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A Tale of Fallen Heroes (Pt. 4)

Chapter 4: Swords and Ribbons

It had been months since the fight with the Muteineer. And after those many months the band of heroes had grown closer together.

Over the many months, there had been many Tainted attacks that were so diverse that they tested the heroes' abilities to the brink. But they also grew from the battles. 

They learned what strategies worked best for their plans and whose abilities worked best for certain situations. How Bumblewing was good at surprise attacks, whereas King Noir and Remmywing were best used as slow-burns and attacks that were time consuming. And how Foxglove could use his powers to hide key items from the tainted people and to trick them, where Ladybug's powers were best suited for gradual and consistent attacks.

Ever since he had saved Ladybug, she had grown infatuated with King Noir—trying to gain his attention and make him laugh. Kai thought she was a sweet girl. She meant well and merely wanted to show her affection, and although he never sought it, he did find it charming how she persisted but remained polite and respectful. 

But unfortunately, he couldn't return her feelings. If only he wasn't already in love with Laila, the he might give the spotted heroine a chance.

Although many things had changed over the months, Kai stuck to his training routine.

He practiced martial arts such as archery, staff-fights, and throwing. And on other days, he focused on exercising his mind. With meditation, learning, and strategizing—his mind was getting quicker all the while.

Today, he was perfecting his swordplay.

Kai was quick on his feet, weaving in and out of the way of his imaginary attacker. He concentrated all attacks to be on his imaginary opponent's left side of their body; knowing that it'd be better to attack all in one place, rather than spread his arms further while trying to injure the enemy elsewhere.

Flexing his abdominals, he used his momentum to abruptly stop, slice the sword through the imaginary left shoulder, and flipped over whilst dragging the enemy behind him. Had the move been in a real fight, the opponent would have been knocked out of breath, immobilized, and most likely weak from the loss of blood.

Breathing sharply, Kai stuck the tip of his sword to the ground and rested against the handle for support—trying to calm down after the adrenaline rush.

The crunch of gravel nearby drew his attention and he swiftly spun around.

Standing a mere ten feet away was a familiar willowy figure with long raven hair. Her light green eyes were rimmed by thick lashes and shone in surprise.


"Mei Laila?" Kai's voice came out rougher than normal. He couldn't tell whether it was the beautiful girl or his adrenaline-filled state that was the cause of his breath being robbed from him.

The young woman's eyes widened and she blinked, curiously.

"How do you know my name?" She queried.

Kai brushed his dark hair out of his eyes and looked at her with a slight smirk.

"Do you really not recognize me? I've heard being sent off to a military school does alter a man, but I don't think I really changed that much."

After a moment's pause, Laila's jaw hung in shock and disbelief. She snapped it up, hurriedly, a wonderous smile dawning on her face

"Chang Kai?!" She asked. "Is that really you, Kai?"

His deep chuckled resonated in the cool air.

Forgetting all sense of formalities, Laila launched into her childhood friend's arms and hugged him, fiercely.

The last time that she had seen him, 4 years previous, his father had sent him off to military school. Chang Kai had just lost his mother and his father had grown distant as a result of it. The boy that Laila had known then had been a fair-skinned, tall, lanky boy with short dark hair and unreadable dark green eyes.

Standing before her however, was the same boy....he was just all grown up. He'd finally grown into his height—filling out with muscles and a healthy figure. His soft black hair had grown to his collar bone and was in a masculine low ponytail—keeping it out of his face. His skin was darker than she remembered and had a freckle or two on the side of his throat. His eyes, however, remained the same. They were the exact evergreen color with muddled depths that they had been before and always got the better of her curiosity.


Finally, she withdrew from his embrace. She giggled at the absurdity of the situation.

"I—um—well, how have you been?" She asked, at last.

It was with a sinking feeling that Kai realized that she thought he had just gotten back—she didn't realize that he'd been home for many months. She obviously didn't remember the day that they both helped the elderly man with his basket of oranges—so she wouldn't remember that it was even him, specifically.

Deciding that he didn't want to make her feel bad for not remembering him, Kai smiled good-naturedly.

"I've been well enough," he answered. "Just been keeping up my mental ability and practicing my swordplay." He gestured to the weapon that he was currently leaning on.

"Swordplay?" Laila reiterated, in wonder. A slow smile grew on her face. She leaned toward her childhood friend, with a sense of confidentiality.

"I've always wanted to be a sword master," she said in a low voice, although there was no one else in the courtyard but they two. "Only, I have no brothers to teach me. And Baba never approves of my interests in 'unladylike' things."

Chang Kai shook his head.

"I believe your father has gotten more strict and limiting since I was last here. He was always so occupied with trying to get you to weave rich fabrics with the remains of silkworm cocoons." He furrowed his thick brows, slightly.

Laila giggled lightly.

"I had almost forgotten about that! Thankfully, he's stopped that delusion. Now he is finding me numerous suitors to be my husband." She huffed and blew her bangs in annoyance.

Kai saw that this obviously troubled her, but that she didn't want to discuss it, quite yet. So, he redirected her attention and changed the subject.

"Well then, how about it?" He crosses the courtyard and fumbled around a deep wooden chest.

"How about what?"

Kai chucked and handed her a steel sword. It was well-balanced and was the lightest that he had. The raven-haired girl's eyes lit up.

"Would you like to learn how to swordfight?" He asked with a slight smile.

A wide grin crossed Laila's pink lips. She lifted the sword in response and held it in a firm position.

"I'm going to come swinging at you," Kai warned. "I want you to defend yourself as best as you can against me. But there's no need to worry—you'll be in no danger. I just want to see your skill level."

Laila nodded, a look of determination in her eyes. 

With a slight war-cry, the willow-figured young woman rushed forward. She swung the hefty sword with both hands as she neared her childhood friend.

The man easily parried her attack with a single swipe of his weapon and the girl was thrown off-balance by her lunge. She toppled to the side, but—with almost unnatural reflexes—caught herself in the nick of time. She spun around, dragging her foot behind her and making an indentation in the dirt. She took a steadying breath, adjusted her grip and her stance, and came around for the next attack.

This time, she barely dragged the swordtip in the dirt and thrusted the flat part of the blade against Kai's shin, effectively sweeping out his feet and knocking him down.

But he didn't stay down for nearly as long as she'd hoped. He dropped his sword and maneuvered his body around, grabbing her ankle, and performed the martial arts move—the corkscrew. In less than a second, Laila had dropped the sword in the dirt and fallen backward. She would have been knocked out of breath, had Kai not guessed that would happen and quickly moved to break her fall. He set her back down on the ground.

"Sorry," he apologized, breathing raggedly. "Are you alright?"

Laila beamed.

"Yes!" She smiled, glad that he hadn't taken it easy on her. "What's next?"

Kai liked her enthusiasm.

"Well, you're a lot more progressed than I had originally thought. ou know some basics about footwork, which is really good. So I'll just teach you how to hold and balance a sword with one hand."

She obliged and handed him the blade that she was given.

"Alright, you've been holding it by the base of the sword, which is good when you want to do extreme damage, but it is incredibly hard to control. So you should move your grip towards the hilt. You can have more control with it, and would only need to hold it with one hand."

He handed it back to her, after demonstrating. Laila tried it out. She smiled in relief when she saw it worked. She didn't have the arm strength Kai did, but she was able to hold the blade level while only gripping with one hand.

She looked up at him, waiting for his next advice. Kai chuckled.

"I'll only show you one more thing, because I'm sure your 'Baba' wouldn't take kindly to me teaching you how to wield a sword. But you are free to watch. And maybe, if your father allows it, you can come back another time with permission to learn it."

Laila's face fell, slightly, but she let go of it. She was just happy to be reunited with her childhood friend and to be witnessing somthing exciting.

He held his own sword at arms-length for her to examine.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it up in the air a few feet, swiftly spun around, and grabbed it in mid-air. He used the momentum of both the sword and his body to angle it in another direction. He used the inertia to swiftly cut through the air—attacking imaginary adversaries, again. He did this two more times in fast motions so that she could get the idea of the move memorized.

One last time, he released the sword in the air, spin around, and grabbed it. Only this time, his motive and target was different. He angled the blade into the nearby bush and swiftly halted his momentum. As fast as he had frozen, with a flick of his wrist, he had successfully cut a singular china rose from it's place and balanced it on the tip of the blade.

He brought his wrist backwards, and with it, the rose rolled down the length of the sword and into his awaiting palm.

With tender fingers, he held the stem of the light pink flower and held it out to the fair, breathless maiden. He smiled, as kindly as his stoic face could, and tried to convey all of his emotions in the small guesture.

"For you, My Lady."

A lovely blush graced Mei Laila's fair cheeks. Kai felt his heart skip a beat. Was that a flash of raw emotion that he saw in her eyes? Did she feel anything for him? In the same way he felt about her?

The girl looked up at him through her thick lashes. She looked like she was contemplating something.

At last, she slowly reached up into her blue-tinted raven hair and removed one of her signature cherry-pink twin ribbons. She held it out to him with her thin, soft fingers.

They swapped objects. Chang Kai looked at the ribbon, curious. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"It's an exchange," Laila said in answer. "You gave me a beautiful flower, and I didn't want you to have nothing. It's the least I can do."

It's amazing what a little bit of kindness could do for a man. It can make him infinitely happier. It can make his day. It can make him feel something. Or fall even deeper in love. And that is what it did for Kai. All of it.

He leant down and wrapped Mei Laila in a tight, warm hug. He softly nuzzled his chin in the crook between her neck and shoulder. They had done this multiple times as children. But now, now something was different.

Kai didn't know exactly what it was, but he promised to himsel that he'd keep this precious girl safe and happy. If it was the last thing he could do.

"Thank you," he sad, softly breathing in the fresh spring scent of her hair. "Thank you, Laila."