The week passed peacefully. Amber was rather secretive about her progress, but seemed to be permanently delighted whenever Ghost saw her, so that was good. He used the time to get familiar with the feel of the theatre. It was strange how different places had their own distinctive feeling. If you could take away the bricks and mortar, there was still something left. Genus loci, they used to call it, the spirit of the place. Gradually he got to know his way around. The Harlequins kept themselves to themselves and he was happy to leave it like that for the time being.
On reflection he’d decided not to run just yet, though mentally he now had one eye on the door. Wherever he went, sooner or later he’d get embroiled in larger matters. It was just the way of the world at the moment. At least he trusted the Guardians he knew. And maybe if he could just survive long enough, the world would change again to a place where he could be left in peace. Maybe. In the meantime he needed resources to help him survive.
As he sat watching the sun set in the park, Amber came bounding up to him clutching something proudly.
“Look what I got!” she held out a whip for his inspection.
This was nothing like the practice version they’d made. This was a weapon made by someone who knew what they were doing. These days too many people went for fancy designs; jewels, dragons, gold leaf and the such-like. Sure they looked pretty, but they tended to cause all sorts of problems just when you really didn’t want them too. Pieces snapped off, or got caught, or just plain slipped out of your grasp. By contrast this whip didn’t stand out. It wasn’t pure black, more a mottled black and dark brown, almost like a snake. No sharp edges to cause problems and the wrapping on the handle looked like it was easy to grip. Ghost suspected it was perfectly balanced too.
“Cool,” he replied.
“Want to see what I can do with it?” her eyes gleamed.
Ghost knew it wasn’t a question. Well at least there was a fair amount of room around them. He nodded.
Although he didn’t really know much about whips, even he could tell that Amber had improved a lot. No doubt the weapon she had was helping, but still her movements were much more fluid and tightly controlled. The whip seemed to be going pretty much where she wanted it to, rather than her previous style of it getting there eventually after having exhausted all other possible avenues.
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