Unexpected Meeting (Rista)

[Kikue]

The small Avora sighed slightly. She had never really liked the Endall, it could have been because she can't even be near the holy birds of her race, so she took out her resentment on the higher order. "I've never really liked them at all. In my eyes they're just there to oppress the others. But I do know why we need them. I always have trouble to get a kill. I have to travel quite extensively for it. I was actually going to start on going down the mountain again to hunt." She sounded a little jealous as she talked about the Endal. It was more as if she hated them herself. Seeing the girl fumble with her sword, Kikue couldn't help but laugh a little. *She's a complete novice. Better help her out I guess. Somehow I just want to care for this girl. She feels a little familiar.* She then heard the little mongrel mumble and shortly after handed her the blade back, telling the Avora that she didn't know how to handle it at all. Kikue accepted the weapon back, saying: "Pay attention, I'll show you some basic moves." Just after that, the huntress held her sword horizontal in front of her at about breast height and closed her eyes for a second. She took a deep breath and then slowly opened her eyes again. Her face had gone dead serious and her eyes had a cold stare to them. She then sliced the air in front of her horizontal, followed up by a stab and an upper slash. It all happend quite fast, but the small Yasi would've been able to track the blade easily if she had payed attention. Kikue then stood idle again and held the sword out to Rista. "Here, you try. Don't go for speed, just try and feel the blade. First comes the basic movement. Once your muscles have adjusted to the weight and movement, you can try and increase the speed. But for now just try out the movement." She had tried to keep her voice gentle and calm, but slight hints of hardness had slipped in. It had actually been the first time for the Avora to try and teach something to a youngster. She just hoped the girl understood it and wouldn't make a mistake which could result in her getting injured.

[Rista]

It was safe to say that the yasi was doubtful of the things the red-haired woman said, but she chose not to delve deeper into the subject, merely shrugging a bit where she sat. There was no point in arguing with someone she didn't know over a subject that wasn't up for discussion; Endal were awesome, enough said. There was nothing more to add, not to Rista. She didn't know what kind of experience this person had with the higher caste, but it probably wasn't anything good; the dark-haired girl wasn't going to deny that her heroes could be both short-tempered and difficult to deal with. It was a part of their identity though, and something that made them all the more awe-inspiring.

Relieved as Kikue took the sword back Rista leaned back on her elbows, watching as she had been told but with a reserved expression. It didn't seem like she was going anywhere, not anytime soon. While the girl would have preferred taking off into the woods again, at least the Talon was making it bearable to be around another person; the weapon gleamed under the light of the sun and seemed to mesmerize the copper-skinned young girl. She saw the transformation of the short Avora as she relaxed and became serious, noted with interest how she held the sword and.. It was hard to follow the fast movements, she didn't dare blink until it was over in dread of missing something. When Kikue returned the attention to her make-shift student Rista's pulse had gone up, there was a slight change of her expression; she blinked as the Talon was held out towards her, surprised that she would get another try.

She stood up, slightly hesitant but with a decidedly interested gleam in her eyes as she moved over to retrieve the sword. Trying to mimic the older woman she took the sword in her right hand, holding it awkwardly and hard as if it would suddenly twist in her grip; licking her lips nervously Rista tried to do as the other had done; bringing the short weapon very slowly along the patter. First horizontally, she twisted her wrist to bring the single edge of the blade outwards, and when she held the arm straight out from the side she tried to use the same flowing motion as the other, turning her wrist back until the edge pointed down as she slowly stabbed forward, bringing the arm straight out until it was fully stretched.

If felt clumsy, the weight of the sword wanted to twist her hand downwards and bring the tip of the Talon down towards the ground. The yasi pressed her lips together stubbornly, frowning in concentration as she continued; from the stab she brought back the sword towards her, and attempted the slashing movement. Ugh. It wasn't good at all, she both felt it and saw it; there was none of the smooth, flowing feeling that the other hand managed to give off. The shift between the stances was clumsy and probably not even correct, and as she was finished, the girl glanced at Kikue with a twisted, almost pained smile.

"It's hard" she admitted. "It's one thing to see you do it, and a completely different matter to try and do it myself. The weight feels off and I can't do the shifting between the patterns at all..." It didn't feel good that she didn't succeed, but Rista did have enough sense to understand that she couldn't do something perfect the first time. Even so, the girl seemed determined to try again, and waited for instructions with the sword still in her hand, eyes resting hopefully on the other. Would this lesson continue, or were she being let go? It suddenly felt like either option was equally good; as long as she wasn't expected to talk about herself, Rista was happy.

[Kikue]

Kikue noticed the small change in the girl's expression. It seemed as if this girl had suddenly became at least a little interested. She smiled as the small Yasi took the Talon sword from her and stood there ready to give the movements a go. The first painfull mistake the huntress noticed was that the girl tried to do it with a single hand, just like she herself had done. It wasn't much of a big deal, since Kikue had showed it to her like that. "Ok, that's one thing to remember when I try to teach others. Show it like they're supposed to start off like.", were her thoughts at that moment. The Avora made sure she kept note of the rest of the little half-blood's movements, so she could comment on all of them. The second mistake the mongrell made was that she was too nervous, but everyone was at first. The third one was her wrist. Most sword moves come from the whole body at once, not just from the wrist movements. After she was done, Kikue saw her pained smile and returned it with a warm one. She saw the determination of this girl and somehow wanted to keep teaching her. "Does she have a master yet? With that determination she should already have one.", she thought to herself. "Well, it's better then I did when I first started. I even managed to cut myself back then.", the small woman said jokingly. "Now about your mistakes. The first one would be to try and do it with one hand. It's more or less my own fault, but none the less. You should start out using both your hands. Second is that you are too nervous, nothing good ever comes from nervous people. Take a moment to relax before you start and then just do it. Don't worry about making mistakes, don't worry about the smoothness, just do the task at hand. Now about your last mistake... You twist your wrist too much. The movement comes from the whole body, not just from the wrist." Kikue looked around for a bit and then spotted a branch straight and long enough so she could show it again. She walked over and picked it up. Then she stood in front of the girl, having the Avora's side face her. This time, Kikue used both her hands and repeated the whole process, but alot slower. She made sure she showed the girl exactly how her muscles flexed, her arms moved along her body and she used the rest of her body to support the movement. "Try it like that, but make sure not to pay too much attention to the details. Keep your head clear of doubt and worry and then repeat the same process.", was the last advice she gave the girl. If she'd make a mistake this time, it wouldn't be Kikue's fault, but rather because the small mongrell just wasn't used to the weight and movement.

[Rista]

Listening carefully to the comments, Rista nodded a bit and waited for the other to find the branch before once more mimicking the movements of the woman. A stray thought processed the fact that she wasn't the one to hold the twig instead, unaccustomed to the sword as she was, but perhaps that was part of the deal; for her to get a better feel for it and know where she had the edge.

The yasi shifted and placed both her hands on the long hilt, moving them a little over the weapon until it felt a bit better balanced. With an eye on Kikue she watched the red-head demonstrate the movements again, thankfully at a more reasonable pace, and tried to do as she was told. A deep breath made her muscles relax a bit more, but not too much, and while it was hard to not worry over making mistakes...

Trying to focus on the movements only, Rista followed with the patterns again. Horizontal cut; that was easiest, instead of just moving the wrist this time she tried to twist the entire arm, wondering if that was how the Avora meant; it was harder with both hands on the sword, it felt like her whole upper body wanted to tilt to the left, and she wasn't entirely sure how far she was supposed to let the movement go. She stopped when it became uncomfortable and the left arm lay tight over the chest, then twisted the arms again and tried to move the sword so the tip came forward, parallel to the ground; the stab forward was wobbly and uneven, the girl almost lost her balance as she stretched the arms too far and had to pause and regain her balance. Not a pretty display.

Then the slash once more; retracting the sword as if she was pulling it out of an imaginary enemy Rista brought it up over her left shoulder, careful not to bring it too close to her teacher, and brought it down again in a motion that was a tad better than before, but still not pretty or even acceptable at all. Under the warm sun her coppery skin beaded a little over the brow, perspiration showing both from the effort of holding the sword as well as from intense concentration. Rista sighed as she finished the set of three, and made a discontent grimace.

"It's not going very well, is it. It feels like I rather should take them one at a time..." she said, glancing at Kikue to see what she thought of the suggestion. Right now she wasn't going anywhere, she was likely to hurt herself if this continued; it was wrong to say that she was disheartened by the lack of success, but the yasi didn't like doing things half-assed. She would rather practice every swing until they were pounded into the bones, and then try to put them together; but of course, there was nothing to say that she would be able to continue the practice. The Avora might have other things to do, and if she was a hunter like she said then she was hardly going to be around the Reach very much.

[Kikue]

The Avora noticed the mistakes the small Yasi made. The improvement was obvious, but those small mistakes were mostly because she was still inexperienced. She didn't move her body with the slashes and stab. On top of that was that she tried to stab too far without adjusting her balance for it. She made a note of them, so she could give some more advice. After hearing what the small black-eyed girl had to say, Kikue forced herself to laugh a bit. "Oh, yeah. That would be better yes. I'm sorry about that." She had noticed the determination of the little girl and she was now sure she wanted to teach her more. "Ok, we'll start with the stab, since that one is actually the easiest of the three. You have to make sure that if you are going to reach far with it, that you step out with your dominant foot so you can keep your balance better. I don't want to see you only moving your arms. A sword move comes from the whole body, never from a part of it alone. Also make sure that you don't let your wrists too loose. That way the sword will wobble as you stab and most often miss it's mark." She walked next to the little girl and then stood firm, legs spread lightly with her right foot a little more to the front. She then moved her right foot forward as she moved with her upper body forward, stabbing an imaginary enemy. She held that position for a bit as she said: "When you move back, it's almost the same movement, but this time in reverse." She then stood back in her original stance, holding the branch in front of her as if she were holding a sword. "I have to say that you are eager to learn and a quick learner as well. When I was starting to train for the Talon sword it took me a lot longer to realise that I had to not only use my wrists." She stood at ease after that and looked at the girl. The Avora didn't know how to ask it nicely so she just bluntly asked: "Has there been anyone else that asked you to be their apprentice? Because I wouldn't mind teaching you more often. I'll be in Wind reach alot after the road snows in, so I'll have too much time on my hands by then."

[Rista]

The girl nodded and mimicked the movements, trying her best to do as was described, but without making too much progress. With her mind focused on the task, she barely barely aware of how the sun shifted slowly over the sky. A faint breeze blew through the tree-tops and in the background the creek murmured and danced, its waters cold and clear as it always were this high in the mountains. The sun shone down, the golden rays sifting in through the canopies to warm the grass; after a while Rista kicked off her sandals and continued her practice barefoot, more for the feeling of grass under her soles than because of any practical needs.

With a frustrated sigh she eventually lowered the sword and grimaced at the aching of her muscles. Perspiration gleamed on her brow and as the light touched her skin it gleamed in soft copper tones, darker than what was normal among the Inarta; out here in the forest, under the sun and the clear sky it was almost beautiful, instead of just looking strange as it often did in the relative gloom of the warrens of Wind Reach. Rista looked over at the red-haired woman as she spoke, blinking to free the black eyes from beads of sweat as she stared at her, the face expressing disbelief and incredulity.

"You'd train me?" she asked, the surprise noticeable in the voice. The short little yasi pulled away a strand of hair that clung to her cheek. "Really? But I haven't done anything right, how can I have showed any promise at all? I'm grateful, it's not that, and I'd love to learn to use this thing for real." She held up the sword a bit from the side, giving it a wry glance; it lay better in the hand now, but there wasn't a lot of signs of improvement aside from that. The girl still moved clumsily, and she was a bit too wary of the sharpness of the blade to be able to relax fully.

Perhaps it was a bit stupid to object in any way when faces with an offer like this, but Rista was too surprised to believe that the words was for real. The whole situation was strange; how often did people place a sword in your hands after you had stumbled into their camp, to just mention one thing?
Another thing that made Rista hesitate was the fact that the woman would be away for so much. One lesson every ten days or so... It'd be a long and slow learning process, and she would have plenty of time during the summer to practice on her own and learn things the wrong way.

"You sure you want to place that kind of time on me?" she asked, and held the Talon out for Kikue to take. It felt like enough training for the moment; her shoulder was aching, the hand felt sore, and the head was buzzing from all the instructions. The wind that swept over her face was cool and felt good; closing her eyes for a moment, Rista allowed a small smile to appear as she leaned the head back, enjoying the warmth of the sun against her cheeks for a moment. Then she looked back up again, the jet-black gaze fixating on Kikue to hear her reply.

[Kikue]

The small Avora was enjoying the company of another Inarta for a change. So much in fact that she had completely forgotten the time. She saw that the sun had lowered quite a bit already and then noticed that the time had flown by. "This girl has quite a bit of endurance. That's quite promising. If I train her some more, I might be able to teach her at least what I can. Though that's not really much." Kikue heard the frustrated sigh and looked at the mongrel. Out here in the woods, she looked mesmerizing. That made it certain. The Avora huntress was surely going to train this girl up to what she knows. Hearing the girl's disbelief at the Avora's question, Kikue smiled. "I'm not joking. But, I want you to think about it untill at least fall. By then I'll be a lot less busy then now, since the hunting season for me will be about over. By then I can train you in what I know at least. Oh and about your progress, you're promising, believe me. The Inarta I trained with couldn't even hold out less then two bells, unlike you. You're probably sore all over your body right and the weapon feels more comfortable?" The small woman put down the branch and walked back to her tent. She started to pack her stuff up, since it was almost time for her to go to bed. "Listen, I am sure I want to invest that time in you. You're actually one of the few Inarta I feel comfortable around with. I dislike large crowds a lot and I don't have many friends at all. It could be because I travel alot, but..... well I don't know. Ah well.... Anyway, I'll make sure to be at the gatekeeper in Fall. Meet me then. Then we can discuss a possible continuation of this. Oh by the way, can you bring my sword over, then I can put it away again." Her voice was softened and showed she didn't think twice about anything. Then as if remembering her own rudeness of not introducing herself, Kikue said: "Oh right, I never gave you my name. It's Kikue and no honorifics if we're alone. I dislike them alot."

[Rista]

Rista began to help the Avora pack up her things, listening as the other spoke; the incredulous expression on her face settled down a bit the more Kikue spoke, and eventually the yasi nodded in agreement. That sounded better; by fall people would slowly retreat to the Reach, people one never saw much came back from Thunder Bay and other places around the mountains in search for shelter and company during the long, harsh winter. That was a better time to practice; not to mention that the woman would be given several opportunities to back out during that time. Rista was clearly interested in learning, but she somehow just couldn't believe that anyone would be willing to teach her out of the blue like that.

After handing back the Talon to the hunter, the short girl went back to pick up her own gear, rubbing the muscles in arms and shoulders sorely as she walked. It was hard work, but somehow she couldn't stop grinning at the memory of holding the beautiful weapon in her hands. The palms felt empty as if something had gone missing, her fingers itched to pick it up again and continue, just a little bit longer.

It was time to stop for now though, it was getting late and Rista wanted to move a bit further before it was time to camp for the last night of true freedom; soon she would have to turn back and climb her way up to the city again, back to lessons and bendi and the clashing with people she could have been friends with. The sun was warm still but the shadows had moved, suggesting that there were a few bells of daylight left; lifting up her bag on the shoulders she then turned to Kikue, a slight smile warming her unusual features.

"Thank you for this, Kikue" she said, complying with the wish to remain informal. "I'll make sure to catch you when fall comes then. I look forward to it, very much." Even so, fall felt like a very long time to wait. The summer had barely begun, and there were a lot of things that could happen until then. Rista turned around to head out into the forest again, and just raised a hand in brief greeting to the other woman.

"Don't die during summer, okay? Catch you later!" Her voice was just a little bit teasing, somewhat neutral, but not quite as thorny as before. It would be nice to be on her own again, even if she didn't truly dislike the other. For a strange day it hadn't been all that bad, she had to admit...

[Kikue]

The Avora took the Talon back and sheathed it. She then put it in the tent and turned around smiling. There were still some stuff that she had to put away, but that could wait a little. She wanted to send the Yasi off with a proper goodbye first. She just felt that it was proper for someone she'd probably see more later on. "Not a problem, I'll be waiting.", she replied. Her face had a large smile, showing her happiness. For the first time in her life, she felt like she could really trust someone. She had never really trusted the kids she grew up with, but that is all history now. She waved back and then said to her: "I won't die so easily. You just keep your head out of trouble long enough for me to pound my knowledge of the Talon into it."

OOCWell, guess we can turn this in for grading. And which one of us should set the thread for fall up? I could do it, but maybe it would be better if you did. Just say so ^^.

[Phoenix]

Character: Kikue Experience: Camping- 1, Teaching- 5, Sword (Talon)- 5, Socialization- 5 Lores:Lazy days by the water, Being surprised by Rista, Lacking in tact, Teaching a Yasi manners and then speaking badly about ones superiors, Teaching Rista how to swing a sword, Giving too many helpful tips at once, Seeing promise in Rista, Offering Rista an apprenticeship, Having Rista as an Apprentice Character: Rista Experience: Socialization- 5, Sword (Talon)- 5 Lores:Basking in the beauty and solitude of nature, Stumbling into Kikue’s camp, Sword knowledge, Endal dreams, Fumbling with a sword, Taking things one step at a time, Accepting Kikue’s offer to train her in the Talon Sword, Having Kikue as a Master The Method, The Fire: Great job, girls! I enjoyed the read! Congrats on becoming a teacher/apprentice! The only thing that I can pick on is that it would take them both a long time to get down into the valley if they didn't have an eagle to fly them there. So next time, just think about that. It's alright if they camp, but it would be a lot of traveling if they went down and back up in the same day. Any questions or concerns, please send me a PM and I'll be happy to help!