When Rain Rises

Chapter 11

"Come, now, is that all you have to offer?" Aiden laughed, moving into a defensive stance once more with his fists raised at the sides of his head.

"Not even close!" Rain retorted, taking a deep breath and rushing at Aiden once more. In a flash of déjà vu, his fists merely swished through open air as Aiden avoided the punch. Then, once again, he found himself on his back as Aiden tripped him using his own momentum.

Alyse was next, twisting her body into a high kick that Aiden blocked with his forearm and shoulder. He pushed her away just in time to block another of Rain's punches, absorbing the blow into his open palm. Rain threw an elbow aimed up at his face, but Aiden moved his head to the side to avoid it. Rain felt his body jerk into motion as his knee thrust up into his mentor's gut; forcing him to flinch for a short moment before jumping back just as Alyse prepared to seize the moment with another attack.

"Interesting," Aiden muttered as he recollected himself. His carefree smile faded into a mute expression and analytical eyes.

"You hit him!" Alyse said in surprise as she took a fighting stance beside Rain. She had a laterally open stance with her lead and rear foot close together and her knees barely bent. "Lucky shot."

"Yeah, right, let's go so you get him then." Rain was speaking boldly, but in truth he had no idea how he hit him. Just like with the thugs on the rooftop, his body had acted on its own. Rain brought his fists up but didn't have any sort of true fighting style like they had. He just kept his feet shoulder width apart and his center of gravity low.

"Once more," Aiden motioned for them to continue. Alyse immediately ran at him to throw out another powerful kick. Aiden grabbed her leg just as it impacted his side and almost effortlessly tossed her into Rain. She soared through the air and crashed right into his abdomen. Rain felt the air get knocked out of him as they fell over each other and into the grass. It was all to Aiden's amusement.

"You should've seen that coming," Rain breathed as she quickly scrambled up off him and back onto her feet.

"Shut up!" Alyse shouted back. "You do something then."

Rain picked himself back up and physically shook all hesitation from his mind. He then rushed into Aiden once more with his fists raised. He launched a quick hook aimed for the side of Aiden's jaw. Aiden swiftly moved his head out the way. He then motioned to grab Rain's already extended arm, but Rain quickly bent his arm inward, transforming his seeming punch into an elbow strike. Though taken by surprise, Aiden managed to bend backward slightly and bring his shoulder up to deflect the blow. As his elbow strike was averted, Rain felt Aiden's calf move in behind his own in a classic tripping move. But just as Aiden moved to push Rain with his open palm, Alyse diverted his attention with a jumping kick from his flank. Unable to simply absorb such a momentous strike, Aiden was forced to quickly disengage from Rain and throw himself backward. Alyse's kick missed his face by mere inches.

Aiden used the momentum of his self-toss to lithely roll him self backwards into a crouch. Rain's eyes turned to piercing daggers as he saw his opportunity. While Aiden was rolling backwards he lunged forward with a powerful slug. Aiden brought his hands up immediately to absorb the blow, overlapping one over the other. The force of Rain's punch pushed Aiden's open palms back into his chest but he remained unscathed and stood to his feet as Rain launched another knee towards his gut. This time he was expecting the surprise knee strike, and blocked it by thrusting his own leg up into Rain's before it could gain any momentum. Aiden then grabbed his extended arm and launched Rain over his shoulder.

Alyse, just having recovered from her own jump-kick, was about to reengage Aiden when she saw Rain's demise and hesitated outside of striking distance. Aiden stood there, facing her motionlessly with his guard down. Rain spat grass and dirt from his mouth before he quickly picked himself up off the ground. He looked over at Alyse and could see that his new partner doubted herself.