Life of a Nomad (BlisteredBlood & Luna)

Suppose, if you will, that you had finally had enough with the annoyances in life. What are your options, you wondered. Killing yourself would be an OK option. You wouldn't have to listen to the most inane chatter from other people. But sometimes it isn't. So, there had to be another way.

In the case of Reagan Kharn, a feral human blessed/cursed with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf-like creature, he had since decided upon himself to leave the village he was residing in due to the fact that several weeks prior to his leaving during the night, there had been suspicious murders of cattle; often leaving the bodies of cows mutilated beyond any comprehension. Sometimes, their heads would literally be ripped clean off their shoulders with an extreme amount of force, something that normally no one else could do. Various puncture marks as well as excessive amounts of flesh were also torn straight from their bones. This in turn caused some of the townspeople to suspect that there was either a demon or a pack of wolves on the loose. When some turned to Reagan for answers, he was nowhere to be seen.

During the time he had left this place and resided here in this particularly treacherous mountain region that overlooked a vast but beautiful valley below, Reagan's carnivorous and predatory side had long since gone into dormancy, thusly allowing him to have finally made peace with the beast that dwelt inside of him.

Now, here he sat inside of a small but well-sized hut that stood overlooking the valley floor some several hundred feet below. It was here that Reagan sat in a freshly constructed chair made of strong oak with one leg crossing the other and an elbow up on the armrests while his chin was cupped in his hand while his short but shaggy brown hair was in the way of one of his closed eyes, giving him the appearance of either lost in thought or sleeping. His clothing seemed to have suggested that he was once a mercenary for hire some several years into the past had it not also been for a gray hooded cloak that concealed a good majority of his features at the present moment. However, one boot-covered foot could be seen tapping against the flooring impatiently, almost as if he was anticipating of the arrival of someone here.

Kadia was late. She was so late. She had asked the mysterious man if she could meet him and she specified a time. A time she couldn't even make. She had been side tracked for nearly half an hour, forgetting she had an appointment with the nomad. She was such a klutz, and so she couldn't do very well protecting herself, so she had asked the nomad to wait for her so she could demonstrate the potential she had, if any. And now she was late. She had tried to run but half way through she had gotten tired and gave up She panted heavily as she climbed the steep hill and finally she saw him.

"I'm so, so sorry." Kadia pleaded. She was dressed in something that was a lot different than when she had met him. They were battle clothes she had gotten from her mother, and they were very durable. She would need clothes like that if she wanted to make it in the wilderness, something that never crossed her mind before until she met the nomad. She would come back to her village a disciplined warrior, and make her family proud.

When Reagan sensed the presence of the woman due to arrive here, his closed eyes opened quickly, unveiling a startling pair of eyes that had never been seen by a normal human being in the past, for he would always have something covering them like a bandana to give the illusion that he was blind. These eyes gleamed over like so much gold in the morning sun while the irises was slitted vertically, giving him the appearance of something much more animal like. Even the look he gave her seemed to be teeming over with aggravation despite that he was perfectly at peace.

"You're late, Kadia." Reagan remarked, his voice coming out in a thick Siberian accent. "You should always know that I do not appreciate apprentices that are late." He added, narrowing his eyes at her annoyingly.

Soon afterwards, Reagan slowly stood up onto his feet and straightened himself up to his full height of five feet, nine inches tall. It wasn't much to intimidate someone, but the look in his eyes alone demanded respect.

She was almost as tall as him but still he was very intimidating. The look in his eyes made her flinch and look at her feet. "I'm sorry, but there was the cat and he had something in his paw so I went to follow him and help, and I forgot that I had to meet you..I'm sorry." She said, bowing out of respect.

She then sighed and looked back up at him. "Umm...Can you forgive me? I promise I won't be late anymore." She disreguarded the fact that he may or may not be human. As far as she knew no human could change their eye color.

Reagan continued to stare at Kadia with the same cold look in his eyes for a good several minutes more before frowning slightly and nodded at her twice before he spoke again, his voice carrying with it a clear tone despite his accent.

"This one time, I'll let it go." He spoke slowly. "But you are going to have to make up for the lost time." He added, pointing a finger at the female with intent. "Now then. You know why you are here with me in this place?" He asked, cutting straight to the chase immediately.

"Because I would like to learn from you, thats why." She said with a smile. She was so glad that he decided to forgive her because she would have been upset with herself if he didn't let her study under him just because she got side tracked with a stray cat. He was such a cute cat though... As soon as she thought that her mind was totally distracted then, so if he was saying anything she probably wouldn't hear him. She had always been that way ever since she could remember, getting distracted at the smallest of thoughs even if they were just passing randomly.

She began to stare off into space, thinking about the hour she had decided to spend with that cute little cat.

Reagan listened to Kadia's response, but noted the rather distracted look on her face. Frowning at what he saw, the feral human took it upon himself to bring this woman back to Earth, so to speak. As she was looking off to the side, Reagan approached her quietly before holding up his left hand then snapped his fingers next to her ear.

"First lesson. Be aware of all things around you." Reagan began, his words sounding as harsh as ever. "Second lesson." He added as he then went to her back then curled his arms under hers before locking his fingers together on the back of her head, cinching a full nelson hold on her. "Never... Turn your back... On your opponent." He growled slightly as he applied moderate pressure each time he spoke.

Kadia blinked when she heard him snap and then looked up ato him, listening to his words. She nodded, doing her best to keep her attention on him. When he walked behind her she let him, thinking he was just walking around. However, when he put his arms behind her she yelped despite how gently he was doing it. "Okay, I understand, so let go! You're hurting me!" She shouted.

She wasn't the greatest when it came to dealing with pain, but she still was determined to learn how to protect herself.

Once he felt he got his points across, Reagan would eventually relinquish his hold on Kadia by pushing her forward with a scowl on his face. "Now you're beginning to understand my way which is the hard way." He said with his fists clenched tightly. "Maybe now you'll keep those two lessons at heart due to their importance." He added, his words sounding as harsh as ever.

"Third and last important lesson." He then spoke again as he approached her. "Always keep those lessons to your heart." Reagan demanded as he pressed a finger to her chest roughly.

She looked down at his finger that was directly above her natural cleavage and then looked up at him, putting on the most serious face she could manage. "I won't forget!" She said, nodding reassuringly. She didn't understand why he was being so stern about simple and obvious stuff like this. After a minute her face got more relaxed and she was staring off into space yet again, losing her attention already.

She then shook her head and tried to focus once more, her serious face back on. She then looked around as if she were trying to be alert of her surroundings. It was rather cute more than intimidating.

(For this part, I'm going to be using his native language. If you need to know what he's saying, go here and pop it in. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" rel="nofollow" href="http://free-translator.imtranslator.net/speech.asp">http://free-translator.imtranslator.net/speech.asp</a><!-- m --> )

"Ð?овоÑ?иÑ?е еÑ?Ñ?ндÑ?!" A frustrated shout emanated from Reagan, cursing at her in his native language. "I say bullshit to you! You have no focus! You have no drive! Ð?Ñ? самая низкая Ñ?оÑ?ма жизни на земле! Ð?Ñ? не даже Ñ?еловеÑ?еское Ñ?Ñ?аÑ?анÑ?е бÑ?Ñ?Ñ?! Ð?Ñ? не Ñ?Ñ?о иное как неоÑ?ганизованная Ñ?асÑ?Ñ? деÑ?Ñ?ма!" He growled again, cursing at her even more.

"Come on! Get angry with me if you don't like what I am saying to you!" He added, demanding a response from her.

When he shouted at him she blinked a few times and then looked at her feet. "I'm sorry..I just..." She started before tears began to stream down her cheeks. "I've always been like that, I can't focus for very long sometimes. I don't mean it, I'm very sorry." She said, her voice cracking and then she found herself about to cry. She tried not to, so she took a deep breath. "Please forgive me for crying...I don't mean to."

She then looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with tears. "And what do you mean by drive..?"

Flustered that she didn't know what he meant by drive, Reagan hissed another curse to himself before slapping himself in the face. "You know! You have no...!!!" He was about to say before sputtering something in his native language once again.

"ШаÑ?Ñ?!" He shouted, his hands hovering under his pants. "You have no spine!"

"I have no spine!?" Kadia gasped and then turned as if trying to look at her back. "No, I have a spine...you kind of scared me for a bit." She said in relief and then shook her head. "Why are you yelling at me? I'm sorry, just tell me what I'm doing to make you yell at me..." She said, her worried expression turning back into the gloomy one.

"Please master, I'll do anything, just teach me! I'll do everything you say!"

"Tcch... Ð?есÑ?Ñ?ебеÑ?ная доÑ?Ñ? пÑ?осÑ?иÑ?Ñ?Ñ?ки..." Reagan muttered under his breath in an irritated manner while looking off to the side while his face was wrenched into an aggravated frown before looking at her with the same look.

"You know what upsets me the most about you?" Reagan then asked, looking at her dead in the eye. "The fact that you act pretty when the world around you isn't. It is not all sunshine and rainbows in your lands. These are hard times in our lives now, when kings and queens require only the best of the best and will not settle for anything but." He explained.

"Generals will require soldiers for their armies. Clients will need mercenaries to do their dirty work." He added, sounding rather disgusted with himself for even mentioning the words.

Kadia had no idea what he was talking about. "I don't act pretty..." She mumbled under her breath as he ranted at her with things she didn't even understand. She then sighed and tried to pay attention to what he was saying, but she had a hard time. "I don't want to be a soldier. I just want to be a warrior and I want to protect myself. But I do need money, so I guess for now I'll be a mercenary. Hmm, what's the dirty work mean? Because if it has something to do with human feces, or anything nasty..." She trailed off, realizing she was getting off subject.

"Not that kind of dirty work, идиоÑ?." Reagan answered, slapping a hand over his face. "I meant dirty work as contract killings, eliminations of high level politicians, garrison jobs, evidence planting, that kind of thing." He added with a shrug of his shoulders. "You will have to be prepared for anything that comes your way." He concluded, pointing at her.

"Well, I'm not sure if I can do something as dishonest as planting evidence. I don't think I can kill anyone either. Can't you teach me to do this stuff? Without killing anyone or framing them or something. Wait..is that even possible?" She asked with a puzzled expression. She then looked up and then sighed and shook her head. "Anyways, I just want to defend people and stuff. Can you teach me how to do that?"

"There is no such thing as defending someone without bloodshed, Kadia. You will have to take a life eventually." Reagan answered with a forlorn look on his face while shaking his head. "Even I should know this better than you." He added, pointing at her this time.

"I can teach you the skills you need to know, Kadia. However, in order for you to truly grasp my way, you must kill in order to survive in this world." He added.

Kadia took in a deep breath and nodded. "I really don't like the idea of taking anyones life, but you are my master and my teacher and I will listen to you." She said, solemnly and then looked at her feet. "Even if it means that I have change the part of myself I like the most. If I remain this way I will always be a bumbling idiot, and I don't want that." She said with a sigh.

Reagan simply nodded in response to Kadia's statement before crossing his arms in front of himself as he kept gazing at her. "We all must change sooner or later, Kadia. After all, it is better to die standing than to live by crawling on your knees like some sniveling pathetic slave." He answered, his piercing eyes still not leaving her face.

"In any case, we begin training immediately. We need to gauge your ability with a sword then proceed from there." Reagan spoke once more before turning away from her to head outside.