The Devil of the Desert

Lin wanted an empty gym of his own one day. Inside of a top-story penthouse; the kind with cool, gray colors and high window walls that let the city lights in. An open space to practice his katas and a walk-in shower big enough for at least two people. A place that screamed: 'I'm too good for a club membership.'

Lin Ou Yang:

The silver-haired man played those whimsical sights back in his mind for the twentieth time as he threw another high roundhouse kick at the sandbag, hitting it two more times in the midsection before he touched the ground. His graceful movements and subtle smile betrayed the stirring thoughts underneath. Lin couldn’t help thinking two steps ahead with recent events. Looking over his shoulder was certainly tiring. Once he cleared this little debt problem away, he had a few ideas on how to pick up from where he left off with the benefit of hindsight.

For the moment, he and his friends needed money. And the money flowed from AFW.

Years ago, he could have seen himself ending up in a place like this. On purpose, that was. Professional fighting was the number one career path for Kasanegafuchi High alumni, after all. The idea of being “told” where and when to fight, however, did not appeal to his particular predilections. Lin yearned for more than to live from payday to payday; to be nothing but a pair of fists sold to the highest bidder. His ambitions had gotten him this far.

Death threats from his partners aside, coming here might not have been a horrible decision. In the short term, Lin was hoping to make some fast cash to make the monthly payments. But then again, this was a global federation. Assuming he could play his cards right, even this odd little league might become a golden opportunity. One way or the other.

Possibilities possibilities. He flashed a quick palm strike into the punching bag, rattling the chain straight to its hook in the ceiling. The Chinese fighter stood straight and brought his hands level, relaxing his shoulders with an easy breath; a portrait of composure. Until he felt his hamstring pinch as he came back down, scrunching his face together as he massaged the back of his leg.

“Should have stretched, should have stretched.”

Dumbass.

Not long after coming to Japan, Sierra had settled herself into a routine. Nothing too crazy mind you, but something that would keep her body and mind sharp for her matches while also giving her the opportunity to enjoy the countries attractions to their fullest. Though she will admit, with how long she had been in the land of the rising sun. The sands of her home were beginning to call to her.

I should really take a vacation one of these days. The current tension world champion thought as she stepped inside of the gym, duffel bag hanging across her shoulder. She had learned early on that the earlier in the day it was, the more people there were in the gym. So Sierra had quickly realized that if she wanted access to all of the equipment without having to wait or be flirted to by jocks with too much body spray and little else. Coming in later was a better choice.

Spoiler:

Which was why, after a quick change into something more comfortable in the woman’s locker room. Sierra was ready to get started. From the sounds of things, there were still a few stragglers getting their workouts in, some maybe even having the same idea as the Egyptian. But Sierra paid them little mind and instead made her way to the yoga mats so that she could do what every gym goer worth their salt would start out with.

Stretching.

Unless you had a nervous system that left you numb to everything. Lifting weights or doing rigorous exercises without stretching prior was always a sure fire way to pull a muscle. Not a fun experience the Egyptian can tell you. Which is why Sierra was limbering herself up right now.

Sitting on the yoga mat, Sierra would try to split her legs as far as she could go before reaching her arms out to touch her toes. Alternating between left and right, Sierra would let out a few satisfied moans as she felt multiple pops spread across her body. Reaching up and over her head, Sierra would then bend her arms slightly behind her head and begin stretching them out there as well.

Throughout this entire process. Sierra was oblivious to her surroundings. Tuning out all distractions as she prepared her body and mind for the workout ahead. Even as she got up from her seated position and bent herself low to the ground in the classical downward dog position. Her rear rising up into the air as she stretched out her spine. Her tight shorts outlining the contours of her ass while she stretched.

Lin suddenly couldn’t feel the discomfort in his legs. No, no. This was much more important.

A woman, namely, stepped right past the workout bag and into the center of his gaze. His eyes followed her long, marbled legs, the purposeful stride to her hips, and the tight mahogany skin accentuating the refined muscle of her hourglass figure as she strode across the gym floor. He watched her lustrous dark hair that trailed closed behind her like a fluttering shadow on the wind.

Good heavens, his family should have kicked him out of China sooner.

Lin watched as the tall newcomer found a private spot by the practice ring. Right away, she seemed to start into her stretches, and Lin was having a hard time remembering what he was doing. One thing was for sure: he’d be remiss to pass up on a front-row seat like that.

Quietly, the Chinese fighter stepped away from the sandbag and made a wide circle around towards the newcomer. His mind went to work without him, finding the best angles and bringing his attention to a laser focus. He used his hand to lean against the pillar a few feet away from her, casually observing the Egyptian from behind as he brought his leg up and stretched his quad. Looking busy.

Just getting his stretches in. Taking in the sights. Nothing to see here.

The silent observer would go unnoticed by Sierra as she continued to focus on her stretches. A small, near inaudible moan rumbling up her throat as an annoying part of her back gave a small crack and flooded her with instant relief. Once it was done, the Egyptian pushed back up to her knees and gave one final stretch before standing up fully.

Now loosened up, it was time for Sierra to start her warm up routine. Which consisted of several weight training exercises, starting with the barbell. So stepping away from the yoga mats, Sierra would make her way to the bar and proceed to put on the necessary weight that she liked to train with.

200lbs seemed perfect for a warmup.

And so after putting on the weight, Sierra would then duck underneath and press the bar against her shoulders. Then with a grunt of exertion, she would back away from the stand and position herself before squatting down. “Ngh. One!” she counted as she straightened up before repeating the process. Her rear jutting back with every following squat.

Eventually after about 25 of these squats. Sierra would sigh as she set the bar back on the rack and wiped her head with her nearby towel. Already a sweat was breaking out, covering her body in a glossy sheen that glittered in the lights.

If the Egyptian remained uninterrupted, she would continue on with her daily workout that would have her in similar position of exercise. Her body on display as she used the curl bar or the bench press. The rowing machine and the pull up bar. To the chest and shoulder press. Sweat soaking through her attire as she worked.

All the while completely oblivious to her watcher.

It’s not like he didn’t try to look away. Honest.

Lin still had the faintest sense of dandyism left over from his prim-and-proper life back in Guangzhou. This wasn’t his first time appreciating the female anatomy this close. Not even his first hundredth time. As unfun as it could be, he knew how to restrain himself and act according to the gentleman’s tradition.

But he sincerely doubted women looked like this when those rules were invented. The Egyptian’s presence was like a magnetic pull forcing his gaze in only one direction. And Lin was more than happy to follow wherever it led.

Lin kept himself moving throughout the gym, half-concentrating on the layman's version of his usual routine while keeping the mystery woman in the corner of his gaze. From the dumbbell rack to the Stepmaster, before he ended up on the treadmill, where he could admire her latest set of pull-ups from a workable distance.

Gorgeous, tall, and athletic wasn’t enough for this one. No, her form had to be perfect in each rep. Her speed looked consistent down to the nanosecond; exercising masterful control over every inch of her powerful body with each movement smooth and fluid. Lin stopped himself on the treadmill after a moment, concluding that he wasn’t going to be returning to his routine anytime soon.

In fact…he may have had a better idea.

Lin took a few seconds to consider his approach. No sooner was he already walking in her direction, catching up with her as soon as the Egyptian landed back on the floor. His hand came up with a greeting wave. The words started leaving his mouth before his mind had even finished them.

"Natalie! Bonsoir!” Lin exclaimed in as friendly a manner as possible. “Of all the people to run into! Honestly, explain this to me. Franz is seriously letting you compete in this place? Seven gold medals aren't enough? You needed a gold belt for the mantlepiece too?”

Once more Sierra let out a tired, yet satisfied sigh as she finished yet another rep. By her count and the way her muscles burned. She probably had only maybe one or two exercises left before she finally called it for the night. At last stragglers had left the gym a long time ago, leaving the Egyptian completely alone.

At least. That’s what she thought.

So when Sierra heard a male voice call out behind her as she was in the midst of taking another sip from her water bottle. Sierra did her best not to slump down and let out an annoyed groan. Instead she simply turned her eyes back towards whoever was speaking as she capped her bottle.

He was smaller than her, though that came as little surprise to her given her size. His hair color was as white as snow so that was a little strange but hey! This was Japan after all. And the strangest thing of all. He was giving Sierra a French greeting, yet the Egyptian could tell that he was of Chinese descent.

And yet, speaking of the greeting. Sierra noticed that this man was acting as if he knew her. Sierra didn’t know who this Natalie was but clearly she must look like her if this stranger believed her to be his friend. Unfortunately for him, Sierra would have to quash those ideas as she grabbed her towel and turned to fully face him.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but I think you got me confused with someone else. I’m not Natalie and I most certainly don’t have seven gold medals.” Sierra finally replied as she wiped the sweat from her face with her towel. Slinging the towel over her shoulder, she would put a hand on her hip and ask. “My name’s Sierra. Is there something I can help you with?”

Good, because he didn’t know who the hell Natalie was either.

Names, places, and identities fell from his lips readily between each breath of air. He could create an entire phonebook of fake names that he’d claimed to know at some point in time throughout his life. It didn’t matter whether they were real or not, or whether what he said could be validated. So long as the other person believed what he was saying, that was half the battle.

Sierra - lovely name, à propos - was an easier approach than most people. They’d only just met, but he could hear the sincerity in her voice. At the least, she wasn’t the type to get annoyed by having her workout interrupted. Lucky him.

"Oh! My mistake!” He said, raising his hands apologetically. The Chinese fighter chuckled behind an embarrassed smile, even adding some color to his cheeks. “From a distance, you look just like this friend of mine. She’s been all over the world getting ready to lift for the Olympics. I heard she was in Japan, but now that I think about it, that might have been the gym in Okinawa…”

Lin let his mind trail for a moment and chuckled, taking a step back. He crossed his arms and gave Sierra a quick look up and down. As if he hadn’t spent the past five minutes with his eyes on her. “You have impressive form. Are you one of those Crossfit trainers they on-boarded recently?”

Sierra just rolled her eyes with a small smile as she saw the stranger finally seem to realize that he was speaking to the wrong person. Sierra didn’t know whoever this woman was, but he certainly spoke as if he knew her personally from the way he described her. Which was strange to the Egyptian, cause she was certain she would know a woman like that. Especially if the looked so much alike like he thought.

But the Egyptian didn’t voice such thoughts and instead would finish wiping her sweat soaked body down with her towel before moving onto the equipment itself. Always clean up after yourself was how she was taught and she knew personally that no one liked working out with sweaty gym equipment.

Still, as she did so she made sure to keep her ears open as she heard the man continue to explain himself before asking a sudden question that made the Egyptian perk up slightly.

“Oh! Thank you but. I’m not a trainer here, I’m actually a wrestler for the AFW.” Sierra replied as she turned back to face him. Though internally, she was a little surprised that he didn’t know who she was. Not out of a sense of arrogance or anything. But due to her recent accomplishments in the ring lately, Sierra had been made a household name practically overnight. At least with the tension crowd.

But she shook that suspicion away and simply chalked it up to it being that this guy was probably just a newcomer to Japan, or doesn’t really watch the show in general. Which was strange considering he was in a gym that was well known for being frequented by wrestlers. It even had its own training gym that they used to practice on. Though like the rest of the building, it too lay empty and unused for the time being.

"Ah! So this is the gym for wrestlers. You’ll have to pardon me. I missed out on the orientation tour. I was looking for the parking garage when I found this place originally.” An insincere chuckle slipped its way into the awkwardness simmering underneath their little conversation. He righted himself and looked back over to Sierra, extending his hand out with a soft smile. “I'm Lin. Accept my apologies for interrupting your routine. The trip from Shanghai was very disorienting."

God, he was out of practice. A casual case of mistaken identity was his normal go-to, though he could usually do a little better than this, even without much preparation time. It was hard for even him to think of another person he could reasonably mistake Sierra for, but he seemed to be selling this particular bill of goods fairly well. Only fairly.

Names were exchanged. Acquaintances made. Now, how to get the ball rolling?

He would take a step back, assuming Sierra had accepted his handshake, and took a mental note of the ring behind him. A lightbulb went off inside of his head. "You said you're a competitor here like me? How about we restart things with some friendly sparring? Let me make it up to you with some experience. I'm sure you'd find what I have to offer helpful."

Hmmm. So he was a foreigner huh? Sierra didn’t want to sound discriminatory or anything. But she still sometimes struggled to tell the difference between those of Asian descent. Though now that she looked closer, she could see the details that marked the differences between him and those that lived here.

Though that was more in part to a friend of hers who was also of Chinese descent. Sierra really needed to get back in touch with her at some point. It’s been ages. But for now, she listened and nodded in understanding as the now named Lin apologized for all the confusion. Seems the white haired boy was still suffering the effects of Jet lag and didn’t have his mind fully in order.

“It’s no problem. To be honest I had to take some time to adjust after landing here as well. But thankfully, I’ve been here long enough to know my way around.” The Egyptian replied. Shaking Lin’s hand when he offered. Though the Egyptians eyes did widen slightly when he offered to make it up to her. So Sierra decided to hear the man out.

And then had to resist the urge to smirk as she heard him offer a friendly spar. Saying how he had plenty of experience to share. If there was any confirmation that Lin had yet to have a match in afw, or even watch the show. It was that. Simply because he had yet to connect the dots on who Sierra truly was.

But where was the fun in correcting him? “I would love that actually! It would certainly beat having to pound on a dummy all day. Plus it gives me a chance to work on my technique. With how things are at this time. I think we’ll have the practice ring to ourselves.” she replied, before making her way to the aforementioned ring in the center of the massive gym. There were also Private rings for rent, but with how quickly the gym had emptied, Sierra doubted they would be bothered.

Quickly sliding inside, the Egyptian would hop to her feet and lean against an empty corner. “Any preference for rules or? Do we just go at it until we stop?” she asked.