He was in the training room again. By now nobody looked any more, when the Mansion Gardener used some of his free time at the Mansion and disappeared into the city. Somewhere along the way. Just was gone down some entrance to the underground. Just vanished at a bus station. Was just hidden from the eye. To appear some time later at Mondragon medical, where the training room awaited him in all its holographic glory. The lady at the Entrance nodded lightly at his approach of the second glass door. The one at her side. Under her nine-fingered control it opened for him without any communication now. Any verbal one. He entered the bowels of the building, the white ones, without a guide. He knew his way to the training room. The steel door behind which he would find what he needed for the advancement of his rather special as well as the rather mundane skills.

All in one room. It was a very practical arrangement. He even had found the time and space in his backpack (yes he went into the city with one, what was wrong about twens carrying bags around with them?) for some training clothes. Black pants. Long. And a black overgarment too. Not that there was a lot of danger in this training. But his partner (some would claim him to be his victim) might show up. He usually did at one point or another. The soldier that had first led him through these corridors for the very first time and had assisted him in figuring out the system of the room. He even had assisted him in his training at some point in time. Most of the points actually. Through observation and correction mostly. And after the third or fourth session he even had begun to adapt to the rather unusual skills on his side of the battlefield. He remembered having once been quite disappointed by him, but right now the arrangement was working out well.

He wasn't usually there when the sessions started though, preferring to have entered into a rather silly competition of trying to sneak up on Martin. Or past him. Somewhat futile it had proven. Soldiers had tried sneaking up on him for some ten-odd years after all. Their boots made distinctive sounds on the ground. Their breaths were not used toi being held for long periods of time. Just while shooting. They followed a pattern. Patterns were bad for hiding. Maybe he was just trying to get around him - and away from him. Maybe he was playing a game. They hadn't talked much on that topic. They hadn't talked much at all really. Martin had just assumed it was the way it was and proceeded to find him if he had need for him in training.

Today things would be a little different though. It was just that he didn't know it yet. So he proceeded into the cabin to chance his clothes. To all-black. Time for training.

Henrietta had been told that if she went to the training facility at the Kabal, someone would be there to help her. They didn't say who it'd be though. This was a little frusterating as Henri would've liked to at least know the person's name. It felt odd wandering through the Kabal's building and she would occasionally forget that she was part of the group now. It seemed that the woman at the desk recognized her and nodded. The brunette smiled at her and then glanced down at a sheet of paper she had received from her last visit. They were directions to the training area where she would meet the other member and she tilted her head as she read them. I'm already lost.

After about a half hour of aimless wandering, she had discovered the entrance to the training facility. She stood outside the door for a moment and stared at it. The girl wasn't sure if there was a specific thing she was supposed to do or just try to open the door. She bit her lip and shifted her weight onto her left leg. Finally deciding to try the door, she pushed it and it seemed that it was already open. Quietly, she walked inside. She was already changed into an athletic t-shirt and a pair of shorts. The girl also had on her tennis shoes because she wasn't sure how one was required to dress for training.

It appeared as if no one was inside, but it seemed like someone should've been. Nervously, Henrietta cleared her throat. "Um, hello? Is anyone in here?" There was no immediate response. Maybe she'd just have to wait a minute or two.

((Is this okay?))

As the man in the big metallic enclosure went through his first routines, the warm up moves, a little running first, circles around the room, then a little variation here and there. A crate appeared at his verbal command. And the artistic part started slowly. Just a few flips back and forth. Just some small scale artistics that could be seen in every 12th grade gym class. Nothing much. Warming up. Black clothes flying. The wind whistling in the ears. The own breath becoming more and more deep. More air. As the heartbeat increased slowly, shifting into a different mode. Danger. Fight...or flight. Just without adrenaline. But with the endorphin. Just having fun, are we?

He stopped for a while as he felt his heart and breathing had reached a certain frquency. Something personal. Loosening up muscles was a task better undertaken before the difficult exercises started. And so, while his heart and breath got ahold of themselves again, he made twists and turns. The young body was a gift in these matters. And then there was the door. The sounds. Steps. Lightly. Should he have learned after all? The pattern had shifted too, as far as he could tell. Well. Time to go and get him anyways. The lack of training was disappointing sometimes, wasn't it? Especially with professionals. So he gave another command or two. More things appeared. Mostly big blue containers that were used for chemical storage these days. On wooden supports. Within seconds – all it took was a shimmer in the air, a far haze falling – the room was looking like a storage shack for something quite unpleasant. In fact it was. Well. Martin was in hiding soon. Just next to the door. And quite invisible to the untrained eye. Sitting in the shadows. Hands raised a little. Gloved hands. Eyes, blue eyes closed as his back settled against the hard plastic surface. Lurking. Lets see how fast you are this time... Maybe that man would become useful one day after all. Just one last thought, before he jumped the person from behind the barrel he was hiding at. Hands, cool leather gloves, cosing immediately around the neck of the offending person in an instinctive reaction, finding the weak spots. Just a little pressure. And then everything would be ended. Oh how I hated these hands for that once... Until it became useful... Necessary.

Only that the neck of this long haired person was not where it was supposed to be. The long hair was quite disturbing in itself. What the h**l? he had gone fishing it seemed. And what he dragged ashore was not what he had intended.

Henrietta was looking around the rook when all of a sudden something grabbed the back of her neck. The girl jumped, screamed, and whipped around to face who had grabbed her. She turned and was now looking into a young man’s blue eyes. She screamed again and tripped, falling to the floor on her rear. The brunette’s air came in and out in short, fast breaths. She stared at him a for a moment with her own light blue eyes wide in surprise. “Uh...” A few rapid blinks of the eye. “Sorry, I’m Henrietta Braun and I was told by Slate that I was supposed to get some self defense training.”

She continued to look at the man for a moment, taking in his appearance. He seemed to be in his 20s and she couldn’t help but notice that he was quite attractive. After she had noticed this though, she felt her face turn red. Henri cleared her throat in embarrassment and looked away quickly. Anything but the cute older guy

Instead, she was now looking at her surroundings. Well, it definitely looked like a training facility. “So, this is where the Kabal does all its training, huh? It looks very intense. I didn’t mean to get in your way, I apologize.” Henrietta was still glancing around the room as she said this. A quick look back at the man. “Um, are you the one who’s supposed to train me or no?”

His fish was little as it seemed. Young. Her shrill scream resounded, rebounded in his ears as she realized there was someone there, who was not quite supposed to be in that position. It was a high scream. Behind her. And he loosened the grip around her neck as her instincts kicked in and make her spin around. More in surprise then anything. A young girl. Here. It raised certain questions as to both her motives and her skills.... But that would have to wait until she was coherent again... Screaming was a from of communication... but not his preferred one... not any he usually resorted to, had to resort to. People listened usually, sometimes they just needed a little reminder... sometimes he was the listener. He was a listener mostly. Thoughts progressed as she turned around and promptly decided to sit down on her backside.

The young man standing straight before her seemed to be rather untouched by these occurrences. Coldly accepting the surprise as something usual it seemed. Even dismissing the notion of his mistake a little. He simply extended a hand towards her to help her off her position on the ground into a position that was much more comfortable for conversation. Just some exchange of information. And she offered freely while still sitting. She was nervous. She was young. She was utterly helpless. He could see why their leader would have wanted this woman to get some form of training by Kabal members that were more experienced in the field. The soldier maybe. But why she knew of this place in the first place was a question that begged to be answered.

So the young man spoke. His voice was lightly colored by the reminder of a harsh accent that remained around his consonants, sitting there, sitting ducks. “Miss Brown, foremost I apologize for startling you....” Not that he really was responsible for anything that could have happened, right? You just didn't walk right into training rooms in use. Unless you wanted something to happen. “Secondly: My name is Mr. Stein.” His hand was still extended. Glove and all. Light was glossing over the leather surface faintly shimmering. “The training here is as intense as people want it.” Mostly very intense... the were highly paid for that after all. “In your case, I suggest we start with something much more basic then this. Do you know Judo?” He let his eyes wander around the room pointedly. No mention whatsoever if he was his teacher or no.... that question he couldn't even answer himself. He was usually here at these times, so whoever sent her here was to be quite certain that he would be here. But he had no recollection of being asked to do training with a maybe 17 year old girl.... which did not necessarily carry significance. Only that he had left his notebook in the cabin. * insert colorful expletive here * my memory. He uttered a verbal command and with a shimmering of the air, the room changed. A lot. The crates were gone. All of them. He moved his body slightly to reveal to her something that would have been hidden by his body from her view otherwise. Mats on the ground. About an inch in height. Large perfect squares that made up a bigger square of their bodies. Her answer really wasn't needed. He already knew. From her reaction.

He moved his feet on the big square and his stance, formally quite straight, changed slightly. His feet spread out a little more, his knees bent slightly. His arms were raised. Both hands still gloved. All skin except his face hidden under black cloth. It looked like a shadow had grown out of the ground and placed himself in the middle of the big square. “And now: Lesson one. What Judo is about. Attack please. And don't worry about me. Ill be fine.” There was no way she could harm him, unless she was much more then she had already shown. And a demonstration was best to make this point. The shadows stood in waiting.

The man reached down and extended his hand to Henrietta. She glanced at it and then up at his face before taking ahold of it. He called her ‘Miss Brown’, which meant that he knew German. She also noticed that he had a bit of an accent. There was a very good chance, it seemed, that he himself was German. Once she was off the floor, she looked at him a second and he introduced himself as ‘Mr. Stein’. She gave him a quick nod even though she was wondering why he didn't mention his first name at all. “Thanks for helping me off the floor. I really am sorry that I interrupted you.” And I’m also sorry that I walked in here. I thought you were going to kill me. She decided not to say the last bit out loud as it might've been a poor impression of the brunette.

Mr. Stein pushed something and the facility's layout and appearance changed. She blinked and stared as it transformed before her eyes. Henri had never seen anything quite like it before and could barely believe there was such technology. Where there had once been crates, now layed mats. He asked the teenager if she knew Judo. It seemed as if he didn't really expect a response, which puzzled her since he had asked. She decided to answer him anyway. "No, I don't know what Judo is, I'm afraid." But I have the feeling you're going to show me. The girl knew that the purpose was to learn to defend herself, but she felt a little nervous. She rubbed her left elbow with her right hand in a shy manner. The next thing that Mr. Stein said, threw her off a little. "Attack please."

Henrietta gaped at the man who was now in some sort of stance. Attack him? The girl had no idea how to attack someone. The only person that she ever even kind of attacked was someone who was trying to mug her and that wasn't completely her. It had been her hair. He looked strong and the brunette wasn't silly enough to think she could actually hurt him anyway. Sighing, the girl tried to formulate a plan inside her mind. Okay. Let's see. I'm a fast runner, maybe I should give a quick kick at him or something. She bit her lip and then took a deep breath. After feeling a little more calm, and embarrassed, Henri began to run towards him. She gradually picked up a little more speed. While running, she wasn't so sure if kicking him would be effective. She just hoped that an idea struck her by the time she got down to Mr. Stein or the whole situation could go down hill decently fast.

And at him she came. With small steps at first, then, as she gathered her confidence quite visibly, they became larger and larger. And Martin was standing still. Bigger jumps, greater speed, increasing. He was still standing. She wanted to ram him maybe? Or kick him? Things could be arranged. His gifts he used, the good one, to slow things down a little. Study her movements some more, make sure she was in stride, full stride, as he in turn came down upon her. She was nearly in reach of him, when he quite suddenly made two steps forward, timed impeccably, grabbed her right arm with his left, the other closing in around her shoulder, black shadows falling into movement, falling into place already, and with his foot swiped away at the leg her weight was on . And as things were with these matters, she lay in his arms for a second as he removed most of the energy she had acquired while running through holding her, before he let her fall to the ground.

He still stood above her. One shadow. One shadow with a small frame. “use the movement of the enemy against him. The barycenter is the important point. If you unbalance someone then you have taken him to the ground already in most cases.” He lectured her. With a small smile on his face. The he motioned her to get up. On the mats again. “Care to try again?” It was a real question this time.

All of a sudden, Mr. Stein was holding her and her leg was taken off the ground. Next thing she knew, she fell to the ground. The wind got knocked out of her and she gasped. She landed on her stomach and the girl flipped onto her back. Trying to recover her air, Henrietta just stared at the man for a second. He had already began lecturing as soon as she had hit the mat. He said that she was supposed to use her opponent’s energy against themselves. With a motion for her to rise, she stood up and nodded. “Yeah, I care to.” The girl bent her legs a little more so it would be harder to knock her over. The lower the center of gravity, the better center of balance one had.

She was determined to trip him at least once now. Henrietta hated to lose and that seemed a lot like a loss to her. Narrowing her eyes at him, she moved forward, but not as fast she had the first time. It was easier to trip her that way, or so it had seemed. Once she got close enough, she dropped into a crouching position. As she did, her hair flew up and her leg went out. She swung it around at his legs. I’ve got you this time. The girl smirked happily to herself as she waited to feel the blow connect.

Apparently the youth had no problems following him. He blinked at her friendly once or twice. Friendly and encouraging. It was supposed to be an incentive. And she chose to attack him. With full force again. On and on the youth went to him, unto him, down on him she came. More carefully crafted her attack this time, slower, more deliberate, a delicacy, though still he still simply stood, feet firmly planted on the ground, as he followed, with his eyes unveiling a colder, a darker side of his, her approach, her coming.

He waited until the last second, the millisecond. Until his feelings told him that it was time. His time was running out. Just permitting himself to feel a little of the excitement of battle, the raise in heartbeat, the adrenaline in the veins, slowly coursing with the immortal hearts rhythm down the aisle of his capillaries. Into the street of blood. The blood in the streets had taught him. And he was not to be trifled with. He could prove that. If need be.

Today was no such time. And today it was not the time to be taken down by a student on her second lesson. There was a certain amount of pride in him on that one. And the hint of fear. Physical contact. It was a dangerous line he walked here. As always.

He was gone again. Gone with the wind this time as she swept for his legs – admirable how she intended to make herself less vulnerable to his technique – amiable really. A swipe that was met with no resistance. Just passing air. Just a backflip, yes? Maybe he lingered a little longer then necessary in the head down part. Looking at her face. A slight surprised?

He was already standing again. “Very nice.” And he even managed a cocky grin. A small one. He wouldn't do large. Especially in these situations. “Try not to go too low, since that makes you unstable, too. Speaking of that:” He turned away a little. A little to the side. Let her out of his sight. “Before I teach you how to throw someone, you will have to learn how to fall. Especially in training. Its important if you don't want to get hurt.” Ah yes... falling. How... boring, wasn't it? Was there a shimmer of mischievousness in the blue? “This is the easiest way to get rid of the excess energy of being thrown in training.” He stopped talking and proceeded with a demonstration, He jumped as if wanting to roll over something, turned in the air, and landed on his back, one hand extending outwards and hitting the mats with an audible slap. Martin on the ground was getting up quite quickly. And then he looked at his one student, as if he wanted to remember something. Mischief really. A command later there was a third person in the room. Appearing in a shimmer. A bending of air. A tall man, broad shouldered. The face was hidden behind a ski mask. His clothing rather unfit for training. His eyes... the thing that was visible. They were malicious. If one wanted to call them that. “Hell help you train.” And he folded his legs. Watching. As the holographic man advanced on the girl.

Henrietta had been so confident that she had had him that time, but she failed again. The girl sighed and looked at the man, who was now grinning at her. Mr. Stein recommended not getting too low either because that could mess up someone’s balance. Of course. Everything’s probably going to mess up my balance. There’s a reason I don’t do balance beams. My center of balance is almost non-existent. But wait, he also complimented her! Henri gave the man a huge, happy smile. She loved praise and she had thought going for the legs had been a good idea. She must’ve kind of had the right idea.

Wait, wait. Did he just say I have to learn how to fall? She watched him fall and thought it looked easy, but the girl knew better than to assume those kind of things. Some of the easiest looking things always seemed to be the hardest, in her experience. Henri glanced down at the mat and wondered how he had gotten up off the floor so fast once he had fallen. She had barely seen him stand up. It was very impressive in her opinion. She couldn’t imagine being that fast and she felt her gut sink a little. How do I even go about that.

She got the idea pretty quickly when another man appeared. It was obvious he wasn’t real because he was shimmering, but he still looked dangerous. The girl bit her lip and backed up as he got closer to her. Mr. Stein said he’d help her train, but all it appeared that he wanted to do was try to kill her or break an arm. Making a bit of a squeaking noise, she ducked underneath one of his, what she thought was holographic, arms. She felt air pass above her head and she realized that he wasn’t completely a hologram. Oh crap.

After she was out of range of one of his arms, she rolled sideways to try to get out of his reach in general. As fast as she could, Henri popped off of the floor and looked at the fake man. “Uh, what am I supposed to do with him?!”

He was quite small now. Not very tall. Sitting as he was, sitting in attention, attending not a fest, but instead something akin. She squealed. Squeaked. Music in his ears. In a way. The small person, temporarily, permitted himself another one of those small smiles. The honest ones. The amused ones. Trust not the wide smiling people. They lie.

He had been honest when he had told her the purpose of that particular simulation. Partially at least. He didn't usually use that specific program for training of his falling moves. No, he did not need that much any more. That program as one designed to do a little more then that. A little more then tossing one around. A programmed battle simulation. A programmed thug. Villain. If there was such a thing. This program would not do much more then toss her around. But also not less. She might hurt afterwards. But bruises were good teacher were they not?

“I suggest you either try to fight him or try to fall correctly.” He explained in a perfectly calm tone, calm color in his face as the hologram advanced upon her. Not that she would have much chance... hopefully she would stand a chance. He was ready to intervene if need be The malicious eyes focused on their target. He would intervene before the thing did too much damage to her. But not before she had shown him some real effort to learn. It would cost an effort today. He was not an easy teacher. He never tried to be.

Mr. Stein reccomended she either fight the fake man, or try to fall correctly. Uh, are those my only options? She glanced at the man who was teaching her and gave him a pleading look before she took off running. Henrietta just needed a little space before she could think about what actions to take. The hologram had a menacing look to it and the girl wanted to believe that he couldn't hurt her, but she highly doubted it. What was the point of fighting it, if it couldn't actually touch her? Letting out a small sigh, Henri watched as he got closer and closer to her. The look in his fake eyes made her heart begin to beat harder than it had been. Even more than it had been from the running.

She planted her feet and took a deep breath. Okay Henri, you got this. You just got to, um, well... Actually, I'm not sure what I need to do. The holographic man walked up until the two were about five feet apart. For a moment, she thought she saw him smirk, which just freaked her out even more. She stuck her arms out to grab him, but he grabbed her. Picking Henrietta up, he swung her around and flung her into a wall that was only about a foot away. Henri had backed herself into her own corner. She hit her back against it and her breath all came out at once, before landing on her stomach on the mats. Gasping, the brunette glanced up as the fake guy continued to come after her again. She let a few curse words out under her breath and got to her knees.

Henri fell back onto her butt as she continued to gasp. She felt as if she had been hit by a car and now she was in shock. Blinking a few times, the girl shakily got to her feet and ducked as the man reached for her once again. He began to lose his balance and the girl stuck her foot out to trip him. She thought it had worked until he turned around and kicked her leg out from underneath her. The girl landed, but this time it didn't hurt nearly as bad. "Dammit all!" Her frusteration began to come to the surface and she turned towards Martin. "What's with this thing?! I thought he was supposed to teach me how to land or something?!"

((Is this okay, Martin? ))

Things went well. In terms that Ms Braun was tossed around quite throughly. Only that she did not quite use that opportunity. Rather she seemed content with doing a lot of things he considered... not smart. If she had wanted him to teach her how to run around in circles he'd have given her an A straight away. But he had not asked her to do that. Lightly, only lightly, the man boy on the ground shook his head as he witnessed the whole degree of her... ineptitude.

A lot of work indeed. And he had to remind himself of something else. Like drowsing oneself with cold water. She did not have his peculiar skills. Neither the bad parts – which was quite good for her – nor the good parts, which was severely hindering her efficiency in these situations. New situations. Had he not given her enough time to think over this assignment? To observe? Maybe. But it was so slow... so unlike him. It was like looking into a mirror and seeing to desert gobi instead of your own reflection. A different world. A different mirror.

A long time ago. He had been slow. Inept. How had it been for him to learn? He had had a harder time then her in those days. Either learn to fight. Fight dirty, understand quickly, or be killed. A rather harsh method of instruction the bloodhounds, the bloodspillers on his tail had employed. Until he had employed it against them. His touch. Breaking a life. It was only a touch away. For him it was. For many others it was not. For too many it was too. Any hand that could end this way. His eyes were downcast. On his hands. As he sat on the ground musing how to better instruct this young woman before him. In light of his past and her future. Heads and tails. Alea iacta est.

He was on his feet again. Musing ended. Thoughts were done with. Now came action.

As was the hologram. It was swift, its end. Martin was there as it towered over the sitting Henri. The oblivious Henri. The small Henri with the long brown hair. She was inpatient with him. As he was with her. It was her good right in a way. It was his good right to push her. Beyond human limits. She was not after all, one of the ones that could claim innocence. She never would be. One of the many dice that had been cast already. Sanctuary was for the weak ones. And Sanctuary was usually a final choice. “I never said he would teach you. I said he would help you learn.” His notes were icy. So different from the smile.

There was no sanctuary for their kind. Only choices. His hands, his small frame did something to the larger thing. And it broke. An Arm that had been raised, threateningly toward the girl on the ground, an extended hand, ready to grip again, to yank and pull, to toss maybe, only maybe, was suddenly pulled back. So little power was used, so little necessary if one knew where to put it. The force applied from behind, the angle just right.

The arm dislodged quite nicely. And visibly. Then he kicked at one of its legs. Not from behind. From the side at the knee whence he had ducked while the thing was still spinning in disorientation. He was dancing around the thing. The machine. A violent dance. And he broke it before her eyes. Symmetry. A demonstration. Punishment maybe. Fluent movements of destruction. Maybe even for himself. A little reminder.

It disappeared in a shimmer of air. He way it had come into existence. And he was above the girl. Standing. Not even a sweat had broken on his features. And his eyes held a small shimmer of disappointment. At himself? His hands.... the gloves. Flexed. “If you decide to come back tomorrow then he will await you again. And every day after that until you manage to beat him.” Not too menacing he hoped. An incentive. The carrot and the stick. A smile in this case “Which I expect to be soon.”. Much smaller then any of the ones before. “But today its lesson one. Falling.” He moved through the motions again. The falling motions. More slowly... She needed things more slowly. Remember! Slow. Motion.

And then his glove extended to the sitting woman as he was standing up. The sitting girl. Again.

Her teacher looked frustrated with her. Henrietta looked away, ashamed. He had made it look so easy when he showed her the first time. She wondered how long it had taken him to get so good at fighting. If it had come easily to him, she would understand better why he was losing his patience. “I never said he would teach you. I said he would help you learn.” Ouch. It was true, but the tone he used was absent of any warmth at all. Mr. Stein still smiled, but she couldn’t tell which one expressed his true feelings. She assumed it was probably the cold voice because if he was really happy, his voice would sound that way, right?

Without realizing fully what was happening, Henri watched as the real man attacked the not-so-real man. It seemed he dislodged his arm. The girl winced at the noise and sight of the mangled arm. Mr. Stein continued to destroy the thing that Henrietta hadn’t been able to take down. She watched and when he was done, she glanced down at her own hands. Maybe I’m not made to do these kind of things. I’m not strong like that and I don’t want to hurt people. I know it’s just supposed to be for self-defense, but... The teen glanced back up at her teacher. I at least have to keep trying. I can’t give up before I even start, especially when he’s taking time out of his life to help me.

Mr. Stein told her that the hologram would await her the next day, if she decided to come back. “I’m coming back and I will beat it. I’m not sure how long it’ll take and I’ll need you to be a bit patient with me, but I’ll try my best.” This time, her teacher slowed down the motions and demonstrated how to fall once more. She watched carefully this time and took in how his hand hit the mat. Henri thought about the fact that landing the wrong way could cause serious damage to someone’s arm. I need to remember that. The girl nodded at him.

She stood up and took a deep breath. “Alright, so I just jump like I’m gonna roll and try to land on my back?” Henri was a little afraid to just jump in the air when she knew she was going to fall. It was the point, after all. “Um, I may need to practice the jump so I can get in the right position to begin with. I don’t know if I can get my legs where I need to as of right now, but I’ll give it a shot.”

Henri jumped at a bit of an odd angle, so she could get her body lateral with the floor. Her stomach was facing the mat in the current position she was in, so she spun to line her back up with the ground. Hitting the mat, she landed on her back and slapped the mat with her hand. Her arm bounced back off and it hurt a little, so she was guessing she hadn’t quite done it right. “Am I closer yet?” She grinned at her teacher as she sat up and then continued to get off the floor the rest of the way.

Martin watched her resolved statement with impassive eyes. Blinking once, that changed a little. At least youthful fire she had. At least it was this much she owned. Not a possession that she should let go of so lightly. But as these things went, the more you tried to hold on to them, the more slippery they tended to become. Strange things they were. Emotions. Energies. And not the ones that flowed from the holes in the wall.

He watched her other attempt with an almost lazy calmness that betrayed the fact that there was something more working here then the linear ways of ordinary men. Behind half closed eyes, the youth watched her (f)all over again nothing but thin air, just to judge her hopeful words with a single one. A simple one. "Closer." Before he corrected her with some words about how her stance made it easier if she tried to concentrate on the arm. Not slap the arm to the ground. Simply rest it there. With all the energy that you can manage to draw from your body please. This time right? It should be possible? Falling forward. A harder way to do it. It would make the others simpler. Falling sideways. Both sides. But not backwards. Not that much. Though it worked the same. It was all the same.