The Long Fight [pg13]

[Я Є Đ WOLF]

[atrb=width,470,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][bg=332929] Was kinda odd, that White would get impatient. He'd never been impatient much before, and it wasn't that he was wasting his time here. This was kinda important to oversee, not to mention there was banter. Sure, he could listen to Ivan trying to be the damn polite teacher all day while she shot off her mouth, but this wasn't what was aggravating him somuch. Probably the times involved. Not even that he had too little time. It was that he didn't know how much time he had. Not one bit. Crane was somewhere right now, not paying attention. And he could rise and shine one day, and White would be screwed just like that. Wasn't that Crane was stopping anything that he did. Now that they had this whole island to mess with, White could eek out a living however he wanted. But that was the thing - could wasn't good enough. He could do a lot of things. But what he could do, he should be able to do. Just the downside of making a deal with a control freak like Crane. Lot of advantages to it, but he had to be a part of everything. Had to know everything. White'd had business partners before, but with him it was like a damn parent. And White hand ever been all that good with authority figures... So this was somethin' to level the field. Wasn't condoned by Crane, wasn't even known about by him. But it would make 'em both happier - he was sure it would. They were friends, after all. White would never do to Crane what he did to all those other partners. Not exactly the same as that, anyways. But Crane wouldn't... be too excited if he knew. It's just gonna have to be a happy surprise. "Wasting time," he mumbled to himself, taking a draw. Now let's see... needed more than just a slave and a dog-thing to do this...

[Iƪƪia]

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[atrb=background,http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv235/Illia_the_Bat/Chimera%20Academy/Ivanmiddle6.png] It was strange to him, this act of attacking, and stopping, and moving, and attacking again. It was... Perhaps not strange per se, but foreign indeed. It had been so long since he'd done this dance, though the time did nothing to dull his skills, he was certain. It only made the entire act stranger than it would have been otherwise. He was trained to assassinate, which involved very little actual fighting. He could do so, of course, but it was even rarer still when he was tasked with fighting in his true form. It was something that he tended to avoid if possible. Here, he felt it gave him a rather unfair advantage, so perhaps that was why he was so reluctant to attack. After all, she would learn nothing that way. He jumped back, the cage clanking together, as the knife collided with the metal in front of him. He had yet to harm her, and he wouldn't, but using force wasn't beyond him. If she was really going to learn, then perhaps he needed to be more direct in his teaching. She seemed to learn best when she was frightened, so he would make use of that. So as she ducked out from underneath his grasp, he didn't let her get far before jumping down after her. If she was left to put enough distance between them, then she would try that gun she favored so much again, and he'd really rather avoid that irritating noise. In a few, quick strides, he was upon her. Quite literally, as she was knocked to the ground, and he took the opportunity to stand, towering, above her. He felt that he was in no danger of being harmed here, even if she had managed to hold onto her weapons. Though they were very close, he was very quick, and that was enough reassurance for him. Crouching lower to the ground so that he was closer to her, he spoke: "Swinging, and shooting and hoping you hit something will not get you very far. You're not fighting unmoving targets. Everyone has a weakness, and if you're going to get anywhere then you will need to learn how to find it. Quickly." She would need actual field experience to learn all there is to know about the various mythicals and how they could be harmed. All he could do was hopefully teach her to think on her feet and become more versatile in her attacks. Falling into a pattern was no good and led to situations... Well, like this.

[elle]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/mtqyde.png] She didn't make it very far after her failed attack. She hadn't expected to, but she gave it a shot anyway. What she wasn't expecting was for him to actually try to hurt her. Maybe he wanted to make it more realistic for her, or maybe he was ****ed at her for calling him old. Whatever it was didn't matter, and though she knew she wasn't really in any danger of dying here, as she was knocked to the floor with the great lion-like creature snarling above her, the fear that she felt was real. The knife had been knocked out of her hand when he tackled her, and though it hadn't gone far she wasn't going to risk lunging after it. Her gun, meanwhile, was still clasped firmly in her hand, but she knew that he would knock it away before she could even aim it. She felt nothing but fear and confusion, and though multiple thoughts were buzzing around in her head, she found herself unable to concentrate on any of them. Instead, she decided to put all of her effort into listening to what Ivan said. Weaknesses? What a time to be trying to orient her thoughts to focus much on anything. But she needed to get out of here. She needed to get away somehow. But how?! She knew nothing about his race! She couldn't even remember what they were called! But she had to think... Think... What about lions? They had sensitive hearing, didn't they? Like most cats did. And scorpions... she didn't know much about scorpion's weaknesses, but she had to be onto something with the lion one. Okay good, but think: what else? She had to have something more; anything! What else did she know about him? He was... he was... well, he was a guy. "Ivan!" She called, her voice quivering as she moved into a sitting position. "I- I'm sorry! I'm sorry for insulting you and stuff, and- and-" She could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment. Trying desperately to compose herself, she took a deep breath. "I just- I don't want to fight anymore... I want to go home. Please, I don't want to!" Her earlier attempts had been for nothing, and she now let her tears flow freely; her body being shaken with each sob. "Please, Ivan. I don't want to fight. I'll do anything! I'll- I'll- Oh! I- I'll sleep with you!" Nodding weakly, she pushed herself up into a kneeling position. She still held the gun in her hand, though she still had it pressed flat against the ground. With her other, trembling hand she reached out to gently stroke his mane. "I- I will," she continued, lowering her voice, "Would you want that- want me? I promise... I- I'm still a virgin, you know. But, oh, I'd do that for you." She smiled shyly, twisting a lock of her hair between her fingers innocently and hoping he'd react like she thought he would. All she needed was to keep his attention. To keep him from thinking about anything else; to notice the gun she still had and see her place her finger on the trigger. Without waiting for long - just like he asked - she'd pulled the trigger, lodging the bullet somewhere into the floor of the arena. The gun hadn't even been aimed at him, but that wasn't the point. He was close and the gun was loud. Just as quickly, she lunged forward and grabbed the knife from where it had fallen. Twisting around, she slashed at him, aiming it as best as she could, though she was really just trying to get some attack in at all, while she, herself, slid a short ways across the floor.

[Я Є Đ WOLF]

[atrb=width,470,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][bg=332929] It was rare, for White to be so preoccupied as not to notice something happening. Sure, he never looked it, but he payed attention to everything. Part of the reason he knew so much about.... well, everyone. A lot of attention and a little alcohol gave him plenty of information, but it was mostly the listening, not the booze, that did it. Must have been worried about his plan. ****, he was starting to act like Crane... Absently looking over at how the fight was doing, he checked in at about the part where Alex was- The hell..? White flicked the remnants of his cigarette away, cursing under his breath. Shouldda been looking. Wasn't like him to worry like this. Maybe he should take sommethin' for it. Hadn't seen Ivy in a while. Maybe he should check up on her... Well, he couldn't get back what he hadn't heard, but he'd settle for filling in the gaps. Leaning his head on the cage, he tried to pick up on exactly what the hell he'd missed. He judged he'd lost about half the conversation on that one, but he picked the interesting part to watch. Never was specific on what kind of "talents" the girl he'd bought should have. He just made it clear that he wasn't settling for a pair of ****. Maybe that was a mistake. Sure, she was about that, but she was talented with what "assets" she had. Very. So much so that he wasn't sure if she was serious until she whipped that knife across Ivan. An' the gun was a nice touch too. White, not hard of hearing, grimaced at the ugly noise made by the bullet ricocheting off the crude metal floor of the cage. He grinned through the painful ringing in his ears, picking apart the wrapper to a new pack of cigarettes. Wasn't somuch worried as he was anymore.

[Iƪƪia]

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[atrb=background,http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/vv235/Illia_the_Bat/Chimera%20Academy/Ivanmiddle6.png] He expected her to attack. He expected her to panic. Even pleading for her life wouldn't have been uncommon. The reaction that he did get, however, was something even he wasn't expecting. She was crying? This wasn't at all the attitude that she'd had mere moments prior to this. That was why, before, it had been very easy to see her only as a student; an opponent. Now, however, she had been reduced to what she really was. Just a child. A child that was frightened and very much alone. It was enough to make him sympathize with her, even pity her. Of course, he still didn't openly display these feelings. However, at the words that followed, he started, eyes widening in surprise. Instinctively, he tried to make sense out of her actions and words, but just as instinctively, his resolve faded away as he listened to her... proposition. Was she serious? Did she really intend to... could she be so desperate? He supposed that was all too possible. Not that she needed to be desperate, of course, but given her situation, that was most likely. But what did that mean for him? He was on assignment; she was his student. It would be terribly wrong. Moreover, she was hundreds of years younger than him. Although, she was awfully... "mature" for her age. Very pretty too, very pretty indeed. His eyes trailed off a bit, following along the curves of her chest. Preoccupied, he hadn't noticed when she reached out toward him, causing him to flinch, though he didn't move away. Somewhere in his mind he became vaguely aware of how he was doing almost everything that he had taught himself to never do: hesitating, distracting himself, taking all of her words as the truth. It was only right that he should be taken advantage of. He hadn't even noticed the damn gun but, dear god, he certainly heard it. The harsh sound pounded against his eardrums, startling him, causing him to step back, disoriented. It also alarmed him; made him recognize the need to move back, out of range of any attacks. It all happened in a manner of seconds, and though he was quick to jump back, she had taken his words to heart and - unlike himself - she had wasted no time with her attack. The metal easily pierced his skin, making a clean gash along his front, right leg. At first it didn't register, but he soon become aware of the white hot pain shooting through his body. He stumbled back, leaning against the cage and panting heavily. This time, he didn't take his eyes off of her as he assumed human form again, falling back against the cage and clutching his upper arm. Carefully looking away from her, he examined the wound she'd made. It looked rather nasty, but it was nothing to worry about. Still, he noticed how badly his blood-covered hands trembled. It was more so from the shock of actually being hurt rather than from the actual pain. He was still so disoriented from the attack and from that horrible ringing in his ears to be able to do much more than to stare disbelievingly at her and weakly form the phrase: "Nicely done..."

[elle]

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[atrb=background,http://i51.tinypic.com/mtqyde.png] When she came to a halt against the opposite end of the cage, she remained crouching, watching him expectantly. It still hadn't quite registered that she'd actually managed to hurt him and had completely caught him off guard at that. So she waited, watching him, her weapons still clutched firmly in either of her hands. It was all she could do to keep herself from trembling, but she was still visibly shaken. She had never hurt someone like that before, and she still didn't understand how she could have done that now. It didn't make sense. He had much more training than she did - hundreds of years, apparently. She had been half-expecting her attack to fail. Any creature who would get that close to an opponent would have had to be completely confident. He knew what he was doing. So how then, could he just ignore his own advice? How could she have managed to distract him so badly that he let down every one of his guards. He should have seen that gun; he should have been able to avoid the knife. But he didn't, and as he stared back at her - now in human form again, much to her relief - she could tell that he was just as shocked as she was. With trembling hands, she pulled herself up, still clutching her weapons, afraid that he would attack her again. However, he just remained where he was, only looking away from her to examine the wound she'd caused him. It looked bad to her, and it made her stomach churn slightly, but she was by no means a doctor - or a vet. Whatever - and he seemed to be taking it rather well. He was just very... surprised. At his comment, she lowered her weapons slightly and, despite herself, she chuckled. Nicely done. It was nicely done. She'd never fought anyone in her life, and her first time fighting - and fighting a giant mythical creature at that - and she'd manage to draw blood and frighten him enough so that he stopped the lesson. So she laughed and laughed and after a bit she forgot what she was laughing about. "Y-yeah... maybe next time you should try thinking with your brain instead, old man." A smile still twitched at her lips, and her hands still trembled as she held the weapons close to her body. No longer frightened, she was more excited than anything, and that just made everything even funnier. But that poor guy... must not feel too good to be beat by a teenage girl.

[Я Є Đ WOLF]

[atrb=width,470,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][bg=332929] Realizing what he was doing, White shoved the fresh cigarette pack into his jacket and held off on lighting his current one. Wasn't gonna smoke himself to death. He was at least a hundred years past that by now, but he'd been sucking them down so much that he looked like a nervous wreck. Maybe he was edgy right now. That must've been it. Grinding the cigarette in his teeth, he tried to concentrate. Right. Alex was good. Better than he'd planned for, so that was good, but that kinda cheap shot only worked half the time. An' she didn't look up to much more of this damn lesson. And neither did Ivan. White must've caught some of that hysterical laughter from Alex, because he was chuckling quietly to himself before he realized it. Wasn't that he couldn've done any better. Might've been a cheap shot, but it was a damn good one. Just, he figured there'd be more to the fight than that. Wound up as he was, he had settled down for the long haul, and now that everyone was all tuckered out... Kinda disappointing- White paused, thinking to himself, then quickly he lit up before he could grind the thing to a pulp. Hell, that's what it was. Damn Ivan and his bleeding all over the place. White inhaled nice and deep, and immediately he got less jittery. "Alright, let's break." He called, now returning to that easy chuckle. "Before someone gets stabbed again." Finally mustering the energy to move from his spot on the cage, White went to one of the doors and yanked it open. Only opened from the outside. He wedged his foot in the door, lacking the interest to hold it open, and worked a bit more on what must have been his tenth or twelfth smoke. Times like this when he was glad he couldn't get lung cancer.