Max thought. "If they're doing it the same as last year
then...first is Combat!" Then, he leaned in."But let me warn you
now, our teacher's power is a little...weird."
Max grinned and Kyleen shook her head. "You'll see.." He pushed
open the door. There were several pieces of exercise equipment
scattered across the room, but the main center of attention was the
teacher himself. In the middle of the room, a small man wearing a
karate outfit is balanced on a ginger mustache that is lifting him
into the air, and he appears to be meditating. Max can barely
contain himself as he says, "S-say hello to Mr. Sakushi."
Mr. Sakushi opened one eye. "Hmm? Oh, yes. Gather around,
students." As everyone entered the room, Mr. Sakushi opened both
eyes and began pacing on his mustache. "You are all here to learn
the Art of Combat. That is why you are here. To learn to use your
powers in a way that will allow you to defend yourself, yes?" He
bobbed up and down on his mustache, making Max erupt in a fit of
coughing to cover up his laughter. "Something wrong, Mr. Falken?"
"N-no sir, must b-be the allergies." Mr. Sakushi nodded. "Today we
will be covering some basic techniques in Self Defense. He looked
around the room. I'll be pairing you for this exercise." He began
pairing them into groups of two. Max and Kyleen were paired
together, and Boreas was paired with a boy with shock white hair
and light green eyes whom Mr. Sakushi introduced as Zephyr.
Benjamin had not gathered with the rest. Instead, he was suspended
from the ceiling, near a long rope used for climbing. It had taken
a moment, but he had managed to get Munch's ears and tail at the
same time, so he could easily hear what was going on and hang
himself from the ceiling at the same time. He was dead silent, but
his eyes were bright and energetic. It didn't even seem as if he
were appealing to the truth of last night, where he hadn't gotten
even a few seconds of sleep. Instead, the halls had been filled
with the pitter-patter of a pair of small, delicate paws
that carried a body so full of nocturnal energy, it carried over to
the human form of Benjamin. And besides... Combat? Munch was best
suited for fleeing, maybe a hit and run at best. Still, as
Benjamin's face warped to house a set of massive orange eyes and
the ears disappeared from the top of his head, he found himself
mildly interested with the sudden interest between Boreas and Max.
And, as heard from more than a few areas around the school last
night, news of a missing person.
Benjamin blinked, and his face returned to normal. Performing a
quick flip-like action, the tail protruding from his trousers
dissipated, and his hands became paws, jointed and good for
grabbing. At the same time, the spaced out paw pads on each joint
were rough, and immune to the burn the rope would usually have
exerted on one's hands. Sliding quickly down the line, his hands
returned to normal and the massive furry ears shot from the top of
his head again. Trotting over, his ears turned quickly back and
settled downwards on his head, the body language an angry cat might
give. Yet, his eyes held no anger. Simply a neutral curiosity.
Mr. Sakushi nodded his head. "Very good. Now, I think I'll pair you
with..." tiptoeing on the ends of his mustache, he carefully looked
around. "Maurice!" He pointed to a girl in the back with curly
black hair and pale skin, who looked suspiciously like a vampire.
Benjamin sidled relatively quickly over to stand by the other
student, who he now knew as Maurice. "Morning." He nodded a quick
greeting to her, and his ears sat up on his head again, turning and
tilting this way and that, hearing every little whisper exchanged
between two people, every word uttered inside the room and outside,
that is, in the rooms parallel to theirs and for a good distance in
the hallway.
Ah, so you, O Mysterious
and Curious Soul, have come to seek answers in the abyss?
Maurice nodded. "Morning." She had a thick Transylvanian accent,
making the single word almost impossible to understand. Mr. Sakushi
shouted out, (even though it was a small room and there was no
reason to) "Alright, then, I want some examples. Maurice, New
Student, front and center!"
Benjamin's brow raised a little. Glancing first at Maurice, then at
a pair of students whispering in the back of the group, he slowly
removed his hands from his pockets. "What exactly do you mean by
examples?" His ears were turned backwards, and picked up even the
slightest disturbances in the air. Munch had heightened senses and
reflexes, and he could feel those beginning to seep into his own
diurnal day. If this was to be an example of fighting and Maurice
decided to attempt to take the first blow, he would know.
Mr. Sakushi grinned, though it was hard to tell with the thick
mustache. "Why, I'm going to teach you and Maurice some moves, and
you are going to demonstrate them to the class!" Maurice blew a
curl off of her face. "Vreally?" "Yes, really."
Benjamin glanced over his shoulder. "Demonstrate.. On each other? I
don't see any sort of practicing dummy or anything." His ears
maintained their backwards position, but his eyes kept traveling
around the room, eventually landing back on the teacher.
Mr. Sakushi sighed and muttered to himself, "In my day, kids were a
lot more eager for this." He pulled about a couple dozen small
vials out of his pocket, filled with green liquid. "The Nurse made
these. They will shield your body from any blows and will protect
against al negative effects of any sort of magic. That enough for
you?" Maurice took one and drained it dry.
Benjamin still looked unwilling. After a moment, he took a vial and
drained it. He sighed. "What's first?" His animalistic ears sucked
back into his head, replaced by the tail that had been seen
earlier.
Mr. Sakushi was excited. "First, I want you to practice guarding.
Focus on using your power or an object around you to block an
attack. Benjamen, I want you to attack Maurice. If she's not fast
enough in blocking, then you'll know it because the shield the vial
creates will glow green." Maurice nodded and turned to face
Benjamin. "You veady, Volf Boy?"
Benjamin shrugged a little. After a moment of what appeared to be
concentration, his hands turned back to paws, and small claws could
be seen at the tips of each finger. "Only if you are." Seeing her
nod, he made a quick lunge, feinting to the right as soon as he was
within striking distance of her, His tail whapped against her side
audibly, and he was behind her. The green barrier faded away from
the girl's flank. Benjamin had been analyzing his opponent the
moment he'd gotten the vial, and knew that a head on assault was a
bad idea.
Maurice swore in Translyvaianian under her breath. She closed her
eyes, and when she opened them she was a bat. She flitted under
Benjamin's arm, ready to dodge. In a high, squeaky voice she said,
"You got lucky!"
Benjamin chuckled slightly, then watched the bat fly under his arm.
His tail swished back and forth, slowly trying to distract or
confuse the bat. Turning, Benjamin readied his paws, his body
tensing for the next attack he planned on.