The howl of the chill winds swept across the forest but all else was still except for the soft swaying of the trees. My eyes carefully studied my green surroundings, watching every little moment from every bush or blade of grass, searching scrupulously without bias. Then, just as I was about to move to a new position, I spotted it. 

Between the gaps of bushes, something black moved slightly which could had easily been mistaken for the shadows casted by the swaying branches drooping overhead. 

I held my breath and crept forward, being wary to make as little noise as possible as I traversed across the moss floor of the forest, littered by fallen leaves. 

Now I was close enough to see my target. 

A large wolf covered in thick black fur that was bigger than an adult male. The wolf was making a low-pitched grumbling that was both deep and intimidating. However, I wasn't scared. 

My grip on the giant sword that I had been lugging around with me tightened, and I braced myself to slay the wolf in one strike. It still hadn't noticed me yet and I was now close enough to swing my blade down at the top of its neck. 

Taking one last breath to steady myself, I hurled the sword forward with all my might just as I had planned and...

SLAM.

The blade sliced through the side of the wolf's front leg and slammed into the forest floor. The wolf had moved just in time to avoid what would had been the fatal stroke. 

"C-crap--!" I cursed as the wolf howled in pain, hurting my ears, and made a mad dash for me, baring its ferocious fangs and claws. 

I lifted the blade up, narrowly blocking the wolf's claws, but its head pressed on above the blade, reaching for my shoulder and I felt its razor-sharp fangs boring into my flesh. 

"Ngggghh...!!" I gritted my teeth. 

The wolf shook its head violently in a rabid rage, refusing to let go as it tried to tear off my entire arm from my torso. Pushing the wolf away with my sword wasn't working so I reached my other hand over the wolf's head and gripped tightly, pressing my thumb and fingers into its eyes and pulled backwards as hard as I could to try to get the wolf to release its bite of my shoulder. 

It worked and the wolf released my shoulder, growling wildly as it flung its body around to try to get my fingers off its eyes. I threw the wolf in front of me and it rolled across the floor, scattering leaves in its path as its giant body crashed against the floor. 

I breathed hoarsely, glancing at my side to survey the deep bite marks at my shoulder, thick dark blood oozing out of the punctures. 

"Oy bastard..." I grinned madly at the wolf, "If you're going to take a bite, at least treat me to dinner first."

The wolf didn't show any signs of appreciation for my humour, only continuing to growl deeply.

"Well," I raised the sword up with both hands, testing the strength of my wounded arm. At least, I could still lift my sword. That gave me confidence that I could slay the giant wolf. "I guess I'll settle the score later once I've thoroughly cooked and seasoned you."

The wolf growled back in reply as though it could understand my words.

At that moment, I shot forward and surprised the wolf with my speed as I slammed my blade across its side. It leaped upwards, narrowly avoiding being sliced in half but one of its hind legs got caught by my blade. 

Blood erupted from the giant wolf's leg as it crashed into the ground and I followed it up by stabbing the sword downwards into its head. 

The blade pierced its skull, killing it instantly and stabbing straight through into the ground. 

I breathed heavily, catching my breath as I leaned against the handle of my sword. The wolf had stopped moving now and lied motionlessly on the ground. I had no doubts that it was dead. 

Wiping sweat from my forehead, I suddenly heard deep growling and glanced down quickly but saw that the wolf was still dead as I had expected. The growling noise amplified and I glanced upwards around me to see dozens of shiny eyes coming towards me from the darkness of the forest.

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by more giant wolves that I could count, all with blood-thirsty stares and salivating mouths, circling me menacingly. 

"Are you kidding me?" I chuckled darkly, still trying to catch my breath. "Can't you bastards form a line?"

Just as I was about to prepare myself to face the wolves, I heard the sound of soft distinct footsteps in the distance from behind me and I glanced over in the direction of the sound. The aggressive growling of the wolves ceased as well as the wolves went quiet, turning their heads to the direction that I was looking. 

I was stunned to see that the wolves had suddenly gone silent.

The footsteps grew closer, until a figure clad in white emerged from the forest, long silver hair flowing behind her and scarlet eyes that gleamed like blood. Her moonlit face was as beautiful as ever, with elegant and distinguished facial features that appeared sculpted to perfection.

"Zilver..." I said. 

She walked over towards me and I watched as the giant wolves moved out of the way for her, some even whimpering at her presence. It was as though the wolves recognised Zilver as the master of the forest.

Zilver glanced around her at the wolves, and without her saying a single word, they seemed to understand her and began retreating back into the forest from where they came, eventually leaving me and Zilver alone. 

"I..." I began, feeling embarrassed at being saved by Zilver. "I could had taken them all..." I grumbled. "You didn't need to save me there... Hey, what are you... o-ouch...!!"

She had ignored my ramblings and reached a hand for my arm, pulling my shoulder towards her view. Blood was still oozing out of the bite marks. 

"You're hurt." Zilver said.

"I-it's a small cut..." I said. "I just got caught by surprise, that's all..."

"Being caught by surprise means you were unprepared."

Zilver pulled out the sleeve of her dress and tore at the fabric.

"H-hey, you don't have to..." I tried to say, but I gave up, realising Zilver would ignore me anyways.

With the torn fabric, Zilver wrapped it around my shoulder, stopping the blood from flowing out. Once she was done, she glared at me with her scarlet eyes, but the rest of her face remained calm as always. 

"I told you to not practice your blade without me." Zilver said. "And yet, you headed out to the forest on your own."

"..."

I stayed silent, already expecting the scolding. 

"Why?" She asked, pressing me for a response.

"I..." I raised my uninjured arm up to scratch the back of my head awkwardly. There was no point lying to her. She could always tell when I was lying. "I wanted to hunt for something good tonight... to make you dinner... since today..."

"Today...?"

"Today is the anniversary..."

"..."

Zilver stared at me blankly.

"Ahaha! I-I don't mean that kind of anniversary!" I quickly clarified. "I meant that today's the anniversary of that day you saved me!" 

The look on her face didn't really change.

To be honest, I didn't even know if Zilver understood what I meant. Although Zilver was undoubtedly smart and taught me things about life that were incredibly deep, I had also started to notice that there were often gaps in her knowledge of some basic every day topics.  

Even though I was only twelve-years-old, I could clearly see when she had those gaps in her knowledge.

I guess that was because she was brought up in a very traditional way in an environment that was almost completely closed. 

"I don't understand what you're saying, Rei." Zilver said, seeing that I hadn't said anything further.

"I-it's just an important day for me, okay?!"

I already knew that she thought I was speaking nonsense. That she had no idea what today was. And that she probably thought I was a lunatic. But I didn't care. Exactly one year ago today, Zilver had saved me from my burning village from those bandits and given me a new life. It was a day that I would never forget in my life. 

"J-just forget it..." I sighed, trying to get her to drop the topic. "Anyways..."

Suddenly, a flash of silver streaked across my vision and I barely raised my sword in time to parry the slim curved blade that had been aimed directly for my neck. 

Zilver held one of her twin blades at my throat that had been hidden beneath the cloak she was wearing. 

"Slow." Zilver said, and I felt her push her blade against mine, forcing me backwards with ease as her blade threatened to slice into the skin of my throat. It was crazy how strong she was despite her petite figure. "No wonder you were caught by surprise."

"W-well..." I grimaced, forcing a smile as I tried to push back against her sword. "Who would be prepared for their teacher killing them...?"

I was using both hands on my sword and she was only using one hand. Yet I couldn't even nudge her back by a centimetre. I felt like I was trying to cut into a rock.

At that moment, she pushed me back with the sword and I was forced to break my guard and roll backwards to avoid being decapitated. It was painfully obvious that she could kill me like a bug any time that she wanted to. 

"So?" Zilver asked. "Is it because it is me that you are letting your guard down?" 

"You saved my life, Zilver." I said, rising up from the dirt. "I don't really mind if it's you taking it back away."

Wrong response.

My sword flew out of my hand and I was thrown down to the ground in the same amount of time it took to blink my eye. My sword stabbed itself harmlessly into the dirt next to my head with a heavy thud and I stared up into the grey sky in the space between the canopies of the overbearing trees.

Zilver stared down at me, the tip of her sword at my throat. 

"You lack will." She said.

"Do you seriously expect me to fight you with killing intent?" I replied.

She moved her sword away from my throat and stepped away slowly. She was quiet and I rose up slightly to dust myself.  

"I see. So when you were talking about vengeance for your parents, you had been making a crude joke all along." 

I froze, hearing Zilver's words. 

"I should had expected this." She continued in that calm, toneless voice of hers. "Your father's will to protect his family and stay alive to raise his son was the same. Nothing but tasteless humour from a coward who couldn't even protect his own s--"

CLASH.

My hands shook as I tried to push my sword into Zilver's neck but her sword blocked the path effortlessly. The sound of metal clashing against metal buzzed noisily into the air, but no matter how hard I pushed, I wasn't able to push my sword any further.

"D-dammit!!" I cursed, then swung my blade away, trying to slash at Zilver from the opposite direction, but her blade collided against mine and I was thrown back.

I tried over and over again, unleashing a mad barrage of swings at every angle I could possibly muster. Each time my attacks were parried away by her and my frustration would increase.

~x~

Eventually, I tired out and fell to my knees in front of Zilver, hanging onto my sword which I had stabbed into the ground. I was covered in sweat and heaving, trying my best to steady my breath.

"You are lucky that was not a real fight."

I heard Zilver's voice as she raised my chin with her sword so that I was looking at her, keeping the tip of her sword pointed at my throat. 

"Mere words swayed your thought." She said. "You had forgotten everything that I had taught you about sword fighting, Rei."

"..."

She moved her sword away from my throat, "To be prepared means to be prepared both physically and mentally. Only then, will there not be any surprises."

"...I... I understand..." I said reluctantly.

"An opponent will use every dirty trick that is available to him in a fight to the death. That is why there can be no excuses. It is your job to be prepared."

Seeing the dejected look on my face, Zilver's voice softened a little. 

"First, you must learn to control your emotions, Rei." Zilver said, "Otherwise, it will be used against you." 

I glanced sideways, averting from her eyes. "...Are you saying I should have no emotions...?"

"..."

She crouched down to face me with her scarlet eyes.

"Emotions are what makes us human, Rei." 

"Then, why do they make me weak...?"

"Your emotions gave you power, Rei. But if you allow it, they can also consume you. That is why we must control it."

"..."

"Anyways, let's head back to the hut." Zilver got up, then glanced at the carcass of the giant wolf I had slain. "I will help you carry the wolf back."

"Uh," I shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts. "It's okay, I will carry it, Zilver!"

Hurriedly, I strolled over to carry the wolf and head back to the hut with Zilver.