Solo Good Riddance!

[Brandon Blackwing]

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Day 17 of Fall 515AV

“It's still cold,” a choir of yasi chirped in complaint, most of them having crossed their arms in hopes of trapping the warmth of their bodies there. “Still? That means you didn't warm up properly,” Brandon joked, knowing fully well they just wanted an excuse to be allowed to leave, and play in the snow outside the gates. Though he had to admit it was rather chilly, even after having heated his body with exercise. Maybe it was about time he started wearing that woolen vest, the katinu. It had already snowed after all, ridiculously early for the time of year, and it was a lot colder than usual too. Though maybe the bat had just adapted too much to the heat of the volcano that he could no longer manage the usual cold air of a mountain-top city. Then again, Wind Reach wasn't exactly a mountain-top city...

“Alright, alright!” he started, “go grab your katinu and get back here in... hmm... eleven chimes.” A disappointed “oooh” filled the air, and Brandon shrugged. “Eleven chimes. Those who don't make it before the time runs out will do three sets for every chime they arrived too late. If even one you doesn't return, all of you will be doing a whole lesson's time worth of sets next time. Is that understood?” The bat gave the yasi his “teacher-glare”, and they nodded vigorously. They knew he didn't joke about those things. “Good,” he grinned, “three, two, one, go! Eleven chimes from now. Run!” And off they were, dashing to the exit of the pits, leaving Brandon behind. He didn't need a katinu just yet.

Instead of donning an extra layer of clothing, the bat began running laps around the space he was entitle to use for his classes, falling into a rhythm he often used to last a long time. It was not a dash, but it wasn't slow either. One could compare it to the gait messengers used; fast enough, though not too tiring so he could keep going for a while. After a quarter lap, his breathing finally caught up with him, lungs wanting more air. Brandon complied, though kept his breathing as steady as he could, breathing deeply and rhythmically; he wasn't nearly out of breath yet, so there definitely was no need to pant. During his laps, the thief checked his inner clock regularly, measuring the passing time as accurately as he could; so far his biological timer had never been off by much.

Around the ninth chime or so, the first few yasi dripped back in, panting and out of breath, though all looking quite satisfied with themselves, one more than the others. Obviously they'd raced each other here, wasting their breath and now having to recuperate. “Remember to stretch,” the bat advised when he passed them, “and you should keep walking too. The warm-up will have been for naught otherwise.” He grinned then, shouting as he traced the circle of the pit, “though we could always just do the warm-up again, no problem at all!” That always worked; most of the yasi hated or disliked the warm-up just because it was boring and repetitive. Brandon felt their pain, but he at least knew it was for the best to complete the exercises anyway.

The next yasi were by far the biggest group, easily more than half of the bat's group for this period, and they were on time too, a little bit early, actually. More youths streamed in when the eleventh chime began, but sadly not everybody had made it. Those that arrived too late were punished with sets, as promised, and it was then that the thief noticed there was still someone missing. “Say, where's...” Oh, what was her name again? That brainless cow that had been laying low ever since he'd put her in her place back in Summer. “...Cyla? I hope for you she still manages to arrive before the lesson ends, because you'll be petched if she doesn't.” Many faces were a bit confused, and Brandon stopped running as he reached the almost complete group of yasi.

“Ehm, Cyla hasn't been attending your classes ever since that day...” Well, that explained a lot; no wonder he hadn't had so much trouble anymore. “Ah. Well, I guess I didn't notice until now because I don't miss her at all,” the bat shrugged, “but don't the other teachers have to say something about that? I seem to remember you guys need to attend any and all classes in your curriculum?” The spokesperson for the group nodded, “Uhuh, but her mother is an endal, and she managed to get her to convince the teachers to allow her to skip your class.” Brandon just listened with a raised eyebrow; an endal parent? No surprise she'd been so arrogant and spoiled. “Well, good riddance, I say! Anything else?”

“Ehm... Cyla said you'd pay for treating her like you have...” Hm, well, that probably meant either her mother would come nag or something. Brandon wasn't quite sure why they would, from what he'd seen the Inarta weren't very family-oriented. Though, it was good to know. Hopefully they'd come when he was in the pits; which would mean he could do whatever he wanted if they decided to “teach him a lesson”. And why would they not come here? This was the only place they were certain to find him, and even if she searched for him anywhere else, Brandon could vanish whenever he wanted. Hiding in a crowd had always been a handy ability to have as a pickpocket. He grinned, seemed like he had something to look forward to then.

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credit goes to Euthisa

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

Though now he was busy with something else, namely thinking of what to teach today. More basics? Footwork perhaps? Those were pretty important, though it wasn't the most pleasant thing to teach about. Ah, whatever. “We'll be doing some more basics for you,” he started, ignoring the simultaneous moaning from the yasi. “So, yes, even more balance training. We'll stick with the easy stuff for now.” The Kelvic made a gesture with his hand, and all yasi started lining up, a neat row of fiery-headed youngsters.

“Alright, get into position! Basic offensive stance, go!” Immediately, the youths assumed the stance he'd specified, though even after all these lessons he'd dedicated to working on it, the multitude of the group did not get it right yet. Brandon wasn't sure if it was because they simply did not get it, or because they couldn't be bothered to do it right. He could imagine not a lot of them were still interested in his classes anymore; after all, they hadn't learned a whole lot in all this time, but that was because they didn't do their utmost best. They wanted to learn new things, but due to their sloppy work on the basics, they were stuck. A vicious circle. “Your feet are too close together. They need to be a shoulder length away, else you'll not be balanced.” To prove his point he gave the youth a shove against the shoulder, sending him stumbling a few steps.

Most of them were guilty of that offense, but a couple did the opposite; placing their feet too far from each other. “You're not mobile enough. Your position is stable, yes, but you can't move very well, can you? It makes for a great defensive stance, if you have no choice but to block.” And then he aided in improving the stances of almost all yasi, resulting in a huge loss of time. No, no it's not a loss. It's teaching. You're teaching. I'm teaching. Not wasting time. He sighed briefly, pinching the bridge of his nose. Now I know what my mother went through when I was younger... Though I was not such a hopeless case.

“All of you should -if you haven't shifted too much- now be using the right stance. Remember this. It's important. Feet a shoulder length apart, and the toes of one foot on the same line as the heel of your other foot. Which means it's placed a little behind the other. Why is this? You there.”
“Mobility.”
“Correct. And why does the space between your feet matter?”
“It affects your balance.”
“Good, all together now; why do I never stop mentioning balance?”
“Balance is important! Balance is the key to survival!” the choir of yasi chimed, as Brandon threw his hands and arms around as if he were some conductor of an orchestra. “Lose your balance, lose the fight! Lose your balance, lose your life!”
Brandon nodded contently. “Excellent. Remember that well.”

The rest of the class wasn't really interesting. Brandon made his charges move around in their stance, slowly, then faster. He also made them attack, dodge, and charge. He hammered some more on the importance of the space between their feet, and let them (for probably the fourth time in three seasons) experience why he found it so important. Two words were repeated over and over for the duration of his class; balance, and mobility. It was the topic of the day, and something he found the yasi needed a lot more practice on. It would have been consoling if it was only one group that was so slow, but sadly, all groups were, and all day the bat had to repeat himself. By the end of it he had trouble uttering anything else but “balance” or “mobility”.

Of course he knew the Inarta weren't very interested in unarmed combat; he did not know why, but something just did not seem to attract them about it. The Kelvic thought it was strange; he'd always found it interesting because even if he had a weapon, he could always be disarmed. With experience in unarmed combat, he never truly was unarmed. His whole body was a weapon; a lethal tool if he so desired. But the Inarta did not seem to like it as much. Whispered conversations during his classes often had their disinterest as subject. Things like “I wish we'd get Talon Sword training instead of this” or “Archery lessons are way more fun” were quite common, as well as yasi asking each other how long they still had to be here, just how long the lesson would go on before they could go back to the Learning Gallery. It was sad, and truth to be told it did piss the bat off, today more than usual. As such it was no surprise he was actually wishing for that piece of endal to show up and come “teach him a lesson”, he'd get to discharge his frustrations that way.

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credit goes to Euthisa

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

End of the day, and Brandon was disappointed; no endal had shown. Well, not counting those sparring and training nearby. No-one had come to approach him on his lack of respect, the “slander” he told the yasi about the highest caste, nor about his outsider angle view on the whole system of Wind Reach, nor about a girl being hit in the stomach by him. He sighed; he should have seen this coming. Wind Reach was Wind Reach after all. Like endals –or just about any Inarta for that matter- cared enough for their offspring to come complain. That was not how this mountain city worked.

Wind Reach was built on efficiency, on work and labor. More children just meant more future workers. More people to bring in the food and recourses the city desperately needed. Besides, no Inarta had time to worry about their children anyway; they were far too busy with work for that. The facts were there; weren’t the yasi put in some collective group where they were being prepared for work? Weren’t they raised to be productive citizens? Weren’t they being subjected to various tasks to determine what they were best at? What work was best suited for each and every one of them? Of course an endal wouldn’t go through all the trouble on a free day, or when they came back from hunting, tired, to go deal with some teacher who obviously wouldn’t be so compliant as the others.

Well, and then there was Brandon’s reputation. He was too much for even the skilled endal to handle in a fight, he was mysterious, a stubborn foreigner unwilling to bend for the caste system. Endal that came for him somewhere else in the city would be beaten to pulp in the near future when they set foot in the fighting pits. And one had had a terrible accident during a hunt, so the rumor went around, a day after he’d beaten Brandon outside the fighting pits. Some superstitious Inarta believed the Kelvic had cursed the endal, leading to the accident. Whether they believed it or not, most of the Inarta were reluctant to try and see whether the foreigner really could place a curse upon their person. That of course had resulted in a lot less trouble for Bran, but also less sparring partners that were eager to “test” the Kelvic’s mettle.

Another sigh and the bat rolled his shoulders, hearing his bones crackle pleasantly. Oh well, the less trouble with the higher caste he had, the more Dru would be at ease. Maybe she’d even stop worrying about his safety in general… Though knowing the Symenestra, there was no way that would ever happen. Again the thief let a sigh escape, deciding to do some training of his own today too; even without a sparring partner one could better himself.

Automatically, his body assumed a fighting stance, and the bat started bouncing on his toes, moving around back and forth quickly, arms raised as if battling an invisible foe. He threw his head to the side, as if dodging an attack, though his forward approach did not cease. Then, the thief unleashed a barrage himself, a flurry of punches aimed at varying spots, with varying angles. At the end it turned into a chain of kicks, gracious but swift and deadly like a viper lashing out. As his feet returned to the ground from his final attack –a kick that would have smashed his heel into the face of an enemy if there’d been one- the nimble thief launched himself backwards in a slow arc, head coming closer to the ground as his hands reached out, catching his falling body, acting as springs to catapult him back onto his feet.

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credit goes to Euthisa

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

The imaginary foe dashed towards him, following in his wake, trying to rain blows onto Brandon as he landed. The Kelvic dove to the side though, rolling away under the attack, striking back with a low sweep instead, toppling the invisible enemy. Just like Brandon would have though, the foe recovered fast, acrobatically catching himself and preventing his body from violently colliding with the ground. It gave Bran some time to get back to his feet though, and this time it was his turn to swiftly charge his foe. It tried to counter of course, but the bat dodged until he was close enough, ducking under a swing, to the outside.

He grabbed the arm then, a vice of flesh immobilizing it. His other hand was already coming in to finish the deal, two fingers pressing into the shoulder of the enemy, then twisting quickly. And again, and again. Maybe five times, maybe six. Enough to numb it quite a bit, making it hard to move. However, Brandon was still too slow, and the imaginary foe’s knee found his stomach, and the bat cursed softly. Still too slow, the movements were still too alien, he needed more practice, drill those motions into his muscle memory… Someone coughed quietly, and the bat slightly turned his head to see one of the yasi he taught stand a bit away.

Brandon just sighed and turned around fully, stalking towards that lone yasi that was still hanging around. Or had he just returned? The thief did not know, and to be honest he did not really care either. “So, what is it you want?” he queried.
“I want extra lessons,” the youngster spoke confidently, squaring his jaw. “Right now?” The Yasi nodded, looking serious. “I think it is important for a future endal to be able to win a fight even if he loses his weapon,” the boy stated, and Brandon couldn't determine whether he was serious or if he was just telling the bat what he wanted to hear. Nevertheless, it worked, and Brandon's rather disappointed face lit up with a small smile. “Well, I suppose it would be … liberating... to teach someone who's actually interested,” he began, “but I'll need to see how good you are first...”

That dragged the boy's shoulder's down a bit, his excited face lost its shine. “Oh... Well, I lost the most out of everyone in our group during the tournaments....” he admitted, visibly ashamed. “Not sure if you were there, but I've told one group that those tournaments were a way for me to assess your progress. In terms of technique and all. It doesn't matter if you won or lost.” Brandon shook his head slightly, then scanning the rather thin yasi carefully. From his built, Brandon could already guess why he'd lost as much as he said he had; though he did have wiry muscles, those were not really built for strength. “Well, why don't you show me a punch?”

Immediately, the boy assumed a fighting stance -one that was better than those of most other students, Bran saw- and sent his fist speeding forward quickly, then returning to his original stance. It was a good punch, surprisingly, one that had begun developing into something that would actually hurt. His balance too, had been almost impeccable, and he'd shown an aptitude for speed, as Brandon had been suspecting. But of course it was not nearly perfect, not at all. “Try to breathe out as you attack,” Brandon commented, “It'll empower your strike.” He stalked around the boy, walking in a circle, eyes darting to and fro, all over his body. Every now and then he probed or poked, commenting and improving his stance. “You're too much rooted in place, you need to put more weight on your back foot,” he said, even though the boy's feet would have been praiseworthy during the group sessions.

“You're not strong,” Brandon commented, “but you're fast. You're like me. As such, a stance where you put mobility before defense is recommended. You could even say that your mobility is your defense.” He stared the boy in the eye, then prodded his shoulders. “Too tense, loosen up. Anyway. You need to move around a lot when you fight. You'll not be able to take a lot of attacks, but... there's no problem if you are able to dodge all of them, now is there?” He grinned conspiratorially. “But first; punch again, but now try to relax your shoulders and hands, like this-” the Kelvic assumed the same stance as his pupil, but his hands were not clenched into fists; they were relaxed, and so were his shoulders. “-And when you punch, tighten your fist right before you're about to hit your target.” Again, Brandon demonstrated, but he wasn't really sure if there was something to see.

“And breathe out too. Breathe out as you attack.”

x

credit goes to Euthisa

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

Once more the boy was to throw a punch, and it seemed he took Brandon’s advice to heart, blowing some air out of his lungs as he attacked. “Stop, don’t move,” the Kelvic called out just when the Yasi was about to retract his hand and return to the offensive stance. Just like he’d done before, Brandon scrutinized his pose and balance, prodding here and there, eyes focused. “Hm. Good. You can stop now.” Yes, it was indeed good, there were some minor things that still needed tob e worked on, but the main obstacle –balance- did not seem to be a problem. Not at all.

“Why don’t you give me a kick? Aim for the side of my neck,” the bat pointed, positioning himself in front of the boy. “Don’t worry about anything but hitting what you’re supposed to hit, okay?” The Kelvic received an affirmative nod, and his form changed ever so slightly, though very noticeably for someone with enough experience. As the yasi’s foot sped towards his neck, Brandon raised his arm, catching the foot with the palm of his hand, fingers instinctually curling around it, starting to grip firmly, though just as fast as they’d started, the digits stopped, and uncurled as the boy retracted his limb.

Obviously awed because Brandon’s gaze had never shifted towards the attack, the yasi stared, mouth agape. Of course, that kind of thing was extremely simple for Bran to do, especially since he had dictated what the boy had to aim for. True, he could have missed, or purposefully picked another target, but the bat would have been able to read the yasi’s body, and thus predict where the attack would land. Naturally, that was what the Kelvic had been doing the whole time, verifying the target of the kick. Blocking had just been a matter of gauging the distance by sound, nothing too difficult for a bat.

That was not important though, what was was that just as with the punch, the yasi’s kick had been performed while he was perfectly balanced. Frowning slightly, Brandon nodded to himself; if attacking was not a problem –they were fast and had some power behind them because of the boy staying faithful to the technique he’d been taught- then there had to be another reason for his many defeats. But what? Inability to dodge, probably. It couldn’t be that he was being out-speeded, from what the thief had seen this kid was the fastest among his pupils. “Why don’t we have a bout? Nothing too serious of course, just a test.” Again the boy agreed with a nod. “I’ll be going easy on you, naturally, but that does not mean you don’t have anything to fear. If I can hit you, I’ll do it. Understood?” Another nod, and Brandon clapped his hands together as if it were a signal to get in position.

“Ready? Go,” he announced the start of the spar, and the both of them started to slowly circle around each other, Brandon’s eyes absorbing every movement the boy made, as if he had sponges in his sockets. The bat had decided to use roughly the same speed of both motion and attack as his pupil did, to equal things out a bit. Naturally he’d only be using basic kicks and punches as well, wanting to recreate the scenario of the tournaments, only a tad bit more challenging.

His pupil made the first move, stepping in and going for Brandon’s ribs, but the attack was easily avoided. Handicapped, Brandon still had the advantage of experience, and it showed; even though his motions were slow for his standards, the yasi barely managed to hit him, and if he did, it was because Brandon blocked instead of dodged. When the Kelvic counterattacked, the boy mimicked Bran’s actions from before, stepping out of the way or trying to block –though the latter was not very successful. Still, even though the pupil had been hit quite a lot –when Brandon dodged and countered- the bat couldn’t find how the boy could have lost as much as he had. His fighting was certainly way better than that of his peers.

However, when the Kelvic decided to start making mistakes on purpose, creating openings for his student to strike, the problem was laid bare. The boy was overeager. He reacted to the chances quickly, yes, but it seemed he was risking everything on that hit, throwing his guard away himself. Not to mention he also became unbalanced and sloppy. A really easy target, someone who could be defeated instantly. With a sigh Brandon stopped the spar, telling the yasi to sit himself down, doing the same. Now, how to deal with this…

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credit goes to Euthisa

[Brandon Blackwing]

x

“Thing is,” the bat started, “you are too… eager.” There wasn’t really another word he could think of to describe what had been going wrong. “I mean, it’s good that you recognize opportunities to strike, but the way you’re going about it…” he trailed off, his pupil would realize what he was trying to say, no doubt. “When you attack, you are too focused on hitting your target, and while that in itself is not that bad, it does lay at the base of your problem.” Brandon sighed deeply; he wasn’t the best at explaining things he just felt, or knew. Nevertheless, he tried.

“When you attack, it takes up too much of your focus, I think. Your technique becomes sloppy, you lose your balance, and you let your guard down.” All of those combined made for a deadly mistake. In a real fight, one with lives at stake, that kind of slip-up would mean defeat, and possibly the boy’s demise. “I believe you’re too eager to end a fight, so you’ll need to learn some patience.” It was good to be aggressive in a fight, but not to be overly so. After all, defense was important too, perhaps even more than offense.

Naturally, impatience led to aggressive offensive actions, whereas the opposite –patience- would lead to a more balanced mix of offense and defense. If one was at peace with the fact that a fight could take a while, that it couldn’t always be ended quickly, one was more likely to be cautious. To defend, to observe. To fight smart. Patience was one of the things Brandon had had to learn first, though it hadn’t taken long for him to realize the importance of it. Haste made waste after all. “Hasty, that’s the word,” he muttered to himself, then spoke up; “You’re being too hasty.” Was there a way to stop him from being like that? Yes, yes there was. But of course, Brandon couldn’t get rid of the tendency for haste just like that; there were some detours to be taken. The boy had to change himself, and the only thing what Bran could do was make him more aware.

“Get back in position,” he ordered, getting to his feet, and wiping the dust from his bryda. “We’re going to spar again, but this time, we’ll be doing it slowly.” To show what he meant, the bat threw a punch, and while he could have gone through all the necessary motions for it in less than a tick, the whole process took about two ticks. The punch had been executed with the same speed the bat used for everyday things; like picking up a spoon, or reaching for something. “See? Slowly. You will attack like this, and you will block, dodge and move like this.” It would be near impossible to do this exercise while being out of balance, and as such, it was the perfect tool for making the boy aware of his hasty nature when going for an opportunity to strike.

With a word the Kelvic started the spar, stepping in slowly, and aiming a kick to the boy’s ribs, but it was dodged swiftly, the yasi stepping out of the way. “You’re too fast,” Brandon commented, “you have to move as if you’re just walking through the warrens.” The boy nodded, and they started again, things started going rather well; Brandon did most of the attacking, and his pupil defended himself with the right speed. But the real progress came when the boy tried to kick at Brandon’s head when the Kelvic purposefully left himself wide open. He started fast, but slowed down then, losing his balance completely, stumbling forwards. “It’s hard,” he uttered surprised, and Brandon grinned. “If it is, it’s because you’re not doing it right. It means you aren’t as balanced as you should be. And that’s what I’m getting at. That’s what this is for; making you aware, and work on it.”

Another nod from the boy. “It did not feel … right… either…” The Kelvic frowned contently. “Good. Watch out for that feeling. Spot it, and when you do, try to find out why it feels like that, and what you need to do to change it.” He made a gesture with his hand, assuming his stance once more. “Again.”

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credit goes to Euthisa

[Dove Brown]

Your Grades!
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Please remember to edit your grading request. If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding your grade, please do not hesitate to send me a PM.


Name: Brandon Blackwing
XP Award:

• Running 1
• Interrogation 2
• Rhetoric 1
• Teaching 4
• Intimidation 1
• Acrobatics 1
• Unarmed Combat 1
• Intelligence 1

Lore:

• Once warmed up, stay warmed up!
• Cyla: got out of my lessons
• Cyla: child of an endal
• Inarta don't think much of unarmed combat
• Wind Reach: built on efficiency, work, and labor
• Teaching: assessing a student's skills
• Teaching Combat: going slowly to get it right

Notes: Enjoy your grades