The arms were strong and wrapped around her painfully, trying to feel her chest through the tight bandages she had wrapped it down with. Kisa did the only thing that she could think of - she dropped her head to the arms holding her and bit down with every ounce of strengh she had.
Of course, the point would probably be moot in a couple of seconds. When she transformed into a tiger in front of everyone, it would all be over. She was prepared to go to combat with anyone who tried to kill her. She wasn't going to go down without a fight.
She tasted blood in her mouth. Her teeth had managed to penetrate through the clothes of the ninja embracing her. It didn't taste right though. Usually when she was in tiger form and tasted blood she got slightly excited as her animalistic nature took over.
It also tasted different - sweeter and more metalic then usual. It made her want to gag. She pulled her mouth away from the bitten arm at the same time that it was pulling back from her.
Kisa blinked as she didn't change form. She was still a girl pretending to be a boy. The taste of blood in her mouth was still revolting. Her secret was still safe.
She heard someone cursing behind her and turned slowly to view whoever had hugged her.
It was a tall black haired woman with ice blue eyes the exact same shade as Frost's. She was holding her bleeding arm tightly to her stomach, and glaring angrily at her.
Kisa stared in shock for several moments. Finally she found her voice, managing to inflict angry sarcasm into her voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she snarled with difficulty.
"You little bastard!" the tall woman retorted. "You make me sick. You are a disgrace. . . . . the most pathetic boy that I have ever seen!" she continued to yell at Kisa, but the tiger had tuned her out.
If she were the woman, then she would probably feel that she made a pretty lousy boy. Actually she was already getting that impression. She was used to insults, although they were usually whispered behind her back. Either way, veiled or not, she had grown accustumed to ingnoring them.
So when she spotted Briar, she hurried over to him immeadiatly. He was talking to a couple of dark clad ninjas who looked rather agitated. However, as soon as he spotted her, he offered a small smile.
"Ki, just the person I was looking for. I need you to - "
"Absolutely not!" the woman screamed. She had stalked after Kisa, still holding her bitten arm tenderly.
"Why not?" Briar asked lightly.
"That little vixian - "
"Vixian is a word reserved for females, and I saw what happened. Ki was within his rights in defending himself, and you know it, Juline Aria," Briar interrupted. He glanced sidelong at Kisa. "I really have to take him away from here for a while," he added.
Juline Aria, who was Frost's older and less talented sister, bristled as Ki was led out of the room by Briar.
"You really need to pick your enemies more carefully," Briar muttered softly to her as they headed down the hall.
They entered a conference room much like the mission briefing room. As it turned out, the two ninjas were investigating Sou's death and thought that there might be a conection between it and the recent attack on Briar. Since she had been present during the attack on Briar, they wanted to question her.
Kisa briefly debated telling them that she knew who it was, but when one of them casually mentioned that Ryu had been particulary interrested to see what she knew, she decided not to mention him at all.
They left the room with no new information.
"Ki, you could probably learn a lot on your own, but if you want, I can train you personally," Briar said before he dismissed her from the room.
Kisa, who had barely said five words since entering the room turned to look at him strangely. "Why would you do that?" she asked.
He brushed a strand of black hair out of his eyes. "Because I have a feeling that you may be targeted by the Black Rose Academy."
Kisa remembered that was the name of the school Ryu was working for. The same school that had already given permission for her to be killed. What Briar was saying was true - she was being targeted by the school, but he was also being targeted.
"As of the days of old, ninjas work in the shadows. Many people on the outside of the darkness we shroud ourselves in don't even realize that there is an active ninja society functioning in their midst. However, as with all things, there is two sides to the society. The ninjas at Shinobi Academy wouldn't dare dream of hurting an innocent -"
Kisa interrupted Briar. "Who do we work for? Who commands us?" she asked, catching him off gurad for a moment.
His voice faltered mid-sentence and he stared at her silently. "The Japanese government empoyees most ninjas. Some are independent and others have allied themselves with terorists and work as assassions."
Kisa was quiet, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she prompted him to start with a soft spoken question. "Who do we work for? When you graduate from Shiobi Academy, where do you work?" She keep her eyes on him, not blinking, just staring imploringly at him, waiting for an answer.
He looked away. "We work for the government, but specialize in assassionation," he said finally, he didn't sound pleased.
Kisa turned away from him, and he caught her wrist tightly. "You still need special training. In three weeks Commander Frost and his cell will move out on assignment. You're not supposed to know until the day before, but you have to be ready."
Kisa turned to look at him again. He his grip loosened. "I had no choice but to put you in his cell, but I'll be dammed if I let you get killed because of neglagince," Briar said tightly. "Don't make me order you to train with me. It would be easier if you were willing to - "
"Aa." Kisa said. She was staring at him strangely. In all reality, she was just feeling light headed from blood loss. She was experiencing shock from learning that someone wanted her dead. She was feeling bad about not having anyone at all to talk to. She was worried that her secrete would be discovered. She was worried that she'd be hugged or pass out from weakness and stress. All of that, and it was only her first day.
Briar seemed content with her answer. He showed her back to the training hall and started teaching her what her weapons were used for.
For the next three weeks, Kisa fell into a routine that was tiring and stressful. From 8 p.m. to 12 o'clock a.m., she slept in the top bunk in her room. The belled curtains were still hard to slip through wihtout sending them jingling, but with surprising help from Kenneth, she was able to get into the bed without waking everyone. Konimitsu, who was a light sleeper always woke up, but to combat that, she went to sleep before he did.
At 12 in the morning, when she had to wake up to begin the days training, she began training with Briar in a small dark hall. Until one o'clock, she practiced with the main weapon of a ninja, a sword. By the end of those lessons, her arms were sore, and she felt like she was going to transform, but one way or another she managed to get through the lessons somewhat intact. Although she did cut herself by accident more time then she came close to hitting Briar with the sword.
After sword practice, Briar put her into hand to hand combat. Initially, she had been freaked out about doing that type of traing; what if someone got too close? However, Juline ended up being her reluctant partner in the sparring matches, and the rest of the time she spent smashing her shins and fists into a sand filled bag hanging from the ceiling.
The highly competive Juline was constantly trying to seriously injury her. Kisa learned to be quick and avoid the majority of the attacks. She was focusing mainly on improving her defense. In a real fight with a man, she would have to make sure that her secret wasn't discovered. As a result, Juline always won their battles because she seldom threw any techniques unless she felt they could get through.
At three in the morning, a time when she wished she were asleep in bed at home, Briar started her on indurance training. Push-ups, sit-ups, and jogging were some of the the exercises that he put her through. Briar had tried to put her in a pool to do laps, but that was one thing that Kisa flat out refused to do. He had argued and argued, but she had stocically and silently refused him.
Then it was more. She worked with all of the other weapons for an hour. Then she did even more specialized hand to hand fighting. That was followed by more endurance traing, except the second time she had to wear fifteen pound weights on her ankles and wrists, not to mention the wieghted tank top that she wore under her black shirt.
By that time it was 6 a.m., the same time that she usually woke up at back home. After a quick breakfast, she was sent into a series of special classes that focused on the mental aspect of fighting.
She took classes in writing, staregy, mathematics, history, language, science, chemistry, medicine, and of course, disguise.
Some of the classes were what you would expect them to be. History, science, stratagey, disguise, medicine, and mathematics all prgressed like Kisa expected them to. However, in language and writing, she was taught different languages and expected to assimilate them as quickly as possible.
After all of that it was luch time. From three o'clock to four o'clock she helped prepare meals and then quickly ate. After that, in her free time, she went into the swamp and practiced more.
She had taken to wearing silver bells on her sleeves and belt. In the swamp, she would have the tigers hunt her and try and get away without making any noise. At the end of three weeks, the score was 845 to 1 in favor of the tigers. The number was disspointing, but Kisa noted that she had won once and that would have to be good enough.
During the three weeks, Ryu was very friendly to her. She decided to be friendly back, not making an visible enemy of him, but she wasn't friends with him either. She kept in mind not to find herself anywhere alone with him. It was made easier by the busy schedule that she kept for herself.
Once, he had followed her into the swamp. It had been the one time that Kisa had succefully hidden from the tigers. She had been really scared that time. He obviously had been planning on killing her.
As for the other members of her cell, Kenneth was as insulting as ever. He acted like he hated her, but Kisa was starting to get the impression that he was jealous, although she couldn't imagine what he would be jealous of. It made her feel more friendly to him, although she rarely bothered talking to anyone.
Frost, who apparently never spoke very much, always took a long time explaining things to her. He watched her training with Briar critically and was always offering adivce. Kisa had gotten the impression that he was very helpful until she spotted him completely ignoring several dozen people at once.
He projected a cold wave around himself, and in spite of seeming open and friendly, Kisa fianly realized that she knew nothing except his name, rating, and and year. He remained a mystery throughout her three week training period.
Then, on the last day, Briar summoned their cell. "You have a mission," he said calmly. He waited for a moment and handed a think manila envelope to Frost before leaving.
The three of them went into their briefing room. "So, what do we got?" Kenneth asked, rubbing his hands together. He looked excited about finally getting some action.
"Seek and destroy," Frost said softly and without emotion. "We leave tonight."
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Author's notes;
I had to make some time pass, and her describing her training let everyone know that she was learning. However, don't get me wrong. She's still a beginner, just working hard at getting better.
Oh, and I meant to include the reason why the training took place at night. It's because ninjas work best in darkness. If they trained during the day, it might throw them off. \_/
Thanks for reading, and please review,
Kissa-chan
Of course, the point would probably be moot in a couple of seconds. When she transformed into a tiger in front of everyone, it would all be over. She was prepared to go to combat with anyone who tried to kill her. She wasn't going to go down without a fight.
She tasted blood in her mouth. Her teeth had managed to penetrate through the clothes of the ninja embracing her. It didn't taste right though. Usually when she was in tiger form and tasted blood she got slightly excited as her animalistic nature took over.
It also tasted different - sweeter and more metalic then usual. It made her want to gag. She pulled her mouth away from the bitten arm at the same time that it was pulling back from her.
Kisa blinked as she didn't change form. She was still a girl pretending to be a boy. The taste of blood in her mouth was still revolting. Her secret was still safe.
She heard someone cursing behind her and turned slowly to view whoever had hugged her.
It was a tall black haired woman with ice blue eyes the exact same shade as Frost's. She was holding her bleeding arm tightly to her stomach, and glaring angrily at her.
Kisa stared in shock for several moments. Finally she found her voice, managing to inflict angry sarcasm into her voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she snarled with difficulty.
"You little bastard!" the tall woman retorted. "You make me sick. You are a disgrace. . . . . the most pathetic boy that I have ever seen!" she continued to yell at Kisa, but the tiger had tuned her out.
If she were the woman, then she would probably feel that she made a pretty lousy boy. Actually she was already getting that impression. She was used to insults, although they were usually whispered behind her back. Either way, veiled or not, she had grown accustumed to ingnoring them.
So when she spotted Briar, she hurried over to him immeadiatly. He was talking to a couple of dark clad ninjas who looked rather agitated. However, as soon as he spotted her, he offered a small smile.
"Ki, just the person I was looking for. I need you to - "
"Absolutely not!" the woman screamed. She had stalked after Kisa, still holding her bitten arm tenderly.
"Why not?" Briar asked lightly.
"That little vixian - "
"Vixian is a word reserved for females, and I saw what happened. Ki was within his rights in defending himself, and you know it, Juline Aria," Briar interrupted. He glanced sidelong at Kisa. "I really have to take him away from here for a while," he added.
Juline Aria, who was Frost's older and less talented sister, bristled as Ki was led out of the room by Briar.
"You really need to pick your enemies more carefully," Briar muttered softly to her as they headed down the hall.
They entered a conference room much like the mission briefing room. As it turned out, the two ninjas were investigating Sou's death and thought that there might be a conection between it and the recent attack on Briar. Since she had been present during the attack on Briar, they wanted to question her.
Kisa briefly debated telling them that she knew who it was, but when one of them casually mentioned that Ryu had been particulary interrested to see what she knew, she decided not to mention him at all.
They left the room with no new information.
"Ki, you could probably learn a lot on your own, but if you want, I can train you personally," Briar said before he dismissed her from the room.
Kisa, who had barely said five words since entering the room turned to look at him strangely. "Why would you do that?" she asked.
He brushed a strand of black hair out of his eyes. "Because I have a feeling that you may be targeted by the Black Rose Academy."
Kisa remembered that was the name of the school Ryu was working for. The same school that had already given permission for her to be killed. What Briar was saying was true - she was being targeted by the school, but he was also being targeted.
"As of the days of old, ninjas work in the shadows. Many people on the outside of the darkness we shroud ourselves in don't even realize that there is an active ninja society functioning in their midst. However, as with all things, there is two sides to the society. The ninjas at Shinobi Academy wouldn't dare dream of hurting an innocent -"
Kisa interrupted Briar. "Who do we work for? Who commands us?" she asked, catching him off gurad for a moment.
His voice faltered mid-sentence and he stared at her silently. "The Japanese government empoyees most ninjas. Some are independent and others have allied themselves with terorists and work as assassions."
Kisa was quiet, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, she prompted him to start with a soft spoken question. "Who do we work for? When you graduate from Shiobi Academy, where do you work?" She keep her eyes on him, not blinking, just staring imploringly at him, waiting for an answer.
He looked away. "We work for the government, but specialize in assassionation," he said finally, he didn't sound pleased.
Kisa turned away from him, and he caught her wrist tightly. "You still need special training. In three weeks Commander Frost and his cell will move out on assignment. You're not supposed to know until the day before, but you have to be ready."
Kisa turned to look at him again. He his grip loosened. "I had no choice but to put you in his cell, but I'll be dammed if I let you get killed because of neglagince," Briar said tightly. "Don't make me order you to train with me. It would be easier if you were willing to - "
"Aa." Kisa said. She was staring at him strangely. In all reality, she was just feeling light headed from blood loss. She was experiencing shock from learning that someone wanted her dead. She was feeling bad about not having anyone at all to talk to. She was worried that her secrete would be discovered. She was worried that she'd be hugged or pass out from weakness and stress. All of that, and it was only her first day.
Briar seemed content with her answer. He showed her back to the training hall and started teaching her what her weapons were used for.
For the next three weeks, Kisa fell into a routine that was tiring and stressful. From 8 p.m. to 12 o'clock a.m., she slept in the top bunk in her room. The belled curtains were still hard to slip through wihtout sending them jingling, but with surprising help from Kenneth, she was able to get into the bed without waking everyone. Konimitsu, who was a light sleeper always woke up, but to combat that, she went to sleep before he did.
At 12 in the morning, when she had to wake up to begin the days training, she began training with Briar in a small dark hall. Until one o'clock, she practiced with the main weapon of a ninja, a sword. By the end of those lessons, her arms were sore, and she felt like she was going to transform, but one way or another she managed to get through the lessons somewhat intact. Although she did cut herself by accident more time then she came close to hitting Briar with the sword.
After sword practice, Briar put her into hand to hand combat. Initially, she had been freaked out about doing that type of traing; what if someone got too close? However, Juline ended up being her reluctant partner in the sparring matches, and the rest of the time she spent smashing her shins and fists into a sand filled bag hanging from the ceiling.
The highly competive Juline was constantly trying to seriously injury her. Kisa learned to be quick and avoid the majority of the attacks. She was focusing mainly on improving her defense. In a real fight with a man, she would have to make sure that her secret wasn't discovered. As a result, Juline always won their battles because she seldom threw any techniques unless she felt they could get through.
At three in the morning, a time when she wished she were asleep in bed at home, Briar started her on indurance training. Push-ups, sit-ups, and jogging were some of the the exercises that he put her through. Briar had tried to put her in a pool to do laps, but that was one thing that Kisa flat out refused to do. He had argued and argued, but she had stocically and silently refused him.
Then it was more. She worked with all of the other weapons for an hour. Then she did even more specialized hand to hand fighting. That was followed by more endurance traing, except the second time she had to wear fifteen pound weights on her ankles and wrists, not to mention the wieghted tank top that she wore under her black shirt.
By that time it was 6 a.m., the same time that she usually woke up at back home. After a quick breakfast, she was sent into a series of special classes that focused on the mental aspect of fighting.
She took classes in writing, staregy, mathematics, history, language, science, chemistry, medicine, and of course, disguise.
Some of the classes were what you would expect them to be. History, science, stratagey, disguise, medicine, and mathematics all prgressed like Kisa expected them to. However, in language and writing, she was taught different languages and expected to assimilate them as quickly as possible.
After all of that it was luch time. From three o'clock to four o'clock she helped prepare meals and then quickly ate. After that, in her free time, she went into the swamp and practiced more.
She had taken to wearing silver bells on her sleeves and belt. In the swamp, she would have the tigers hunt her and try and get away without making any noise. At the end of three weeks, the score was 845 to 1 in favor of the tigers. The number was disspointing, but Kisa noted that she had won once and that would have to be good enough.
During the three weeks, Ryu was very friendly to her. She decided to be friendly back, not making an visible enemy of him, but she wasn't friends with him either. She kept in mind not to find herself anywhere alone with him. It was made easier by the busy schedule that she kept for herself.
Once, he had followed her into the swamp. It had been the one time that Kisa had succefully hidden from the tigers. She had been really scared that time. He obviously had been planning on killing her.
As for the other members of her cell, Kenneth was as insulting as ever. He acted like he hated her, but Kisa was starting to get the impression that he was jealous, although she couldn't imagine what he would be jealous of. It made her feel more friendly to him, although she rarely bothered talking to anyone.
Frost, who apparently never spoke very much, always took a long time explaining things to her. He watched her training with Briar critically and was always offering adivce. Kisa had gotten the impression that he was very helpful until she spotted him completely ignoring several dozen people at once.
He projected a cold wave around himself, and in spite of seeming open and friendly, Kisa fianly realized that she knew nothing except his name, rating, and and year. He remained a mystery throughout her three week training period.
Then, on the last day, Briar summoned their cell. "You have a mission," he said calmly. He waited for a moment and handed a think manila envelope to Frost before leaving.
The three of them went into their briefing room. "So, what do we got?" Kenneth asked, rubbing his hands together. He looked excited about finally getting some action.
"Seek and destroy," Frost said softly and without emotion. "We leave tonight."
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Author's notes;
I had to make some time pass, and her describing her training let everyone know that she was learning. However, don't get me wrong. She's still a beginner, just working hard at getting better.
Oh, and I meant to include the reason why the training took place at night. It's because ninjas work best in darkness. If they trained during the day, it might throw them off. \_/
Thanks for reading, and please review,
Kissa-chan
