Black-Eyed Ragdoll

The Collector Village is quiet today. More than usual, that is. Over half of the despot residents are in Yellen, constructing buildings, handling sewage, or dabbling in other types of work considered beneath the ones that live in the city. According to Kyro's annoyed words, groups are chosen every day to enter Yellen, and each group, usually consisting of around ten to fifteen Collectors, is to reach a certain quota in their respective job by sundown. If they fail to reach it, they are punished.

On his way to the village, Cage had witnessed one form of punishment firsthand. A group of Rajin stood to the side of the dirt road, stripped naked. Each held a boulder over twice the size of their own bodies above their heads, a line of city guards watching them from the other side of the road, silent.

As Cage passed, one of the Rajin men crumbled beneath the weight of the boulder. The massive ball of rock dropped, bones crunching and flesh squelching as the man disappeared beneath it. All that remained of him was the blood and flesh pooled beneath the boulder. The other collectors were silent, but Cage could feel the fear swirling inside them.

One thing disturbed Cage more than watching this horrid form of torture unfold. He could imagine it, seeing Kyro or Ingen under those boulders, struggling to make it through. They were both strong, sure, stronger than any person Cage had met. However, from what he had seen, each Rajin held boulders with a size relative to their own size and strength. On top of this, Kyro mentioned that the punished were only relieved of the boulder after the guards felt they deserved it.

"I see," Kyro says, leaning against a hut, spinning his sword vertically with one finger to the pommel. The Rajin moves his hand in a flash, catching the weapon and lowering it, "My sister's intelligence has always been terrifying. Put that together with the impenetrable control of her emotions, and you've got yourself a powerful woman, with a kind of strength that a man could never hope to attain. I've never won an argument against her," He says, a wide smile on his lips.

Cage finds it hard not to smile himself as he listens to Kyro speak. The Rajin is at his happiest when talking about the people he loves.

"Yet you continued to engage in them. I was at least smart enough to keep my mouth shut," Ingen says from the side, smirking as he sits on the ground, his warhammer laid out before him. Even sitting down, the violet-skinned Rajin's bald head is almost level with Cage's.

"I can see that happening," Cage chuckles, leaning on the hut between the two men, "Being with her has made me realize you two are not the brightest crayons in the box."

Ingen looks up at Cage, brows furrowed, "Crayon? Is that some kind of food?" he asks.

Cage laughs and begins to respond, but Kyro suddenly walks from the hut, stabbing his sword into the dirt beside him, "We only have a few hours together, so let's get to what you came here for, Cage," he says, leaving his sword behind and turning as he reaches the dirt road splitting the huts.

"Alright," Cage responds, walking until he is a few feet from Kyro. A slight breeze ruffles the loose fabric of his Gi, and sweat trickles down his nape. This hair really needs to go, Cage thinks. It weighs on his head, and the fact that he has not brushed it at all does not help.

Kyro spreads his feet and clasps his hands behind his back, "You will not touch a weapon for at least the first week. That can change depending on the speed of your progress, but first and foremost, you must learn to fight with your hands," he says, glancing at the one sleeve that flaps in the wind, "Hand."

Cage furrows his brows, "Why? Wouldn't it be better to learn to use a weapon first?" he asks, "As you so kindly pointed out, I only have one arm. I'm at a disadvantage when it comes to a fistfight."

Kyro gazes down at Cage, eyes solid, "You are correct in one area. With one arm, you have fewer opportunities to attack. However, that is why you will learn to use your legs as well," he says, "Hand-to-hand combat will not be the only purpose of this first week. You are weak, and unless your opponent is a child, you will lose in a battle of might. To make up for this, you will need to rely on speed and reflexes. Dodging an attack requires you to shift your body weight on a dime, and right now, adding the weight of a weapon will only stunt your progress."

Cage hums, nodding. It annoys him to think about it, but Kyro is right. While he is definetily stronger than when he awoke on Kalar, he is still weak by any standard. Though Cage plans to find out if he can change that. That 'free time' will not go to waste.

"And another thing," Kyro speaks again, "While I am training you, we are not 'friends', or anything of that nature. I have ten years of experience on the battlefield, and as far as I can tell, you've never even held a weapon. You will do as I say, and will not question my lessons again. Understood?"

"Understood," Cage responds, straightening his back. He does not know if Kyro was an instructor in the army, but it is obvious this is not the Rajin's first time.

"Good," Kyro says, looking over Cage's body with keen eyes. A few Collectors watch from the side, silent, expressions the same as always despite the strange event, "Lose the sandals."

Cage nods, doing as he is bid. He throws the sandals to the side and turns back to Kyro.

"Now," Kyro says, bringing his feet together, hands dropping to his sides, "Attack me with everything you have. I'd like to know what I'm working with."

Cage nods, excitement boiling in his body. This is what he's been waiting for. After witnessing the absolute strength Kyro displayed against the centipede, he found himself hungry for the same kind of strength. Cage breathes in and out slowly, steeling himself.

Cage sidesteps, circling Kyro slowly, eyes focused on his opponent. He reaches the Rajin's side, and Kyro doesn't even spare a glance for his student.

Cage bursts forward, leaping from the ground with his arm coiled back. Cage easily reaches Kyro's head, flying through the air at a speed he is surprised by.

A pale fist flies towards Kyro's head, coming within inches of his temple. Something appears before Cage's fist at the last moment, a massive blue hand that grabs his own. One second, he is looking at Kyro, and the next, his back is on the dirt. Cage gasps, rolling to his hands and knees, the air knocked from his lungs.

"So absorbing the parasite and centipede did make you stronger. Good to know," Kyro says, still gazing forward, "Again."

Cage rises to his feet, hand to his chest. His back thumps with pain, but he smiles through it. He backs away, his face, hair, and feet smeared with dirt. Cage circles his teacher again until he is face to face with the Rajin. It is useless to try and come from any other angle, Cage thinks.

A cloud of dust swirls in the air again as another advance is made. Cage halts a few feet from Kyro, the thin muscles in his legs tightening as he dashes in a diagonal line. He stops beside his opponent, launching an upward punch to the ribs. Cage's vision is suddenly covered in blue, and what feels like a hammer smashes into his face. He flips through the air, the world spinning around him until he lands on his neck.

---

Kyro turns as his student's body tumbles across the dirt, the black robe on Cage's body collecting dirt all the while. He hums, watching the man rise from the ground. The Rajin wonders if he is being too rough, but as he remembers the startling sight he witnessed in that ravine, the thought dissipates. Even the quick healing of a Rajin can not compete with something that quite literally grows skin in seconds.

"It is good you realized a simple approach would not work. On the second try at that," Kyro says as Cage walks towards him. Kyro is surprised at his student's ability to stay calm. Most would be frustrated by the overwhelming difference in skill, unable to think about anything other than their failure.

Several more advances are made, each ending with Cage on the ground several meters away and Kyro standing in the same place since the first attack. Every time, Cage gets up and tries again without a second thought. Punches, kicks, quick stops, dashes, leaping attacks, each approach is different from the last.

The strength and speed of the attacks never change, not one bit. However, as each attempt is made, Kyro is more and more unsettled. When Cage dashes in, his black eyes are focused on his opponent only. Even when flying through the air, Kyro's student somehow keeps his eyes where they need to be.

Eventually, it becomes obvious to Kyro that Cage is doing something that should be impossible for someone so new to combat. To the one-armed man, there is only himself and his opponent. There are no thoughts in his head other than his next attack, his next advance.

As far as Kyro knows, any other living being would need many years of meditation and training to achieve this level of focus. It requires mastery over the mind, the ability to dash away every unneeded thought on command.

Kyro passed it off as a fluke when he first began to notice, but with each attack, that excuse was cracked more, until it finally broke altogether. Then a realization came to him, and it almost made him laugh in the middle of training. Why should this be impossible for Cage? Kyro has already seen the man do impossible things. Things that make no sense by any standard the Rajin man follows.

Cage bursts toward Kyro again, those black eyes wide, all-seeing. His face is relaxed, as it has been for some time now. It stays that way through it all, even when Cage leaps and throws a punch that is almost caught, and even when he pulls the fist back and throws a kick at Kyro's head. The attack is lacking efficiency, but the intent is clear.

Kyro blocks the kick with the back of his hand, and Cage drops to a crouched position, instantly moving to throw another attack.

"That is enough," Kyro says, grabbing the back of Cage's robe, causing the man to be choked by his own clothing.

Cage is silent for a moment, then his eyes widen. He looks around until finally meeting Kyro's gaze, "We're done? Already?" he asks.

Kyro furrows his brows, releasing his grip on the robe, "Have you been paying attention? It has been four hours," he says, looking up at the sky with a hand over his eyes to shield them from the light of Sevi, "Maybe even five."

"Oh," Cage mutters, pausing for a moment. He looks down at his robe and attempts to dust it off. Though with the amount of dirt caked on the fabric, it proves futile. The student looks up at Kyro, face unreadable as always, "How did I do?" Cage asks.

Kyro hums, arms folded before him, "For the first day, much better than I expected. There are many things you need to work on though. Footwork, weight distribution, use of your body to generate power, all things that I expected," he says, looking down at Cage, "I will give you ways to improve all of these things, but if you truly want to improve, then you should do some thinking yourself."

For now, Kyro decides not to mention Cage's tunnel vision. There is still a chance it was all a fluke, a result of sleep deprivation or starvation. Kyro will have to wait to know if that is true.

Cage nods, "I'll do my best," he responds, "I should probably be heading back to Yellen. I have a feeling Yoru will not be happy if I'm late."

"She would definitely not be pleased," Kyro chuckles, unfolding his arms and patting Cage's shoulder, "Good work today, Mav-" he catches himself, mouth agape.

Cage gazes up at the Rajin, "It's okay, Kyro. I understand," he says.

Kyro's lips thin to a line, and he nods. He watches as Cage leaves, waving farewell to Ingen with a smile on his face. He will have to ask Cage what gave him the ability to focus like that, but right now, another thing threatens to take over his mind.

The Rajin thinks about his nephew nearly every second. That smile as the lava took him from this world haunts Kyro, even in his dreams. If he walked from the battlefield that day, leaving Mavyl to succumb to his wounds, would he still feel this way? Would he still feel that he is the reason for his nephew's death?

Kyro sighs, numb. These questions have bogged his mind since that disastrous day, and when he thinks of the answers, it frightens him. But they just won't stop.

Is it right to give someone another day to live if they wish to die? And if so, how many times can you save that person before it no longer is?

Kyro's head thumps, pulsing with an untouchable pain. He is tired, so tired. He looks at Cage, merely a black figure in the distance now. He looks at his hut, which is the one Ingen sits beside. The Rage Stones. Kyro needs them. He grimaces. Will there be a day when he is not a slave to his urges?

So many questions.