I'm part of those who can use it", he asked, "clearly, you've already shown you have a relationship with lightning", she jumped to a reply, "but for some reason you can't use it anymore so e have to go-to the basics and start over"

She took up the card in her hand, he looked at it with all interest, "what's the card for?"

"the card is made from a rare material that absorbs energy on contact", her aura surrounded the card turning its color red, "I'm a fire manipulator hence the red color",he wore a bit of excitement upon the discovery, "for elementals, theres four colors with different possibilities in each", she ended her demonstration, she stretched the card to him but pulled back as he eagerly reached for it, "it'll pull your energy out on contact for itself, you'll feel it slipping out, at that point, focus and try to grab a hold of your energy, whatever feeling you had during the keji attack, focus on it", her face got a bit ominous, "because if you don't, the card will eat all your energy leaving you an empty shell"

He swallowed a bit of saliva losing most of his excitement, he grabbed the card and remained still watching it for a short period, his eyes opened to concentration as he felt his energy been pulled away, his face was a bit distraught, "concentrate", she yelled, he closed his eyes tightly, his aura around the card went on a rampage and fastly went into the card, his eyes squeezed harder, his mind flashed to him falling out of the plane amongst other images, his aura grew wild around him pushing, temi was taking by shock, she went to aid him but was blown away by the force, his expression started calming down along with the Aura surrounding him and the card, he opened his eyes slowly to a calm coating around him, he smiled a bit then looked to notice temi lying in front of him in a messed state

He threw the card to the side and rushed to her, with his knees down, he raised her head up bringing her back to consciousness, "i did this?", his question was packed with disappointment, "yeah, it'll alright, I'm fine now", she reassured him, "where's the card", she asked

They looked around and found it with a bright white color, "that's not right",she said looking disoriented, "what",he asked looking confused.

©Andrew E. Prince