*Michael's POV*
"Hey, did you see what Madame Wren did today? She was weirdly..off..I have never seen someone have to go in and block her opponent like that, do you think she will be okay?" Aster asked in a concerned tone. Michael sighed and looked over at Aster who was sitting at the table with his chin resting on his hands. His tangerine colored curls falling forward onto his face ever so slightly. "There is a lot that even I do not know about My Lady. I wish she was not always so guarded. But don't worry Aster, I will speak with her and relay your concerns," Michael said with a smile as he stood up from his seat and lightly patted Aster on the shoulder. Aster nodded in response, "Thanks Sir Micahel."
Michael left the area and began looking around all the normal places he would usually find Wren but had no luck. "Have you seen Madame around anywhere?" He asked a blushing Camila and smirking Ari. "Sorry Sir Michael, it seems I have been occupying most of this ones attention I'm afraid." Ari said with a sly grin as Camila hid her face behind her wavy, light rose colored hair. 'Ari is so obvious,' he thought to himself as he chuckled lightly and walked away, giving them their privacy.
As he was approaching the next location, he noticed a slender man walking around the training grounds, his low styled ponytail, swaying as he walked. "Dumuzi, have you seen Lady Wren in the Lightening territory today?" Dumuzi stopped what he was doing and casually pushed his fawn colored hair aside to look at Michael, "I would try Lunar, because no. I have not seen her, my apologies, Sir Michael." Michael sighed, nodded, and turned to the direction of the Lunar training sector after thanking Dumuzi then leaving him to his previous tasks.
As he approached the Lunar sector, he saw a thin man with average height, wearing all black clothes. He had deep teal hair and was focusing intently. Just as Michael was going to open his mouth to ask a question, the man looked over to him. His piercing teal eyes which matched his hair, staring holes in Michael's azure blue eyes. "I do not know where the captain is, Vice Captain. Try Han. She is normally there when she has something on her mind," the man said before turning his attention back on his tasks. 'Sheesh, always so alert-' "Thanks Finch," Michael responded before turning and walking over to their main weapons area.
*CLANK! CLANK! FWISH!* As Michael approached, he noticed Han was working on forging a weapon. He was working the hot metal with his hammer, and one of his helpers, was quenching a different weapon. "Sir Michael, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Han stopped his work and wiped his hands on his thick and soiled leather apron. Even though his frame was somewhat hidden, it took little extra focus to notice Han's muscular build. Michael bowed slightly, "I was hoping to come across-" "What do you want with me?" Before he could even finish his statement, Wren seemingly appeared out of nowhere holding a spear in hand, casually draping her arm over the weapons and staring blankly at Michael. Her crimson hair that was typically braided, was currently in a high ponytail; stands of hair flowing with the wind.
He was taken aback slightly, 'I didn't even feel her presence..was she-' "Yes, I was purposing keeping my business to myself as I practiced with the weapons Han has made. What is your purpose in coming here?" During this time, Han and his helper quietly left the little shop, while Wren and Michael remained in the main room. There was a slight clanking sound as the weapons bumped eachother because of the breeze flowing through the shop. "We have been worried about you My Lady. Things just seem..different.." Michael said cautiously as he nervously scratched the back of his head.
*After their most recent mission, Wren seemed more distant and cold compared to her usual. The mission was supposed to be easy. They were tasked with locating and infiltrating a lab where human testing was said to be occurring. Turns out, there was a disgraced doctor preforming experiments on weak and feeble individuals; promising them or their family a handsome reward for their "service." Little did they know, the doctor was just pumping them full of different poisons and toxins, just to see how their body would react, along with never even paying their family, adding insult to injury. The sights the team witnessed were horrible, and the smell could make someone with even the strongest person feel sick to their stomach.*
"My Lady, was this because...of the young girl..?" Michael recalled seeing Wren run off into a different direction when they entered the building, then when he went to follow her, he soon found her sitting on the floor, cradling a young child's stiff and cold body. Wren's brows furrowed and she turned her head away and carefully set the child's body down, before walking off. Michael reached his arm out and grabbed her lightly but firmly enough to keep her from walking away further; he could feel her muscles tense up under his touch.
"My Lady please..please don't continue to shut everyone out.." Michael whispered as he leaned his head down. Wren took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Michael, I just.." She trailed off without saying anything else, then suddenly jerked her arm away. "I don't have time for this Michael. I need to be practicing." She grabbed her spear and walked into the back room which lead outside to a small outdoor area. The thick, deep green colored grass, swaying rhythmically with the wind almost mimicking the ocean.
Wren was still facing away from Michael as she turned her head to the sky and closed her eyes. *CLANK!* Wren's eyes quickly opened and she turned her head to see what she had just blocked with her spear. She realised that Michael had grabbed a spear that was leaning against the outside wall, and attempted to attack her. But before the hit connected, as if operating on instinct, she blocked it with hers. *THUD* Wren kicked her leg around in the small space and contorted her body to kick Michael in his torso to get more distance between them.
"Are you sure about this Michael? I'm going to have a hard time holding back today." Michael only nodded and got into a defensive stance, to which Wren chuckled lightly and turned to face him. "Don't say I didn't warn you.." *SWISH THUD! CLANK!* They each swung their weapons towards one another, colliding violently each swing, sending occasional sparks off to either side. Their movements were so fast, any on lookers would likely see blurs of movement. Just as Michael felt he was making up ground, Wren twisted her nimble body around to avoid his strike and once again kicked him in the stomach. *Cough Cough* Michael was taken aback by the force behind her kick, 'Guess I have to kick it up a notch,' he thought as he made some distance for himself.
Before he could completely recover from the blow, Wren used her immense speed to quickly close the distance between them. He dodged so hard, that he ended up loosing his balance and falling to the ground. He quickly rolled to the side to avoid her next swing. *SWOOSH!* He heard the force at which she swung, the blade narrowly missing the side of his head. *CLANG!* He made a jabbing motion towards her as he was still crouched on the ground, but she blocked his attempts with ease. 'Shit..she really meant it,' Michael could see from the emptiness of her forest green eyes, that he would need to be on his best to even keep up with her.
She lunged at him again with a quiet grunt, retracted the weapon with a spin, twirled it partially around her body, and lunged again..all in a matter of seconds. *HUFF HUFF* Michael was quickly loosing speed as their exchanged continued. He noticed that instead of Wren becoming tired, she only continued to get stronger and put more and more force behind her attacks. Michael managed to put distance between them, sweat and blood dripping from his brow, his breath now ragged. "My l-" *FWOOSH* before he could even finish his words, Wren disappeared.
Michael was aware of the technique she was using due to it being specifically tailored for Lightening Unit members, so he had confidence he could counter her next move. 'Normally, we use teleportation to move to an area just outside of our targets reach, then we come towards the target with such speed and teleport again at the last second to give the illusion of multiples attacking at once. Michael steadied himself and prepared for an attack, trying to focus and sense where she would be coming from but he had no luck. "You should know to never let your guard down Michael," He quickly turned to the area where her voice was coming from but there will no one there. *Fwoosh* Michael heard the sound of the grass being manipulated as she toyed with him.
He anticipated that she would show up to his left so he dodged slightly left and was preparing to attack, but Wren once again had the upper hand. She teletported herself in a crouching position at his feet and swipped them from under his body causing him to fall. She took the opportunity and pounced; straddling his torso, while pushing her legs backwards on top of his thighs to keep him pinned to the ground. Michael swung his arms down to knock her off his body, but she used his momentum against him, knocked the weapon away from him, and pinned him even more securely to the cool and damp ground. *Swish* They were almost completely still, all that could be heard was the gentle rustle of the grass near their heads.
Michael was panting trying to catch him breath, and he noticed he was breathing so hard, that Wrens body was moving slightly with each breath in and out; he could feel the heat coming from her body as well. Michael gulped nervously. Wren loomed over him, a few strands of her crimson colored hairs flowing lightly in front of her face. She was wearing a simple grey shirt and black pants, but as Michale looked closer, he could now tell that her shirt was slightly fitted to her body due to sweat and was exposing a part of her torso, making her curves all the more obvious. He also noted the new rip in her pant leg that was between where the hip and thigh area meet, exposing her skin along with a darker mark.
"D-did you get a new wound?" He asked nervously in efforts to distract himself. Wren was taken aback and had a look of confusion on her face. She furrowed her brows and looked to where she last saw Michael's eyes hovering. As she looked down she saw there was a slight hole in her pants. "Are you asking about this spot?" She asked. Michael nodded, still cautiously trying not to move a muscle as he lay under her. She chuckled lightly after noticing the look on his face, she then proceeded to slide her fingers into the tear on her jeans and slowly pulled it open wider to expose more of her skin. "It's actually part of my tattoo. Do you want to see the rest?" She slowly moved her hand up to her waist and slipped her thumb down so she could grip the pants and slowly expose the rest of her tattoo on her hip.
Michael was too stunned to speak and he began to feel his body growing warmer and his cheeks flushing red. He watched in silence as that side of her pants was now just below her hip, he could see the start of the tattoo. As if finally being broken from a trance, he shook his head, closed his eyes, and put his hand on top of Wren's to stop her from exposing more. "M-My... L-lady?! Why are you-" Before he could finish Wren bend down and closed the gap between their bodies. Her chest was now leaning firmly into his own and her face was only a short distance away from his. "You need to speak clearly if you want me... to hear you..." she said in a breathy whisper. A smirk made its way across her face, but suddenly her smile faded and she turned her head in a different direction before sitting up. Michael remained quiet and tried to pick up on whatever it was she heard. Then without warning, *FWOOSH* Wren used her teleportion ability to leave the area before Michael was even able to open his eyes after a blink.
He let out a big sigh and looked down at that state of his body, also noting the small slices all over his torso and legs. "Well I guess I need to go home and take care of my appearance before the meeting. I don't know what gets into her sometimes. *groan* She knows exactly what she was doing. We never even got to talk." He sighed lightly and stood up then walked over to the counter in the shop. He found a pen and small piece of paper and decided to leave Han a short note. Michael sighed once again and walked outside the small building, but stopped only after a couple steps. 'Something doesn't feel right..' He thought as he looked in all directions around the shop. He stayed a few more seconds before utilizing his abilities and quickly teleporting himself to his residence.
*THUD* As Michael made it inside, he bumped into something and it fell on the floor. After turning the light on he noticed it was Wren. "My Lady!? What are you doing here?" She frowned and stood up, "I felt that something was off so I went to investigate. A few yards (meters) away I found this," she help up what looked like a small unassuming black box. Michael was perplexed, "I know, I didn't really think anything of it at first, but I felt a familiar but altered aura around it and when I inspected it further, I noticed there was a small camera and listening device. It had to have been placed sometime within the last week because I do a sweep everytime I go to Han's shop. I wanted to tell you about it before going to Valen since our exchange might have been within its range." Michael's cheeks once again became red, "Oh great..just what I need another lecture from Valen." He sighed deeply and Wren just chuckled. "It's fine Michael. Make sure and take care of... that, then we can go show Valen. I will wait outside," she said as she walked by. Michael could do nothing but hang his head in embarrassment. "Oh Wren, what am I going to do with you..?"