Four o'clock had rolled around and everything was ready. The mats were rolled up and set to the sides. The weight sets were all placed in thier racks and the sound system for the training hall was set with Kichi's favored song to swing dance to Elvis Prestley's All Shook Up.

Even Ghost Wake himself was dressed up in his casual practice wear. an indigo silk vest covered his torso which tucked into a matching set of loose silken trousers and tied off with a belt of the same material. His face was hidden as usual, a tied silken mask with matching silk scarf used to tie back his hair into a neat ponytail. Wrapped soft soled boots covered his feet and he wore a matching set of hand wraps.

All that was left to do was wait for Frost to show up.

The ninja couldn't help but feel as if he were living a child's tale: The Ninja Who Taught the Dragon to Dance.

Frost raced through Skyway City. She was late. Oddly, she often seemed to be late these days. And as excited as she had been on Monday and Tuesday about the swing dancing that was mentioned at the last meeting, today it and her appointment with Kichi had completely slipped her mind.

The dragon was flying fast...faster than she should be in the clothing she was wearing. She was in civilian dress, a slight breach of her identity, especially on the eve of her assignment in the Etiole Islands. The cold of late winter did not bother Frost so wearing a short sleeve cream blouse was not much of an issue for her. She had to keep her hands pressed against her thighs to keep the wind from playing with her tan skirt. Nude nylons encased her legs and, on her feet, were a pair of cream colored pumps.

She smiled for a moment, thinking about her shoes. Another thing of late was that Frost could not pick up a pair of her shoes without hearing Grace's voice comment on the impracticality of high heels. Sometimes, she has to look over her shoulder to make sure Grace is not actually there. She figured it was just a part of how much her friends and teammates in Wolfcry had become a part of her life.

Frost dashed into the building, almost knocking a few people over as she came through the door. She looks at her watch as she reached the elevator. 20 minutes after 4.

'Kichi has probably left by now. How am I gonna make it up to him?'

Frost was already a little upset with herself for pressuring Kichi, making him seem ill at ease. And now he had gotten everything set up and now she was late.

Kichi was conflicted. One one hand, he was rather peeved that Frost was late and had she been human, probably would have left by now, cursing her lack of dedication. On the other hand, she was a dragon and everything be damned, she was a friggin' dragon! While most people would shrug and say they'd dealt with weirder supernatural things and, in Paragon City, they'd be right but, Kichi was far more traditional than most of the city, most of the world, in fact.

Then there was that issue of friendship he was still trying to wrap his head around. Comradeship, brotherhood in arms; those he understood. Friendship? It was odd to him, to one who'd been taught from a young age that friends get people killed.

Ghost Wake sighed and took a middle stance, left arm held out in front of him, palm up. His right arm was tucked in, fingers wrapped into a fist with his wrist resting against his hip as he leaned his weight back on his right leg.

The ninja snapped forward, his fist rushing from his hip and striking the imaginary foe before him. Quickly he tucked his arm back against his hip and lashed out with his right leg, a hard, controlled strike that would have shattered bone had it struck a human target.

The leg zipped back towards the ground, only pausing for a second as the ninja crouched. His coiled legs propelled him upward, flipping head over heels. Leaping over his fallen imaginary target, Kichi reached into the folds of his vest and threw his arms wide, mimicking the motions of a shuriken throw.

Landing lightly, Ghost Wake rolled forward and away from the imagined foes, spinning on his heels and retaining the pose he'd taken at the start of the kata: Left arm outstretched, right arm pressed against his hip.

Path of the Rising Serpent. Martial arts practice always calmed and stilled his mind.

Frost exited the elevator and looked around.

"Kichi! Kichi are you still here?"

She rushed over to the bar area, the most natural for the group to meet up for social gatherings and meetings. Though, as she thought about it, there would not be a lot of room up for there dancing. Then she recalled the training room she and Ness had worked out in the other day. Frost wondered if it was still there.

When the dragon arrived at the training area, she was relieved to see Kichi was still there. However, as he was working out, she decided not to disturb him. Frost leaned against the doorframe and watched.

Kichi finished his routine, the last move in the kata, a throw. The ninja grabed his imaginary opponent by the wrist in one arm and locked its elbow by bracing it with his other arm.

The ninja pivoted on his leg, spinning around and bringing his left leg up and around to crack his imaginary sparring partner in the back of the head. Letting go of the lock, Kichi immediately snapped to attention, both arms at his waist. A stiff, controlled bow followed, not directed at anyone in particular.

"Greetings Honorable Ryuu-sama," Kichi said, turning towards the door, "I hope all is well?"

Frost nods. "Mmmmm hmmm!" She pushes herself off the doorframe and enters the room. "Sorry I was late. I got...distracted. I hope my arrival didn't interrupt your routine?"

Watching Kichi's movements, the dragon could see with her mind the imaginary opponent the ninja was fighting. Or at least imagine the types of attacks an opponent might try to make. Her combat practice with Ness had taught her much about fighting. Though Frost knew Kichi would wipe the floor with her, not that Kichi would ever attack her. But the ninja definitely had his rhythm.

She smiled looking to Kichi's face, happy to see part of that face. For a moment, Frost wondered if Kichi goes grocery shopping dressed like this.

"Oh, no," Ghost replied, bowing his head to the dragon, "I was simply passing the time until our scheduled appointment. Efficient use of time."

The ninja tilted his head to the side, a slight bemused tone to his voice as he spoke, "The Sims?"

Frost blushes, which is difficult to see in brown tones of her skin, however it definitely shows in her body language. "Am I that predictable? I won't bore you with the details, though. But Sim Kichi went off on his first date while Wolfcry was visiting China. You can go to China, France, or Egypt on vacations." She stops herself from rambling on about the Sims.

She smiles at Kichi again. "So, where do you want me?"

"First, I must assess your knowledge of dance," Ghost said, tilting his head to the side slightly as he observed the dragon, "So I must ask, have you danced before?"

The ninja peered inquisitively at his teammate with that ever calm expression of his.

Frost giggled. "Oh sure, I dance all the time." She then began bouncing around to an unheard song which she was listening to in her head. Her head bopped from side to side. Her hands waved over her head as her feet moved and twisted. This would probably pass for dancing in the darkness of a club or within one's own home. The words she began to sing, despite having no logical meaning or understanding, might seem familiar.

In her head, the dragon was listening to the Sims' version of Katy Perry's Hot and Cold. She closed her eyes and moved to the rhythm of the music. She thankfully managed to resist the urge to pantomime the holding of a microphone.

She is a Dragon of Mischief. A spirit of oddities and confusion. This tale is going to end with me falling into a dumpster, I am sure of it...

Deal with it, Ghost Wake, you said you would teach the honored Ryuu-sama to dance and you will. That was your oath and you will fulfill it or die with unspeakable shame upon your name.

"I... see," Kichi said, a tad reluctantly, "Well, you've gotten the most important aspect of dancing well in hand. You've found the rhythm of the song. You can hear the beat. Now. Much like martial arts, Swing is a series of maneuvers, steps, paired together to the beat of a song and just like the ranking system for martial arts, Swing dancing has various levels of difficulty. Now let us start with the basics."

The ninja held out his arms as if dancing with an invisible partner, "Now, as Swing dancing is a dance danced by pairs, I must ask you to take my hand and we can begin with the simplest steps."

"Certainly, " responded Frost as she stepped up to Kichi, taking his hand. "Is there a particular stance I require?" She tried to become serious because she could see Kichi was in a rather serious state of mind at the moment. Well, from what the dragon has noticed of him, Kichi was always serious.

Seriousness aside, Frost wondered what interested Kichi in this swing dance. She had observed that for humans, dance tended to be a form of expression, something they did to feel good. And Frost learned it did feel very nice and at times was full of energy. So what was it about this particular style of dance that caught Kichi's interest. A ninja, who appeared to keep expression hidden, found enjoyment in dance.

"Now, rest your right hand on my shoulder," the ninja explained, wrapping his left arm around Frost's back, "Now, lean back slightly, not enough to throw off your balance but to ensure we do not lose connection as we dance."

The ninja paused waiting to see if Frost understood his directions. His emotions were calm, reserved as they always were when he was directing his attention to an issue. Focused.

Frost understood Kichi as her hand moved to the proper position and her body relaxed, leaning back slightly, and surrendering the lead, so to speak, to the ninja to allow their movements to flow together.

"Like this?"

The dragon looked into Kichi's eyes, her focus on his instructions and the task at hand.

"Yes, exactly," Kichi said, pleased with her easy of learning. The faint ghost of a smile could be seen outlined in his mask.

"Now, the first thing I will teach you is called the rock step and it is the foundation for all of the moves I will be showing you today. The move is simple and only consists of three motions. What is called a rock step and two basic steps."

The ninja pivoted on his left foot, stepping backwards slightly, while retaining both his handhold on Frost's hand and Frost herself.

"The rock step is very much, simply rocking back onto your lead foot," He said, explaining as he moved, "Now, we'll want to do this in unison. Let us try that."