The breath heaved out.

Below the earth crunched.

It was all at a rhythm.

Each move turned silence into sound, and back again, only to return. It was a cycle. The day was moving in on its own cycle. The night was moving in, and the new noises of evening were humming in. Beyond sat purple and orange. Clouds screamed along the sky, and roared at anyone who dare stare so they’d be astounded. Some eyes grazed over, only to be fixed into the splendor, but she was on the move. Crowds stuffed the streets as quitting time had come around once more. It was hard weaving through. She was like grandma’s needle in knitting, and she would soon be done. The shore at this time of the morning was relatively empty, except for the other runners and so it made for a perfect time

Few thoughts were allowed, she was focused. Yet, she did hold onto one notion: the objective. No one ran the streets without reason, and hers was blatant. A pink sports tank, black tights and tennis shoes donned her body, and her brilliant hair dangled at the small of her back, bouncing with each step. A detective eye would believe she was training, but she wasn’t. No, Reinaka was less worried about training a more about clearing her head.. She was running through all the stress, headaches, issues, marine incidents, and deaths. Yes, it had only been a few weeks since she left her family dwelling in search of mystery, adventure, herself. But she had no idea what her efforts would result in.

She was a pirate captain. If only her mom and dad could see their daughter now, a criminal, a murderer, a lost little girl struggling to reconcile her actions with some form of righteousness, integrity and justification. She found herself in somewhat of a ball of knots trying to deal with the needs of her crew and her own issues. Only a few weeks prior to her leave, Rei had told her sensei and academy that she would be leaving the dojo for good, embarking out alone to follow her dreams and craft her skills as a chi blocker alone. Needless to say her fellow classmates were not pleased with her. Still, she was doing what she thought was best, even if this was delaying the development of her abilities a lot.

Joe didn’t like pressure, she didn’t like stress – but she worked well under it. All of the things on her mind had made her more alert, analytical, and ever cooler. She was calm in spite of her movement, and would be so at the tomorrow and the next day and the next. Of course, she would need to be, she was going to be embarking on a journey that would change her life!

Pirating was not for the gentle heart.

So, she kept running…and running... until

"Reinaka."

The word dashed her pace, focus and balance, tripping her and sending her into a tumble. Luckily she ended up on her fight and slide the rest of the way until her momentum eased and she was able to turn around. Who knew her name? Better question: who knew her name all the way out here in Orangetown. The answer was soon given.

"Oh my god. Is that you.... Number 9?"

The man stood there, suited in a weird form of armor that only chi blockers wore. It wasn't so much as protective against melee attacks, but it did prevent internal bruising and damage when you're doing nothing but practicing chi blocking techniques day in and day out. What was No.9 doing here? And why did he seek her out? It was far too coincidental to actually be a coincidence, even Rei knew that.

"I've come to measure your progress. I've been watching you, and you're still falling behind. I can see that you have grown but without the tutelage of a master you can suffering in your development. You need structure."

"I'm not going back. I don't care what you ..."

"I am not asking you to return. You're going to show me right here, right now what you've learned. If you have progressed enough, I've been instructed to help you breech the surface of... greater things."

"But... Senpai"

The man assumed a crouching stance known to all Chi Blockers. The famous Praying Mantis form. The stance's appearance meant two things were certain this night: Number 9 has grown in strength and had surpassed the girl; and two: he was not joking around with the novice girl. Reinaka exhaled a shaky breath. Chi Blocking bouts were a very difficult task as Chi Blocking is naturally thwarted by an opponent that can protect their pressure points. In the case of opponent’s unequal in skill, the weaker opponent is only able to protect themselves so much before being incapacitated by the opponent. What was she going to do against him? She was still such a newb at this style of fighting that she wondered whether or not she should even attempt to—

“Reinaka!!! This is happening, any thoughts to the contrary are wasted effort. Focus or you will not be shown mercy.”

A shock of something between fear and excitement shot through her bones at the sound of his shouts. He was deadly serious and if she was going to get through this she would need to be as well. Her muscles relaxed and her feet spread apart, muscle memory taking over and forming the stance that she’d been taught. It was a novice stance, but fundamental to the entire style of Chi Blocking. Any other stance was supplementary to its perfect resonance. She rummaged her brain for what she remembered of the Praying Mantas stance, its low and unorthodox style not an easy thing to comprehend. The form was founded, she remembered, on the principles of “negative to positive”. The theories were introduced by a student of the style many years ago, engaging that the art of striking down an opponent was counterproductive to the goal of a Chi Blocker. The theory asserted that striking upward was much more optimal to beginner and intermediate users. The Blocker would thus lower his body to the ground and upon conflict strike from the lower body up into the middle.

“Yes, I see you remember the Praying Mantas form. Well, knowing is very different from withstanding.”

The Chi Blocker leaped forward in a frontward somersault, eliminating the safety of the distance between the two of them. His body touched the ground and as if his height at been absorbed into the earth, he immediately sunk back into his low form. Now was the time to act and not think. She knew the proper techniques to safeguard her pressure points. All that was required was to act and react as swiftly as possible. Like the claws of the green insect, the man’s hands blurred into action, followed only a half second by Reinaka’s own movement but a half-second meant a lot to a Chi Blocker.

The strikes hit quickly and barely any pressure. In fact, was there any physical pressure at all. Rei couldn’t stop to think, instead following the motions of the man’s hands. She raised her leg and switched its position from in the flow of his own. Left, Left, Right, In, In, Out, Pivot, Pivot, Thrust, Left. They were the inner mumblings of a beginner striker for sure, but they were still her best method of protection. Advanced users act and must react must quicker than it would take the mind to count or chant the gestures themselves. She could feel the slowly building pressure in her leg and waist from attempting to avoid his strikes but she would not be fast enough to keep him at bay forever. She had to act. Neutral movement without construction or destructive additions was a lost battle. She had to go on the offense!

“PARRRRYYYY”

She swung her arms down and tackled his own, throwing them off their course with her thumbs. He immediately adjusted to her constructive action and went into the defensive. Her technique was, again, that of the fundamentals of the style. Strike with double intention. Her attacks were aimed at reducing his opportunity to retaliate but also at using his blocking strikes to deliver her own offensive. He knew well what she was doing. But, from the look on his face, he also knew from his own words that “knowing is not withstanding!”

Technique Used:

She was gaining ground, her Parry technique was one of her greatest assets and therefore she’d trained it well. Number 9 was not expecting the girl’s speed to be at the level that it was. She was very nearly ready to break into the next stage of the style; however, without an understanding of where the style was going, she would be helpless to progress. Doubly lucky and unfortunate for our lady luck, Rei-Rei-Darling, that she was about to be shown that direction. If only it was not directed at her!

“HAAA!”

The man’s two fingers aimed straight for the apex of her chest but stopped short of making contact with her, but contact was soon shown to be unnecessary. A force unlike anything she’d ever felt lifted and catapulted her backward, flinging her to the ground as she rolled like a wheel backward. As she slowed and steadied herself, her breath came short, her muscles seemed weakened and stiff. What just happened? There was a tightness to her chest that she’d only felt at the most severe of chi attacks. But… it wasn’t possible. He didn’t even touch her.

“You… see now, don’t you Reinaka! You must… see it!”

His breath showed his exhaustion from all his defense blocking but also from the burst of chi that he’d just propelled outward. He left his left arm, slack and unmoving. He heaved in and out, his mouth open and gapping.

“I don’t… need to touch you. This is it, Reinaka. The next stage. The transference… of chi to the pressure…points of your opponent!"

Reinaka was wide eyed. She didn’t know what to say, not that her chest had opened up enough for her to even speak yet. But he didn’t give her time. He one arm slung backward and something like a gust of wind shot outward, propelling him toward her like a rocket. Even with one arm he somehow steadied himself to impact her square on. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! She found herself thinking of Tai, of his power, of his brute strength and resilence. She as so unlike him, so much stronger. What would he do? Well, he wouldn’t lightly tap the man that was for sure. The difference between them… She backed up on her hands, scooting backward to avoid the unavoidable. Wait. Her hand pressed against a cold, smooth rock. That’s it. Force. He wasn’t expecting her to use strength against him.

“TAKEEE THISSSSS!”

Just before he reached the Skypiean, she swung her arm around revealing a huge piece of rock and colliding the object with Number 9’s face! The man’s nose smashed into the stone and turned his trajectory slightly to the left and downward into the ground. In a roar of dust and debris, the man impacted the ground and slide to a grinding halt. He was finished.

Once Number 9 was conscious again, Reinaka lifted him up and helped him to his feet. The gestured seemed kind until she pushed him into the wall of a house behind him. The look in her eyes was one of deep, deep darkness. The man shrieked at the sight of her expression. Hugging himself to the wall he pleaded for her not to hurt him. Number 9 was always something of a wimp of a man, even if his Chi Blocking skills were sublime.

“Shut up, Number 9! And tell me where it is!”

“W-Where what—“

She shoved him harder into the wall and he shrieked again in pain, hurrily reaching into his inner pocket and pulling out a scroll. Rei-Rei grabbed the partridge and let the man buckle back to the ground. She snickered as she opened the scroll to reveal the notes and teachings of the master of their school! It wound give her everything she needed to know regarding progression to Number 9’s level and even beyond that.

“Perfect. Give my best to Master Lee, would you?”

And with that she headed back to the inn to fill the guys in on what had happened! She was going to be able to help them after all. She was getting stronger!