The Temple of the Closed Fist

[Fenrir13]

Hidden in the mountain wilderness somewhere in asia was the secret Temple of the Closed Fist, the adress for the underground martial arts scene, producing some of the greatest fighters in the world. Not many were accepted there and it was said that the training was very strict and intense, for not only was it demanding the teachers also used corporal punishment and generally had a rather authoritarian attitude when it came to learning, much more befitting 18th or 19th century views than the permissiveness and soft touch that characterized modern parenting. Oh yes, they only accepted children as their charges, because they believed one had to be honed into a weapon from an early age in order to become a real fighter.
At the entrance of the temple was a lone figure, a woman curiously enough, as the temple generally only accepted boys, who looked on the children presented to her by a member of the Yakuza whose boss was one of the few who had the connections to arrange such a meeting, half a dozen kids but only two girls. Before arriving at the temple they had taken a long journey across dirt rows and mountain paths, exhausting in itself, still the teacher was already looking for signs of weakness in their future charges. Her name was Lady Iron Fan, as this was her weapon of choice, and she had somewhat of a reputation in the Temple for using lots of hard switchings to toughen up and punish children who misbehaved. She was a woman of moderate size and did not look particulary physically strong, but still clearly demanded respect, as her narrow eyes had an incredibly harsh look. She wore a red uniform, marking her rank as one of the teachers, her black hair was pinned up which only increased her stern appearance and what was odd was that it was very hard to judge her age, since she looked neither particulary old or young. Still she was no sadist, only punishing her students to prepare and hone them, while only ocassionaly taking out her anger over the disrespect she endured from her colleques on a naughty bottom when her temper demanded it. So yeah, she was a mean bitch, one you definately didn´t want to cross.
Lady Iron Fan walked among the future students still in their traveling clothes, her face a like an unreadable mask, until at last there was like a cruel smirk on her face. She took a hold on a girls chin and raised it to look directly into the childs eyes. "Yes, you will do nicely.", she said and finally let her go, walking back to her initially position, slightly above on the steps leading further into the building. "We´ll accept the whole pack for now. There will still be time to sort them out later.", she said as the Yakuza member nodded silently. Here her word was law. And so it began.

[Willow T Ferret]

Nahulla Usami was one of those two girls in the half dozen kids that were currently in front of Lady Iron Fan currently dressed in a white martial arts gi like the rest of them. At only ten years old she already was showing her skills in martial arts and a lot of promise as well. It was half a year later when she was approached with an opportunity she couldn't pass on. Taking only the necessities she was taken out of the city and now into the wilderness of Asia to on her way to the Temple of the Closed Fist. From that point forward they were forced to walk for miles through those harsh conditions that children from the city would never normally go through but they eventually arrived. After being told to stand outside the temple grounds eventually a woman arrives to inspect the children. Nahulla was doing her best not to make eye contact as she expected that was the best choice to remain undetected hoping she wouldn't be picked out in any way for any reason, however that plan backfired when she felt Lady Iron Fan's hand going underneath her chin and forcing them to make eye contact. The girl did her best to keep an emotionless look on her face but it was hard to do with the intimidating harsh look as signs of fear could be seen on Nahulla's face. The entire group was accepted but some kids in the group knew that this difficulty was only going to get worse from here on.

[Fenrir13]

Maybe Nahulla had shown fear, but maybe the teacher had seen something inside of her that convinced the woman that the girl was ready to undergo the harsh training. Fear was certainly better than disrespect and it could be a great motivator, too. Lady Iron Fan clapped her hands twice. "Alright, children, follow me inside. A novice will show you were you sleep.", she explained and the whole group walked inside the temple grounds, which were impressive. How long had this structure stood? The style of the architecture was hard to place, alltough definately Asian.
They were then lead by a boy who seemed to be around fifteen wearing a grey gi into a small room. Each had a thin matress, blanket and cushion. Alltough not comfortable the atmosphere was more relaxed, kinda like a school trip. "Very well, you can rest here. Tomorrow there will be food and they´ll tell you your duties here. Please feel at home.", the novice said with the hint of a smile and then retreated, leaving the kids to themselves. Everyone looked as if they didn´t really know what to do. In time, they sat down and quietly talked. Nobody really felt like goofing of as most children would have done, given the opressive atmosphere. Meanwhile the other girl, also looking Asian, kept staring at Nahulla, maybe seeing her as a rival?

[Willow T Ferret]

After the direct eye contact that the two had, Nahulla was glad at least to be allowed inside the temple grounds along with everyone else. Walking through the temple the children all notice the amazing architecture the temple had with a large courtyard, a few ponds here and there, several buildings, and even outdoor rings for combat. Despite looking around nobody dared to lag behind as they all kept walking until entering one building and were led inside a specific building that would serve as their bedroom. While some talked among themselves the others were sitting up their beds and unpacking. Nahulla chose to do the same thing as she was setting up her own bed in a corner of the room. However, while doing so every so often Nahulla would feel as if someone was staring at her. Turning around she would lock eyes with the other Asian girl that was in the group of boys with her. The two girls would stare at each other for a few moments before Nahulla would break the stare by going back to setting up her bed.

[Fenrir13]

In time everyone had set up their bed and was basicly ready to sleep, but it was still early, merely around dusk and still pretty bright outside. It was strange that they hadn´t been given dinner, but maybe this was all sort of some test. Anyway, the girl who had been staring at Nahulla seemed dissapointed that she wasn´t up to a fight. A loud,"Hmph.", could be heard and then she also looked away, sitting on her matress with her arms crossed. Soon the kids got bored and two of the boys stood up and approached Nahulla. They were obviously twins, both the same height, with blue eyes and spiky blonde short hair. "Hi.", they said,"You wanna go outside? Its boring here and they didn´t tell us we weren´t allowed outside." "Yeah, it would be totally unfair for them to punish us for that!", one of the boys reasoned, they both looked at her expecting she would accept. Maybe some bonding would be good? It couldn´t hurt having friends in this environment.

[Willow T Ferret]

Nahulla wasn't sure what the girl's problem was but definitely made the smart choice of ignoring her. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to interact too often with that girl since it already seems she wasn't Nahulla's biggest fan at the moment. Nonetheless, eventually, Nahulla finishes making her bed while she kept her belongings next to it to have access to it as often as possible. While laying on her stomach and staring at the ceiling on her bed she was then approached by two boys who apparently twins. "Outside?" She questioned wondering if they were even allowed to. While it was true there weren't any rules preventing them from leaving their room, plus having a look around the temple was definitely enticing. "All right sure, let's go." Nahulla said accepting the offer to go out and explore the temple for a bit. While she did agree that if they were punished it would be unfair, however considering they were fresh into the ranks of the temple, it wouldn't be too surprising. Standing up and getting out of bed Nahulla would then joins the twins leaving the room to explore the temple some more.

[Fenrir13]

"Great! I am Grenn by the way.", said one of the twins. "And I am Roy", the other stated, introducing himself. One gave Nahulla his hand and helped her up politely. They then strolled outside, there eyes sparkling as they took in the scenery. "Damn, this temple is amaaazing.", Green said laughing and laid a hand around his twins shoulder. "Hey, check this out!", they stated and ran forwards, it was hard to keep up with their enthusiasm. They came to a long stairway that led to a platform were some teens were training, doing martial arts moves that their teacher showed them. Luckily none seem to notice the kids that had left the dorm so far...

[Willow T Ferret]

"Nice to meet you. I'm Nahulla." She greeted sharing her name with the two boys as Nahulla then accepted his help and stood up on her feet as they all then began to make their way outside the building they were in trying to be as stealthy as possible while moving around. As they strolled outside and walked around the temple they were amazed by the scenery of the temple now that the sun has started to set which gave an orange glow to everything around them. Green was suddenly amazed by something as Nahulla not wanting to be left behind started to follow after them where they spot a few teenagers in the middle of what seemed to be a training lesson. "Wow, those moves look so cool." Nahulla said in a bit of a hushed tone to keep them from getting spotted but was still in awe of the moves the two teens were practicing while the teacher watches.

[Fenrir13]

"I am so excited, we´re going to be so badass if we live trough this training!", Grenn said maybe a bit louder than recommendable, being immediately shushed by his twin. He let out a small giggle and just continued to watch the older boys practicing their moves, not noticing the sound of steps around the corner. It was still ambigious if they´d be in trouble if caught, but maybe they shouldn´t take any risks?

(Sorry for the long wait and short post, any ideas you want to insert? They could get punished right away, but I am not sure if this is the best course.)

[Willow T Ferret]

Nahulla also joined in on shushing Grenn since them being out of their room was technically not against the rules, although if someone were to catch the three newcomers hiding and watching a sparing match then no doubt it would definitely look bad on them. She then continues to focus on the older boys sparing with one another seeing moves that she rarely would ever see others doing around their ages since it would take years to even learn the basics of what they were doing. Meanwhile unaware to the three of them in hiding, the steps were getting louder and closer.

(Well probably not right now for them to be spanked by they could be punished differently for sneaking out. But one idea I did have was maybe saying the girl that was staring Nahulla down earlier could possibly rat her and the boys out so when we eventually get to their spar it would have more weight behind it for the girls to fight?)