Learning to Fight

[Rei]

17 Vhalar 716

It had been only a day or two since her steamy romp in her home with Wendell. She had not expected to give in to the passionate lust that was burning within her that night, but it had been hard to ignore. After they had fallen asleep together, his arms wrapped around her middle and holding her tight against his chest, the morning had come too soon. The light filtering in through her single window had been unwelcome. But he had work to attend to and so did she. Before he left, though, she had asked a request of him. She wanted to learn some things about unarmed combat and he had said he would teach her.

They agreed to meet in a training yard that wasn’t much more than a small dirt arena fenced in with some unstable wooden posts. On breaks sometimes the guards sparred here and occasionally those who wrestled for sport or other sparring activities got together and trained or held matches there. Rei wasn’t sure what to expect of the training, having never raised a hand or weapon to anyone in her life. She had never event hunted properly. Her father had passed before he could get her a proper bow and teach her how to use it.

Rei had finished a rather early shift in the infirmary and went home to change. She had been wearing a flowing cotton skirt with a blouse tucked in and a decorative vest that she had acquired from one of the tailors here in the Earth district. She couldn’t afford the prices of the tailors in the Glass district. Shedding the clothes, she picked up her hide pants and slipped them on, along with her hide tunic trimmed in tawny fur. Without the skirt over the pants, there was a slight gap that exposed her middle. She didn’t mind much and didn’t think it mattered for learning to brawl.

Slipping her hide shoes on, she stepped out the door and onto the packed dirt street. She passed by a few streets, including the one housing Wendell’s flat, and moved down until she came to the dusty practice yard. Leaning up against one of the wooden posts, she was surprised to hear it creak. She hastily righted herself. A creaky post wasn’t dependable. She looked down the street in the general direction of Wendell’s home, waiting to see the handsome man sauntering down the street.

[Wendell]

Rei had been a real highlight, a breath of fresh air that had shaken up the norm of his mundane life. It had been a while since he had met girl he enjoyed talking to as much as he did her, and found himself looking forward to the next time they would meet. The healer had asked him to help her work on her combat technique, and Wendell had been happy to oblige. He was no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but he did know a thing or two about fighting, having ended up in a few rough bar brawls over the years.

With the door to his dwelling locked, Wendell put his key away in the pocket of his black pants, pulled on his boots and walked down the street in the same cream coloured tunic he had worn out to dinner two nights before. He hadn't noticed Rein was watching him from the training yard, and as he got closer, found himself smiling at the sight of her. Her hair was neat even after a long day’s work, that wouldn't last long he thought.

“Look at you arriving before teacher,” he teased, and pulled on one of her golden curls lightly. Wendell smacked a kiss to the woman’s cheek and walked into the yard, looking over his shoulder to make sure she followed. “We starting with the basics?” He inquired, and showed Rein how to make a fist with her hand. “Make sure your thumb isn't tucked in under your fingers,” the man demonstrated before fixing Rei’s stance. “That way if you hit someone hard enough, something I can hopefully teach you this afternoon, you won't need to worry about breaking it.

[Rei]

Wendell came into view down the street after a few minutes of waiting. He was always on time, it seemed. She had been a bit early, her eagerness getting the better of her desire not to look needy. He was beaming at her, an infectious smile that she couldn’t help but mirror as he came closer. “I guess I might be a little early,” she replied, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smirk. “Or maybe you’re just slow.” He left a kiss on her cheek that seemed to tingle her flesh, leaving a faint desire for more.

She followed him into the training yard, the dust kicked up by his boots and her pliable hide shoes forming a low cloud around their ankles. Silently she wondered how anyone could see a brawl in this ring of dirt once it started. Certainly fighting would kick up an impressive cloud and choke the fighters. “Yes, I’ve never raised a hand to anyone in my life, so as basic as it gets.” Thoughts soon vanished as she felt his skin against hers, his roughened hands pushing her hand closed in a proper fist. She looked down at her clenched hand, finding it looked funny to see herself with a balled fist.

Rei had taken up the best stance she knew from what little fighting she had seen. To no surprise, Wendell started making adjustments. Every time their skin touched, it left a small burning desire she had not expected. He had more of an affect on her than she had thought or cared to admit. “It’s not that I don’t have any strength. I’m just… not the fighting type” He put his hands up, palms meant to be impacting points for her fists. With both fists balled like he instructed, she leveled out a wide and clumsy swing with her right arm. A balled fist hit his palm and barely budged his open hand. There wasn’t much impact behind her punch.

“Well that’s embarrassing,” she scoffed, shaking out her right hand. It had sent a little sting through her hand. “I just don’t like to hit people. That’s kind of opposite of everything I know as a healer.” She was mostly musing aloud, not expecting him to have much of an opinion on the matter. In fact, she expected him to be laughing. Rei pulled herself back into the stance he showed her. Again she swung, this time with her left, punching his palm, this time a little rougher and harder than last time. “If only I hated someone, then I could just picture their face.”

[Wendell]

The man wore an amused smirk, her punches were light and inexperienced, barely moving his open palm. He waited for another punch to fall before straightening up and moving behind the woman. Wendell closed his hand around Rei’s dominate wrist and coached it in a slow, forwards punch. “Just like that,” he told her, “knuckles straighten up as you extend your arm, move the same leg forwards for more power and balance, and throw some weight behind it.”

He stood in front of her again, the smell of her hair fresh in his mind. Wendell held his hands up again and noticed a vast improvement already in the way Rei met his hands. “Don't stop at the hand,” he said, imagine the thing you want to punch is on the other side of my hand. When I punch a man in the face, I'm aiming for the back of his head, not his nose, to achieve maximum damage.” Wendell knew he had probably just advertised himself as a very vicious man, but the truth was, he didn't mess around when it came to self defence.

“Now because you're a woman, you're more likely to be attacked by a man, he's not going to expect you to fight back, so when you punch, I want you to yell,” it was a strange request, but it would all make sense soon. “When you do that, he's going to drop his guard, he wasn't expecting you to fight back, let along sound so ferocious,” he smirked, knowing just how ferocious she could be, at least in the bedroom. The knowing-smile was soon wiped off his face though as Rei surprised him with a punch that left his hand stinging. “That's more like it!” Wendell encouraged and shook his hand as if that would shake the discomfort from his joints.

[Rei]

Her punches were sloppy and light. He had no trouble resisting the other few she threw before he was behind her. This close she felt that lightning connection between the two of them. It was almost as if the very air between them was heated and electrifying. He was coaching her, though she was a bit distracted. His warm grip on her wrist moved her hand forward in a punch. She moved her fingers and knuckles how he told her, throwing her leg forward, and her weight, so much so that she nearly stumbled forwards. She probably would have if Wendell hadn’t had a grip on her.

Her eyes moved to follow his muscled body back in front of her. This time when she threw her punch, his hand gave way a bit and there was a loud smack on his palm. Rei’s lips twitched in a victorious smile. “But I wouldn’t want to mess up that handsome mug of yours,” she laughed, then tried to imagine that there was some kind of target beyond his hand, glaring and obvious. Her leg threw forward, her weight coming with it, and her right hand flew smack dab into his palm, his hand shuddering and falling back even more than it had the last punch. “It makes you sound so violent. Makes you good protection, I guess.” A smirk curled on her lips. “Who knows, though, you might actually fight like a girl. I wouldn’t be able to tell.”

He was certainly right that a man would be more likely to attack her, she could tell just by the unwanted advances she got on the streets on her walks home from places. Maybe now she would know what to do if one those advances turned forceful. “Ferocious? I’m hardly ferocious. But I’m guessing I can fake it.” Her next punch, she took in a deep breath and screamed her most convincing imitation of a battle cry. It left Wendell shaking his hand, her back straightening in a defiant way. “Well, that probably wasn’t as convincing as the battle cries of the great warriors of Rharne, but I can work on it.”

She got a little overconfident with her next punch and went stumbling forward and crashed into Wendell, catching him on his broad shoulders to keep herself from falling face first into the dirt. “Woops, sorry!” She smiled sheepishly.

[Wendell]

Her battle cry was convincing enough, he thought, at least it would cause any unsuspecting man to think twice about raising a hand against Rei. She had mocked him, goading him into a reaction that came as the woman had fallen against his form, and in one swift move, he held her right arm pinned behind her back, applying enough pressure to let her see that he was not to be messed with. Wendell released the hold quickly and pushed Rei aside, holding his left foot out so that she tripped and he was forced to catch her.

“Maybe I do fight like a girl,” he smirked, “after all they do tend to fight dirty,” he laughed then. Effectively he had demonstrated an armlock and a simple trip that Rei could mull over and work on in her own time or as she gained more confidence with the fighting style.

“Now, if you awesome war-cry and pounces don't do the trick, go for the soft spots,” he encouraged and took the woman's hands, placing them on his shoulders. “Knee here,” he pointed to apex of his legs and shied away as it looked like she might actually make the move. “I don't think you need to practice that one,” he laughed, “just remember, hands on his shoulders and pull him into your attack. Then go for the eyes,” he smiled and closed the pads of his thumbs against her closed eyelids gently, but instead of pressing down, he leaned in and stole a kiss, dragging his thumbs down over her cheeks and shoulders to set his hands against her sides.

Without breaking the kiss, he pulled Rei closer and wrapped his right arm around her narrow middle while his left hand found her jaw blindly and his burly fingers were pushed through her golden hair.

[Rei]

If Rei had learned anything about Wendell, it was that he could be surprising. He had unexpected tricks up his sleeve at all times. When she was about to recover from her little stumble, her arm was caught and pinned behind her back, their bodies coming together as he asserted his dominance. Her eyes floated longingly between his eyes and lips, not sure which one drew her attention more. Her eyes widened as she went tumbling to the side from his shove, her feet catching his leg. Her eyes closed tightly, as she was certain she would face plant herself on the ground in front of him, but stopped. She opened her eyes to see that he had deftly caught her mid fall.

“Well, not all of us fight dirty, you know,” she retorted, referring to herself. She wasn’t sure she had ever done anything dishonest or low on the ladder of morals in her life. Her parents were and had always been genuinely good people, and she tried to follow in their footsteps. Rei was certain he had demonstrated skills she could use but wasn’t comfortable enough in herself or the newness of the abilities to try them.

Her hands were light on his shoulder as he indicted a hit to the groin that could be used in the event that other efforts failed. She made a move like she was going to throw her knee right into his manhood, though she was only joking, and he instantly shied away. “You sure you don’t want to practice that one?” Her joking smile faded slowly as he demonstrated an eye gouge on her, though his fingers were too soft, too gentle. To her surprise she felt his lips on hers, the warmth smoldering, followed by his fingers trailing the softness of her cheeks.

In a moment she was tangled up in his embrace, his hand tangled in her sandy hair, their bodies pressing together with heated passion. Her hands groped, feeling for his cream tunic, grabbing the soft fabric in her fists. If there had been anything more stable than the creaky posts, she would have backed up against it and taken him with her. She sighed softly into his lips before a shout startled her, her lips falling away from his. “Ay! You there you little shit. You’s the one that beat up me best lad. I’m going to split yer skull and then take your pretty little lady friend with me when I go!”

Rei tensed up, her apprehension clear. She had no quarrel with this man even if Wendell did, though she wasn’t shocked that he threatened her, too. Her soft hands fell to Wendell’s muscled forearms and she shifted her body until she was pressed against his back, her heart pounding in her chest. “Wendell,” she said quietly, frightened.

[Wendell]

The stranger had come armed with what looked like the leg of a chair, and taken Wendell by surprise, swinging the wooden batten against the left side of Wendell’s face. It sent him sideways into the dirt, and he blinked as he crawled forwards and tried to stand, his vision blurred by the impact of the makeshift bat. It was then the chair leg came down hard across his back, causing the piece of wood to snap in half, rendering it useless. The man seemed to back off a little, the broken bat seeing his bravery wane, as Wendell had both height and weight on the man.

Wendell rolled onto his back and coughed at the dust before struggling to his feet. He had gotten into a bar fight a few nights ago and wondered if this man was related to the man he had beaten the snot out of at his place of work. “Your lad?” Wendell choked on his laughed and wipe blood from his eye in the back of his hand. “Yeah I remember him, that ugly, hairy, good for nothing, son of a bitch. Lost two teeth once I was finished with ‘em!”

Angered by Wendell’s words, the stranger lunged and threw a punch at his side. Wendell caught the man's fist and used the momentum of his attack to throw him into the weak, wooden panels that made up the walls of the small training yard. The short, stocky man got to his feet quickly and put up his fists, Wendell mirroring the action with a smile; he liked these odds.

The man came at him with a high punch, and Wendell dodged the move by sidestepping. Another swing caught him in the back before Wendell was able to turn and throw an elbow at the man’s face. The short man stumbled backwards a few paces and turned on Rei, going for what he considered the easier target.

[Rei]

Armed with a makeshift wooden bat the man went brutally after Wendell. Rei stumbled back, catching her balance on one of the unstable posts. She was frozen in fear, unable to react or help, not that she probably would be of much help having only learned some unarmed combat just this afternoon. There was an audible snap of wood as the bludgeoning device finally gave way on the second strike and became useless. She rather hoped this was going to even the playing field for what started off as a very unfair fight. She subconsciously winced at the thought of what pain Wendell must be feeling right now.

Wendell was sprawled in the dirt and coughing, struggling to do much, but still had the sharp sense of humor to hurl insults at the short and stocky man that had just beaten him with a broken piece of wood. From the sounds of it, this was a result of some bar brawl Wendell had been in sometime before. Beaten someone pretty badly, she figured, reluctant to go toward him as was her instinct. He was beat and bleeding and everything in her screamed at her to help him. But she couldn’t do that with a bar thug standing there, ready for more.

They knocked around each other for a few minutes more, before Wendell had him stumbling through the dust. The anxiety in her chest lessened as she thought, perhaps, that he now had the upper hand in this situation. But that was not the case. The stocky man turned on her, coming at to grab, possibly to use her as some kind of leverage. But he wasn’t expecting that she had just learned a critical move. Her hands flew to his shoulders, Rei swinging her knee up into his groin with all the weight and force she could muster. The man, coughing and sputtering, keeled over in pain on the dusty floor. He wasn’t getting up anytime soon.

Rei straightened herself in pride, looking down at the fallen man without a word. “I’ll get ya, ya bitch. When ya little lover isn’t here to protect ya.” She stamped her foot into his groin, causing him to lose any other words he might have had. She grabbed Wendell’s arms, her concerned gaze falling over his various injuries. “Come on, let’s go get you cleaned up. That’s enough training today.” She held onto Wendell’s arm as they passed through the streets. As soon as they were in the door of her home, she locked it tightly behind them in case the blustering squall of a man had any ideas.

She went quick to work getting some water on to boil, getting out the alcohol, bandages, salves, anything she might need. “Take your shirt off, please. I’ll need to see where he hit you on your back.” Smiling gently at him, she poured the hot water into a bowl mixed it with alcohol and dampened a rag. She took it to the cuts on his face, cleaning the dirt from the wounds. “Are you hurting?”

[Wendell]

He had reached out to grab the man headed for Rei, fingertips clutching at thin air as the short man escaped his grasp. Wendell looked wide-eyed at the woman as she demonstrated her understanding of a very brutal attack that left her aggressor rolling around in the dirt, muttering and swearing at the woman. Rei finished him off with a shot to the groin that made even Wendell flinch, echoed sympathy pains coursing through his muscles for a brief moment.

Back at Rei’s house, Wendell was instructed to peel off his tunic and did what the good doctor asked. The muscles in his lower back were in a lot of pain, but he doubted anything was broken or ruptured. “That’s going to be a nice shade of black and blue tomorrow,” he half-laughed at himself and the whole situation. Rei had been trained just in time to put her new skills to use and save the day. He watched her with renewed admiration and silent respect.

His brow had been cut open where he had been struck with the wooden bat, a split that went right through the dark hairs, just under half an inch long. It probably wouldn’t need stitches, but was bleeding rather profusely for a small cut, no doubt soon to be slowed by the pressure of the sterilised rag and his heart-rate returning to normal. “That was a spot of excitement,” he admitted. “I promise my life isn’t always this exhilarating,” a playful smirk formed then, “but I have to teach a few lowlifes about respect from time to time.”

“You were amazing back there!” The smirk refused to cease. “I didn’t think that you would be able to put your new skills to the test so quickly. I guess it’s a good thing there was only one of them huh?” He hadn’t meant to insinuate that he was targeted a lot by one or more brute looking for payback, but over the years he had been in a few fights where the odds were stacked against him.

He looked around her house from where he sat in the living room, admiring what might have been familiar walls if the night hadn’t been so dark during which he had been led in with a kiss and busied himself with more… passionate pursuits. Wendell stayed still while Rei worked, entertaining himself with thoughts regarding the layout of her kitchen, or living room, and the things on the table he was sat near, anything but the night they had shared. Still his skin grew hot and his heart beat a little faster. “You use moseke mist, right?” It was better to be safe than sorry.