The Heavens Shall Fall

The medicinal baths did their job, and by the time Baun stepped out of the stone chamber, doing his best to ignore the smell of herbs coming off his skin, there was barely a trace of the injuries he had suffered. However... He still found it hard to breathe deeply, even two days later, and it was not because of the smell. He couldn't tell which of them was the culprit... The actual pain in his body, or he was feeling his pride being cracked, because he realized that Siu was just playing with him. The thought alone was infuriating because it confronted him with the reality that he couldn't beat the man.

"What the forms were again...?" He muttered to himself, feeling a bit groggy for some reason, “…damn it.”

After his recovery, he was walking around the Sect, looking for Varren to ask for a detailed report and write up his own before presenting it to Chalvert.

“You look like you swallowed a corn sideways.” A voice called out to him, and Baun stopped at once because it was familiar, but he couldn't put a face to it until he turned and saw who it was.

Of course, it belonged to Kira, who was now walking casually up to him, her hands held behind the back of her head, grinning. Watching her, Baun couldn't tell if it was a mocking light in her eyes that caught his attention or... something else? No matter, one thing he was sure of was that she didn’t look sympathetic at all.

“Don’t start.” He clicked his tongue, "The last thing I will tolerate is a girl taking a piss out of me."

“I didn’t say anything.” She chuckled, raising her hands in defeat.

“You were about to, don't even try to deny it.”

“Maybe.” Kira smirked faintly, “Well! You’re fine, that's what matters. It was a rough beating!”

“I'm not a weakling, so I don't know what you heard, but––”

“I heard nothing like that, plus I saw it... and I'm not here to tease you, big boy!” She snorted, interrupting him, "I don't know why you thought you could beat him up when we lost on three versus one," She began, making Baun's eye twitch and finally remembering who the girl was. Did his memory get screwed up because of his defeat? Suddenly, he felt a bit scared... Will this get worse next time...? Next time? He wanted to curse, but what could he do?! He had his orders.

"Is there something you are getting to, or?" He asked, getting annoyed by his own thoughts.

“I want in,” Kira said flatly.

"In what?"

“The next spar, blockhead,” Kira declared, rolling her eyes as she tilted her head slightly. “I want in! As I said, I watched the match and noticed something... If we train a bit, we can have a good match and maybe even win!”

"..." Baun stared at her, and for a moment, he didn’t answer. “But… Why? I don't get it, what the fuck are you on about?!”

“First, I am talking about how I watched you get folded like laundry.” She began, holding up one finger after the other, not sugarcoating it, enjoying the twitching veins appearing on his neck and face, "Second, I love fighting. Third, I love winning more. Fourth, in the previous match, he wiped the floor with us, and I have been studying his stances since then. Watching you, I know it's the Ox, Cat, and Crane."

"I know that!" Baun snorted, trying to interrupt her, finally remembering what three it was, but Kira ignored him and continued.

"Fifth, we could make a wager and gain a ton of points to exchange it for! Whenever he fights, the gamblers appear, and with his record, we could cash in with a victory... We could even ask Varren to raise our chance, but then it's a three-way split and..."

"Let's leave him out of this," Baun said suddenly, making Kira tilt her head in question, but then she just nodded.

"Sure. If you are in, that is!" She added, "We need to train a bit before we go for it, though... As I told you, I have a method, and because we already fought together once, I got your basics down... WE can do this!"

"..."

“No?” Kira asked, just watching him stand there, gobsmacked and speechless.

"Will he even agree to it?"

"Pfft!" Kira stifled a laugh, angering him once again, "What do you think?! He beat us three against one, how many times do I need to repeat that?! Of course, he will agree to it!"

“You think so?”

"Even if nothing else," Kira shrugged, “He likes money. Don't forget, we pay monthly, and we pay for the spar. He won't turn down free CC.”

"I want to hear it first... Then I will decide." Baun said at last, and Kira just grinned, beginning to walk with him, explaining her observation.

“The issue is that, if you fight him alone, he cycles you until he reads all your moves and then formulates the best method to beat you down.” She mimicked a snapping motion with her hand as she spoke, "He will counter you with the Crane and hit the same point, over and over, to weaken your defenses. Then he switches to the Ox to break through your cracked shields and then the Wild Cat to slip past any of your own counters. Then, he just repeats it until you are down. Pretty simple, if you think about it.”

Baun’s eyes flickered while listening because he hadn't seen any of that at all, but putting her words against what he remembered, it did make sense. That was exactly what it felt like.

“Now," Kira continued, "You bring in a second person,” she smiled, “you break that rhythm. Yes, I know what you think of! When it was just three of us, we failed to recognize this." Naturally, Baun remained silent, because he didn't want to tell; he didn't think about that question at all. "You see, we were also impeding each other, because we weren't used to how we fight. It was a very amateurish brawl; no wonder he won! The moment he read what we can do, he could turn it against us, while we failed to read him. This time, it would be different.”

"I only hear it's guesswork, girl."

"Kira." She snorted, "The name is Kira. Start using it! Anyway, we should have a few matches so we know how the other fights will go, then we can get used to each other, and it will make things easier. As for the method I came up with... I can show you after. I am not going to give you the key to win and run off with my idea! Deal?"

"..." Baun looked at her a bit, then, in the end, he simply nodded. "Deal..."

...

.....

......

It was late at night, in the Warden's tower, when Kira walked up the spiral stairs, taking the steps two at a time, feeling giddy inside because the whole thing felt like being part of something big and exciting. Which wasn't far from the truth at all. Coming into the core members' floor, just where she had the talk with Varren and Neya a few days prior, Siu was already there, waiting for her. He was sitting by the window, one leg pulled up, elbow resting lazily on his knee, rubbing the head of Arya, while Marly was sitting on the windowsill, munching on a peanut.

“I guess it worked?” Siu asked, looking at her with a half-smile, while Varren also stepped back as he had just finished explaining the same report he had delivered to Chalvert in the afternoon.

“Like a charm!” Kira grinned, coming closer, “He didn't hesitate much at all, Boss.”

"I also made sure that later on Chalvert would push Baun from behind to get more details, so he will be forced to spar with you again," Varren said, making sure that Siu was taking this as seriously as possible, because his plan was... dangerous.

"I knew the Stone Ward people were weird... pushing each other from behind..." Arya muttered, but Siu made sure he was ready and didn't even react.

“What we need to practice is... The supposed method I came up with." Kira continued, furrowing her brows a little, "How are you going to let me hit you? Just so you know, I'm not good at faking things...”

“You won't really hit me,” Siu looked at her with a chuckle while Arya opened one of her eyes, looking at Kira in a way that made the girl subconsciously look away.

“Senior,” Varren began, still against the risky plan, which was surprising, because he was the only one. Even Neya agreed, when she heard about it, having complete trust in Siu's abilities. Still, Varren couldn't help but worry, “If this goes wrong—”

“It won’t.” Siu said, glancing at him, “You’re both overthinking it,” he continued, “Look, the more time we give them to watch me, even if I fake it, the bigger the chance that they can see through the deception. I will not be able to keep the facade up forever, so we will have to be on the offensive. We are in a perfect position here! I know how bullies like them think.” He explained, taking a deep breath, "If we present an option and show that I got injured, they will jump on the golden opportunity. They will be sure, by then, that they know what I can do and what my limits are. They will know that while I'm in recovery, they can make their decisive move. They will either target our group as a collective or me personally, but they will act. Then, we can counter them..."

"As I said already," Kira chuckled, because after the talk with Neya, it only took her one more day to be called for and have a meeting with Siu... It was then that they set this plan in motion, and she just completed its first phase when meeting with Baun. "I'm in. So... How bad will you look?"

“I’m planning to look broken.” Siu said with a smile, "Of course, not that much, so it won't be obvious, but with your reports," he glanced at Varren, "and with witnesses, they will be sold on it."

“And if they do nothing?" Kira asked suddenly, "I admire your bravery, but your reputation may take a massive hit. Hell, it will! Just by the fact that you will lose publicly. If then... After all this, the Stone-boys do nothing, then... ouch. It would be all for nothing."

“My reputation takes a hit?” Siu asked, shaking his head, "Why should I care about it?”

"You..." Kira held his gaze for a second longer… then exhaled through her nose, grinning, "I knew you were a good man!"

“Listen carefully, Kira. This is where it matters, because it will depend on us.” Siu continued, ignoring her comments, “I’ll engage him first, make it look like I’m focusing entirely on breaking you two apart through him, being the weaker of you two. Then comes the shift as you interrupt us. We will go back and forth, and as we do, you constantly harass me, interrupting my rhythm. From the outside, it will look like I’m misstepping, losing my rhythm, or maybe even overextending, giving you more and more openings.”

“And that’s my moment.” Kira nodded, "And that is when I hit you... Yes?”

“Commit to it fully,” Siu said honestly, "The rest, I will deal with. You just make sure it is a real strike, with full power. If you try faking it, you will be seen through. So make sure you are actually trying to hit me with everything you got."

"Tsk..." Kira’s lips thinned after hearing that. "Suddenly, I agree with Varren... this sounds super risky. I will do it, but... if it gets through... Don't blame me!"

"Look," Siu smiled, still patting Arya's head, "I have been pierced by two different beasts already, I know how to take a hit." He said, and then knocked on Arya's head as a thought emerged from her head.

"I didn't even say anything!" She moaned.

"You thought about it. I felt it..."

"Unfaiiiiiir... At least let me joke before you hit on me..."

"Okay!" Kira exhaled, taking a deep breath in the meantime, "I'm in, Boss. I will do my best! I will get used to the blockhead's form, and when the battle is on, I will do it perfectly. Please... do make sure you dodge, okay? If I actually injure you, the others may skin me alive as they are still hoping to go with you into the forest to get their own pets."

"I'll be fine!" He laughed, waving a hand to stop Varren from saying anything, "Did you forget how the three versus one went?" Siu asked, holding a confident smile, making Kira chuckle and shake her head.

"Fine, fine... Point taken... Haaah. Time for phase two then, huh?"