Estranged [Completed]

Breaking Down

After two weeks of patiently walking through the basics, Kalei was beyond ready to start throwing some real punches. In fact, she was tempted to pick a fight with Mar just to speed things up. But, luckily, Erit gave them the go-ahead to spar before Kalei had to resort to such tactics.

Kalei and Shenaia were paired off first.

As the two walked out into the center of the mats, Erit preceded the match with a few words. "No need to worry about hurting one another. We are all Estranged here, so I can assure you that any injuries, mortal or otherwise, will meet with a swift recovery. Now fight!"

They didn't circle or dance. For a moment, they simply stood there. Shenaia playfully stretched her neck from side to side while Kalei shifted her weight to the balls of her feet. When Shenaia smirked, Kalei raised an eyebrow.

Shenaia feigned a lunge to Kalei's left, and then swung at her right. Kalei dodged easily. It was a tactic Kalei had seen many times. Somehow, it reminded her of her childhood, when she would— Shenaia ran at Kalei and cocked her right arm back for another punch.

With all the confidence that came from years as a cop, Kalei blocked Shenaia's first punch, grabbed the second one, and then twisted Shenaia's arm behind her back while kicking in the back of her knees. The counter-attack would have been successful, except that in mid-kick, Kalei lost her grip on the darkness. It went punching through her limbs, slammed into her head, and left her dazed and doubled over. Shenaia readily escaped, but she must have lost control as well because she ripped off her gloves and charged after Kalei with the ferocity of an animal ready to feed, the whites showing in her eyes, her lips bared in a ferocious snarl. Erit intervened, small as he was, and with an arm around the woman's abdomen and a small leg behind her calf, he easily threw her to the mat.

Both Recruits were sent to opposite sides of the room to recover while Erit worked with Mar on her stances.

As she sat in her corner, Kalei was forced to face the fact that the darkness would not be so easily tucked away and forgotten. Some battles never ended, no matter how much training you put into them. Even now as she tried to regain control, she could feel it pulling, digging, and consuming her soul from the inside out. The all-too-familiar sensations burned at her heart and spread once more. She struggled to pull herself away, but she only felt it sinking deeper into her bones.

Slowly, she put the darkness back under her control, but the leash was tenuous. She stood up to fight another round.

Over the next few weeks, Kalei eventually learned to maintain control while sparring with Mar. Yet always beneath the skin, she could feel the pressure of the darkness and the slight tang of its presence in her heart. She resented its presence even as she knew she would never be without it.

Shenaia was having trouble too. She would disappear for hours, days at time. When she returned, she was usually disheveled, disoriented, and a bit too quick in her movements. Kalei recognized the symptoms of an addict, but she didn't say anything. Erit would have to be the one to kick Shenaia out; Kalei had no authority. And she knew Erit wasn't an idiot; she knew he saw what was going on. But still, much to Kalei's aggravation, the boy kept his silence.

Combat practice moved slowly. Even working day and night with their tireless bodies, it took nearly a month before Mar and Kalei could spar without losing control. For Shenaia, it took another four weeks.

Fighting Shenaia was the hardest challenge for Kalei. She had scuffled with gangsters before; it was part of her job description as a cop. They were scrappy fighters, with no regard for the rules or etiquettes of more civilized combat. Shenaia was much the same, except that she took it to a whole new level. Not only did she have no regard for the conventions of fighting, but there was cunning and experience there too. Add a bit of unnatural ferocity to her style, and Shenaia was a beast. In an even fight, she would have won every time. But with the darkness in the mix, Shenaia always lost control first.