The darkness (closed)

"Morning, you two" Ember said calmly as she handed the two a cup of tea each. She sipped at her tea, before finally looking up. "Today's training will be more intense than yesterday's. Today, I will begin to train you in the art of Kendo."

Austin paused at the new word, the tea half raised to his lips. "Kendo?" He questioned, taking a sip of the hot tea.

Benjamin snapped his fingers. "Oh yea!"
"And how will this Kendo help me?" Austin asked, still sipping his tea.

Ember chuckled quietly, and turned away from Austin for a brief moment. She quickly spun around, and brought her sword down to Austin's neck, stopping only a centimetre from his flesh.
"Restraint, control, honour, discipline. These are only a handful of things you can learn from kendo."

Austin swallowed, his eyes on the sword before they shifted to Ember. "Right." He stammered while Benjamin sat there laughing. He'd seen Ember practicing with Midori back in America and knew how good she really was.

"Since I am a kendo master, and could very well kill you, you two will be going up against each other, and following every word I say while I practice with the dummy" Ember said with a soft laugh before she handed each of them a wooden sword. "Armor is in the next room. You have fifteen minutes to change."

The boys looked at one another for a moment before they both rushed over to the next room to change. They came back moments later, shifting their gear.

"Good, let's begin" Ember said before she turned to face the training dummy. She took up her usual stance, the one foot angled slightly to improve her balance. She rambled on about the importance of proper footing for quite some time, and hit the dummy a few times before moving to face the guys, and took on the same stance. "Come on. Try push me to the floor."

"Both of us?" Questioned Austin in a daze. Even Ben looked a little bewildered.

"Let's try one at a time at first, then you both come at me at the same time." Ember stood there, ready for the attack, smiling.

Austin and Benjamin looked at one another. They seemed to be figuring out who would go first. Benjamin having known Ember longer stepped forward and saved Austin from having to jump in. "No' goin' easy on ya." he teased lightly.

"Who said you needed to go easy on me?" Ember held her arm straight out, and did a beckoning gesture with her hand.

Benjamin couldn't help but take her invitation and lunged for her. He had only feinted going for her throat with his hands and instead ducked low to swipe a leg across her own in an attempt to make her fall.

Ember effortlessly avoided Benjamin's attacks, and slapped him on the back of his head as he passed her.
"Aww, better luck next time" Ember said with a laugh. "Austin, you're next."

Benjamin rubbed the back of his head as he plopped back down on the floor while he watched Austin. The young Donnelly seemed to look Ember over. He seemed to be looking for an opening.

Austin let off a yell and ran forward. He dipped like a football player would when training to hold back the opposite team's players, intending on tackling Ember to the ground.

Ember was sent flying to the ground, and landed with a thud.
"Very good" Ember wheezed as she lay on the ground. She just had the air knocked out of her.

Austin shook out his hair for a moment before he breathed out a sigh. "You orrigh', Ember?" Benjamin asked with a laugh in his voice.

"I'm fine. I just haven't taken a hit like that for a very long time. Well, unless you count getting shot." Ember finally found her feet, and leaned against the training dummy for a moment, a hand held over the wound from the near fatal Templar attack. "Sorry, just give me a moment." Ember looked at her friends, and smiled softly before she passed out.

"Ember!"
"Ember!" Australian and American alike both rushed to Ember's side. One picked her up into his arms while the other rested his hand across her forehead for a brief second before he rose. "I'll go get Walter." Within an instant, the American rushed out of the room not even bothering to put his shoes back on and shouted Walter's name the second he was out in the hallway.

Samm was, at the moment, quite preoccupied, as he was on an interesting adventure. This one, however, was, as he liked to call it, Where-Is-Everything-What-Is-This-Why-Is-This-Place-So-Large. He was primarily just wandering, trying to find wherever Ember and the others were, when he heard one of - as he could hear - the men yelling for Walter. Then, his half-awake mind thought of the best possible question to yell - "Wuzzgoinon?". He thought he sounded like an idiot, but, hey - he already said it.

Austin twisted his head once he'd spotted Samm. Maybe he shouldn't tell the man what had happened. But then again, Samm might know what's wrong with Ember. In the next instant, Austin grabbed Samm's arm and hauled him into Ember's room, shoving him toward the area that he'd left Benjamin and Ember in. "Ember's fainted." He explained quickly. "She was training me and Ben in Kendo and fainted shortly after my turn."

Pictures of all of Ember’s female ancestors lined the walls, along with a few pictures of some of her male ancestors. However, all the women looked exactly the same, they all looked exactly like Ember. A strange looking creature came running down the hall, stopping to look at Austin, and Samm.
"Little Drrrragon not be happy. Forrrrbidden wing. That man, verrrry old, could help" the creature growled before it bolted off. Of course, it was actually Seth, but that would only be known to Haemon.