"Ssshhh!" Sun intoned loudly. "Do you want someone to see us?" Turning away from the object of his ire, Sun scuttled up the the edge of the rooftop and cautiously peered over the edge.
Christopher Jones sighed, and pausing to adjust his coat, crept up behind Sun's prone form.
"Why are we doing this again?" he whispered.
Sun looked over his shoulder, his ugly face broken by an broad grin, "That's why." He indicated the roof of the next building over.
Christopher looked at the rooftop in question. It was laid out with an assortment of weight training equipment, Nautilus machines and the like. Over in one corner stood a wooden man, a training device commonly used with various forms of kung fu. Along the back of the building were arraigned a number of thick boards, securely fastened in place. Christopher looked back at Sun, "I don't get it."
Sun's expression darkened for a moment, before adopting an obviously Hollywood Chinese accent, "You weren't put upon this world to 'get it', Mr. Jones. Now, pay attention!" Grumbling under his breath, Sun began to wonder why he'd brought Christopher along in the first place. It wasn't like anyone else in the kwoon would have been interested; what was it with these 'martial arts is my life' types anyway? Didn't they like women?
A moment later, the door to the roof opened and the reason of Sun's interest appeared. She was Chinese, of average height with rich, black hair that fell to mid-back. Removing her windbreaker, she exposed a well-defined, muscular figure that was dressed only in a Lycra workout bikini and sneakers.
"Well?" Sun's grin became an almost simian leer as the woman began to adjust the weights on of the lifting bars, "Doesn't she make Kiana Tom look pathetic?"
"Who?" Christopher responded in a distracted manner
"Kiana Tom? ESPN? FlexAppeal?" Sun chuckled, "You don't get out much, do you Dr. Jones?"
"Christopher..." His voice sounded distant
"Whatever..."
Staring at the unknown woman performing her workout routine, Christopher had to admit that she was certainly attractive, although he wasn't too turned on by her extremely athletic physique. His life on the road had prevented any sort of romantic involvement, a regret he did his best to ignore. Unbidden memories of the Shinto priestess Nami surfaced, glancing again at scarcely clad figure before him, he wondered what Nami had looked like under her robes. He quickly suppressed that train of thought.
The workout continued for the better part of the hour. Finally, she rose for the weight bench and spent a few moments toweling herself off. Sun signaled this occurrence by punching Christopher in the arm, breaking him out of his own, private daydream. "Now, watch..." was his only comment.
Tossing the towel aside, the woman walked over to the wooden man. She started a series of strikes and blocks, working her arms around the man's assorted limbs in a pattern that rapidly became a blur.
Christopher's eye's widened, this woman was quick, very quick. Turning to Sun, he mentioned this fact. "She looks fast, Sun, maybe even faster then you."
Sun started, "Ain't gonna happen. No way!"
"Way."
Sun paused and gave Christopher a slow measuring glance, "Did you just make a joke?"
Ignoring the question, Christopher nodded at the roof, "What's she up to now?"
"Oh!" Sun exclaimed, "You gotta see this!"
The woman stood in front of the heavy boards set along the back of the roof. Taking time to prepare herself and regulate her breathing, she began to launch a series of kicks against the boards. After a moment, she paused and then let loose with a kiai shout that was surprisingly deep, considering her size. Following her yell, she unleashed a blinding flurry of kicks, her leg almost seeming to vanish, the board thrumming with impacts too fast to be counted. As quickly as the attack had started, it was over. The woman stood bent over at the waist, her breathing audible as far as the rooftop where Christopher and Sun watched. After a few moments rest, she repeated the exercise, this time using her other leg
Christopher turned away from the display and slid down into a sitting position, resting against the roof's retaining wall. He looked over at Sun, "I've never seen anything like that, not even Tengzin throws punches that fast. Who is she?"
"Dunno," Sun chortled, "But I'm gonna find out!"
Return to the Fiction Page