Sable

The next day it wasn't Lucca who came for Sable's training, but a tall, slim man with striking red hair. It wasn't a natural red like Sable's, but a fire engine red. She decided she would call him Fire Boy. He had a ring through his lip, and another through his eyebrow.

"King Lucca has informed me that for the rest of this week I am to be training you," he said.

Sable looked him up and down. He wore a leather vest that looked like it had once been a jacket with the sleeves torn off; the bits that went over his shoulders were jagged. He wore fishnets underneath, and leather pants. Sable chewed her lip.

"Really?" she said. "He trusted you, some strange punk Fire Boy to look after me and train me? I highly doubt that." The man flushed and narrowed his eyes.

"I am the king's younger brother," he ground out. Sable pursed her lips and her eyebrows knitted together.

"But vampires don't reproduce," she pointed out. Fire Boy let out an agitated sigh.

"We share the same maker," he explained. "I'm roughly 500 years younger than Lucca."

"Oh, cool," Sable said. "Bye, now."

She tried to shut the door in his face, but his hand stopped it. Sable gasped and looked up at him. He glared down at her, his twisted expression almost making her shiver.

"Uh," she stepped away from the door. He pushed it open and followed her inside.

"Do not make my job more difficult than it already has to be," he growled at her. "I am going to be training you, even if you disagree."

"How come Lucca isn't here?" Sable asked. Fire Boy took her by her arm and guided her back out of her bedroom. He shut the door behind them.

"He isn't feeling very well," Fire Boy said. "And my name isn't Fire Boy; stop calling me that."

Sable looked up at him with wide eyes. If he had been able to read her thoughts- could Lucca? Fire Boy let go of her arm.

"No," he said. "We have different abilities, each obtained through different means. I stole mine from a demon. My name is Conor; please call me that instead of that stupid Fire Boy. I am a man, not a boy."

"Fine then, Conor," Sable nodded. "Are you even able to train me?"

"I'm- I'm sure I can figure it out," Conor said. "It can't be too hard. You already have- assigned tasks or skills you're supposed to be working on, right?"

"Yeah," Sable nodded.

"Then, let's go," Conor said.

He took her by the arm again and led her along. He took her back to the greenhouse that she and Lucca had been in the day before. Sable looked around. What could she do in there? She definitely didn't want to destroy the plant life.

"Um, there isn't much that I can do in here," Sable said to him. "I already brought all the plants back to life."

Conor looked taken aback. "You- you brought the plants to life?" he asked, eyes wide. He shook his head and his expression returned to normal. "I suppose you do have the powers of a goddess. Well, then, what else are you supposed to be doing?"

Sable chewed her lip and said, "...Supposed to be practising- sort of... knocking things over. Destruction? I guess."

"Then, how about that tree?" Conor asked. He pointed over to a tree at random.

Immediately there was an uproar within her mind. Sable covered her ears, as if that would aid her in silencing the panicked voices. She shook her head violently.

"I definitely can't," she said. "They would never forgive me."

"Who? What? The trees? And you have the power to put everything back to normal, don't you?" Conor reasoned with her.

The tree begged her not to put it through that pain though, even if she could bring it back as if nothing had happened.

"I don't want to do it," Sable said. She stared wide-eyed at the tree, and then glared at Conor. "I couldn't. I just won't."

"Then- then try the power on me," Conor said. He stepped back from her and spread his arms out. "I'm sure there's no harm to it."

"Are you sure about that?" Sable asked. She raised her eyebrows.

"How much harm can an amateur do me?" Conor scoffed. "Go on; give it your best shot."

"Alright, you asked for it," Sable grinned.

She had only just met him, but already she liked him for that haughty attitude. She remembered he could hear her thoughts and stopped thinking about him.

She shook her head and raised her hands. Conor dropped his back to his sides. Sable took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Since she liked him she would have to pretend that he was Lucca, or she wasn't sure she would be able to use her power. She let out a slow sigh and opened her eyes again. Conor stared expectantly back at her.

Hope you're ready for this, she thought at him.

"Any day now," Conor grinned back at her.

Sable pursed her lips and glared at him. Even though Lucca had warned her against using anger as her fuel, she allowed it to surge through her and pushed forward hard. A wall of swirling, golden light rushed at him and then slammed into him, knocking him flat on his ass. Sable smiled triumphantly and did a little dance.

"Wow," Conor said, holding his head. "That actually really hurt, and I'm a bit dizzy now. Well done."

"Thank you," Sable said. She took a bow.

"Can you help me back up though?" he asked. He laughed weakly and extended his hand out to her. "Seriously, I'm really dizzy."

"I suppose," Sable rolled her eyes at him. She walked over to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him back to his feet. "You sure do talk a big game, but when it comes down to it you're not that strong."

"Shut up," Conor flushed.

"I'm hungry," Sable said.

"Oh, right," Conor shook his head. He swayed and then regained his balance. "Lucca told me about that. I forget you humans need to eat. Is there any way, do you think, that you can figure out how to- lessen expenditure?"

"Yeah," Sable nodded. She released his hand and watched him dust himself off. "I can probably call out to Inara in my dreams tonight. Now take me to the food!"

"You can do that?" Conor asked. He lead the way out of the room.

"Oh, yeah," Sable nodded. She followed him and hummed a bit. "That's how I got these powers. It was like my twin came up to me suddenly and said, 'By the way, I'm a superhero, but I'm passing my powers onto you now and retiring.' But it felt so much more strange than that. It's weird seeing an exact copy of yourself, when you've never had a twin before. Well, technically I'm the copy."

"Wow, you're chatty," Conor said. "By the way, might I suggest a different location to train in? You know, one where you have someone or something else to knock over. Just a suggestion."

Sable grinned and said, "What, too much for you? I agree though. It sounds like a good idea. Do you by any chance have here... I don't know, a training ground or something for stuff like this?"

"We do have a training ground," Conor said. He lead her around until they reached the kitchen. "It's rather large... But is that really a good idea? You can put everything back together after you're done destroying it, right? I do not want to be blamed for the idea... Lucca would probably..."

"Don't worry about it," Sable assured him. "I've got this. And anyway I think that's the main goal: putting stuff back together, bringing plants back to life, and healing things as if nothing ever happened. I think that's what Inara did."

"Cool," Conor nodded. He looked around the kitchen. "It is what she did... So... It's, well, been a while since I've cooked anything. And I do mean a really long while. What do humans even eat these days?"

"Mind if I do the cooking then?" Sable asked, covering her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter.

"Oh, sure, definitely," Conor said. He gestured about the kitchen. "Have at it. Just don't set anything on fire."

"Sweet," Sable said.

She took her time to explore, figuring out where everything was. She then pulled out ingredients to make pancakes. She glanced over at Conor to see him watching her intently.

His attitude was rough, though similar to hers, but he was cool. Sable smiled as she prepared her food. Hopefully he would become her friend.

"You think I'm cool?" Conor asked.

"Shut up. Stop invading my thoughts," Sable demanded.

"Alright, alright," Conor said.

"Seriously," Sable warned him.

"I got it, I'll back off. I swear on my soul," Conor laughed.

"Do vampires even have souls?" Sable asked and narrowed her eyes at him.

"My right hand, then," Conor made a mocking face at her. "I need that one."

Sable rolled her eyes and ate quickly, not enjoying the awkward silence that followed. She kept glancing up at him and wondering whether or not he was staying true to his word.

"Are you doing it?" she asked.

"Doing what? Oh, no," he answered. "Honestly you can force me out and close your mind off to me. Inara did it."

"Good; that's really annoying and an invasion of privacy," Sable muttered. "I'll be sure to ask her about that, if I can reach her. What was your relationship to her, anyway?"

"We were acquaintances," Conor shrugged. He let out a short sigh. "Are you done eating yet?"

Suddenly his attitude wasn't so cute anymore.

"Yes," she glared at him and set her fork down. "Let me put my dishes up first."

"Okay," Conor said.

After she had done that they left the kitchen. Conor led her down the hall and all the way down the flights of stairs. He led her outside, to a canopied training ground. Green hedges and vines climbed up along brick walls.

"This is awesome," Sable said. She walked over to one of the wooden training dummies and poked at it.

"I think you're just strange," Conor said. Sable shook her head. "Well, we should continue with the training then. And be- gentle, or just... careful."

"Yeah! Let's destroy some things!" Sable exclaimed.

"Oh, dear," Conor sighed, covering his eyes.