Blood and Metal

[Mneme]

Spring 23rd, 509AV Note: This is before Mneme started going by 'Mneme'. I'm still going to refer to her as Mneme, to avoid confusion. The fans she held were beautiful. Outer spokes made up of heavy iron plates, somehow not too heavy to be useful. Lacquered paper depicting a coiled snake, ready to strike, covering the spokes. Only the sharp tips of the plates showed, glinting in Syna's rays filtering through the window. So incredibly detailed for a weapon, more of a work of art than anything. One of the reasons Mneme loved it so much. Even if she brought it into a crowded building, all folded up, no one would suspect a weapon. She didn't even believe it was one herself, throughout her childhood she had always thought that it was purely decoration. It was her favorite weapon of choice, and she wanted dearly to master it. That was what the lessons were for, right? Her mother said she could learn any weapon she wanted, and she thought it so important to learn one. There were swords, daggers, maces, whips--but none exceeded the grace and beauty of the fans. It was near impossible to believe they were lethal in any way, shape or form. But they were, and it was these that she chose. Just one glance, and it mattered dearly to Mneme to master it. Master the fighting, like a deadly dance between opponents. Stretch before you have any planned fight or practice. Always stretch. It doesn't matter how good you are at any weapon, you'll get sore. Remembering the instructor's words, she folded the works of art and promptly started stretching. Her arms, legs, back...anywhere there was a muscle. It felt nice, actually, and even the popping of her joints didn't scare her. Just watching the instructor demonstrate this weapon, she knew it was for her. It was a dance, a gorgeous dance, so different from the crude swordplay that others chose. This was quiet, and the way that you would just nonchalantly fan yourself while fighting was incredible. Thoughts swam through her head as she thought of fighting that way. But she knew, basics first. And the very basics meant stretching properly. And training in other things, as well. You can't just practice fighting and be set. There's much more to this weapon than that. You have to perfectly balance force, flexibility and grace all at once, automatically, as if it were second nature. Practice acrobatics, maybe even a bit of dance. But you can not rely on the weapon itself to fight for you. The instructions swam through her head like fish in a stream. She had already learned acrobatics, but dance would come later. Flexibility and poise were important, she knew. ideal to the weapon and style that came with it. Mneme picked up on of the fans, inspecting it. Closed was for fighting, hurting, killing. Open was for distraction, for show. They worked in a combination that was as lethal as any sword, or axe. Maybe not a quickly as cleaving someone's head off, but cleaner and much more stylish. Pro, con, pro, con. She almost picked the whip, before she saw her current choice, but a whip seemed too...barbaric. Maces seemed definitely too barbaric, because why would she want to just simply bludgeon someone to death? Flipping open the fan, she peered into the intricate snake depiction, ready to strike.