(A/N: Powerstone goal of 400 by Friday and I'll post an extra chapter over the weekend.)
XOXO
Blood.
Crawling forward, the dark red liquid pooled around her feet.
She stumbled back only to jolt forward, the liquid splashing around her steps as searing pain flashed across her back. Angry flames roared up from all sides, the eye watering heat climbing higher and higher.
Coughs left her, dark smoke flooding the room.
She needed to get out of here.
Preparing to force her way through the flames, she took a step forward, only for an ironclad grip to seize her other foot, her body falling forward.
The building blood, now filling the entire room, swallowed her whole.
XOXO
Cinder shot up, eyes darting across unfamiliar walls and furniture. By the time her hand landed on the handle of one of her blades, she managed to gather her bearings, taking slow breaths.
The room she was in, large and full of all kinds of different furniture, was the place she moved what little she owned into. All unnecessary crap there wasn't much point in.
She released her sword, leaving it propped against the end table at her bedside and falling back down, sinking into the cool sheets below her. The bed was soft at least. Far softer than any she'd ever slept in. Not something she would've spent so much lien on but at least the money spent was getting her something.
Knock!
Her heavy eyes, which she hadn't even noticed were falling closed, snapped open and darted across the room towards the distant door to her room. With a muted groan, she rose, rubbing at her arms, bruises long gone but the soreness weighing them down a reminder of yesterday.
She grabbed one of her swords as she rose from the bed, slowly making her way towards the door.
Who would-
"It's me." Talon's voice came from the other side.
Cinder set her sword down beside door, hand still hovering over the pommel as she undid the locks. What did he want?
An aroma, salty and mixed with others, hit her as she opened the door.
"Here." Talon, dressed in dark clothing with set of shades over his eyes as always, held out a lidded glass bowl, the smell wafting up from that.
"What's this?" Cinder asked as she took it, the glass warm to the touch.
"Food. I made it."
"Why are you bringing it to me?"
"You got anything in that fridge of yours?" He asked, brow raised. A simple question but Cinder couldn't help but glare up at him. She hated the way those twins, especially that loudmouth Melanie, acted, pretending as if the influence their mother had was in any way theirs, but Talon and the tone he took sometimes was just as irritating. It was as if he knew exactly what her answer would be.
Even if she hadn't bothered getting anything to put in there, what part of that was his business?
"If you think torturing your body is the only part of training that matters, you're wrong. Taking care of yourself is just as important and a big part of that is eating right." He explained as he stepped back, once again seemingly to know exactly what was on her mind. "I'll meet you at the training rooms later."
And he was back across the long overly decorated hall, entering his room before she could get a word out. Melanie ran her mouth off about plenty of crap Cinder couldn't be bothered to remember but she was right about him. Those near lectures he could get into made him seem old despite looking no older than herself.
She closed and locked her door, grabbing her sword and heading towards the long counter separating the main center area from the kitchen and taking a seat on one of the stools.
How could someone her age get so strong?
Her stomach grumbled, eyes dropping to the bowl she'd set down.
Accepting food from a stranger. Not a mistake she'd ever been stupid enough to make. Anything could've been done to it.
Another growl, this one painful, left her stomach.
But methods like that were something the weak needed to use.
Cinder popped off the lid, steam and the appetizing mix of smells it carried heating her face. Rice, fish, and some kind of dark green vegetables. The look and smell all promised something far better than all the other cheap crap she'd been relying on to get by. Nothing like the cold scraps that'd once been given to her in similar fashion.
Picking up the hot spoon on top of it all and ignoring the accompanying burn, she took a spoonful. Then found herself shoveling down the rest.
Talon wasn't weak. Everyone in the bar had realized that just as she did, those in Spider showing him respect she only saw shared among their members. If he wanted something from her, he didn't need to resort to something like messing with her food.
He could just take it.
Which was why she didn't understand why he would agree to training her without anything in return. What was he angling for?
XOXO
The floors of the training room were cold.
The air was clear too, no horrible smell that needed adjusting to.
And it was quiet enough that she could hear the steady thumps of her heart.
What was the point in this crap?
"I didn't come here to sit around." Cinder said, glaring over at Talon. "If we aren't doing anything, I'm leaving."
Talon, who'd been laying across the ground in front of her, pulled himself to a cross legged sit, an elbow placed on one knee and chin propped against his curled fist. "Who says we aren't already training?" He said. "I figured someone who knew all the basics could figure out the point in this."
That condescending tone was just as bad as his know it all comments.
"Take a joke, Cinder. You look like you want to kill me or something." He said, waving his other hand. "If you can't sit still for a few minutes you're going to struggle when it comes to your aura. So, just choose something and focus on it. And trust me, I'll know the difference between nodding off and focusing." He explained stretching out and lying back down, arms crossed behind his head.
"Oh, and If you've got questions don't wait until you get fed up to ask them. You could've asked for an explanation at any point, you know."
"You could've given one from the beginning." Cinder muttered.
"The wonders of language. I guess we should both use our words more."
She couldn't tell if that was more condescension or if he was being serious.
Cinder took a breath and decided to focus on exactly that. It'd been years since she did anything like this.
XOXO
Cinder chased after a backpedaling Talon, throwing out a punch as soon as she closed in, hitting one of his outstretched hands.
"Remember to step in properly and twist your hips. Getting in a hit won't mean a thing if it doesn't have enough force to hurt your opponent." Talon said as he continued leading her around the room, somehow fast enough stay a step ahead of her despite moving backwards. As he began to slow, she did as he said, a firm step taken in his direction and twist added to her punch.
This time his hand was forced back. It was only by a little, but it was far more than-
Pain flared up across her face, Cinder forced to take a step back, shaking off the sudden jab at her face.
"Remember, you've got to be ready to react at all times. Just because you got in a hit doesn't mean your opponent isn't already throwing out a counter."
Sniffing back the pain, she grounded her teeth together and followed after his already fleeing form.
XOXO
Cinder swiped, already rushing forward as she missed her mark.
Talon had backstepped, one of the corners of the training room directly behind him. She stopped right in front of him, arms spread out so he couldn't easily run off in either direction.
Left, right. She couldn't tell which way he was looking, his glasses in the way, but his weight shifted.
The left!
Her prediction was right, hand a breath away from touching Talon as she chased him down, only for him to twist on his heel. Stumbling, she grasped nothing but metal walls, Talon already backing up towards the center of the room once again.
"You'll have to be quicker than that." He said, Cinder glaring as she huffed and puffed, sweat rolling down her face. Taking one last deep breath, she lunged after him, sending out countless swipes and touches that got nothing but air, not even grazing him. "I said quicker, not angrier. High blood pressure is the only thing you're going to catch like this. If you don't already have it."
Teeth gritted, Cinder tried to close more of the distance. Maybe if he wasn't running his damn mouth she would actually be able to-
Talon suddenly stepped past one of her swipes and, before she could even think to step back or grab him, he pushed into her, rolling right over her back and sending her stumbling forward into a fall.
"Now how are you going to catch me from down there?"
Biting down on the inside of her mouth, Cinder threw herself back to her feet, giving chase after him and that annoying ass grin.
XOXO
Arms and legs spread out, Cinder stared up at the clean ceiling of her new room.
Sitting around. Teaching her different ways to throw a punch. A game of tag of all things. With how strong he was and the bruises she'd been left with after that first test, she'd expected some harsh training that could be labeled torture and far more actual fighting. She'd been tempted to leave several times, assuming that Talon wasn't taking any of it seriously at all.
Her scroll, placed on the end table beside her bed, began to beep and she craned her neck to get a look at it but couldn't bring herself to lift her heavy arms from the soft mattress and silk sheets.
But here she was, body sore and aching despite the lack of an actual fight. No training she had ever done before this left her feeling like she'd barely survived back to back battles against several hordes of Grimm.
Though she didn't understand some of what he did, she couldn't deny that he must've been doing something right.
Did simple, childish training like that really result in strength like his?
The beeping grew louder and her closing eyes snapped back open. Groaning, she pulled herself out of bed, grabbed her scroll and weapons, then headed towards the door, stepping out into the building's halls.
Talon had just stepped out of his own, head turning towards her. "Where are you going?"
"The bar."
"No, you're not."
No, she wasn't? Was he-
"The best part about our kind of work is that we don't truly answer to anyone. While we might not have a boss or group to fall back on, we work whenever we feel like it." He said. "Like I said, taking care of your body is an important part of training so get some rest. When you adjust you can worry about work."
He was ordering her around.
Like that damn Miss Malachite, those stupid twins, and all the other members of that group. She hated, loathed, how they thought they could just tell her to jump without any explanation as to why and expect it to happen. Like she was just some convenient tool to be ordered around.
"If we end up going outside the walls and I have to save you, I'm taking your cut." He warned.
He was ordering her around just like them, they both knew it, but at least he was explaining why.
Too tired to argue against his logic she closed her door, locked it and trudged towards the center of the main area, dropping herself onto a couch that was nearly as soft as the too far bed.
Talon was strong, and as far as she could tell, thorough in the things he did. If all this would make her strong, she'd at least consider what he had to say.
Her eyes wandered to the TV set up across from the sofa and after some searching, found the remote for it. She might as well check out more of those movies in the meantime.
XOXO
(A/N: Writing from Cinder's POV is too pessimistic. Shit got dark real fast and I had to ease up in certain areas because she straights up sees the worst in people. But hey, we got her view on Talon to some degree and while I wouldn't exactly call it strictly positive, in comparison to show she sees most, its better than nothing. At least she's becoming just a little interested in things most people use to pass the time.
As always, the link for those who want to read ahead:
patreon .com/ thirdratewriter
And thank you all for reading! Hope any caught in snow recently is doing well. Well, I hope anyone caught in anything outside of their routine is doing well.)