Disclaimer: you know how it goes...
Sorry to everyone that I'm really slow with updating, but I like thinking everything out...and I can't type well...
To Cynical Chaos: thanks for the vote of confidence, that really motivates me to do the thing I hate most...typing!
To cryearthstearsfalltou: maybe, but there is a sequel planned (2 actually!) but I don't if I can get round to writing them, with the Love Hina fic that I've already started...
Chapter 7: Fights Abound...Tess woke up the following morning to find the bed next to her empty, although it wasn't her bed. She smiled at the memory of last night, she had finally managed to gather the courage to be with Jerikor, and she wasn't regretting the decision now. She sighed as she turned over to get some more sleep.
"That's enough sleeping, you have to start in a couple of hours," a familiar voice said.
"Come on, it's not like we got that much sleep last night," Tess could almost feel Jerikor's blush, "Just another half-hour..." she mumbled.
"No chance." With a sudden pull, Jerikor yanked the bed sheets off Tess, revealing her naked form.
She blushed and then started towards Jerikor, a predatory gleam in her eyes, "Well since we have to wait..."
Several hours later, Tess was nervously waiting in a room near the arena. Her first opponent was a member of the Japanese yakuza named Chiroshi. She had no idea what to expect. She nervously went through some forms to calm and focus her mind. She would be all right, Jerikor had trained her well, and she would defeat her opponent or become a slave to that Salvatore; a fate she was understandably not to keen on living. Whilst she was calming herself with the familiarity of her forms, Jerikor made a worrying discovery. He burst into the room where Tess was waiting.
"Bad news, apparently weapons are allowed," Jerikor said grimly.
"What? But I don't have my Katar here, I left them at the Iscariot compound."
"I know." He said, a frown appearing on his face. He was silent for several minutes as Tess circled the room, cursing the entire time. "Got it!" Jerikor exclaimed, before rummaging around his pockets for something.
Tess looked on curiously as numerous objects fell out of her lover's jacket, mp3 player, mobile phone, and other technological gadgets. "I didn't know you were into all that stuff." She said indicating the pile of electrical goods.
"Ah yes, here they are," he said, pulling out a pair heavy fingerless gloves.
"What are they?" Tess asked curious.
"Here put them on," Jerikor said, handing them to Tess who immediately noticed their weight. She pulled on the gloves, which came up to her elbows; she immediately felt the cold metal touching her skin and shivered at the contact.
"Metal gauntlets?" She asked incredulously.
"Yes, and not just any metal. You notice how light it is? That's reinforced titanium, it could stop a bullet," Jerikor said proudly. "They're yours from now on, just in case something happens to me."
"What could possibly happen to you?" Tess asked, giving him a peck on the cheek. Jerikor just smiled sadly. Tess ran out of the room, filled with new confidence, Jerikor trailed along behind. He took his seat after the introductions and took notice of Tess' opponent. She wasn't too tall, but taller and more solidly built than Tess. She carried a Katana, a curved Japanese blade famed for its sharpness. Jerikor merely smirked, the gloves that he had given Tess, had held against the best blades in history, they would not fail her. Jerikor forced his attention to Chiroshi's footwork; a fighter could tell a lot about a fighter from their footwork. Chiroshi was in a traditional kendo stance, her feet not wide apart and her right foot forward. The stance was perfect, at least in a sword fight; only time would tell if it could deal with the lightning fast strikes and footwork of Tess' kung fu. The arms that held the sword were steady, and Chiroshi's eyes were steely, the eyes of a killer born and a killer raised. Jerikor could see that Chiroshi would have no qualms about killing Tess, and in fact Jerikor sensed a barely contained battle-lust, lurking behind the restrained stance. It was obvious that this woman would enjoy the prospect of killing Tess. Finally Jerikor noticed a slight smirk playing around the corners of Chiroshi's mouth, 'she thought Tess was unarmed', Jerikor realised, barely containing his own smirk.... it will defiantly be a surprise for Chiroshi.
Whilst all these thoughts were going through Jerikor's head, Tess was thinking almost the same thing; great minds think alike, and now that Tess had calmed down, she was aware of everything.
'Good luck!' Tess heard Ehlissa's voice in her head before she slipped into a dream-like stance that she normally had when she fought. Salvatore (there was no referee) hit the bell and the match started. Tess watched calmly as her opponent let out a deafening battle scream and launched herself towards Tess in a reckless attack, her blade over her head. Moving like quicksilver Tess darted forward and sideways, launching a round kick into Chiroshi's stomach, and forcing the kendo fighter to quit her attack to avoid Tess' kick. Tess didn't let up however, and quickly followed up with a series of quick punches and short kicks that left the kendo fighter open and battered from the flurry.
Chiroshi's eyes widened at the speed of her opponent. She was almost too fast to follow and Chiroshi could barely protect herself...she needed to attack and soon, she knew that a single strike would be all she needed to gain victory, and that one strike would kill this upstart. Chiroshi took a step back and a deep breath, letting out another battle cry whilst her opponent waited calmly for her next move.
Tess watched as Chiroshi took a step back to regain her breath and let out another battle scream. 'That was getting irritating', Tess thought as she herself took a deep breath. Things were looking good. Her opponent was clearly not fast enough to react to Tess, and although she had managed to avoid any heavy blows, Tess knew that she wouldn't hold out for much longer. She must end this quickly; she remembered another lesson of Jerikor's...
"In a real fight, you must take down your opponent in a single strike, for against good opponents, one strike is all you'll get" he had said. Remembering her Sifu's words, Tess focussed her mind and got ready for the next attack.
Chiroshi launched her self forward again, although not nearly so recklessly and unleashed a barrage of strikes aiming for Tess' head, Tess' eyes widened at her opponents new burst of speed, and barely managed to dodge all her attacks. The last attack was a feint and as Tess avoided the blade, she felt the blade bite into her stomach. Tess quickly leaped back and gasped as she saw blood pouring from a large wound in her stomach. 'Great another scar' crossed Tess' mind as she saw the triumph in her opponents eyes. Holding one hand to her stomach to lessen the blood flow, Tess straightened, waiting for the next attack. It came quickly as Chiroshi attempted to decapitate Tess in a single horizontal strike. Tess calmly raised her arm and trusted that the metal gauntlets would hold. Sparks flew as the metal clashed and Chiroshi's eyes widened as she saw her sword glance off her opponents arm. Tess reached down and grabbed Chiroshi's arm and twisted it savagely, forcing her opponent to drop her sword, and then still holding her opponent's arm performed a mighty roundhouse kick that launched Chiroshi out of the arena and against a wall. Tess gasped as the pain hit her, and promptly fainted in the middle of the ring.
Tess woke up several hours later, in the darkened room that she and Jerikor were sharing. She groaned as she felt the stabbing pain in her side and slowly moved around to get more comfortable.
"Ah, so you're finally awake." Jerikor said from her bedside.
"How long have I been out?"
"About 5 hours, you gave me a scare there, although Salvatore's doctors are quite good," he told her.
'You won't be able to fight tomorrow with that wound,' Tess heard Ehlissa's voice in her head. Jerikor suddenly looked at her piercingly, he sensed something else was with Tess, something he couldn't quite pin point, almost another presence. 'However, I know a way that you can heal that wound in an instant!' Ehlissa said enthusiastically.
'I can't use magick here! Salvatore will find out!' Tess told Ehlissa quickly.
'No worries, ask Jerikor if he can cut the cameras like he did last night.'
'He cut the cameras?' Tess asked.
'Yes, he didn't want you two to be watched during your...coupling.'
'And I suppose you enjoyed that,' Tess said darkly.
'Why yes, as a matter of fact I did, especially when you two...'
"Shut up!" Tess said aloud, before gasping when she realised she had said it aloud. She heard Ehlissa's laughter echoing in her head and darkly vowed to get her back.
"You alright?" Jerikor asked, still watching her sharply.
"Uhm, do you know a way to cut the cameras?" she asked nervously.
He looked startled, then nodded. "I do."
"Then could you cut them now?"
He looked at her once more before nodding, and slightly frowning. "There it's done. Now tell me why."
She quickly got up and stripped, then took the wrapping off her wound. She winced at the sight of the cut; it was large and had almost severed a couple of important organs. Concentrating, she quietly muttered under her breath, "Baraz Untar." Slowly before her eyes, the healing process accelerated, and the wound was closed in moments. She replaced the wrapping and re-dressed; drained by the effort.
"Wake me up when I'm needed, Jerikor." She said sleepily before drifting off into a contended sleep.
The next day, Tess was back in the ring, feeling wonderfully healed and ready to fight. She was wearing her metal gloves and watching her opponent closely to try and gain as much information as possible before the fight. Her opponent was Korean called Kie and was a top-notch killer for a large Triad group. She was average height, about 5 and a half-foot and had a slight build. She seemed to be unarmed, but then again, so did Tess.
The fight began moments later, Tess still having no real idea of how Kie fought and how she could go about beating her. Kie stood calmly, obviously waiting for Tess to make the first move. Deciding to start, Tess slowly moved forward, her arms raised and ready for any blow. When Kie still did not react, Tess decided to go for it, and sprang forward quickly, her arm extended in front of her, aiming for Kie's head. One blow was all she needed. Tess sensed rather than saw Kie's counter attack, a kick that would hit her before she could hit Kie. Aborting the attack, Tess quickly rolled out of the path of the kick and regained her feet. Kie was fast! A completely different class of fighter than Chiroshi, Tess realised. Kie was still standing, waiting for Tess to attack. Deciding to try again, Tess repeated her attack, but this time, she led with a kick. Kie smirked at her opponent's bravado, and punished her for it, catching the foot in a hand, and launching her own kick that smashed Tess into the ground. Kie gave Tess time to get to her feet, before launching her own attack, a series of rapid kicks that left Tess dazed and battered. Tess knew that she couldn't win at this range, her opponent clearly had a reach advantage, and her kicks were too fast to block properly. Clearing her mind, Tess raised her guard and closed in on Kie. Kie's rapid kicks mainly rebounded off the solid guard that Tess was using, and Tess rapidly closed the range, before unleashing her own offensive. Tess unleashed a rapid combo of punches that Kie was hard-pressed to block. Tess kept on closing the distance until she was in grappling range, where she grabbed a handful of Kie's shirt and brought her down to the ground. Surprised by the throw, Kie was unable to squirm out of Tess' iron grip, and slammed into the ground with vicious force. Still holding onto Kie, Tess twisted quickly, and launched the small Korean again, slamming her into the ground again, before a final throw launched the Korean out of the ring, and out of the fight.
Thunderous applause wrapped around Tess, and she saw Salvatore looking disappointed which cheered her up to no end. Then, sensing someone staring at her she spun quickly, scanning the crowd. Her eyes locked onto the eyes of another girl. She was around the same age as Tess; her long black hair framed a smooth oval face with brown eyes. There was a hint of arrogance in the face, and a smirk hovered around her mouth. She was dressed in a long elaborate black dress, which was laced with white and gold. Tess immediately recognised Salvatore's features in this girl's face. The girl gave a nod, and then indicated with her eyes one of the antechambers that surrounded the arena, before vanishing into the crowd. Tess quickly left the hall, and made for the room.
Tess entered the room moments later, and sensed the girl's presence in the shadows.
"You can come out," Tess said, pointedly staring into the shadows. Without a sound the girl came out of the shadows and stood before Tess, her arms held behind her back.
"Who are you?" Tess asked bluntly.
"I am Rebecca Salvatore, granddaughter of Don Salvatore," the girl said quietly. "And you don't need to introduce yourself, Tessera Ardroimas, formerly of the Iscariots."
Tess' eyes glinted dangerously as she flexed her hands, "How do you know?"
"I have many sources of information. The old fool leaves me far too much freedom."
"What do you want with me?"
"I want a barter," Rebecca said simply.
"Barter?" Tess asked.
'Careful,' Tess heard Ehlissa's voice in her head, 'This one is sharp.'
"Yes, I have information you need, and I require your services."
"Explain."
"My grandfather plans to have you and your master killed tomorrow night, because he knows that you will win the tournament, and he has a large amount of money staked on another contestant. Sally Beth Roe."
"That's hardly worth knowing. You may know who I am, but I doubt all of Salvatore's men put together could defeat my Sifu."
Rebecca shrugged, "I am also to be your next opponent, but I know you will defeat me, and I would rather remain in good health. I will also bow out, meaning that the final will take place tomorrow, which foils my grandfather's plans."
"Okay, so far you've skipped around what you want me to do."
"I want you and your master to kill the old fool," Rebecca said calmly, although anger glinted in her eyes.
"Uhm, I don't know if you know why me and my Sifu left the Iscariots, but I can assure you that the parting was far from friendly. We came here for sanctuary. If we kill Salvatore, not only will the Iscariots be hunting us, but also the Cosa Nostra. No thank you."
Tess was about to turn when she heard Jerikor's voice in her head. 'Not so hasty, Tess, actually this is the reason I came to Corsica. We will kill Salvatore for Rebecca. No arguments.' Tess moaned in dismay.
"What's wrong?" Rebecca asked.
"You've got yourself a deal." Tess said, before leaving the room.
That night, Jerikor took Tess into one of the many rooms in the mansion. The room was filled with doors, all locked, and Jerikor went about teaching Tess how to pick locks. Thankfully, her manual dexterity made the task easily, and after a few hours of training, she could open all the locks in the room.
"Excellent, Tess. That was much faster than I had hoped." Jerikor praised her.
"Thanks, Sifu, but why am I actually learning this now?" she asked, twirling a lock pick around her fingers.
"Picking locks is a useful skill, you never know when you might need it," he said evasively.
"You're keeping secrets again," she said accusingly.
"Of course, that's my nature," he said, "It's time you got to bed, to hear things, tomorrow will be a big day."
Well, that was the second last chapter (if everything goes to plan). I don't actually like this chapter too much, and will probably re-work it later. Or maybe not. Things are very hectic now, with school starting again, so I don't know how much time I will have for my writing. But don't worry; I intend to finish this story!
Please read and review!