Hardships and Swings! (Orange and Purple)

In the far recess of the forests of New York, Albatross wandered with Britney between the large trunks of trees and the insects which hovered around them. The day was silent, nothing amiss. Alba enjoying his snack slowly with every step, his sharpened teeth tearing chunks from the loaf of bread in his left hand. His skin was pale as it was frail, Alba's body looking more gaunt as the days went by, despite his extraordinary eating habits; taking a deep breath, though unneeded, Alba swept its gaze across the serene landscape. "Not good enough..." Albatross whispered to itself, its raspy voice solemn and cool despite the humid air.

Swatting at a fly, Alba grinned sadistically almost as it crushed the insect without a second thought. Alba's past nature still apparent despite its violent and constant change of its physical body. He hopped over a fallen log as he made his way out of the forest and into a more open meadow, far away from the bustling city of New York, Albatross smiled as it found the perfect training spot, one which it remembered from the lives of those which it took. "Perfect..." Albatross spoke as it kicked off some dirt from its hiking boots. It had decided not wear its favorite suit for once, today it settled for outdoor attire fitting the down and dirty training it was going to force upon its new student.

Alba removed its backpack as it tossed it on the ground with a thud, the huge pack of leather and special fibers intertwined in a glorious design of a spider, colored a deep crimson. The time was early day and the sun was just rising. Turning to its new apprentice, Albatross chuckled at Britney seeing her fall behind slightly. "This is the spot. The aura here is strong with spiritual energy, and there is nothing around for miles besides vegetation for you or me to wreck." After a slight pause, Alba took of his hood that was protecting his eyes from the sun, his hoodie sweatshirt and thick cargo pants defying the temperature outside blatantly. After all, Albatross was not effected by temperature in the slightest.

The sinner laughed again as it nibbled on its piece of French bread, the loaf almost fully gone, before Alba gulped down the rest in one go. "Ah... that hit the spot..." The meadow was a brilliant shade of green with tinges of yellow and reds spattered across the whole design, flowers and shrubs peaking out from over the grass. Trees outlined the area, with small pools of water every so often in the meadow.

Panting out of breath behind her new trainer, Britney staggered behind him. Being annoyed at having to wake up early was an extreme bother to her, but she tried to hide it from Alba, who seemed unaffected by it. She had regretted packing some useless things, like all of her hair products and cute clothes. She stopped for a moment and bent down, resting her hands on her knees as she caught her breath and drank some water. She swore to herself for wearing such short shorts as her legs had cuts all over them. She sighed, put her water bottle back in her backpack pocket, stretched, and tugged on behind Alba.

After hearing Alba's satisfaction at finding a proper training spot, Britney fell to the ground. "Alba, thank goodness you found a spot! I need to rest for a moment, so could you make us some decent breakfast?" Britney began to unpack her things and took out her beauty products, a travel mirror, and a change of clothes. Her old training outfit was going to get some use after a while of collecting dust in her closet. It's a good thing I got this thing cleaned... She changed clothes openly in front of Alba, but turned around when it came to the bottoms; she was still a little embarrassed.

She found a comfortable enough tree stump and went to work picking out twigs from her hair and applying makeup. I'm gonna make myself look good today she mused to herself. Britney wanted to impress Alba with what she could do, and she wasn't going to look ratty doing it.

Seeing as Britney was tired from the hike, Alba relented as it stretched its arms and legs casually before opening up its large backpack. The monster throwing back its cropped hair as some strands wandered into the front of its eyes. He ignored Britney as she changed, being sure that there were enough supplies for the few days they would be here. Taking out a cast iron skillet, Alba went to work as he gathered some timber for a small fire, laying stones in a circle around the wood as was the standard affair of cooking in nature. Taking two twigs, Alba only had to rub the two together once for a spark as the dead wood started to smolder as it grew into a larger campfire. "Yes... perfect..." Alba whispered to himself as he took out some bread and various vegetables he had gathered on the hike. Cooking the mushrooms and raw vegetables on the skillet, the sinner watched the flames dance.

The flames of oranges, reds, and yellows amusing the creature as memories came back to him when he was younger, more cruel. Reliving the day he destroyed his first city, Alba quickly shook out of the trance like state as his hazel green eyes watched Britney in the distance cleaning herself up. with a sigh, Alba smelled the aroma of food as they started to brown. Taking out two plastic bowls from the dark crimson backpack, Alba scooped the food into each one, giving Britney more of the food seeing as Albatross would not be needing the extra energy for training as she would.

It was a quiet day, to say the least, a few white clouds hovered lazily overhead as the contrasted the bright blue sky as a few airplanes could be seen soaring above to unknown destinations. "Foods done." Alba yelled across the grass planes as he laid both bowls on the ground, being sure to flick a few insects away from the bowls before retrieving forks for the food. Taking a step back, as the bright white of his hoodie seemed to glint in the morning sun, the sweatshirt being a plain solid color just has his cargo pants being a thick tan, matching his darker hiking boots. Albatross was glad he was able to escape The Coaltion in New York for a couple of days, even more so glad that he actually had someone to teach after so long of waiting. Waiting for Britney to fetch her food, Alba began setting up the tent as the seeming endless supplies in such a small backpack just kept coming.

Propping up the frame of the tend before laying over the tarp and canvas, Albatross took a swig of water from his canteen before speaking again. "Well Britney, you'll have to forgive me for setting out so early, especially since you don't seem to be the morning type, but once you are done eating and what have you the training will begin after a small break from the hike. I hope you've brought more than just accessories in that bag of yours." Alba spoke as he nibbled his food in small bites, his senses taking in the surroundings of the world. "I hope you can handle sleeping in a tent, heh." Alba laughed after a small yawn.

Finishing up with her eye shadow, Britney walked to Alba. "Mmm, food smells great! I didn't know men could cook, heh heh." She stuck her tongue out at Alba. "Oh, and trust me, I brought more than accessories" She winked to Alba. The food really did smell good. Britney was pleasantly surprised to find someone that could cook. She went inside the tent and noticed only one makeshift bed and smiled to herself. She sat her bag in the back right corner and left the tent. She followed her nose to the delicious bowl of food next to Alba who seemed to be picking at his food. She sat crosslegged next to Alba and smiled at him as she sat down. Britney looked at him while she took the first bite. Her eyes widened, her pupils dialated (however that's spelled), and her taste buds roared. "Wow, this food really is good!".

Britney poked Alba, who seemed uninterested with his cuisine. "Hey", she said, trying to get Alba's attention. It worked, and as he turned his towards her, she stuck a forkful of food into Alba's mouth: "Eat your food, silly". She giggled and went back to eating her breakfast.

After eating her fill, Britney washed the pan, bowls, and forks so Alba could relax after eating. She put the clean dishes away and sat next to Alba again, rubbing his leg. "By the way, I think the sleeping arrangements are just fine the way they are."

"Ha! Don't get too comfortable your making dinner." Alba laughed at the cooking comment as he put a few more twigs on the fire for kindling. Turning to Britney as she said "Hey" Alba found a fork full of food in his mouth as he nearly fell over, hearing her giggle Alba regained his balance and sat back up finishing his bowl and handing it to his student who proceeded to clean all of the dishes. Relaxing for a moment on the ground, Alba laid back to watch the sky above as he heard the pan being cleaned.

It was only a few moments until he sat back up seeing as Britney had finished, the sinner smirking as he spoke, "I was sure you would like the arrangements, but now here is the time to begin. Grab your equipment that you'll need." Albatross finished as he stood up, grabbing what appeared to be a small one foot rod with an even smaller ball connected to it on one end.

He walked over, away from the cap site, not wanting it do be damaged by anything, Alba waited for Britney to join him further in the meadow, the five foot seven inch man twirling the metal rod between his pale fingers as he pointed out a spot ten feet away from himself for Britney to stand. "I want to see just how much skill you actually possess, come at me with that weapon of yours or without it makes no difference." With that said, Alba yawned as he felt a small breeze run past the nice cool wind being a welcome guest on such a warm day in the sun.

Birds could be heard in the distance as they shouted their cries and sang their song, the leaves of the forest surrounding the meadow rustling with the wind an a chorus of nature. The training field flat, an ideal place to test simple performance.