Should Have Walked Away | Aarmau Vampire AU

𝔱 𝔥 𝔦 𝔯 𝔱 𝔶 - 𝔱 𝔴 𝔬

The storm came slowly to a stop over the third day, and by mid-afternoon, the sun peaked through the clouds.

I loved the smell of the earth after it rained.

Well, I loved the rain regardless.

The guards had a system set up and began rebuilding what was lost almost the second it stopped raining.

I did relatively the same, using the first half of my guys' class to help out and clean some of the courtyards' debris.

The other half was inside, again in the ballroom just like the women's' class.

All of the men were learning quickly as a whole, and I decided a few days ago that it was time to move on to the next lesson.

"Alright. Here's the deal, boys: now that you can all collectively get me out of breath and bring a real challenge, I'll be training and sparring with you one-on-one."

One of the younger men raised his hand, nails painted black in a stark contrast with powder pink hair.

"Wouldn't you start with singles?"

Smirking, I rested my hands on my hips. "Hey, before you guys, the only time I was a teacher was to teach myself. I'm new to this process," I smiled kindly, dropping the previous smirk. "But no. You now know how to work together, which is very important. Now we'll do singles and all techniques, so you can help each other with what you need help in."

"Line up along the wall."

One of the walls was lined with glass doors to face expansive gardens outside — currently in muddy shambles from the recent weather — so everyone lined up on the contrary wall.

It was off-white, with ornate pillars adding composition to the ballroom. I felt bad that it was possible for us to damage such a beautiful room, but we were only going to be training in here for another day.

The first student was a blunet with honey eyes, and while I fought him I had the next two fight each other, then the next two, and the next, and so on.

I stood in a plain position, hands at my side, while he stood low and battle-ready. I no longer needed to do that position because I could go into it in a moments notice without blinking. Both with vampire speed and human.

My finger twitched, and he jumped into action.

His head was low, body crouched, and arms out to tackle me like we were playing a ball game. I stepped aside out of his reach, with some help of my blood-given speed.

Now I could kick these lessons up a notch.

The boy tripped from his own momentum but rose quickly to his feet. Next, he went for a punch, but I caught his hand and twisted — not enough for pain or injury, but enough for subtle discomfort and an opening so I could kick his stomach. My kick was the same as twisting his arm, but with more discomfort. I didn't want to hurt these kids, but I needed to train them.

As time goes on, I'll put more pressure and pain into the mix so they know what to expect. Eventually, I won't hold back.

He tumbled back, landing on his backside before getting up again.

Spunk. I like it.

"Measure my moves and anticipate them before making your own," I tipped.

His eyes moved over my limbs, noting my relaxed attitude but tense spine and legs.

He went low for a punch as a distraction, and I blocked that one as well as the next one beside my head.

Surprise, surprise, I didn't anticipate his quick legs and he managed to kick the back of my knee.

I didn't collapse, but I stumbled and he managed to knock me to the floor. Half my muscle was in my blood and not tissue, so I was quite a light person in weight.

He gets up quickly, and I can do it even faster.

Especially with my vampiric skills.

Before he could even blink, I was behind him and shoved him to the floor. Grunting, he looked back in shock and anger at my cheating. I spoke before he got the chance.

"Don't forget, most people you'll be fighting are vampires, not human. They won't play nice, so neither will I.

"A vampire will use their strength against you every chance they get because they think they're stronger. Prove them wrong and use their arrogance against them.

"Like loosing and pulling a trump card?"

I smiled and watched as the gears turned in his head.

"Again." Next person.

Everyone in earshot had been listening to my short lecture and used the knowledge in their own fight. However, none knocked me to the ground longer than a second, and I didn't expect them to so soon.

The next boy was blond with matching eyes and meif'wa features. He was quicker, but I got him down because he lacked muscle in his stomach and couldn't use all of his strength because of it.

I dropped to the floor and dragged my foot under him. He quickly crashed to the floor with a groan, catching his breath. He lasted a good amount of time in our fight.

"Again."

And again and again and again, until the sun rose and time was up.

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Word count: 913