Chapter Fourteen - Bad Moon Rising
Monday through Friday of the following week consisted of a lot of training, for all the Dhampir's at St Basil's. Three times a year the Dhampir's had a series of combat exams which would grade their skill level through what was called 'Moon Patterns'. There was four gradings at Novice standard - White Moon, Blue Moon, Red Moon, and Black Moon - and within each of those grades was a further four levels - One-Quarter Moon, Half Moon, New Moon, and Full Moon. Once a Dhampir graduated and had reached a Full Black Moon, then they could go forward for Blast Master and Blood Master levels, though very few got as far as Blood Master.
Typically schools held them once after returning to school in September, once in the middle of the year around February time, and once before most left for the summer in June. I had been fortunate enough to skip two years worth of them due to my runaway mission with Lissa, though they had forced me to take a series upon my return in the October.
"At the beginning of my sophomore year I was a New Blue Moon. It was incredible for a fifteen year old Novice, and was easily the highest scorer in my class." I was telling Dimitri and Viktoria on Friday night while we sat at the kitchen table. "But then I fled with Lissa, and I missed two years of training. Believe it or not, there's not a lot of places to practice killing Strigoi in Portland." I laughed, looking down at my hands.
"What are you now?" Viktoria asked curiously, and I looked up with my lips pressed into a tight line. I glanced over at Dimitri, whom already knew my current grade. He had been one of the Guardians to mark my exams when I took them in October.
"Still a New Blue Moon." I explained, slightly embarrassed. "And borderline at that. The Guardian's felt bad for me so they tried to be nice to me and score me as high as possible, but even then it was embarrassing. Everybody else was at least at a Red Moon, and the top few were borderlining the Black Moon level. It saw me at the bottom of the class in terms of grading."
"But, you've put in all the extra hours of training, Malýshka, and there is no way that you're still on a Blue Moon level." Dimitri said comfortingly to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me to lean into his side. "Tomorrow you're going to destroy the exams. I would easily grade you at a Black Moon, and I wouldn't be surprised if you got the highest in the senior class."
"Okay, I'm all for boasting and being the best in the class, but have you seen some of the skills these Russians have?" I looked at him in disbelief, gesturing my hand to Viktoria pointedly. "Some of the moves they're pulling on me in class I've never even seen in my life. How am I supposed to beat that?"
Viktoria and Dimitri simultaneously rolled their eyes at me, and in that moment I could see exactly how alike they were as brother and sister. "Oh, come on, Rose." Viktoria gave me an 'are you serious?' look. "A couple of advanced moves is nothing on the talent you have. You're fast, you've got tactics, you've got real life experience! The rest of us have nothing on you."
I gave her a look if disbelief as I gathered up the plates in front of us, turning to place them into the sink and begin washing up. I felt Dimitri stir from behind me, shifting from his own seat to lean against the counter to my right. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he folded his arms, looking down at me with a pointed look. "She's right, Roza. I've trained you so that you've got more practical skills that could be used in the outside world, while most of these students have been taught the generic Novice rules."
"So you're that cocky of your own skills as a mentor, you think that I'm gonna get the highest score?" I arched an eyebrow at him with a small smirk as I turned the tap off, leaning across him to grab the dish towel to dry my hands. He chuckled at the way I phrased it before nodding with a slight shrug.
"I'm confident, not cocky, Malýshka. I know my skills as a mentor and I know your skills as a Novice. Trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about." I looked up at him still with disbelief, but he returned the look with an equally as confident one.
Eventually I sighed in defeat, walking past him in a strop to go sit down on the sofa in the living room. He smiled in victory as he came and joined me, Viktoria spinning around on her stool so that she was facing us again.
"What level are you, anyway, Vik?" I looked up to her with a curious tilt of my head. I could see Dimitri looking at his little sister expectantly, too, and I wondered if he even knew what grade she was since he'd been gone from Russia for so long.
"I'm a New Red Moon." She smiled with confidence, though without arrogance - I now realised the difference. I felt my face light up with proudness for her, knowing that was above average for a senior Dhampir.
"That's really good, Vik! No doubt you'll get even higher after this round of exams."
"Oh, please," she waved dismissively as she moved to sit on the floor opposite where we sat, crossing her legs comfortably. "Russian God over here graduated with much higher."
"Oh?" I turned to face Dimitri with a questioning expression. "Is that so, Comrade?"
He opened his mouth and, judging by the look on his face, he was about to be modest and shoot down his own achievements. Viktoria must have seen that as well, because she answered for him.
"He was a Quarter Black Moon by the time he went into his senior year." She smirked triumphantly at her brother, who was shooting her daggers. Viktoria stuck her tongue out childishly at him as an act of defiance, before laughing as he rolled his eyes. "He graduated with a Full Black Moon, and 100% on his final combat grades - the best score St Basil's has ever seen. By twenty he was already a Blast Master 7, and by twenty-three he was a Blood Master 7."
I was shocked. Truly, I was, though a part of me wasn't sure why. I already knew that Dimitri was one of the most formidable and talented Guardians of this century - his grading of a Blood Master 7 at twenty-three alone was enough to support that. But a Full Black Moon at graduation was unheard of, as was a Blast Master 7 by twenty. All in all, he was a one of a kind in the Guardian community, with all the battle stories and metaphorical medals to prove it.
"Maybe I shouldn't be so worried about grading." I laughed, wrapping my arm around Dimitri's neck and pulling myself so my legs rested across his lap. "Looks like I've got quite literally the most talented Guardian to of ever lived on my side."
I could tell he wanted to debate that fact, but I swiftly pressed my index finger to his lips to silent him. "Shh! Let me be proud of my Comrade."
It was nearing on five thirty in the afternoon and to say I was getting nervous was beyond an understatement.
I was stood in a lobby-like room alongside seven other seniors, though most of them were sat at red chairs as they psyched themselves out for their final exam ahead. I, however, was pacing up and down nervously while shaking my hands out at my sides, inhaling and exhaling deep breaths. I had dressed in my favourite set of work out clothes - skintight black pants with galaxy decorations surrounding the ankle, and an equally as tight sports bra with a thin black hoodie over the top - in hopes that it would make me feel more confident. And it had, at first, but as soon as I walked into the room that confidence had subsided and the nerves set in.
The morning had been consisted of the Novice fights, which were the first set of tests in the grading. We had been put with people who had been of the same or similar Moon Pattern and had sparred with them. Being put with a sophomore had been an embarrassing sight, to say the least, and I saw both the surprised and the amused expressions from my peers in the senior class as pairs had been read out.
Thankfully, though, Dimitri had been right in saying that my skills had improved since October. The fight had lasted all of fifty seconds and I had taken him down easily, the sophomore not managing to make a single blow on me. He had been good on the defense, but not so much on the offense. Still, he had two years to improve those skills, I suppose.
Now we were just waiting to be called into our final exam in which we would be required to spar again, though this time against a Blast or Blood Master Guardian. Freshman's had gone first, then sophomore's, and so on until the senior's. We were called in groups of four alphabetically, each student being put in a different training room with a different Guardian.
Viktoria had already been called in almost an hour ago, being at the very start of the alphabet since she was a Belikov. Unfortunately, since we were in Russia, the translation of my surname meant I was placed near the end of their alphabet - Хзтзузй. Twenty-nine letters, and I was number twenty-two.
I was just about to do what probably would have been my 1000th pace when a Guardian I didn't recognised emerged from one of the doors on the far side of the room. I, along with the other seven novices, looked up expectantly. "Novices Umsky, Fomin, Khigir, and Hathaway!" He announced in Russian, though the only word I recognised was my surname.
In a flash, the other three Novices - all male - had gotten to their feet and was walking to their respective doors. I was slower, but eventually made it to the one marked 'Training Room C'. I took in a deep breath as I placed my hand on the door handle, pushing it open with one final wish.
The room was completely empty, save for a couple of Guardians on the far end of the room. I looked around to see some apparatus on one side of the walls, and a series of high skyline windows on the other. As I walked nearer to where some of the Guardians were conversing, I narrowed my eyes at the back of one eerily familiar head.
"Comrade?" I said with complete shock, though somehow a part of me still remembered to be formal in the presence of others.
Sure enough, upon turning around, I could clearly see it was him. He nodded formally to me, though the most minute smile appeared at the corner of his lips. "Good afternoon, Novice Hathaway. Are you ready for your examination?"
I looked at him warily as the other three Guardians beside him stepped away to the side of the room with the windows on it, and I noticed that they were all wearing formal Guardian uniforms save for Dimitri. Instead, he was dressed in some compression pants with a pair of black shorts on over the top, and a grey hoodie covering his upper body. Clearly, he was not my moderator.
I nodded at his question, shrugging my own jacket off and tossing it to the side as he began to speak. "Today your final examination will be a full-out sparring session with myself. Guardians Ascher, Vela, and Brunel will be taking notes on the fight, marking and grading you on how well you do. If neither of us manage to pin each other, the fight will cease at fifteen minutes. Do you have any questions?"
I pressed my lips into a tight line to stop myself from smiling, simply just shaking my head. The thrill of fighting Dimitri for my final exam was overwhelming, and honestly I was a lot less nervous than I had been just five minutes ago. I had pinned Dimitri a handful of times during our training sessions - admittedly for every one I'd won he had another five under his belt, but that it was irrelevant. What mattered was that I knew it was possible, and beating a Blood Master Level 7 would definitely work in my favour.
Dimitri shifted towards the centre of the room and relaxed into a fighting stance, waiting for me to do the same opposite him. I took in a deep breath as I flashed him a confident smirk, just trying to get a reaction out of him. Unfortunately he kept his Guardian mask on - damn.
"Fight commencing in three, two, one-" I heard the almost silent sound of a stop watch clicking, and instantly I kicked into action.
We began circling each other at first, our eyes darting to every part of our opponent's body as we searched for an opening. Dimitri was immediately on the offensive, anticipating that I would move first. Typically that was the best option for a smaller female, since we were usually a lot faster at getting in the first attack - but I was trying my best not to go for the moves I usually would when we were sparring.
He stepped forwards in an attempt to gauge me, but I kept my ground, not backing up and instead tensing in case he prepared to attack. He didn't stepping back again, which was when I took my opportunity. I swung with my right hand for the side of his throat, knowing that wound immediately wind him were I to be successful. He blocked me, and immediately I swung with the same stance with my left hand, which he retaliated in the same way.
I retracted my hands and stepped backwards, before swinging my dominant leg up for a lethal roundhouse kick to his face. From the moment I stepped back to gain momentum, he clocked onto what I was doing, and rolled himself on the floor under my leg as I kicked before immediately rising to his feet again on the other side of me.
I spun around quick enough so that I was facing him once again before he managed to stand at his full height, using my full body mass to prepel him backwards. Using my hands against his chest as an anchor, I was able to knock him back about two metres. Although it didn't knock him over, it did make him stumble, and gave me enough time to regain myself.
Running again towards him, I attempted another roundhouse kick, performing it in my stride so it was less noticeable what I was about to do. He reacted quickly, blocking the side of his head with his forearm. I managed to get a nasty kick there instead, though it was his less dominant hand so it wasn't as good as I would have hoped for.
Regaining my balance once again, I swung with my right forearm for the side of his neck. He leaned backwards, swerving the attack and using my own momentum against me. As my hand continued past his body, he managed to grab my wrist and fling my arm back towards me. Using my momentarily lack of concentration, he spun around and elbowed me right in the chin. My head flung backwards and I yelped out in both surprise and pain, stumbling back to get some distance between us.
It was his time to go on the offensive, now, as he started towards me. Aiming a kick for my sternum I was able to duck out of the way just in time, spinning low and using my momentum to kick backwards for his abdomen. I landed the kick full force, low enough for it to wind him but high enough so it wouldn't damage the goods below.
He stumbled backwards, though quickly regained his stance by the time I advanced for him. Starting low, I swung upwards with my dominant hand for a hit to the side of his jaw, hoping to knock him back further. He managed to lean away from my hit, counteracting it by grabbing my hand once again. I silently cursed myself as he spun around so his back was facing me and my arm was over his shoulder. I tried to launch a kick to the back of his legs to knock him onto the floor, but I was too slow, and he had already heaved me over and flipped me forwards and onto my back.
"Mother fucker!" I cried out upon impact, quickly managing to throw myself to the side to release my hand from his grip. Within moments I was back on my feet, though the pain still ringed throughout my entire body. I was facing him once again, breathing much heavier than he appeared to be, our circling recommencing.
Now there was some space between us I could happily use one of my aerial kicks. Though I knew he knew how to counteract them, I hoped performing one after such a hurtful blow would be unexpected of me, and he wouldn't be anticipating it.
I took a couple of steps forwards before throwing all my weight onto one step, launching me forwards as I spun upside down in the air and launched two successive kicks at him as my feet came back down. I managed to hit him full force on his right shoulder, I noticed as I landed, though he seemed to of evaded most of the second kick. He was rolling his arm backwards, though, which meant his dominant arm was now at least weakened.
As if with a renewed sense of vigour, Dimitri started for me strong and powerful, launching attack after attack at both of my sides. He was using his left side more dominantly, however, which was when it really cinched that I had wounded his strongest arm. I managed to block about half of his attacks, though he did get several brilliant hits to my left shoulder, sternum, and right side of my hips.
"Half time!" One of the examiners called out, and I felt my brows furrow in shock. Seven minutes we'd been fighting for! It felt more like an hour.
Dimitri made another attack for the side of my head in an attempt to knock me back, but this time I was prepared, ducking under his arm with a spin. Using my momentum I spun around and flung my elbow back like he had before, though due to our height differences I had managed to hit him right in the adam's apple rather than upwards of the chin.
He choked out desperately for air as he stumbled back, and I used this to my advantage as I turned to go after him. I threw a powerful punch to his left shoulder in an attempt to hinder him further, and knocking another powerful kick at his right hip flex. I went to attack for his mid section again, but he caught me this time, capturing my wrist in his grasp.
He pulled me close to his body so I had no way to kick or injure him, using our closeness to thrust his elbow downwards into my chest. I know he would have faux-staked me if it wasn't for the fact I had my arms tucked tightly together, protecting my ribcage and thus my heart - if I was a real Strigoi, he wouldn't of been able to kill me at this angle.
I stumbled backwards from the attack and tried to regain my breath back to normalcy, the assault having winded me slightly. I glared up at him through my lashes with a sort of 'really?' expression, but he didn't seem apologetic about it. Using my non dominant hand I swung in an attempt to elbow him in the throat once again. This time I hoped to tackle him while he was winded, further knocking the breath from him and giving me the opportunity to stake him.
That didn't happen, however, him instead squaring up and attempting to redirect the attack. I connected with his sternum, a place that was still painful but not as lethal. I attempted to spin around and away from him to put some more distance between us, however Dimitri had other plans.
The moment I started to turn away from him, he grabbed my arm and my hip tightly before using our combined momentum to flip us both onto the floor. He landed on his back while pulling me across him, and I almost screamed at the impact as he threw me unceremoniously to the ground before rolling on top of me. He dug both of his knees into my hip flexes to prevent me from kicking out at him, swinging both his hands over his head before resting them pointedly over my chest.
"Dead!" He called out loud enough for the examiner to hear. I coughed out as I panted heavily, feeling myself dripping with sweat and heat as I rag dolled onto the floor. Though I could see Dimitri was breathing heavily as he stood up off me, he didn't seem nearly as worn out as I did.
He outstretched a hand for me and I graciously took it, heaving myself onto my feet with a groan. He chuckled, shaking the hand that was still linked with his. "Nice work, Hathaway. Brilliant fight." Although he couldn't say it out loud, I knew that was his own private way of telling me how proud he was of my performance.
I smiled and nodded, shaking his hand in return. "You too, Belikov. Who knew you had it in you?" I teased, knowing everyone would expect me to be the typically bratty teenager that I always was. He shook his head in amusement before walking past me to head to the examiners, while I walked to pick up my hoodie.
I rubbed at the sweat on my forehead as I turned to the examiners, nodding to them as well. "Thank you, Novice Hathaway." One of the examiners greeted me. "Your grading shall be on the Guardian notice board Monday morning. You are now excused."
I sighed in relief at the final confirmation it was over, slinging my jacket over my shoulder. I walked out backwards through the door opposite from where I entered, giving the four of them a sassy salute before continuing on my way.
To the Guest whom was asking about the Blood Master thing - it was an additional detail created for the release of the Vampire Academy movie. Richelle Mead and the film's stunt co-ordinator created the system as a way of grading and rating Novice and Guardian's skill level. I included most of the details within this chapter for insight, however you can find other stuff on it in the Official Illustrated Guide.