by Rue Volley
I looked along the trail lit up at my feet, almost a golden shimmer, not appearing as footsteps, but an echo of the creatures that had tread in its wake. All of my senses were at a peak, probably due to the exchange of blood with Johnathan. This new awareness made me feel less of a freak and more in my element. I had to admit, it made me a little weary as to how easily I was settling into my identity, my want for blood and light. My want and need to be more, feel more… give and take more. I was more now, there was no going back, only moving forward.
I reached a moss-covered rock over hang and could hear voices below me. It looked to be about a twenty-foot drop. I stood at the top staring down, not knowing if I should jump yet somehow knowing that I could, without fear of injuring myself as I would have easily done, no less than two months ago. I looked at what I had on. Jeezus, well, it's time to get it over with, this big reveal. I took two steps back, remembering my parents standing at the pool when I was little, giving me my encouragement to jump off the high dive. “We know you can do this Rue… be brave,” my mother had said. Now I am, without trying.
I ran forward and for a moment I felt like the birds flying over in my dream. I landed, instinctively crouching to the ground. Then I stood up straight, surprised that I didn't break an ankle when I hit the ground, but instead it cushioned me, like falling on pillows, absorbing my weight and stabilizing my landing. I never felt cooler, at any moment in my life, or more protected.
Everyone was in a loose circle and the conversation came to a dead stop when I landed. I looked up and they all had their eyes on me. Kai stepped towards me.
“Holy Shit Rue, I didn't even feel you coming.”
I grinned, I had to…a “Holy Shit” from Kai was a compliment.
Johnathan smiled too, but it obviously meant something completely different.
Sam walked a circle around me. “Well, I have to say, from one girl to another, you look unbelievably hot, and kick ass.”
I looked down at my clothing and back up to her. “Yea… I uh like it, a lot more than I thought I would, honestly.”
Josh just stared at me. No smile or grin but a new look, I couldn't say what he was thinking. He snapped out of it and looked at Johnathan.
“So… today the blades?” Josh said.
Johnathan replied quickly, “Why not, have to sooner or later… best if sooner, like now.”
I understood, but didn't at the same time.
Kai gave a woo-hoo and clapped his hands together. “Yeah, about freakin time!”
I looked at Sam… “What are we doing?”
She kept her stare on the two of them. “We are not doing anything. Josh and Johnathan are going to battle with their blades today. We've been messing around with wood sticks for weeks. Looks like we are doing it for real, finally.”
“Couldn't they kill each other?” I said, with tinge of nervousness in my voice.
She nudged me. “Well… I don't think ‘kill’ is going to happen, but ‘injure’ probably… yes”
I stepped forward. “Maybe you two should just settle down.”
Josh didn't even look at me. He reached behind him and pulled out two blades from the base of his back. He brought them out to his sides and grinned at Johnathan.
Kai got excited. “Oh it's on!”
“Shut up Kai!” I said.
I walked in between them and looked at Josh, then back to Johnathan.
“What is this… some kind of male thing?”
Johnathan grinned, as he pulled his blades.
“No… this is a ‘him and me’ thing, Rue. Would you mind stepping back, so I can take care of this? Trust me it will be over soon.”
Josh half snorted in protest. “Oh, I see we've arrived at the ‘cock’ portion of the evening.”
“I've never really been too upset at being called that so if you think you’re going to distract me with bullshit, think again,” Johnathan replied.
I moved out of the way. I just knew it didn't matter if I was in between them at this point, or not. I suddenly had an idea...
“So, could someone show me how to use a blade?” I asked.
Johnathan and Josh looked at me. “What?” Josh asked.
I walked in between them and smiled. “I would like to learn how to use a blade… Who is good enough to show me?”
Josh lowered his blades and grinned. “Oh, you know it's me Rue. Why do you have to ask?”
I crossed my arms. “Well, I don't want any half assed show and tell. I want someone to show me how to fight with them. No ‘go easy on the girl’ crap either.”
Johnathan relaxed his arms. “I can show you what I've learned.”
Josh had to interject. “Oh come on Johnathan! I know what I'm doing. You wouldn't even be able to hold a blade properly, if I didn't show you how to.”
Johnathan sheathed his blades behind his back and looked at me.
“Well, it kills me to admit it but, he did show me.”
I walked up to him and whispered in his ear, “I don't need you to show me how to use a blade Johnathan. We get along just fine without any.” He grinned as I pulled away from his face.
“True,” he whispered back.
Sam had been unusually quiet this whole time, but she broke her silence. “Hold on, I'll be right back.”
She flashed away and back so quickly that none of us had time to ask her what the deal was.
Sam returned with a bundle in her hands, looked as if it was leather only black. She handed it to me.
“Here Rue, these belong to you now.”
I knelt down and placed it on the ground and started to unwrap it, to reveal two beautifully etched blades, with white handles, bright like ivory. I gripped them, one in each hand and held them out before me. The blades were elbow to wrist in length and had a slight curve. I held them steady and felt the weight. It was barely noticeable. I looked to Sam, who had a blank expression on her face.
“These are your Mother’s blades Rue. They now belong to you.”
“Thank you Sam,” I whispered.
I know I had a mixed expression of pride and grief on my face because she put her hand on my shoulder, for just a moment. She had that look… the one where you don't really have to say anything, but then she did.
“For every end there is a beginning,” She said.
“What?” I asked her.
Sam smiled. “It is an old teaching with our people, Rue… often used when Blades are passed from one to another.”
“Ohh… I... I don't know what I am supposed to say,” I said quietly.
I looked back to the blades in my hands… it felt completely normal, odd enough.
Josh stepped out in front of me.
“Rue?”
I looked up at him.
“Remember when I said you should center yourself?”
I nodded.
“Well, now is the time to do it. You need to center and draw energy into your blades.”
“I'm going to do what?”
“Watch me,” he said.
Josh spread his feet apart, about a foot wide and held his arms at his side, straightening his posture, positioning himself to become an arrow pointed toward the sky. He closed his eyes and black started to swirl on his skin. I watched as the swirls gathered and started to flow over both of his blades. The symbols etched into them started to glow white, with traces of black mixed in.
I leaned over to Sam and asked her, “Why is it black?”
Sam replied, “Josh's color is Black, it is a strong foundation and pride... of course.” I giggled. Guess it wasn't the best reaction.
Josh opened his eyes and looked at me. “Did you watch me?” he asked, kind of irritated… but in a funny way.
I bit my lip and held my blades out at my sides. “I did… but I don't know if I can do that.”
“I doubt you will fail. Come towards me.”
I stepped out, only a couple feet from him and looked down at the blades in my hands.
“Okay… he
re goes something, well, maybe nothing. I'm not making any promises… none.”
Josh smiled, without parting his lips.
“Just close your eyes, remember the motel?”
“Nice Josh,” I whispered.
I sighed and closed my eyes, concentrating on the earth’s core. It started to form in my mind, melted metal and rock swirling so fast that I could barely focus on it. I slowed my breathing and with each breath I exhaled I watched as the swirling slowed, shimmers of gold and silver laced the fire. I started to draw it into myself, slowly. At first, it was a vibration in my feet and then it began to travel up my legs, through my torso and out to my hands. I felt it tug at my fingertips, almost begging me to release it to the metal blades. I let it go… very slowly. It left heated trails across my skin, as it slithered onto the metal. I heard someone suck their breath in and I opened my eyes. Josh stood before me wide eyed. Fear was not etched on his face, as I expected, but instead a look of wonder.
I looked down at the blades and they were a beautiful color of blue, traced lightly within the blue were other distinct colors white, green, yellow, red, brown, orange, and black. These colors did not mix together but stayed in thin lines, almost as if they were laced within it. I held them up and stared at them closely.
“Seems that I have a lot of colors here Josh. Did I do something wrong?”
Josh moved towards me.
“Damn,” he said.
I kinda panicked. “What? Don't tell me I broke them already.”
Josh rubbed his fingers on his eyes and re focused on the blades.
“No… no you did not break them Rue.” He circled me still staring at them.
I shifted my weight to my other foot. “What is it then…? Stop looking at them so weird, you’re making me nervous.” I swung a blade out as I said it and he dodged a slice to his face.
He smiled. “I'm making you nervous? Really?”
“Yes, you are,” I said.
“Well, don't talk with your hands Rue.” He grinned and looked at Sam, “Do you see this Samantha?”
I turned around, suddenly holding the blades like it was a snake in my hand. I had the urge to drop them and run. Sam had a curious look on her face, I didn't know what it meant, but I didn't like it.
“Yes, I see it Josh… I would have never believed it, but I'm looking right at it.”
I went into panic mode. My voice went up an octave, “Okay… if someone doesn't start talking English to me, I'm chucking these as far away from me as possible!”
Sam moved forward quickly. “No honey, listen… we all have a color.”
I looked like a deer in headlights I'm sure. “Uh huh… Josh said mine is blue. Blue isn't a color, but it's mine. Would someone tell me why I have the rainbow going on here…? I mean are they going to explode or something?”
Josh flashed to my side. “No Rue, listen, when we draw energy, our color swirls on our skin and it transfers to the blades. The blades become an extension of us, part of us. Normally it glows white with one distinct color, your base color as a protector, but you… well, you just transferred every color, individually.” He got really close to my blades and looked. “And they are not mixing, they are distinct. I've never seen it before, it does not happen.”
“Okay, so not only do I have a base color that does not exist, I drink blood, and I have every color in my blades now?”
He stopped looking at the blades and looked at me.
“Yep… looks that way.”
I lowered the blades to my sides. “Oh… that's just awesome. Anything else? What? Next week I stop the earth’s rotation? Or no, maybe I'll just blow something up, with my mind.”
Sam started laughing and then everyone did. I had a ‘three year old throwing a fit’ going on. I knew it but God, why can't I even be normal among the not normal?
I sighed. “Could you just show me how to do something with these? I am standing here, in what I could only guess is leather. I mean its leather right?”
I turned to Sam and she had her hand over her mouth, hiding a smile.
Johnathan stepped towards me. “You look amazing Rue.”
I put my hand out, pointing a blade at him. “Not now.” I drudged on, “I have these glowing knifes in my hands…”
Josh interjected laughing, “Blades Rue. They are blades.” I rolled my eyes. “Okay... BLADES. Wow, ya know, I don't even know what I am doing. I flashed out here, which by the way is not a normal thing to be able to do and I felt really good about it. I thought ‘Rue, you can do this’” I pointed at Johnathan.
“I bit him today, BIT HIM… What the hell is that all about?”
Josh stepped toward me. “You bit him?”
I pointed my blade at him. “Bit him, that's what I said, I grabbed his arm and just took a bite and I loved it. Why the hell would I love that? You know...” I pointed my other blade to the rock I jumped from. “I jumped twenty feet down here. Just JUMPED… Didn't even twist my ankle. I never even ran track, my parents never even got me a bike! I am not athletic at all!”
I stopped and took a breath. Suddenly they all burst into laughter, Kai rolled to the ground and Sam kicked at him, trying to look like she might be on my side. She leaned down holding her stomach. “Get up you ass,” she whispered.
I gripped my blades and started walking away. I’d had, had it, I was going back to the house. I was going to walk, not flash through the woods scaring all the chipmunks and raccoons, take off this white jumpsuit shit and read a book. Normal, very, very normal. Yes…
Josh flashed to me. He was still laughing, but he was starting to get it under control. “Rue… please stay, I will show you something.” I walked a few more feet and he got in front of me.
He lowered his voice, so only I could hear him, “Listen Rue, yes you can move really fast. Your base color is blue, it's not what we would ever expect, but it is who you are, and those blades in your hand are important to you surviving.” He stepped closer to me and I could feel the heat coming off of his body. “You have handled so much, in such a short period of time, with the grace and acceptance that is only consistent with your lineage as a protector of heaven and earth. I would be honored if you would allow me to show you how to use Grace Valon’s blades that you have rightfully inherited”
I stepped back. “Wow, you could have just said, ‘I'm an ass Rue, I didn't realize that all this stuff is just seventeen miles past crazy. I'm sorry for forgetting that you are just a girl, who a year and a half ago was going to the library and getting good grades in school, trying to pick a college. Or better yet just one please, just a please could you try that?” I said.
He grinned at me. “You are amazing, Rue Volley.”
“I'm glad somebody thinks so because I don't know Josh…”
I turned around and could see that Johnathan was looking at the two of us, no longer laughing.
“Okay, fine… show me something Josh.” We walked back to the clearing and he placed himself across from me and pulled his blades from the hidden compartments on his back.
“Okay Rue, hold your blades out to your side.”
I pulled them out and turned them sideways. He looked at my hands. “Well, I would have told you to turn your wrists, but you already did.”
“Just felt like what I should do.”
He started to crouch down. “Well it is. You hold your blades at an angle, makes every strike more deadly. Now I am going to strike at you. I won't hurt you. I'll do it slowly, so you can counter.”
He stood up lifting his blades in an x and started to bring them back down. I brought mine back up in an x and knocked one out of hand. Josh stared at his blade on the ground and then back to me.
“How did you know the counter move?”
“I have no idea Josh, just lucky I guess?”
“Okay…” He bent over and picked it up then he swung around quicker, bringing the blade up over his head, coming down over me. I lifted one blade up and blocked that one while I flipped my other
blade in my hand and hit him in the ribs with the butt of it. He let out a grunt and grabbed his side, stumbling back from me. I immediately apologized.
“Oh my God Josh, I'm sorry… seemed like what I should do…”
I looked to Sam and she had a huge smile on her face, Kai gave me the “rock n roll” sign with his fingers. I half grinned and shrugged my shoulders. I had no idea how this was happening.
Josh spat on the ground and steadied himself. I put one blade in front of me and one at an angle at my side. I had my feet apart, slightly crouching. He lowered his head and took a lower position, with his blades at his side.
“I think you have been trained already Rue.”
“I have not but...”
I was cut off when Josh flashed at me, slicing his blades down at a right angle. I spun around and brought my right hand up, stabbing at him as he moved out of my way. He raised his left hand and I dropped sweeping my leg, knocking him to the ground and brought my blade up to his neck. He lay there grinning at me, his chest rising and falling quickly. I stood up and looked at Sam.
“You just kicked his ass Rue…” she said. She looked at Kai, “Now that's foreplay you idiot.”
“I… I don't even know how I did that!” I whispered.
Josh pushed himself up off of the ground and put his blades away.
“I think we have a warrior here and didn't even know it.”
I lifted my blades up and stared at them. “I didn't know I could use these. It felt like they just moved on their own Josh.”
“You have been imprinted Rue. Your parents have trained you well.”
“When exactly did they train me? I don't ever remember having a blade put in my hand.”
“They must have transferred their knowledge to you, it’s memory Rue,” Josh said.