Pain in the Eye (training)

[Tenshi Ri-to]

Eye Poke
Rank: D
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: A slight jab in the eyes causes uncontrollable watering and blurred vision. A forceful jab or poke can cause temporary blindness, or the eyes can be gouged out. Death can result if the fingers penetrate through the thin bone behind the eyes and into the brain.
Special: None
Drawback: Must be close to opponent.
Description: User the index finger on either hand for one eye or the index and middle finger for both eyes the user thrusts their fingers into the opponents eye with differing effects depending on the strength of the attack.
Limit: None

Tenshi quietly closed the door behind her as she entered one of the back rooms of her Krav Maga school. She dropped and closed the Venetian blinds over the viewing window before shedding her coat, its gold buttons gleaming softly in the low light, and laid it across the bench lining the right wall of the small room. Mirrors covered it and the other two interior walls, and Tenshi sighed when she saw her scars, shimmering white against her tanned skin, reflected in the mirrors. She did not flinch at the sight, not anymore, but she knew that not every one was as desensitized and found herself glancing over her shoulder to make sure that the door was actually closed and the blinds actually down.

Chiding herself for that moment of insecurity, Tenshi sat down heavily next to her jacket and reviewed the scroll she had borrowed from her teacher. The technique was nothing special - the basic eye poke - but it was useful, lethal, even should Tenshi put enough force behind it. She doubted she would ever have to kill with it, though. The attack itself was very straightforward. Step one: poke opponent in eye(s). The end. The trick was to actually hit the eye which was a much smaller target than people often believed.

Rolling the scroll back up, Tenshi cast her gaze about the room. Five punching bags stood against the walls against the walls along with two scowling dummies. Tenshi hauled herself up off the bench, stalked over to the closer of the two dummies, and rolled it to the center of the room along the edge of its base. She paused for a moment, contemplating it. Were she not wearing her heels, she would have been staring at the target's pink rubber abs. As it was, she was only a head shorter than him. Even before she had finished reflecting on her height, though, she had swung her arm up and jabbed her index and middle fingers into the mannequin's eyes. What was that? she asked herself. You won't have time to think in a real life situation, she answered. Get used to it now.

Tenshi's fingers smarted - the target's rubber eyes were definitely not as soft as human eyes would be - but she continued the exercise, practicing with both hands. Repeatedly, she'd let her mind wander, then whip her hand up randomly to gouge her imaginary opponent's eyes. After about an hour and a half, when her hands were good and sore, she rolled the dummy back, pulled her coat on, and left the room. Her teacher was out by the main floor, watching a group of blue belts spar, and she came up next to him, her scarred left hand in her pocket and her right hand extended to return the scroll she had borrowed. "You understand it?" the young man asked, accepting the scroll. "Or do you wanna take this home and practice some more?"

"I think I've got it, sensei," she shrugged in reply. "I'll come back tomorrow if I'm not that confident, though." She bid him farewell and exited out onto the street. The air was cooling quickly with the recent setting of the late spring sun, the dark night sky rapidly overtaking the orange glow to the west. Tenshi immediately set off at a brisk pace, not stopping to appreciate nature's wonders. Her apartment may have had a cheap rent, but it was not in the best part of town, and she would just as soon not walk through that district at night.

After about ten minutes, though, the fading light forced her to slow down as her eyes adjusted. The plus side was that she was only a few blocks from home now. "Hey, you got any change, kid?" a voice called from the mouth of an alley as she made her way past.

"No. Sorry," Tenshi answered, but dang. She had turned her head to call back and now saw that the man was following her. Almost subconsciously, she took stock of her surroundings and resources. The street was narrow, offering little room to maneuver, and lined with shops, closed for the night and empty. Her pursuer did not appear to be armed, but then, neither did she, and she had a kunai and three shuriken hidden on her person. She did not want to use those anyway unless she absolutely had to.

This entire thought process took only a moment, but when she turned back to face front, the man was directly in front of her. "Come on, babe," he slurred drunkenly, grabbing her left wrist. "Ya gotta have something for me." Tenshi tried as best she could to pull her wrist free - his grip was too strong - and knee him in the groin - he skipped back just out of reach when she tried. "Don't be like that," he reprimanded her mildly, pulling her closer to rifle through her pockets.

And just like that, Tenshi struck. She had not even realized that she had until he released her and recoiled, holding his face in agony, and she was shaking eye juices from her fingers. She did not stand around celebrating, though, and instead sprinted off toward home. She would make herself a celebratory cup of tea after she had locked her doors and windows.

[EXITS]

[Axcel]

Learned