𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒅 || 𝐊𝐚𝐳 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒆

My arm moves quickly. I punch and kick the bag in aggressive bursts. Jesper, Wylan, Nina, Matthias, Inej, and Kaz all stand in a group with training clothes on. I demonstrate a few more moves before inviting Matthias to the floor.

"Do you know how to fight?" I ask Matthias.

"Yes, of course, I know how to fight." He says with a scoff.

"You forget he was drukstrile, Blade." Kaz hollers.

"Then let's fight, Drukstrile."

Jesper whistles and I wait for Matthias to charge. He goes for a tackle around my waist. I use his momentum to jump over him and kick him forward. He rolls onto his back and kicks up. He spins around and faces me again. This time I charge with a throat punch. It takes him a minute to recover so in that time I kick the inside of his knees, sending him down to his knees. I move in front of him and the drukstrile grabs me around the middle. He slams me into the wall as I drove my elbow into his neck repeatedly. Finally, he drops me as a bruise forms on his neck. At the moment he is distracted I run up to him. I lock his head between my knees and use my momentum to bring him down beneath me. I pin his hands and shoulders down.

"Dead," I say, disappointed. "If they bring enhanced Grisha onto the field, even in Fjerda, we will be dead. Unless we know how to take one down. There are three rules to taking out Grisha. Does anyone know them?" I ask the group.

"Rule one, disarm. Number two, distract. Number three, blind spot." I clap my hands together and bring Nina forward. "I want you to rise my heartbeat. Make it visible, cheeks red, sweat." As soon as I say that my heart speeds and my forehead dampens. "Ok, now to disarm the Grisha."

I launch forward and grab Nina's hands I sweep her legs from beneath her. My heart returns to normal as soon as her hands are pinned. I grin and get off of her.

"Grisha can not use their powers if their hands are restrained. Whether that be by rope, hands, or you cut their arms off." I earn a small bustle of clearing throats and shifting uncomfortably. "Now for two, distracting."

I spin on my heel and canter off towards Matthias. I get on my tiptoes and whisper something in his ear. I feel my pulse heighten. I place my hands on his chest and push him farther into the training area. In moments I have the drukstrile on the ground. I straddle his chest and lean down to whisper in his ear.  Immediately I feel my pulse drop. My mind becomes foggy and my breaths become pants.

"Distractions at its finest," I whisper to Matthias. I give a light twitch and glance up at inej and she disarms Nina. Nina is on the ground in mere seconds. "That is how to distract a Grisha." I swing my leg off Matthias and lookup. Kaz's eyes watch the drukstrile with a killing scowl.

My heartbeat returns to normal. I walk over to Nina and Inej who help each other up. I offer them my hands and pull them to their feet. Nina watches me carefully and I give her a small smile. She takes it wrong and her cheeks redded and m heartbeat falters. I ignore her and turn to Brekker.

"Your up." I grin.

"You want to fight me?" Kaz asks, a playful smirk playing over his features.

"All the time," I answer.

"Let's go, Blade," Kaz says calmly.

"You sure about this. You know this is physical combat day." I smirk as we circle each other on the padded floor.

"I am aware." Kaz ditches his cane and circles me with a limp. "It's a good thing I opted for a long sleeve training suit." 

Kaz drops his cloak, revealing his tight-fitted suit. My brows lightly rise at his lanky frame graced with muscular limbs. I focus my gaze on his eyes as he grins as though He's already won.

Jesper whistles and I wait for the bastard to pounce. I stand straight up and spread my arms, inviting him to attack. Kaz stands unmoving. I smirk before stepping forward. Disarm. Check.  I walk behind Kaz and bring my hand up to lightly graze his shoulder. He tenses and glares behind him. I stand on my tiptoes and lean my head over his shoulder, almost touching him. Distract. Check. I find the knives tucked away in his training suit and fling them away.

"I thought I said no weapons today, Bastard," I say in a low voice. He stays still as stone.

I allow my lips to lightly brush his ear as I speak. Kaz lightly flinches away, and I know I have stepped up to the boundary. In moments Kaz sweeps my legs from under me. With a Yelp, I fall. As Kaz kneels, trying to pin me, I roll backward and brace myself on my knee. In one explosive motion, I pounce toward Kaz. I catch him around the middle and we fly back into the ground. Kaz flips me over and pins my arms. My breathing picks up and he straddles me, leaving me defenseless it is Kaz's turn to flirt. He leans down close to my ear and whispers, in a gravelly voice; "Dead."

I pull my arms free and shove him off. With a snicker, he retrieves his cane. I scowl and invite Inej up to play. We square ourselves and she passes me a concerned glance.

"Are you planning to fight all of us today?" She asks sweetly.

"Yes twice. One for practice or demonstration, another round for picking out flaws." I say, wiping blood from my brow.

"You might be riddled with bruises by the night's end."

"Probably," I say with a grin.

Jesper whistles and Inej springs first. Inej moves quickly and almost silently as she scales the gym. She clings to the rafters on the ceiling and dangles above me. I laugh and she drops down. I roll out of the way. As Inej recovers, I swiftly bring my elbow to her side and she gasps. I bring my arms around her neck and gently jerk them apart.

"Dead." I release Inej and back away. "If you do a move that requires recovery, make sure you have a window. And an opponent that isn't so easily maneuvered, whether it by their own will or another's." I spin back to the group as Inej walks back to them. "Who's next?"

"I'll take you on, Blade," Jesper says, smirking.

"Who's whistling?" Kaz raises a hand and I nod. 

"All set, Blade?" Jesper asks.

"All set, Gun Man."

I smirk and lower myself to the ground in a crouching position. Jesper looks confused but shakes his head. Kaz whistles and I spring forward. I thread myself between his legs and wrap my legs around his legs. His legs come from beneath him and he face plants into the ground. He rolls over and I jump on top of him. I make a few fake punches to his jaw and nose and he sits there walloping like a frightened baby. Jesper laughs and pushes me away. I join the laughter and I see Kaz and Inej snicker.

"You're good, I'll give you that." I grin and help him up. "With a gun."

"Sure Blade,"

Throughout the rest of the training, I take them down one by one again. This time I walk them through how to do the moves right and what moves to make based on my stance and body. They each take me down a few times before I dismiss them. Some stay and watch the others, while others just leave to do saints know what.

"Tomorrow, have your weapons ready. We do armed combat tomorrow. Tell Nina, will you?" I ask them as she is the only one that left.

Word Count: 1339