On the Line (Alternate Places Book 3) by P.S. Power Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: P.S. Power
boxers. Most
boxers would try to throw between two and six punches as quickly as possible by
training, then pause, reset and move to the next combination. Two or three
being the most common patterns. No matter how fast they did it, there would
always be that pause afterward.
Britney and Don both paused slightly between each move,
punch, kick or block. Blaine hadn't done that, except when he'd gotten really
frustrated. She realized that he probably wasn't really too far off of his goal
of being an academy level practitioner. Meaning good enough to teach others
higher level skills. She wondered how he'd do with weapons. If he could teach
weapons too , he'd be about ninety-five percent of the way to his goal.
The rest would pretty much be continuing to practice and marking time, because
no one trusted an academy level instructor that wasn't at least fifty.
They switched partners, Blaine asking everyone to work at
super slow speed, which made things a lot harder for everyone except Kate,
who'd practiced that way for years. Britney came closer to holding her own at
these speeds than Blaine had at full speed, but that was to be expected. It
seemed clear to Kate that Brit had held back a lot when working with Don, since
she obviously didn't bother doing that now with her. She probably wasn't as
good as Blaine, but their constant practice together meant that he'd pushed her
along for years, keeping her sharp and growing along with him.
The whole group moved over to some padded floor mats to
practice throws and joint locks, an area in which she clearly dominated the
others, knowing about a hundred more effective throws than the rest of them did,
combined. That and joint locks had been something Master Dan had insisted upon.
Of course he also insisted they practice on a concrete floor, not a soft
cushy mat like this. She had to admit that she liked this better, if only to
herself.
When they finished Blaine tackled her, picking her up in the
air and spinning her around. At first she thought he planned to slam her into
the mat, also a fair move in her mind, even though he'd called a halt to
things. One of the lessons she'd had drummed into her was that rules had
nothing to do with fighting. She let her body go limp, which carried them both
to the mat, truncating the throw, it being almost impossible to throw a person
that didn't resist. As he lay under her on the ground, he laughed and kissed
her on the cheek.
“You're so good! Please, please promise you'll practice with
us all the time? Pleeaasse?” He begged, looking at her entreatingly. “You're
about twice as good as Britney or I am, and while I can't promise you'll get
much out of practicing with us, we'll try hard... Please?”
Laughing she answered.
"Yes... We can do that. You don't actually have
to beg." She needed to stay in practice, she knew and told them she
doubted she was that much better than they were.
Don shook his head at that though.
“I don't know, you're really good. I don't know enough
to stop you, but I can tell how hard someone would be kicking my
ass, and working with you... Well, let's just say if you ever try to beat me
up, I plan on running away, even if I do look like a chicken doing it!”
This got a chuckle out of the rest of them, though she
pointed out that anyone scary enough to make him leery should be run
away from.
“You're good enough that if that kind of feeling ever gets
triggered in you, it's probably a real warning from your subconscious
mind. And if I ever see you running, that brown blob beside you trying to pass?
That'll be me .”
Most of the people she knew would have ripped up all of
them in a fight, at the same time. Possibly without even noticing they'd done
it. Hilda for instance could throw a backhand so fast and hard that you could
block it and still end with you laying on the floor unconscious, and
that was her weakest move. She'd done it to Kate more than once in
practice, and that had happened while they worked
boxers would try to throw between two and six punches as quickly as possible by
training, then pause, reset and move to the next combination. Two or three
being the most common patterns. No matter how fast they did it, there would
always be that pause afterward.
Britney and Don both paused slightly between each move,
punch, kick or block. Blaine hadn't done that, except when he'd gotten really
frustrated. She realized that he probably wasn't really too far off of his goal
of being an academy level practitioner. Meaning good enough to teach others
higher level skills. She wondered how he'd do with weapons. If he could teach
weapons too , he'd be about ninety-five percent of the way to his goal.
The rest would pretty much be continuing to practice and marking time, because
no one trusted an academy level instructor that wasn't at least fifty.
They switched partners, Blaine asking everyone to work at
super slow speed, which made things a lot harder for everyone except Kate,
who'd practiced that way for years. Britney came closer to holding her own at
these speeds than Blaine had at full speed, but that was to be expected. It
seemed clear to Kate that Brit had held back a lot when working with Don, since
she obviously didn't bother doing that now with her. She probably wasn't as
good as Blaine, but their constant practice together meant that he'd pushed her
along for years, keeping her sharp and growing along with him.
The whole group moved over to some padded floor mats to
practice throws and joint locks, an area in which she clearly dominated the
others, knowing about a hundred more effective throws than the rest of them did,
combined. That and joint locks had been something Master Dan had insisted upon.
Of course he also insisted they practice on a concrete floor, not a soft
cushy mat like this. She had to admit that she liked this better, if only to
herself.
When they finished Blaine tackled her, picking her up in the
air and spinning her around. At first she thought he planned to slam her into
the mat, also a fair move in her mind, even though he'd called a halt to
things. One of the lessons she'd had drummed into her was that rules had
nothing to do with fighting. She let her body go limp, which carried them both
to the mat, truncating the throw, it being almost impossible to throw a person
that didn't resist. As he lay under her on the ground, he laughed and kissed
her on the cheek.
“You're so good! Please, please promise you'll practice with
us all the time? Pleeaasse?” He begged, looking at her entreatingly. “You're
about twice as good as Britney or I am, and while I can't promise you'll get
much out of practicing with us, we'll try hard... Please?”
Laughing she answered.
"Yes... We can do that. You don't actually have
to beg." She needed to stay in practice, she knew and told them she
doubted she was that much better than they were.
Don shook his head at that though.
“I don't know, you're really good. I don't know enough
to stop you, but I can tell how hard someone would be kicking my
ass, and working with you... Well, let's just say if you ever try to beat me
up, I plan on running away, even if I do look like a chicken doing it!”
This got a chuckle out of the rest of them, though she
pointed out that anyone scary enough to make him leery should be run
away from.
“You're good enough that if that kind of feeling ever gets
triggered in you, it's probably a real warning from your subconscious
mind. And if I ever see you running, that brown blob beside you trying to pass?
That'll be me .”
Most of the people she knew would have ripped up all of
them in a fight, at the same time. Possibly without even noticing they'd done
it. Hilda for instance could throw a backhand so fast and hard that you could
block it and still end with you laying on the floor unconscious, and
that was her weakest move. She'd done it to Kate more than once in
practice, and that had happened while they worked