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 Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 1:52 pm
He'd called to Cinnabar sometime in the early hours of the evening, Cerussite awkwardly holding the crystal in the palms of his hands. There had been a distinct feeling of whether or not he was even doing it right; it was not as though he had any experience in the matter, but Cerussite had followed the instructions given to the best of his abilities.
And now he was waiting for her, nervously twisting his hands together and shifting from one foot to the other, unable to stand still.
Would she be proud of what he'd done so far? Cerussite hoped so, especially since he was uncertain of his own abilities. Time was moving faster than he'd thought, and he'd now been in the Negaverse for several weeks, almost a month. It was terribly difficult to keep things from Hitch but -
- but it was important. He was doing this for Hitch, after all.
Cerussite pushed his shoulders back and waited, still fiddling with his glove.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:29 pm
Getting a call from her new subordinate was both surprising and pleasing. It was a new feeling, having someone that answered to and depended on her, but one she was coming to like quite a lot. Even with the added responsibility that came with it. More and more, she felt like she was carving a place for herself in the Negaverse, one that fit her well.
Cinnabar rose to answer Cerussite's request for a meeting with more eagerness than she found acceptable and she had to rein herself in, pushing down feeling. She was neither a fresh lieutenant nor a teenage girl... she had to keep up at least a token appearance of aloofness or risk ruining the reputation she was trying to build. Standing her rooms, she forced herself to wait a full two minutes before she allowed herself to teleport to the meeting spot.
She arrived suddenly in a whirl of displaced air and redblack eyes swept the area out of habit. Everything was noted to build a mental map of the area and entrances and exits and lines of sight were given special emphasis. When she was sure they were alone and at least moderately safe, the pause no more than a long breath, the General turned to her Lieutenant and the corners of her lips turned upward as she regarded him.
He already looked better than he had when she had first met him. He stood a little straighter and seemed moderately more at ease around her and with his new abilities. Confidence might be slow to come, but it would work magic on him if it were cultivated properly. Loyalty would come with it, as he found himself grateful to the people who had given him the power he needed. She was sure of that.
"Cerussite." Cinnabar greeted him, a hint of a rumble to her words like a purr in the back of her throat. Her hands tucked comfortably into the pockets of her coat. "What do you have to report?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:38 pm
He heard the rush of air, the sound of feet hitting the ground and whirled around abruptly, Cerussite's eyes widening. The automatic reaction was to want to take a step back, but he refrained, just barely, instead clutching the crystal a little more tightly in his hands.
He'd seen Cinnabar on and off over the course of the last month, the last time being when he'd delivered her Christmas gift, but this the first time he'd actually come to report anything. Cerussite swallowed hard and carefully tucked the crystal back away, squaring his shoulders and facing her with as much confidence as possible.
(It wasn't hardly a lot, but it was at least something.)
But she was smiling at him, sort of, which was reassuring. Cerussite felt some of the tension ease away from his shoulders.
"Good evening," he said tentatively, and offered her a slight smile of his own, shifting from one foot to the other. "I wanted to let you know, er...how things were going. I've managed to drain some energy successfully tonight as well, here - "
He held out his palm, holding the little glowing ball towards her.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2016 5:43 pm
Her lieutenant didn't quail before her, which was an improvement. He reacted, but he didn't retreat. He even smiled. It was pleasing to see.
She listened and then Cin stepped forward as he offered an energy ball to her, reaching with a smooth motion to take the take the orb from his palm. She turned it over with interest in her gaze before she tucked it into her pocket with a pleased look.
"Good work. You're getting better at that, this one is larger than before. You're making good progress." The half-youma lifted her head as she relaxed, cocking a hip comfortably.
"Was that all you had for me? Its rather small, for the effort it takes me to teleport here and back to the Citadel." She wasn't particularly upset about it, but teleportation took effort. If need be, she would clarify what justified her direct involvement and what didn't. Couldn't have him calling her whenever he pleased for such simple things... but Cerussite had struck her as a bit more thoughtful than that.
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Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2016 8:17 pm
It wasn't, perhaps, a lot of energy, but it was at least something; and that was better than nothing, wasn't it? Cerussite felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he waited for Cinnabar's assessment, shifting from one foot to the other.
An expression of relief came across his face, a smile breaking out.
"Really?" Cerussite blurted, and then flushed. "I mean...thank you, very much."
His mouth opened and shut, the flush deepening, and he shifted from one foot to the other. The request seemed silly, childish almost, but he couldn't not make it. Cerussite took a breath and lifted his head again after a moment, swallowing hard.
"No, I..." he started hesitantly. "I was wondering if...it you could possibly give me some...guidance."
A pause.
"On...fighting."
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2016 7:52 pm
The General smiled, just a little, at his surprise, her mouth quirking up at the corner. She might never cease to surprise him, if he still didn't believe she would actually praise him for his work. At least he was easy that way... no hoops to jump through, no threats she had to make to earn his loyalty or make him obey. All she had to do was drop small bits of praise and he seemed to flutter for her. It was endearing, in its way.
When he made his stuttering request, her face brightened and she focused in on him intently, her tail starting a slow sway behind her.
"Ah! Are you ready for that now? I've been waiting to let you find your feet, so to speak, before I started in on combat training." Turning, Cin began to pace, circling her lieutenant before turning to come back. "My particular style of fighting is called Krav Maga. I learned it while I was human, before I was recruited. It was useful in my line of work. If you learn from me, that's what I'll be teaching, but I'll warn you that this style of fighting is focused on results, not on playing fair."
She paused when she came back to him, her face serious as she reaching out to lightly take his chin between fingers and thumb, encouraging him to look up at her.
"All that matters if whether you win or lose. How you do it isn't important. If anything, the low blows, the nut shots, the eye gouging... that is what you go for first. Particularly for you, until you work up your strength, its a matter of putting down your opponent as quickly and efficiently as possible... to reduce damage to yourself and save your energy for other tasks or other opponents. You can not be afraid to go for the weak spots, because this is a war we are fighting, and winning is what keeps our people safe. With me so far?"
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 2:33 pm
He was relieved she did not simply reject his request, or laugh at him. It had been hard enough admitting that he was not, simply put, built for the sort of physical aggression that Cinnabar was capable of. His build alone was much less filled out, and almost embarrassingly skinny and light.
Cerussite's brows drew together.
"Krav Maga?" he repeated, and then gave a little nod, taking in what she was saying. His chest gave a little twist as she tilted his face up, and Cerussite forced himself to stay still and look at her, his cheeks heating with the embarrassment of it all.
But she wasn't going to hurt him. Cinnabar was instructing him, and Cerussite gave a nod of understanding, swallowing hard.
"I'm with you," he said. "I think I get it, so far."
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 9:02 pm
The General studied her lieutenant's face for a long moment. Satisfied that he wasn't shrinking away from her, she released him and stepped back, leaving him to take up her own stance across from him.
"Krav Maga is a self-defense focused system developed in Israel. It takes techniques from a lot of other martial arts and is designed for real-world situations. It focuses on neutralizing threats and counter-attacks. A lot of moves will be 'your attack does this, you do that'." She said as she settled into a fighting stance, her feet apart, her weight on the balls of her feet, and her hands lifted, fingers opened, but curled.
"Copy my stance. I'm going to show you, first, how to deflect blows, and then we will move on to using them to counter-attack..." Cinnabar said. "Now... I want you to try to punch me and I will show you how to deflect it..."
---
As she had said, they started slowly. She showed him the basic moves and the mechanics of how and why things worked as they did. Punches were knocked out of alignment as they were thrown by a sweep of her forearm, rather than allowed to connect with any sort of block. Energy was spent uselessly into the air, resulting in comprising situations that left the opponent open to attack. These she pointed out to him too, as well as what to avoid doing in a fight, such as getting into a grapple with a larger opponent, or losing awareness of the world around you. Enemies could have allies who could jump you when you weren't paying attention, and being outnumbered was a sure way to lose.
Kicks were also shown, as well as kicks he could do to either open his attacker up for a counter strike, or drive him back to give him some space to work in. The former involved a snap kick to the groin followed by a blow to the back of the neck, which the later was a stomping kick to the stomach to push backwards. It was particularly during this time that she kept her focused attention on her lieutenant, after noticing a weakness to one side of him. He favored one of his legs, and when she realized it, she shifted her training to put emphasis on protecting his weak side and attacking in a way that didn't leave him vulnerable there.
Her careful attention alerted her to when to call it quits and she did so with a raised hand, palm towards Cerussite.
"I think that is enough for now." She said as she straightened up, hardly seeming tired from the work out she had put him through. As with any training, failure had been met, not with disappointment, but a demand that he do it again, with correction on what he had done wrong. Repetition was her answer until he could perform the simple moves flawlessly, or at least enough to satisfy her on their first day.
Her hands slipped into her pockets with a small, inward facing smile, her red-black eyes narrowed on Cerussite.
"You did well today. I want you to practice what I showed you today and we'll pick it up again in a few days, once you've worked off the soreness I'm sure you're going to feel tomorrow. Make sure you drink a good bit of water when you get home, and eat something. I never thought to ask if you work out and know how to do stretches and cool downs... that may have to be part of our next lesson."
Man, he was going to be sore, if he hadn't warmed up properly before hand. Whoops... the thought he might not have hadn't even crossed her mind. Too used to her own, far less fragile body, she supposed. Too long living as a half-youma. So hard to remember sometimes, what it was like to be human.
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