"Ew, what is that?"

   Alexie looked at my distasteful look at the fabric he had procured from the bag. He held it up, curious. "Do you not recognize it?"

   "Should I?"

   He unfolded the rest of it and held it up. It was a silky fabric and dark grey in color. The only way I could describe the pattern was storm clouds. In fact, it looked as if it were shimmering and shifting across the fabric. It was long with billowing sleeves, a hood, and a button to fasten with at the collarbone. I realized what I was seeing and snorted.

   "Oh. You were wearing that in the alley back in Memphis. Did it shrink in the dryer or something?" It was an exact copy of his outfit back then, but smaller. 

   "What are you going on about?"

  "Nothing, nothing at all."

   He shook his head and held it out to me. "This is yours. It is customary that the apprentice wear the same type and color cloak as their master until they are no longer an apprentice."

   "But why wear them? It doesn't really help blend in." I knew that much -- magicks worked hard to hide their existence from humans. Wearing this type of clothing was the exact way to get spotted. It was the whole reason I'd labeled Alexie as crazy when I first saw him.

   "It hides the staff or other weapon of magicks," answered Alexie. "A sword or a staff is more noticeable than this cloak." He nodded at the table. "We are almost done for the day." We'd only stopped because there was a knock on the door as the package containing the cloak was delivered. Though I didn't see a UPS or FedEx guy, so I was seriously questioning how it got there.

   I set it on the table and followed him back into the attic. Alexie looked out the window -- it was a habit, I'd learned -- and turned back around while I shut the door. "Retrieve your staff." He put his hands behind his back.

   I grimaced. We'd been working on this particular trick for two days now. It wasn't easy but I was starting to get the hang of it, even if the repetition was tiring. I stretched out my hand and focused. Scarlet covered my hand as I reached out mentally, the color intensifying the further I went. Finally, I sensed the barrier approaching, and twisting my fingers. My hand sealed around something invisible and I pulled harshly with my power.

   The practice staff appeared in my hand. I exhaled. It was the same way he made his own staff disappear, and he called it a safe. I had stored the staff near the barrier, which somehow made it disappear until I grabbed it again. Only I could get in with the code -- the motion I made when reaching for it. I gave Alexie a flat look once I had the staff. 

   "Again."

   I tossed it up and it flashed scarlet before it disappeared. Soon, I was doing a sort of dance where I reached out, summoned the staff, knocked away Alexie's attack, and threw it back. Whenever he wasn't actively attacking me, the staff wasn't allowed in my hands. 

   It was incredibly difficult -- more than I'd ever think it could be. The amount of focus it took to be able to watch Alexie for an assault and then delve so deep into the vibrating against my skin was astronomical. But, to my own surprise, I somewhat enjoyed it. I liked challenges and didn't often get one this hard. A maniac smile would be against my lips as I spun around, knocking aside the spike of white, and throwing the staff up. It vanished.

   A white flash caught my ankle and I was suddenly wobbling. I quickly snatched my staff from thin air and smacked the white rope away. Then I pulled the staff diagonally across my chest and focused. Crimson seeped from my pores and crashed into a box before attacks rained down from all sides.

   Alexie stood across from me, fog obscuring him, and lowered his staff. I dropped the shield and prepared to launch my staff away into nothingness, but something yanked on the bottom end. I yelped and was so off-guard that I tumbled with it to the ground. The air was forced from my lungs and my staff suddenly decided it had a mind of its own and tried to hit me over the head.

   Okay, this is new. But how the heck am I supposed to beat a stick?!

   My thoughts spun and I had an idea. Gritting my teeth, I let go of the wood and rolled to the side. It hit the ground where I'd been, momentarily inanimate again, and I hooked it with my foot. Flinging it up, I snapped a hand out and crimson flew off of it. The weight yanked the rope around Alexie's foot and I yanked as hard as I could.

   He gave a startled sound as he fell. A ball of magic smashed into his staff and sent it flying away. At the same time, I lunged forward and reached backwards. Hooked with a line of scarlet, my staff flew into my hand and I jumped forward in time to jab it against Alexie's chin. He froze, halfway up from the ground, and his eyes narrowed on me. 

   I panted but grinned down at him wordlessly. Finally. I knew I'd only gotten the jump on him, but I still felt the victory down to my bones. And damn, it felt good.

   Finally I took a step back and set the staff down, leaning on it. He got to his feet, his salt and pepper hair askew, but he was silent. I hardly thought about my reaction to the movement from the corner of my eye. Crimson smashed into his behind-the-back attack and sparks exploded to life. 

   "Admit it, I won." I smirked, still panting heavily.

   He allowed a small smile. "You did." 

   I stared at him for a second. Then I laughed and slapped my thigh. "I'll be damned! You admitted it! I can't believe it."

   He walked past and kicked the bottom of my staff, making it fall and me with it. I hit the ground and put my foot out. He tripped over it and I stuck out my tongue.

    I woke up at the usual time. Birds faintly sang from through the window as sunlight tried to get past it. Groggy, I yawned and stretched. With a rub of my eyes, I looked at the room blearily. My eyes landed on my backpack -- fully packed -- as it hung from the door handle. The memory of today's trip smacked me across the face.

   Today, we left for the Community Meeting. That wasn't the scary part. The scary part was that I'd been in this cottage for five months. It definitely didn't feel that long, but it had been. I rubbed my face and exhaled slowly. A chuckle worked itself out. How the hell have Alexie and I not killed each other yet?

   White appeared in front of me and I screeched, lunging from the bed. The spark hit the sheets and I cursed aloud. "Damn you, Alexie! You can't let me sleep in once?!"

   There was no response, even though I knew that was his doing. He'd been shocking me every morning at the exact same time until I learned to get out of bed before it happened. 

   Grumbling that I was never going to be able to sleep in again, I headed for the bathroom. After cleaning up I found Alexie at his usual place at the table. This time, he lacked the usual bowl of breakfast. He seemed to be lost in thought, though he snapped back to reality when I walked in.

   He gestured. "Again."

   I blinked, realized what he meant, and scowled. "You mean the same thing I've done a hundred times in a week?"

   He didn't answer and just watched me. By now, it was easy, but I still didn't like it. I'd been pulling the same trick for a week, over and over and over. Though it was a neat trick didn't mean I appreciated being forced to perform so much.

   I spun on the ball of my heel and reached into my 'safe'. I grabbed the two items inside and my fingers twisted. When I finished the turn, weight had settled onto my shoulders. The stormy cloak fluttered to a rest. The hood fell over my eyes. The practice staff was in my hand as I have Alexie a pointed look. As soon as I'm done with this, I'm not wearing a cloak. They're a hassle.

   "Happy?"

   He shrugged. I turned around and sent the two items back into nothingness. The cloak simply vanished from my shoulders. I headed to the kitchen and poked around for food. Gah, I'm starving! Out of habit, I glanced over to see what Alexie had eaten this time. When I saw he hadn't eaten anything, I frowned. "We run out of food or something? The world ending?"

   Alexie blinked slowly while he deciphered what I'd said. "I hadn't thought about breakfast yet, honestly."

   I scowled at him, grabbed an extra plate, and threw the same stuff onto it. I slid it in front of him as I sat down. He looked at me, surprised, but I scowled again. "Don't get used to it." My tone was snippy, but we both knew I didn't mean it. At least, not all the way.

   His lips twitched into a soft smile. "Thank you, Roxie."