Orientation (Kaguya/Training)

He was close, close enough for him to realize it wasn’t impossible for him to pull out a win after all if his own stamina held out. This only spurred him on, drove him to fight harder as he attempted to get a strike in on her. The moment Alkaid began to spin away from him to open up the distance the bones from his body would retract, signaling the end of his own Dance of The Willow. Instead, he’d fall back into the dance of the blossoms as he began to step toward her, intending to take the fight to her now. His blood was pumping strongly and he could feel his heartbeat within his ears, it was drowning out any background noise as he felt his desire to win burn. He hand would strike out, slashing across the air in front of him as he closed the distance and five small digits of bone would lash out from his fingertips as the ashen haired girl spun. They were aimed carefully, somehow, in his haze of adrenaline induced fervor. The bullets would be carefully timed to strike the wrapped up whip on his partners arm. The damage of the bullets should shatter the whip and potentially make Alkaid feel something. Although he couldn’t be sure.

As the distance finally closed he would begin to move, his eyes wide with the idea of victory and he would move to attempt to strike his right hand toward her knee, wanting to through her off her center of gravity and potentially cause the knee to momentarily spasm from the jolt. One of the many bonus’ of having a bloodline that allowed you to control your bones was that one never had to worry about breaking them. As he had repaired the damage to his knuckles earlier when he struck her. He knew she too would be able to repair any broken bones in her knees with frightening ease. Should that strike land, or even if it didn’t as long as he could, he would rise up as swiftly as he could to bring a massive uppercut to the girl whom he had been sparring with.

Spoiler:

Alkaid had to admit that Calin was far more clever then she’d initially given him credit for.   Instead of sticking with the dance of the willow like she’d been expecting he quickly switched tactics.   He must have realized that she had been stalling since he didn’t hesitate to close the distance between them.

A loud grinding noise filled the air as the bone bullets the young man fired dug into the spine whip wrapped around Alkaid’s arm.   If it had been something made out of a lessor material the bullets would have ripped straight thought it and into her.  Instead the whip endured at least long enough to absorb the bulk of the high energy kinetic impact.

The damage had been done and already the whip was beginning to crumble apart in several key areas causing the remaining bits to fall off.  If Alkaid had been a master of her bloodline even that wouldn’t have been enough to destroy her whip,  but right now they hey had nobody capable of such amazing feats.

And so it was that Calin brought his hand in towards her knee she responded by raising her knee up to meet his palm on purpose hitting back as hard as she could.  Seeing the uppercut coming she moved her left hand into the way, attempting to intercept it and catch it before it could connect.

If she could grab onto his fist like she had wanted she would then begin to squeeze hard to hold in in place and keep him from running for her.  All this fighting had gotten her blood pumping, she couldn’t remember the last match she’d had that had lasted this long or had been this close.  Lately she’d been up against some real monsters.  The old man, a grim reaper.  Fighting someone that wasn’t miles above her was a nice change of pace.  

Face to face with someone she had dreamed a worthy foe, her thirst for victory was surging.  Most of her clan had a fondness for combat but Alkaid in particular was a real battle maniac.  This is what she’d been hoping for from the start when she’d provoked him by shooting his juice glass.   The rush of combat, the thrill of the fight.  

Sensing that things where at a climax she decided to put on a show in order to draw out the maximum amount of enjoyment out of the final moments of their brawl, confident that she had this in the bag. Raising he her free hand up to the sky as if trying to grasp it.

“This hand of mine longs for victory.  My burning blood tells me to defeat you.  TAKE THIS!” She called out as she threw her most devastating right hook straight towards his jaw while  simultaneously yanking with her left arm to draw him straight into the blow.   “Shooting star punch”  she exclaimed naming the attack after she’d already launched it with a maniacal laugh.

stuff:

The first part of his assault worked like a charm, the bullet caused her spinal accessory to crumble into shattered bone fragments and fall uselessly to the ground. However that was about as far as the attempt got. He just, didn’t have enough in him anymore. He was exhausted, and when the hand he threw down to try to assault the knee was blocked he felt the last dregs of energy leave him. He came for the uppercut, and was caught by the girl before him who gripped his fist in one hand and cocked a fist back. This was going to be it, she’d knock him clean the hell out.

Unless.

Unless he could attempt to recreate the effect she did when he hit her. He tried to channel something into his bones, to utilize them to follow his commands to try to protect himself from her incoming strike. However, it was the no avail. He just couldn’t find it within him, and the blow smashed into his jaw, the moment it did he was already out like a light. He wouldn’t be able to hear or even feel anything anymore so it wouldn’t matter to him if he fell to the floor a crumpled mess. He’d done the best he could, but it simply hadn’t been enough.


(Crap post, but I can't think of anything else to do here XD)

Alkaid felt her fist connect with flesh with a satisfyingly heavy smack.  After he’d managed to dodge so many of her blows it felt good to finally land one.  Breathing heavily enough that steam could be seen coming from her mouth and nostrils, caused by the heated carbon dioxide she expelled hitting the cool morning air.    She liked to think it made her seem a bit demonic, especially standing their over Calin’s crumpled form.

“Heh, you did well to last so long. Clearly you haven’t been slacking with your exercises even while doing whatever gobbledygook it was your father had you busy with.” she said. With her blood still rushing from the match she was having a harder time thinking about non combat related stuff. She’d remembered him saying he’d been busy with some school related thing or other after finishing with the academy and that was about it.

“I wonder if he was one of the few to attend a non kaguya only class” she thought.  Until recently her clan had been so xenophobic that they had demanded to be excluded from the general school school population, claiming that mixing them among the rabble would put them at too much risk of clan secrets leaking out.  

A bullshit excuse if she’d ever heard one. Their biology was so unique that their techniques couldn’t be copied. Any attempt to try would only be a poor imitation at best.  Made up excuses or not Alkaid had been one of the few exceptions. Her experiences with the outside world had ironically made her more valuable to her family  who had been eager to aquire the new information she had brought them once it had been filtered thought a proper kaguya lenses.

Holding her hand out for Calin to grab… she waited for several moment only to frown when she realized that he wasn’t responding to her gesture.  Blinking she took a closer look at him only to swore both internally and externally as she realized that he had been completely knocked out.  

“Shit.” she muttered annoyed at herself for having gone too far in her quest for victory. She’d been aiming to floor him sure, not knock his lights out entirely.   What was she going to do? She couldn’t exactly ask an unconscious man if he was ok and while poking him with a stick would be kind of funny it wouldn’t exactly be productive.  

Well her family was a hardy bunch so hopefully he’d be alright with a bit of rest and she hadn’t given him a concision or something.  After all normal medicine didn’t work on them so taking him to the hospital wouldn’t do much for him either.

“Well class. That’s how to use the Dance of the blossom effectively. ” She said, trying to pretend as if nothing was wrong.  Gesturing to Tsubaki to take over for her she grabbed Calin and lifted him up off the stage.  It took both hands to do it because he was bigger and heavier then she was but she just barely managed to carry him off the stage and into the shade where he could rest out of the sun.  

Feeling a bit guilty for what she’d done she sat down in the traditional seiza manner then gently rested his head in her lap. For once she was acting like a proper lady but she figured it was the last she could do to nurse him like this until he managed to wake back up.  

“You did good Calin…. you did good.” she whispered to him while giving his hair an affectionate rub.  Even if the whole thing about him going out with Tsubaki didn’t work out he had more then demonstrated his worth.  He was one of the stronger member's of her extended family. Given time and a bit of polish he could, no would easily be her equal.

The fight was entertaining while it lasted. Tsubaki was a bit surprised it took Alkaid longer than she had anticipated to actually win. She imagined Calin would be eating her slugs all day, or for Alkaid to deliver her money shot sooner. For them to have lasted this long let her know they were relatively even, with Alkaid of course having some advantage over the boy. Her cousin was certainly a lot stockier than she was, Tsubaki well acquainted with her physical strength. It was a bit ironic to consider the fact that the Queen of the Kaguya had less-than-notable physical strength despite being a Taijutsu-focused fighter. This was because she relied on her clan's natural ability to produce blades and spikes wherever she needed effectively enhancing her physical strikes. Though she did not underestimate physical strength in itself. Her memories of sparring the former Mizukage taught her not to underestimate it. As soon as your opponent got a hold of you the fight was practically done. This was less of a problem now, though, she Tsubaki progressed her bloodline.

"Excellent display! Now, I want each of you to pair up and practice what you have learned. Embrace your errors, as a match-friendly knock on the head could do you some good. I will supervise you all shortly." She said, promising to come back to the crowd and actually give a hands-on lesson rather than spectating. She had some nits to go through, those being the status of Calin and Alkaid herself. Alkaid already cleared the area setting Calin in the shade as she tended to the boy. Tsubaki approached the two before sitting on her knees next to Calin and across from Alkaid. "I'm a little surprised he gave you some trouble. I'll have to test him myself sometime to make sure you didn't have a soft spot for him." She said with a slight chuckle to herself. Tsubaki placed her hands on Calin and gently rolled him to the side, the stirring motion and "recovery position" to help his body deal with the comatose better. Upon feeling him she noticed something: he was burning hot.

"He really worked himself to the edge. He needs some Nindorade." She said giving two affirmative nods, standing up and trotting to the kitchen. A minute later she returned with a small bottle filled with a light blue liquid. The electrolytes would certainly work to bring the pep back in his step. Resuming her same position she set the bottle down momentarily to roll Calin back on his back. Inching over she set his head on her lap to use as pillows. Twisting the cap she fed him the Nindorade as the beverage ran down his throat, Tsubaki rubbing his throat so it had a reaction to consume it rather than breathe the liquid in. She had some experience with tending to the unconscious after treating Yui and Yanagi for some time. Tsubaki would feed him the beverage periodically between lightly slapping his face and speaking his name. She would try this until he woke up or gave some response.

A tentative step

That was what started it all, his tentative step down a rather familiar hallway. Screams coming from about the compound as bodies were found, lying lifeless in pools of their own blood. A horror made itself known to the ashen haired teen as he moved, slowly, silently, but with a worry down the hall. The killer could still be about after all, so he had to be careful to make sure he wasn’t next on the murderers ever growing list. A mere corpse with but a name in the wake of the cruel being who took family away from them all. Screams continued to berate him from all sides, the looming hallway before him seeming to get longer and longer, as if it was trying to keep him from what was soon to happen. He began to move faster, a sense of dread awakening inside of him as his heart caught in his throat. He began to run, no longer making any effort to be quiet as he realized what was happening. Had the time after been but a dream? Could he potentially stop the death of his father before it happened? At times ones dreams did come true after all, the series of images and sounds one sees while they sleep causing a sense of deja vu to occur when the same events happened in the waking world. Had this been one of those times? The training, the sparring with Alkaid, him getting knocked out? The funeral? Everything been but a dream? He dared to hope.

He ran as swiftly down the hall as he could manage, screams seemingly coming from each and every door he passed. They didn’t register, none of them caused him to stop his running for he was selfish now. He wanted his father back, he wanted the man he looked up to more than anyone to be alive. He would protect him, as best he could. Even if he died trying to do so it wouldn’t matter, he would do anything to avoid that pain of loss. Anything to make sure it didn’t happen to him. Was this hallway getting even longer? Was it never ending? A trick of the mind, it had to be. He finally reached the door. What was normally a rather plain and ordinary door now seemed like a barrier, a radiant light emitting from it. He would grasp the handle, pushing it aside and as he did the light dispersed and a horrifying scream erupted from within. Calin saw the figure, darkness shrouding the appearance of the killer. He saw his father’s body, cut apart piece by piece by this person. A bone sword within her hand. A choked sob escaped his lips and the figure looked up at him. He couldn’t see the figures face, hair, or any other distinguishing features except one. Red eyes started back at him, the bone sword in the figures hand dripping with blood.

A name came to him all at once. He knew who this person was. Yanagi Kaguya, the murderer of his father. The very same man who lay dead at her feet. He suddenly found his voice, his speech coming back to him suddenly as he spoke in a voice he no longer recognized. “Y-You killed him..My father.” He would say before his lips curled back into a snarl “I’ll kill you Yanagi Kaguya. I’ll see the life drain from your eyes.” He would say to the figure with red eyes. After he said it a strange sensation came to him. The feeling of liquid down his throat, and the feel of someone’s hands on his throat as well. However they weren’t in the manner of strangulation, but were coaxing the liquid down instead. As if he wasn’t able to swallow whatever it was himself. Suddenly a light smack would hit his cheek and he’d find the dream world he had been in disappear with a start. “No, I have to kill her for killing my father. I have to kill Yanagi!” He’d hear himself say as the dream, no, the nightmare disappeared, to think, he’d dared to hope.

He’d find himself awake, looking up at Tsubaki’s blue eyes. He’d feel the touch of someone else running their fingers through his hair, the sensation was nice, soothing. He felt himself begin to fall back asleep, and he looked aside to see the one petting him was none other than Alkaid. The very same girl who had knocked him clean the fuck out. He looked toward both, his eyes heavy with fatigue as he felt himself slowly fall back to unconscious. He hadn’t known his last sentence was out loud. The the two women would easily have heard his ambition. It wasn’t like it was a secret, but he wouldn’t know that they knew of it. A single word would escape his lips as he felt himself fall back to sleep. “Beautiful.” He would say, looking at both women before easing back into slumber, this one far more restful.

[exit]
Learned
Bone Bullet
Clematis Vine
Willow
Flower
Dead Bone Pulse

“Well it was only a friendly sparring match. It’s kinda hard for me to go full out when I’m not trying to kill someone after all.” Alkaid said making excuses for why it had taken her so long to take Calin down. “Besides I knocked him out in the end. If that’s being soft I’m almost afraid to see what you’re idea of hard looks like.” she added half jokingly.

Alkaid grinned slyly as Tsubaki took Calin’s head from her lap and moved him over to her own. Looks like her “mission” to raise the boys worth in Tsubaki’s eyes had been a rousing success. Tsubaki proceed to give him some liquid to drink, rubbing his throat to help it go down since he’d have a hard time swallowing when he was still unconscious.

Everything seemed to be going while until her cousin began to lightly slap the boy on the face. That seemed to be a rather rough way to try and wake him up. Wouldn’t smelling salts be better? Alkaid had never taken her cousin for such a sadist before, but she sure seemed to be enjoying smacking Calin a bit more then she should be.

The weirdest part? It seemed to work at least a little as Calin woke up long enough to mumble some words that sent chills running down her spin. It seemed he wanted revenge on Yanagi for killing his father since the village was under the impression she had killed a bunch of the kaguya clan.

A good chunk of the adults where now dead. All of them hardliners who would go on about how pure the clan needed to stay and how inferior outsiders where. The official line was that Yanagi had poisoned them but Alkaid didn’t believe that for a second that was what had really happened at least intentionally.

She really needed to talk to Calin about that before he tried to do something stupid that would either get himself killed or he’d end up regretting by taking out a false culprit. She’d been investigating what really happened in the background and while she hadn't been able to dig up much she figured she at least owed him the results of said sleuthing.

The next word out of his mouth had her blushing heavily. She often got hit on when she went undercover but it was almost never that sincere and tended towards the crude side. It felt good to get a genuine compliment like that.

“Onee-san, think you can get him home?” she asked she said as she got up and brushed herself off not waiting around for an answer. She’d would have given Calin a kiss on the cheek and wished him sweet dreams but if she tried too hard to make Tsubaki jealous it would only backfire. Her part in today’s training was at an end. She’d rested just long enough to recover the energy she had spent during the sparring match and now it was time for her to get back to work.

> [Exit]