Stuff Of Legend

Chapter 9

         For the rest of the day, Piper has been thinking of explanations for Jon during their training sessions. Jon is supposed to be teaching her how to fight and use a gun and all that, but Piper has known how to do these things for years. She first shot a gun when she was ten and the second time she shot a gun, she purposely killed a man. She knew how to handle a gun.

As for fighting, Piper didn't know if there was a special technique of fighting in the ATLAS community, but she knew how to fight like they do on the streets and then some. She was taught how to fight from several different people and through their guidance, she knows how to fight off any attacker. The problem is, how does she give a convincing truth to Jon about how she really learned all this? She can't say anything that can lead back to her past life, still having to keep it all buried.

Jon was already in the lodge when Piper walked in. Like at her mental training sessions, the tables and benches were pushed off to the side. There was a trunk sitting on one of the tables that Jon was filtering through.

Piper liked Jon, probably for the same reason she likes Charlie; neither of them have asked her much about her past. Of course, Charlie knows now so he doesn't need to ask. Jon hasn't said much to Piper her first week here. In all fairness, however, Piper never said much to anyone her first week. But whenever Jon did talk, he seemed nice enough.

"Hey," Jon said as he noticed Piper entering the room, "you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Piper replied.

Jon met Piper in the middle of the room. He threw down a dirty old mat in between them.

"You know anything about fighting?" Jon asked Piper as he stepped onto the mat.

"I know a thing or two," she said, stepping on the mat.

"Alright, we'll just build off what you know already. Try and pin me to the floor."

It was Jon's request and he honestly didn't think that Piper could do it so fast. He takes his opponent's physical appearance into the equation first when fighting. Piper isn't short; she's taller than most of the girls at ATLAS. But, at the same time, Jon is taller than some of the guys here, definitely a couple inches taller than she is. Jon doesn't know how much she weighs, but he knows it isn't a lot. Wren had brought up the fact to him that Piper is unnaturally skinny. Whenever she wears tank tops, or anything revealing a part of her body, her bones are very noticeable. Jon has also seen that she doesn't eat much during meals. He doesn't ever see her eat breakfast. Whereas Jon has some serious muscles. They're small compared to other ATLAS guys, but to the average person, he's well fit.

So the fact that Jon should be stronger in every way possible; he found it astonishing that Piper was able to take him down with one quick swipe. She grabbed him around his wrist and casually flipped him onto his back. She continued to hold his wrist down whilst she kept her boney knee on his stomach. Jon tried to fight to get up, but Piper flipped him around. Now he was lying on his stomach, his arms pinned behind his back as Piper sat on his back. She was light, but she was also using all her weight to keep him down. Jon struggled, but couldn't get up.

"I surrender," Jon said, her pressure on him making it harder to breath. Piper let go and quickly got off. She went back to how she normally stands, hands in pocket, back straight up, acting as if what she did was nothing at all.

"So you know a little something," Jon huffed. Piper just shrugged her shoulders. "Alright, so you know how to take someone down when they aren't attacking. Now, I'm going to try and strike and you just need to deflect it and pin me down again. Got it?" Piper nodded.