Darius Pendragon's Story

"My name is Darius Pendragon, but if I'm going to train you soon enough you'll be calling me the Devil" I said in a gruff tone as I grabbed my drink and started drinking more. I was feeling quite happy but I hadn't reached the state of inebriation that I was looking for.

"Oh please Darius your training isn't that bad, I took your class and look at me. I came out a live and I have just as much respect for you as I did before" Tanis said and I looked at him with a bemused smile pulling out a disk like object pressing play and we could all hear Tanis's voice loud and clear.

You're a bastard of a man Darius Pendragon, how anyone survives this hell you call training is beyond me but I'm in a state of mind to have our guards come and seize this dojo for it's cruelty! IF it weren't for the fact you turn out some of the best soldiers I've ever seen that this

"Now what were you saying about my training Golden light Tanis?" I said laughing when I noticed the girl names Silver pale and Tanis visibly was a little shaken that I had kept such a thing, but little did he know I kept recorded sessions of ever person I trained for occasions just like this, they were verbal contracts of agreement basically. "As I did for Tanis so shall I for you, if I am to train you, you need to agree to a few things" I said pulling out another disk and playing it on the table in front of her. "I want you to verbally agree to the fact that you understand I will not take it easy on you just because you are a woman. That you understand the risk of serious bodily injury is a very real factor in my training. Also that at no point is anything I teach you to be taught to someone else, I am training you, not the whole town, If you attempt to teach someone I will become your enemy, and I'm a lot worse than those creatures on the other side of the walls." I said before I started to take another drink. Watching her it took her a long while to actually reach for the disk, but it was probably for good reason. While she was deciding on what to think of my new proposal to my training her I finished my drink and ordered another.

Finally she agreed to everything and we were on another drink before the door burst open and a few of the guys that I beat regularly walked through the door shouting my name. Sighing I got up from the table and looked at them and smiled, I was completely hammered now, exactly where I wanted to be.

"PENDRAGON! I've got a bone to pick with you!! Your Dojo ran me and my boys out of business and we don't appreciate that from a worthless scum who bought his way into nobility" The man bolstered and I laughed.

"hey hey hey, Shill out would ha? I did nothing to piss you off I just worked hard. But if you wanna fight I'm game!" I slurred together horribly. As soon as I finished the sentence they charged me and everyone had moved to the walls and Tanis yelled for me not to get myself arrested by killing them and I looked back smiling. The first one that charged me I kicked the legs of a chair catching it and trapping his arm in the legs, stopping his punch from reaching my face and tossed the chair and watching his reaction. Once he turned around again I smacked him on the face with my mug and I laughed when he looked appalled that I would fight in such a childish manner. Soon enough they all started charging me and I kept using the Bar to my advantage flipping tables and using chair's bar stools and the booths to avoid fighting them.

"WHOULD YOU STOP FUCKING AROUND AND FIGHT US PENDRAGON!" their what would be leader screamed and I dropped down from my handstand on the top of a booth seat and sighed.

"Fine ruin all my fun" I said and one guy charged me and within the blink of an eye I darted forward punching him in the shoulder and spun him in a circle where I nailed him in the lower back and then kicked at his knees sending him to the floor and they stared at me. "Was that good enough for you?" I asked still completely drunk and they all charged me and I smiled, now they were serious. Soon the fight was getting too rowdy for the bar and I took them outside all with swift kicks but I wasn't done playing with them, once outside I was more than capable of really letting go and fighting them on a natural level. "Pay close attention Silver, this is why I'm the best in town" I said boisterously before conjuring flames and spinning rapidly. "Secret Style, FLAME TORNADO!" I said and soon the flames enveloped me as I spun towards the men and sent them all flying.

Tanis and I watched the fight from the table, which surprisingly had been spared in the midst of all the turmoil. It would be an expensive tab, paying for all of the broken furniture because the men couldn’t take things outside. It looked like a tornado had been through the place. There was no doubt that this Darius fellow had talent when it came to fighting though. I was pretty confident that he could train me.

During the fight I recorded my agreement on the device adding that there were to be no face injuries, if it could be helped. Bruises anywhere on my body I could hide, except the face. Makeup never seemed to quite cover bruises. I had learned this long ago when I was accidentally dropped on my head while learning lifts in dance.

Once everything was finished Tanis pulled me up from the table and led me over to Darius. “We should get going, sister-mine,” he whispered. “If the guards catch us your jig is up.” I nodded my agreement as we reached Darius and smiled awkwardly, handing him back his device.

“We should get going,” I told him quickly.

“Wassa matter girlie? Party’s just getting started!” he exclaimed back before belching with gusto and then dropping to the floor unconscious like a sack of potatoes.

We just started at him for a moment.

“Gross,” I said finally, breaking the silence.

“I guess we should take him home,” Tanis sighed. When I paled he laughed and shook his head. “Not our home, his home. Here, give this to the bar keep and I’ll meet you outside with him.”

Tanis handed me one of his payment cards and I nodded finding the bar keep and letting him know I would be paying for Darius’s tab and the damages to the bar. Once it was settled I headed outside to accompany the boys to Darius’s place.

We ended our journey at a dojo. I frowned. “He lives here?” I asked.

“Well, no, he lives with his mother I think,” Tanis replied, having hoisted the unconscious man over his shoulder. “But I’m not sure where that is exactly so I figured here would be just as good.”

“I don’t suppose you have a key?” I asked raising a brow.

Tanis offered a key card. “It was in his pocket,” he said grinning. “It was a good excuse to touch his ass.”

I snickered and took the key, opening the door and walking inside to flick a light on. The place was immaculate. For being just on the Hemera side of town I was impressed. I found a set of training mats and laid them out and rolled up a towel as a pillow so Tanis could lie him down. It was then that I got a decent look at his face.

He was handsome, I realized. Maybe this class wouldn’t be so long after all.

I found his com system on one of the walls and typed in the command to record a message so he would be informed of our plans again in the morning.

Good day mister Pendragon. My name is Silver. As we have discussed I will begin training under your guidance as of today. If you have any doubts about this please consult the gadget you had me use to record my agreeing to your terms. I will require night classes, a factor I hope you will agree to as I expect it might hurt your business if people were to know you were training a woman. It is frowned upon after all. So I must implore you for the safety of your revenue that we keep this all rather hush-hush. I have agreed to pay you thrice your regular rate and I paid for the expenses at the bar, which you trashed. I trust these will keep us in good standing.

I will see you at say, ten o’clock? Should you have need to make adjustments, reschedule or notify me of things I ought to bring I would encourage you to contact Golden Light Tanis, whose number I have left at the end of this message. Until tomorrow, mister Pendragon.

And then we left, setting the door to lock behind us and leaving the key card with the com system.

All the way home Tanis babbled on about how I was crazy and that I would quit in a week. Yeah right, it was either survive the training and become a killing machine or marry one of the pompous cocks that were my suitors.

The day was long and for lack of a better word, excruciating. I had been forced to meet with suitors 4 and 7 today for lunch and dinner respectively. The only thing that even gave me an appetite with their boorish conversation was knowing I would need the strength for training.

And then finally I was sneaking out of my window and outside the palace grounds to meet with Darius. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Tanis sprang on me from one of the alleyways. I should have known better than to think that he would let me travel in the city alone. Not that I really remembered how to get to the school anyways.

At 9:55 I bid Tanis fairwell and walked inside. I had worn what I would normally wear to dance: a pair of black capris and a sage green tank top. I had braided my hair tightly behind my head and twisted it into a braid for good measure. Toeing off my shoes I tiptoed inside the school – not having heard any sign of life yet.

“Hello?” I called tucking a loose strand of my curly hair behind my ear.

Awaking in my dojo with the feign trickle of light coming in from the window I sighted stretching and feeling refreshed, but I had lost much time, with the sun Rising that meant I only had a few hours before my Classes would begin, not to mention my now new student would be arriving. However when I looked over to one wall I noticed that a message had been left on the com system. Hopping up I walked over to it and listened to the prerecorded message, Night classes hm? She did have a good point however, training girls to fight was usually frowned upon since the Silver had outlawed it early on in the settlement of our lands. So I got ready for the morning by Leaving the dojo long enough to run the 15 miles it was to get home. My normal way of travel was leaping and rolling over the roofs of the houses to the edge of the district for the rich and jumped over the checkpoint into the poor district. Landing on the roof of a house i swung down and into a window of a home. I was only there for a few moments before a soft knock came at my door.

"Darius sweetheart, your Bath is drawn and your father would like to speak to you before you go back to the Dojo" Mother said and I acknowledged her with a grunt and gathered a new pair of clothing and went down to the washroom and sank into the tub of warm water. Wasting no time I went about cleaning myself and got out drying off with my fire magic and got ready to go speak with father, as always he was out back in his own little homemade training area and I smiled to him when he tossed me a Bo.

"Not to busy to still spar with your old master are you ma boy?" he asked me and I shook my head grabbing it and getting into a stance.

Our fight was a good workout, and even though I had just bathed it was worth the need of another bath before tomorrow. Throughout the fight my father and I talked idly before he attempted to strike me down and lock me into a defensive but I was able to counter him, until he brought up the topic that caused me to lose. He asked me about the soon to be Tournament and what I was going to be about meeting the Silver, which I still hadn't done. He sweeped my legs with hi bo and jumped on top of me and pinned me by my throat and smiled at me with his mischievous smile.

"You still haven't gone to see her yet have you? You work so hard on MAKING the men for the army you keep forgetting to go to meet the woman who would give you the power to LEAD the army." He said laughing and I groaned kicking him off easily which he found surprising and he landed on his feet like a cat.

"No father I don't keep forgetting, I'm not going on purpose, I'm looking to get power by title, I could care less about leading the army. If I were to go I would be none better than the rest, I would be looked upon as hounding for the hand of the woman just for the title in power." I said throwing my bo around my body and just practicing my moves a little before class. We talked a little while longer before I went on my way because I had my classes to teach and I thought about it on the way home, Silver light Eir, this was to be her 18th year, next year she would have to choose a suitor and I was one of 8 candidates thought maybe if I never showed except to the tourney I could get away with not being selected.

Once I was back to my dojo the day went rather quickly, I started with my beginners class and then into the Experts, after a short break for lunch was the kids class and then a free for all day where people could come and tour the dojo and watch some of the more senior students put on a display of their abilities. Soon however the dojo was vacant of people and I had pulled out some training material for me and Silver. When the time came that I heard talking in the distance I was well absorbed in a Bo routine. Spinning the staff effortlessly around me I struck at a Pole in the middle of the room making little noise once I heard the door open behind the entrance to the dojo. Sighing and focusing my energy I lit the bo on fire so as the wood would not burn and easily slicked the thick piece of wood in half. Spinning the Bo back to a neutral position i walked to find my new apprentice to be standing looking around for me. Standing there in nothing but my Gi pants I smiled when she gasped at my silent entrance and I dropped the Bo to my foot catching it just behind my toes and kicking it up to rest on the wall.

"Typically one bows to a master before anything when entering the sanctity of a Dojo, just like the Castle this place has rules and one of them is to show respect to me when you are here. I'll let it pass for today, don't let it happen again. Before I begin your training I need to know where you skill level sits, so start out by giving me 50 push up's, 50 pull up's and 5 minutes of plank. That should only take you an hour, and will allow me to see where you are physically.

Darius appeared, absent a shirt, and I watched him flick the staff back to its home on the wall with his toe. Impressive. Though the admiration was not long lasting though as he arrogantly demanded that in the future I paid him more respect and bowed when entering the dojo.

I had never bowed to anyone in my life. I was about to tell him this when I remembered: here I was not the Silver Light. I was only Silver. Instead I bit my lip and nodded. He then went on to detail that he wanted me to do some routine exercises. Push-ups, pull-ups and five minutes of plank. When he said it should take about an hour I realized he expected me to be incredibly weak.

It was my first chance to prove that I wasn’t worthless at least.

I nodded and set to work. Within 15 minutes I was done. I had taken strenuous acrobatic dance classes all of my life, so I was pretty athletic at lifting my own body weight anyways.

He regarded me coolly, but couldn’t keep the intrigue from his gaze. I grinned back at him.

“Alright, we’ll be starting with getting you used to moving around like a fighter and then into the basics. Depending on how long it takes you to pick that up we’ll go from there.” He informed me and then slid into the stance from last night.

I mirrored him and tried to contain my giddy excitement.

By the end of the class there wasn’t much excitement to be had. I laid on my back on the dojo floor panting and layered in a sheen of sweat. We had been through drill after drill of how to punch and kick in combos and he was relentless about making sure I didn’t stop until I got it right.

“Get up Silver. We’re done for the day, but you can’t just die on the floor when you’re tired,” he said crisply.

If I dared, I would have stuck my tongue out at him. Instead I rolled over and picked myself up with a groan. I was going to ache from head to toe when I woke up.

“Since you are a girl I have had to modify my approach a little. Boys are taught to fight from the time they are children, so they can pretty well begin sparring right from the start of classes,” Darius mused. “But I want to ensure that you learn how to strike without injuring yourself before you actually have to try to strike someone who will hit you back.”

I nodded and then nodded again when he told me that would be the focus of this week’s lessons. That sounded good. Tiring and painful, but good. I exhaled and bowed to him.
“Thank you again for being willing to train me. I understand that it is unorthodox,” I said as I rose.

“Why are you doing this anyways?” he asked pointedly.

I frowned and shook my head. “I can’t say,” I told him. “I just need to.”

That was easier than trying to lie. Of course he fixed me with a disapproving look which I met with a smile.