Chapter 21: Dreamland

A small child, about four years old, ran giggling through a wide back yard. She was dressed in pastel blue and light green shorts and a t-shirt that exposed her belly button when she raised her arms. Her skin was golden tan and her hair was dark black and curled slightly at the ends. It bounced back and forth in the wind as she ran. Her father, a tall, strong-looking man was chasing her through the yard, pretending to be a tickle monster. As her father caught her and started tickling her, her giggles changed to shrieking laughter, and she rolled around on the grass. Her mother called out the back door, and announced that lunch was ready, and the father and the daughter raced into the house.
The scene blurred out, and was replaced by a new scene. The same girl, eight years old now, sat at a short table in the living room with her mother. A scrabble game is laid out before them. The mother had four tiles left on the rack and was laughing.
“That’s not a word Charlie!” The mother exclaimed.
The girl, named Charlie, laughed and took her tiles back off the board.
“It’s your turn then mom, I can’t play.”
Her mother nodded, and then drew until she had seven tiles.
“I cannot go either Charlie, so I guess we’re done!” Her mother says. “Count your points!”
The little girl and her mother count up and compare points. Her mother looked a lot like her, with long dark hair and golden skin. Her eyes were dark though, unlike Charlie’s, which were an uncommon green.
“I win!” Charlie yells, jumping up and down and dancing happily around the room.
Once again, the scene faded and switched to yet another scene, this one taking place in a park on a warm afternoon in the summer time. The same girl, about a year older now, is having a birthday celebration in the park. A picnic table had been pulled into the shade beneath a large old oak tree near the forest line, and was laden with a rainbow of streamers, cups, plates, cake, pizza, candy, unopened presents, forks, and spoons. The children played happily in the sunshine while her parents lounged together on the ground beneath the tree. The children danced and laughed, playing tag, swinging on the swings, sliding on the slide, and doing random gymnastics. The young birthday girl showed off to her friends what she had been learning in gymnastics class. Her parents had enrolled her in a gymnastics class when she was four years old.
She ran around the grass, tumbling and flipping, doing back hand springs and cartwheels, and other fast-paced flips, as well as many complex flips and turns on the pull up bars.
Her friends watched in awe and begged her to teach them, so she agreed and showed them how to do cartwheels, perhaps the simplest of her moves. The children laughed and danced and played and ran until the scene faded to black.
Zena woke with Wolf sitting next to her, leaned over with his head in his hands. She yawned, and was surprised that the wash cloth over her eyes was still warm. Her headache had diminished to only a minor ache. She sat up slowly, feeling slightly light headed. She yawned again and pulled her legs out from underneath the blankets. She then crawled down to where Wolf was. While still on her hands and knees on the couch next to him, she lowered her arms as if she were a cat getting ready to pounce, and craned her neck to look up at his face, looking through the gap between his upper arm and his knee. She felt and looked much like a child as he gazed back at her, and before she could stop herself, she let out a childlike giggle. The sound was a pleasant, light and heartfelt sound, airy and full of happiness, the kind of laughter that you would hear at a schoolyard or a daycare center. Wolf laughed and raised his head from his hands to look at her. He wondered what had caused her sudden giddiness, but he figured it was from getting a good rest in, and he didn’t want to ruin her good mood, so he went along with it. Her eyes twinkled with joy, and a somewhat evil grin appeared on her face. Wolf smirked. He had never heard her ever truly laugh before, and hearing her then gave him assurance that the decision he had made was going to work out after all. Zena jumped up suddenly and ran to her room. Wolf stood and walked to the doorway of the living room. He gazed at the room across the hall and waited for her to return. A few minutes later she emerged, wearing grey tennis shoes, black spandex shorts, and a matching top, with her hair pulled back into a high pony tail.
“Well… come on! You’re not going to train dressed like that!” Zena exclaimed.
Wolf sighed, figured that it was just back to normal again. He turned and walked back into the living room to change. When he came back out into the hallway, he was wearing a fresh pair of jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt. Zena smiled at him and nodded, approving of his outfit. She grabbed a small blade and headed out the front door. When she emerged from the house though, she turned away from the training arena instead of towards it. Wolf hesitated, but decided to trust her. Zena turned and walked backwards around the trees, facing Wolf as she spoke, all while avoiding every obstacle.
“The next, and perhaps most important, part of what you need to learn is sort of like parkour. It is the best way to travel, since assassins rarely travel in enclosed spaces. It is one of the biggest things that you need to remember, besides keeping out of sight. Usually, we go by foot. It’s the best way to go, since it allows you the best control of where you are going, and you can change your mind about where you are going in a moment’s time. Otherwise, if walking is out of the question because the distance is too far or the terrain is impossible, for example, an ocean, we take trains, most commonly. This is because no one checks the tops of trains for passengers before leaving the stations, so it does not require money or tickets, only agility, and a way to keep yourself from freezing. So parkour training, as you can see, is essential. Do you know and vaults? Flips? How is your agility?” Zena asked him suddenly as she stopped walking. They were standing outside the training arena. Wolf guessed that Zena had circled back towards the training arena when he wasn’t paying attention.
“Umm.. I’m not sure… I guess I’m ok, but I’ve never practiced or anything before…” Wolf answered hesitantly. Zena Nodded.
“Well… ok then, that’s fair… How about this though. How is your balance?” Zena asked as she turned towards the arena and began walking inside the gate.
“Well the bank says that I have impeccable balance, but I’m guessing you mean physical balance. In that sense I’m not sure… but I would say I’m about average…” Wolf asked with a slight smile, and wondered if he would get away with the joke since Zena was in a good mood.
Zena nodded and hide a smile, then jumped up onto the gate effortlessly. She walked along the top of the ½ inch planks of the fence and glanced around the training arena for a good training spot for the day. Once she found the perfect testing spot, she jumped down and brought over a two by four and two gray bricks. She flipped it so that the two inch side was facing upwards. She motioned to the makeshift balance beam.
“Let’s see how well your balance really is then.” She said as she stepped back to give him room.
Wolf stepped up onto the balance beam which was about a foot off the ground and walked across it with little swaying. Zena nodded and placed another brick under each side of the beam. Wolf climbed up and walked across the beam more confidently. Zena smirked and placed yet another brick under each end. Wolf jumped up a bit cockily and walked across it, making his steps fancy. About halfway across, Wolf spoke as he walked.
“How many times am I going to have to go across the same board in order to prove my balance?” He asked.
“Until you don’t fall.” Zena replied with a somewhat hidden evil smirk.
“Until you don’t fall” Said Wolf in a childish, mocking voice quiet enough that he thought she wouldn’t hear. In that second, his foot slipped off the side and he fell to the ground heavily with a thud. Zena busted out laughing and went around to the other side of the balance beam to offer him a hand up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down playfully.
“How did you know I was going to fall?” He asked her.
“Because you were beginning to not be careful, and not pay attention.” She retorted as she picked herself up and dusted off her backside. Wolf shook his head and got up to try again.
By the end of the day, Wolf was quite a bit better balanced than he had been when he started, but Zena knew he would need more work. They were both sweating from the work out, since they had both been practicing, and at some point in the day, Wolf had removed his shirt to attempt to keep a bit cooler. As they walked back to the house at dusk, Zena eyed him out of the corner of her eye, her eye caught by the beads of sweat catching the sunlight and transforming his back into a rippling sea of gold. Wolf tipped his head towards her and caught her looking.
“So I guess me staying wasn’t ALL bad, huh?” He teased.
“Wha-What do you mean?” Zena replied mock-innocently.
Wolf smirked. “Uh-Huh.” He replied. Zena blushed, punched him in the shoulder, and then raced him to the house, with Maurly returning and running at her heels.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the beginning. The dreams are the doorways to real life. I like this chapter. The attitude a lot different then the rest. I like the exercise part. A entertaining chapter. A excellent chapter. Thank you.
Coyote

[Coyote Poetry]

I like this chapter. Making the story seem more real. Even assassins need to feel human and know pain/regret. Wolf is becoming stronger. A very strong story you are create. A excellent chapter.
Coyote

[Meat of Dog]

Just as I was finishing the last part, I was thinking 'This is great insight for Wolf, but I'm curious to know more about Zena.' You read my mind! With the kind of trauma that they've both faced emotionally, it's no surprise that they still dream about the profound sadness they faced as children. It makes a lot of sense that Zena was studying gymnastics as a child, because it really proves her experience over Wolf. Flexibility can be learned as an adult, but not the way it can if you start as a young child.

I was excited that they were going to learn parkour! (It's an interest of mine). That would be hugely necessary to learn that sort of thing if you were planning to jump across and run around on buildings. I snickered at Wolf's bank comment; it's nice to see that he maintains his humor, even while nervous of her strange behavioral change. The fact that he lost his balance on the beam due to overconfidence was also very realistic/ maintained his personality.

Other suggestions:

- Minor suggestion. In the paragraph where Zena wakes up and sees Wolf, you start many sentences in a row with the word 'she'. perhaps you should break it up a bit, and start some of them a different way, or with different words? It flows a little better that way.