Winter whistled a merry tune as he got ready for school. He was quite happy that Summer had decided to continue training with him. He liked it when she blushed. She looked cuter that way.

Wait, what am I thinking? Winter wondered, shaking his head. I shouldn't be thinking about her, no matter how attractive she is. I have to focus on gaining her trust.

Then there was a loud bang on his bedroom door, disrupting him from his train of thoughts. "Who is it?" Winter called, hurriedly buckling his belt. Glade entered, peering through the door.

"It's me, Bro. What are you doing?" He asked, then spotted Winter struggling to put on his Frostanium boots. "Huh. Still putting on your clothes." Glade snorted, closing the door behind him.

Winter huffed and sat on the bed once he was done, gesturing for his brother to sit down beside him. Glade plopped down on the bed and crossed his legs lazily, yawning. "You're getting up earlier than usual these past few days Brother." Winter remarked. Glade shrugged.

"I don't know why. I just wake up in the middle of the night, and stay up till dawn." He answered. Winter frowned.

"How come?" He asked. Glade shrugged again.

"I told you, I don't know why. It just happens. Maybe it's 'cause I'm kinda worried about how you'll deal with that girlfriend- who is your target- of yours."

Girlfriend? "But I don't have a girlfriend," Winter spluttered incredulously. Then he realised who Glade was referring to. "Summer is not my girlfriend, for Armandia's sake. We're just... friends.... Maybe." Winter retorted, growing a little uncertain.

Glade raised a questioning eyebrow. "Maybe," he repeated. Winter gave a hesitant nod. "Maybe." his brother repeated again. Winter did not like the sound of Glade's tone. So he decided to change the subject.

"Brother, now's the time for you to step in. This evening, Summer and I are meeting up at the gym at five. She's been training with me for a few days now, and is gradually improving. And... and I think she's beginning to trust me. She isn't as prickly as usual." Winter said smoothly. Glade grinned.

"That's great. So, about me... helping you... You think Dad will allow that?" Winter's confidence wavered. That was true. He had not reported to his father about asking for Glade's help.

"Who cares? I'm quite close now; I'm sure of it." Winter said, shoving the thought to the back of his head. Glade snorted and said nothing.

"I just need you to help me see whether she's gotten better. You saw how she handled her sword. It's only a simple check," Winter assured. "It's not like she'll kill you." he added as an afterthought.

Glade harrumphed. "That isn't what I'm worried about," he grumbled. "I still don't like the thought that we're helping her to get stronger. She's a potential enemy. It isn't right."

Winter flinched, remembering the past times when he had spied on other people. Those people had become his friends. And he betrayed them to his father, an experimenter and scientist.

"It doesn't matter. Even if I try sweet talk with her, she won't fall for it. She's... different." Winter muttered quietly. Glade nodded and slapped his back in his usual brotherly way.

"She's different alright. Never seen a girl who has such eyes before." he agreed. Winter smacked him back in response.

Then both brothers burst out laughing and smiling.

~~~

Summer sighed, waiting once again for Winter to arrive. Fifteen minutes. Again.

Then Winter walked into the gym, with someone else behind him. Summer squinted at the lithe, silver-haired figure and realised that it was Glade.

"Winter, why have you brought your brother here?" Summer asked, feeling puzzled. Glade sniffed and gave Winter another one of his withering looks.

"You asked me to help you but yet you didn't tell her why I'm here. How very excellent. I'm very impressed by your intelligence." he said sarcastically.

"Brother, stop being so bitter." Winter sighed, shaking his head. Glade snorted and kicked at the ground impatiently.

"How can I not be bitter? This whole thing is messed up." he muttered quietly. Summer glanced at Winter to see whether he had heard, but his face showed no change of emotions. What did he mean, 'messed up'?

"Summer, I told you before, Glade is a powerful swordsman. He's much more skilled than me. Today, you're going to fight him." Winter said, smiling warmly at her. Summer gaped at him, not believing what she had just heard.

"You want me to fight a master at sword skills?" She stuttered, stumbling away from Glade.

"Don't worry. Glade will go easy on you, won't you Glade?" Winter assured, glancing at his brother. Glade just shrugged.

"Maybe." he answered, yawning. Summer was not entirely convinced.

"If he kills me, I'll make sure I haunt you as a spirit till the end of time, even after you die." She snapped crossly, crossing her arms. Winter waved a hand in front of his face, as if waving away her words.

"Glade won't kill you. He's not the type who would do that." he soothed. Glade nodded curtly.

"Mm-hm. So if she ends up killing me, I'll haunt you too, Bro." He joked.

Winter glanced from Summer to Glade, then back again, sighing. "Why does everyone keep talking about killing and haunting? That's stuff for the future, not now. So anyway, Summer are you ready? Glade's strong. Don't underestimate him just because he's skinny." he said, gesturing at Glade.

"I may be skinny, but you're slim." Summer heard Glade retort. She giggled under her breath, and Winter shot her a bemused look.

Summer got into position, unsheathing her flamesword and brandishing it at Glade. Winter's brother smirked and waved his hands. A strong gust of wind blew and Summer saw the air wrap itself around Glade's arms.

The wind dissipated, and a massive gleaming dual sword appeared in Glade's hands. There was something peculiar about the sword, but Summer couldn't put a finger on it.

"So it's one blade against two," she said. "I can handle that." Glade smiled mysteriously.

"I don't think so," he said. Then his sword suddenly split into two.

It was then Summer realised that the sword had two blades connected together on each end, which was why the blades looked so odd. And that the hilt was a double hilt.

"It's one against four." Glade declared, spinning the two dualswords in his hands. Summer backed away a bit, terrified by the sudden increase in difference.

"Don't let fear swamp your mind, Summer. Focus. Find the weak spots." Winter advised from the side, where he was standing to watch.

"Did you HAVE to tell her I have a weak spot?" Glade snapped at his brother. Winter smiled amusedly.

"I'm teaching her. And anyway, you're nearly unbeatable when it comes to swordfighting." he responded.

"Nobody knows that. I haven't battled once in Battlemania!" Glade retorted. Seeing that her opponent was arguing with his brother, Summer decided to launch a surprise attack.

She ran at Glade, sword at her side, aiming for his head. Glade whipped around just as she reached him, about to slash at him. "Ooh. Quite the sneaky one, aren't you? Reminds me of a certain someone," he said as he raised a sword to block, glaring at Winter. "Just what in the seven hells have you been teaching her, Bro? To interrupt someone when he's still speaking?" He snapped. Winter gave a helpless shrug.

"I didn't teach her that Brother. Apparently, she likes to do it." Winter reasoned.

"Less talk, more action!" Summer snapped, tensing her muscles as she jumped away from Glade.

"You heard her." Winter said, gesturing at Summer.

"I know, okay?" Glade snapped irritatedly. He smirked at Summer and got into a fighting stance; one leg up like that of a flamingo, arms raised with swords in hand.

"Let's begin," Glade said, licking his lips. Summer cringed and got into her own fighting stance. Then Glade ran at her, darting here and there like a spider.

Summer knew that he was trying to confuse her. Either left, right or front. I'll have to be careful...

Then a flash of silver appeared to her right, and Summer raised her sword to block an oncoming sword attack. "Hmm. Good reflexes you got there," Glade said, a lopsided grin on his face. Another flash of movement caught Summer's eye, and she angled her sword downwards to block the other sword.

"Wow. Very sharp too. And I thought I could sneak an attack..." Glade's voice faded away. Summer blinked as the weight on her sword disappeared, and she found herself staring at nothing but thin air.

"Like this." And suddenly, Summer felt something being sliced into her skin, and she shrieked, whirling around to face a fading Glade. The boy disappeared into the wind.

Summer clutched her arm, where the fresh wound was bleeding profusely. She glanced desperately at Winter, but he showed no signs of wanting to help her by guiding her.

He only smiled. "Remember what I said." he advised.

Summer tried to push down her fear and think back to what Winter had said. What had he said? Something about focusing and finding a weak spot...

Then something stabbed into her leg, and Summer cried out in pain, falling to the ground. She gritted her teeth as she clutched her calf, and looked up to see Glade once more, disappearing as if he was nothing but a shadow of the past.

That's it, Summer realised as she shakily got to her feet. I have to focus. If I focus hard enough, maybe I can tell when Glade is about to strike back...

Glade's a wind type. He can blend into the surroundings and act like the wind, blowing around me...

A breeze blew past Summer's face, and she lashed out. Her sword struck metal, and Glade materialised from nowhere, a stunned look on his face. Summer used his momentary shock to her advantage.

She kicked at Glade's stomach and stabbed her sword towards his head. Glade recovered just in time to dodge the blow to his head, but Summer's foot made contact with his body, pushing him back.

"Oof. Haha... Looks like you found out my weak point..." he chuckled nervously.

"You were using Windrunner, weren't you?" Summer asked, cautiously. Glade smiled.

"Nope, I wasn't. That's my second ability. A... secondary power, you could call it. A bit like how you can control oil,"

Stunned, Summer let her guard drop for a split second, but it was enough time for Glade to attack.

Glade slashed his swords at her, spinning them in his hands like gears. Summer blocked each attack, but she was being forced to bend as she struggled under the heavy blows.

Then Glade kicked at her, sending her toppling to the ground. Summer quickly got up and ignited her flamesword. Her eyes flashed as she swung at Glade, then did a combo stab and slash.

"Whoa whoa. Getting all serious now aren't you?" Glade smirked as he dodged the attacks. He then suddenly disconnected one of his swords and the two blades spun into the air as he threw them up. He caught one in his teeth and another back in his hand.

Glade raised his remaining dualsword like a shield, the sword in his hand and grinned through the sword hilt in his mouth.

"This is more fun now, isn't it?" He said, his voice surprisingly not muffled by the hilt. Summer's breath hitched in her throat.

"Stop." Winter's commanding voice echoed through the gym. Glade dropped his arms, narrowing his eyes at Winter questioningly. Winter reached Summer's side and touched her arm, his fingers running over her wound.

A sharp pain zapped through Summer's arm, and she clenched her teeth tightly. Then the pain was gone as fast as it came.

Summer checked her arm and saw that there was a thin layer of ice over her wound, healing it slowly. She suddenly felt Winter touch her calf wound and tensed, bracing herself for the oncoming pain.

"Hey Bro, why'd you stop us for? Things were getting even more fun." Glade whined as he connected his swords back into the massive dualsword. It disappeared from his hand just as he snapped the last sword back in place.

Summer was wondering about that too. "I could've handled him." she muttered crossly. Winter stared at her, a serious look on his face.

"Glade could have killed you," he said quietly. Summer opened her mouth to respond, then saw Glade nodding quietly, the anger gone from his face.

"Sorry Summer, but when Glade gets into that form you saw just now, it means that he's enjoying himself. And when he enjoys himself, he can mindlessly kill his opponent."

Silence fell. "Oh... Uh, how come?" Summer asked, breaking the silence. Glade shrugged.

"It just happens. Dad calls it my 'killer mode'." he answered reluctantly. Winter nodded.

"That's enough training for today. How was her skills, Brother?" Winter said, glancing at Glade.

"She's pretty sharp, and quite fast too. She needs a bit more strength training, but other than that, she's good. Never thought I'd say this Bro, but your girlfriend's strong and a good swordswoman."

Did he just say what I think he said? Summer thought. She stared blankly at Glade, registering what he had said. Winter, too, looked stunned.

"B-brother! Summer is not my girlfriend!" He spluttered, his cheeks turning rose pink. Glade burst out laughing as Winter bit his lip, running his hand flusteredly through his hair.

Girlfriend...

The word echoed around in Summer's head like mocking taunts. She could only stare as Glade, who was still guffawing, slapping a distressed Winter's back.

Girlfriend.

Girlfriend...

Girlfriend...?

"I do not have a boyfriend!" Summer screeched, finally understanding what that strange word meant.

"That is correct. Let's just forget all about this matter and go home." Winter declared, grabbing Glade's hand and dragging him to the exit.

Summer followed, glaring at Glade and then giving him a rough kick to the shin. "YEOW!" Glade exclaimed, jumping at the sudden attack.

"I don't care if you're a sword master. You're still an idiot." Summer snapped, then marched off ahead of Winter.

"Summer." Winter called for her. Summer stopped and glanced behind her shoulder.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Tomorrow, same time, ok? We're going to move up your training to the next stage." he explained. Summer nodded, and went off, leaving the Wolfenstrike brothers to tend for themselves.