Hello my Lovelies! I needed to de-stress a little, and here this story was, waiting to be updated! A filler chapter preparing for some real fun next time! :D
Two hours later I was holed up in a shower stall, my back against the cool tiles as warm water washed the grit from my face.
It had only taken a quarter of that time to make my way back to the quad where I stayed, even with the roundabout twists and turns—just in case someone was following me. There wasn't, but focusing on imagined pursuers was more appealing than the reality.
Another half an hour was spent waiting to be certain my roommate was, blessedly, gone from the room. I shouldn't have been surprised, it was a weekend night after all and her boyfriend's place far more appealing than our own room.
I sure wasn't complaining.
A dark puddle formed at the base of my feet, struggling to drain the blood, dirt, and who knew what else from the shower.
I was lucky. Damned lucky. Bruises littered my hands and legs, and the cut on the back of my head was only just beginning to close, but I was otherwise fine. No cracked ribs, no concussion, not even a bone bruise.
Mairin couldn't help but chuckle, listening as it echoed eerily in the empty washroom. She had been in a sparring tournament once as a lower belt and caught a kick with her wrist—it was completely useless for the next three months.
Spar in a fake-fight and receive a bone bruise. Fight for your life, and just get a little banged up. There was an irony here, and she wasn't sure if she liked it.
The bruises would be difficult to cover up, but not impossible. Some concealer and clever use of clothing would solve that issue. Her dobok would cover them up nicely during training for Taekwondo. The cuts…those would be more difficult. Perhaps she could pull it off as a biking accident, say she fell into a bush or some story. She'd been known for such incidents in the past, people would buy it.
She sighed as the steaming water washed the scum from the night's madness from her body. The heat stung as it touched her open wounds, particularly on the head, but somehow it made her feel more clean. As if the events of that night could be washed away as easily as the dirt swirling around the drain.
And yet, she didn't want it all to be washed away. She had saved that young woman. Perhaps she would not have been killed by those thugs, but three men and one woman all alone in an alley? It doesn't take much of an imagination to consider what would have occurred.
Would have.
It didn't. It didn't happen because she was there.
A gentle warmth blossomed in her chest, and she gazed up to the ceiling, trying to see something which wasn't there.
"Maybe the Universe isn't out to get me after all," Mairin whispered to herself. "Maybe, it was just guiding me to where I needed to be."
A smile crossed Mairin's face as she turned the shower nob to 'off.'
Her aches would heal soon enough. She would give herself time to recoup. She would look back on the naïve mistakes and misjudgments she made that night. And she would see just what these…powers of her were about.
And then, Mairin thought, she was going to go on a little outing.
Punch, lunge, switch. Jab, kick, duck. Switch.
Pfwph.
The heavy bag swung from its metal hook in lazy circles. Mairin grabbed the sides of the bag to still its movement, taking the pause to regain her breath.
"Ugh, I'll never get used to this." She groaned, wiping her moist hands against her shorts. No matter how much wrap she used around her knuckles, she always managed to soak through by the end of a workout.
"Hey, you did pretty good there."
Mairin looked up to see, in her opinion, a fairly decent looking young man. Her eyebrows raised minutely, taking in his chiseled shoulders and arms. Nice, she couldn't help but think to herself.
Still catching her breath, she cocked an eyebrow. And…?
Thankfully he got the message. "Well, you know…not often we see a chick down here."
I've gone from woman to chick in under a minute…wonderful.
Hands on her hips, Mairin shrugged smiling. "It is rather difficult to find." And it was. The school gym was a maze of old rooms and refurbished basement corners. The room with the heavy bags was tucked into a particularly secluded corner.
And it was true, she was the only female she'd ever seen in these back rooms. That didn't stop her from being annoyed when it was pointed out.
The boy laughed. His demeanor matched boy, more than man, in her mind at least. "They're all up on those weird bikes or whatever, not where the real training goes on." His chest puffed out as he spoke. Mairin tried to hold in a chuckle.
"Really… 'real training?' Have you ever been on one of those spinning machines before? I'd like to see you be able to walk the next day."
He paused, and she quickly ducked out of the training room. His efforts at flirting were adorable, if nothing else, but she wasn't in the mood for it right now. She had things to do.
Namely, homework. Her essays wouldn't write themselves, and her exams wouldn't be "A"ced without a great deal studying.
Thanks to some coffee and a great deal of caffeinated tea, she had made it the past few months without crashing, but it would hit her soon. Very soon, she could feel the weariness creeping into the edges of her consciousness. It was close.
Yet two months. She'd made it two months of near-constant night Outings, daily training, and not missing a single class. Frankly, she was damned proud of herself.
The nights had turned from warm to chill, and her methods shifted in response. As the nights grew darker, she kept to the shadows more. As they grew cooler, she added to her gear. In a manner of weeks she accumulated a handy collection of defensive and offensive tools for her "trade." Thankfully questions to her fellow martial artists concerning the best clothes for street fighting, or padding for fore-arms and shins, were regarded as a sort of innocent curiosity. She was careful to keep it that way.
Ach. She groaned as she sat down in the changing room, massaging her feet. They had developed solid calluses—they looked like they belonged to a troll, but it was worth it. The first few weeks were…hell…to say the least, but she was not comfortable fighting any other way.
She was lighter without shoes, could kick faster without them, move more quietly. Yet most of all, she simply felt more connected without them. The more of her that was exposed to the air currents, the more she sensed around her. A rather heady advantage in a dirty fight.
That was balanced against the idea of "more exposure, more likely to be identified." The thought of "Magic Vigilante Unmasked" in the headlines was upset her stomach more than spoiled milk.
"Ah, that time of day again." Mairin grinned at the sunset as she strode out of the gym. Just enough time to grab some dinner, shower, and crack open her foreign policy textbook. Exciting, right?
It was, though. She was excited. For one night, at least, she would be regular student. Sure, she kept up with what was required the rest of the week, but that was thanks to extensive preparation the weekend before. (Her sole social life revolved around fist fights with dead beats in dark alleys at this point.)
"But not tonight!" She laughed to herself. A student. Tonight, she would just be a student.
No powers. No crime fighting.
No bruises. No headaches.
Just being a student.
.
.
That lasted all of about an hour, as she would soon discover.
I could keep Mairin in her little normal town for a little while longer, but I don't want that and neither do you guys. Realistically things move slower, but hell, what about this story is realistic? It's time to go to Narnia!
I wonder who she'll run into first...
