"Good, Lyca," Phoenix said, and she saw that smile on Lyca's lips, saw that bright light on her face, and she threw another target in the air, not giving the woman a warning or time to prepare.
Lyca raised her crossbow, her eyes peeled to the sky, never even blinking as she watched that target fall. How quickly that light in her eyes sharpened, how quickly she reacted, and Phoenix heard the crunch of a bolt hitting the target. Phoenix smiled, nodding at Lyca, and the two women looked at each other, and then they both laughed, laughs that were light and airy.
"Come on, Phoenix!" she heard and she turned, seeing Bolt across the yard waving his ball at her with a grin on his face.
"Go on," Lyca said, jerking her head towards him.
"You coming, Cassie?" Phoenix asked, and for a moment there was nothing but silence, for a moment Cassie eyed the others across the yard, and then she turned to Phoenix.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she said.
"You can be on my team." Phoenix said, and she took Cassie's crossbow away, handing it to Lyca and staring at Cassie as Cassie watched her, her eyes flicking between her and the others and her shoulders rising.
"Stop it," Phoenix said. "How much longer are you going to avoid us?"
"I am not avoiding you."
"So let's go."
Cassie stared at her a moment longer, her eyes sharp and pointed like daggers, and then she sighed, making her way across the yard without saying a word. Phoenix watched as that grin vanished from Bolt's face, as he turned to look up at Belfire almost like he expected him to do something, but Belfire only smiled, laughing quietly to himself and said, "Looks like you'll finally get to win today, Bolt."
For a long while there was nothing but silence, for a moment longer Bolt studied Cassie out of the corner of his eye, almost like he was afraid to look at her head on, and then Belfire stole the ball from him, tossing it to Phoenix with a grin.
"Losers throw first," he said.
"Careful, Belfire," Phoenix warned. "You don't have Mia today," she said, and then she threw the ball, watching Bolt race to catch it and Belfire's grin grow wider.
"Don't think we'll go easy on you just because you're new, Cassie," Belfire said.
"Shut up, Belfire," Cassie snapped, and he laughed, a laugh that was soft and light, a laugh that was to himself, and then Phoenix was running, leaping, her eyes always darting, but she couldn't quite place Cassie.
Cassie darted and dove so quickly, but then was suddenly strong and solid and Phoenix saw how this woman had made it to the top and earned her place, but Phoenix saw something else, that light in her eyes that was cold and sharp, that light that reminded Phoenix of home, and there was no doubt in her mind, no doubt that Cassie would have survived in The Forests, that she would have made herself a home and through many raids and winters.
Phoenix almost told her that, something like a smile on her lips, but then she saw Belfire crash into Cassie and Cassie turn and pounce on him with her eyes sharp and pointed. Belfire laid there, his dreads spilling across the sand, Cassie's clenched fist hanging in the air above him, but then he laughed, a laugh that was warm and easy, just like the smile on his face.
"Play fair, Cassie," he said, and she glared at him a moment longer, gritting her teeth and scowling at him.
That fist dropped, and then she stood up and snapped, "It's your throw."
Things seemed easier between them after that, Cassie's eyes not as cold and harsh whenever she looked at Belfire, but her forehead furrowed into a crease when she watched Belfire twisting and turning in his seat and staring out of the car window a few days later.
"Belfire..." Master Gabriel sighed.
"Sorry," he said, turning his back to the window, his shoulders hunching over.
Phoenix watched him so closely, hating that look on his face, feeling something sharp prick at her heart, and for a moment he only sat there, wringing his fingers in front of him, staring at the floor with eyes that didn't see, but then almost like he could feel her watching, he looked up, a soft smile on his face despite that terrible light in his eyes.
"I used to live around here," he said, and her eyes flicked away, seeing those hoods behind him, seeing those people running and suddenly she couldn't breathe.
Master Gabriel sighed again, a strange light springing to his eyes as he tilted his head and stared at Belfire, and Belfire stared back, sitting up straight, something like a wince, something like a grimace on his face, and then Master Gabriel looked away, flicking his fingers in the air and making that hologram screen appear in front of him, but that heaviness, that stiffness in his shoulders stayed there the rest of the journey, all the way up until the door beside him opened with a click. Then he was bright and easy as he stepped out and disappeared into the house without saying a word, and when she saw him again, he was sitting, his hands clasped in front of him, tapping the tips of his fingers to those smiling lips.
"So you're working with Quintus now?" Phoenix heard, and she almost gasped, knowing it was him without needing to turn and look, not knowing if she could, but she did and she wished she hadn't.
Willow was strapped up tight, her arms bound behind her back and a leather gag in her mouth, and then Phoenix couldn't move and all she could do was stand there and stare. She felt that hand that brushed against hers and she turned to him, a bright, sickening burning in her stomach, an ache in her heart, but still she couldn't move, but then Cassie turned, looking at Phoenix from the corner of her eye, the light in them so sharp and stern, not sharp or pointed like daggers, just stern. Cassie quickly jerked her head forward, so quickly she made that burning in Phoenix's stomach burst and had her walking to where she had to be.
"I never said I was working with him," Master Gabriel said, that smile still on his face, but Master Astor laughed loudly, pulling Willow towards him, and Phoenix saw how the light in Willow's eyes was fading, how she was now almost feral, almost gone forever.
"So it's all going to plan?" Master Astor grinned. "And even faster than you thought, Gabriel!"
"Hmm..." her Master hummed, his lips then thin and tight as he watched Master Astor pull at Willow.
Phoenix tried to be strong, she needed to be, she had to be, but this was too much, so she reached out, grabbing onto Belfire's wrist so tightly, her knuckles went white. She couldn't do this, she couldn't watch what this man was doing or listen to Willow cry and moan.
"We're late for our re-match," Master Astor said.
"I've been busy."
"More like that Woodlander burned a hole in your pocket," Mastor Astor smiled, a dark, sharp smile that stole Phoenix's breath away, and she had to fight that hand that wanted to come racing to clutch at her shirt, that hand that wanted to go racing towards him and rip Willow away.
"There's no hole in my pocket," Master Gabriel said, and for a long moment he said nothing else and there was only the sound of Willow as she cried and cried, and then he sighed. "Stop it, Astor. She's making so much noise."
"She'll calm down in a minute, won't you, Willow? She's just getting used to her muzzle."
Phoenix couldn't stop it then, this time her hand grabbed at the pain in her heart and tried to hold it in.
"A muzzle?" Master Gabriel asked.
"Yes," Master Astor smiled. "Stubborn thing won't learn to talk properly so now she doesn't get to talk at all."
Master Gabriel stared at him a moment, his eyes unblinking, the Implants in his temples flickering a little quicker, and then he placed his hands on the arms of his chair and crossed his legs.
"Maybe mine can talk some sense into her."