Timestamp: 45th of Fall, 522 A.V.
The Kois Quas Dominion : Gold Lake (second season)
Tazrae loved the feel of the new overly-stiff whip in her hand. It was empowering, and she was just slowly awakening to the potential of its use. It struck her again as awkward that she was a captive to Sran’tuka and yet here he was allowing his chief bruiser to teach her something useful that might end up biting him back. Taz had given all of this some thought and the trainer had told her he was teaching her for the good of her mental health and to give her something to do. Taz thought there was more to it than that. True, it wasn’t a blade, though they sparred plenty with machetes and short swords. It was just something she couldn’t figure out.
The man was speaking again, and so she turned her attention to him. “Tazrae… focus.” He said sternly. “It’s bad enough in training for a bullwhip that you will hit yourself when you are first learning. But you can give yourself rope burns, and open your flesh wide by being inattentive and lost in your own thoughts. These sessions are designed to keep your mind occupied and your body busy. Don’t waste them.” He admonished.
Taz nodded. “I’ll work harder on focusing.” She said, meaning it. It did her no good to dwell on the ‘what if’ or ‘I wonder why..’ scenarios. She’d never know the real motivations in other people. It wasn’t something she knew a magic for and she certainly couldn’t read minds. But the bullwhip in her hands gave her no sense of impending danger. It simply gave her comfort. It fit in her hand like it had been made to rest there, and she wondered absently if in another life she’d used one.
“Let's stop a moment, rest your arm, and do some more talking about safety.” He said, knowing the multiple practices of forward cracks were taxing the muscles in her right arm even if she didn’t realize it yet. It was a whole new way of moving, of thinking, and he’d yet to truly weaponize the weapon in her hand. While Tazrae was doing fine with the basic instruction, her translation of what he really wanted from her was lacking. That meant her entire focus was off.
“You need to be hyper-aware, when you draw your whip, of where you yourself are. You need to know where all your body parts are in relation to the whip and you need to know the whip’s capabilities. You also need to understand your environment. What is around you? Who is around you? Are they at safe distance? Your whip might be eight feet, but you will have ten to twelve feet of reach if you include your arm and your body moving through the whip techniques. You can and will hit yourself quite often when you are first learning to control the thong. You don’t want to hit others, and you certainly don’t want to hit your child. I’d recommend boots, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a wide-brimmed hat so you can see if you happen to turn towards the sun.” He added, slowly circling her while he gave her the lecture.
