Sin: Path of Poison

Chapter 35 Part 3

"What's to see here? You should be practicing! Whomever is goofing off will spar with me!" A voice called out. A smile crossed my face as I recognized Silver. Coming from the opposite side that we entered, he failed to see the obvious indication of who it could be in the crowd. I waved my hand to shoo Torch to the side. The crowd across me parted as I waited with my head slightly tilted and a smirk on my face. I stood directly in front of Silver. His eyes widened upon seeing me.

"Sin? Why are you.." He trailed off as I lunged at him, matching the speed he used the last time we fought. The crowd had only parted enough to allow for his passage and did not have enough time to reassess the situation before I attacked. The best Silver could do was cross his arms and use his energy to hold me back as I easily forced him outside of the circle of spectators.

Not pausing, I changed directions, jumping into a side kick then sweeping low, bow stance, move forward, sweep with hand grab, lunge, lunge I pushed Silver back relentlessly. Sweeping aside his next block I spun around him with full access to his acupoints, I tapped them quickly, causing his body to go limp. I placed my arm around his waist and supported him, preventing his body from falling to the ground. As I looked into his eyes I could see the anger searing outwards. I lowered his body down just a tad until his cheek was even to my face. I kissed his cheek quickly, then pulled away laughing at the renewed animosity that bloomed. Spinning behind him quickly, I released his acupoints.

"Do this again tomorrow?" I smiled seductively. "Unless.. you can think of something else we can do.." I trailed off as I started to move my hand towards his belt. Outraged, he turned and walked away before I could grab at it. I could hear more than a few muffled laughs, knowing they'd pay for this tomorrow, they tried to put on a straight face.

"Lei?" I questioned as I walked back into the broken circle. He nodded at me, then came to the center. We sparred in a similar fashion as I sparred with Torch. Due to his experience I gently called out the correct countermeasure to protect himself against me. As he became quicker at responding to my calls, trusting me to give him the correct advice, I quickened the pace as well.

He was making improvement quickly, sometimes reading my thoughts before I called them out. I was confident he could easily catch up with Torch and possibly surpass him given proper training. For a moment it seemed like he could read my assessment of him, his confidence grew as we fought. At some point I caught him smiling just as I'd seen Torch do. My mood was good, I smiled back at him as well. His eyes widened at the realization, his focus was momentarily interrupted. His spiral kick landed just slightly off, I sped up to catch him before he fell. Propping him back up so quickly most people wouldn't be able to follow the action. I laughed lightly as he remained smiling, fully trusting that I would save him from harm. His heartbeat quickened, after several minutes I told him to rest.

I looked towards Blake, but he made no indication that he wanted to spar in front of so many people. Nervous, the people around me were hesitant to ask. Finally three brave souls, all of whom I recognized as personal favorites of Silver, raised their hands. I almost laughed out loud, too innocent, I thought.

Nodding in response, the three of them stepped in, the remaining people around us reassessed how much space we'd need and spread out. The three of them formed a team similar to the military. They were all faster than Torch and Lei, more on par with Blake's speed. I smiled as it was still something I could easily handle.

Lunging in slowly, I began shadowing one of the challengers. No matter how she tried to break through and hit me, I continually shadowed her every move. Diverting their attention, she realized I was shadowing her moves but I was using the same moves to take out her comrades. By the time they figured it out I'd already tapped out the other players.

I turned to face the person I'd been shadowing and easily slid my hand through her guard and acted as if I cut her throat. I had stood close to her, following her every move before coming to a stop. She seemed to be easily affected by my scent. As I was assessing her, her eyes locked onto mine. In the sudden stillness I could feel her body sway, something inside her mind wanted to continue following me. Quickly stepping behind her, I caught her body before it fell to the ground.

Her two partners knelt down where they stood, as if to plead for her life. A smile spread across my face as I realized they thought I'd purposefully done something to her. Using my energy, I pushed away the accumulation of my scent. While not heavily condensed, it had seemed to cling to her. The air around her was clear, her eyes began to flutter open. Lowering myself to the ground, I knelt with her head in my lap. Her two friends still knelt silently before me. Upon seeing my legs touch the ground they prostrated themselves. They were nearly flat on the ground, their heads were unwilling to look up, they remained silent. The girl in my lap came to. Her eyes fully opened, she looked up at my hand as it went out to touch her wrist. Her heartbeat was fast, but steady, she'd be fine within a few moments.

"You did well, rather than moving in a linear line, remember when you use a transitional move. You don't need to follow through all the way. Sometimes only going halfway through.. say a sweeping kick.. into a forward bow stance and lunge you can change the direction of the fight. Watch your surroundings, keep in mind where you want to end the match." I advised.

Her body was still as she lay in my lap, my hand still held onto her wrist. I could feel her heartbeat slow as her mind focused on the words I spoke rather than the distance between us. Smiling down at her, I helped her back up. "You appear to be sensitive to my... smell. Have your robes washed.." I trailed off as she began moving on her own, standing up near me. Her eyes looked over me as if for the first time. Eyes wide, she bowed stiffly, confusion slammed into her. Torch, seemingly familiar with her, moved forward to pat her shoulder.

"It was a friendly match, she won't harm you." Torch spoke softly. She turned to look at him, he smiled in return. "You're misunderstanding, she didn't poison you. It's just the scent of her body affecting you. As soon as you change your clothes and step away your head will clear." He explained calmly. I stood with a blank look on my face. Uninterested, I looked off in the distance. The remaining disciples around me were motionless.

"Torch?" I said in a steady voice.

"Yeah?" He turned to look at me.

"You can join us for dinner, if you're available." I offered, not staying for a reply. Sauntering back towards the Crown Prince, Lei, and Blake I stepped between them and over the newly acquired bench as I continued back the way we entered. The others quickly followed in my wake. As we approached the edge of the grounds, Lei stopped.