Chaz paced frantically in front of the wall-length mirror in the dressing
room. A tiny trickle of blood welled up on her lip where she had bitten it
in her anxiety.
"Okay, deep breath. Just a demonstration. It won't hurt. Ah, who am I kidding?! I can't do this!!"
Kex sat quietly in the corner, watching her mistress pace and rant.
Chaz straightened up and closed her eyes. "Okay. I'm going to get it over with. So what if it's the Tallest? Fet was much more critical of my moves.." She opened her eyes again and slipped the helmet over her head. Kex jumped up and handed her the Darontu, beaming.
Chaz straightened the stiff tunic and opened the door of the dressing room. Red and Purple were leaning on a counter discussing something. Chaz cleared her throat nervously.
Red looked over, and his jaw dropped. Pur poked him in the side of the head and he remembered the few manners her had, and shut his mouth. "You look.nice. Um.how much room do you need?"
Chaz shrugged, already slipping into the aloof exterior of her fight-mind. She was calm, collected, and aware of her surroundings. The visor of the helmet was, at the moment, clear glass, but at the push of a button it would fill with carefully simulated opponents to fight. The whole simulation was designed to look graceful to an observer, while providing training for the one wearing the helmet.
Red and Pur sat down in their respective chairs, scuffling for a second over who got the bag of popcorn. Red blinked and scowled at Pur as the latter flicked a grease-covered kernel at his eye. "Go ahead," he said to Chaz. "Whenever you're ready."
She nodded and made the customary bow to her Tallest, then turned on the V.T.S. helmet. To her, a dozen faceless opponents wielding Darontues swarmed her. To Red and Pur, she began what seemed to be an impossible combination of spins, counter-attacks, and thrusts that defied imagination. Even Red, who was trained in the Arts himself, had not managed to succeed in this particular maneuver. He recognized it to be one of the drills taught to trainees even before the helmets became a factor in the Arts. It was designed to be an honorable fight against more than one opponent, and so included an excess amount of movement. Several times she came so close to Red, he wanted to reach out and smooth the tense muscles under the tunic, until the blade whirled around and nearly took his hand off. He kept his hands to himself after that.
Pur noticed the spaced-out look on his Co-Tallest's face and flicked another kernel of popcorn at him, suppressing a smirk. Red glared at him and flung the half-empty bottle of Irk Brandtm FizzJoosh at him. Pur ducked the bottle and squealed as the Darontu swished half a foot in front of his face.
Meanwhile, in Virtual Reality, Chaz had nearly finished off the last of her opponents. Three left.she could afford to do it the fancy way, and toy with them. One of them came at her from the left, swinging the deadly four blades at her in a figure eight. She jammed a corner of her own weapon into the heart of his maneuver, jamming it while giving her a chance to swing the rest of the blade around to eliminate the enemy. The other two came at her from either side, one going high, the other low.
She jabbed out with her heel and caught the lower person in the throat, sending him reeling back. The other jumped high and made to kick her in the face, but she whipped her Darontu up and sliced cleanly through his leg. A splash of warmth ran down her arm.
Chaz frowned. This was a little TOO real for virtual reality. She took a deep breath and pulled off the helmet.
The first thing she saw was Red and Purple huddled on the couch, looking as pasty as cafeteria food. Red was sitting perfectly still as he stared at the floor at Chaz's feet. She looked down.
On the floor was an Irkan dressed all in black, with a laser pistol in one hand. He had a bleeding bruise at the base of his neck. Chaz went whiter than star fire and looked at the assassin's leg.
It was severed at the knee, with the Darontu laying next to it.
Chaz fainted again.
Sorry about the ending..I'm not sure what's going to happen next! Please review!
"Okay, deep breath. Just a demonstration. It won't hurt. Ah, who am I kidding?! I can't do this!!"
Kex sat quietly in the corner, watching her mistress pace and rant.
Chaz straightened up and closed her eyes. "Okay. I'm going to get it over with. So what if it's the Tallest? Fet was much more critical of my moves.." She opened her eyes again and slipped the helmet over her head. Kex jumped up and handed her the Darontu, beaming.
Chaz straightened the stiff tunic and opened the door of the dressing room. Red and Purple were leaning on a counter discussing something. Chaz cleared her throat nervously.
Red looked over, and his jaw dropped. Pur poked him in the side of the head and he remembered the few manners her had, and shut his mouth. "You look.nice. Um.how much room do you need?"
Chaz shrugged, already slipping into the aloof exterior of her fight-mind. She was calm, collected, and aware of her surroundings. The visor of the helmet was, at the moment, clear glass, but at the push of a button it would fill with carefully simulated opponents to fight. The whole simulation was designed to look graceful to an observer, while providing training for the one wearing the helmet.
Red and Pur sat down in their respective chairs, scuffling for a second over who got the bag of popcorn. Red blinked and scowled at Pur as the latter flicked a grease-covered kernel at his eye. "Go ahead," he said to Chaz. "Whenever you're ready."
She nodded and made the customary bow to her Tallest, then turned on the V.T.S. helmet. To her, a dozen faceless opponents wielding Darontues swarmed her. To Red and Pur, she began what seemed to be an impossible combination of spins, counter-attacks, and thrusts that defied imagination. Even Red, who was trained in the Arts himself, had not managed to succeed in this particular maneuver. He recognized it to be one of the drills taught to trainees even before the helmets became a factor in the Arts. It was designed to be an honorable fight against more than one opponent, and so included an excess amount of movement. Several times she came so close to Red, he wanted to reach out and smooth the tense muscles under the tunic, until the blade whirled around and nearly took his hand off. He kept his hands to himself after that.
Pur noticed the spaced-out look on his Co-Tallest's face and flicked another kernel of popcorn at him, suppressing a smirk. Red glared at him and flung the half-empty bottle of Irk Brandtm FizzJoosh at him. Pur ducked the bottle and squealed as the Darontu swished half a foot in front of his face.
Meanwhile, in Virtual Reality, Chaz had nearly finished off the last of her opponents. Three left.she could afford to do it the fancy way, and toy with them. One of them came at her from the left, swinging the deadly four blades at her in a figure eight. She jammed a corner of her own weapon into the heart of his maneuver, jamming it while giving her a chance to swing the rest of the blade around to eliminate the enemy. The other two came at her from either side, one going high, the other low.
She jabbed out with her heel and caught the lower person in the throat, sending him reeling back. The other jumped high and made to kick her in the face, but she whipped her Darontu up and sliced cleanly through his leg. A splash of warmth ran down her arm.
Chaz frowned. This was a little TOO real for virtual reality. She took a deep breath and pulled off the helmet.
The first thing she saw was Red and Purple huddled on the couch, looking as pasty as cafeteria food. Red was sitting perfectly still as he stared at the floor at Chaz's feet. She looked down.
On the floor was an Irkan dressed all in black, with a laser pistol in one hand. He had a bleeding bruise at the base of his neck. Chaz went whiter than star fire and looked at the assassin's leg.
It was severed at the knee, with the Darontu laying next to it.
Chaz fainted again.
Sorry about the ending..I'm not sure what's going to happen next! Please review!