A Restless Soul [Tessa//Training]

Tessa stood in the cemetery breathing heavily. Each of her hands were alight with red sparks as she repeatedly thrust them forward, a steady look of frustration on her face as she did so. She had been here for a good majority of the night. Lately she came here a lot... Mostly to train, sometimes to loiter. Repeatedly she'd push her arms forward, a large burst coming off her palm each time she did. She was practicing the use of her wavelength as a weapon, and it was paying off. She had managed to create these odd red sparks, and could now generate them at will. They didn't seem to have a purpose, but she'd find one if they had one.

For another hour Tessa stayed in place, doing the same thing over and over. Burst after burst she let loose her wavelength until her arms were burning from the force of her own soul pulsing through them. She let out a deep sigh, the sparks fading as she leaned back against a tombstone and lit a cigarette, placing it between her lips. That kid was still on her mind. He sure was something. It had been a long time since she had an excuse to train this hard. She was making progress, and was even starting understand her wavelength better. If she kept up like this, it wouldn't be long before she made some kind of breakthrough.

A steady stream of smoke floated towards the clear night sky as Tessa looked to the grinning moon. She ran a hand through the mop of blood-red hair on her head, as if stressed. She then tossed her cigarette on the ground and stepped on it, muttering a quiet curse. She had to keep going... If she was to get a new weapon, she'd need to be strong enough to protect them... With that notion in mind, she continued to train through the night.

Feeling like doing a little bit of sitting on top of a tree pretending to be some kind of creature and scaring strangers in the graveyard, The Corsair was getting ready to do just that, as he walked down the path leading through the middle. What he didn't expect is someone playing with fireworks! Bright red flashes off in the distance signalled to The Corsair, that someone was doing something they shouldn't be, in a place such as this cemetery. Picking up his pace, he decided to cut straight through the middle of the place, in a beeline towards the lights, jumping over and pushing off of tombstones; something much worse than simply playing with fire, but the man was unconcerned.

The Corsair only realised it was not in fact someone playing with fireworks, when he saw that the lights were sparks, and that the person causing them was an adult that was practicing wavelength attacks. After he realised his mistake, he stopped running, or moving, for that matter, suddenly; this caused his accumulated momentum to send him hurtling forwards, very loudly, in the general direction of the woman. He ended up smashing at least one tombstone before he slowed to a stop.

Tessa immediately froze, the sparks coming from her hands stopping. It was as if she was a deer caught in headlights as she glanced in the general direction of the man. It wasn't a student, he was too old. If it was a teacher, it wasn't one Tessa had met before. She slowly took a more natural stance, as opposed to the fighting stance she was in before, and looked at the man with her signature dull expression. He had approached rather quickly, and was now looking at her. "Need something...?" She asked rather plainly. It didn't sound as if she cared that much if he did, more like she was asking out of habit. Her hands burned a bit. Perhaps she had over done it? No. As soon as this man left, she'd keep going. She needed to push further. She was almost there.

The Corsair sprang up from the ground as if he wasn't the one that put himself there, head whipping around as if looking for whatever floored him. After a moment he calmed down, realising what had actually happened. It didn't make the sight any more bizarre. "I'm fine, I was just following your flashing light, I thought it was fireworks, but it wasn't." He blurted these words out, having assumed a cheery sort of expression on his face, discounting the eyes. "Did I interrupt? I'm sorry. What were you doing, anyway? Can I help?"

Tessa was caught a bit off guard by the onslaught of explanations and questions. She took a moment to piece together exactly what had been asked. When finished, she addressed them as they had come. "Not really, it's fine, training, can you hold your own in a fight, or would I accidentally kill you in a sparring match?" She replied rather bluntly, pulling up her palm to look at it. The woman lit off a normal soul menace, letting it flicker out before she lit another, then repeated. She watched this process lazily, as if it was interesting to her that she could still do it. In all reality, it had simply dawned on her that it had become second nature lately. Even during the fight with that boy, she had used it effortlessly. Not a feat a normal person would manage. She was an oddity among humans... No, even for a meister she was something of a rarity... That much she knew, but there were people out there that were more than rare. They were monstrous, some could even be called god-like. Those were the ranks she wanted to join. That was what she really wanted... To become something more than human...

Tessa's red eyes gave off a rather determined red glint, despite her stern and solemn expression staying in place. She had set her goal... Nothing was allowed to stop her now... She'd make sure of that.

The Corsair listened to her replies, and transformed half of his arm into the large drill. "I'm a Death Scythe. Got all the souls by my lonesome." Was his answer to the woman's last question. Then, he saw what he recognised as the ability known as Soul Menace. Even if confused most of the time, he was still a teacher and Weapon of the DWMA. He knew his stuff. The Death Scythe released the transformation, taking some steps away from the woman, cheerful expression still evident. Readying for a fight, his mind would unravel somewhat, which was a welcome change. Made this sort of thing all the more enjoyable. "If you want to spar, then come at me. I need a bit of training myself, anyway."

A hint of a smile appeared on Tessa's face, even if only for a moment. An autonomous Death Scythe? More than a worthy sparing partner. She gave the man a light nod, shifting herself into more of a battle stance, her left arm rather down, and her right arm up as if to block with. "No holds bard, use anything short of fatal blows, okay? If you hesitate against me, it's going to hurt." She stated, despite the nagging feeling that it wasn't necessary to say so.

With that notion, Tessa darted directly at the man. Immediately, her left hand flashed with a red-colored soul menace that she held out to the side. The match had begun, introductions would have to wait.

Half of the Corsai'rs right arm turned into the form of a drill again, to block the Soul Menace which would bring the fight to a very swift end. He couldn't get hit by many of those, he knew, since he needed his internal organs. He could withstand some, but it would be better to block them all. He also charged headfirst into the fight, the knuckles on his own left hand turning to much smaller versions of the drill present on his right, as he went in for a punch.

Tessa took note of the many spikes that extruded from the weapon's hands. Some kind of drill. Taking a hit from them would hurt, but reckless was what she did... There was no denying that. With her right hand, the meister would skid to a stop, catching the punch and allowing the tiny drills to dig into her palm. She winced, her left hand moving to prevent the large drill from intervening as her right hand lit red as well. Tessa now had two soul menaces, the one on the right blasting into the left hand of the Death Scythe. As much as it hurt, it did almost guarantee a hit, and she was certain the Death Scythe wouldn't see it coming.

Oh dear. She didn't care about damage. She was one of these kinds of people. Alright then. The Corsair revved the small drills on his knuckles into spinning, hoping to at least distract his opponent from using the Soul Menace to destroy his hand; he saw it brewing, but didn't want to give his opponent any leeway. Since he didn't need to block with the large drill, now, he allowed it to be grabbed, before materialising a medium sized drill on his knee, already spinning, and going for her abdomen.

Tessa winced once again as the drills in her hand began spinning. It's painful... The meister's mind filled with a red-colored haze as she jumped away, narrowly avoiding the drill rising up from below. She hadn't expected a Death Scythe to be an easy opponent, but he had countered her so easily. She had to do something, but what? Just as the thought of forfeit crossed her mind, so did something else. Something that renewed Tessa's hope for this fight. With a steady mind, she came back almost as soon as her foot hit the ground, making a hop to the right of the weapon, as if to flank them.

The Corsair almost breathed a sigh of relief, when his hand wasn't blown off, or mangled, in some way. He had no time to do so, however. He was also feeling better about knowing that pain still worked as a deterrent. When she jumped away and to his right, he quickly stuck the already formed full drill into the ground, and, pushing away from the ground with the opposite foot, spun the weapon to keep his front towards her. The drill on his knee disappeared, for the time being.

While the man was turning, Tessa suddenly came to an abrupt stop, launching a heavy kick with her left leg for his side. He hadn't moved in the way she expected. The drills were giving the man the freedom to move unpredictably... It was actually quite effective. She'd have to look into bettering her movements. For now she needed to focus on actually damaging him. It was hard without a weapon... What could she use as a weapon...?

He didn't see it coming, until it was too late to block. He stopped the drill and sent it into reverse, and braced for the impact to lessen damage, but couldn't avoid the hit, which almost sent him to the ground. He saved himself from going down by using the drill, but couldn't counter at this point. Instead, he changed the drill back to his normal hand and did the same as with the other, giving it small knuckle drills. Then, he returned into a stance, ready to block.

Tessa slid back after the kick. She needed a way to actually inflict damage... Tessa lit up another soul menace in her right hand, charging the man. Using her left arm as a shield against his right, she instinctually opened her right palm as the soul menace wrapped her hand, becoming a solid blade of red light that stretched from her elbow to her fingertips. "Special Technique: Rose-Colored Blade." She stated dully, naming the technique on the spot. With the new-found weapon, she made a quick slash towards the weapon, being sure not to dig too deeply into him even if she hit. She wanted to wound him, not kill him, and she didn't know the cutting potential of the new technique.

The Corsair was about to say something, but was forced to jump back from the red edge, not knowing what it was, exactly. However, the fight would truly be on, now. It wasn't someone unarmed versus him, with his drills, but drill on blade. Rather than fight with at least one hand studded with drills, he transformed both arms into them. This was how he most comfortably fought. Spinning both of the drills, bone exhaust pipe sputtering black smoke, he got into another fighting stance, different from the last to facilitate both the drills, one of which pointed more at the ground than his opponent.

Tessa turned her hand slightly, making another quick slash as she stepped forward. She took note of the changes he was making. It seemed like he was ever changing his fighting style. It'd be hard to keep up with that. It did look, however, like he had gotten ready to go on the offensive. This is where the battle got fast paced. Missteps would be punished heavily on both ends... She had to be careful. One wrong move would kill her if this was a real fight.

Blocking with the drill pointed towards Tessa and shoving the other in the ground, The Corsair pushed forward to knee the woman in the side, once more materialising the drill on the joint of his leg. He had to be unpredictable to win this; not exactly a great feat for someone that barely knows how they themselves will act, but he knew consciously. The look on his face was still a smile, though it seemed different, like it was more insane than pleasant and friendly.

Erika wandered over with motivations similar to the Corsair wrapped in her usual pink blanket. After hearing the commotion she assumed that there were some students brawling in the cemetery, but upon arrival the two people fighting seemed much too skilled to be students yet not hostile enough to seem like enemies. Quietly picking a tree with a view Erika leaned against it and silently began watching the entertaining fight through closed eyes. She payed especially close attention to the Death Scythe because she could feel the intensity radiating from this fight. In her head she told herself that she would interfere if she thought that one of them was going to kill the other, but she knew that these two were far more advanced than her students. That kind of logic just might not be applicable in this situation.

Tessa paid no mind to the woman approaching them. If she became a problem, Tessa would deal with it then. For now, she had to avoid this damage. She took the only move she could see, a heavy leap into the air while tucking herself up a bit, barely moving over the leg as she shot her feet forwards towards the Death Scythe. A two footed kick from the sky. Perhaps not the easiest to recover from, but hopefully it would hurt. The man had become a lot more varied in his movements. It was a bit intimidating.

Taking the time to flick his hat off of his head to avoid damaging it, The Corsair stood his ground, smile turning into a grin of someone deranged. He took the hit, moving only to avoid having his face pounded in, but barely flinched when the kick hit his chest, before thrusting his left arm, that which he had blocked with before, forwards towards his adversary, his messy hair now even more wild than before, without the weight of his top-hat pressing down on it. Tessa wasn't the only one who could be reckless. He would never have done something like this a few moments ago, but his state of mind changed. Poor him. He'd have some bruised ribs, for a while. Perhaps some broken ones. He really couldn't feel which, at the moment.

Huh, I see, she thought to herself as the two kept fighting. She couldn't imagine why the Corsair had allowed the kick to land so well, but she continued to watch silently enjoying the fight and admiring the skills of those involved. Erika reached into her pocket and grabbed a piece of chalk from earlier that day and flicked it at the hat causing the blanket she carried with her to get slightly smaller. As the string that followed the chalk began to wrap around the hat, just before it hit the ground, she gave a small tug. The hat fell softly on top of a tombstone, out of the way of the fight and off of the ground, and her string rejoined her blanket.

Tessa, being in mid-air, had nowhere to run. She realized this a bit too late. As she tried to spin her weight out of the way, the drill dug deep into her side, accompanied by a crimson spray. Tessa's momentum from her spin managed to pull her off of the drill, however, sending the young woman aside to hit the ground onto her face. The wavelength blade flickered for a moment before fading away. Tessa lay in the dirt for a moment. Still.

Pain... It hurts... Why does it hurt...? I'm bleeding... Thoughts flooded Tessa's mind. Questions with no answers, answers with no questions. What was she doing? She needed to get up and fight, but her body wouldn't bring itself to move. No... It was her... Not her body... Tessa didn't want to. She had no reason to. Why was she fighting? What was the point...? Getting stronger... It wouldn't change anything... Adam was dead... Nothing could change that...

Laying there, face down, Tessa began to laugh. She laughed, and for the first time since Adam had died, her eyes showed something. A spark of realization... It was funny. This whole time she had been training to protect her dead weapon. So that she'd be stronger next time. Next time. Next time wasn't coming. There was no next time. There never was! So then what the hell had she been doing? Where was she supposed to go?!?

As spots of crimson dotted The Corsair's body, he dropped to a knee beside Tessa, the insanity on his face replaced with pain. He changed again, and now he could feel his the damage his opponent had done to his ribs. It wasn't good. What was worse, however, was the would his drill had inflicted to her.

He quickly tore off his blue velvet waistcoat, ruined already by the speckles of red dotting it's surface, and then ripped strips from it. Ignoring entirely Tessa's laughing, he just carried on as he was. Packing the waistcoat against the wound, he then tied the strips around her body, as tightly as he could. Having done that, and having left the woman on her back, so that gravity too worked in favour of her retaining her blood, he stood only to slump against a nearby tombstone.

"What's so funny? If you weren't such a good fighter, I'd have gutted you." His voice was monotone, suddenly inexpressive, as he chose to finally address the woman's laughter. His face seemed to match his eyes, entirely devoid of any emotion but boredom. It wasn't going to last for long, but it looked sort of like the two switched roles.

This isn't good. Erika ran over to them half panickedly, she, as the hit began to connect, knew she wouldn't be there in time to make a difference. Erika took a thread from her blanket, I swear on that grave that this joke had better be a good one, and she pointed to a random grave before she pinched the thread with both hands. The near animate looking thread would pierce adjacent to the wound, and attempt to sew it shut from the bottom to the top. Erika didn't pretend to know if this would be satisfactory, but she hoped that closing the wound this way would slow the bleeding.

I am going to call an ambulance, okay?