Trash Panda

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix watched Cassie attempt to perform the uppercut. Contrary to the grace of her last technique, she moved in a less confident manner this time. It made her clumsy and a bit awkward. Still, he could see an underlying shadow of her true potential. While she wasn’t a natural-born fighter, she definitely had the ability to become one. She just needed to be more sure of herself.

“Is this right?” Cassie asked as she readjusted her stance. “Or do I just look like a goof?”

“That looks right at a glance,” Serix replied. He stepped over to her and gave her shoulder a push, knocking her off balance. “But you’re still not using your core. You’re relying too much on your arms and legs to do the work.” He took the proper stance next to her. “See? It looks the same, but if you try to knock me over, I’m not going to budge.”

He followed up by doing a slower demonstration of the uppercut so Cassie could see the motion better. He pushed his palm upwards with his wrist bent back at a ninety degree angle, straightening his legs from their bent position to add extra force to the move. Then, he dropped his arm again and turned to Cassie.

“Do you think you get it now?” he tilted his head slightly. “Here, go back to the first position.” He waited for her to do so, and then moved to stand behind her. He rested one hand on her waist. “Remember to keep your core activated.” With his other hand, he took her wrist to guide her arm in the uppercut motion. “Also make sure you brace your shoulders. You won’t feel it until you actually hit someone, but the impact can be jarring if you’re not prepared for it. For now, just try to imagine your hand actually connecting with something.”

Serix realized he was still unnecessarily holding on to Cassie’s waist and arm. He stepped away and continued talking to cover it up, “Okay? Try it one more time.”

Its been a long time..

I did the same thing as you, haha XD
I was a member of the guild about 2 years ago, then I left and came back to a completely different forum

Welcome back!
Oh, and I'll tag on to what Master Crim said. I'm always up for RP shenanigans~ :)

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix watched Cassie execute the handspring, her leg coming close enough to his face to rustle his hair with the wind it created. Cassie moved with all the grace and poise of a female instructor he had as a child. Beautiful, yet deadly. She definitely had the makings of a talented fighter. He just had to teach her the proper techniques.

“Not bad,” Serix said when Cassie stood up straight again. “Unfortunately, that kind of move is more for looks than efficiency. Exposing your torso when you’re that close to your opponent is generally a bad idea. If I had a bladed weapon, I could have cut you in two.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “It might work on slower enemies, I suppose.

“Since you know next to nothing about combat, I’ll just start by showing you the ropes,” he moved to stand closer to Cassie so he could demonstrate. “All of your power comes from your legs and your core.” He put a hand on his own stomach. “During a fight, you need to keep these muscles tense. It helps add strength to your own attacks and it also helps lessen the sting of your opponents’. Trust me; it hurts a lot worse if you get punched when you’re relaxed.

“You should also keep your hands up by your jaw when you’re not taking the offensive,” Serix held up his own fists to demonstrate. “This way your arms protect your upper body and you’re in a position to counterattack quickly if you see an opportunity. Make sense?” He dropped his hands again and took a step back from Cassie.

“You’re not very big, so most of your attacks would be aimed upwards or to the side,” he said thoughtfully. “So to start out, you should learn how to uppercut and roundhouse kick. Those moves aren’t very hard.” He planted his feet shoulder-width apart, bending his knees slightly, and performed a simple uppercut, straightening his legs and thrusting his palm upwards. “With proper form, you get most of your power from your lower body.” He tapped his thigh. “If you rely on your arms alone, you might end up hurting yourself just as badly as your enemy.

“Now for the other move,” he adjusted his stance, placing his left foot a bit ahead of his right with his knees slightly bent. He pivoted on his back foot and effortlessly kicked his other leg out behind himself, compensating for his balance by leaning forwards so his body almost made a ‘T’ shape. He dropped his foot back to the ground and stood up straight again.

“Which one do you want to learn first?” he asked, grinning at her.

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

“I won’t,” Serix rolled his eyes as Cassie told him not to touch the bandages again. He rolled his sleeve back down over his arm and stood up from the chair. The cloth she used on his wound didn’t shift when he moved, but it didn’t feel constricting either. She had done a good job wrapping it on.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Cassie’s eyes lit up. “We've practiced with my mental abilities and all. And we've had few struggles. But, I've never actually seen you fight for real before. How about you teach me some combat? You learned that from your people right? I was never really good at fighting and that kind of thing. I'm going to have to know if we're going to survive this thing together though, so why don't you teach me?”

“You want me to teach you combat?” Serix grinned at her. He couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice. His fighting skills were one the things he prided himself in the most and he loved the adrenaline rush that came with a tough melee battle. “Of course I can.” Thinking about it now, his techniques would actually work well for her. He based them on speed rather than brute strength which, in comparison to the other Lunairan males, was an area in which he lacked. He doubted Cassie would be able to overcome one of his people by force alone and she seemed agile enough to learn his moves.

“Let’s go somewhere with more room,” Serix said, heading for the door. He walked down the hallway, poking his head into different rooms until he found an old storage space that looked like it had been emptied out. “This will work.” He stepped inside and turned to face Cassie. “How much do you know about fighting already?”

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix could feel Cassie’s eyes on him without even looking up. He didn’t have to see her face to imagine what she was thinking right now. She probably thought he was crazy. He knew he had gone a bit too far with that last sentence. Even if she didn’t know what it meant in Lunairan culture, she could probably make some educated inferences. He had definitely overstepped some boundaries.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye while he fiddled with the bandage on his arm. Her expression surprised him. He had expected to see her giving him an estranged or irritated look. But instead, she was… flustered? His own discomfort faded slightly when he caught sight of the color in her cheeks. What did she have to be embarrassed about?

Cassie recovered swiftly, however. She cleaned off her hands and took his arm to lead him back to the metal door, “We can continue working on the robot later. Let's re-wrap that wound with clean bandages. If you keep messing with the bandages I put on there it will never get healed.” Serix nodded in response. He was just grateful that she had moved on so quickly. He made a mental note to think before speaking next time. Cassie might not be so fast to forget if he slipped up again.

They headed back to the smaller storage room. Serix sat in the same chair as before while Cassie dressed his wound. When she removed the bandages, he saw only a slightly discolored line where the open wound had been before. As expected, it was healing very well. There wouldn’t even be a scar.

“It looks like it's getting better,” Cassie said, mirroring his thoughts. “I think Lunairans heal faster than humans do.”

“You think so?” Serix mused, watching as she wrapped his arm in a new bandage. He wondered if Cassie inherited the rapid healing from her mother, although he wasn’t eager to test that trait.

Cassie suddenly stopped rewrapping his arm. She looked up and their eyes met. Serix found himself unable to breathe. She really was an attractive female. That much he couldn’t deny. Did she think the same thing about him? That doesn’t matter, he chided. We’re both just trying to survive… Still, it would be nice if the feeling is mutual.

Cassie looked away and the spell was broken. He could breathe again.

“This is so weird,” she said quietly. “We've gone from hating each other, to kind of taking, to you trying to kill me, and now we're helping to survive and learn about each other. This is a lot more than I expected to happen in just three days.”

“It is kind of odd, isn’t it?” Serix smiled softly. “I’m just grateful we ended up where we are.” He wanted to slap himself. There he went again, making ridiculous comments like that. “What I mean is…” He had to correct his mistake. “I’m glad I didn’t kill you. And that we’re getting along now. Better late than never, right?”

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix watched Cassie’s hands move deftly over the robot as he waited for her response. She seemed to know exactly to do to make the machine function how she wanted it to. He tried to memorize what parts she changed and what wires she installed, but his concentration was lost on the countless tiny pieces. He suspected it would take many years if he ever wanted to learn how to build a robot like she could.

When she finally answered his question, her response didn’t improve the sense of unease he had been feeling. “I just… think that if we should get caught, one of us should get out alive, and between us, you have the better chance,” Cassie said, continuing to work on her robot.

Serix stared at her. She would be willing to lie to keep him out of trouble even if her life was on the line? She sounded almost resigned to dying at the hands of the Lunairans. It made sense that one of them should try to survive if they did somehow get caught, and he did want to live, but at the same time he didn’t like the idea of Cassie’s sacrifice. They had come too far to let it all end like that. Besides, he had already come to terms with the things he had given up to keep her safe until now. He had nothing to go back to anymore.

“Sorry, but I disagree,” Serix shook his head. “We’re in this together. If we get caught, we die together.” He wasn’t sure why he felt so strongly about this. He had only known Cassie for three days, but somehow he couldn’t bear the thought of parting ways again. Strange how quickly bonds can form between two people.

He realized that his statement sounded almost identical to the vows made by mated Lunairans. He was speaking to Cassie as if she was his mate. He absently fidgeted with the bandage on his left arm, pretending that the cloth was suddenly very interesting. It must be all the stress, he thought nervously. I’m just not thinking clearly.

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix nodded halfheartedly at Cassie’s hopeful mention of their numerous supplies. He wished it would be that simple; that the pilot would just give up after a while. But he knew that wasn’t going to happen. Even if he didn’t suspect Serix of betrayal, the pilot couldn’t just abandon the search. That would lead to incomplete data. The higher powers wouldn’t allow him to quit when there was the possibility of an unknown threat powerful enough to take out a Lunairan. After all, the entire point of the Scouts’ mission was to ensure that the Earth was a safe habitat for their people. A missing body would definitely raise questions about the security of the planet.

“Come on. Let's go work on those robots,” Cassie changed the subject. She seemed to be trying to distract herself from the knowledge that there were more hostile Lunairans running about. She stood up from the bed and gathered her robotics supplies, and then walked past where Serix stood in the doorway to head down the corridor. He followed her to the heavy metal door where she scanned her palm on the electronic pad again. She stepped into the adjoining room when the door slid open, then turned back to face him.

“How about before we start on the robot I get you into the computer's system so you can open the door when I'm not here?” she said.

You’re acting like you’re going somewhere, Serix wanted to say. He simply nodded, however, as he continued to follow her. Cassie had brought him to what looked like a control panel that was set up against one wall in the storage room. There was a strange looking machine on a table with a screen that lit up when Cassie turned it on. It actually reminded him of Lunairan technology, in a way. The only difference was that his people used holographic screens that could be projected and seemed to have more flexibility in their usage.

He watched in fascination as Cassie adeptly manipulated the machine, pulling up a page with a bunch of words and blank spaces. When she began filling out the blanks, he realized it was a registration format. She was inputting his information using human standards of measurement.

Sex: Male

That one was the easiest to understand.

Age: 20

Serix wondered how humans judged one’s age. The number Cassie used was far different from the Lunairan calculations he was familiar with. He would have entered his own age as 13.6.

Height: 6’

Again, the number was curious. Human measurements must be extremely large, because he would have put 91.44.

Serix watched her enter the rest of his approximated information until she was finished. A small electronic pad like the one by the metal door lit up automatically once the registration form had been completely filled out. Cassie took him by the wrist and guided his hand towards the pad. He placed his open palm flat against it. The surface was cool to the touch.

“Hold still,” Cassie instructed. “It’s going to scan you of recognition.” They both waited while the electronic pad blinked as it scanned Serix’s hand. After a few moments, Cassie seemed satisfied that it had done its job, so she turned it off. “There. Now you have access to this room if you ever want to work on some stuff and I’m not at hand or I’m not in the hideout or something like that.” Again, she sounded like she was going to leave. Her verbiage troubled him.

“Wanna watch?” Cassie asked as she knelt down by one of the smaller robots. “You might actually learn something if you do.”

“Sure,” Serix replied as he crouched beside her. He looked at her searchingly. “Why do you keep saying things like ‘if I’m not here?’ You said there was no reason to leave the hideout. There’s no reason for you to go outside, right?” He hoped his voice didn’t sound too desperate. He had tried to keep his tone level in a way that suggested the question was merely an offhand remark.

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix followed Cassie with his eyes as she sat down on the edge of the bed. She didn’t seem convinced that that he had made the right decision in going out to investigate. It was true that the others had the same qualifications as he did in becoming a Scout. They had all learned the same fighting techniques and they could all handle weapons efficiently. It was also true that he didn’t want to get caught in a fight, especially one involving two opponents at the same time.

And yet, he had a number of advantages. He knew the area better than the others since he had been there longer than them, so if push came to shove, he could always make a clean getaway. He had also learned from years of sparring that he was quicker than most other Lunairans, a trait he attributed to the lean build he inherited from his father. His reflexes had saved him countless times in matches against the bigger, stockier Lunairan males. If he had needed to fight the two Scouts, he would have just had to get close enough to disarm them and the battle would have been a fairly even match... but maybe he was giving himself a bit too much credit. After all, the other Scouts were just as skilled at fighting as he was. He probably would have been able to take one of them, but two? Well, at least he still had the running away option.

“Did you find out why the Scouts were out there?” Cassie asked. She seemed to have given up on lecturing him.

“I did,” Serix shifted his weight against the doorframe. “The two Scouts are here for me. I had thought the pilot would wait until tomorrow night when I’m supposed to report back to find out why my intercom failed again. I guess that was too good to be true. He’s taking matters into his own hands. I don’t know if he suspects me of treason yet. The Scouts seemed to think he’s only checking to make sure I’m still alive, but he wouldn’t tell them the truth anyway.

“Whatever the case may be, the pilot knows my signal disappeared in this area, so he sent those two to look for me. I doubt they’ll be able to find this place,” he waved a hand, gesturing to the room. “But I don’t think those two are leaving any time soon. We’ll have to be careful if we ever need to go outside.”

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix held up his hands when Cassie spun around and pointed the Silencer at him. Somehow they seemed to end up in this position more often than he would have liked. After a moment, Cassie’s eyes lit up in recognition and she put the weapon away. He let out his breath when the barrel was no longer pointed at his head. Then, she marched up to him and shoved him in the chest, making him take a step back.

Cassie looked furious. She must have woken up early enough to realize he had left the building. She knew he had ignored her request to stay in the underground hideout. He still couldn’t figure out why she was so mad, though. It wasn’t like he had done anything to put her in danger by going off on his own.

“Where were you?!” she glared at him. “Do you know how worried I was?! You had me scared to death thinking something had happened to you!”

Serix blinked. That caught him off-guard. Cassie had been worried about him? The thought made him feel warm, but he quickly pushed it away. Be logical. Of course she would be worried. He was her only way to find out about her Lunairan abilities. She still needed him. If anything happened to him, she wouldn’t be able to learn how to access her newly discovered powers.

“Sorry,” Serix apologized. “I had to go find out what those other Scouts were doing here. But you didn’t need to worry. I can look after myself, you know.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, his violet eyes glinting in amusement. “You seem to have it in your head that I’m just a big softie. Maybe that’s my own fault for letting you live.” He shrugged. “But I promise you that I can be pretty dangerous when I want to be.” He tilted his head slightly and grinned at her. “So don’t worry, okay?”

Stand Alone(Summers and AHeartlessNobody)

Serix knew Cassie was trying to keep him from putting himself in harm’s way by telling him about the Scout, but her words only gave him more of a reason to leave. He didn’t like the fact that there were others nearby. Would the Scout find the hidden storage room? He doubted it. However, they couldn’t stay holed up in there forever. They would at least have to come out to restock on supplies at some point.

And then there was the long term problem. Whether he wanted to or not, Serix couldn’t go back to the Lunairan ship after all that had happened. It looked like he would be staying on Earth with Cassie. The thought should have made him feel some sort of emptiness for leaving his people, but somehow the emotions weren’t as strong as he expected them to be. He still felt a slight twinge of regret, but the idea of staying behind to live with Cassie didn’t sound like such a bad thing. At least he would have company, right?

The second half of the long term problem wasn’t quite as easy to solve. Once the Scouts finished their mission, they would go back to the base. It wouldn’t be much longer before the rest of his people came down to inhabit the Earth. With that many Lunairans roaming about, it would be almost impossible to stay hidden.

Who knew? Maybe his people would adopt Cassie into their society because of her Lunairan blood. But then again, she might have been right in thinking they would consider her an abomination. The higher powers had decided humans were insignificant enough to wipe out of existence. They might be blind to the Lunairan part of Cassie in their disgust with her human heritage. It wasn’t worth the risk to expose her and find out.

Serix felt her grip on his sleeve fall slack. She had drifted off to sleep. He tentatively brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. She looked so peaceful – vulnerable, even – in her unconscious state. So different from the trial-hardened way she carried herself when she was awake. He wondered if she thought the same thing about him. He had gone through some difficult challenges since he came to Earth. Had they changed him? If so, was it for better or for worse?

He stood up slowly, careful not to wake Cassie with his movement. Whether or not it was the result of some internal paradigm shift, he wanted to make sure she would be alright. He had to go find out what that Scout was doing so close to their hideout.

Serix slipped quietly out of the room and headed down the hallway. He walked up the stairs at the end until he reached the trapdoor, which he exited through and meticulously concealed again when he was out. He didn’t want to chance that one of the Scouts could come snooping around and discover the entrance to the storage. Once that was done, he headed for the front room of the building.

It only occurred to him when he was ducking through the shadows between buildings – of which there were very few at this time of the day – that he was still unarmed. It would be bad news if he got caught by a Scout here. With that thought in mind, he kept an even sharper eye out for signs of movement.

It didn’t take long to find the Scout. Serix crouched behind a large metal bin in an alleyway to watch him from a distance. The Scout was just coming out of a building on the other side of the street. Serix immediately noticed two things about him.

First: his Silencer was drawn and held ready to fire at the drop of a hat.

Second: he wasn’t alone.

Shortly after the first Scout exited the building, another appeared from the building next to it – he was also carrying his Silencer out in the open. The two regrouped on the street and began talking. Serix frowned in confusion. Why were they traveling together? The pilot had instructed them to take separate routes to cover more ground. What changed? He leaned forward to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“…not here either.”

“The pilot said it happened in this general area. We have to keep looking.”

“I still don’t see the point. If the pilot lost his signal, he’s probably dead. He might have gotten attacked by those creatures. I found a whole swarm of them not long ago. There must have been at least ten. This whole side mission seems like a waste of time. We should be looking for humans.”

“You know better than to speak about the pilot that way. He has his reasons, and whatever they are, they sounded pretty important. His voice was tense when it came through the intercom.”

“Fine. I just hope none of the others get to the humans while we’re looking for a corpse. If there are any left, I want to take the first shot.”

The two continued talking, but their voices faded to unintelligible mumbles as they walked farther away from Serix’s spot behind the metal bin. He waited until they were completely out of sight, then rose to his feet. He’d learned all he needed to learn from the two Scouts. They had been sent to look for him by the pilot. They didn’t know why, but he could guess that the pilot suspected his betrayal. He had to go back to the storage.

Serix followed the same path back to the tall building, reaching it without any trouble. He slipped inside and headed to the trapdoor – again making sure that it would be concealed when he went down – then went down the stairs. He entered the hallway quietly, just in case Cassie was still asleep. Part of him hoped she was, just so she wouldn’t know he ever left.

He rounded the corner and poked his head around the side of the door leading to the bedroom, checking to see if Cassie was still in bed.