The Second Society [Open / Training]

A low groan came as the man stretched his arms wide, rising from the sheets of his bed, his normally slightly raised hair a considerablemess. He hadn't slept easily last night. Then again, who would if they had just been told everything they were lead to believe was a lie...

Well, actually... That wasn't what messed with him. What messed with him most was the fact that he had witnessed the ability to do things that no mortal should be able to, he witnessed them done with little restraint. It wasn't the vampires who had disrupted his thoughts, they only made him more aware of what was really out there. It wasn't even the attack on Brice. It was something more, it was the brutality between the two. Perhaps he was just too far out of the loop, but the simple need to kill one another was something he could not comprehend. Also, knowing that there were other vampires far less controlled and even less agreeable than the two he met, as well as apparent lycanthropes of god only knew how many sub-breeds, the simple fact that people had been forbidden from the truth caused him to loose sleep more than anything. He was no knight in shining armor, but Max knew that what he heard and saw last night was wrong. Now he knew that his own survival was reliant on being able to withstand this new dark world to which he had been introduced. After all, if he were right, as he often was, the unfortunate truth of last night was that he only grazed the surface of the truly dark underlayers of this society of... I guess a good general term might be dark breeds. There were still too many questions that needed be answered, and he knew Razeil couldn't provide all of them. He had said himself that he was not very high on the food chain, but had also shown that he was quite good at surviving under the radar.

Today was not going to be another photo-op for Max, he had already sent his pieces into the office for the editors and actual writers to analyze and piece together, and had gotten his just pay for it. That left today open for training, but not like any training he had ever done before. This wasn't going to be just for recreation, this was to be for survival.

After grabbing breakfast and his leather bag, complete with his camera, three bottles of water, and his first-aid kit, he used his normal appartment exit, the window. This time he began running towards the lower commons, one of the best areas for free-running in the city, at least if you didn't mind risking your life from shoddy construction. This was his usual training ground, and today t would be used to train like he never had before.

I walked in the rain, letting it pore over me with no attempt to block it. I had emerged from my apartment just to embrace it. Each drop was cold and sent a chill down my spine that let me know I was still alive. My finger tips rested just inside the pockets of my soaked jeans. and my sneakers sloshed with each step. the air bit at my ears and nose and stung my chest with each breath. Yet I breathed deeply, taking the discomfort to heart, to live was to feel pain, so to enjoy life was to embrace the pain of every moment. at lest I didn't have to smell the polluted air, or see to many people. I found a desserted parking lot and laid down in the center, staring into the grey sky as the rain pelted my face and eyes. I imagend that I was laying in the center of a street, waited for the next car. They wouldnt be able to see me, the rain was too heavy, and my dark clothes blended in well. I wonderd what I would think of last if I truly did die, would I see anyone welcoming me to the other side? was there even a god? I doubted all of that, I expected oblivion most likely. A quick and bitter end with no meaning, no poetic ending, just nothingness. I smiled and closed me eyes "If I'm dead, I guess I won't care either way..." I said softly.

Max ran along the rooftops, dashing through the cold rain, hitting each crude rooftop one after the other. He slid along loose shingles and soaked wood, water running under his feet as he hit each stone surface. Several of the unfortunates stuck in the rain caught sight of him with ease, many of whom pointing the madman out to their friends as he grabbed a flagpole, using it to spin his way down to solid ground before running along benches and the like. He had to be faster, he had to be stronger. He ran furiously, catching sight of a group hauling a large case of some kind out of a store, easily kicking off of a nearby bench to then hit over the top of the store, barely landing a flip on the other side and immediately going into a sprint from there. The men were startled, to say the least, yelling insults and crazed terms after him, not that he cared enough to acknowledge them.

He had already entered the lower commons, and was looking for a good point where he wouldn't meet much interference for training, someplace with plenty of flat surfaces. It wasn't yet time to learn to fight them, and Max knew that, for now he just needed to be able to keep pace, or maybe even out run them. He was drawing alot of attention by now, having run along multiple walls to avoid pedestrians and jumped his way over numerous cars. The shouts of surprise and comments followed him in growing mass, some people actually having the gaul to try and keep pace with him. None of them succeeded for more than a few moments at his pace.

Max grinned when he spotted a mostly vacant lot, running for it and jumping to the bench in front of one of two blocking fences. It had two buildings parallel to one another on either side of it and chain-link fences both in the front and back. He stepped in quick succession from the seat to the back of the old bench, jumping to the fence, his hand hitting the top rail and propelling the man over it easily, making a clean landing on the inside not five feet from the other male who was laying there. He stood, breathing a bit heavily and looked to the other, tilting his head, "Oh, hey. Didn't see you there."

I was pulled from my meditation of the after life by a friendly voice, too friendly. My eyes opened as I stared from the groud. Completey soaked and dirty from laying in the lot for about ten minutes I was more than a little shocked to see anyone here. Why was he so happy? how could anyone have a cheerful mood in this weather, in this place, it confused me. I sat up the soaking wet clothing hugging my body closely, showing every muscle undernether. "I'm sorry..." I murmured, as I hauled my thin frame to my feet, the wet hait clinging to my face and neck.

Max raised a brow, already unstrapping his bag, "What for? Not your fault I couldn't see you throught the haze." he said, taking out one of his waterbottles and taking a drink. "What're you doing out here anyways?"

I glanced back with the eyes of a man who'd lost himself long ago. "I'll get out of you way" I said in a soft barely audiable driry tone. I puased a moment, I wanted to say more, but I was not the best at talking to people. I settled for "Sorry to have bothered you." and turned once more.

Max moved over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Whoa now, you didn't bother me. I was asking a question, not demanding you leave. You're more than welcome to stick around here." he said. He had run into guys like this before, and hated seeing such broken shells. Small cracks could end a life, and usually did.

"Besides, if anything I bothered you my almost landing on you."

I stopped and looked at the hand on my shoulder, it was odd. My emrald eyes traveled up to meet the othere's face for a moment before looking away. "oh..." I said not really knowing why I was there. I could tell the truth, but in past all that got me was strange looks, therapy and heavy medication. I lied then. "I was meditating..." I murmured, it wasn't a far leap from what I was actually doing, more of twisted truth really.

Max looked him over for a moment, not an odd look, just a pondering one. He was thinking to himself, "Odd place to meditate. What's this kid's story, I wonder, why is he so distant."
He spoke once more, "What on?" he asked, moving his hand from the other's shoulder and moving over to the least muddy spot to stretch out a bit.

I turned to watch him, thankful I had avoided the stare of critasism, I hated that stare, the one people gave when they thought there was somthing wrong with you. But he was nice, and so I didn't retreat as I normaly would have. "just on my self..." I answered watching him. "what are you doing here?" I asked, it seemed like an abvious question, I was weird so doing weird things was not so odd for an odd person. But he seemed pretty normal, so it truly was weird.

He gave a slight groan from stretching his back, speaking shortly after, "I'm gonna do some training." he said, moving over to his leather sack, double checking the water proof case to make sure it was fully closed. After that, he looked towards a wall, "You're welcome to join, or just watch. Doesn't much matter to me."

He ran towards the wall, hitting it right foot first and propelling himself a far up as he could go before gravity overwhelmed him, kicking himself off and doing a backflip, though he was somewhat rough on the landing.

I watched him silently as he explained. Maybe he was odd to I thought to my self as said he was training. I followed as he ran up the wall and did an impressive backflip. "What are you trying for?" I asked looking down at him as he landed. "I'm not very good at that sort of stuff..." I added on the end looking back towards the wall.

Max stood, looking to his muddy knee, "I'm trying to land it well." he said plainly, "I already can do the tricks in the air, it's the landings I have issues with, even on simple wall-runs." he said, looking back to the other, "Oh, I never mentioned my name. I'm Max, what might I call you?"

I studdied the wall a bit as he explained and nodded rubbing my chin with my hand. Wall run huh? While he was still taking I took a run at his, and gave a grunt as I jumped up and onto the wall. it looked easy enough but as my foot slide out from under me against the wet surface I fely my body tumble backwards and landed with a muddy slap onto the hard surface of the ground. "Evan..." I stated my name as I sat up.
"I prefer this..." I said as I got to my feet eyes closed. I held my arms together in front of my chest. "spirit of the blade I command" I whispered as I ran a hand along my right forearm creating a barely visable blade. I then opened my eyes and swung at the air with the blade, sending out a sonic wave that crashed into the wall creating a crack between the bricks.

Max looked, his eyes instantly flashing in recognition, "He's one of them..." he thought to himself. He was not startled, not fearful, but curious. He looked to the other, speaking too softly for any but Evan to hear over the pouring rain, "You're a Hitorinji, aren't you?" he asked, turning to the other with a bit more firm of a footing, ready to run, or fight, if necessary.

I glanced back him then turned "yeah, aren't you?..." I asked but it was kind of obvious that he wasn't by his reaction. "I'm sorry, I just thought because, well you said you were training, I figured you meant against the Oni..." I looked down in failure, I'd probably ruined my only chance at making a friend, I had a habbit of scareing people, why did I think today would be any different.

He chuckled, "Not yet, I'm not." he said, leaning against the wall, "But fate has an odd way of showing me the right direction." he took out his die, the steel frames held in his palm as he rolled it slightly, letting it come to rest at a 20, which he glanced at, "And right now it's telling me you're alright." he said, looking up to him.

Max raised a brow, taking a few steps back, "Well, I don't know how fair this will be... I don't even know how to become a Hitoreinji, let alone how to face one." he said, taking up a slightly loose stance, "But if you want to spar, I'm all for it." He gave a slight grin, the spectators growing in number now that combat stances were set.

Max nodded, giving a short dash before a full spin-kick, trying to hit the other somewhere in the general torso region. The unfortunate truth of this lot, however, was that it was slick and muddy, causing him to move much quicker than expected in his spin, the slippery surface causing the back of his knee, not his heel, to be the incoming impact point.

As he came at me and was spinning around, I lifted my hands to grab his heel. However in the final moments of the attack, I realized that he was much closer than I expected and hand to adjust my angle grabbing his Knee instead of his foot. The icy rain couples with the slick surfaces didn’t help my grip and I ended up stopping his knee just above hip with low “Eh…” from the force. But I now had his leg, and though I wasn’t a professional melee fighter I knew that was an opening. Still holding his leg, I had reach over the smaller male and used it, using my leg to trip his own from under him and dropping him to ground with an open palm to diaphragm to give more bite to impact.

Max was caught off guard, not used to fighting much at all, nor to doing so on abnormally slick surfaces. He grabbed the man's shoulders, lifting himself up, making the palm hit his pelvis rather than his diaphragm, but, unfortunately the new angle also made the drop hit his upper back harder, his head jerking back and hitting the mud. Fortunately it was a somewhat soft landing, but now was his opening. He brought his still-free leg to the back of the other's knee, spinning his body to try and release his restrained limb and break free.

RP Discontinued, lack of activity...

Lame...

Max's total WC: 1446
TEXP: 2

Updated