Catalyst

Chapter 18

Warnings: Language, Violence

Chapter 18:
402 A.V; Month 10; Day 23

Morning came with an extra verve. I pulled on some training clothes and departed my room. As expected, Andon was waiting for me. He gave a smile, looking brighter than normal. In turn, I smiled more than I already was. I'd been smiling since I walked into the gym.

"Good morning to you too," he said. I stopped smiling; tucking my lips in because he'd noticed and it had embarrassed me. Andon was grinning too, watching me with mirth, until he seemed to realize something and stopped.

"Right, training," he said. I felt like I needed to say something, so he knew it wasn't his fault, but there was a knot in my throat for a moment as he continued speaking. "What do you know of pressure points?" Instead of answering the question, I worked through the knot and spoke.

"I didn't stop smiling because you said good morning," I told him, "I stopped smiling because I realized I was embarrassing myself—because I was smiling at you." I felt my cheeks warming as I was just babbling along and then I went quiet, waiting for him to say or do something. He stood there a moment before the corner of his mouth tipped up.

"You were smiling at me?" he asked in a smug manner.

"Don't act like you didn't know," I muttered. He smiled fully again and had a playful gleam in his eyes.

"Maybe I needed some clarification. You might've been smiling at anything." I folded my arms over my chest and looked at him.

"Maybe I was," I stated in a snooty tone. He just chuckled.

"Snot." His playful attitude was infectious, smiling once more; I aimed a punch for his gut. He stepped out of the way and slipped around my side, lightly using his leg to trip me up.

"You're a snot," I stated.

"Well, that was payback for yesterday," he said, "But I really am supposed to be teaching you something."

"Right, right," I said, squaring up, "Teach me."

"Pressure points are places on the body, that when hit can cause pain, numbness, tingling, and if you hit hard enough in certain areas, death. I've never taught this to anyone, Alloy, and it is only taught to Nikola's spies." I scowled a bit.

"Nikola's spies? You mean..." I broke off in disbelief.

"It's not what it looks like. I joined just to learn, not knowing what I was getting myself into and then I managed desert, if you want to call faking my death deserting." I was still scowling at him a bit.

"So you're here in a rebel organization being completely inconspicuous?"

"I wore a disguise, contacts, facial hair, hair dye, the whole nine yards. I even spoke without an accent, used fake ID's and such. I was really careful Alloy."

"Does Priam know?" I asked.

"Of course he does. We can talk over lunch, alright? If we dawdle too much he's bound to notice."

"Oh, yeah, because the asshole doesn't give a shit about privacy." He gave me a warning look.

"Language," he said.

"I'm going to say whatever the fuck I want," I told him, "How do you like them apples?" He only grinned.

"You're impossible," he said and gave me a slight shove to the shoulder.

"So, one point is obviously the front of the shoulders," I said, "It's where you hit me to deaden my arms."

"Yes, there is a bundle of nerves there that is sensitive. So, basically, anywhere you hit on the head is someplace dangerous. Any hit hard enough can cause damage. You can stick your fingers in the eyes, hit the temples, use the heel of your hand to shove someone's nose into their skull." I eyed him with a grin.