Solo Limitless

[Lenz]

66th of Summer, 514 AV
Lenz's Tent

“It is as though I am a bird whose wings have been clipped, flayed from her body by dirty hands. I am sitting idly by and inspecting all those who can fly around me. I look at them with envy, but I can do nothing but watch, for I cannot fly. What is a bird’s purpose if she cannot fly? What is my purpose on this dying earth?”

Lenz’s voice piped up from the corner of the tent. It was foreboding and earnest but honest all the same. There was something poetic in the dark monstrous cavern that came from within her throat. It barked from out her mouth and screamed for attention. It needed to be emancipated from the rotting shackles that were binding their wrists tight.

Her perception on the world wasn’t a very clear one; it wasn’t pure or undeniably happy. It was atrocious and cynical and very hypocritical if someone were to observe it with a clean eye. It took time to change someone whether it be their perspective of something, their personality or their mood. However, it was as though all three had changed simply overnight.

After witnessing a traumatic death- one of someone she cherished and loved with all her heart- it was as if a stake was driven through her heart only to puncture through her flesh coming out on the other side. She couldn’t reach around her back to pull out the beast. It just festered inside her like an unhealed wound.

“Enough,” she cried out, turning to face her sleeping partner. “Get up.”

Her voice reverberating throughout the tent, sending tremors deep underground. If mice were abound sniffing for food or begging for mercy from humanesque murder they would have been wrought with fear and turned away.

Twig was the opposite. He was a very heavy sleeper. He didn’t truly hear his master’s voice booming for his to awaken.

She tried again, licking her lips to enunciate the sound. Expelling her breath, she yelled out for him to awaken. Startled, Twig finally caught the hint and exploded out from underneath his blanket.

Satisfied, but still bemused, Lenz smirked. She hadn’t slept all night, therefore dark circles were hinting at the underside of her eyes her eyelids were drooping with plead. She couldn’t yawn, so her brain was dormant, vacant of all thought except one.

“I think it is time for you and I to train. This profession doesn’t come with ease and it most certainly is not for a common novice. I had to work to attain this job and by someone whom I can’t know until I prove myself.”

“How-“ Twig shut his mouth, remembering that if he spoke, he would either be threatened with punishment or beaten into silence.

Lenz glared at him for a moment before continuing, “Today will be tedious and tiresome, but it will only improve yourself for future assignments, do I make myself clear?”

Twig nodded his head slowly. His hand still wore a bandage from the time he had been sliced by a knife from a pedophile, but Lenz knew proper healing time. She had given him several days to recover and with those days she spent planning for what she shall do to her slave.

“Follow me,” she announced before stepping out of the tent. Twig joined her after zipping the flap closed again.

Lenz was standing in front of a tree, her hand hovering over her waist. She kept her dagger tucked inside for protection reasons now having experienced some rather uncanny and unfortunate scenes. Having no weapon during a certain fight with an uncertain outcome for success gave a girl some time to think.

She withdrew her dagger with excellent speed, only to hold it in her left hand for a second before thrusting it towards the tree. Wood splintered off the side before it had another hesitant recollection of what just happened.

Lenz pivoted on her foot and dropped back a few feet before turning around and slicing the blade horizontally into the tree. Again, wood came blistering off the plant with ferocious speed, almost blinding Twig by the collateral damage.

“However,” she suddenly said, turning back to face her enslaved pupil. “You will not be using a dagger.”

There was a slight frown daring to erupt from the Kelvic’s lips, but he held it back and paid closer attention. What was it he would be doing then?

“You will be training with me. We will overcome obstacles which I will display in various locations. We will fight together using nothing but our fists and because I still owe you your punishment from a while ago, I will have a little fun and win every single match.”

An evil grin crossed her face before it flickered out like a dying candle. The flame in her eyes gleamed for a moment longer before blowing away in the wind as well.

“Stand in your position,” she ordered before raising her hands.

She balled them into fists and placed one in front of her solar-plex, a sensitive area if one is hit there, and the other right next to her face as to stop all coming attacks attempting to wound her throat, nose or eyes.

Twig stood still for a moment, his eyes tilted so a look of concern and confusion flashed across his face. What was she trying to do?

Instead of dwelling on possible defense poses, he dismissively opted to copy his master’s stance. He placed one hand near his chest and the other near his face before sighing loudly.

“What?” piped up Lenz, having heard his sigh. “Are you bored already?”

Perhaps he finds this training exercise to be too easy for him. Perhaps he knows he will win before throwing a punch, came the odious voice that always lingered in her mind.

I doubt it, Lenz thought in response.

Without warning, Lenz lunged foreword, bringing her arm up only to open her fist. Her fingers were held tightly together, giving it a saucer effect before it plummeted into the side of her opponent’s neck. He retaliated with a cry and a swing of his own fist, but Lenz was quicker.

She dodged his attack, dropping her body to the ground before springing back up again. She positioned her back foot solidly on the ground before hiking her other one into the air. She twisted her back leg before exploding the front foreword and into the slave’s chest.

He fell backwards in a heap on the ground, moaning from the pain that crept through his stomach.

Trying to catch his breath, he huffed and puffed until he found his bearings. He stuck one fist in the ground and hoisted himself up before glaring momentarily at his master.

Perhaps I was right. He is a strong, adamant little bastard.

He might be, but there is no chance that he will beat me.

[Lenz]

66th of Summer, 514 AV
Lenz's Tent

Twig started to bounce on his toes all the while surveying his opponent. He noticed her green eyes with the rim of brown circling the outside of her pupils. He noticed the messy way her hair was parted so that her fringe swooped over her left eye.

He noticed how a dark glimmer crept into her eyes and spread like a disease across her cheeks and the rolling plantain of her chin and jawbone.

It was mesmerizing- was there something there? Something deep inside of her that needed to be rescued? Was she thrashing in the water and flailing for help?

Was it a necessity for him to cast out a life preserver and hope for the best or was it all a big act? A façade that was being portrayed exceptionally by the master of hiding her sadness?

He couldn’t tell, and frankly he didn’t want to. It was all so nerve-racking, but his attention was drawn, diverging from the plains and splitting even further until the lines were so tiny nothing could sew them back together again.

“What are you waiting for?” mocked Lenz as she too bounced on the balls of her feet.

She feigned going to the right by lunging slightly onto to recover and bounce to the left. Twig fell for it and lashed out with his fists. Lenz took this moment to her advantage and grabbed his outstretched arm only to bring it behind his back.

Then, she used the heel of her foot and kicked in the back of his kneel. He fell to the ground with one kneel bent and the other stretched out in a strange angel.

Lenz had the higher ground and she proved it by sending a cupped hand to his ear. Ringing exploded from all around him, for that is all he could hear after having received such an attack. That was a new trick Lenz had learned in the unarmed and she was fond of it. It had worked out after all, hadn’t it?

Twig tried to recuperate from the assault on his ears but he was too shaken. Lenz didn’t waste any time at continuing her triumphant streak. She spun around before planting her back foot. Using her front foot she sent a side kick to his back, sending him spiraling forward.

He tasted the earth, some debris catching in between his teeth as he cried out in pain. Hitting the spine no matter where hurt like a dagger to the side. It sent pain jostling up the back and through the nerves until they evaporated throughout the endings.

Lenz smirked at the sudden thought, realising that she could possibly do more damage in the future. Say, with her dagger, she could cause paralyses to someone she despised.

Briefly was her concentration faltered. She glanced up only to have her gaze meet an incoming branch. It slammed into her face from above, having fallen from a nearby tree. She shut her eyes, her tear ducts overacting at the attack.

She let go of her hold on Twig as she rubbed at her eyes to dispel all that troubled it. Finally, once she was satisfied that her eyes no longer hurt, she opened them. There, Twig was standing, staring at her with a grin latched onto his lips.

She gulped.

She observed his hand, catching the soft, tender flesh that was evenly toned with sun kisses. It was clenched as if it was holding something. The man opened his hand to expose a handful of dirt.

His grin grew even wider, filling the empty cavity with insidious desire. He sprung forward. Lenz’s eyes opened even wider as she watched the scene unfold before her.

It was as if she was out of her body, sitting idly above herself as she watched what was happening to her physical self. Mentally and emotionally she wasn’t on earth, she was hovering above observing all that happened. An empty shell, a carcass if you will, simply stood and stared at a distasteful substance coming for her.

She opened her mouth instinctively, afraid because she had no time to plan for a defensive technique. Before she knew it, a handful of dirt was stuck in her mouth.

“Gross!” she screamed, but her voice was muffled by the detritus that swam in her mouth. It clung to her teeth and scraped against her tongue. The roof of her mouth stung from the foul taste.

However, she had no choice. She swallowed the whole of the dirt. It clawed at her throat before squeezing down her esophagus and into her stomach.

She gagged. She almost vomited, but she held it together. After thinking for a moment, she came to the conclusion that it probably would have been best if she had vomited. At least that way she could aim towards Twig and get him back for what he did to her.

She growled at him then and lunged for him with her hands flattened. She landed on top of him and propelled the two of them to the ground.

Twig was on the bottom, his stark black hair, semi-long, flowing in the wind that was forcing itself down upon him. The back of his head hit the forest floor.

Lenz’s wispy scarlet red locks hit it next, only she was braced by the soft landing of another human behind underneath her. Without hesitation, she began to slap Twig across the face multiple times.

“Do not even think of doing such a imprudent thing ever again!” She glared at him with such intensity it was as though lasers could come out of her eyes at any second.

Frightened charcoal eyes scanned into hazel ones. He was only playing with her, teasing her if hardly tantalizing her. Why was she so hot headed all the time? Twig constantly thought over these thoughts until it hurt his head more than the fall did.

Finally, Lenz got up and dusted herself off. She cleared her throat. Welling up a bunch of saliva, she tossed her head back and gurgled before spitting out the remaining elements of dirt and grass.

“Disgusting,” she murmured.

“I apologise lordess,” piped up a small, but gravelly voice.

“I don’t want your sincerities. I gave you a warning alongside a small punishment. That should be enough to prevent you from attacking me again such as you did. Am I clearly understood?”

“You are indeed madam.”

“Good,” she said in conclusion. “I’m done practicing with you. Let us say we trek into town and purchase some supplies. I would greatly appreciate my habiliments back.”

She eyed the clothing the Kelvic was wearing and so did he before allowing a faintly noticed blush to creep up onto his cheeks.

Lenz snuck into the tent to retrieve some currency before stepping back out into the wilderness. Accompanying her was her slave, his head bowed down in either fear or respect. Lenz couldn’t tell and neither did she seem to care.

“Follow me,” she instructed, before leaving behind her campsite.

[Lenz]

66th of Summer, 514 AV
Lenz's Tent

It was when they were hiking through Tent City that something felt unreal. There was a latent mist of uneasiness that was wafting directing above the two of them. Lenz noticed it before Twig did, but that was only because her paranoiac responses were sometimes announced on impulse.

Ensconced in the small outing was one particular tent. A dog sat outside of it with a rope tied around his neck. The end of the rope was looped around a stake that had been driven into the ground.

Anyone without blurry vision could see how unsafe the stake was. It was bobbing out of the ground as the dog barked.

Wary, the woman with red hair tried to change course. She pushed Twig to the right. He instantly got the hint and went to the right a ways more. This didn’t help of course. Instead, it only made the dark bark louder.

Frightened, and not only because of the dog, Lenz began to growl back at the dog. This only stirred up some trouble between the two. Animal versus human usually didn’t turn out to well.

Upheaval soon turned to worry as the stake was quickly dislodged from out of the earth. It rattled on the ground as the canine sprinted at full speed toward the woman.

She jumped back, but it was too late. The dog bit into her flesh, through her boot until she felt a small prickling sensation of pain flowing up her calf. She was now officially enraged.

Bending down, she grabbed the dog’s muzzle with both hands and applied as much pressure to it so that it wouldn’t open. She then leant forward and opened her mouth. Her teeth clamped down onto its neck as she bit into his fur and eventually into his skin.

She was close to drawing blood before Twig pulled her back.

“Let me go!” she shouted, but it was too late. The dog, crying out for its owner, was already loping back to its tent.

The young mage spat out the contents she had ripped from the beast. She wiped at her mouth until she felt content with how she appeared.

With that scenario out of the way, she went back to the task at hand before she was so rudely interrupted. She didn’t have anything to say to her slave about the matter of pulling her away from a fight.

It was without thought that the two of them began trotting through the cemetery. When had they arrived here of all places? Was Lenz’s mind set to manual? Was she thinking about meeting the dead and the graves that are inhabited by them?

Why did she choose to observe that which is no longer living today of all days? Didn’t she say to herself that she wouldn’t dwell on the past and that what has been done has been done officially forever more?

Suddenly there was an uprising of dirt. It seemed to move, it seemed to quake and it wasn’t because of the way either of the couple were walking. Both stopped short, Twig first because he heard the movement and then Lenz shortly thereafter.

“What was that?” she whispered into her slave’s ear.

He simply shrugged.

Abruptly was a commotion stirred. That which rose from out of the ground was a spirit. Lenz observed its aura by pulling at the djed set on the highest shelf in her brain. She called for it almost out of instinct as she witnessed a tumult of colours.

Fervent red and ominous blue and black invaded her sensory preceptors for a moment before she shut off her sight. The spirit was hovering only a few feet before her.

She was numb, adhered to the grass beneath her. It wasn’t until the ghost started to speak in an odious and unnerving tone did she turn and run away with a shriek lodged into the back of her throat. She was beyond terrified, but all was suppressed by her heavy heartbeat and the way she was sprinting through the numerous amount of graves.

One foot in front of the other, she ran without a second thought. And she continued to run until she found herself in the midst of a crowd of people set in the centre of town.

Twig rounded a corner and came up from behind her, causing her to jump from the suddenness of his arrival.

“Don’t do that,” she muttered almost inaudibly.

Twig cocked his head, confused, before dismissing the questions that were rising from within him.

Firstly, she had eaten a handful of dirt; secondly, she had been bitten by a dog only to turn around and bite the dog and thirdly, she was frightened by the brief appearance of a ghost. How much worse could the day turn?

[Lenz]

66th of Summer, 514 AV
The Seaside Marketplace

The took a sharp turn and ran into something unfriendly. There was a crowd of individuals with hot bodies and sweaty foreheads. Just the thought of having to maneuver through the mass made Lenz’s stomach do cartwheels.

She licked her lips and found herself tasting something acidic. Was it oncoming bile from the pit of her stomach or something worse? She almost shuddered. In doing so, Twig caught the hint and nudged her slightly.

Lenz glared at him for such a harsh movement, but caught his eye. She saw something in the midst of the sea of people. There was a small and narrow, yet clear path that lead straight for one of the clothing vendors.

She raced towards it, leaving her slave behind in the dust. It was as if she was racing an avalanche her feet were flying so fast. She needed to emerge from the pathway before it closed on her; before it confined her and squeezed her into nothing fatter than a piece of thread.

Still running and softly breathing heavy, she lunged at the last moment and came from out of the wrath stirring from behind her. She expelled her held in breath and managed to regain her bearings, inhaling the air like it was candy to a small child.

Twig came up right next to her in only a matter of seconds. She was astonished that he had run so fast. He wasn’t panting like she had and from what she could observe, he was hardly breaking into a sweat. Not a single water droplet was scurrying down his face like it too was racing an avalanche.

Disgusted and filled with dreadful envy, the woman rolled her eyes before turning on her heel to face the vendor.

“What can I help you with today?” asked the one managing the stand.

There was a distinguishable difference between the variety of clothing the man was selling. There were feminine clothing that were too tight and resembled that of a whore’s attire, but then there were manly clothing that came with belts and armour.

She sighed, turning to face her companion only to find his eyes locked onto something of more importance than her train of thought.

“What is it?” she growled, dissatisfied that he was staring at something with desire yet wasn’t mentioning anything.

Lenz followed his line of sight as he said, “That looks suitable,” while pointing his finger at a nice ensemble. Lenz mimicked his pointing and directed her attention to the vendor. He followed her gaze and finally understood what it was she wanted. He nodded his head and turned around to grab the outfit from behind him.

He turned back around and placed the garments on the counter. Lenz took in the sight of black. It was perfect camouflage and it was a relatively neutral colour, one that wouldn’t raise suspicion and one that treated a man such as Twig nicely. It would contrast with his fair skin tone and blend wonderfully with his already stark black hair.

She didn’t realise she was staring from him back to the outfit until the seller cleared his throat. He was sticking out his hand as if wishing for payment.

Lenz was planning for this, but she wasn’t sure she had all that was needed for a fair trade. She only brought with her enough to buy a shirt and pants. This outfit included shoes and even underwear.

She sighed. Something was rolling around in the head, however. An idea was growing tall and stretching for the sunlight that was peering in from above. It was ripe and ready for picking, which Lenz did dutifully.

“What colour is that dress over there?” she asked.

This caused the man to look away for a moment, giving Lenz the perfect moment to reach out. She latched her fingers around the pants and held them under the counter. They were out of sight and out of mind. Judging by the age of the vendor, she knew that the sudden disappearance wouldn’t be cause for being skeptical.

“That my dear lady is rouge,” he replied before turning back around.

“That’s a shame,” she piped up, moving her money around in one hand while still holding the pants with the other.

Twig looked down at what she was doing for a moment before realising that the conspicuous gesture was probably a bad idea. He shot his eyes away and back onto the man.

“I only have enough for the shirt and the undergarments. Is there anything you can do to help a young woman out?” she fluttered her eyelashes and added in a twist of a strand of her hair. “I’d be more than happy to tell other about your shop you have here.”

A little persuasion? A little negotiation? Maybe a dash of seduction? There was no black and white for her; there was simply grey, and grey was the zone she was wading in at the moment.

When this trick didn’t pull through, she decided to bring along a different tactic. Hypnotism. She dug around in her subconscious, where her djed resided when not in use. She plucked and pulled at all the right strings before channeling it up and into her brain.

There, she projected it like it was an everyday thing. She was still new to the whole concept, but she was getting better. Once she had a grasp on what she was doing, she connected her brain wave with the man’s and began to whisper little secrets into his mind.

She thought, Lower the price. Lower the price. She even tossed in something else for. She’s a nice lady. She deserves something for free every once and a while. How fun was that?

Once she was becoming fatigue, she shut herself down. The remaining djed washed to the shore of her mind only to waver into the air before vanishing back into her subconscious.

Something would have had to have worked by now. What with her general attempts at the beginning to now her use in magic. What else would she have to do to earn a little self-respect?

“Tell you what,” he finally managed to say. “I’ll give you the shirt and the shoes for two and a half silver and I’ll toss in the under garments for free. There real cheap anyways.”

Lenz was ecstatic. She practically beamed at her triumph before slapping down the currency and taking off. She watched as Twig snatched up his clothes from behind her. She trotted away with a smile on her face until she diverged with the clan of bustling locals.

Once the both of them were in privacy, Lenz turned and groaned. Her eyes were portraying her superior side as she issued for her slave to strip and eventually change.

“That is a gift from me to you,” she announced. “Now, take them off and give them to me,” she urged, holding out her hands.

“Now?”

“Now!”

Startled, Twig quickly undressed. First he took off his pants only to reveal a naked bum and whatever lay on the other side. He quickly put on his new underwear and then the stolen slacks before moving his hands up his sides.

Once his fingers had the fabric within their reach, he slowly drew his shirt off. What was to be revealed made Lenz grow numb. She had seen the flaws before, but she knew that she would never get used to the sight.

Thick, heavy scars littered his chest, creating two lines that converged at an intersection before going up to his neck and trailing the sides of his throat. Overall, it made the shape of a ‘Y’ or a wishbone. It called chills to crawl up and down her spine. She had to look away until he was finished.

“Done?” she asked.

“Done.”

“Good. Now with you with your own clothes and mine returned, I think we shall congratulate ourselves to a drink, wouldn’t you say?”

Twig nodded his head as he watched Lenz pull on her newly returned clothes. With no where to put them and with no desire to carry them everywhere, she opted to wear them over her other clothing. Smart right? If only it wasn’t blazing hot outside.

“Off we go then!” she called out sternly before making way for the pub.