Post by AFireInTheSnow on Jan 27, 2011 14:24:31 GMT -5
Bloodlines;
Chapter Thirteen:
"Well, fuck."
------------------------
It had been another three months before Aeydan became used to Sira's snarkiness and moodswings. It took another two and a half for him to stop being surprised by her eagerness to learn everything about her new... job, disturbing as it was. He flat-out told her she wasn't coming on a mission anytime soon. He was as determined to keep her away from the killing as she was to be part of it. Didn't she realize what she had dug herself into? Of course not.
He had paused to let her catch her breath and to let his thoughts wreak havoc on his concentration. The two were sparring. He had discovered her weakness quickly after a few sessions; her endurance. She was fine unless the fight went on for more than ten minutes, and it was very likely that in the future she would find herself in battle for hours or even days. She needed to be prepared.
"C'mon, you're done already?" he asked softly, his English heritage prominent in his accent. He smiled faintly as Sira struggled to stand up, chest heaving as she tried to breathe normally. The tease was light; he knew better than to upset her by now. She fought like a wildcat, which made sense, and sometimes succeeded at catching him off guard, especially when angered. She glared at him through slitted eyes, leaning heavily on her katana in order to stay upright. Poor thing. Perhaps he should stop...
"Sh-shut up..." she snapped, slowly straightening. Her eyes were dark green as she slid back into a defensive crouch.
His teasing was light for another reason; he didn't want her to push herself too hard. She had a tendency to ignore her body's warnings to stop and overexerted herself. She stood fully upright, a little anthropomorphic girl of about three feet in height. She tended to favour her anthro or neko forms over her human one. She said it was something about lacking a tail and the ears that made her uncomfortable. He could accept that..
Right now, that tail was twitching angrily as she growled. "Not done... bastard." she spat, biting her lip and leaping for the fifty-somethingth time at Aeydan. He sidestepped, hacking at her arm with the machete in his hand. She jerked her arm away from the sharp blade and dropped unexpectedly down to the floor, her eyes glinting wickedly as she evaded Aeydan's next attack and kicked his legs out from under him, sending him to the ground. It was the same finishing move he had used a few minutes ago, and she straddled his chest, pinning his wrists with one hand while pressing the flat of her blade against his throat so as not to harm him.
Aeydan smiled up at her and freed his wrists easily from her grasp. "Alright, lemme up, you big lug."
Sira giggled and hopped off of him, landing in a crouch and watching him curiously. Aeydan picked himself up and leant against a nearby wall. They had long since given up training outdoors, as the soldiers distracted Sira and the earth below them was packed hard enough to do some serious damage if he Aeydan threw her down. Now they were in a padded room, not too different from one at an insane asylum. The floor was only soft enough not to hurt to badly if one might fall, but it was still hard enough to cause a bruise for the same reason. Sira knew this well, as her sides, palms and knees had fading bruises on them. She had quickly learned to recover from a fall and even lessen her impact on the floor.
At that moment a knock came on the door, the only part of the room lacking padding, including the ceiling. Aeydan and Sira spared it a glance before inviting whoever it was in.
Nakavi entered in his usual humanoid form, his feathery black wings rustling against his back. He had on the usual smile as he nodded to Sira and Aeydan, his long blonde hair brushed back out of his eyes.
"Boss wants you," he said quietly to Aeydan, who looked back at Sira.
"Think you can train her while I'm out?" the Vampyr asked, and Nakavi shrugged.
"Sure, how hard could it be?"
"Don't underestimate her." Aeydan left the two of them, closing the door behind him as Sira stared after.
Nakavi turned to her, examining her carefully. The light and laughter was still in his golden-brown eyes as he looked her up and down. It took the girl a moment to register that his wings were shrinking into his back, and she immediately sank into her usual crouch. He looked so carefree and playful that she was looking forward to an easy fight for once.
He struck without warning. One moment he was smiling sweetly at her and the next he was leaping into the air, landing behind her. She whirled around to find he was gone. With his sweet disposition, she had never thought he'd be one of the assassins here. Turned out she was wrong, very wrong as he pulled her close against his chest, one hand on her throat.
"Just snapped your neck..." he murmured quietly, releasing her.
"Damn," she muttered, turning to stare at him. "Never thought you would be one'a the assassins..."
Nakavi's grin came back and he shrugged. "Not a single new recruit thinks that until they train with me. Then they find out the hard way. Try again?"
Sira giggled and gave him no time to think, darting towards him and clawing at his left side. It wasn't a fatal wound, so the bout wasn't yet over. He grabbed for her arm as she clawed him, catching her wrist in his grip. He wasn't as gentle as Aeydan usually was, but she still broke his grasp pretty easily, drawing her dagger and trying to get in position to mortally "wound" him.
The two circled for a long moment, trying to find an opening on the other. Sira was straddling the line between defense and offense, trying not to let Nakavi have an opening to strike her, but still watching for any weakness on him. She had never sparred with him, so she knew none of his weaknesses... Not that she knew any of Aeydan's, either.
Nakavi was the first to attack, barely giving Sira any time to sidestep the blow, trying to get around behind him where she could strike. He moved too quickly for her to anticipate his movements, grabbing her forearm and hitting a pressure point to force her to drop her weapon. He flung her towards a wall, though he was gentle with that, at least.
"If that wasn't padded and I had thrown full force, you'd be--"
"Flatter than dead. Yea, I know." Sira interrupted, picking herself up. Her head had hit pretty hard, but the padding had done it's job. She was fine.
Her comment cause Nakavi to laugh, though it wasn't his usual, over-the-top laughter. "'Flatter than dead'?" he asked, causing Sira to smile.
"Yea. That." she muttered, flinging herself at a wall. She bounced off, ricocheting upwards and clinging to the ceiling with her claws.
"What the f--" Nakavi started, then stopped as Sira leapt at him, claws out and aimed for his neck. He shifted backwards, closer to a wall than he would've liked as she landed and shifted towards him. She hadn't bothered to pick up her dagger, or to draw her katana as she shifted closer to the Shapeshifter. He growled, the playful light leaving his eyes as he reached for her arm once more.
The opening door caused them to stop, looking up at it. Sira only spared Aeydan a glance before finishing her attack on Nakavi, claws raking lightly across his throat before and moved backwards. She had drawn no blood. "Tore out your throat. First thing Aeydan taught me - Never get distracted. If you do, recover immediately and strike."
Aeydan smirked at Nakavi, who shrugged and rubbed his neck slightly, staring at his mentor. "So what's the news?"
"Sira's to come with us on the next mission," Aeydan growled angrily, the laughter leaving his eyes quicker than the human eye could see. "And once a week, every week."
Sira's face lit up. "Awesome!" she cried, while Aeydan and Nakavi shared looks of mixed fury and dread. Sira, the little Werecat, going with them on a mission? She was good at fighting, yes, but she wasn't good enough to infiltrate a building overflowing with security and manage to kill a target while making sure no-one who saw her survived.
"Well, fuck." Nakavi muttered softly, staring at the little Were.
Chapter Thirteen:
"Well, fuck."
------------------------
It had been another three months before Aeydan became used to Sira's snarkiness and moodswings. It took another two and a half for him to stop being surprised by her eagerness to learn everything about her new... job, disturbing as it was. He flat-out told her she wasn't coming on a mission anytime soon. He was as determined to keep her away from the killing as she was to be part of it. Didn't she realize what she had dug herself into? Of course not.
He had paused to let her catch her breath and to let his thoughts wreak havoc on his concentration. The two were sparring. He had discovered her weakness quickly after a few sessions; her endurance. She was fine unless the fight went on for more than ten minutes, and it was very likely that in the future she would find herself in battle for hours or even days. She needed to be prepared.
"C'mon, you're done already?" he asked softly, his English heritage prominent in his accent. He smiled faintly as Sira struggled to stand up, chest heaving as she tried to breathe normally. The tease was light; he knew better than to upset her by now. She fought like a wildcat, which made sense, and sometimes succeeded at catching him off guard, especially when angered. She glared at him through slitted eyes, leaning heavily on her katana in order to stay upright. Poor thing. Perhaps he should stop...
"Sh-shut up..." she snapped, slowly straightening. Her eyes were dark green as she slid back into a defensive crouch.
His teasing was light for another reason; he didn't want her to push herself too hard. She had a tendency to ignore her body's warnings to stop and overexerted herself. She stood fully upright, a little anthropomorphic girl of about three feet in height. She tended to favour her anthro or neko forms over her human one. She said it was something about lacking a tail and the ears that made her uncomfortable. He could accept that..
Right now, that tail was twitching angrily as she growled. "Not done... bastard." she spat, biting her lip and leaping for the fifty-somethingth time at Aeydan. He sidestepped, hacking at her arm with the machete in his hand. She jerked her arm away from the sharp blade and dropped unexpectedly down to the floor, her eyes glinting wickedly as she evaded Aeydan's next attack and kicked his legs out from under him, sending him to the ground. It was the same finishing move he had used a few minutes ago, and she straddled his chest, pinning his wrists with one hand while pressing the flat of her blade against his throat so as not to harm him.
Aeydan smiled up at her and freed his wrists easily from her grasp. "Alright, lemme up, you big lug."
Sira giggled and hopped off of him, landing in a crouch and watching him curiously. Aeydan picked himself up and leant against a nearby wall. They had long since given up training outdoors, as the soldiers distracted Sira and the earth below them was packed hard enough to do some serious damage if he Aeydan threw her down. Now they were in a padded room, not too different from one at an insane asylum. The floor was only soft enough not to hurt to badly if one might fall, but it was still hard enough to cause a bruise for the same reason. Sira knew this well, as her sides, palms and knees had fading bruises on them. She had quickly learned to recover from a fall and even lessen her impact on the floor.
At that moment a knock came on the door, the only part of the room lacking padding, including the ceiling. Aeydan and Sira spared it a glance before inviting whoever it was in.
Nakavi entered in his usual humanoid form, his feathery black wings rustling against his back. He had on the usual smile as he nodded to Sira and Aeydan, his long blonde hair brushed back out of his eyes.
"Boss wants you," he said quietly to Aeydan, who looked back at Sira.
"Think you can train her while I'm out?" the Vampyr asked, and Nakavi shrugged.
"Sure, how hard could it be?"
"Don't underestimate her." Aeydan left the two of them, closing the door behind him as Sira stared after.
Nakavi turned to her, examining her carefully. The light and laughter was still in his golden-brown eyes as he looked her up and down. It took the girl a moment to register that his wings were shrinking into his back, and she immediately sank into her usual crouch. He looked so carefree and playful that she was looking forward to an easy fight for once.
He struck without warning. One moment he was smiling sweetly at her and the next he was leaping into the air, landing behind her. She whirled around to find he was gone. With his sweet disposition, she had never thought he'd be one of the assassins here. Turned out she was wrong, very wrong as he pulled her close against his chest, one hand on her throat.
"Just snapped your neck..." he murmured quietly, releasing her.
"Damn," she muttered, turning to stare at him. "Never thought you would be one'a the assassins..."
Nakavi's grin came back and he shrugged. "Not a single new recruit thinks that until they train with me. Then they find out the hard way. Try again?"
Sira giggled and gave him no time to think, darting towards him and clawing at his left side. It wasn't a fatal wound, so the bout wasn't yet over. He grabbed for her arm as she clawed him, catching her wrist in his grip. He wasn't as gentle as Aeydan usually was, but she still broke his grasp pretty easily, drawing her dagger and trying to get in position to mortally "wound" him.
The two circled for a long moment, trying to find an opening on the other. Sira was straddling the line between defense and offense, trying not to let Nakavi have an opening to strike her, but still watching for any weakness on him. She had never sparred with him, so she knew none of his weaknesses... Not that she knew any of Aeydan's, either.
Nakavi was the first to attack, barely giving Sira any time to sidestep the blow, trying to get around behind him where she could strike. He moved too quickly for her to anticipate his movements, grabbing her forearm and hitting a pressure point to force her to drop her weapon. He flung her towards a wall, though he was gentle with that, at least.
"If that wasn't padded and I had thrown full force, you'd be--"
"Flatter than dead. Yea, I know." Sira interrupted, picking herself up. Her head had hit pretty hard, but the padding had done it's job. She was fine.
Her comment cause Nakavi to laugh, though it wasn't his usual, over-the-top laughter. "'Flatter than dead'?" he asked, causing Sira to smile.
"Yea. That." she muttered, flinging herself at a wall. She bounced off, ricocheting upwards and clinging to the ceiling with her claws.
"What the f--" Nakavi started, then stopped as Sira leapt at him, claws out and aimed for his neck. He shifted backwards, closer to a wall than he would've liked as she landed and shifted towards him. She hadn't bothered to pick up her dagger, or to draw her katana as she shifted closer to the Shapeshifter. He growled, the playful light leaving his eyes as he reached for her arm once more.
The opening door caused them to stop, looking up at it. Sira only spared Aeydan a glance before finishing her attack on Nakavi, claws raking lightly across his throat before and moved backwards. She had drawn no blood. "Tore out your throat. First thing Aeydan taught me - Never get distracted. If you do, recover immediately and strike."
Aeydan smirked at Nakavi, who shrugged and rubbed his neck slightly, staring at his mentor. "So what's the news?"
"Sira's to come with us on the next mission," Aeydan growled angrily, the laughter leaving his eyes quicker than the human eye could see. "And once a week, every week."
Sira's face lit up. "Awesome!" she cried, while Aeydan and Nakavi shared looks of mixed fury and dread. Sira, the little Werecat, going with them on a mission? She was good at fighting, yes, but she wasn't good enough to infiltrate a building overflowing with security and manage to kill a target while making sure no-one who saw her survived.
"Well, fuck." Nakavi muttered softly, staring at the little Were.