Devotio

Chapter 3

There was a sound like some type of horn that startled Echizen from his sleep. He sat up on his cot and looked at his surroundings; he was still there in the tent he and Ryoga were provided with by Cardinal soldiers. There was a dull glow coming through the seams of the tent. He went a peeked through the opening to see the sun starting to rise then walked back to his cot, lay down, and covered his face with his pillow.

"It's- literally- dawn." Echizen moaned through his pillows. "What are they doing up?"

"Chibisuke, we're in a military base." Ryoga's reply was mumbled. "What were you expecting; a relaxing wakeup call and breakfast in bed?"

"Shut up." Echizen tried to fall back asleep but the sound of boots and people yelling good morning's deterred any thought of it. "How can they do this every day?"

"After about two or so weeks you kinda get used to it." A new voice was in the tent. "Kora Echizen, you said you wanted to learn about your magic right? You need to go with our schedule."

Momo's voice wasn't one of the first things Echizen wanted to hear in the morning. "I changed my mind. Go away."

Ryoga snorted while Momo sighed. He pointed his finger at Echizen's cot. "Proclino." The ground under Echizen's cot was suddenly tilted, which caused Echizen to fall from it. Ryoga looked at him from under his pillow and snickered. Momo tossed him a set of clothes. "Get changed and meet us at the training grounds. Ryoga-san," Ryoga flinched at the thought of having the same fate befall him. "Oishi-san you should still rest and recover." He tossed another set of clothes onto Ryoga's cot. "You can meet us when you're ready. Kora Echizen, if you don't hurry then Inui-san will make you his test subject." With that, he left the tent.

Echizen set in a mess of blankets on the ground, more than irritated at what had happened. Nonetheless, he didn't like the idea of being anyone's test subject for anything so he fixed his cot, grumbling obscene things while doing it, and begun to change. The outfit Momo had left him with consisted of a dark green t-shirt, a white undershirt, and dark green pants which were all slightly too big for him but he didn't care too much.

"Aren't you coming?" He asked as he began out of the tent.

"I'll catch up." Ryoga smirked at the frown on his brother's face, clearly thinking it was unfair for him to have to meet everyone while Ryoga could keep sleeping.

Echizen rolled his eyes and exited the tent. Stupid, lazy; why does he get to continue sleeping? Even though Ryoga had been injured, he was practically healed and could totally keep up with whatever they were going to do today, but whatever; better safe than sorry. As he walked to the training ground, he saw Kaidou's cat start walking with him. He didn't mind at all but he figured everyone else who was also on the way there would be used to seeing the two together by now even if it was only one day. When he got to the grounds, the cat left and he was greeted by everyone else.

A chorus of good morning rang from the group as he approached to which he replied with a scowl. "The only good morning is one where you can sleep." He mumbled.

"Come now Echizen-kun." Oishi sweat dropped and handed him a rice ball. "This is basically free time until we have to move so now is the best time to start teaching you. We also thought it would be a good idea for you to train with us for extra protection."

"Whatever you say." Echizen bit into his rice ball and listened as Tezuka addressed the crowd in front of them.

"Alright. Today we are going to do some basic tests to see your progress." A murmur went through the crowd. "You will be split into groups and put under the care of one of the Special Forces officers for monitoring. The tests will consist of the following: speed, power, ability to make quick decisions, and hand-to-hand combat. When the results are taken into account, you will be placed into another group that corresponds with the field you did poorly in and will be trained in that field until you are satisfactory. This is how you'll be split up-"