PM to join [The Proving Grounds] Teaching Eagles To Land (Krieg)

[Kelski]

Kelski really paid attention to what Kreig said. Tilting her head to one side, which was more and more looking like her ‘thinking it over’ tell, Kelski watched him with an intensity, her pupils in her silvery eyes widening and narrowing as she focused on the details about him that he spoke of in others.

She wondered what he meant by flexible, exactly. Flexible of the mind? Or flexible of the body. Kelski would ask him before the session was up, but she didn’t want to interrupt him before he got all his thoughts out or he might not tell her what he was wanting her to know.

When he said she was an animal and that she could be trained, the Kelvic thinned her lips in irritation. She was prepared for him to make some derogatory remarks about her Kelvic state of being and tensed for it, overly sensitive because of how often Darvin and even her owner Jaren had shaken their heads and commented about the fact their jeweler was a filthy beast. She wanted to correct him and tell him that wild animals had brains too, but it wasn’t the time or the place.

The Kelvic reached up and tugged absently at her collar, not for the first time wishing it was gone.

Kreig always placed himself in front of her, facing her, and resting his hands on his hips. It was clear from his stance he wasn’t worried about her at all nor was he in a hurry for any of what was to come. He spoke volumes with his eyes, making up for what he didn’t fill in with needless noise from his lips as he reminded her about the pausing and how much it could hurt her.

She didn’t like that he watched her so closely. She felt like her guts were on the outside exposed and she kept waiting for him to find them lacking. It made her angry, thinking of someone assessing her when she’d had no time to prepare or learn on her own. But that anger had clouded her judgement when she’d been trying to learn dagger, so she tried pushing it away, not realizing she was judging Krieg as harshly as she suspected he was judging her. Irony was still lost on the Kelvic though she was slowly learning those sorts of human concepts.

Kelski froze when he made a come-at-me motion and asked her to attack. Normally she’d have a dagger tucked neatly out of sight in one hand and would have launched herself at him and stabbed him as she latched on, trying to get as many stabs in as possible to open him up and take him out before he could shake her clinging body off. Her hands felt empty without the daggers. So she opened and closed her fists, not believing the sheer strength of them alone would be enough, and raised her arms as if she were going to run at him and punch him.

The memory was recent and very very clear...

“Girl… raise your rear leg vertically as high as you can then bring it down against your target. This is an Axe kick. It comes up, in, and around… girl. It confuses an enemy and they don’t know what you are doing. Its like an overhand right hook that breaks a guard and still hits the guy. Come up… in, and once you get to your highest point bring your heel down right in his face. Start from the rear you get more power… but you can start from the leading leg too. Rear starting… you have more balance. It’s a powerful kick… up around chop down with your heel. Put your enemy off balance. If you fight clean in this city, you won’t go far… you’ll die.”

The Kelvic came at Kreig, fists raised, waving them menacingly. She kept her eyes on his face, wanting to track his head, as she made to seemingly punch him. But she didn’t punch at all. When she got within range, even though he was huge, Kelski threw her weight on her leading leg, leaned forward, and brought her trailing leg up as fast as she could, swinging it over her head and trying to bring her heel down on him in an axe kick. It was a move she’d learned briefly from Captain Eleuia who wanted her to be able to take enemies down and then repeatedly use the kick on them to disable them, especially opponents that were bigger of frame than Kelski was.

Kreig fit the ticket on the size range, and Kelski was flexible enough to high kick. She just hoped the fists diverted his attention enough. In her mind, the mantra Darvin had taught her was playing over and over as she waited for the pain to come.

Distract.
Latch on.
Kill.
Retreat.

Somehow she didn't think she'd get to retreat putting herself in Krieg's range.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig felt proud in a way, although he didn’t show as he slipped on an analytical look. While he was happy that she decided to go for feints to try and catch him off guard, quickl learner that she was actually implementing that new knowledge in what seemed for her to be an actual fight wasn’t as easy it would appear. For one it was clear from her shoulders how she hadn’t actually intended to punch him, so it left the next likely option. He took a couple steps back. What came next was what the category he expected, but not the specific types he envisioned. Kreig’s brow rose in brief rise as the Kelvic threw her weight on one leg, then raised the other leg as it went upward knee first then extending the rest up high before bringing it down with all the force such a kick can muster. He grinned as he saw the sole of her foot pass down. If that hit him he’d have probably been caught off guard and be out of the count. That was good, he had to jot that down. This is certainly a learning experience not only for the student but the teacher as well. “Now where’d you go and learn a thing like that?” Kreig asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer as he moved back again, resetting the distance between them. Raising his hand once more and making the come at me gesture once again, this time the two fingers practically clapping against the palm. He wanted all that she could dish out, all the little secrets she may have been hiding. How long she could last, how could she keep calm, how long before she simply calls it quits. He didn’t need to punch her to push her limits, he just needed to outlast here. If she managed toget a clean hit on him then good for her! He’d be proud, but he’d still not be fighting back.

[Kelski]

Why wasn’t he hurting her? The Kelvic was utterly confused as Kreig took steps back and got out of her reach but didn’t close in and teach her a lesson. She saw immediately that they were going to keep moving and did so, not slowly or stopping as she circled with Kreig. She wasn’t winded yet, but Kelski hadn’t eaten since the previous morning and her hunger was making her feel weaker than she should be. She could feel energy spilling out of her and she didn’t like it because she wanted to remain feeling strong.

“Captain Eleuia” She indicated with a jerk of her chin. The person in question was present at The Proving Ground currently barking orders at some new recruits she was running through sword drills in the distance out on the flat ground.

Kelski didn’t want to fight. This wasn’t the life she’d chosen for herself. Sunberth made her dreams hard because everything required a battle. The Kelvic just wanted peace and to create beautiful things, but she knew that Darvin was going to take her out and make money on her. She knew, just as sure as she was the sun was going to rise and set, that her guard would never let her escape his endless coin revenue schemes. This man in front of her was just another part of that. He was lulling her into a sense of false security, wanting her to be bold, asking her to attack.

Why?

She tripped over her own foot, dancing back and forth in trying to keep moving and righted herself still trying to decide how to attack him next. She knew so little, but there were things Darvin had taught her in dagger. The trip gave her an idea. Thinking fast, she kept her eyes on Kreig and started to move left again, then drifted right. Finally she’d moved close enough that she tripped again, this time harder, and reached out to grab at him to steady herself and keep herself from falling.

If she could latch onto him, she would, holding him tight by whatever part she could get ahold of.. . preferably that tattered shirt he wore. If she could cling close enough, she’d ball up her fist and try to hit him in the face as many times as she could. Kelski didn’t know if she could even get close. He seemed big, mean, but he moved like someone half his size.

But she tried anyhow…

[Kreig Messer]

He mentally tsked, recalling what she said about her diet and what they fed her. If she’d been fed proper, she’d have lasted longer probably. Despite her natural speed, her fatigue showed with her inexperience. That made here even easier to read Kreig felt. On a lightly related note he did at least get a name out of her on who taught her how to kick. Kelski didn’t want to fight, and Kreig got that even though he was the opposite of her in such a regard. She wanted to do whatever did best, she wanted that slave collar off, she wanted a freedom that was hers and none can take. He saw her spit fire earlier, but now she needed to breath it andletout. Reach the limit of her resolve and see if she makes or break. A son or daughter of Sunberth ought not to express any less for their Gods given right to be free. He saw that spark in her eye and whether she knew it or not Kreig waited to see she would do. The first trip was the result of her missed kick, he knew that clear as day. Then came ‘Sneaky lil’ mouse’ He realized, even though she wasn’t really a mouse. She tripped again, caught onto his shirt and this time held firm. Then came upon his face, it stung but only just, the second no difference but he felt the resolve, the third that left a bruise. Finally his hand shot up and grabbed her by the wrist, gripping firm but not too much. He grinned at her eyes filled with warmth, twinkles in his eyes. “Now that there’s what I call bein’ a brawler, lass. But if I were you, I’d aim at neck, chin, nose, and eyes. A face has got a nice bunch o’ soft lil’ things ya know” He advised, his free hand gripping her other one to pull it off and then he stepped back, letting his hand touch his face. “In fact now that I think it, you coulda knee’d me too. Granted, glad you didn’t but a man’s balls is an acceptable target” He scratched at his chin, eyes looking up as he pondered more things “Fact that kick you did was good, if I didn’t see through them feints right quick an’ obvious then I’d be breathin’ through a hollow reed” He then glanced at her blandly “By the way, much as I appreciate ya takin’ to feintin’ quick yer execution ain’t proper. We can practice on that” Oh yes, it seemed he had a long list.

[Kelski]

Kelski didn’t like this feeling. It was coming over her more and more and more. It was like this man was evaluating her with each move, each word, each step she took. His eyes missed nothing. And she hated that. Mainly because she got this feeling from him, the exact opposite of the feeling she got from Darvin. She felt she could trust this man. She was starting to warm up to him. And that just wasn’t something she wanted to do. Darvin was a pit viper with poison dripping from his very being. Krieg seemed to be something more.

She didn’t trust him though she wanted too. Every instinct in her was saying to trust him, but her mind was in full rebellion. Was he evaluating her for the sale Darvin said was coming? Jaren had grown bored of her, bribing everyone he’d wanted to with her baubles and gifting quite a few of his mistresses with pretties as well. Kelski knew she’d lost her luster with her Master as a Jewelcrafter and since he despised Kelvics in his bed, she held no draw for him there either. Was this Darvin’s idea? Sell her to a fighter for a life of battle? The Kelvic wanted to be sick though there was no food in her stomach to toss up.

Anger flared in her gaze again, even though she drew to a halt from the dancing stride. She simply didn’t have the energy to keep it up. Eat more, the man had said, and she vowed to do so. Hunting rats wasn’t hard in The Barracks. They were thick as fleas if she could take the time to sneak out or leave something out distasteful that would lure them into her quarters. She didn’t always have the freedom to roam the facility, but she’d make it a priority.

She attacked and he let her hit him three times. Three times. She knew he let her. Then he caught her wrist as easily as that and held her in place. Angry eyes stared up at him. Did he have to be as large as a horse? The Kelvic didn’t try to yank her wrist away. She simply froze, letting him talk. He did so, advising her where to punch, and then peeled her off the rest of him. She released his shirt without tearing it. Kelski had a healthy respect for clothing since everything she had on was borrowed and not her own.

He released her completely stepping back and advised her to knee him between the legs. “I don’t hit men there unless I know I can kill them or there’s no other choice. It does something to their heads and they will kill me if they can get to me if I do something like that. I’d only do it if there was no choice and I could deal with the aftermath.” She said softly, glancing down at the ground then back up at him.

He coached and encouraged her, telling her what she did right and what she did wrong. And he indicated what they’d work on. But it had to be all a façade right? Lies upon lies? But why? Kelski couldn’t take it any longer.

“Why am I here with you? Are you evaluating me to buy me? They are selling me aren’t they? Darvin said Jaren was going too sooner or later. That he was bored with me making him jewelry. I… don’t want to fight for my food or to line someone else’s pockets. I don’t even belong here. I was free… they captured me… I wasn’t born a slave.” She said suddenly, her words half angry half desperate.

“And why aren’t you hurting me? I don’t understand this…. It feels like you are treating me like a person. No one does that. I’m a filthy animal… they say it daily.” She trembled now, upset, hungry, and not sure what was going on. He was too nice. He was doing his job too well. Kelski didn’t trust it one bit. There had to be a ‘but’ in here somewhere or a painful lesson coming up fast. She just didn’t see it and that confused her.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig paused still, silent for a long, long, so very long moment after he heard her words. Frustrated, tired, angry, disbelief, waiting for that wall to shatter. Perhaps she wanted it to, he didn’t know. It was easier to believe that someone like him would be a shykehead like her masters rather than be a gods forsaken decent being. He breathed in, than out. In and out. He didn’t like slavery, for all that Sunberth practiced the vile business the city instilled with him a love for freedom. His face was impassive, bottling in all that anger so that he may not shout at her than bring attention upon them. He breathed in, than out. “Sunberth values freedom above all else” He began, looking up at nothing in particular. Just a sky with no boundaries, no limits, no one to tell it when to feel sad or angry, instead it just was what it was. “Sunberth values freedom so much that we have no kings, no masters. No government to oppress them their rights, their wants. No magic to cast its ugly leash upon the neck of the people. It values freedom so much that somewhere along the way it ended up looking down on people who lost it. Doubly so for those who weren’t human” Kreig’s lips pursed as he lowered his head to look at her. “The strong keep what they want here in the Berth, fact that you couldn’t keep your freedom meant you weren’t strong. So you aren’t strong enough to keep doing whatever you really want, you aren’t strong to live how you please, nothing but a pet” He said tonelessly, rage quietly hiding behind each word. “I hate that, I really do. I value freedom so much that seeing a collar upon your neck insults my very sensibilities.” Throughout all this he kept his tone so that only he and she would hear it. “My mum, saint that she was, raised me right. And it pains me to see people, people like you, being treated that way. It pains me to see this shyke city, this city I love being a hypocrite against its own value of freedom” He closed his eyes, smacked his lips and then opened them again to look subtly about “Fact is, you are a person. You are who you say you are, you are who you want to be” His gaze suddenly locked onto hers with conviction “I believe you’ve the strength to break your chains. Whether the strength to escape or the strength to keep on living here don’t matter to me, so long as you are free!” He hissed out the last word. “Darvin and that Jaren fellow, they can send themselves up Shykeriver for all I care. Currency means nothing to me because gettin’ you out is so much worthier a cause” His eyes narrowed then. “You want your freedom, you have to fight for it, you have to show them they’ve no choice to respect you and toss it back. Now my question, are you willing to risk your life as well as mine for it?”

[Kelski]

She’d gone too far. His silence spoke volumes. But in his stillness, she felt like he’d actually heard her… and understood. Kelski waited, without a doubt knowing it would be easier for him to be like those that owned and kept her, not a decent being. He couldn’t be could he?

His slow quiet speech about Sunberth startled her. She hadn’t thought of the city in those terms at all. She still thought of the city as the bones and slowly decaying flesh of some monster rotting in Syna’s light and the denizens some sort of insects slowly feasting on the decay. She’d not seen it as a place that valued freedom. Tilting her head again, she listened, thinking hard, and taking in what he said.

She opened her mouth to contradict him about her freedom, about losing it, but closed her mouth. Kelski wanted to hear what else he had to say without interrupting him. She didn’t want to change his thoughts or stop him from speaking his full mind. His words were full of more clues about him, about who he was and what he stood for.

The fact that he said he hated it startled her. She believed him. Kelski knew he was a convincing liar by how he fought, but in this he seemed genuine. Her eyes grew wider as she listened. He said he thought she was a person, that she could break free. He said more, oh so much more, thoughts that echoed her own on Jaren and Darvin. The Kelvic straightened her head, watched him continuously, and then started to answer his question.

Kelski closed her eyes for a moment. She opened them again, met his gaze, and looked sincerely at him. “I want to like you. My instincts are telling me to trust you. I’ve been tricked before, so many times, because I don’t understand people very well… humans like you especially. I do want my freedom, badly enough to risk much for it and fight much for it. I have been. I will continue to do so. Risking your life? I don’t think I can do that. There is so much blood on my hands already. I killed someone recently because I was angry and she was stupid and high on Darvin’s drugs and I will not soon forget losing that sort of control. Her name was Mariann and she will never draw a breath again because of my dagger. I do not want your name on my thoughts like hers is. It hurts here too much.” Kelski said, taping her chest above her heart.

“But I will risk everything else, for sure, and more that we haven’t mentioned.” She added, thoughtfully. Her tone was firm, decided, even.

“But I also want you to know that …. I did not lose my freedom here. I was born out to sea, among the Svefra where they value blue eyes more than they value skill or dedication. My mother was told to cast me to the sea when my eyes faded to silver instead of staying blue. She could not do it. So, she sold me at the first port she came to: Alvadas. I was still in my swaddling clothes. I was purchased by a man and raised a slave through no fault other than having silver eyes. When I was not even a year old, he angered the wrong person and lost his life. I tracked down his murderer and then his body. I ate his eyes, his tongue, and then left him to rot in the sun and flew off to make a life for myself. I left Alvadas and found Lhavit, flying as far as I could from that place. I earned an apprenticeship and learned to be a jeweler. I worked very very hard. I am a hard worker and a clever jeweler. I can support myself easily if I get out of this collar.” She said softly, wanting him to understand.

“I lost my freedom in Lhavit when I was out hunting. Ocean salmon is my favorite food. A sudden storm came up when I was in my feathers and it caught me by surprise. I was strong then, so very very strong. But the storm was stronger. I fought it for bells but it blew me straight out to sea. I grew weak flying with no rest, no place to land, in the harsh winds and driving rain. I would have died out to sea but I spotted a casinor. A group of casinors was fighting the same storm and I landed on one of them, my feathers wet and all but in ruin. They were not good people. They threw a net over me and tossed me below. After the storm was over, I was no longer free. I could not fly away because my feathers were in terrible shape and we were too far from land by then. They traded me from pod to pod until the last man that had me sold me to Jaren when he needed repairs to his Casinor in Sunberth. I’ve been here since. I don’t forget being free though. And I will do anything to be free again. I… am weak now. There is not an abundance here like there was in Lhavit. But I have been stronger before and I can be again. I doubt I could even fly far like this. I’m bones and nothing more where in Lhavit I was fit and healthy. My Master I was apprenticed too was a kind old man who taught me without any thought to the fact I was Kelvic.” Kelski said, her eyes haunted. Krieg could tell she missed the old man.

“I don’t know why I am telling you all this. I… want you to see me.” She said abruptly. “Not a skinny slave with desperate eyes.” She said. “I will fight. I will fight with all you teach me and as hard as you ask me to if it means a pathway to freedom.” She said firmly, still watching him.

“But I want to know one more thing. I want to know what is in it for you. Coin? He promised you alone time with me... is it pleasure? Or is it something else?” She asked, needing to know that as well.

[Kreig Messer]

Well, that was quite a history and now Kreig found his sympathies heightening. Girl was doomed to shyke the moment she was born cuz them uppity ocean dogs liked blue rather than silver. Oh knew there was more than that, it was hardly as simple as that but it still made him boil. He didn’t know how old she was, really this whole Kelvic business tended to be a right confusing mess when it came to ages. She had chains on when she was a tyke, lost ‘em when her owner died, tasted freedom for a time. Lost it again because of a storm, traded ship to ship, ended up in Sunberth and now here they are. Yahal have mercy he wondered if he should have given her a hug. Probably shouldn’t, he might startle her into thinking about trying that knee groin on him. He then smiled when she showed that conviction of hers, crossing his arms as he delighted in having a student he could pass on the art of shoving people’s head up their own hindquarters. He didn’t have a fixed plan per say, there was a lot of doing involved ultimately and what he taught her need to be forged under fire for it to really stick but he had plenty to teach and experience will do the rest. He rose his brow now, corner of his lip raising not in amusement but in a more ‘didn’t I tell you already?’ sort of a deal. “Alright, let me clear a couple o’ things, first I ain’t gonna bed a woman if she don’t want to” There is also the fact that he never had In fact bedded a woman but she didn’t need to know that “Two I’m actually fairly good on coin at the moment. Right now these are all the reasons I need; One, because I want to help you because I feel it right to do. Two, because you want to and skies above you need it. Right now this is a partnership between me an’ you, not me an’ Darvin.” He raised one finger “I teach you so that you can ultimately bust yourself out or survive, that’s the satisfaction I get” He raised a second “ You get free, live your life and have the skills to keep it. That’s our bargain. I don’t need coin, I don’t need intimacy, I just need to know that I helped someone”

[Kelski]

Kelski wanted to rage against herself for giving him so much information, but it was something she’d held inside a long time. She’d told no one, not even Jaren, and certainly not Darvin who would just use it to exploit her further. This man did neither. In fact, he reminded her of someone, Bronwen’s Father, the Sylrian Knight Matrim. They had similar mannerisms, like they were from the same place or had the same upbringing. It relaxed her further and reassured her as she drew the parallels.

“You were a Knight.” She said abruptly. It had to be it. “Or you are one still…. even in this place. Far from Syliras.” She thought out loud. It was the only thing that explained him and the similarities she drew between Matrim and Kreig.

“You have what others here lack. You have… honor.” She added with a certainty, as if it explained things. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.” She said, studying him and studying him well. Her sharp eyes took in his form again, looking closer, past the scars as if she could see signs of it though there were none. “I won’t tell anyone.” She said softly, glancing down and trailing her toe through the dust on the floor. She felt awkward suddenly, like the Kelvic Eagle didn’t feel exactly equal now that she was putting some pieces together. Kreig said very little, but his eyes spoke volumes.

She nodded at his next words, his ‘clearing a couple of things up’. “I’m not a woman though. I’m a Kelvic. Don’t let the visage fool you. And I’m smarter than an animal. We were all crafted to be. I’m smarter than some of the humans here too. I just don’t let them see it. It’s better to be invisible and seen as just an object of pleasure than what I really am. They let their guard down. They speak when they should not, thinking I do not care or I do not understand. And this is Sunberth. No matter how much coin you have, it is never enough, not really. Because it will never buy you safety or freedom. We need other things for that.” She answered him, sliding closer, starting at his face, watching his reaction.

“I will gladly take your help. But only if you let me help you someday somehow in return. I want to owe you a debt that isn’t coin. Not just for the training, but for something else.” She tried to explain, but words were failing her. “I feel like I need…. “ She struggled, not sure how to vocalize what she was thinking. Kelski dragged her hand through her head again, and chittered suddenly, exactly like a big bird of prey would. “I need… better in my life… like my old Master Li was… better to help me remember that people can be more. I forget that so much now, being here, and sometimes I am more like them than I want to be and I hate it, even though I don’t realize it until after something happens or my head clears.” She said, really asking him to be a moral mentor as well as a physical one.

“I don’t want to be like them. Like my owner and keeper. But I am losing the battle. Every time Darvin forces drugs on me to test or makes me fight someone I don’t want to fight… I lose something important inside. And Jaren doesn’t care…. I’m just an ornament to him. I need… to be reminded about doing what is right, what is… good.” She said, taking a chance on this man, on his sincerity. It was a lot to ask, but Kelvics tended to mirror who they were around and who they admired. And more and more she saw herself mirroring Darvin when she had no desire to.

“If you truly want to help me… that needs to be our bargain more than fighting. Fighting will help, but it will do no good if I am no better than they are at the end of this… even if I win my freedom.” She whispered softly, her voice having slowly dropped lower and lower as she moved closer, as if she didn’t want anyone but him to hear her. “That will help me most of all.”

Could he understand? She was way beyond appropriate boundaries asking him to help mentor her to counter what the underbelly in the Sun’s Birth had been doing to her. It wasn’t even remotely fair to ask a man she barely knew to help be her moral compass. Was she just naïve to believe there was any way to save her even now? Even as she still wore a collar? Kelski was just afraid, terrified even – and it flashed in her eyes briefly – that there’d be nothing worth saving by the time she got free.

Two of Sun’s Birth recruits walked out onto the training floor, not close enough to crowd the pair, but close enough to overhear them. Kelski dipped her head, cleared her throat, and more loudly asked…

“When you say come at you… attack… can you show me how to do that?” She said in a loud clear voice, glancing nervously at the two recruits and taking a fighting stance once more.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig stiffened, mouth slightly agape and his fingers still raised as she hit a proverbial nail that he hadn’t realized was there. Really she was wrong about the ‘knight’ business on a technicality but he was part of them. And while he liked to think he had honor before this, and he did, he felt that it was the Knights refining it a degree. Rest was good parenting he felt. Really he wondered how long a moment he stayed like that before lowering his fingers. While he’d have liked to clarify for her, doing so in the midst of Dragoon territory right in their training grounds struck as a really good way of pushing their luck too far. Bad enough that their talking about her freedom, why not break the glass finer, eh? Least she’s going to keep it on the down low and thus gaining a secret keeper in the process. He battled the urge to glance around, being caught off guard like that meant his gatherings weren’t all that subtle at the moment. His ears picking up her own clarification about her not being a woman but a Kelvic. At that he withheld a sigh, even though he really wanted to as he breathed in and held that breathe before just exhaling it. ‘ Alright, when speaking to member of the opposite sex belonging to other species… just use the word female’ He predicted that will save him a lot of trouble somewhere down the line. It calmed him in a weird way, ebbing off the surprise he felt when she made the observation that he was formerly of the knights. It painted a worrying picture for him really, because if she could tell that mean others could and thus keeping it secret was harder than he’d thought. He felt that bit of his blood boil again when she mentioned that Darvin fellow and the drugs and being forced to fight. Being forced was a sore point for him really, especially after a particular incident in Syliras. ‘ Keep that there sense of justice you’ve got down, Kreig. The time’ll come, don’t you worry’ He tried to calm himself. Problem was Kreig didn’t know if the time will come before Kelski loses out. And even if he will help her by somehow being an anchor, it was simply buying an unknown amount of time. He'd teach her all he could and keep her alive in spirit and body though. Dira take the fool who thought otherwise. He looked at her for a long moment, eyes conveying what words could not as his face turned firm. He would help her, for his word was given. He would help her, for it was right. And Yahal above knew that this forsaken city needed someone to do its good deeds. All conversation about this stopped however, as fresh blood of the Sun’s Birth wandered out onto their lil’ bit of the training area “Yeah, see; Its all about pushing them back on the defensive right when the fight starts” He said, taking up a boxers stance. His fists raised as he took a bit of distance and shifted his form so that she was looking at his left side. “Now look here at what I’m about to do, it’s called a jab” He began “If yer a right-hander, you usually use your left fist for this. An’ of course the opposites if ye ain’t.” With that he extended the fist forward in a quick sudden motion, nary a movement of the shoulder. The fist at air yet in Kreig’s eyes he was aiming it at a head. “Do it right an’ quick you might get a hit in and push’ em there balance to set up another move, preferrebly another punch or a good knee strike if you can help it. Something quick and painful” He imagined that head as Darvin, an element to his new student’s misery. Another Jab striking fast and quick at the air. “Even if you don’t, you’re likely to put ‘em on the defense. Forcing ‘em to wait for an opening, while you’re doing that you could chisel ‘em down either by hittin’ their arms as they’re blocking or making them extend more energy as they’re jumpin’ about. All by just addin’ more jabs.” He jabbed again, imagining that he gave that Darvin fellow a fat lip. “It helps measure distance too, ya know? Nothing like knowin’ just how close or far you are when you want to set up the next strike.” He struck again, as if in his own little world now. All that remained was him, Darvin, and the Kelvic female. He really should learn her name… “But ya can’t keep doing it of course, it becomes predictable right quick. Its real use is in that you can use it to force an opening” He said, staying the left fist while his right shoulder moved back before launching his right arm forward in a straight line “ For somethin’ like this here straight punch” He imagined that broke in Darvin’s face. He imagined that form crumple down without strings. He imagined a chain breaking. “Yeah, something like this could end things just fine…” He’d be sure of it too.