My back hit the mat for the fifth time in the past hour, and I released a groan. Roza moved to stand over me with an amused expression. She sent out a tendril to help me up but kept her hands firmly planted on her hips.
I stood and prepared myself for the next attack. She rolled her eyes and crouched lower. She raised her loosely fisted hands and beckoned me forward. My moment of hesitation caused her to smile, which caused me to be distracted, which caused her to attack first, which ended up with me on my back once again.
"What distracted you that time?" She asked shaking her head. I could feel her agitation growing, but it wasn't directly aimed toward me. Sure, she was frustrated that I couldn't concentrate, but she was also concerned about what this meant for us hunting as a team. If I couldn't focus long enough to kill or interrogate Strigoi, I was of no use to her in the field.
"It was your smile," I answered rubbing the back of my neck. The first two times it had been the sway of her hips when she moved, the next was the way her hair swayed, then it was how she pulled her sword out of her back scabbard.
"Is there anything I do that isn't distracting to you?" She asked throwing her hands up in defeat and walking to the other side of the mat to start again.
"No," I responded with a firm shake of the head. "Are you saying that you never get distracted by me?"
"I do, but you usually get distracted first." She laughed. "Believe it or not, but my focus is better than yours. You just need to learn to not be distracted."
"There's no way I'm going to be able to fight you without getting distracted." I sighed.
"Maybe we're doing this wrong." She mumbled looking toward the extremely entertained Guardians on the sidelines. The smiles they wore slowly faded into worried expressions as Roza's face grew more mischievous. "You'll never be fighting me, so you don't need to practice that way."
"What do you mean, Roza?" I asked getting a little worried on the Guardians' behalf.
"Think about it, Comrade. There's no situation, other than practice, that we'll be fighting each other. In any real situation, you'll be fighting alongside me, protecting me. We need to practice the way we fight, right? So, we either run the simulations or have these three attack us." Roza said with a large smile.
"I think we'd all prefer it if you ran through the simulations and didn't use us as punching bags," Christopher said looking toward the other Guardians for solidarity, and he found it.
"Won't I still be distracted by you either way?" I asked allowing my eyes to trace her every feature and ignoring Christopher's comment.
"Probably, but you'll be less distracted because you'll be focused on protecting me. I know you'll never let anything bad happen to me, so you won't allow yourself to be distracted by me because you'll be focused on keeping me safe." She responded with her still radiant smile. "If it helps, I'll stand on the sidelines until you feel comfortable enough not to get distracted. Or I'll not fight and feign unconsciousness instead."
"I'd rather you feign unconsciousness if you don't mind. There'd never be a situation where I wasn't directly beside you if there were Strigoi around." I responded, looking up at the devices that would deliver the projections.
"This will also get us both used to the feeling of Strigoi when fighting," Roza said sheathing both of her swords and sitting on the ground behind me. "Do you want me to just sit here or would you rather I play the part?"
"I'd like you to play the part but keep your eyes open. I want feedback on my performance." I said sheathing my own swords with a smile.
Roza had picked for me blades that matched her own, though mine were a little heavier due to their adjusted length. When Christopher complained about not being able to have a hip scabbard Roza explained that my duster would conceal it so unless he also wanted to wear a duster he'd have to be satisfied with a back scabbard.
"I'm always happy to give you feedback on your performance," Roza said with a wink.
"Name a difficulty level, dude," Jasper said from his place at the control station. While none of the ten levels were exactly easy, the harder levels had you deal with more Strigoi for longer while the easier levels gave out one or two Strigoi at a time for about five minutes.
"Let's start at level five. If it's too difficult we'll go down a level, if it isn't difficult enough, we'll work our way up to ten." I said rolling my shoulders back and focusing my mind.
I looked behind me at Roza lying on the ground. Her eyes were open wide, staring at me unblinkingly, almost like she was dead. I had a split moment of panic as my dream rushed back to me, but Roza's look of concern brought me back to the present moment.
I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile and waited for Jasper to start the simulation.
The sudden nauseous feeling caused me to double over in pain as the first four Strigoi appeared on the edges of the simulation ring. They all appeared to be previous Dhampir and, from the way they were standing, Guardian trained. Two of them leaned out slightly to look around me, I could only assume they were looking at Roza.
The smile that crept across their faces told me my answer, and suddenly I didn't feel pain anymore. I couldn't afford to feel pain. Roza needed me to protect her.
I poised my left hand behind my head, ready to unsheathe the Khopesh when needed, and used my right hand to draw my scimitar. The scraping of metal caught their attention and turned their focus on me instead. The hungry look in their eyes was replaced with amusement which only served to fuel my anger.
I felt the tendrils of Light seeped out of me, and it caused a brief moment of hesitation on the Strigoi's part. I couldn't go to them, they had to come to me. If I moved from my position over Roza, she would be left vulnerable, and I couldn't have that.
Two of the Strigoi started in on me, but they were cautious. They eyed my swords wearily, but they didn't deter them from attacking. One was approaching me from either side though my Light kept them at bay long enough to pull my Khopesh.
I blocked the arm of one Strigoi with the flat side of my scimitar while bringing my Khopesh down on the back on his neck. The pain in my stomach lessened slightly as the severed head rolled away and disappeared.
The momentary distraction allowed the other Strigoi to get closer to Roza. My rage built as the pale figure moved to stand over Roza. For her part, Roza stayed laying there motionless, wide-eyed, as the Strigoi bent down to her.
She trusted me to protect her, and I would. I will.
Before the undead creature could lay a finger on my Roza, I leapt over them both, hooking my Khopesh into the creature's ribcage. Using my momentum, I flung the creature into the two that had yet to join the fight and landed softly in front of Roza.
I turned my head slightly to see that she was okay and from the wink she gave me, she was perfectly fine. I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I turned back to the three Strigoi that were righting themselves.
All three charged me at once. My scimitar wove through the air, severing the dominant hand of each Strigoi as they all slung a fist at me. There were hisses and a scream of protest that gave me enough time to behead all three in rapid succession.
Before the pain fully subsided from my stomach, five more Strigoi appeared, renewing the knots in my stomach once again as the bodies of the other three dissipated. These new Strigoi seemed younger than the first which showed when they kept their eyes on Roza instead of me. Her body was in between me and my targets, but their focus was on her.
I could see the hunger and lust clearly in their eyes which only served to fuel my protective nature. My Light burst out of me as I abandoned my training and leapt toward the five Strigoi. I barely heard the thud of their heads as they hit the floor before I was checking to make sure that Roza was alright.
My eyes feel on Roza and the most luring sight any man could ever ask for.
Roza was sitting up, her hair twirling in an unseen wind. Her Darkness was flowing out of her, and it spread across the floor reaching toward me. Her eyes were dark with lust and her voice was calling out to me.
"That was hot, Comrade." She purred as I crawled my way back to her. My desire for her burned brighter than my Light. It was almost enough to miss the feeling of more Strigoi, but her dark look, that wasn't lust, was enough for me to send out my Light to the surrounding Strigoi, piercing them wherever I could.
I didn't know if it would kill them or not, but I needed to try. I could still feel them struggling when Roza's expression turned annoyed. She turned her eyes toward the nearest Strigoi and sent out her Darkness.
Her black tentacle spiraled down mine and sank into the Strigoi that waited rather impatiently on the other end of it. This particular Strigoi let out a scream that would put any soprano to shame.
My eyes widened as I saw the undead life drain from his eyes. Our tangled tentacles retreated back into us but not before drawing us nearer to each other. The simulation halted suddenly and the remaining Strigoi froze in place.
I pulled Roza closer to me, placing my hands on the small of her back.
"Should we let you guys have the room or do you want to head upstairs instead?" Kyle said from his place by Jasper at the control console.
"I think we need to finish the simulation, together," Roza said looking me dead in the eyes. Her hair was still twirling in the unknown wind, but her eyes had calmed.
"Are you sure?" Jasper asked hesitantly.
"We're sure," I replied for the both of us. I rose to my feet first before bringing Roza up with me.
"Do we even need swords right now?" She asked smirking. Her Darkness swirled up to tangle itself in my hair. She used it to pull the strands out of my face while using her hands to gently caress my cheek. The Darkness suddenly left my hair, tugging gently as it went, and was sent out to the remaining Strigoi. Roza's hands fell to a clasped position around the back of my neck.
She looked up at me expectantly. I'm sure if she could raise an eyebrow she would. I granted her wish and smirked when my Light caused a shiver to run through her. Before Jasper and Kyle had the chance to start the simulation again, my Light caused the Strigoi's frozen bodies to dissipate completely.
"Alright…well…I think you two need a harder level." Christopher said finally breaking the silence the three Guardians had fallen into. Unfortunately, his voice also broke the heated gaze Roza and I had been trapped in.
"I think that we need to learn how to fight together," I said pulling Roza closer to me.
"I think we know how to fight together perfectly." She laughed throwing her head back, exposing her throat to me. I couldn't restrain myself for long before I had to satisfy my lips' need to be on her skin.
"I know we know how to fight together, Roza, we definitely know how to kill together, but what about the interrogations? We can hold them if only one of us touches them, but for how long and how many?" I said still tracing my lips across her neck.
"Kyle, is there a way to specify how old and how many Strigoi appear in the simulation?" Roza asked submitting herself to my kisses.
"I can definitely do the specific number of Strigoi, but the Alchemists don't have a very comprehensive file of well-aged Strigoi. Most of the Strigoi that Alchemists ever gain access to are young and less intelligent. There aren't any simulated ancients." Kyle replied looking through all the settings.
"Is it possible to add more Strigoi into the simulation as needed?" I asked finally tearing my lips away from Roza.
"Absolutely," Kyle said with a smile.
"Well then, let's start with six and we'll go from there," I said looking over to Jasper with a nod. "Do you want to go first or would you rather it me?"
"I wanna try first," Roza said with a large smile. She pulled back from me but stayed within my arms.
Her hands were placed on my chest, the nails that dug into my chest held me upright as the twisting pain in my stomach returned.
"I had no idea that your pain was this bad when Strigoi were around." I ground out through my clenched teeth.
"It's not too back. You'll get used to it." She said with a pained smile on her face. Her eyes then focused as she sent out her Darkness.
The thin tendrils penetrated the Strigoi bodies with ease and held them in place at the edges of the simulation ring. She focused her eyes on my sternum and the timer to know how long she could keep the Strigoi in place began.
I tried not to distract her, but we had an ability to distract the other even without trying. She made it ten minutes before she eyes became more focused on my chest and less on keeping the Strigoi in place. Her hands started to move across my skin in a mesmerized manner, and the Strigoi, sensing her distraction, started struggling harder on the tendrils.
"Alright, Roza. I think it's my turn." I chuckled trying to keep her from completely distracting me. "Release them and I'll take over."
Roza released what sounded like a grateful sigh and pulled her Darkness back into herself. As soon as the Darkness retracted from their bodies, the Strigoi started their charge toward us, but I halted them with my Light.
I could have sworn that I saw a couple of them roll their eyes as their struggle to escape me began. I decided to close my eye to elude the distracting nature of Roza. Sadly, well, not really, she kept her hands on my chest and was content with continuing running her hands over my bare chest.
Desperate to beat Roza's time of ten minutes, I gripped her wrists to still her hands.
"Sorry." She mumbled not sounding the least bit sorry but consented to me holding her hands still. I could feel Roza's impatience growing as more time went by. Her sigh signaled the ten-minute mark, and her forehead hit my chest.
I chuckled and waited a few more minutes before releasing to from my Light. I spun Roza around, doing the same myself, and we prepared to fight back-to-back. Even though we were battling six different Strigoi, we still managed to move as one. We knew we wanted to fight without killing so we kept our tendrils to ourselves.
One Strigoi managed to rake its claw across my forearm, but instead of me grunting in pain, Roza cried out. I quickly pushed the Strigoi around us away with my Light and turned to attend to my Roza.
She was clutching her arm, the blood peaking around her hand. The scrap was in the exact place my Strigoi had clawed at me.
"What happened, Roza?" I asked quickly pushing the Strigoi even further from us.
"I don't know. I didn't think that any of them touched me." She said peeling her hand away from her arm. The cuts were slowly sealing themselves shut and her pain was subsiding.
"Maybe not you, but one of mine got a pretty good hit in on my forearm," I said inspecting both her arm and mine. Her arm was healed, the blood surrounding her previous wound being the only evidence that she'd gotten hurt. My arm didn't have any evidence of being scratched at all. I expected my arm to have a gash, as hers did, and the blood that would have accompanied it, but nothing was there.
"Then why don't you have anything to show for it?" She asked confused, taking my arm in her hands to expect it for herself.
"I don't know, but you seemed to have been on the receiving end of my mistake." I chuckled looking toward the Strigoi that had unfortunately gotten a hit on me.
"When one gets hurt, the other gets hurt." She mumbled while sending out her Darkness to the still halted Strigoi. As soon as the Strigoi had dissipated, and the pain along with them, I pulled Roza to her feet and toward the nearest bathroom.
I grabbed a washcloth and began wiping the blood from her arm.
"Are you okay?" I asked, wringing out the washcloth.
"I'm fine, Comrade. We just have to be careful. When one of us gets hurt, the other gets hurt. We share our emotions and our soul, we must share our pain as well."
"And your wound healing?" I asked raising a brow.
"That's happened before. I think it's a side effect of the Darkness. I don't know if you'll have the same benefit with the Light, but my wounds heal quickly, leaving only the blood as evidence." Roza replied.
"So, you get the benefits of Spirit without driving yourself mad in the process."
"Pretty much." She said with a shrug. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling good, a little tired, but I think that's more because of exhaustion," I replied.
"Do you need food, water?" She asked before looking up at me through her eyelashes. "Sex?"
"A definite yes to the first two, but I'll have to think about the third," I said mock seriously.
"I suppose I'll just have to get someone else to satisfy my need then." She said turning to exit the bathroom. I quickly turned her back around to pushed her up against the nearest wall.
"You wouldn't dare," I growled into her ear.
"I don't know, Comrade. How else am I going to fuel my magic?" She said with a challenging stare.
"Fuel your magic?" I asked.
"Yeah. Moroi feed on blood to give them strength. I feed on emotions, most of them being strong and passionate like anger and sadness. I'm sure that your magic is fueled by something, too, but I don't know what it is. We'll need to figure that out so you can refuel when you get too tired."
"How do you feed?"
"You've felt me feed. I pull the mostly negative emotions from you. I've only ever done it with negative emotions. I haven't tried to feed off of positive emotions, but that doesn't feel right to me." She said tangling her fingers in my hair.
"I don't think I'll be one to feed off of negative emotions," I said pulling her away from the wall and walking her backward out of the bathroom and back into the gym.
Kyle, Jasper, and Christopher were bent over the control console fiddling with the settings. I heard more Guardians coming down the stairs, but they paused when they saw Roza and me near the entrance.
Roza released a sigh and beckoned them inside the gym. They hesitantly stepped forward, Pavel was the last inside and smiled at us in amusement.
"I don't know who they're more afraid of, Dimitri or you, Rose," Pavel said with a chuckle.
"After the display upstairs, I'm thinking that they're more scared of Dimitri," Roza said trying to hold her laughter back.
"No doubt. Do you guys need help with anything down here or could you possibly provide feedback on the men's performance? I want to run them through the simulations, but I won't be able to catch everything." Pavel said gesturing to the group of Guardians stretching and warming up around the gym.
Kyle, Jasper, and Christopher were still fiddling with the control console, too engrossed to really notice what was going on.
"I'm fine with watching as long as I get some food first," Roza said before looking up at me for confirmation.
"Yeah, as long as I get this one fed we'll be perfectly fine," I said sagely, earning a light slap from Roza. She huffed before starting up the stairs.
"She looks happy, Belikov," Pavel said with a smile on his face, looking up the stairs after Roza. "As long as she stays that way."
"I can honestly say that if she's not happy, I won't be happy," I said before following Roza up to the kitchen. She was rifling through the fridge with a bao in her mouth. "You need protein."
"I know." She sighed pulling out a package of bacon. "I found some!"
"That's more fat than protein…" I mumbled but let her continue.
If she was happy, I was happy.