In the weeks that passed, her routine became the same. Up early,
Mediation, Reading scripts and learning how to defend herself. The
sparing with Michael turned out to be harder than she had thought. He
was not easy on her, but pushed her. He also never lost his temper
with her, no matter how much she complained or did not do as he
asked.
Looking up from her scroll, she realized she was late again for her
lesson in defense. Rolling up the scroll, quickly she rushed from the
Temple. Almost sprinting down the path and to the courtyard.
She was late again. It was becoming a habit for her. Deciding not to
wait, Michael began without her. Shadow fighting until she arrived.
Coming to a stop at the edge of the count yard, she stopped and
watched him, but he spied her .
"You are late." he stated from a one handed stand. "It is becoming a
habit."
"I know, I am sorry, it just I get so caught up in the scrolls."
Regaining his feet, he turned to face her. "Let's begin."
Nodding she walked onto the green lawn and took a stance he had shown
her. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed and waited for his attack.
Taking a more aggressive stance, he threw a closed fist towards her.
"Ohhh.." she quickly dodged to her left and blocked it as he had
shown her.
Quickly, he followed with a knee aiming for her head.
Reversing direction she spun away from him. Throwing an elbow into
his ribs as she spun from him.
He quickly place a hand between her elbow and his ribs, to soften the
blow. And spun with her, ending behind her, capturing her around her
chest.
Her arms were pinned to her side and she growled in frustration. He
was not going to win this time. She brought her foot down on his.
Feeling her move, he quickly released her and back flipped away from
her.
Her foot made contact with nothing but the ground. She spun around to
face him, quickly.
But he was already on the move, he attacked her with multiple punches
and kicks.
Backing away from him, blocking every move thrown at her. But he
moved so fast her soon was behind her again. Grabbing her arms he
pulled them behind her, then threw her to the ground, placing his
knee in the center of her back.
She struggled, but soon just relaxed. He had her again.
"You are getting very good. But you lack the wits to fight. You have
to use every means available to deal with your opponent. It's not a
dance, it is fast and brutal. If you must use your powers." Unable to
resist the temptation he leaned down and licked her ear, just to see
how she reacted.
A shiver ran down her spine at the sensation of his lick. She
couldn't help but gasp. Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate.
Powers, use your power don't think sexually. Power swept from her,
grabbing him and lifting him off of her and up into the air. Rolling
over she could only grin at him. "How is that?"
"Very good" he reached back and pulled out one of his weapons at her
and pulled the trigger, he hit the target straight in the chest. The
red splash of paint covered her top. "But you are still not thinking
ahead"
Glaring at him she let go and let him fall. "That was not fair and
you ruined my shirt." Flipping herself to her feet. Thrusting her
hand in front of her. His weapon flew from his hand to hers and she
pointed it at him.
He landed on his feet, but hard. Now it was time to show her how to
dodge bullets. But first he had to give a demonstration. He focused
on the weapon, her body stance and her face. Calculating the path of
the projectile, when she was most likely to fire and if she was going
to lose her balance enough to for him to disarm her. "Give me your
best shot" he grinned at her.
She watched his stance. He was up to something. Squinting, she pulled
the trigger twice, then moved to her left.
The squinting told him she was about to fire, so he started to move
his body so the projectiles missed him. As she moved to her left, he
moved close enough to grab the weapon out of her hand and stopped
when he was just in front of her, moving so her arms were over his
shoulders. He looked down and in to her eyes.
He had moved so fast, she had barely blinked and he was there. She
was stunned. Unsure what to do, she kissed him.
That caught him completely off guard. He was very distracted.
Moving quickly, she shifted her weight grabbing his arm, twisting and
moving behind him, kicking his feet from under him, taking him to the
ground. She placed her knee in the middle of his back as he had
earlier to her. Then leaned down and licked his ear in retaliation.
Lucky for him, he still had one arm free. So he used it to push his
body to the side and her knee with it. Tossing her from his back,
then grabbing her by the shirt and threw her through air, causing
her land hard on the dusty ground. He shook the arm she had locked to
loosen the pain, as he stood. Walking to were she still laid stunned,
he twisted her around on to her stomach as he locked her hands again,
this time he placed his entire weight on her as well as he wrapped
one arm around her.
Air left her lungs in a whoosh, dust flew up her nose causing her to
cough and sneeze. Before she could gain her breath, she was pinned
beneath him again, but this time his whole body weight was on her and
damn he was heavy. It made breathing hard. She growled and tried to
shift, but he kept her tight against the ground. Using her powers
once again, she lifted him off of her but this time a rope appeared
and tied him up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Slowly rolling to her
back, she put him down on the ground and just looked at him.
It was time to test his brute strength against her magic. He knew it
was magical rope and she was very new to her powers. So they weren't
as powerful as they could have been. He grunted as he used his
incredible strength to break the ropes. He then stood up and dusted
him self off. "You're getting here"
She gained her feet again, covered in dust and blew her hair out of
her face. Slowly she brushed the dirt from her shirt and pants.
Sighing and rolling her shoulders.
Michael pulled out his other handgun and aimed it at her chest and
pulled the trigger, now it was time to see if she learned anything.
Just reacting she moved, quickly to the right to dodge. Moving in a
blur she concentrated on the gun and sent it flying from his hand
across the grass, then coming to a stop in front of him. Hit him with
the palm of her hand to his chest, sending him flying backwards a few
feet.
He twirled in the air so he landed on his feet, but skidded a little
distance to stop his momentum. He grinned, she was really getting the
jest of things.
She had surprised herself and she grinned. Score one for her.
Wetting her dry lips. She watched him carefully, just in case he
attacked again.
He gave her a respectful bow. "Well done"
She gave him a nod, but her eyes never left him. "Thank you. I didn't
think I just reacted." Finally getting what he had been trying to
teach her these last few weeks. "Are we done for today?" Scratching
at the itch on her neck from the sweat rolling down it.
"Of course. You have proven yourself this time" he walked over to his
weapons and holstered them as he picked them up.
She smiled at him. Relaxing and rolling her shoulders again. "Well, I
call dibs on the hot spring." At first she didn't like having to go
down to the small building to bathe but now she really liked it. It
was like a bath, hot tub, and sauna all in one.
"You sure love those now don't you?" he said, there was more then one
hot spring. He would see which one she picked then pick another one
for himself.
"Yep. I may never use a regular bath again. I think I am spoiled."
She looked at him and sighed. The bath would be a lot more fun with
him but she didn't want a repeat of what had happened before when
they had gotten caught. So she turned and walked towards the hot
spring. Entering the first one she came too
