The Dragon's Vessel

"I got a question actually for you Kimi," Benkei had broken the silence as Kimi arrived back in the living room after going upstairs and checking on Masumi. She was still keeping to herself but she seemed a little better as Kimi handed her a small plate of food Benkei had brought over.

Kimi perked her head up from staring at the ground, "what's up?" She asked as she took a seat and finished off her own meal.

"I was just curious, how much do you know about fighting? Could you beat an average person in a fight?" Benkei asked, resting his arms on his legs and giving his full attention to the petite female in question.

Before Kimi could answer Erik was already responding. "No, her tactic is to let herself be beaten half to death and rely on being healed," Erik said bitterly.

"Ah," Benkei said, letting the words hang in the room before he responded. "What would you say to a little training?" Benkei asked, putting some feelers out there.

"Like," Kimi held her hands up and gave a quick punch. "I mean, I’m not completely inept, I’ve learnt one or two things from watching Laxus train," she frowned.

"No harm in teaching you a few more techniques right? Such as hand to hand combat and a few weapons too if you like. Just so you can hold your own," Benkei explained, glancing at the other guys in the room and gauging their reactions to his suggestions. Erik was all for Kimi learning some self-defence, Gajeel also thought it was a good idea and by Ryujin’s smirk, he was also all for it.

"Yeah... okay, I'll do it," Kimi agreed.

Benkei slapped his hands together, "okay then how ‘bout we start today… right now? How much of a backyard do you have here?”

"A lot?" Kimi answered, finishing her meal and holding back a groan as she got up and headed to the backdoor where a large lawn and guest house can be seen from their back porch.

Benkei chuckled. "Okay, that'll do. Go get changed into some gym clothes. I'll grab some stuff from my truck." Benkei headed back to the front door and slipped on his boots, speeding over to his truck and searching through it for stuff.

Kimi glanced at the guys who in turn shrugged before she disappeared to change into work out clothes, something she didn't often wear. She reappeared with her hair tied up in a high messy bun.

Benkei soon entered back into the house with a bag draped across his back and he waltzed toward the backyard. "Right follow me and I'll get set up." He called to Kimi as he passed by and out the backdoor, moving off to the side of the lawn and slamming the bag on the ground, opening it. He started to pull out a wide variety of weapons such as staffs, a sword and some daggers as well as some punching gear. He proceeded to spend the next 3 hours training Kimi.



Yesterday’s training with Benkei had tired Kimi out more than she had expected but she was glad at her spontaneous trip to their favourite diner.

"They should be closing soon but I've been craving one of Elizabeth's slices of mud cake," Kimi declared, tugging Wendy toward the diner's double doors. Wendy laughed as they entered, happy that Kimi had declared girl time and they'd come, just the two of them.

Elizabeth was behind the counter in the process of breaking everything down for the day. She retrieved the last of the dishes from the customers before spotting Kimi and Wendy. "Ah, Kimi! Welcome to the diner," she glanced at the smaller girl, "hello there Wendy." She exclaimed in greeting.

"Sorry we're coming in on closing, do you have any mud cake left? I'm happy to grab it as take-out," Kimi smiled apologetically as Wendy greeted Elizabeth with a hello and turned to spot the last chicken panini in the cabinet. "Can I also grab that please?" Wendy pointed to the panini, her tummy grumbled in want.

Elizabeth giggled. "Yes and sure thing, lemme nab those for both of you," she busied herself with grabbing both items for Kimi and Wendy. "You’re lucky Kimi, I've been selling a lot of the mud cake recently, so what brings you both here? Just stopping in or are you looking for Ben?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

Kimi laughed but shook her head, "just really wanted a slice of cake, I'm pretty sure Benkei would growl me for having junk food after the butt whooping he gave me yesterday in training," she explained, hoping he wasn't around to see her indulging.

Elizabeth plated up both dishes, placing them in front of the ladies. "He means well. I'm sure he wouldn't be mad."

By this point, Chandra appeared from the kitchen covered in grease dirt and grime. "Izzy where’s my- Oh! There is it." She snagged a to-go cup from the bench and sculled its contents. "Ah much better," She then noticed Kimi and Wendy. "Hey there," she said in casual greeting.

Elizabeth by this point chimed in again with, "Ben’s out running some errands at the moment anyway, so you’re safe for now."

"I imagine he's super busy with dealing with the damages," Kimi pointed out, frowning. "I hope you guys catch whoever lit the fire." There was an underlying tension in Kimi's voice, Benkei had mentioned having enemies but Kimi and her Weyr were so used to being the targets of attacks she didn't want to cross off that it might have been their fault.

There was a silent agreement with Kimi’s statement but Elizabeth promptly broke it, piping up with, "should clean yourself up a bit." before tossing a clean rag to Chandra who rolled her eyes and wiped her face.

"I'm doing what repairs I can to save the boss a bit of money in the long run," Chandra explained with a grimace, finishing off her drink before tossing the cup in the bin.

Elizabeth turned her attention back to Kimi and Wendy. "Ben did mention he was training you yesterday. What made you decide to take him up on the offer?"

Kimi and Wendy watched the two interact with amusement before Kimi sighed at Elizabeth's question. "Besides peer pressure?" Kimi joked before becoming serious. "I guess... I'm just tired of having to rely on others, being the damsel in distress." Kimi air quoted and Wendy's face grew very sullen. "You won't believe the number of close calls I've had, you couldn't tell since I can be healed as long as I have Wendy or one of the others around." Kimi shrugged and then paused, she had spoken honestly but forgotten that Elizabeth and Chandra might not have been told about their situation by Benkei yet.

Elizabeth and Chandra shared a look of confusion. "Uh.. what do you mean by that Kimi?" Elizabeth asked.