Chapter 591

591 Shinobi Potential(Part Three)

The spikes littering the ground began to crumble and fall, making the two ninja fall with them. In the blink of an eye: Skye was next to the first ninja. He tried to twist away from her, but it was already too late. She swung down on him with force, and knocked the wind out of him as he hit the ground.

The second ninja tried to jump away, but Skye stomped her foot, and sent a blunted spike right at him. He pushed off of it with his hands, sending him toppling to the side. A patch of smaller, but sharper spikes laid at the bottom, reaching out to him.

Seeing the bed of spikes, the third ninja yanked him back, which was what Skye had wanted..

She had jumped up onto the blunted spike as the ninja had started to fall by the wayside. When the third ninja had pulled him back, Skye lept from her perch, and hit the second shinobi from above. He slammed into the ground as the other was still pulling him backwards, causing him to drag slightly.

When the mystery shinobi released his hold, he started to unsnap the cuffs from around each of his arms. Skye saw it as an opening, and lept towards the Manic. Right as she thought that her hit would connect, the ninja jumped back with a speed he shouldn’t be capable of.

“What was that?! I thought he was a Manic?!” Tidas yelled in surprise.

Genie smirked; “What? Did you two forget that you’re not the only mages in the world with more than one trait?”

Skye’s eyes widened slightly as the mage in front of her suddenly dashed towards her. He kicked rocks towards her, which made her put her arms up to block. She crouched down simultaneously; expecting her opponent to swing on her since he’d used the the debris as a distraction.

Instead of a direct attack, the ninja moved around behind her, and kicked Skye to the ground. She’d instantly rebounded, but the ninja was behind her once again. After dodging several hits, Skye used her Earth magic to gain a bit of distance, which also gave her a moment to think...or so she’d thought.

.....

A light crackling noise from her side had instantly put Skye on defense again. Using his Manic magic, the ninja had dropped several small charges all over the ground. They were the equivalent of a flash grenade, so they were essentially harmless, but made for an excellent diversion.

Skye hadn’t anticipated them being anything more than a small charge, and was temporarily blinded when the first one went off. As she struggled not to fall over, the ninja smacked the side of his pant leg; activating boosters he’d built into the soles of his shoes. He slammed into Skye hard, knocking the wind out of her, and causing her to bite the inside of her cheek.

Genie held his hand out in front of Tidas to stop him as he said; “Interfering right now is the worst thing you can do for her..”

“The hellit is!” Tidas bellowed furiously; “This is over! Tell your nin-”

“Ima fine, husband!” Skye yelled as she spat out a mouthful of blood; “Dinna interfere wit me fight! Or I’ll get pissed at ya!”

Contemplation covered Tidas’ features for a minute before he sighed in defeat. As soon as Genie’s arm fell back to his side, the ninja was attacking Skye again. Tidas clenched his teeth as he watched, which was how Genie had expected him to act..

‘He’s the same as when he was a child: Always trying to protect Skye.. I was hoping that their excursion to the Highlands would do the job for me, but I guess that was asking too much. They haven’t changed since they were children.. I can’t tell if that’s a good, or bad thing quite yet. But in this instance, it could get them killed if they can’t recognize each other’s strengths, and their own weaknesses..’

Skye’s battle with the remaining ninja took another twenty minutes for her to beat him. The final moment came when he’d gotten in close to her while he was attacking, and she’d used her Earth magic to hit the spot on his side that activated his boosters. As he jetted off into the air, Skye had lept up, and knocked him back to the ground with a resounding thud.

She hollered her victory as her husband ran to her, and wrapped his arms around her. As they celebrated, Genie walked up to them with a slight scowl on his face. It was the same look he’d get when they were children; when they would score less than a hundred on a test that he knew they’d been capable of doing better on.

Instinctively bracing themselves for a lecture, Tidas turned his body in a way that essentially blocked Skye from Genie. He used to do the exact same thing whenever they’d get into trouble as children. As he forced a rising smile to stay down, Genie narrowed his eyes on his students..

“While you both have completed the task given, if I were grading you two like everyone else: you’d fail..”

Skye stepped out and around her husband with an almost outraged expression; “How?! We’re not injured, and we beat our opponents with minimal damage ta the surroundin’ area. How the hell-”

“You are not soldiers here: you are training to be shinobi! It takes Years to master the required skill sets, and we only have a couple of months to get you two adequately trained..”

Genie came and stood directly in front of them as he continued; “Skye, why didn’t you ask Tidas for help? Not with the actual fighting, but with logistics?”

Confusion covered her face; “Logistics? How could he help me in that situation? Other than wit his fists?”

Genie sighed; “Tidas is the Commander of the RMC, and an accomplished soldier with years of battle experience. Not once did you ask for his opinion, or even shout out to him to keep an eye on your enemy are you caught your breath-”

“Ya didna Say I could do that!” Skye yelled.

“I also didn’t say that you couldn’t.. All I specified was that the fight had to be fair. Do you think that your opponents had more preparation time than you? They didn’t, but they did ask ME what information I had on you two. You two could’ve done the same.”

Tidas huffed; “This was a training exercise. I didn’t realize that we needed to gather intel for-”

“A shinobi Always gathers information about everything. Not just your enemies, but your allies, your surroundings: everything. The smallest details can lead to the biggest victories. Remember that.”

Genie focused on Skye; “Tidas isn’t just your husband, but a resource. Do not try to do everything on your own, claiming that it’s because you don’t want to be a burden to others. That is when you become a burden to not just others, but yourself as well.”

Turning slightly to face Tidas, Genie’s voice became a touch sterner then when he’d spoken to Skye; “And you need to stop treating your wife like she is made of glass..”

“Skye is strong: far stronger than anyone I have ever met. Not just her body, but her mind as well. If you try to run head-first after her without thinking about exactly What it is that you’re running into, then you will simply get Both of you killed.”

Tidas felt a familiar stab, and narrowed his eyes on Genie as he replied; “I know my wife better than anyone-”

“Do you? Because everyone else seems to trust her to get things done Except for you. I talked with King Murdoc, Tidas. You almost never left her side the entire time that you two were there. You have been overprotective of Skye since you two were children, but you are not kids anymore..”

“If you cannot trust Skye to handle herself in combat, then you should avoid fighting altogether,” Genie ended his chiding with a stern gaze fixated on Tidas.

He’d seen a wide range of emotions cross over the young Prince’s face, anger being seen the most. But Tidas never wavered in listening, or began yelling when he’d obviously felt insulted. That itself showed that he had grown quite a bit since his teenage years, but it wasn’t enough..

Anger flashed in Tidas’ eyes as he tried and failed to maintain a calm demeanor; “Like you know Anything about us! I trust Skye! Otherwise I never would’ve let her fight my uncle! Or go to the Highlands in the first place!”

“Is that how ya see it then? That ya ‘let me’ go?” Skye said in a chillingly placid voice.

Both Tidas and Genie looked at her with trepidation as she continued; “If you two be done talkin’ about me like that, then I’d like ta get this over with..”

Tidas instantly tried to correct himself; “Skye, I’m sorry-I Swear that didn’t mean it like that! That’s not how I-”

“I ken Perfectly well how ye two see me now. Let’s just get on wit this..”

Her tone and expression were almost apathetic-sounding, but there was simmering fury in Skye’s eyes. After walking several steps away from the two, she turned back to them and asked; “We’re fightin’ you next, right Genie?”

Tidas took a step towards her, but Genie held up his hand. He walked towards Skye with a stiff posture, and narrowed eyes. It was rare to see, but Genie was actually angry with Skye, and he made it perfectly clear why..

“And what, exactly, have you done to reassure Tidas that he doesn’t have to worry? You certainly don’t strategize with him, or ask him for help. Even when you Clearly need it..”

“Strength isn’t just about the physical. It’s easy to be strong, but to have true strength means to understand your own weaknesses. There were several times that your opponent would’ve killed you, had this been anything more than training. You depend Far too much on your powers, and do not utilize all you have.”

Genie crossed his arms as he watched Skye’s anger slowly shift to doubt, and continued; “Tidas cannot trust you completely until you show him that he can, and Trusting Him is also a part of that. If you two only focus on covering each other, then you will never accomplish what needs to be done, and watch each other die anyway.”

Tidas and Skye looked at each other for a moment, then Skye turned back towards Genie, and started to walk as she said; “Considerin’ that ye’ve never seen us fight together, I think yer judgements are a wee bit pre-mature. And there is one thing that ya need ta keep in mind, since ya said that ninja would’ve killed me..”

“What’s that?” Genie asked as Tidas followed his wife’s lead, and slowly shifted to line up with her.

Skye grinned cheekily before she ran at him while saying; “They weren’t the only ones holdin’ back before!”