[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya backed away, and pressed herself against the door they had entered through. She tried to turn the handle, but it wouldn't budge, and she realised with a sinking stomach that Drake had locked the door behind them and taken the key with him.

Mick was not happy; he was shouting all manner of things at the Batti, and frantically trying to reassure Shaya that she was going to be all right.

Drake beamed; he hadn't gotten a reaction out of Mick like that in centuries, and was positively glowing with excitement. However, enough was enough, and he didn't want to distress the poor girl any more.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"What you have both failed to realise, is the nature of the creatures that we would normally use this room for" said Drake, opening a panel on the wall which contained several buttons and knobs. "The sunlight, and even the moonlight, is inimical to most of these creatures; this room has a refraction chamber directly connected to an outside source, with which I can focus the light from the outside to pinpoint it onto someone at varying intensities; watch closely."

Shaya peered a little as a beam of light hit the chair, and gasped as Drake placed a triangular prism directly into the beam. The light split into a rainbow of colours, which danced around the room as he moved the prism slowly.

"The light is on its lowest setting at the moment; you seem to be suffering without it, so we will come in here for a half-hour every morning until you can function without it" Drake said, smiling at her.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya did feel a little better, now that she was not convinced Drake was going to torture her. She moved a little closer to inspect the beam of light and the prism.

Mick rounded on Drake angrily; he was still unhappy with the distress Drake had caused Shaya, even if he had calmed her down already. Unfortunately, it was difficult to shout at someone effectively when rainbow colours keep appearing on the wall around you and causing you to shimmer in multicoloured hues.

Eventually they left the chamber, with Drake showing Shaya the settings the device should be on and cautioning her not to change them; the focused light beam could do real damage, he warned.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Preparation is key" droned the instructor, who seemed unhappy that she was the only one in his lecture. Drake had spoken to him privately, and had arranged a one-on-one series of lectures for her rather than putting her in with the normal recruits. Shaya knew it was because she didn't have the luxury of time, and her training would need to be accelerated.

She was currently sat at a desk, taking notes for the first time in a very long time, and was already slightly bored. Mick was concerned, but planned to discuss it with Drake at the end of the lecture, who had already caught his eye and nodded in understanding.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"How did you find the lecture?" asked Drake, as he escorted Shaya from the classroom. He had noticed that her noted shortened as the lesson wore on, and she didn't look happy when they left.

"I found it difficult to follow" admitted Shaya, embarrassed that she had apparently been caught out. "It's not that I don't understand what he's saying, but it's just not going in - all I'm hearing is him droning on, and I missed a lot of what he was saying."

Drake nodded, a small smile on his face; it seemed some of her pluckiness had come back, and he was very pleased at having found the solution.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"Perhaps what you need is a more hands-on approach to the situation" Drake said, holding the inn door open for Shaya and Mick to pass through. "I shall have a word with the instructor later; for now, let us have lunch."

Shaya sat down, and her stomach growled; it seemed the sun-room (she refused to think of it as a torture chamber) had done its job, and she was now feeling much better.

Mick hovered above her shoulder, content to watch over her for the moment. He agreed that she needed a hands-on approach, and had mentioned it to Drake before the session, who had explained that they had to try it the instructor's way first.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

As Shaya tucked into a hearty bowl of stew (which made the innkeeper very happy, who was hovering to offer seconds), she cautiously asked if there was a library in the cave.

Drake took a sip of his lunch, and frowned at her. "There is indeed a library available, but I thought you preferred a hands-on approach" he asked, mildly.

Shaya forced herself to look him in the eyes, and swallowed both her nerves and her mouthful. "I do, but I think that by reading up on things on my own I might get them a little faster" she said, boldly; she didn't add that she was hoping he would leave her alone for a bit if she was in the library studying.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

After lunch, Drake escorted Shaya and Mick to the library. Shaya gasped when they entered, for the building was almost as tall as the lookout towers and the inside was covered in books. Every wall had a bookshelf on it, and there were free-standing ones littered around the room. Desks were positioned as to allow privacy as well as optimum access to the shelves around them, and the room was lit by witchlights which glowed bright orange, and hovered around the desks and shelves. Shaya marvelled at the sight of the enormous spiral staircase at the corner of the room, which seemed to lead to every floor.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

"The section you'll be wanting first - personal protection - is on the third floor, by the way. I'm going to lock you in for a while; I have some things I need to do." Drake bowed to Shaya and nodded at Mick, before exiting the library. A loud 'clunk' indicated that he had indeed locked them in, and Shaya breathed a sigh of relief.

"So what exactly was your plan?" asked Mick cautiously, zooming closer to look her in the eyes.

[Drake: 30]

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya smiled at him, but it was a tired smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "No plan this time, Mick; I'm actually here to study" she said, glancing at the bookshelves that surrounded her.

She sighed, before continuing; "I just wanted a bit of space from your friend, that's all."

Mick nodded in understanding; "He means well, he just gets a bit carried away, and takes his craft very seriously. He's built an empire out of a job nobody will admit needs doing, on the back of his own mortality being stolen by one of the very creatures he's dedicated his life to hunting."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya nodded; "I know he means well, and I'm grateful for the help, really I am. But this whole situation is suffocating; I'd rather be in here, than be out there with that...thing... but he's shadowing us even more than you shadow me, and you're stuck haunting me."

Mick snorted amusedly, and smiled up at her. "Drake has always loved guests, especially those that take an interest in his work. You have no choice but to take up his craft, and he's eager to teach you."

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya wrinkled her nose; it wasn't that she was unwilling to learn - on the contrary, a part of her was actually intrigued by it all - but she had never been any good at doing things because others wanted her to do them. Though she was grateful for the help and guidance, she was struggling to accept such a constant presence, and the lack of sunlight - the feeling of being underground - simply made it worse.

"Perhaps I should ask Drake if I can do another half hour in the sunroom at the end of the day, rather than just one in the morning" she suggested to Mick. He tilted his head, and nodded in agreement, stating that it couldn't hurt to ask. If it helped her, he would ask anything of Drake, though he wasn't about to say that out loud; he had grown quite attached to her since haunting her, but ghosts didn't really do feelings - after all, feelings needed glands.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Shaya followed the stairs up to the third floor, as Drake had instructed. There, she found a whole section of the floor dedicated to books about personal protection, and a handy index listed by class order. The index indicated the order in which the books should be read, as per the training schedule, and suggested supplementary content which could be found in other books in the library.

Shaya grabbed a blank notebook off the stand by the index list (where a helpful sign told her to 'take one as needed') and went to sit down at one of the desks, taking the first of the indicated books with her. There appeared to be multiple copies of each book on the shelves, and so she resolved herself to keep it with her until she had memorised its contents.

Finished, continued in Into The Deep End