 “Duck and weave!” the instructor bellowed across the arena. Dylan obeyed taking a sweep at the dummy with his right fist. The padded leather of the glove impacted with the hemp sandbag with a dull thud. No sooner had the blow landed than Dylan dodged to the right to avoid a blow from the back end of a broom which his instructor aimed at the place Dylan’s head just seconds before.
“Double blow to the stomach!” His instructor shouted the new instruction, “then jump.” Again Dylan obeyed landing the punches in quick succession before jumping upwards, bending his knees so that his feet were pulled up out the way of a low swing of the broom handle. “Good job!” Dylan grinned to himself as sweat rolled down his face and made the loose waves of his black hair cling to his forehead and cheeks. It felt good to let off some steam, and even better to know that he really was getting better. Not so very long ago the broom handle would have felled him, leaving him an untidy heap on the floor.
“Now let’s try some kicks,” said the instructor, swinging the broom handle over his shoulder. “I want a kick to the stomach then a jump kick to the head.” Dylan grinned, his eyes flicking from the dummy with its sandbag head to his instructor perched on the gate behind.
“You sure about that, boss?”
“Get out of it, smart-mouth.”
Having thoroughly gone through punches, dodges and kicks, the instructor had finished the lengthy session by getting Dylan and Lunarian to work together. He said it was important for them to learn how to fight together as a team rather than as two separate units fighting side-by-side. As such, by the time boy and tiger were sloping along the corridor towards the apartment they shared with their family they were both panting heavily. It was not the only problem. Dylan had very little desire to go back home. There was something going on with his family and, as usual, everyone seemed to know more about it than he did. He was used to Renn and Flynn keeping things from him because they were grown -ups and that was what grown-ups did. What particularly burned on this occasion was that whatever it was, Danny knew too. Dylan had been prepared to wait for an explanation but it had been over a week. His protest had manifested itself as a moody silence.
“I’ll just have a bath and get changed,” Dylan said to Lu as he unlocked the front door with the key from his pocket, “then we’ll head out to the lake until dinner.” Lunarian knew better than to argue.
Dylan spotted Danny’s satchel in the hallway and sighed. It didn’t look like his plan was going to work. He strode into the kitchen deliberately avoiding eye contact and poured himself a drink of berry cordial from the bottle on the worktop. He finished it off in just six parched gulps before pouring himself another. It was only then that he noticed that Danny was staring at him...over the top of an upside-down book.
“You’re hopeless at his,” Dylan said, throwing a slightly-damp tea towel at his twin, “never ever try and become a spy.” He tilted his head slightly to one side, “what do you want?” Dylan’s gaze then travelled to the slice to chocolate orange cake sitting on a plate on the table. His suspicions rising he sunk down into the seat opposite Danny and cut off a piece with the side of the offered fork. It tasted amazing. “Thank you,” he grunted as he swallowed and cut off another piece, “now seriously...what do you want?”
Lunarian stood his ground and waited until Solarius was close enough before cuffing him around the ear.
“Get away from me,” the tiger said, wrinkling his nose, “you reek.” The smell of the stink bug really was repulsive and Lu felt himself gag a little as his brother danced around him.
“I worry about you,” Lunarian muttered, “why did you have to stick it in your mouth to work out that bugs tasted bad. That’s just common sense, Sol.”
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