Lesson One

[Rayleigh]

Closed to Tobias.

"I was starting to think that you wouldn't show up."

As he closed the distance between them, the taller of the pair gave a low chuckle. "You doubted me? Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me?"

Annoyance painted Rayleigh Aston's tone as she replied, "don't you make me answer that, Stalt."

"I wouldn't dream of making you do anything." Now that the mercenary stood beside the mousy woman, the smirk he wore was impossible to miss; the girl merely scowled up at him until he spoke again. "Besides, I'm the teacher. The teacher is never late." Rather than meeting her gaze, Tobias stared out over the plains. A warm breeze raked across the sprawling space, bending the long blades of grass toward him, and his unruly brown hair back from his eyes.

The woman shook her head. "Don't get cocky," she cautioned. When he did not respond to her dig right away, Rayleigh allowed her gaze to follow his. "What is it that you're looking for, anyway?"

"Your first lesson."

The brunette drew in a long, deep breath, filling her lungs with the sweet-smelling air, before exhaling slowly. The curse words that she had wanted so badly to spill died on her tongue. She was in no place to harass the man, as she had requested their meeting in the first place. Originally, when she had asked Tobias to help her hone her combat skills, she had expected to meet up with him somewhere in the House of Cards. His request to meet just outside of Dehlos had come as a surprise, and his tardiness had not improved the situation. But, in the end, he was there because of her. She owed him a bit more respect.

"Alright," she replied slowly, pumping artificial sweetness into her voice until she was satisfied that it covered her frustration. "No need to be so mysterious. You can just show me a few things. Maybe we can fight a couple of times until I get the hang of it. Then we can go back."

[Tobias Stalt]

Tobias shook his head. "You won't learn instincts fighting me," he told her. "You won't feel the innate sense of danger. The need to survive that goes beyond fight or flight can't be brokered in a self-contained enviornment." Her brow furrowed further with every word he said until Ray drained of color as the realization gripped her. "I took out a job on a local menace," he said finally. "And you're going to put an end to it."

"You took a job?" she spun on him and stared, wide-eyed. "I haven't learned the first thing about firing a gun or stabbing with a knife, and you hired me on to kill someone?"

"Ah, hell no," Tobias waved her off. "Hit contracts are out of the question at your stage of development. Too many uncertainties, far too many variables. I got you what we in the business call a "sure thing." Tobias smirked triumphantly as a sound between hiss and roar cracked the fragile calm of the plains. Tobias gestured toward Ray, now frozen in terror. "It's called a Cassarian," he explained. "Quadripedal, feline family, long incisors and keen digits. Quick, but not inhumanly. Not incredibly intelligent, but territorial."

"Territorial," she repeated. A lump in her throat halted her breath, but a reassuring clap on the shoulder kick started it once more. "Great."

"It's easy," Tobias laughed. "Point the open end at the Cas. Pull the trigger. Kill it before it kills you."

"Easy for you to say!" she cried. A large gray mass eclipsed her with shadow as it bounded up from between the tall grasses. Tobias took two steps back. The Cassarian held her in its green-gray gaze as it bared teeth and scowled at her.

The expression on his face faded as he watched her carefully. The first few movements in a fight decided how a fighter would do. Against a feral opponent, that fact was doubly true. Beasts are unpredictable and rarely do what you expect. His fingers itched toward a weapon, but Tobias willed himself to relent. This was Rayleigh's fight.

"And you call this a sure thing?" she rasped incredulously.

Tobias firmly yelled in response. "Move. Now!"

[Rayleigh]

But she did not move.

Again, he called out to her. This time, his words were laced with an urgency that had not been present before. "Rayleigh, move!"

There was no need for him to repeat himself. The woman had heard him perfectly the first time, and with every fiber of her being, she had wanted to follow his orders. Move! Her brain echoed once more, yet her body would not oblige. All at once, she became aware of her heart, thudding madly in her chest and in her ears. Of her trembling legs and her sweating palms. She felt everything, yet she could move nothing. A soft, choked sound of panic gurgled from the back of her throat.

And then, she was falling. The long grasses folded beneath her small body, softening the impact as she struck the ground. Of course, the vegetation did little to shield her from the mass that was Tobias Stalt, landing on top of her. Rayleigh gasped madly for breath, fighting to fill lungs that convulsed with pain and fear.

As quickly as the weight had come, it was lifted from her. Dazed, the green-eyed girl struggled to sit up. "What-" she began, only to be rudely interrupted.

"Fucking idiot," the man growled, his form blocking the sun as he towered over her. She squinted up at him. "Get up."

This time, she complied. As she climbed to her feet, she watched the Cas beast lope a wide half-circle around the pair. Tobias, she realized, had knocked her out of the way before the monster could hook his claws into her.

As if reading her mind, he added, "next time, I'll let it kill you." The edge in his tone made it difficult to determine whether or not the mercenary was kidding.

"Right," she replied weakly. "I'll try."

"Stop trying, Aston," Tobias barked. With trembling arms, and both hands clenching the grip until her knuckles lost their color, she pointed the revolver. "Just do it."

[Tobias Stalt]

Stern and focused, his gaze fixed on the way she held her gun. Shaking hands and subdued twitches under her eye told Tobias of the fear that gripped her. Rayleigh shivered as tension mounted in her spine, and a shot roared from her weapon. The mercenary grit his teeth as the mechanic winced and her eyes squeezed shut.

Smoke plumed from the mouth of her barrel as she glanced up and around, searching frantically for the corpse of her prey. "Never take your eyes off a target," Tobias growled, and Rayleigh was aware of the man breathing down her neck. She let out a panicked cry as he dragged her down into the tall grass, and almost screamed out until he held up a finger to silence her.

"You can't lose track of an enemy in the heat of a fight," he instructed her in a low whisper. "Cassarians are apex predators. They can stalk you from five feet away in savannah grass like this and you'd never know it. You need to find him again, before he finds you."

Rayleigh grimaced. "And how do I do that?" she asked, searching his eyes.

Tobias stood slowly. "Know your surroundings," he announced clearly. "Know your enemy. Know yourself." As his arms crossed, Tobias closed his eyes . "And never take your eyes off of someone who's looking to kill you."

[Rayleigh]

His final words drew a wince from the girl, and she immediately swung her gaze away from his. Never take your eyes off of someone who's looking to kill you. What obvious advice, yet she had managed to do the exact opposite.

I can't do this. The words danced on the tip of her tongue, threatening to spill forth and reveal her uncertainties. She stole a sideways glance at Tobias, whose grim expression seemed etched in stone. He was in no mood to deal with her complaints, that much was clear to her. Rayleigh clenched her jaw tightly to keep the words from gaining voice. What good would it do?

Yet she struggled to find the courage that she tried so hard to feign. Tobias had encouraged her know her surroundings, her enemy, and herself. Hell, the brunette thought bitterly, I’m not sure I can even manage that last one. She was certainly unfamiliar with this part of Althanas, having spent no time at all in or around Dehlos. And there was no way that she could know about the Cassarian, having spotted her first one only minutes before.

But Tobias knows that. The realization left a bitter taste in her mouth, and a knot in the pit of her stomach. He had suggested their training ground, and he had selected her target.

“Damn you,” she hissed under her breath, her words meant for no one but herself. If Tobias heard her, he gave no indication.

A sudden breeze unsettled the rippling sea of grass. For the briefest moment, Ray caught a flash of chrome among the browns and tans. Once more, trembling arms rose, leveling her pistol at the space where the beast rest in waiting. Though she could no longer see it, her imagination conjured a visual of the enormous cat, muscles rolling beneath velvety fur as it crouched in waiting.

“Go again,” Tobias commanded, his voice a low-pitched murmur from directly behind her.