Tokio

Chapter 3

December 16th, 2063

"Good. Now go to the training facility and get started on that exam." 

I make my way out of the briefing room and toward an exit. As I push the doors open the cold brisk winter air hits my body like a brick wall. My thin long sleeve does nothing to protect my upper body against the harsh cold. 

I look ahead and see Raven walking along at a snails pace. I roll my eyes and jog to catch up with him, careful not to slip on the freshly fallen snow. The dark haired boy turns around at the crunch of my boots on the ground and glances at me before turning around, his hands settling into the pockets of his pants. 

"What'd he want?" he asks as I slow down next to him. I shrug.

"Nothing really, just told me not to be late." I lie. He'll deny anything if I tell him we talked about his overprotective qualities. He hums in response. I look forward and see the training facility in the clouded distance. I feel Raven's hand glide into mine, catching me by surprise. I look up at him in question but his face still remains forward. I sigh and follow his eyes. It seems like an eternity before he answers.

"We haven't had the chance to spend anytime together." My shoulders drop.

"I know." I mumble and tighten my grip on his tanned hand. He brings it to his face and places a gentle kiss on my knuckles. Before returning our hands to his side

"Happy two years.." he whispers ever so softly. I wouldn't of heard it if it weren't for my exceptional hearing. My heart sank, I had known Raven for four years and I had never heard him so somber. He was always so smug and snarky when he wasn't being so serious all the time. This really wasn't like him. Had I forgotten about our anniversary? Yes, but I had only woken up three hours ago and this was our first moment that we had alone today. The Raven I know would've cracked a joke about me being late again.

"That's impossible, our anniversary was three months ago." I joke as I refer to when we first became friends four years ago. It was a sad attempt to lighten his mood but he didn't budge. "I'm only kidding Raven.." I add and still he remains unchanged. 

He seemed fine at the beginning of the meeting, I wonder what changed. "We'll be spending time together this week.. maybe we can stop in a city on our way back and stay a bit?" He simply nods. I sigh in defeat as we make our way to the doors of the training building. His hand retreats from mine and he grabs the door, holding it open for me. 

"Good Morning Tokio." One of the facility guards says, saluting me. I return the action and continue forward. "Raven." He nods in greeting. I turn around and notice Raven still standing outside holding the door open. 

"You start training, I'm going on a run to warm up." He says before suddenly turning. I quickly walk toward him grabbing his arm. 

"Are you okay?" I look at him as he turns to me. He places a quick kiss on my forehead before pulling his arm out of my hand. 

"I'll be back" he says reassuringly before turning around once again and jogging off. I stand there with the guard behind me. He exchanges a confused glance and I shake my head in return, making my way back into the entrance of the building. 

He's never acted like this before. My thoughts race in confusion as I place my finger on the scanner next to a steel door. A loud beep is exchanged and the door opens, revealing our training facility. My feet lead me into the giant room but my thoughts were elsewhere. 

"Ah, Tokio!" My favorite trainer, Isabella exclaimed. "It's so nice to see your beautiful face again" her thick Italian accent greeted me as she ran over and gave me a hug. I smile at her and return the embrace. 

"Hi, Bella." I say to her as she finally lets me go, however her hands remain on my upper arms. She looks me up and down and pats my arm before leading me to a monitor. She sits me down on small chair next to it and begins to take my vitals. 

"What brings you here?" she questions. 

"Training exam." I answer shortly. "We have a big day tomorrow and the General wants Raven and I to be prepared." I add air quotes to my last word and do my best impression of his voice. She giggles and shakes her head.

"I missed seeing you!" she continues to take my blood pressure "How long was your last mission? Three? Four months?" I chuckle. 

"Not that long... it was only five weeks." 

"Well, it felt much much longer." she replies after typing a few things into the computer. "Okay! We should be all set to being soon... where's that boyfriend of yours?" she places her hands on her hips as she looks around the room. "We can't start until we get his vitals too." I sigh. 

"He decided to warm up with a run." My eyes glance out the window to our right and out into the white abyss of snow. Isabella clicks her tongue. 

"He might have that wolf with him but if he didn't shift he's going to freeze out there." She says as her eyes follow mine. 

"He'll be fine, he's just in a mood I guess... maybe the cold will help him." She scoffs. But doesn't reply as she goes back to typing on the computer. 

"Let's begin without him alright?" I take my attention away from the window and turn to her, nodding. "Very well, follow me." I stand and follow the short woman across the floor. She opened a door to another room that had training dummies laid about. I look to wall on the left to see they had added a giant mirror. I look at my appearance as she lightly pushes me in and closes the door. I turn around and see her standing just behind a glass wall. "You know what to do" she encourages. 

I let out a deep breath as my trainer pushes a button, bringing a few of them to life. They move all about the room, some being held from the ceiling while others rolled along the floor. I crack my neck before taking in a breath and closing my eyes.

I search for my animal counterpart. As soon as begin to feel a slight tingling I push farther as I feel my body begin to contort. To the naked eye it only takes a second but for the shifter it can feel like minutes before you're done transforming. I open my eyes as my senses are heightened. I'm much lower to the floor now but I still have some height to me. I look into the mirror next to me and see my reflection. A black panther stares back at me. My ear twitches as I hear Isabella knock on the glass ushering me to get started. I turn and nod at her, crouching down and digging my paws into the floor.

I turn to the dummies in front of me and begin pouncing. It's all natural instinct, I don't even realize what I'm doing until I'm already done. I jump high reaching for the dummies on the ceiling with my large front paws, bringing them down effortlessly. I dart around for the ones on the floor and tackle them with ease. 

Before I even realize it, there's no more for me to pounce on. I take a step back as my tail begins to sway, I think that's a new record, I purr quietly to myself. I hear a click and my head swivels to the door. Isabella walks in grinning proudly. "Onto the next one?" she asks while holding the door open for me, clipboard in hand.

I chirp in return and make my way to the next room. One down and only fourteen more to go.