[General mayhem: Training] (Complete, 2/3 graded.)

[Rensou Hiruen]

Orphan. . .

Drunk. . .

Addict. . .

Gladiator. . .

General! ! !

But how could one of such low standing become a figure among Saiyan society within but a day, a passerby might inquire, and certainly they did. Rensou only flashed that half smile of his. A new King had risen to the pinnacle of Vegeta, and with him, things immediately changed. A new military was organized. Training regimens were occurring with all the constancy and vigor of wondrous days of old, when the Saiyan race was at a peak and their actions were whispered in fear only by the bravest of tongues. Funds were being redirected towards such things, and for a time the economy would suffer. A lingering moment before the Solar Saiyan Empire rose up and grasped the galaxy by their collective throats once more, and this time for eternity.

With that accomplished, the new King had sought to test himself against the strongest fighter of his home world, a place he had hardly known. Rensou Hiruen was delivered to Boliko Koregutsu and the two had fought like lions, rising up and thrashing each other again and again until one faltered. That warrior had been the former gladiator, but with his efforts he had solidified himself in the patriarch's eyes as a warrior like none other, one whom rivaled himself. Boliko Koregutsu had gained a powerful ally and friend, and Rensou had been named the new General of the Empire.

The former warrior whom had held the position had loyally defended the regime of old, and had been slain for his allegiances. What remained was a multitude of underlings squabbling for the new position of importance, and they were taken aback with shock as the Saiyan titan, Boliko, named Rensou the newest officer of his forces. Shock quickly turned to rage, but the Lieutenants and Captains knew the fate of those whom opposed their new ruler: death.

The proud General stood, hovering just above six feet tall, with solid build and explosive muscle that accumulated slightly over two hundred pounds. Rensou Hiruen, from the slums of Saru, had chosen against exaggerating himself with the billowing cape that was expected of him for the more formal occasions of his new profession, but his armor bore the insignia of the Empire and the stars of a General.

General Rensou Hiruen waited, for just days prior he had sent messengers to the half-blood, Vera, and the alien Tsukare, whom had adopted the Saiyan race as his own. It was his duty to train his most important soldiers, and he meant to guide them to new levels of strength in the coming weeks before that bastard Icer arrived to attempt to grip Vegeta in his cold, malicious hands until it could breath no longer.

His boots were upon the Royal Training Grounds, the palace plainly in sight. High walls were in place to prevent damage to the beautiful grounds, and like many places upon Vegeta's reddened surface, this place too wore the color of blood. Towering walls and dirt were all that comprised this portion of the facility, simplicity. . .did not a warrior of the Solar Empire need but him or herself?

The pair still had an hour to arrive, and for that hour, Rensou would await them.

[Vera, you can use my weights if you want them. Tsukare, I'll be using my own gains to save to buy both you guys a set. Posting is by interaction, but I primarily want you guys to train together, practice your techniques, etc. Remember, not every sparring match has to be an attempt to knock the other unconscious.]

[tsukare]

Ikezu left the mutated forest refreshed, and ready for his training. The air bellowing in his face, blowing through his fur. The excitement of learning such a useful technique as Zanzoken burned deep in Ikezu's chest, and he had someone to help him. Rensou Hiruen, the new General of the Solar Saiyan Empire.

Soon he arrived at the Royal Training Grounds, a red tower and tribute to the awesome power of the Saiyan race. Ikezu's adopted race. His feet touched the grounds ever so gently as he lowered down to his right knee, his right fist on the ground in a show of respect and reverence to the new General.

"General Hiruen, I'm here to learn Zanzoken. I'm ready to learn whenever you're ready to teach, sir?" Ikezu said looking at the General's feet, and lustrous tail.

[vera]

Vera arrived at the royal training grounds, dressed in her normal red tunic with leather straps and gloves. A golden belts and other hints of her wealth were worn proudly. As usual she had received word of Rensou’s new rank shortly after it was given, the slum of planet Vegeta always had a certain way of finding out the truth and releasing it to the general public.

That morning when the messengers had arrived, none of them could’ve found their way back to the general. They had made a fatal error, instead of coming in the middle of the day they had decided to arrive at dawn. How stupid. In Vera’s household, her father was normally irritated and half-drunk while she herself was pissed off about her lack of sleep.

She gave them two seconds to state their business then ordered them to get out, they said what they need to then refused to leave. Her only option was to stop talking and eliminate them using her honoo. However no one in her area talks about that kind of thing since it happens so often, and she doubted that Rensou would find out about it. She jumped the walls of the building and landed in the north side of the ring. She quickly noted the high walls, and extremely large amount of blood on the floor. ’When was the last time this place got cleaned?’ Vera walked along gingerly until she caught a glimpse of Rensou.

The hybrid looked up at the man, he had onyx colored hair and scars all over. That was normal. The odd thing was simple, he had changed his wardrobe. He was now wearing a cape, and the insignia of the empire. Vera was also wearing an insignia, however it wasn't concealed nor was it out in the open. However one would have to strain to see her marking, as would they have to stress to find her tail which was held securely underneath her tunic and tightly around her waist.

As she stepped forward she noticed the being called Tsukare, the saiyans were his adopted race however he didn't have an ounce of their blood. She noted how he showed respect to Rensou, more so than she would ever permit herself to do. The only person whom she bowed before was the king himself, rank meant almost nothing to her.

” General Hiruen! It’s certainly been a while since our last meeting.” Vera stepped before Rensou, however stayed behind Tsukare out of some respect for the warrior she was not yet familiar with.

[Rensou Hiruen]

[Sorry for being so cryptic, Vera. Rensou isn't wearing a cape and the signification of his rank and allegiance has been added to his armor. Of course, he still bears the brand Boliko gave to him.]

Perhaps Ikezu had the situation muddled, and Rensou shifted his head, casting his shadow over the shoulder which was as reddened as the soil beneath his boots. Two suns had the effect, and despite his tanned physique, few would ever escape it. Perhaps the bestial warrior might, what with his flowing mane and fur. In truth, Rensou was not seeking to shield that exposed flesh from the rays, he was confused. Suddenly, that head lashed from side to side and a chuckle bounced through his throat.

“Stand, please, Ikezu!” he ordered, and then realized the authority such a sentence might convey. Such a thing was quickly corrected. “Please?” but the exaggerated pleading within his tone lent an awkward air to the proceedings, and Rensou cast his eyes to the dirt. No sooner than he had directed those orbs down had another pair of feet invaded his vision, and he lifted that scarred, fighter's visage to Vera and smiled before she too embarrassed him.

“It's just Rensou,” he would inform, “It's good to see you as well, Vera”. The last Hiruen meant to keep a friendly relationship with these two, though his own reservations towards those not of Saiyan ancestry would stand in the way of that. Still, he had sworn to himself and Boliko, the man whom had requested his new General to train these two prodigies to a level comparable to his own. The new General would perform his task to the best of his ability.

Ikezu had inquired as to learning the Zanzoken, and the idea of teaching another fighter a technique was unknown to Rensou. . .he pondered a moment before answering, again, to the utmost of his capability. “Ikezu, I'm certain you're capable of Bukujutsu,” that much was obvious. The Inaurian had just touched down from the clear skies above. The fist of the Saiyan clenched at his own frustration. . .he was a fighter, sure, he had led men in training exercises but to actually teach one a technique would be a learning experience.

It clicked, “To perform the Zanzoken, you use your Bukujutsu to move incredible distances in short amounts of time~” Rensou crossed his arms over his chest in triumph, though his first bit of verbal instruction did not touch upon the accumulation of ki necessary to outwardly push the body in the intended direction at unimaginable speeds. It was inadequate advice, but perhaps through trial and error Ikezu could learn the Zanzoken once Rensou realized his own error, as the Inaurian's initial attempts would probably be futile.

The Saiyan was hardly a moron, for he possessed a genius fighting mind. The tactical ability of Rensou to apply his defense and offense was a thing of awe, but as far as a teacher, that he was not. Perhaps he would become one, for today would prove to be as much as a training session for he as it would be for Ikezu and Vera.

The former gladiator wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, nervousness rising up within him. Were it not ironic that this pressure bothered him so, despite being in countless life or death struggles and remaining completely comfortable? Such were the ways of the Saiyans. With Ikezu set upon the task with terrible instruction, he turned his attentions to Vera. With practiced movements he removed his weights and slung them to the hybrid as he had done days prior.

“Pushups, Vera,” and he frowned. The woman was lagging behind in power, probably due to her heritage. With only half the blood of a Saiyan within her, it seemed the woman only trained and fought with half the intensity. “Feel free to complain, if it helps,” and with that, their individual missions had commenced.

[tsukare]

The general's shadow was as encumbering as his presence to Ikezu, and the power difference between the two was so evident that Ikezu dared not take a second glance at Rensou when he requested that he stand.

Instead he got straight up and stood with his feet shoulder width apart, and his hands behind his back. It took a few moments before Rensou responded to Ikezu's request. During that time he looked as if he was deep in thought. Perhaps considering all of the great ways he could impart his knowledge onto Ikezu. When he spoke, the question took Ikezu by surprise.

"Ikezu, I'm certain your capable of Bukujutsu."

Ikezu looked blankly into the Generals face. "Flight? I... *looks up at the sky* I uhh... *looks into Rensou's eyes* I flew here sir." He said simply. He didn't mean to back talk, but did such an obvious statement really need saying?

"Sorry sir. What I meant to say was yes sir. I've mastered bukujutsu." Ikezu said looking away in shame.

“To perform the Zanzoken, you use your Bukujutsu to move incredible distances in short amounts of time~”

"That's it. I think I can do that." Ikezu said smiling at the simplicity of the technique. If Ikezu understood what the General was saying, it meant that all he had to do was fly reaaaallly freaking fast! Right?

"Pushups, Vera." Rensou said, adding a comment about complaining. The frankness of the offhanded comment made Ikezu think that the two had a previous knowing of each other.

Anyways, to his training.

Ikezu looked up at the sky, and figured the more room he had to fly the better his chances of learning the technique right? So he flew as quickly as he could into the sky, using ki to boost his speed immensely, so fast in fact that it lead a trail of yellow energy right too him. He stopped mid-flight and turned his Mane flicking his face as it rushed past him.

"Damn it. I didn't do it." Ikezu said. He tried again, boosting his speed even more with ki. Nothing just a bigger trail, this time leading to the ground. He tried over and over again, still the same thing. Even though every pass he made was faster than the last, it wasn't the right technique. He knew it wasn't the right technique, because Zanzoken didn't leave a trail.

'Damn it! What am I doing wrong? I mean, I'm using bukujutsu like he said. I'm moving great distances like he said. I'm moving at amazing speeds. What am I missing? Maybe Rensou has another hint."

"Any other hints Rensou?" Ikezu asked politely, he simply just didn't have much to go on to figure it out.

[Rensou Hiruen]

Perceptive eyes followed the exceptional movements of Ikezu as he split the air with his body repeatedly, a bright trail of his hue following his advance. The body of the Inaurian never accelerated past the conventional speed of his Bukujutsu, however, and in doing so had failed to successfully Zanzoken. The furred whip unfurled from Rensou's waist and began to whip with impatience and annoyance as the beast attempted once again, but nothing was improving.

Neither was the temperament of Rensou Hiruen, for in his shallow mind, his spoken interpretation of the Zanzoken was true to every detail. Chiseled slopes and line upon the arm moved as both hands dropped to their respective sides to tighten leather about fingertip as those callous digits became fists. It was at that moment that Ikezu had asked for assistance.

In a millisecond the Saiyan appeared in the skies above Vera, whom had yet to commence with any physical strain, and faced Tsukare. A ferocious scowl was there upon his handsome but slashed face, straining comically to conceal his rage and aggravation. To compound matters, his stomach growled. First, Ikezu was failing in doing Rensou asked, but only because he had failed to offer proper instruction, albeit unknowingly. Second, Vera had become stoically silent and was obviously showing a form of silent disdain for his request.

Worsening matters, his stomach would have to be patient.

“Like this, Ikezu,” the General smirked as blues and greens intermixed to become one shimmering display of energy, casting the very same colors upon the skin and attire of Rensou Hiruen. The man was raising his power level, and simultaneously building energy within himself. A mental block was suddenly severed and the floodgate was unleashed. Once free, the ki was pushed outward from his front in a sideways arch, but it never materialized due to the nature of such an aggressive method. What did appear was Rensou, several meters behind Tsukare with his arms once again folded against his chest.

Whether his body had been but a blur or an afterimage was completely up to the Inaurian's senses, which developed with the intensity of his strength. At the current gap between them, Rensou was nearly certain “he” was still in the exact same position as he had been an impossibly short time ago. Audible word would cleanse the confusion of his student as they lept from his lips.

“Do you understand?” the last Hiruen chimed with a chuckle, but truthfully, his form of teaching was as lacking as Ikezu's talent for learning, but only due to his own shortcomings. Rensou shot his eyes back down to the training grounds below, hoping Vera would begin the task she had been given.

[tsukare]

Rensou stood, a giant in his own right, the epitome of a warrior spirit, loosing his patience with his two students. It was obvious that this would be a learning experience for all of them, as the palpable frustration was let loose and Rensou simply appeared by Vera. The air seemed to pull Ikezu where Rensou had been, as a rush of air slapped him on the back of the head. Perhaps by extension of Rensou's temperment?

Vera to Ikezu's surprise, had yet to begin her training. Why? Ikezu wasn't even Saiyan but he obeyed his order immediately without question. This sort of insubordination frustrated Ikezu, burning in his head like a hot coal. As for Rensou, his face immediately twisted into a fusion of rage and consternation, trying hard to conceal it's true expression while revealing itself all the better instead. On top of this mildly humorous display of Rensou's lack of emotional control, his stomach growled like a demon form the pits of hell, roaring at the gates for freedom.

His embers quelled by the presence of his students he turned to Ikezu. "Like this, Ikezu."

The energy built, but Ikezu could tell he was building energy inside himself as well. His Inaurian eyes allowed him to see exactly what was going on, in a matter of speaking. He knew exactly what he had to do. He had to build the ki up, and than release it instantaneously.

"Got it." Ikezu said to himself as the image of his teacher disappeared, and his presence shifted. It wasn't at the same place, but his image was.

He turned, and there he was arms crossed like a boss. Opened his mouth to speak, a voice which could move mountains emanated outwards gracing the ears of all his students, "Do you understand?"

A chuckle left his lips, the first time he genuinely seemed jubilant.

Ikezu built up energy within himself, not releasing any of it. He could feel it trying so hard to leak out, but it never did. He held on to it with all his strength, and at the last moment he released all of it at once. A force moved behind him, against his will, the world went blank. In the flash of black the world faded into the beast's view, and he could see the entrance to the training area. Yet no Rensou, he wasn't sure whether he did it, or whether Rensou disappeared again. As his focused came back, he realized that in fact he had done it. However he had wasted alot of energy doing so. Now he had to learn to use Zanzoken more efficiently.

The span of time which passes as one blinks their eyes went by as Ikezu turned his head in what felt like slow motion, and he realized he had done it because he was looking at the back of Rensou's head. Possibly turning to look at him as well. If so the two would meet eyes, and he would see a grin as big as the sky on the lion man's face. 'FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!' he yelled in his head, almost audible enough to be spoken. His inner body posing like this in his head.

"Like that?" He finally said, trying to control his grin. An effort which ended with him looking like he was having a stroke as his lips quivered into a half smile half smirk.

[Rensou Hiruen]

Rensou's eyes lit magnificently as iris and pupil alike reflected the dancing aura of Ikezu, an outward showing of his building energy. That was the Zanzoken in the most basic affair, but to become fluent one must telegraph, nor leave a trace of whereabouts. Rensou had elevated his power because he was currently relaxing, but it would soon be apparent that Ikezu had much to learn in relation to the technique.

That would come with time and practice, and Rensou followed the blur of his body as it took a position behind him. The lead his own strength and speed had in relation to Ikezu's enabled such a thing, but had they been more similar, Rensou would have been left unaware of his maneuver. That, as well, would come with time. The Inaurian opened his fanged mouth to speak, and Rensou simultaneously confirmed the warrior's suspicions as they were voiced.

“[/b]Like that!?[/b]” their combined voices ringing together held a tone both ecstatic and questioning, and Rensou truly unleashed his own Zanzoken. His power already flowering and at his command, the inner workings of his energies was as well oiled and efficient as a piston. Power tensed and rocketed outward, and once again he had changed his position.

Like a bolt of lightning he suddenly was before Ikezu, upside down in midair with his face inches from the Inaurian's own, his eyes clenched and a smile across his face at his antics and the success of Ikezu, whom had managed to perform even without proper guidance. He definitely was a prodigy, Boliko had done well to select this one.

“Now, like that!” Rensou jeered as he came to be so awkwardly, and he meant what Ikezu had in mind. . .do not build more energy than is required to Zanzoken, but always build enough to perform the technique. With that mastered, Ikezu would be able to perform the thing with minimal effort, and better than that, with minimal preparation – enabling him to set an offense into motion much quicker than he could have previously, and evade attacks that would have certainly struck him had he not taught himself to Zanzoken, for Rensou was certainly no teacher!

[tsukare]

"Like that!" Their voices combined simultaneously. Ikezu's questioning, Rensou's ecstatic. He did it, but it was true that Ikezu needed more practice before he had mastered the technique as he would now find out.

Rensou's power fluxed and suddenly he was looking directly into Ikezu's face, hanging in the air as if by threads from heaven. "Now like that." He said with an air of exaltation. It was evident by Rensou's new tone that Ikezu had managed to impress the Saiyan Gladiator.

He built a bubble of energy within himself. Outside he would look completely calm, and nothing would give away that he was charging energy. Once filled, he would pop the bubble and like a flash of white fur before Ren's eyes, he was on the ground again. His mane whipped with the sudden deceleration, and lay back down on his shoulders, as soon as he hit the ground he was gone again, facing Ren's face to face. The two of them upside down.

"Is that better?"

It felt a lot better to be honest, plus Ikezu felt like given a little longer he'd have it down perfectly. He was no longer waisting energy, so now he needed to practice judging distance and energy consumption and maneuvering. Once that was done, he'd be good.

[vera]

Vera smiled at Rensou, he seemed completely uncomfortable in this new position. ’Poor poor Rensou, I almost feel sorry for him. However I personally would never except the job to train another fighter, after all I can hardly train seriously with Father. Most of the time I’m asleep or eating anyway... I wonder if Rensou Hiruen can teach me how to fly. I’ve been dying to learn.’ Vera trailed off in her head, noting that she was probably the only saiyan warrior who never learned how to fly. She slightly steeped out of her daze as Rensou told her to do push-ups.

The thought of getting on the ground and pointlessly stressing out her arms annoyed her, she hated working on her physical strength. Yet she knew she couldn’t argue with him, but she hadn’t done push-ups in a few years so she thought of the position she was supposed to be in. She glared at Rensou, then at the blood-stained arena. ” Your form of revenge?” she mumbled silently as she got on the ground and attempted to do some push-ups.

The first one was wrong, she had her hips too low and the second was done incorrectly because her hips were too high. Vera could easily notice her errors and didn’t need to be told about them, however she didn’t progress well when it came to fixing them. Once she perfectly aligned herself with the ground, she did about eight push-ups before her arms began to strain. Vera wasn’t known for her upper body strength, however if she were doing lunges, squats, obstacle courses, she’d be progressing instead of making a fool out of herself.

She looked over to check on Ikezu’s progression, stopping her push-ups when Rensou’s back was turned. She noticed that the feline creature was leaving a bright yellow trail behind him, obviously doing it wrong. However Vera couldn’t do the simple flying technique so she had no right to judge. She continued to stare off into space and work only when Rensou was looking.

[Rensou Hiruen]

A lone eyelid cringed with irritation as not only did the Inaurian perform an adequate Zanzoken, but also mimicked the owner of the squinting, twitching eye. Rensou unfurled his arms and quickly twined them together again, a habit he had never truly noticed, and wiped his annoyances away with much effort. A bob of his chin and a whip of his long spikes indicated that yes, Izeku's performance was beginning to grow towards a certain perfection that he would undoubtedly touch with adequate practice.

“That's very well,” his vocals affirmed, and his dark eyes flicked down to Vera to note that at last, she had begun to perform the exercise asked of her. “Continue, please, Ikezu,” Rensou offered, his eyes still set upon the girl as he righted himself in midair and relaxed the outward push of ki emanating from his body. With the act, he was slowly lowered to the grounds with powerful appendages still stacked atop and under the other across his width.

Boots tapped against the packed surface, and visible wisps of sand and flecks of dried redness furled upward with the impact as he watched the girl. She spoke, questioning if this were some sort of act of revenge on Rensou's part, and he shook his head before realizing her face was pointed at the dirt. A parched throat cracked as the last Hiruen cleared it before delivering answer.

“Perhaps,” he mused as he strolled towards her, stepping to her left side and facing her with sweeping eyes. With every movement, her body finalized the act of lowering itself to the dirt and pushing back upward again. Those feet, completely bare, as usual, were an equal distance apart from the opposing platform as the spread of her narrow shoulders. The first two were incorrect, but would still build muscle. She persevered, but her form began to slip as each pushing movement was completed more slowly, and her falls grew much faster.

She was struggling. Good, she would need to defeat the thought process that ordered her body to halt despite the fact that it was capable of much more. Her hips sunk as she tried to heft her body weight, and overcompensated as she arched her back and Rensou turned from her to stroll away with his own special form of encouragement rolling from his chapped lips. His voice was filled with malice and mock, a slight chuckle accompanying every word.

“Like a soldier, Vera,” he advised, before delivered his opinion of her latest efforts, “not like a girl from the slums with her tail up and ass in the air,” and he stopped then, a hidden grin crossing his features in anticipation of a reaction that would probably be violent. Rensou was trying to get her temper flaring, to let her hate for him rise up within her breast and manifest outwardly in a show of defiance. Vera could do much, much better than some woman of the night, she could be the most powerful warrior on the Planet. . .if only she would push for it.

Perhaps her emotion would rise up and she would attempt to strike Rensou while his back was turned, as he had insulted her when she was at her most vulnerable. Prostrate, with her face down in the dirt and her arms afire, her body swept by the eyes of a man she loathed. That was all a part of the plan. Ikezu became better because he wished to do so, Vera would become better to simply prove Rensou Hiruen wrong.

Or, at least, that was his attempt at increasing the gains of her training.

[tsukare]

His teacher was irritated, but pleased. Ikezu was making progress, and from what he could tell from Rensou's body language, damn good progress at that.

He continued his training as requested, landing on the ground and zanzokening a short distance and back, and increasing his distance by a body's length every time. This way he would learn not to waste energy, as well as to judge his distance better. Once he was moving a significant distance from his starting location at the ground, he'd practice reappearing in a variety of poses, to help him work on maneuverability. The sooner he could come out attacking, the better he'd be. Of course their'd be a pause between zanzokens for now, but in time that too would change.

He noted that he was able to counter a lot of people using zanzoken because they never used it as a hit and run technique. So the faster he could zanzoken after an attack was hit the less chance they would have of hitting him. And in the name of fighting, the man who hits the most, and gets hit the least tends to come out on top.

So after his maneuverability training he worked on speed, zanzokening from one end of the training area to the other as fast as he could, for as long as he could. In the end he managed 20 times in a row, in rapid succession. In closer quarters that number would increase dramatically, and Ikezu was happy with this. He felt comfortable enough with the technique to say he had mastered it.

"I got it!" Ikezu said floating in the air. He would now begin to meditate in order to allow his training to sink in. He'd think about the applications of Zanzoken, how to more efficiently use it in combat. However all these thoughts wouldn't help him until he was able to put them to practice.

[vera]

Vera looked up at Rensou, knowing that she was doing them wrong, knowing that she was way weaker in her upper body than she thought. He began to make her nervous, silence was the one thing she couldn’t stand. It was worse considering that she hadn’t heard him move from her left side yet, normally she took comfort in tracking her allies. However her fears began to calm themselves as he began to turn away from her, the vibration she felt from each step gave her a clue as to how he positioned himself.

However the intense silence was short-lived. “Like a soldier, Vera, not like a girl from the slums with her tail up and ass in the air,” The amount of amusement in his words were very reassuring. She was tempted to stop this silly attempt at training and tech him a lesson on manners. Vera repositioned herself correctly on the ground then pushed herself even harder. She had made the decision to prove him wrong by doing exactly what he wanted her to.

Even if she was now doing perfect push-ups and had lost all sense of exhaustion, her temper was now flaring. She wanted to slice Rensou in half, thoughts of burning him alive crossed her mind. It wouldn’t be that hard considering their little encounter in Saru City a few weeks ago, she had almost killed him on accident. ” Keep your vulgarity to a minimum. I’m not just another Military Mutt you can boss around!” Vera spoke intermittently considering that her entire focus was on doing push-ups.

She looked up to see Ikezu’s progression. He was doing well, at first he had been struggling but now he seemed completely at ease with the new technique. It was ironic, at first they were both terrible at their assignment, then they both mastered it. However this didn’t change the way she felt about trying to improve her upper body strength. Her body was already well toned and evenly balanced in every area, when she got home tonight she would have to work on everything else for the exact amount of time she had worked on today.

[Rensou Hiruen]

The push had been a successful one, and Vera's petite body had tensed with anger and discontent at the arrogance that was heavy upon Rensou's remarks and gestures. Above him, Ikezu had made great strides in perfecting the Zanzoken, and now the only test that remained for he was battle. Rensou was glad of it, for combat typically brought out the best within his own race, and with the Inaurian's own persona, he assumed it would work similarly for he. Still turned from Vera, he listened intently as she set herself to the task fully, at long last, and issued her own remark, one laced with defiance.

“. . .your vulgarity! Minimum. . .can't. . .boss around! Not. . .military mutt!” That had been all Rensou had managed to gather from the hybrid woman, his usual level of attention paid to her. Rensou typically ignored most of what she had to say, but the volume and tone of her words drew his ears. . .to an extent. The proud and powerful Saiyan whirled, slowly, and reversed his path away from Vera, kneeling as he drew close to her to stare her in the eye. Those dark eyes of his were afire, and his lips were drawn into a sneer of superiority.

“You're not a mutt, little one,” he comforted as his features took on a mocking tone of apology and regret for his earlier words, but then they shifted to that terrible sneer to confirm those words as falsities before he leaned forward, his lips brushing her ear as he issued the true message, “You're a whelp,” aye, not a mutt nor a cur, but the lowliest of the two. . .the offspring of impurity. Surely, she would try to kill him now. Rensou's lips had brushed her, far too close for their relationship, he was treating her as a Saiyan would treat a weak female, and insulting her with even more vigor.

The touch of his lips and the lash of his tongue would unleash every last bit of rage within her, and destroy any semblance of trust and friendship she had for Rensou Hiruen. That was what he wished, what the Saiyan Empire needed – strong fighters, and Rensou had found the method of unlocking Vera's own inner strength so that she might fully become it. She must hate him, wish to kill him. . .

. . .She would certainly try, would she not?

The general had planned ahead, ready to hear her draw oxygen into her lungs so that she might ignite it with the ki spewing forth from it as she attempted to roast him alive. The energies of the last Hiruen were already simmering within him, and ready to erupt in a Zanzoken that would clear him of any physical or ki assault she attempted.

That was the second part of the plan, in showing her she stood no chance whatsoever in defeating him, she would realize she was but an eddy to the maelstrom of Rensou Hiruen. Vera would have but one choice, she must grow stronger so that he might never torment her ever again. The elaborate scheme borne of one she considered inbred and moronic. Vera would think his feelings true.

They were not. The General was merely striving in the best way he knew possible to push that Saiyan Hybrid, whom had saved his life not so long ago, to the upper levels of her ability. Rensou Hiruen thought much of Vera, and the sacrifice of any decent opinion she might gain for him pained him to his core. In a different time, perhaps these two could have been friends.

Not now. Now, the Empire came first. The wishes of himself would always be second shelf to the organization that had given him meaning.

[tsukare]

Ikezu finally got an idea. What if he Zanzoken'd around the planet? That'd be a good exercise right? So he did it, leaving the training grounds and Zanzokening around the planet until he made it back to Saru City. Once this was done, he'd consider his training complete.

As for Vera, he hadn't paid her any attention, as all of his attention was on his training.

OOC: PL and Zanzoken please. ^_^