Creatures
Chapter 3

“This is Shorty,” Talon spoke as an introduction as they entered a large room in the building on the other side of the house.

“Good day to you miss.” A very tiny man came bounding across the room and shook Karen’s hand. “I will be your guide for the testing today. I am also in charge of all the combat sessions and programs, so we will see quite a bit of each other from here on out.” He grinned at her as he looked her up and down.

“Well now, you are certainly not what I expected from Talon’s partner, but I think that you will do quite nicely. He needs someone to shake him about a bit.”

“Thank you,” Karen replied, then added under her breath. “...I think.”

Shorty laughed. He had very good ears. “Trust me hon, it is a compliment. We have been waiting two years to see what would happen to the big bad Talon when he finally got his partner and I am sure you will not let us down. Shall we get started?”

“All right.”

Karen followed Shorty across the room and sat in a chair. For the next hour, Karen had x-rays, scans, a full physical and it was a FULL physical done to her.

Lucky for her though, there was a female assistant there that did certain parts of the exam, though Karen refused to remove any article of clothing until both Talon and Shorty had left the room. Not that it was hard to remove Talon. The moment he was told he needed to leave, he was more than happy to oblige and for some reason that made Karen a little agitated.

Talon stood outside the door and waited for the all clear. His mind drifted for a moment back to the night before. He had spent most of it in Karen’s room, watching over her at the command of Lily and Eric. He was a bit uneasy about that seeing that she had no knowledge that he had been there for that amount of time, but he was more scared of Lily to disobey her. She may look sweet, but you did not want to upset her.

He had spent his night gazing at the woman that was destined to be his partner and wondered how he had gotten himself into this mess. She was nothing like he had imagined and it frightened him when he saw just how fragile she was. How was he going to be able to protect her?

As they continued to wait, his mind wandered back to his first meeting with Mr. Lee. He had been in an underground fighting ring at the time. He had had no home, no family and no ties to anyone or anything. He just wandered from fight to fight, taking down all that stood before him at the request of his current employer. He had had no friends, just those that feared him and wanted his protection and he always went to the highest bidder, changing employers at a moments notice.

His thoughts continued to roam, taking him back to the day he had arrived here and met Lily and Eric. He had immediately felt jealousy attach itself to him at their bond and he had wanted to feel that connection with another being so bad that he had decided to continue down this road.

Of course, He had given up on that dream after a year had passed and he had been no closer to having a home and that connection then he had been before.

Now he had been bonded to another person, but, though he was aware of her, he was still no closer to the connection he saw in the others. He should have realized that the bonding would not immediately make everything right, but damn if he did not know how to act around another person, let alone relate and speak to them. It did not help that Karen was even more of a mystery to him than the others. Why did it have to be her?

He wondered if she would be able to handle the pain she was about to go through or if he was wasting his last remaining hope on her. If she failed... could he protect her because he seriously doubted she would be any good at protecting herself. She seemed too fragile for that.

He let out a sigh, he had best keep himself apart from her so as not to make matters worse. He was in no condition to help or protect another when he could do neither for himself.

“I am done.” The assistant stepped out of the room. “She is getting dressed now, but you may go in when you are ready.”

Shorty jumped up from where he had been watching Talon battling with himself.

“Great! I will go get the next test ready. Talon, could you bring her to me when she is ready?”

“Yeah, sure.” Talon pushed away from the wall and started to pace back and forth waiting for her to appear. After a few moments, he decided that he had waited long enough. He knocked once and opened the door.

He walked in to see Karen’s back to him and her struggling to button the back of her shirt. Talon sighed. He walked across the room and brushed her hands away, buttoning the buttons.

“Let me.” He tried unsuccessfully to avoid touching the smooth skin underneath. “You do know that no one wears these types of shirts anymore right?”

Karen felt his hands moving and brushing the back of her neck.

“Stop moving. I cannot get this last button if you keep jerking around so.” He growled out, his hands caressing her skin again. It was smooth and warm to the touch.

“Sorry,” Karen muttered. “It is tickling.”

Karen tried to keep herself from moving while Talon finally got the last button done. “Come on, Shorty is waiting.” Talon moved towards the door, taking a deep breath to steady his hands.

“Thank you,” Karen said as they headed down the hall to another room.

Talon shrugged in response, opening the door for her and allowing her to precede him into the room. He had been watching her interact all morning with others and he did not know what to make of her. At times she was quiet and skittish, other times she was intelligent, asking just the right questions and giving her entire attention to the task at hand. Still other times, he noticed that she seemed to be hesitant and unsure of herself, especially in the company of others. Even now she seemed to be a bit afraid of what was happening to her.

She never seemed completely at ease in her surroundings and he had to wonder if her personality would change as she became accustomed to her surroundings. As she was now, she would not last very long. She would need to toughen up and quickly if she was going to make it to the end of her initial training.

“All right.” Shorty sat back in his chair much later. “I am done with my testing.”

Karen let out a sigh. “Thank goodness.”

“Now on to combat.”

“What! I thought you said you were done.”

“With the general testing of your health, but now I need to evaluate your fighting skills and create a program specifically tailored towards your strengths and weaknesses. Could you please step into the next room and I will start the program.” Shorty started to push buttons on his control panel but stopped as Karen entered the next room.

“Now,” he spoke into the mike, “They will not kill you but you can and will take damage from them so be careful. We try to keep the training as realistic as possible. That way we can build up your stamina and healing abilities while preparing you for the real deal. Good luck.”

“But...” Karen argued, “I do not know anything about fighting and I have no idea what to do.”

Shorty waved away her concerns. “Relax. This is a program that is merely designed to activate your power and get a general idea of how much talent you already have and how well you can control it at this stage, nothing more.”

“But...”

“Let it go and trust the man.” Talon stepped in. “We have all had to go through this as well and you are not the only person that has come through here without any fighting ability.”

Karen looked up at him.

“Fine. It is going to get ugly in here though and I will not be laughed at for it. Understood?” she grumbled.

Talon looked at her in surprise. It was the first time she had directed anything at him other then a question or a command and her sudden change in attitude threw him for a loop. He could not stop the grin that flashed across his face for a second.

“Are we complaining already?” He asked innocently.

“Absolutely. So shut up and let me make a fool of myself in peace.” Karen cheeked back at him, surprising him even more.

Karen caught the second grin that crossed his face. Damn the man is really hot when he smiled. Now, what was she going to do? She would be in a lot of trouble if he grinned at her like that with any kind of regularity.

Karen swallowed hard and took a calming breath. She needed to concentrate on the task at hand and try to keep her ‘damage’ to a minimum or they would be scraping bits of her off the floor and walls when she was done.

“All right. Let’s get this over with.” She stood there and waited with dread knotting her stomach. “This will be the shortest test you will ever give, I am sure of it.” She muttered to herself as she tried to keep her nerves steady.

“Ready?” She heard Shorty come across the mike again.

She nodded, “Bring it on.”

A being like the one that had attacked her suddenly appeared on her right and she jumped away just as his hand shot out to grab her.

“Nice reflex,” Shorty commented.

“You did that on purpose.” She did not tell him that she had already been through an experience like that before. It might hurt his feelings.

“Of course. I need to see how fast you are and how good your instincts are.”

As another creature came after her, she instinctively flung her arms up to cover her face, bracing for the impact that never came. Well, it kind of did. She opened her eyes to see what the pressure she was feeling was from. There, all around her was a very faint barrier that the being was trying to break through.

“Good. You are able to produce a barrier already, not really strong, but it is there. Next.”

“Wait!” Karen watched as the creature disappeared. “Let me catch my breath.”

“No time.”

Another being took its place. It was bigger and was wielding two wicked looking blades. It started to stalk towards her and although she could not see its face because of the cloak that covered it from head to toe, she was sure that it was grinning at her.

“Now what? How am I supposed to defend against that? Not to mention that it is creepy looking and I am sure that it is grinning at me underneath there.”

“How do you know that?”

“Trust me, a girl knows. Besides, It just seems to be something that you would do.”

“You barely know me!” Shorty exclaimed.

“Exactly.”

“If you have time to chat, then you are not working hard enough,” Talon commented dryly, interrupting their banter.

“Why don’t you try dodging him first.”

The being lunged and Karen ducked and rolled away from it, coming up a bit dizzy and disorientated but no worse for wear, but it was fast and she struggled to stay away from it.

“Not bad, see if you can pick up your speed a bit.”

Karen quickly found the pattern in the movements the creature was using and found a rhythm that she was able to use to keep away from it. Slowly the speed started to pick up as she grew comfortable.

“Watch out!” Talon called suddenly as the being suddenly changed its pattern. She tried to dodge and her foot slipped out from underneath her, causing her to fall, but saving her from getting her head chopped off at the same time.

“Why did you do that?” Shorty asked him and Talon just shrugged his comment away. He could not have explained it to himself, let alone anyone else.

She flung up her arms again and felt the barrier go up, a bit stronger this time. This being was stronger too and she felt him start to immediately chip away at it. She would not be able to sustain it for very long against this one.

“Good. Next.”

Karen stood. She was already dog tired and wondered how long she had been going and how much more there was to it.

“She is tiring,” Talon commented watching the woman’s heavy breathing and a bit surprised at how well she was holding up. Much better then they had originally thought she would.

“Yup. Let’s see how long she can go.”

“You are an evil person.”

“Thank you. It is my job.” Talon shook his head at that comment. He did not think that he wanted to piss Shorty off. He might take away the restriction in his next training session if he did.

Karen watched as the creature disappeared and yet another took its place. This one was much taller but still shrouded in the same black cloak as the others. She did not want to know what was underneath. This one held a long thin pole in his hands and stood still, just watching her, or at least, she thought he was just watching her.

“Now what?” She asked.

A table appeared on her right. On it was a set of metal rings.

“Slip them on your wrist for now. They will become your weapon. That is if you can figure out how to activate them. If not, he will take you out.” Came the answer.

Karen sighed. She was in trouble. She picked up the rings and slipped them over her hand. They were huge when she put them on, but they shrank down to fit snuggly against her wrist where they glowed faintly against her skin. Now how was she to activate them?

“Do you think she will figure it out?” Shorty asked.

“No.”

“Here he comes,” Shorty called out and allowed the being to go after her.

Karen noted that he was even faster, stronger and bigger than the others and she was just able to get out of the way before she took some serious damage from him.

How did she activate the weapon and how in the world did two bracelets become weapons, to begin with?

“Well?” Shorty asked Talon.

Talon watched as she avoided another attack and ran across the room. She had exceeded his expectations. She was quick and flexible and determined, but she was completely inexperienced in the fighting ring. She was doomed.

“She will fail. She does not have the necessary knowledge yet.”

“So like you to assume that. We will see.” Shorty sat back to watch. He could only hope that she proved Talon wrong, for both of their sakes.

Karen leaned behind the back of a boulder, she was tired and she had gotten a few knicks from that last attack. She looked at the cut on her shoulder and watched the blood run down her arm and darken her shirt. She had liked this shirt too. She grimaced at the pain. Damn it, she thought, how was she supposed to activate them.

“Come on, Activate.” She spoke to her wrists and then let out a laugh. This was not like the movies or cartoons where they only had to speak and it worked. She felt the boulder split apart and tried to roll away, but was not fast enough and was flung up against the nearby wall. she could feel the bruising and knew that she had received some cuts from the small pieces that had been flung along with her.

Damn it. Now what? She slowly stood up. She would have to take a stand. She could not win, but she could go down fighting.

“Seems she has decided to take a stand, with or without weapons,” Shorty commented as he watched the blood trickle down her wrist and start to be absorbed by the bracelet. If Karen had had the opportunity to look, she would have seen that the blood did not flow beyond the bracelet as a normal bracelet would have allowed it to do, but she was too busy trying to survive to notice a small thing like that.

Karen finally took not when the bracelet was started to glow and as she watched, it started to take a different shape. She had never seen anything like it. One second it was a simple metal bracelet, the next, a double edge sword that met at a handle in the middle. It looked like a deformed S with a blade above and below her hand. Its twin formed in her other hand and she noticed light markings appeared along the length of the blades.

Not bad, she thought. I can work with this. Maybe...

Now all she had to do was figure out how to use them.

“Well what do you know, she activated them.”

“Humph.” Talon grunted, “She will never be able to use them.” He was impressed though. Through sheer dumb luck, she had been able to activate them and they were nice looking weapons too. The woman was full of surprises today.

“Like I said before, she does not have the knowledge to use them properly yet.”

“It is not over yet,” Short commented.

Karen let the being come in close at the last possible second, putting up one blade to block the pole, hoping that she was strong enough to hold it at bay. To her surprise, the blade traveled through the pole and took off the hand of the being as she fell forward. She had braced for an impact and lost her balance when there was none.

She twisted so as not to fall on her face and swung her blade around causing the back part to slice the head right off of the being. She went down and landed on her butt, the body of the being falling on top of her. She quickly climbed out from underneath it and crawled away. Sitting a fair distance from it as its black blood spilled on the floor.

Talon and Shorty just stared. She had done it. she had killed it.

“Remarkable.”

“Luck.”

Karen stared at the body as her weapons once again became bracelets, only this time with the etching still visible and felt the tears come. She had never, ever... she could still feel the blade slice off the hand and then the neck. She started to shiver. She had taken a life, albeit, an inhuman life, but it was still a life.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and immediately shot a hand out to defend herself, putting up a shield, but it was too late, Talon was touching her so the shield went around him as well. He had stopped her hand with his own and hauled her up against his strong chest, holding her close, not saying a word. He did not have too. The look on her face was enough for him to know that she was in pain from what she had done.

He had taken off running the instant that he had seen her drop her head. He had felt her sorrow and it went through him like a knife. He did not realize that he was already able to sense her emotions if they were especially strong, but now he knew and he wondered it if was the same for her and hoped it was not. He was not someone that she needed to be influenced by.

“You did quite well.” Shorty came up to them, somberly speaking. He had never seen anything like that and it was exciting, yet scary.

Karen pulled away from Talon’s warmth. She felt a ping of regret, but she was determined not to get attached. She was battered and bruised and probably needed to see a doctor, but she had survived and not only that, she had won. She looked over at the body that was still there and knew that she would never get over taking a life, but that she would have to do it if she wished to protect others.