~*~*~*~Ken~*~*~*~
Clack, clack. Clack, clack, clack, clack. Whoosh, snap! Crack! Thud...
"You're still far too slow!" Yelled Sayaka as she looked down at me with her wooden sword pointed down at me. "You're grip is all wrong. Your feet are too close together. And for the love of the Night, you have no strength in those arms of yours!"
I was looking up at her and merely nodded my head at her before she removed her foot from the middle of my chest to let me up. I picked up the remains of the ruined sword splint almost perfectly in half after Sayaka had struck it. The Empress hadn't been exaggerating when she said I would begin my Shinobi training immediately. I hadn't even had time to wipe the blood from my knuckles when I was led into a separate training hall with boys and girls in their early to mid-teens.
Sayaka Hoshigaki was the instructor of this hall and unlike Sano, she didn't believe in holding back against her students. "Beings won't hold back why should I?" had been the first thing she said after breaking my nose during our first sparing match. She was brash and loud, very odd for a dark elf who up until meeting her I had all but assumed they were all fairly stoic people. She put that to rest the moment she smiled and said it was going to be fun to break me.
I began to get up only to catch a heavily wrapped foot right across my jaw that made my upper half twist around and dropping be back to the floor. "Get up Ken!" She yelled as circled me, kicking out my arms when I tried picking myself up before punting me right in my still tender ribs. But I bit back a cry and kept trying to get up only to be met with the same result. "I said get up!"
I shot her a look which earned me a gob of spit right in the face. "Am I getting you angry?" She taunted as she leaned dauntingly over me. "Is the poor little American brat getting mad?" She let out a laugh before pushing me on my side with her foot. "Do something about it." She went for another kick to my back and yelled as she did. "Make me stop!"
As fast as I could I rolled to my feet only to catch a knee to the chin that sent me back to the floor. She looked me over as I lay there trying to gather myself after that hit and she only scoffed disgustedly at me as she threw down her wooden sword. "Fucking pathetic." She said before getting down on all fours so that she could get in my face. "You hear me? You're fucking worthless!"
Still I didn't try to get up, nor did I do anything to retaliate at her which only seemed to disgust her even more before she spat directly in my face and stood up. "No wonder you let that leech kill Marion." Moving so that Sayaka was laying along side me she reached down and grabbed me between my legs. "At least SHE had balls. Not you, no you're just some bitch who went and let a blood sucking monster kill someone he claims was important to him!"
"Shut up..." I said quietly as my body began to relax after having tensed up upon being grabbed in such a way.
"Fuck you!" Sayaka spat back. "You're not going to do anything. Just like you didn't do anything when you let Marion get killed. You killed her! Not some vampire, you're the one that snapped her neck!"
At that my eyes were wide open and I threw my head forward intending to catch her right in the face, only for her to pull back and bring her leg back up so that it was pressed against my throat. I tried throwing her off but the moment I tried Sayaka let her leg and more importantly take her weight. The pressure of her full weight bearing down on my throat mad it feel like my head was about to pop off. I let out a loud but choked roar before I muscled her right off of me, she however grabbed my head with both hands and rolled over. After a slight shift in the positions of her legs she was pulling my head down while the leg that was still across my throat was being pushed upwards.
"See!" She called out as I continued to struggle in vain. The edges of my vision were closing in on me and I found myself beginning to grow very light headed. "You can't do anything can you? Can't save yourself! Can't save Marion, Matthew, all those Saints on Alcatraz, those werewolves you claim to protect. Give it enough time and you'll get that little witch of yours killed as well!"
Hearing that made an image of Eve flash in front of my mind's eye and suddenly my body was filled with a burst of energy, my legs came forward before locking around Sayaka's body and I began to pull and stretch until finally I was able to wrench my head from her grasp. The moment my head was pulled free I launched another attack on her, Her legs came up and caught my waist making me jerk backwards but not before I got one solid blow on the side of her head. Using her legs like a spring she threw me backwards and I suddenly found myself looking up at her coming down with an elbow. I threw my head to the side making her hit the floor before wrapping my right arm around her to keep her close before I went in with a flurry of punches to her ribs.
She tried wriggling out but before she could I tangled our legs together and locked up to keep her from moving much at all. That was when she started elbowing my in the side of the head and neck. As angry as I was, punches just didn't do the same thing that an elbow would do and before long I found myself letting her go. The ringing in my ear not dying down was a pain but that wasn't going to stop me as I rolled backwards right to my feet. Just in time too because the moment I was up did Sayaka's knee come flying at my face. I blocked it with one arm and using the other I pushed her up higher than she meant to go before bringing her down hard on her back.
That didn't do anything to stun her though as her leg came up in an instant, catching me across the face. That hit nearly took me off my feet but I held my ground and was about to hit her right back when I saw that she was going for that wooden sword. But since it was a full length sword She'd have to keep him at a distance... That in mind I rushed her bringing my foot up to kick the wooden sword straight up before I began to bring down my fist. Before I could ever reach her though she struck me in the temple with the butt of the sword knocking me to the side.
My hand came up to the side of my head and as my fingers touched it I felt the warmth of blood falling from the side of my head which explained that slight popping sound I'd heard. Still I knew I couldn't stay down or I'd be giving her exactly what she wanted and she'd have broken me. I got up to me feet, my left eye was closed though in because if I left it open it was like I was seeing double of everything. As I was half way to my feet though Sayaka was already coming at me with her sword aiming to end this with a single blow.
Even with my left I closed though I still saw it coming in time to get my left arm up to cover my head, but that still hurt like all hell as the sword connected with a solid and very loud thwack. I let out a hiss but made sure not to make anymore of a fuss about it despite the very audible cracking sound that came from my arm the second contact was made. Sucking it up I grabbed her wrist with my good hand and tried twisting her arm in a fashion that would force her to drop the sword with no luck. Instead she took hold of my arm and did a cartwheel while maintaining her grip completely reversing what I was trying to do and now it was me that was being forced down because of my arm.
"That better not be all you got." Sayaka said before I felt a horrible pain in my groin area as she kneed me while I was bent over in front of her to try and alleviate the pressure that was on my arm.
She went for it again but rather than sit there and take it I brought my leg up as she went for the knee and mule kicked her as hard as I could right below the knee on the leg that was still on the floor. She let out a cry as she hit the ground holding her knee with the wooden sword still in her hand. I let out a huff before I gathered up the pieces of broken sword beside me. I tested my left arm, it hurt like hell but I rolled my shoulder and slowly got up to my feet before taking my familiar stance. The sword had been broken near the middle so the two pieces weren't that much different from my usual short swords but the weight was off. The piece that didn't have a handle would be a problem so while I had a spare moment I tore my shirt's sleeve off and quickly wrapped it around the base of the piece. It wasn't pretty and wouldn't be much protection but it was better than holding the edge with my bare hand.
Sayaka on the other hand was back on her feet and also seemed like she was testing out her leg's mobility. Whether or not that knee of her's was giving her problems I'd never know from the face she was wearing that just looked more pissed off than anything. She saw me with the two broken pieces of my sword and let out a soft scoff at me before she took a lunge making me bring my right arm up to defend since my left would probably be too slow. It was a feint though and the moment I'd realized that it was way too late to make an adjustment. I was defending a thrust with my right arm and my left being too slow to reliably block I found myself getting smacked with too slashes. One on my left flank and the second on the right side of my face.
The blow stunned me and the next thing I knew there were stars dancing all across my field of vision. I was reeling back when Sayaka put her shoulder to me knocking me back even more before she brought down her sword across my right shoulder. There was a sickening snap as the blade likely shattered the right side of my collarbone, forcing a pained cry from my mouth and tears to well up in my eyes.
But in that moment my body did something it'd never done before, or at least not to this extent, and it acted without my brain even telling it what to do. My foot shot forward and caught Sayaka in he bad knee making her stumble. It wasn't a lot but in that split second that it happened I pushed through the pain in my left arm and brought it straight up while bringing my right hand down, trapping her sword in between. The action made her arms shoot up in an awkward fashion leaving her ribs completely exposed. Despite the overwhelming pain in my right shoulder I threw my hand forward as if to stab the her with the splintered end of the sword.
The sword's blunt end caught her and her ribs visibly caved in if just a little bit. She let out a pained scream before letting go of her sword and doubling over a bit in an effort to shield her ribs from further attacks. That's when my left arm shut back around catching her jaw with the splintered butt of the blade. The fibers of the wood bit deep into her skin tearing it in an ugly fashion along with the sheer force of the impact spinning her around. She was standing on spaghetti legs and looked like that hit had knocked her out, but if these dark elf training sessions had taught me anything it was that you don't go for the knockout, you go for the kill. Even though if we had been using real weapons we'd both have been dead several times over.
That in mind I dropped one of the broken sword pieces and brought the over her head before pulling it back underneath her chin so that it was pressed against her throat. I reached around with my other hand taking hold of the blade with both hands before I turned around so that we were back to back. My collar bone and left arm both cracked several times in that one motion making me hiss in pain again but I was seeing red now and that was just the push I needed to go through with this. I let out a loud cry before I threw my body forward, had I been using a real blade this would've decapitated her. But as i was using a wooden blade Sayaka was dragged along literally by her head in such a violent way that she was flipped her right over my shoulder. She hit the mat rather lifelessly but I still wasn't done as I held her down with one knee and began to pull up on the broken sword with the intent of crushing her throat if it hadn't already been done.
"Ken!" A sharp voice called out instantly snapping me out of my bloodlust and making me look up at the source of the voice. And there looking down at me from the viewing platform was the Empress flanked by the Ladies Tai and Yuki. The Empress was looking at Yuki who had apparently been the own to stop my actions. "That's enough. You won the match."
"Agreed." Said the Empress with a side glance at me before she sighed. "And in a rather resourceful manner I might add. Barbaric, but resourceful wouldn't you agree Tai?"
"Yes my Lady." Agreed the youngest sister with a bow of her head.
"You may release her Ken." Voiced the Empress and just like that I let go of Sayaka and despite the horrible cracking sounds of my bones grinding against each other, I bit my tongue and bowed my head in thanks. "You're learning quite well Ken." She looked around the room at the rest of the students, all of whom appeared to be in no hurry to challenge me after witnessing one of their instructors be handled so roughly.
"Thank you again my Lady." I said in a monotone voice though I was gritting my teeth to keep from screaming. Now that the adrenaline had left my system all the pain that I should've been feeling during that fight was all rushing in at once. "I'm happy to have served."
The Empress made a thoughtful sound before she said something in Japanese which prompted a very harsh response from Yuki as well as Tai even. Yet another word from the Empress and they were both silenced before she walked over to me and with one hand she gestured for my to straighten up. I did so though the motion made my broken collarbone crack loud enough it could be heard from the other side of the room without a doubt. I winced badly and this time biting my tongue couldn't hold back the pained cry as i was nearly brought to my knees.
The Empress held my there though with her thumb and index finger holding my chin as she leered at me with those cold unfeeling eyes of hers. We stood there for several heartbeats before she released my chin, allowing me to fall and attempt to nurse my broken bones. "Rest well tonight Ken." She said plainly before she began to walk away from me. "Tomorrow you move on to real weapons. Then we'll see just how well you do."
"Th- Thank you Empress." I said through gritted teeth before I fell to my side with a loud cry as the side I fell on was my right one. It didn't take long though before several of the medical workers came to the mat for both Sayaka and myself.
With how badly beaten I was, I shuddered to think about how badly I was going to end up tomorrow when I had to use real weapons.
~*~*~*~Wallace~*~*~*~
Wallace stood frozen in place with his eyes wide and his mouth open if only slightly. He couldn't believe what he'd just seen. The sounds of bones being broken was loud enough that he could hear it all the way from up here on the viewing platform on the other side of the room. Jake was being carted away though he had finally broken and was screaming his pain to the world now while his opponent was still completely unconscious. All around the room there were similar situations of young teenagers beating their opponents until the very brink of death. How- how can people live like this, he wanted to scream.
"Well?" Yoko said as she returned to the platform, her kimono dragging slightly behind her. "He's showing some promise wouldn't you say?"
"Promise?" Wallace exclaimed looking at the dark elf woman and had to resist the urge to throttle her right then and there. "What you're doing to these kids is not right! I'm putting an end to this, I'm taking Jake and-"
"His name, is Kowareta Ken." Yoko said sharply giving Wallace a glare that could have tamed a raging bull. "And he is staying where he is. He no longer belongs to you Saint Shields Mr. Fairchild. The moment he swore himself to me and my services you lost all rights to him. He is mine to do with as I see fit, and I choose to make a Shinobi out of him." Wallace was about to say something else when Yoko suddenly brought a blade up to his chin and pressed it against his skin so hard that it's merely being there had drawn blood. "This is how we do things here Mr. Fairchild. You're welcome to disagree with it all you want, but if you question my authority in front of my people again make no mistake I'll treat you as I would any other monster. Do we have an understanding?"
Wallace swallowed hard as he looked across to the woman before him before he nodded his head as much as he dared with that blade against his throat. "Good." Yoko removed the blade from him making Wallace bring a hand up to his throat as she turned her back on him. "Tomorrow Ken begins his training with live weapons, far sooner than I had expected even with Mitsuhide training him prior to coming here. He's doing far better than I expected."
"Wait, live weapons?" Wallace asked, his hand still pressed against his throat. "You mean-"
"Yes, he'll be working with weapons we would expect him to use in the field. No more wooden weapons, he'll be working with real steel tomorrow." Wallace looked to the youngest sister here who didn't look like she approved but wasn't willing to speak against her Empress. "That's right Mr. Fairchild, my sister Tai will be his instructor. He either passes her lesson, or he dies."
Whaaaat I uploaded FAST?! :O Yeah I had some spare time this week so I decided to crank out this second part. So how long do you think before this all comes to a head? Especially now that Jake is moving on to the lethal force class with Lady Tai?
Pic is of Wallace :)