I knocked on the door to the training arena. It had only taken a day for my wounds to completely heal, and I was back to my normal self. In all honesty, I could have impressed the Daytroops without Night's help, because I was somewhat of a prodigy back at home. Home. I didn't let my thoughts linger there. The door slid open, unlike the other doors that swung open, only slightly catching me off guard. A man with bright red hair motioned me in. Out of habit, I pulled my hood up further over my head before walking in. The training arena was like anyone would think a training arena would look like. Massive trapeze-like bars, ropes stretched across the ceiling, dummies, targets, boxing arenas, weapons stands, they had everything. It only took me second to know my surroundings and turn my attention to the trainer.

"The name's Ty." He said, holding out a hand. I took it and gave him a firm shake.

"Shadow." I replied. He nodded and turned to a group of kids, around fifty I would say.

"Class, this is Shadow. She is, as you can probably tell, a Shadow Warrior." Ty said. Some of the kids looked frightened and some of them scooted to the edge of their seats in anticipation. The overall reaction was rather pride lifting. I held my self slightly higher, casually tapping the floor with my sword, causing black sparks to fly.

"She is going to be teaching us a few things. Shadow? Why don't you tell us about your sword?" Ty asked, gesturing me forward. I nodded to him and laid my sword flat across my hands, showing the kids.

"This," I began, "is a Sword of Shadows. It is said to contain the power of Night herself." Some of the kids oohed.

"Does it?" One kid asked. I straightened up, throwing the sword in the air and catching it.

"You tell me." I said. I pointed my sword at one of the dummies and black fire shot out of the tip, burning the dummy to ashes. The kids had their eyes on me, awe lightning there gaze. "But that's not all the sword does. It is deadly sharp and turns anything it touches dark."

"Even humans?" Another kid piped up. I shook my head.

"It doesn't work on humans or animals. It has a different effect on them. It sort of burns them. Usually, though, a person doesn't press themselves against the flat of a sword. Also, when a Shadow Warrior is killed, with their dying breath they must plunge the sword into the earth. Everything within a fifty yard radius will go completely black. It emits a high pitched ringing noise, confusing the enemy along with the darkness, allowing any other Shadow Warriors to escape." I said. Ty stepped forward.

"Who wants Shadow to show us her skills?" He asked. The kids shouted in approval and I smirked slightly.

"Let's start with sword combat." Ty said. Then he took a few steps back. I reached into my belt and grabbed some night vision powder.

"You'll need this to see me fight. It's night vision powder." I said. I saw Ty hesitate a second before allowing me to mist the students and himself with it. Then, sword in hand, I turned to the sword arena. The dummies, which were actually robots, were beginning to move. I pulled my hood far up over my head, and hit the floor with the tip of my sword. There were gasps from the kids when everything turned dark. The night vision powder was strange in that they knew it was pitch black, but could still make out figures, sort of infrared style. I jumped high into the air and landed on one of the robot's shoulders. I sliced it bottom up and flipped off it as it fell in two, stabbing another one in the center of the bullseye on it's chest. I kicked the broken robot at one of the others and dived under the one that went flying, kicking up with my legs so that I was then on top of the falling robot. I stomped it the ground and jumped up and spun around, my sword decapitating the robots who had circled around me. Then I jumped and grabbed on to the ropes above, wrapping my legs around one and swinging down so that I was upside down. It all took a matter of seconds. I snapped my fingers and the darkness went away, as well as the night vision powder. There was a moment of silence where Ty and the kids just stared at me. I even heard one gulp. I flipped and landed on my feet. I pulled my hood far up over my head, dark fire dancing across my hands which were, thankfully, hidden in my jacket pocket. I cleared my throat and Ty blinked, stepping forward again.

"Well wasn't that impressive, guys?" He asked. The students nodded. I glanced past them, up at the mirror. The way Ty's eyes flirted to the mirror every now and then, the way the kids were sitting as far away from it as possible. I was filled with an intense rage. It burned within me.

"Training session my butt." Night snapped. They didn't trust me anymore than I trusted them. There was no way that wasn't a one-way mirror. There was no doubt about it, there were people behind that mirror taking notes on everything I did.

"Too bad they couldn't see us." Night pointed out. I had thought Ty had hesitated in taking the night vision powder because he thought it was poison, but in truth, he realized that the spectators wouldn't be able to see me. I smirked slightly.

"Shadow? How about you show us what you can do with a bow?" Ty asked, walking over to where the bows were stacked. I followed him.

"He thinks I'm good with a sword? I'm even better with a bow." I thought to Night.

"You are a girl after my own heart, Shadow." She said, which surprised me. Ty handed me a silver bow, but the minute it touched my hand, it became a black bow with a flame pattern etched into it. I smiled apologetically at Ty and walked over to the target dummies. I sprayed Ty and the kids with night vision again, then pulled an arrow out of the quiver. I put it in place and pulled back the string, the room getting darker as I pulled it back until it was completely black again. The tip lit up with a black flame and I let the arrow fly. The arrow hit its mark dead on, and the dummy was engulfed in black flames. The cool thing about Shadow Bows is that they literally leave a shadow behind, meaning I could fire multiple arrows made completely of black flame before having to notch another arrow. After burning five dummies, I jumped up into the air again, notching an arrow and I twisted to land the jump. The metal bar landed behind my knees as planned and I held on tight, letting the arrow go again. It flew, past all the dummies as they moved, with excellent timing if I do say so myself, and hit a tower of boxes behind them. The arrow exploded on impact and the dummies were crushed under the boxes. I flipped off the bar, hitting a few more dummies with the shadow of the last arrow as I went. I landed on top of a pole, balancing on one foot as the darkness went away. The pole was more of a tube, a hole down the middle just big enough for an arrow to fit through. There was something I wanted the Daytroops to see. I begged Night to let this work, for I had only done it once before, and jumped off the pole. I kicked it's base hard and it spun. I kicked it up so that I had more time as I pulled back the string. Then I jumped into the air. Time seemed to slow.

"You've got this Shadow. You have my skills and yours, you can do it. Trust your instincts." Night was whispering in my mind. I released the arrow in time with my breath and I saw it spiral towards the spinning pole. It entered the hole and got caught up in the spinning. Then, just as I had planned, it exited the pole, speeding in the direction intended. It flew across to the opposite side of the room, and hit the target dead center with a dull thud. I landed the same time the arrow hit. Ty stared at me, his mouth open. The kids were awestruck, their eyes never leaving me. Summer burst into the room.

"Shadow!" She exclaimed. She stopped, looking at the room. She glanced at the mirror then back at me. "You need to come with me." She said. I dropped the bow and hurriedly crossed the room, avoiding everyone's gaze. When the door slid shut behind me, Summer set off down the hallway at a brisk pace, leaving me to pick up my pace.

"What were you thinking? Pulling a stunt like that?" She snapped. I was taken aback by her terse tone and the fierceness in her gaze.

"What was I thinking? They wanted to see something so I showed them something!" I replied, rivaling the anger in her voice.

"Day was watching that!" She snarled, shaking her head slightly, not slowing the pace as she rounded the corner.

"You think I couldn't figure that out for myself?" I spat back. She rounded on me, grabbing my arm, and out of instincts I grabbed her and flipped her over. She landed skillfully on her feet, but I kicked her in the back and she was thrown against the wall. All the Daytroops around me aimed their guns at me, one even grabbed my hands and pulled them behind my back, making me hunch over backwards. A gun was pressed to my temple. Summer was back on her feet, her hands up.

"Stop! Stop! It's okay! My fault! Let her go!" She shouted. The Daytroops hesitated slightly but let me up. I rubbed my right wrist. It was beginning to again. Stupid Daytroop. Summer led me down the hallway again.

"Sorry, Shadow. Day wants to speak with, well, Night." She said when we arrived out or destination. The double doors where I first met Day. I set my jaw and pushed past Summer. I pushed open the doors and walked up to Day.

"Ah, Shadow. You've arrived. How are you?" He asked. I crossed my arms.

"Enough with formalities. You wanted to speak with Night?" I said, getting to the point.

"If you would be so kind." Day said. I didn't know why, after all he was being very kind to me considering who I was and what I'd done in return, but every cell in my body was burning with an intense hatred toward Day and all the Daytroops. I closed my eyes and tried to focus.

"Night? I'm letting you take over. For now only. So please let me have my body back when this is over!" I begged her silently.

"You have my word that you can have your body back. Fair warning, though, you won't be conscious when I'm in control, okay? So don't panic, you will wake up when I let you take control again." Night said. I took a deep breath. "Ready?" She asked.

"Okay." I said out loud, opening my eyes. I saw Day nod before the moon flashed across my line of vision and I blacked out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When I woke up, every part of me hurt. For a moment I wondered if it was from Night taking over, but she promptly contradicted me.

"Oh no, Shadow, it was all Day. The minute he sees me he goes off on a rant. I try and correct him and wham. That's why your face hurts. Don't worry, though love, I didn't go down without a fight. He looks worse than you. I would take it easy for a while, hon. You were tough, a true warrior, but you took a nasty one to the side." She said. I groaned as I straightened up.

"You're awake!" A voice said. I blinked a few times as my vision came into focus and saw that it was Summer. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, some strands hanging down over her face. She looked rather stressed.

"Oh, Shadow I was so worried! Day feels so guilty about what he did to you! He forgot that you are only human! Got caught up in the fact you were also Night and took it a little too far. I've gotten the best medicine and you should be fine in a few minutes, but it still doesn't matter! Oh this all gone so wrong!" She stammered, looking flustered. I got to my feet and put my hand on her shoulder. She cringed like she was afraid I was going to hit her.

"Why are you so afraid of me?" I asked, feeling hurt. She looked at me with sad eyes.

"Because...." She broke off into a sigh, looking down. More hair fell out of her ponytail. "Because of what you can do." She said. I thought back to the training arena. Those things were rather frightening.

"They are supposed to be. You are a dying race, Shadow. You have to go out with a bang!" Night said. A shook my head to get rid of the sound the Death Penalty makes that had popped into my mind. I took a strand of Summer's blonde hair between my fingers and tucked back into her ponytail.

"You know what else I can do? Hide in a well system fit for Moon herself." I said, trying for some humor. Night wasn't amused.

"My mother would never stay down there." She snapped disdainfully. Summer smirked, though, looking up at me.

"Come on. There is something I want to show you." I said, walking over to the window in my room. It was night out, I could tell, but you couldn't see the stars. They were hidden. Anything to take the beauty out of Night. I slid the window up and began worming my way out. Summer poked her head out as I got a better grip on the downspout.

"Should you be doing that with all your wounds?" She asked. It wasn't a 'we shouldn't do this,' or 'what do you think you're doing,' and I appreciated that. I gave her a smile before examining the climb ahead. There were spots in the marble walls that would allow for good foot holds. I looked down and saw rushing water a good fifty feet below us. The climb up was around a story or two.

"I'm fine. You coming?" I asked as I began to climb. Summer smiled and climbed out after me. It only took us a minute or two to climb up to the roof of the building. We sat on the edge of the roof, staring at the sky. I sighed. None of the stars could be seen.

"I'll ask my mom to help." Night said. There was a moment of silence, then Moon shone so brightly that the clouds were chased away and all the stars in the sky could be seen. Blue and green and purple streaked the sky, stars scattered across with lifetimes of stories to tell. Summer gave a sharp intake of breath.

"They're beautiful!" She said. She looked at me, her eyes watering. "I guess Night isn't so bad after all." I smiled at her. I glanced at the scenery around us. There were woods surrounding the city.

"Listen." I told her. Then I got to my feet, cupped my hands around my mouth, and howled like a wolf. My call was answered by millions of howls, a variety of pitches. Birds rose from the trees in a frenzy, bats squeaking and spinning. An owl circled us overhead before flying away. When the noise subsided, I looked over at Summer. Her mouth was open in disbelief.

"Your turn." I said. She got to her feet, shaking slightly.

"They won't do it for me, I'm a Daytroop." She said. I shook my head.

"Then don't howl. Call to the birds. Try a falcon call. They like Day, right?" I suggested. Summer nodded and put cupped her hands around her mouth. She let out a falcon call. It was answered by birds, a falcon even flew up and landed on Summer's arm, snapping at me as it landed. I laughed.

"Nice job!" I said. Summer stroked the falcon.

"Not really. This is Hawk. He's mine." She said. I stifled a laugh.

"Hawk the falcon?" I asked.

"I was little, okay?" She snapped, nudging me with her elbow. She launched Hawk into the sky and he let out a cry before diving back down the side of the building.

"He's trained to answer when I call him, so it wasn't as cool as yours" Summer said. I shrugged.

"I've got Night on my side, remember?" I pointed out.

"True." She said. "Come on. We better be getting in before we get in trouble." Together we climbed back down the wall and slipped into my room. Summer went for the door, but looked back, her hand on the handle.

"That was amazing. Thanks. Both of you." She said. Then she slipped out, closing the door behind her. I sighed and turned my back on the door. A glint of silver caught my eye.

"Night? What is that?" I asked. It was a trumpet, I knew that much. But it was freezing to the touch and it was engraved with designs and drawings.

"Night?" I tried again.