Deadly Deception

Chapter 21

I've found another cheerleader.

The opening was filled with the sounds of harsh shouts and the strike of metal on metal. The entire area was full of lost weapons, some embedded in the floor, some stuck in training dummies, and some just thrown around. The floor had seen many footfalls over the years, creating a dirt 'arena' for people to train in. Some of the wooden target dummies still stood amongst the grass and flowers, for use with long range weaponry. The Placidium of Navori was large enough to look close, but just far enough away for the makeshift arena to not be in it's shadow.

A louder shout came from one of the two fighters, and he threw his partner across the area, who landed on her feet and skidded a foot in the first, both feet and one hand in the dirt. Neither of them moved, aside from their chests heaving and hands flexing, the young woman's that was against the ground scraping up dirt as it moved. The man, in a full, blue face mask, made a sign with his hands and moved his ankles together.

"You still need to put more power into your swings, Akali." He grumbled, letting out another deep breath.

"You're just too picky!" Akali stood up and threw the kunai in her hand at the ground, not even looking as it stabbed into the ground. "I put plenty of force into my punches! Maybe you're just too fucking hard-headed to feel them, Shen!"

"Language." He sighed and shook his head. "Calm yourself. Nothing is going to happen well when you're angry."

"You're the one who's making me angry!" As always, this had quickly become a stalemate between the two of them. Akali had an admittedly… abrasive personality, and it only worked well with Shen, who had more patience than anyone else in the Kinkou order.

"I'm only trying to train you." Shen lowered his sword and adjusted the lip of his mask to make it more comfortable. "If you don't want to train right now, I understand-"

"I want to train, but I want you to shut up!" Akali threw a punch as a threat, which Shen caught in his hand. "You never shut the fuck up!"

"Then train." The blademaster let go of his pupil's hand and turned away. "Train by yourself. I'll come back later." True to his word, Shen turned on his heel and started to walk down the slope, towards the small, makeshift camp that the two of them had made under the shadow of the Placidium of Navori. Akali watched his back for a few minutes, fists balling into tighter and tighter fists until she was sure that he couldn't hear. Pulling a second kunai from her belt, the kunoichi grabbed the one from the ground and screamed out her frustrations as she repeatedly stabbed one of the straw-stuffed dummies. It was already well worn from the years, but Akali's attack was the last push for it to split open and spill its 'guts'.

She stared at the conquered training dummy as she caught her breath, chest heaving and shoulders rising and falling with each huff. She still felt angry. Of course, it wasn't all about Shen. It could never be all about Shen; but Akali didn't fully know why she was so angry. Again, she threw the kunai in her right hand into the ground and sank to her knees, gripping handfuls of hair in frustration.

"No, I heard someone scream up here!" Akali's head snapped to the hill opposite to where Shen had gone.

"We don't need to go and investigate every sound we hear."

"But someone could be in trouble!" It only took a moment more until a messy, pink head of hair came into view, followed by violet eyes filled with concern. Akali fought back a flinch, knowing that she had felt that concerned look before, but not knowing from where. "Hey! Are you okay?"

"What's it to you?!" The woman raised an eyebrow as she reached the top of the hill, now with the 'VI' visible on her cheek.

"I'm trying to see if you're okay, you don't need to get shitty about it!" The giant metal hands attached to her belt gave Akali pause, but it was too late to stop venting now.

"Nobody asked you to!" The two of them walked towards each other and stood chest-to-chest, glaring and making themselves look intimidating, even though Akali was around a foot shorter. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!"

"Who the fuck do you think you are?!" Vi lifted a hand and jabbed Akali's shoulder to accentuate her words, quickly followed by the Kunoichi's hands wrapping around her forearm. Despite being shorter, she yanked hard on it, and almost pulled Vi off her feet. The Warden's eyes widened for a second, followed by a grin. "Fucking hell, you're strong!"

"Of course I am!" Akali barked back, trying to hide her pride of being complimented with more anger. "Where the fuck do you think that you are?!"

"Hey, you're not the only strong one!" With her free hand, Vi unattached both of her gauntlets from her red cloth belt, not even looking as they made small craters in the ground. Akali herself barely had a chance to register that scene before Vi lifted the teen above her head, laughing. "I got you now!" Vi had one hand around her bicep, and the other around her thigh, holding the ninja high in the air. Akali knew that this was not good. A stranger holding her in the air with no visible way of escape,

But she didn't feel like this was dangerous.

Instead of trying to escape, Akali grinned and reached down to put her hand on top of Vi's head.

"This is easy to get out of, you know." The enforcer looked up, confused.

"How?"

"Okay, first I'll do this," Akali swung her legs backward, pulling them out of Vi's hand, using the hand on her head to keep herself up. "Then I swing forward like this!" She usually aimed to hurt her attackers, but this woman wasn't a threat in her eyes. Akali's calves slammed down onto Vi's shoulders, who, other than exhaling at the slight pain, didn't budge.

"Yeah, but if I let go of your hand, you'll fall." Vi told her, gripping one of her calves. "You should try it with your thighs." She pulled the ninja forward so she was sitting on her shoulders properly. "See, now you have more leverage on who you're attacking."

"Yeah, I get what you mean…" They couldn't look at each other properly, but Akali still grinned. "So I can finish them off like this!" There was enough muscle in her legs to completely cut off Vi's airway, but Akali only squeezed her thighs together with half that pressure, both hands tangled in pink hair.

"Hey!" Both of the enforcer's hands gripped the thighs around her neck, only half heartedly trying to pull them away. "I'm trying to teach you, and you're trying to kill me!"

"That's what happens when you meet a ninja!" Throughout this entire 'argument', Katarina had been standing a few feet away, watching the two of them with her arms folded. As much as she didn't appreciate having another woman's thighs around her wife's neck, there wouldn't be much point in trying to break up the play fighting. Vi had been moping ever since Yasuo had gone his own way again the previous day, and this was the first time, aside from being her typical loving self, that Vi had looked genuinely happy again. The assassin glanced around the training arena and walked to where one of Akali's kunai was still embedded in the ground and pulled it out.

It was definitely different to her own daggers; thicker and straighter, and more angled. It was heavier than the weapons she was used to, but she could feel that it could potentially sink deeper into a wound, or knock someone out cold if the flat side was used to hit someone.

"Hey!" Katarina turned at the shout, and couldn't help but roll her eyes when she saw Akali sitting on Vi's bicep, legs crossed, and foot resting against her hand. "Who the fuck are you?"

"That's Katarina, she's my wife." The Enforcer gave both of them a smile. "What did you find, Kat?"

"A dagger, I think." Akali looked confused, but didn't question her claims on being married.

"It's a kunai." She said, jumping down from Vi's arm and taking it from Katarina. "It's mostly for throwing, look." Akali yelled sharply and threw her arm to the side, turning herself on her heel and throwing the kunai, point first, into the training dummy across the clearing. It sank into the sack of hay halfway up the blade. "See?"

"I always keep my blades in hand." Katarina cupped her chin between her thumb and forefinger, her other arm under her chest. "Well, I did. I lost them in the ocean."

"Well, those things are lost." Akali reached into the pouch on the back of her belt and pulled two more kunai out of it, held between her fingers. "Here; we can spar." She tossed one to her other hand and flipped the other around so she was holding the blade, and she could offer the hilt to Katarina. The assassin didn't immediately take it, wary of this young woman in front of her. They didn't know each other, and yet she wanted to have a friendly fight? "C'mon; Take it before I die of old age." Katarina raised an eyebrow at Akali, then took the kunai, holding it backhanded.

"Just make sure you don't hurt each other, alright?" Vi grinned, walking to her gauntlets and sitting cross-legged in front of them. "I don't know of any hospitals around here." Akali gave her a shrug and stepped away, twirling the pommel of her kunai around her finger.

"If I wanted to hurt you two, one of you would have a stab wound." She pulled her mask off of her face and let it rest around her neck. There wasn't much point in hiding her identity now. "I'm a trained assassin."

"How coincidental." Katarina smirked, testing the weight of the kunai in her hand. "So am I." That made the shinobi smirk. Maybe this woman would actually give her a challenge.

"Good." They faced each other again, a smirk on both of their faces. "Ready?" Akali asked, shifting her feet into a steadier position and holding her weapon out in front of her, the other arm half crossed over her chest, and hand hovering over the other. Katarina moved one foot behind the other and turned the blade over in her hand so she was holding it backwards again. As soon as she nodded, Akali dashed forward, bringing her blade forward in a slicing motion, aiming for the redhead's chest. Metal struck metal in a loud 'clang', and sparks that were barely seen in the daylight sprinkled through the air. Katarina had blocked the sweep with her own dagger, and their hands were both shaking in a power struggle to try and win. Katarina moved first, aiming a punch under Akali's ribs, barely touching her before she jumped back and dropped into a crouch, swinging her leg in an arc to try and floor her opponent. Her foot did connect with one of Katarina's ankles, and she almost lost her balance before righting herself and jumping back, trying to size her opponent up with narrowed eyes.

Akali had the advantage of being smaller, which meant she was more lithe. Katarina glanced at the solid muscles on her arms, which were flexed in preparation for the next attack.

Katarina was older, Akali could definitely see that. The scar over her eye told her that she had been in many more battles than herself; a fact that Akali was definitely wary of.

Both women were waiting for the right moment to attack; a sign, a slight movement, anything. However, Vi was getting bored at watching what was essentially a staring contest and groaned loudly, getting their attention.

"C'mon, guys!" She called, leaning back on her hands. "A spar means you actually have to try and hit each other!"

"There's more to fights than throwing punches, Vi." Katarina stood up straight and rested her fist on her hip. "You need to learn your enemy; see how they move, how they react."

"Sure, you can do it that way, but if you go all out, they won't be able to attack because they're blocking all the time." Akali looked between them, trying to think about who to listen to. They both had good points, but she couldn't combine two attack styles… Her kunai was tossed from hand to hand as she thought about it. An all-out assault combined with a good defense didn't seem possible.

"Vi," They both looked at Akali. "Show me an all-out assault." The enforcer grinned widely and stood up, cracking her knuckles.

"Gladly." Akali almost felt like she had made a mistake.

Almost.

Katarina stepped back a few metres, ready to watch the spar from a safe distance. Vi looked ready to fight an army with how she bounced on her toes, which made Akali feel a little more nervous. How much did her gauntlets weigh?

With one last deep exhale, Akali pressed the toe of her sandal into the ground and dashed forward, holding her kunai backhanded and ready to strike. Vi had no shoes to speak of, so she assumed that the bruiser would be unconsciously worrying about standing on sharp stones or branches,

But Akali was soon proven wrong.

As soon as the kunoichi was in arms reach, Vi threw a punch that was definitely aimed at her head. She ducked under her arm and tried to swipe the point of her kunai across Vi's stomach, blocked by a kick to her stomach that she couldn't avoid. It sent her flying, and Akali skidded across the ground on her toes when she was able to right herself. That definitely stung.

"I think you put too much force behind that, Vi." Katarina announced, watching Akali clutching her stomach and trying not to look pained.

"Did I? Sorry." A woman that had insane strength, but not complete control over it… "I got a bit too excited. I've been itching for a friendly fight for ages." Ok, she had control, just the attitude of a cub. "Are you alright…?" Akali looked confused at the pause.

"Yes… is something wrong?"

"You never told us your name." That made her laugh. Akali straightened herself, put her hands flat together, with the handle of her kunai between them, and bowed. "My name is Akali Jhomen Tethi."

"Interesting name." Katarina mused, biting her tongue about her own name. "Well, you know ours."

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you." Vi gave her another smile. "Are you trying to learn some new moves? I'm always happy to play with a friendly face." Akali raised an eyebrow at the use of 'play', but shrugged it off and readied herself to lunge again.

"Akali!" The ninja jumped and turned to where the shout came from, almost in tandem with Katarina, and they both raised the kunai that they were holding up in defense. Shen had made it halfway back up the small hill, almost with steam coming out of his ears. Still, he stayed as calm as a still pond, and gave Katarina a strange look as he walked past her, towards his student. "I told you to practice, and you find people to attack?"

"I'm not attacking them, we're practicing." She huffed, swinging her kunai around her index finger. "Since you're such a boring ass, I found other people to spar with."

"There is no need to be rude, Akali." Shen folded his arms over his chest, not ready to get his fingers bitten off by his student's temper. "I am simply trying to train you. Why don't you listen to me?"

Now ready to snap, Akali pulled her mask back up, ready to cuss Shen into next week, then thought of something. Vi had pulled her huge, metal hands back on, and Katarina had walked over to talk to her. She didn't want to stay with Shen, but needed to train. Akali nodded and placed her kunai back in the pouch on her belt, then clapped her hands together and bowed to her mentor.

"What are you-"

"Vi! Katarina! Run!" The teenager yelled, making both women jump, then turned and bolted straight towards them. They barely had time to process before Akali had grabbed Katarina's hand and pulled her along behind her. Vi immediately followed both Akali and her confused wife, shouting incoherently. Shen followed them to the crst of the hill and watched the three of them vanish into the trees. All he could do was sigh and press two fingers against his forehead. It was only a matter of time before such a headstrong person broke free of a cage that she imagined…

Shen wasn't even sure if he should follow her. He decided that as he thought about it, a meal wouldn't hurt.

Yesterday, I got Vi's gauntlet tattooed on my arm. Now, a piece of my eternally favourite character, and my main source of inspiration, is with me forever.