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Umbro woke shivering in the cold night. He looked at the charred wood that remained in the fireplace and crawled over to throw more logs in. Holding his hand out a fire appeared before his palm catching on the fresh logs. All the while light whispers came from behind Tornado’s bedroom door. He listened as he warmed his hands but he couldn’t hear the voices clearly enough to identify them or know what they were whispering about. Surveying the room he realized who was missing, Durza and Tornado.

Ember and Pye still slept soundly curled up by the fire. There was a light thud of the door as Durza slipped back into the main room.

“Hey,” Umbro whispered greeting you, “what were you two talking about?”

“My past,” she explained, “since he has the black wings I was curious if he could do what the Dark Lord can.”

He nodded. “You and Tornado have seemed really close lately.”

“Yeah, we’ve become really close friends.” She told him as he turned to stare into the fire. “Aw, don’t be jealous.”

Umbro sat up surprised. “I’m not jealous!” He insisted quietly.

She laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll always be my best friend.”

“Y-yeah.” He looked back at the fire.

“Night, Umbro.” She yawned pulling over the blanket.

“Night.” He sighed lying back down. Always just your best friend . . . even after all we’ve been through together? Thanks a lot Durza.



“So, you said you met when you were little, how did you meet?” Durza questioned.

“Alright, I told you I would answer your questions but do you have to ask them one right after another like this?”

“Well, I want to know!” She insisted, “you don’t want me to ask in front of the others but there’s not much time when it’s just us.”

Tornado and Durza were setting up the barrier while the others warmed up.
“I followed her. She went to pick flowers and no one went with her. She had noticed that I was following and invited me to play with her.”

Durza laughed. “That’s so cute! You were a mini stalker.”

“I wasn’t stalking her!” He grumbled.

“I was kidding. Why did you want to follow her?”

“She had smiled at me,” he answered softly. “She didn’t act like I was different. In the light realm most people hate the darkness but she didn’t. Aero accepted me as I was.”

Tornado’s eyes were soft and gentle as he talked about Aero. His usual coldness seemed to melt away as he spoke her name.

“That’s enough questions for today.” Tornado finished the last step of the barrier. “Promise you’ll keep this a secret?”

“Keep what a secret?” Umbro looked between the two of them. “What’s going on?”

They both stared at him.

“Tornado, I thought there weren’t going to be any secrets kept from the group.”

Umbro walked closer to them. “What’s going on?”

Tornado looked away. “It’s personal.”

“Personal?” He looked towards Durza.

“We have to go train. There’s not much time before the sun sets.” She led the way back to the clearing. Tornado followed staring at the ground. He didn’t understand why Umbro reacted the way he did. He didn’t like lying to his friends but Aero was his secret.

Ember and Pye waited for their arrival in the clearing. They kept their hands warm with a flame provided by Ember. As the trio entered the clearing seemed to get 10 degrees colder. Durza had her arms crossed angrily, Tornado looked more depressed than the previous day, and Umbro was glaring at both of their backs. Pye and Ember looked at each other concerned.

“I-is everything alright?” Pye asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. Let’s get to work.” Tornado avoided the explanation. “Is everyone warmed up enough to train?”

Umbro tried to shake off his sour mood while he trained against Pye. He wasn’t going to take it out on someone who wasn’t involved.

“Pye, stop going easy on me.” Umbro complained as he disarmed Pye for the third time.

“Sorry . . .” he picked up his sword. “Are you sure you’re feeling well? You seem kind of . . . preoccupied.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He pulled back into his fighting stance. “Just come at me with all you’ve got.”

Pye didn’t hesitate. He ran at Umbro bent low to the ground. His sword struck Umbro’s pushing him back. Umbro was shocked at how serious Pye had become in just a few seconds. It was obvious how much Pye held back during normal battles. He was completely serious. Pye stopped suddenly, his blade at Umbro’s neck.

“You can’t fight me at full force if you’re thinking of something else.” Pye told him. His blue eyes were icy. He sighed closing his eyes as he dropped his sword. When he looked up again he was back to the normal calm Pye. “Maybe you should sit out for awhile, at least until you get your head straight.”

Umbro nodded. “You’re right. I’m not thinking straight.”

“If it’s about one of those two,” he looked over at where the others were practicing, “you really should just talk to them personally. I don’t know what happened but they’re your friends. They wouldn’t try to make you unhappy.”

“I know I . . . I’m just a little confused, right now.”

“Are you jealous?”

“You think they seem really close, too?”

“No.” Pye answered flat out, “I just got the feeling that you were jealous.”

Umbro sighed. “Maybe my mind is just blowing things out of proportion.”

“Most likely.” Pye laughed. “Those two are good friends but it’s obviously nothing more than that. I mean it’s obvious that Tornado’s mind is elsewhere even when he’s with us. I’m almost worried for him.”

“Almost?”

“I think he’s strong enough to take care of himself. If he needs to vent he’ll find a way.”

Umbro thought for a moment. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll ask him about it later.”

“And Durza?”

He looked over at the group again. “She can do what she wants.”