Is this destiny?

~ Close to the border of China with Kazakhstan ~

Sunday morning…

Sarah woke up with a smile on her face. Her smile faded quickly when she realized that she is by herself in the bed.

Flood of thoughts assaulted her mind. Did she dream that Aiden came previous day? Did she spend the night in his embrace? If that was not a dream, where is he now? After few seconds of panic, she calmed down with a thought that Aiden probably went back to his assigned bed before everyone woke up. Yes. That is a reasonable explanation. Because that familiar woody-flowery scent still lingers under her fur cover. He was here... And her smile was back.

Sarah swiftly got ready for the day.

She followed sounds coming from the clearing used for training. Someone was counting: "134… 135… 136…"

Sarah held her breath while trying to understand why is Aiden doing squats while holding an oversized log above his head? And a disciple (Haru) is next to him doing the same…

"152… 153…", second disciple is standing next to them and counting while Aiden and Haru are doing squats.

Master Hollow is sitting on a nearby stump and observing his other two disciples who are engaged in a sparring match.

Sarah can\'t see Jesse on this clearing used for training.

Aiden\'s sight landed on Sarah and a smile crept on his face.

Sarah wanted to ask him, how can he smile? It\'s obvious that those beads of sweat on his forehead are not because he is having an easy time. And that log looks heavy. But she is happy to see that smile. There is nothing better than knowing that he is with her, here.

She wondered, is this some training that Master Hollow agreed to give him? Sarah was happy while thinking that the old man is actually training Aiden!

She grabbed a towel from the side and wiped Aiden\'s sweat swiftly without impacting his pace.

Master Hollow let out an unsatisfied humming sound before speaking: "You have the energy to smile?"

Sarah looked at the old man and realized that he is glaring at Aiden.

Master Hollow noticed Aiden\'s change in expression when Sarah showed up and he was irked by Aiden\'s smugness. "Fifty more!"

Haru snickered when he heard that Aiden\'s punishment is increased.

"To both of you!", Master Hollow hollered.

Haru looked in disbelief at his Master, but he swallowed all the words that were about to escape him. He wanted to ask, what bad karma did he earn so that his punishments are tied up to Aiden\'s? This newcomer has no discipline and he is defying the Master! Haru cried internally while thinking, why does he need to suffer with Aiden when he is not the one who spent the night with a girl?

Sarah realized that this is not a training, it\'s a punishment!

Oh, no! They found out that Aiden sneaked out last night. Why else would he be punished?

"Sarah! Here!", Master Hollow\'s call startled Sarah.

He was standing next to one exercise dummy, and Sarah rushed to join him.

"Hit it here!", he showed three points already marked on the dummy.

Sarah did as she was told and delivered three swift punches right on the marks.

"Your movements are too wide.", he observed.

Sarah raised her eyebrows in confusion. \'Too wide?\' No one ever told her that her movements are wide, not even her mother.

Old man noticed that Sarah didn\'t understand. He took a stick and drew in the dirt. "Your hit goes like this… If you make it go like this… your speed and power will increase. Hundred times, each point."

He walked away and took a seat on the stump he was sitting on previously.

Sarah took a deep breath, assumed her stance and started to hit the exercise dummy as she was told. About halfway in, a thought came to her mind while her hands ached from the repeated impacts into the hard wood: is this a punishment for previous night? Or because she wiped away Aiden\'s sweat? She exhaled. If it is or isn\'t, she has no right to complain. Both of them last night consciously disobeyed instructions from the Master of this place. They should know that there is a price to pay for that.

She glanced at Aiden who just finished his 250 squats. Exhausted or not, he is ravishingly handsome.

Aiden shook and stretched his arms and legs next to Haru who collapsed on the ground. He bowed to Master Hollow before walking toward Sarah and taking a seat to observe her without a word.

Aiden\'s smile was contagious because Sarah was smiling as well. No punishment is enough to make them regret spending the night together.

Shortly before lunch, Jesse appeared from the forest. He told them that he was scouting the area.

"What happened to your hands?", Jesse asked Sarah with concern when he saw Aiden wrapping her hands with wet cold towels.

"I overdid my morning exercise.", Sarah responded with a smile while leaning on Aiden.

Aiden wanted Sarah to use that medicinal cream to heal faster, but Sarah refused saying that she is just a bit sore and using that cream would be a waste.

In the afternoon, Sarah had another round of sparring with the disciples. This time against two of them, one at a time. She adjusted her hits based on instructions Master Hollow told her that morning and she was surprised that there was a difference. With just a slight modification of the trajectory, her hits became faster and stronger.

Even if hitting that dummy was a punishment, he still gave her a genuine advice that works. Oh, she can\'t wait to try it out against Stella. But she knows that this will not be enough.

After everyone went back to their afternoon tasks, Sarah stayed on the training area and practiced her modified hits on the dummy.

"It seems that you figured out something.", Aiden noticed her lit up expression.

Sarah grinned. "Spar with me."

Two of them were engaged in exchanging blows for a long time.

Aiden observed the change and silently praised her improvement.

Sarah apologized when her hit landed heavily on his shoulder and he used her lack of focus to pin her to the ground and deliver a \'punishing\' kiss.

"Are we fighting or apologizing?", Aiden taunted her with a sly smirk while assuming a fighting stance.

Sarah stood up while sulking. "I know that we should fight, but if a kiss is my punishment then I feel that I should lose on purpose."

He laughed. "Do your best. You have that medicine to heal me by morning. And no matter how good or bad you perform, I will never run out of kisses for you."

Master Hollow observed Sarah and Aiden from the edge of the clearing. He was intrigued by the balance between them. Their techniques are very different, yet two of them complement each other perfectly. He can tell that they sparred many times before. The thing that stands out the most is that Sarah and Aiden are enjoying. By the sound of laugher, you would never think that they are exchanging such vicious blows. If any of them loses focus, serious injuries would occur.

Every time Aiden stole a kiss, Master Hollow frowned. That cheeky rascal! He will not allow him to slip out of the sleeping cabin tonight! Even if he himself needs to stand guard!

…

Later that night, Sarah was in her cabin, shifting in her bed while waiting for Aiden to come.

Some rustling from the outside got her attention and she saw a piece of paper pushed under the door.

She used her flashlight to read the message. Sarah can tell it\'s Jesse\'s handwriting… Aiden is locked up in the cabin used for storage, and disciples are taking turns guarding him.

Sarah plopped back on her bed. This Master Hollow… to what lengths will he go so that two of them not spend the night together?

---

If you are not reading this at \'W e b n o v e l .. c o m\', then the content you\'re reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.