The next morning, when Kavala arrived to the practice room, she found that one of the students had been missing. After her and the other students had practiced for a short bell, there was a small commotion heard outside of their room. Peeking outside of the door, the third student of Hatot's was speaking to one of the assistants to the Grand Master. The assistant slowly looked up towards the exit, before looking to some of the students within the building. Quick, sharp orders were given as the Assistant called upon five other students, were called upon as all of them began heading for the exit, Hatot's name coming up in conversation as well as the word "confrontation." Hatot's student looked over to both Kavala and the other students as well, motioning for them to come with as he moved out of the exit as well.
Following along, the group made their way through the city, heading for the gates. The Assistant and his students kept quiet, and tried to avoid gazes as they made their way, trying not to draw a crowd in the process. Upon stepping out of the city gates, the men hurried around the cities outer walls that ran adjacent to the river. Not far from there, they found what they sought as Hatot was currently backing away slowly from a man who screamed insults and obscenities to Hatot's face, holding a short sword in his direction.
"I'll have your guts over the ground, you petching shyke," the man, obviously inebriated, shouted at Hatot. "You crushed my jug of wine!"
Hotot kept his hands up in a defensive posture as he continued to slowly back away from the human. "I swore to you that I did not see you, or your jug laying near the river like that. As well, I apologized and offered to replace your damaged jug as well as it's contents," Hatot said as his head suddenly jerked back when the man swung his sword at Hatot's face. "Please, I urge you from further taking this course of action. I really do not wish to fight you."
The assistant stopped, suddenly holding his arms out to block the progress of the students. "Wait for now," he simply said. "Hatot may be able to handle this lout without slipping."
Hatot continued to move back, staying out of the range of his swing. His body seemed to move quickly, despite his size. Such was displayed when Hatot leaned back, and turned, slipping around behind his attacker when he was getting too close to the city walls. "Please, stop. I implore you," Hatot pleaded again, his arms still raised slightly motioning for his attacker to stop.
The human just screamed in reply, as he turned, stumbling over his own feet slightly in his hazed state, but maintaining his balance as he lunged forward, his sword held overhead. He swung the sword down towards Hatot's head. This time, however, Hatot did not back away, as he raised his left arm. There was a loud ping that rang out in the air as the blade of the human's sword came slammed into the metal teeth of Hatot's gauntlet. The teeth along the forearm of the gauntlet finally came into play as it grasped the edge of the blade, halting the swords movement. "Drunken fool," Hatot responded harshly as his finger's along his right hand extended, tightening before his hand was thrust upwards quickly. The movement itself was almost a blur of motion as the tips of Hatot's fingers jammed into a small pit like area found along the human's elbow joint. The force disturbed the small bundle of nerves there as a tingling sensation entered the man's forearm quickly after.
The man stumbled backwards, a grimace appearing on his face as his free hand quickly reaching over as he grasped his elbow. His sword suddenly dropped to the ground as he began to flick his hand through the air as though it were burning. A look of anger crossed the man's features as he looked to Hatot, almost growling in reaction. "Stop this now," Hatot then said, no longer pleading. "If you continue this course of action, I can not guarantee that you will escape without serious harm."
The human didn't listen as he rushed forward at Hatot, his left hand extended outwardly, reaching for Hatot's throat. Hatot extended the fingers along both of his hands this time. Quckly stepping to the right said, his left fingers were brought in a downward motion this time, the tips jabbing along the man's wrist joint as his arm shot down for a moment and he gave a quick grunt of pain. Hatot followed up as the finger's along his right hand jabbed into the man's side, stretching skin between ribs for a split second as the tips of his fingers sent a vibration through the man's left lung, forcing the air out of it as the man now stumbled to his side, coughing loudly as he tried to catch his breath.
The man looked down to his left hand, as a welt appeared where Hatot had stuck him. His fingers slowly opened and closed, and judging from the shaking in his hand and the frustrated expression on the human's face, it appeared they were not moving at the speed they normally did. He screamed out once again as he turned to Hatot, swinging wildly at Hatot's head with his right hand as it appeared feeling had once again returned there. Hatot quickly ducked, with his legs already spread slightly, his upper body moved sideways towards it's left. The fingers along his right hand thrusting with the movement as they jabbed at the knee right joint, just behind the kneecap of the human. The man yelled out in pain and began swinging his right arm back as Hatot began to rise. Hatot's body then leaned backwards as the human's forearm swung just shy of hitting Hatot, close enough that he could feel the breeze that the motion left in it's wake. As Hatot straitened himself once more, his right fingers were already on their path as the fingers jammed into the human's shoulder joint where it met the color bone as the man's arm suddenly dropped to it's side for a split second. Hatot then quickly followed up as his body crouched and his left fingers were brought down just along the top of the Human's left kneecap. The human dropped to the ground suddenly as it appears all of his weight had been currently supported on his left leg along after Hatot struck his first knee.
The whole while, both Hatot's students and the other Akalak's watched with blank expressions, even when Hatot evaded a strike and scored a successful blow. It's not that they didn't cheer him on, it's more that they stood there, prepared to move in the event he didn't evade a blow. They studied the fight, their muscles tense with preparation if that event would occur. They then looked as though they were about to breath a sigh of relief as the human dropped to the ground, his left hand grasping his right shoulder in pain. Hatot slowly bowed his head to the human. "I'm sorry it had to come to this," Hatot calmly said before turning around to greet those who had arrived.
Then movement caught the Assistant's gaze, and his look turned to one of surprise and nervousness as he saw the human reach down with his left hand, grasping the short sword he had fallen right beside. Before he could utter warning, the human swung. The strike was no where near the strength that it would have been earlier, but it was strong enough that, when off guard, it cut into the calf muscle of Hatot's right leg deeply as Hatot dropped to his left knee, his eyes slamming shut and his teeth gritting as his right hand grasped the wound. There was no scream of pain, but rather a sputtering of hisses as Hatot held his breath, trying to suddenly ignore pain all together.
The human slowly raised the sword for another strike, one that would finish Hatot off, but before he could even fully raise his sword, a thunderous scream of rage echoed out of Hatot's mouth as his head suddenly tipped back. A look of fear then crossed the human's face as Hatot quickly spun around to face him. Hatot's face was contorted in rage, his eyes seeming to be red in color as opposed to the golden color they usually were. Hatot issued no warning, no threat. There were no words spoken anymore as Hatot simply growled with anger, his right hand snatching out, gripping the human by his left wrist and began to squeeze. The human quickly began to scream as a popping sound chirped from the human's wrist as he suddenly dropped his sword to the ground. Hatot's left hand snatched out, grasping the human by his throat as the human's screams were replaced by choking sounds, those sound slowly giving way to a gurgle as blood began spattering out of the human's mount. Hatot leaned forward, his grip still tightening as he forcefully pushed the human to his back, slamming his head along the ground. Another scream echoed out from Hatot as he raised his left hand, closing it into a fist, bringing it slamming down along the Human's face.
Then, when Hatot raised his fist once again, he found his movement's halted. While everyone else had been still recovering from their surprise at the release of Hatot's darker half, the Assistant to the Grand Master was already reacting as one of his hands grasped along the underside of Hatot's left wrist, avoiding the teeth that ran along the top of the gauntlet. His other hand quickly reached over Hatot's right shoulder, hooking Hatot underneath his arm. The Assistant began pulling Hatot back, trying to wrench him free from the Human. Hotot, however, suddenly planted his feet as he wrenched his left arm free and leaned forward with as much force as he could muster, lifting the assistant off his own feet as he was flipped forward off Hatot's back by the sudden movement. Hatot seemed to ignore the source of the sudden interference as he refocused on the human. His left foot slammed into the human's left shoulder as he almost stood on top of the man. Then, grasping the human's left hand with both of his own, Hatot suddenly began to pull. The man let out a scream of pain that matched the volume of Hatot's scream of rage simultaneously. Tendons, muscle, veins and skin suddenly broke free from each other without a solid bone to hold them in place any longer as Hatot ripped the man's hand clean off from the point of the where Hatot had broken the man's wrist. Hatot quickly tossed the appendage aside to the ground as he began to raise both of his fists into the air, about to bring them down upon the human as he cried out in pain.
The Assistant once again stopped Hatot's action as he this time came running at Hatot, slamming his shoulder into Hatot's midsection and tackling to the ground. This time, however, he was not alone in his endeavor, as the other he had brought with him came to help. All of them struggled, with grunts of strain and gritted teeth, as the Assistant repeatedly yelled out orders for the group to hold Hatot down. Hatot's screams of rage continued to echo out, as he repeatedly attempted to force his subduers off of him. Hatot's students looked on with blank expressions, but their eyes betrayed a hint of concern for their teacher. |