Nightly Lessons Book III - The Book of Brotherhood (old version/closed)

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

(In all fairness, it was my first time doing laundry and the skirt, while new, wasn't a very strong colored piece. Turned out, that the flimzy fabric had a lot more dye in it then I thought)

As Janus settled the dogs, Bruja fighting softly against her lead so she could sniff around basement, Kaine went about moving most of the bikes to the side. The space was a little tight, but Kaine new she could make it work. She had too. Besides, it could easily be an optimal training ground as the battlefields Janus most likely would face later in life, were rarely open. Still, she did do her best to open the space for them.

The blade, she had lent Janus, was simple in appearance and yet had a great deal of history. Not only had Kaine train with it during her younger years, but so Razziel and all of Janus' brothers had learned how to fight against Kaine with the same blade.

It was a great deal of history hidden within the simple sword, if one only knew where to look.

"Right then," Please to see some improvement on the needed space, Kaine pulled her own practice blade and readied herself. Her weapon was by far less impressive but that only favored her in the illusion. "You will do as I instruct you too. No more, no less. We'll started with something simple. A standard strike and parry."

She allowed Janus to parry her a few times as she stroked after him but the moment he moved to strike at her, Janus could feel the tightening of invisible strings block his sword just before Kaine's knee found it's way to his stomach.

"Lesson one. The enemy never plays fair, so don't either," She instructed impassively as the dogs growled. "Again."

Kaine wanted to see what kind of soldier Janus was. Was he a leader? Or was he just another lamb, ready for the slaughter.

[Peeker]

It had been simple and encouraging, at first: Strike-Parry, Strike-Parry, Strike-Parry. She had a different angle, and held her weapon with a different strength than his brother did... but it was still a sword. When she hesitated, and he stepped in, to deliver a strike of his own-

Well suddenly things got alot different as his arm froze in mid-air and all the oxygen left his lungs as a well-placed knee to the sternum crushed them, and stopped him cold.

From his place on the ground, Janus found he simply could not breathe. She'd knocked the wind right out of him, and as far as he was concerned, there were much smarter ways to teach someone that you were a liar. How could he do 'as she instructed, no more no less' when her first instruction was to not listen to instructions? Janus was all about playing fair - Dornell honor, taking the high road, doing things the hard way - that was all a big part of how he operated. ...and she was asking him, on the fly, to out-think her dirty tricks?

Dammit, he couldn't focus with Caboose growling. The boy stood, still wheezing a little, and took his proper stance again. He could barely even tell where the strings were, much less if he was strong enough to cut them. Flying blind into the attack again wasn't going to win him any battles - the Shadow, and the Master, had taught him that.

He had to be smarter. If only Caboose would shut up!

...oh. Wait.

Janus stood there, looking perplexed, thinking hard, hesitating. He knew that his Master would have already started yelling at him, but Kaine would probably give him a couple more seconds. He'd wait until she looked like she was about to say something. When her guard was down while she was busy lecturing him.

The second her mouth opened, he stared her straight in the eyes, ignoring what she said. His sword began to flash as it glided through the air.

"Caboose. Tackle."

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

Caboose didn't waste a second. With the same obedience he showed Mikeal on the battlefield, the massive creature left his daughter's side and zip lined towards Kaine at a speed that seemed impossible for an animal that size. He was so fast that Kaine only had time to lift her arm up to protect herself as Caboose sank his teeth deep into her flesh. The odder of vampire blood filled the room as a fresh gush of crimson bled into the fabric of Kaine's cloak, but she did not flinch.

"Clever boy."

In a normal battle, she would have twisted her body, allowing the animal latched onto her arm to take the blow of the blade, but she was pretty certain if she allowed Caboose injury during Janus' first lesson that Mikeal and Lucy wouldn't be happy to see her ever again. So instead, she side stepped coolly, allowed Janus to miss her by a foot.

Still, the sly smile on her face hadn't fade, which served to irritate and motivate the boy in her own special way. If he bored her as a student, she would have dismissed him in a heartbeat.

"Off," While she knew Caboose wouldn't obey her orders, Kaine gave her arm a vicious shack which torn the dog's teeth out of her arm. True she was giving herself a massive gash, but that was fine. She had had worse, her eye was proof of that as were her hands. Once she had tossed Caboose off to the side, Kaine turned her blade on Janus' neck, the point lightly touching the back of his neck so e could feel it but not be burned. "Lesson two, unless you want to sleep the eternal sleep, never open your back to anyone."

Caboose had given a yip as he hit the wall but rouse easily to his feet. He somehow knew that despite her cruel actions towards Janus, that this was all a lesson, a form of rough housing play, so once he was standing, he snorted his noose and sad down, waiting for orders.

"Here, like this," Sheathing her blade, Kaine pulled Janus to a stand and moved him around so that his lead foot was on the outside compared to her. She then lead his body to twist, holding him as if they were dancing but had switched rolls. "Outside leg, and twist. This way, if you miss, your back isn't open and you have a change for a second strike at the lungs. Outside leg, twist. Understand?"

While it didn't show on her face, Kaine was pleased. Janus wasn't slow and dimwitted as her last student, who for his foolish and clumsy attacks had resulted in a broken arm. A broken arm, she hadn't given him.

"Have you got your wind again?" She asked, righting him up and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Good. We'll start again. This, I will fight fair."

There was a final tone in her voice, one which told Janus she meant it. Caboose, sensing that the lesson was going to start a new, moved to sit next to Bruja who was yipping and straining against her leash. She would have come off a little more threatening if her barks weren't still so puppy like and her tail wasn't wagging.

[Peeker]

Janus nodded, grateful. Any victory in a fight was more than he was used to - he'd certainly never beaten Mikeal or Razziel in a way he was really proud of - even if it was victory-by-cheating-back, what had just happened was a start.

The way Janus saw it, in all the movies, when the two enemies finally see each other from across the battlefield, and a path opens up for them, and there's nothing in the world going on except their duel... well, that wasn't a real fight - there were no tactics, no advantages to exploit - that was just 'one of us is stronger, and that one would win if this wasn't a movie'. His very first lesson at Kaine Nosfurala's hands was a good one: he was always going to make the most of where and who and why he was fighting.

"Outside leg. Stance wide. Yes Sir, I'm ready." Janus lifted his blade a bit less than he would have for a Dornell salute - instead he simply lifted it into a guard, and met Kaine's steel with his own.

"This is still like fighting a brick wall." the boy admitted, watching her muscles tense, strain, and hesitate before delivering killing blows. "I know this is practice but - but you're so far beyond me. I couldn't break the Master's guard - or Mikeal's - I know I'm not going to be able to break yours."

It wasn't self-criticism, it was just an observation. Kaine was so much stronger than he was - she had centuries of power and age and experience and blood in her - he would never be her match. The reason he was bringing it up, though, was two-fold.

Firstly, it was common for vampires to parry words at the same time they traded blows, in the hope that they could cause emotions to make a mistake where their unnaturally-fast reflexes would not otherwise. Secondly, he was pretty darn sure that a comment like that would make her overpower him. Or at least try to overpower him. One thing Kaine did alot, was just straight-up manhandle him when she wanted to make a point. Any time the two of them had had blades out, he'd found himself being flung, broken, and beaten down hard. But the thing was... she did that with Mikeal, too. She did that with everyone. She was stronger, and she used her power to her advantage. She did it without even thinking about it... and Janus was pretty sure that it was a really big weakness of her's.

So his plan was simple: he was going to keep opening his mouth, and paying attention to how she slammed him to the floor. Sooner or later, he'd see a pattern, and when it really counted, he'd be able to use it.

In the meantime, this was probably going to hurt alot. He just hoped that Bruja wouldn't get too worried about him. She'd have to learn sooner or later the very small difference between training with Kaine, and fighting for his life against someone else. Caboose would help, Janus was sure.

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

"Considering no one in your house since it's founder has ever landed a blow on me without my permission, I would say you are correct."

Blunt but but honest, Kaine readied her blade once more. She would keep her word this time, not to mock him, but to play fair considering how much more skilled she was then him. True, she ran her lessons on tough love, a good reason as to why she had never taken a fledgling in her life, but she knew that the most important thing was to never break the student completely. Allow they their successes so that they are encourage to keep at it and then cut them down a bit, but never completely.

Bruja yanked at her chain once more before her father litterally lay down on her, shutting her up with a yelp. It served as a distraction for now, as she instantly turned to bitting his ear and tugging at it, allowing Janus to think without her yipping.

"Begin."

This time Kaine started the attack, keeping to her word that she would play fair and only use her sword.

[Peeker]

"Oh! Great! So when! I'm better! Than Sir Aster! You'll-- Tell me!" Janus panted, his arm tensing and breath gasping as his feet flew across the concrete floor. From the waist down his was playing Dance Dance Revolution on Impossible, and from the waist up it looked like he was blocking a sword being swung by an elephant. Even the basics were hard when your opponent was this strong, and this fast - it was all Janus could do to let muscle memory carry him backwards.

He side-stepped behind a pillar rather than block another swing, just to give himself another moment to breathe. As he came back around, he thrusted, making sure to keep his stance open and wide this time, so as not to leave himself open again.

While he didn't leave himself open this time, Janus realized the speed with which he'd need to return his arm up to guard again was just way too much. Kaine's wrist turned, and his shoulder caught the flat of the blade as firmly as a switch coming down - but that was alot better than being stabbed.

"AH! Nhh--- sorry, Sir. Not.... quick enough." the boy, sword only half-raised to his guard, winced, and stepped back, trying to see how bad his shoulder was after that blow.

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

*swisssshhhh* *snap!*

The sword sang unhappily as Kaine clipped his shoulder. She was being delicate with him, treating him with kid gloves as she assessed his skill. Janus was good, but he was a very rough and uncut diamond. Or cubic zirconia depending how driven he was to learn. It was still to early to tell and she had had students before whom had started promising and ended i utter disappointment. She still remembered when she had been asked to teach Aleksandr how to fight and refused on principle that the man had as much interest in sword practice as she had kissing a troll.

She pressed the sword to her side, silencing it's song and studied the boy. He was still rough, not understanding the hint she had given him but that was fine. With time, he'd either get it or fail, and given the boy's stubborn streak he would probably roll over dead first then be rejected as her student.

"Congratulations, your first welt from a training blade," She told him, peering at the the red angry line on the boy's shoulder. "A blow like that with not kill you, but if it's deep enough you'll lose the arm. Either by it being hacked off or the nerves being cut."

She studied it for a moment more, weighing whether or not to continue. Not because she thought Janus was weak, but because she didn't want her sometimes lover bitching about the two hard blows she had landed on his brother.

She figured another round wouldn't be uncalled for.

"You work too hard. Often the enemy will have less skills then you. This is your flaw. You id the same at the festival against your lover," She grinned a little, not enough for Janus to see it but was there. She was teasing him about Alice having crawled into his bed while under John's care. "You much treat this as a dance, watch your enemy's moves and predict where they will strike. Then, before they do..."

She snapped her fingers and on some silent command, Caboose rouse to his feet and charged. Before Janus knew it a slip of silver fluttered past his eyes and something thin pressed against his neck. The wire wasn't chocking him, just firm enough for him to feel that it was there. A silent threatening reminder that if she wished him, she could kill him before he could even blink. Caboose had seen the attack, and while he knew they were training, he still went to defend his younger master. Kaine casually watched Caboose charge at her, his movements zig zaged so that it was hard to tell what he would attack, and just as he lounged at her, Kaine took a single step to the side making Caboose miss her by a hair.

It was both amazing and fucking infuriating.

Caboose tried several more times, each time Kaine stepped to the side with a bored expression on her face until the dog was panting despite his fighting stance. It was only then, that Kaine removed the wire from Janus neck and then reached down, pressing Caboose softly to the floor in submission and then scratched his ear.

"Good boy, Caboose," He gave a small exhausted growl, as if to say 'Effe you bitch' but accepted her petting. "Good bo-"

And then she felt it, a set of nail sharp teeth bite into her ankle. Surprised but annoyed, Kaine looked down at the tiny Bruja who had latched onto her foot and was growling.

'With her tail wagging no less.' Kaine shook her head. Puppies, to them everything is a game. Bending down, she picked Bruja up by the scruff and looked at her closely. Despite the blood smearing her muzzle a little pink, Bruja seemed to be smiling and even tried to lick her. "If she didn't act so friend, I'd say there might be a chance for your pet to join you on the battle field."

It was then Kaine noticed something odd.

"Wasn't she collared before?" Looking over to where Janus had tied her leash, Kaine saw the leash and unbroken collar laying on the floor. Tilting her head, Kaine looked again at Bruja with curious eyes. "Curiouser and curiouser."

[Peeker]

The world had stopped turning and his feet had been simply taken out from under him while Kaine mocked him, disabled him, and then dodged an angry hellhound with ease. The boy was sputterin and doing everything he could not to react poorly. He had no right to have a temper right now: this was training. He just had to learn and let her have her way - she wasn't trying to hurt him, no, that was just pride. He had to be humble, here. He was being taught by the single greatest sword, probably in the whole damn world.

So instead when Bruja bit Kaine's ankle, he grinned - and then paused. Relief was one thing, as the little white devil got revenge for him, but--- well, there were physics involved that didn't seem to be working out all that well.

"How did she get loose?"

One thing that Kaine was going to need to teach the boy, unfortunately, was to listen to his bloodthirsty instincts. He was so used to the firm control of his coddling brother and impossible Sire that he didn't even notice his own muzzle. For him, 'respecting' his weapon was still a matter of 'don't fool around with that, it isn't a toy' - it didn't belong to him, and he would lose the privilege to have one if he didn't act perfectly when he held one.

In a sense, Janus was afraid of using his sword- because he was more afraid of losing his sword. There would be no daring jab or swing or strike from the boy right now. Rather, his sword had been carefully slid against his belt so he had both hands free, and the boy had knelt in to pick up Bruja, looking quite confused.

"...well she's still young. She isn't ready to learn battle yet, is she?" the boy smiled, wistfully. "I would be very happy to have her with me, but I don't know how to start that until Mikeal tells me so." Janus said, softly, still looking Bruja over. How the heck had she gotten off her chain..?

The boy walked back over to her leash and examined it. "Sir Kaine? What happened...?" He'd never seen -that- before ---- had she untied it or something? He thought she'd just been barking the whole time... had her head slipped out of the loop?

[Kira_Wolf_Cub]

"If you took her with you into battle, she's last..." Kaine mused for a moment. "mmm... all about five seconds. She much too small. It the enemy didn't kill her, the nightmares probably would trample her as they don't look beneath their feet in battle."

Kaine didn't join Janus as he studied the leash and collar, but kept her distance. Kaine knew many things, her age and experience had given her the change to watch worlds be discovered, monarchs to fall and rise, and even see five genocides happen. She could tell him anything from the crimes of the crusades, to the first official vampire war, to even the rise and fall of the lycan breed. And yet, he turned and asked her about the one thing she did not have a single clue about. Hell hounds. And not just hell hounds but a ghost hound as well, which Bruja was the first she had seen that was breathing.

"You're guess is as good as mine. Hell hounds, I know little about. Ghost hounds... that's a whole different animal," Kaine stated. It was then Caboose got his second wind and turned, snapping at Kaine's foot. She had foreseen this though and side stepped him, giving the dog a small grin. "Better luck, next time. Now go, keep your whelp in place so I can get one more round done with Mr. Bell."

With a soft woof, Caboose eased up on his paws and walked over to Janus. With a flopping sound, he sat down next to him, looking and waiting for Janus to put Bruja down.

"Come along Bell. We have work to do," Kaine ordered and readied her blade once more. "Let's see if I can break some of those dangerous habits."

[Peeker]

"Sir." Janus pet Bruja on the head, and decided to skip the leash: he'd just leave the lil' thing with Caboose to watch her. "You heard Sir Kaine, 'Boose. Don't want her to get hurt."

The boy chuckled: no, that was his job right now. Drawing his sword, the little fledgling resumed his position across from Kaine.

"Dangerous habits?" he met Kaine's eyes, trying to focus on the sword that was going to come flying at him soon. "Tell me! I can't fix them if I don't know what I'm doing wrong." Janus took an exploratory sidestep, watching how Kaine's entire body seemed to glide to center itself on him. It was amazing how much control she had over her own body. "I thought the Master would have told me if I was doing something poorly."

Another side-step - twice as far this time, and yet Kaine didn't seem to put any effort into just... following along. Jeez. Just more proof of how outmatched he was.