“Hey, wakey wakey! It’s time for breakfast.” Helena started to shake Andrew violently in his bed, causing him to feel woozy when he stepped out of bed. Unlike most mornings, this was a morning out of country, which felt like he was on vacation.

“Hurry up! Someone’s here to see us!” Helena left Andrew’s side to go directly towards the open room, meeting up with the other two, who were already done with their morning meals.

Andrew stretched and yawned as he put on his clothes, which consisted of simple articles of clothing, to match the lifestyle of this town. Since Helena informed him of someone’s presence, he had a feeling that it was someone he knew already.

He walked out and saw that both Grindle and Sasha had made an appearance, having a very friendly conversation with his teammates. She had in her hand a mug full of coffee, supplied to her by Helena, who also had a mug.

“It’s good to see you’re still alive.” Andrew didn’t know if that was supposed to be an insult or a compliment. Coming from a 14 year old girl’s mouth it should’ve offended him in some way, but he didn’t care.

“Oh yeah, I have to introduce you guys. Team, this is Sasha and Grindle, I met them last night.” Andrew was given a mug of coffee as well, he gladly took a gulp of the warm bitter liquid.

“Sasha, that’s a wonderful name. Changing the subject, how old are you exactly?” Nick asked, all while he was running a maintenance check on his gun.

“I’m 15, and I’m also leader of one of the local guilds. Grindle here is one of the best we’ve got to offer.”

“Really? You seem rather old to be doing things like fighting or swordplay.” Nick teased, causing Grindle to laugh.

“Indeed, I can’t do much anymore with these old bones. Instead, I have a rather skilled successor.” He looked towards Sasha, who seemed oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room was now looking at her.

“I’ve taught her everything I had to offer, and she learned everything effortlessly within six months. She’s a guild master for a reason, and that’s because she’s already reached the highest rank we have to offer.” Grindle boasted, causing Sasha to shy away.

“Yeah, but you also have to know she’s only a 15 year old girl, she can only do so much.” Jhon said quietly, sipping on his cup of tea.

“Jhon’s right, you can’t just force an entire organization on someone like that.” Helena crossed her arms, with her mug held tightly in her hand.

“Guys, I know we just met and all... but I can handle myself! I’m not some pushover! If you want me to prove it, just say so.” Sasha may have appreciated the four trying to help her, but her confidence and pride wouldn’t let it go.

“Aight then, even though we just got here, I’ll give you a test,” Andrew waved his hand, gesturing to the sword strapped onto Sasha’s belt, “if you can give me a run for my money, then you do deserve to be the leader.”

“What’s gonna happen if-”

“If I win or lose, nothing’s gonna happen, we’re both here for the same reason. Plus, it’s good training, I need it anyways.” He smirked.

“Then it’s a deal, meet me on the training grounds behind this building.” Sasha casually walked out of their room.

All of them assumed that they were about to fight right now, and for the most part they were correct, because moments later Sasha was already looking up at their window from the ground. Grindle let out a very dramatic sigh and was the second one to leave the room, followed by Andrew and the rest of his team.

“Alright, so here are the rules: This isn’t a fight to the death, so don’t go overboard, Andrew be careful, because Sasha’s no pushover, and finally, try not to defile the landscape, it was hard enough cleaning it up from last time.” Grindle listed out the rules, which were also complaints.

Andrew’s hand hovered over the hilt, waiting for the right moment to draw his sword. If he was fast enough, he could parry if Sasha would start off with a head-on charge. Instead of acting, he waited.

As soon as Grindle waved his hoof, Andrew’s prediction was correct, as Sasha was coming at him with full force. Andrew looked down as a shadow was cast over his eyes, using his sense of hearing more than his sense of sight.

As soon as Sasha got within inches of his face with her sword, she felt a force that kept her from going through him completely.

”He’s good, but not good enough.” She thought, as she backflipped back into her fighting stance.

As the dust cleared, Andrew stood there, with his sword drawn out and by his side. Since he was giving Sasha a test, all he could do was fight on the defensive. He couldn’t go all out either, because his sword had extra capabilities other than the inability to break.

“Dive Break.” As soon as Andrew heard this come from Sasha’s mouth, her sword started to glow a bright white, knowing that this wasn’t normal, he braced.

After a bright white flash, Andrew was left completely unfazed, not knowing how he was left unharmed he decided to take a look around. The earth beneath him was shattered, and he was about a foot into the ground. Sasha was shocked completely, her signature move was shoved aside as if it weighed like feathers.

“You’re pretty good, I’ll give you that.” Andrew hopped out of the ground, dusting himself off he readied his defensive stance once again.

“I’m still standing though, that simply won’t do.” Andrew said with a smug attitude, only to be pushed to the ground by Helena.

“Hey! What was that for?!” Andrew whined.

“You’re no longer standing, this means the fight’s over. The end.”

“I see your point, alright, alright I’ll give you the win.” Andrew was helpless against the power of Helena, with his gentlemanly ways he couldn’t possibly win an argument against a girl.

Sasha couldn’t help but to giggle a little bit, Grindle on the other hand was still confused about the part where Andrew blocked Sasha’s power attack.

“Okay then, with that out of the way, we have some stuff to do in town.” Sasha brushed herself off and offered a hand for Andrew.

Andrew looked up and grabbed onto her, using her as a tether to help himself up. He patted himself down to free himself of excess dirt and grime, he was still salty about losing to Helena.

“‘Dive Break,’ is that some sort of special move?” Andrew asked, which managed to catch Sasha off guard.

“How did you find out?” She seemed truly startled.

“I heard you say, ‘Dive Break,’ and then you dove at me from above, simple really.” Andrew sheathed his sword, closing his eyes to reminisce back to the moment where Sasha stuck him with full force.

“N-No, I didn’t say it out loud.” She admitted, Andrew seemed dumbfounded.

“Grindle, do you have anything to say?” Andrew turned to him, he stuttered for a moment before he regained his composure.

“I-It is said that other individuals with the same abilities can sense another’s signature or special ability. Or at least that’s what it says in context.”

“This is all so confusing to me, I don’t really understand.”

A few hours later, Andrew and his team went into town. Ever since they arrived, they haven’t had the time to do anything. Andrew couldn’t help but to feel lonely without the girls there with him and his squad, it felt like there was something missing.

“Hey, something wrong, lad?,” Grindle walked up to him and nudged him in the arm.

“Nothing really, I guess it’s just a bit lonely without our friends here. It seems so quiet, without all of the shenanigans they try to pull on me or Helena, or anyone else rather.,” he responded.

“Have you tried calling them on your wrist thing?,”

“We’ve been out of service for about a few days now, I don’t think we’re gonna be getting any outside help on this one.,”

“Oi, how ‘bout a pale ale on me when we get back, eh? I bet that’ll cheer ya right up.”

“Yeah, I’ll take you up on that.”

“We’d better hurry up on those errands, Sasha gets a bit pissy when she has to wait.,” Grindle pointed over to the market.

It didn’t take long for Andrew and Grindle to finish up gathering food and groceries. When he got back he went into his room and put up pictures on the far wall. He had a piece of chalk in his hand, and a plotted out map drawn along with the pictures. He had his Desert Eagle on the table in front of the drawn diagram, a loaded magazine was laid beside it, a few loose bullets were scattered around the table, along with his sword leaning against the edge.

“Helena, do something for me, would ya?,” Andrew waved for her to come over to him.

“What is it now?,” she asked, looking at Andrew’s diagram.

“These are the plans I have so far: One plan is that we’re gonna use a whole lotta stealth breaking into the fortress, the other is that we go in guns blazing. Take it the loud way, we’re gonna need a lot of plastic explosives, and for the quiet route we’re gonna need gun silencers and rope.,” he spread out scrolls of paper on top of the already cluttered desk.

“Hey, Drew! Sasha says that she needs you downstairs right now.,” Nick pointed towards the door.

Andrew instructed Helena to explain the options to Nick and Jhon, and let them decide on what to do. He already did all the planning if they were to do either one, so he didn’t need to do anything else. The only problem is that when did anything ever go according to plan? He went downstairs and saw both Sasha and Grindle sitting in the corner of the the tavern, they looked like they meant serious business.

“What’s up, Sasha?,” Andrew asked, sitting himself down on the edge of the table.

“It’s Black Talon, he’s coming here tomorrow morning.”

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the long wait, I've always had this chapter started, but I never got around to finishing it. School's lightening up a bit, so you might want to expect a chapter of Trottingham University some time in the next six or so weeks.