Completed An Ember Adrift From The Bonfire VI

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 45th of Fall, 522 A.V.

The Kois Quas Dominion : Gold Lake (third season)

As promised, the next morning after their walk, breakfast, and a little break to put her feet up, the golden-eyed trainer fulfilled his promise to teach her the Overhead Reverse, Cross Body Reverse Cattleman and the Slow Figure Eight whip cracks. Taz had been looking forward to it, and before their appointed time to meet, she’d been in the training gallery practicing the moves from the day before on the heavy vases. This time, however, it looked like the man had hauled in heavy art statues to populate one side of the room with as well. They were fully carved statues of a multitude of races and monsters that must have been collected from all over Gold Lake. The palace itself had a series of nooks and caches that housed art of all types. Some of that art, it appeared, had been drafted for Tazrae’s use.

She avoided them, of course, before the trainer arrived, because though she thought she knew what they were for, she didn’t actually want to overstep and perhaps get her training sessions cut short or halted. So when the man entered she gave him a polite nod, and jerked her chin towards the array of carved artwork. “What’s this about?” Taz asked curiously.

The man’s lips curled up at the corners. It was the closest thing she’d seen to a smile since he talked about Kami.

“Practice. I can use them to show you how to disarm people, behead them, and a whole host of other things. And if you practice with statues that look like people, it might be easier to actually fight against people using your bullwhip. You can, if all else fails, pretend they are the statues you spent hundreds of bells killing in this room.” He suggested, then moved forward.

“Ready for today’s lesson?” He asked.

She nodded. “I am. I was ready for more yesterday.”

“I know. Today is soon enough though.” He said, glancing at her form, his eyes lingering on her protruding stomach. “How are the children today?” He asked abruptly. It was uncharacteristic of him to even mention her pregnancy. She smiled, laid her free hand on her stomach and rubbed.

“One was kicking last night. The other was quiet. I can tell which is doing what by sinking into the djedpools inside me. It’s connected to theirs, feeding them… the trail is very… unique. Its just one tie, then it splits off later, closer to them. I thought there’d be two teathers to my djedpools while they were still growing in me.” She added, looking thoughtful.

He nodded. “That simply means they are identical then… not fraternal like you and your sister. I’m not surprised.” He added, though he didn’t explain why. “Can you tell what sex they are?” He asked, curious. Tazrae looked thoughtful.

“One has energy that I would describe as masculine… its focused, patient, intense, but almost grounded in intelligence. His djed is beautiful. In fact, the energy reminds me a bit of yours.” She added. “The other is restless, rebellious, and searching. I think that one is female, and a lot like me. Her djed is pretty too, but in a different way.” She added, puzzling it out. Tazrae was not watching the man, not really hearing her own words. Instead, she was staring off into nothingness, focused internally on the lives she carried. She missed the softening of the trainers features and the brief look of longing and loss in his eyes.

[Tazrae]

Blinking back at herself, she shook her head. “Okay… which move is first?” Taz asked, playing out the whip, trailing it behind her.

“We are going to start with the Cross Body Reverse Cattleman.” He said, his voice a bit odd, almost strained, though his face was schooled into nothing. It's exactly a Cross Body Cattleman’s Crack in reverse. You simply reverse the motion that the whip makes for a ‘Cross Body Cattleman’s Crack and make the whip crack behind you. The main difference is that the crack is done to the front on your offside.” He said, looking pleased that she nodded and seemed to understand.

Taz took a stance to his offside, out of the way of his whip, to watch him run through the motions a few times before she tried it herself. The move started with the whip laying out behind her, which was standard. What was different was that it was even with her off-shoulder and she had one foot – the off-foot – extended out in front of her. Her arm ended up being across her body, reaching out towards the whip with the handle in line with the thong. She then drew the whip to the front, and as the whip passed her leg, she angled the handle slightly away from her body.

Then, she continued unbroken, to swing her arm until her upper arm was level with the ground.

That halted the movement in that part of her body while the bend in her elbow continued the swinging motion. It ended when her forearm was pointing upwards. This caused the thong to swing in a huge overhead arc. When the cracker was almost touching the ground in the back, she straightened her elbow and pointed the handle of the whip towards her imaginary target. The crack was beautiful and strong, perfect for blindsiding an enemy that would be looking for a straight-on attack.

Taz rather thought bullwhips should be named serpent whips because they struck with all the wiliness of a clever serpent looking for a rodent meal. The rodents often never saw them coming. They’d never see Tazrae’s whip coming either. She noted the potential immediately. She’d have a foe down before he or she even knew she was coming for them. That put a slow grin on her face and rather than the previous dozen times it took her to get the move, she had it on the second attempt. Then, as her trainer stepped back, she moved through the Cross Body Reverse Cattleman and straight into a Reverse Cattleman, then back to a Sidearm Crack, the smile on her face growing bigger and bigger.

When she finally brought the whip to rest, she was panting lightly and her arms were aching. But she loved it.. .and the smile on her face showed it.

The golden-eyed trainer said nothing. He only nodded, understanding what he was reading on her face. He’d seen empowerment at work firsthand, and Tazrae was no different. She was growing bolder, and more confident, and still managed to stay humble about the whole thing. He was glad she asked him to teach her the weapon. Most students were reluctant or ungifted at best. But she was enthusiastic about learning. It made teaching easier, almost a pleasant experience.

[Tazrae]

They played with the new technique for a few chimes, before he gave her another one. “Now… Let's talk about the Overhead Crack and the Overhead Reverse Crack, Tazrae. These are similar to each other. The Overhead Crack is essentially a Cattleman’s Crack done overhead. The Overhead Reverse Crack is the same but reverses the initial rotation, therefore the cracking motion is the opposite too. Let me demonstrate.” He said, then stepped back, giving himself room.

He simply swung his whip to the front and overhead in a circle. He stopped the motion with his arm as the handle pointed backward and his palm was facing down. The cracker kept rotating until he suddenly reversed the direction of his swing and cracked the whip in front of him. The crack was thunderous, far louder than she might have expected and it caused her to jump. He did the same crack a second time, only this time he continued to swing his whip around in an overhead circle multiple times…. ten… fifteen… twenty times, and then he finally cracked it. The crack was again thunderous.

“It's effective, but it's almost showmanship. This is the loudest crack you can get with a bullwhip technique.” He said. “The number of swings overhead doesn’t matter. What matters is the abrupt reverse course at the exact right moment. That’s what causes the crack. “ He said, doing it gain. Only this time, Tazrae stepped up and joined him, whipping her whip overhead and copying his motion. She didn’t keep her whip moving as much as he did. Instead, she cracked it immediately and got the whip moving again to repeat it again. He was nodding at her action, acknowledging she’d gotten the move locked into her brain before he moved on.

“Alright, now… The next move… The Reverse Overhead or Overhead Reverse. It's called both. You start with the whip laying across in front of you with the cracker pointed towards your off-hand side. Swing the whip outward and behind you, with your palm facing down. Once the whip is in motion, you can make multiple rotations overhead until you are ready for the crack. Once you are ready, and the handle is pointed toward your head, pause your swing. Allow the whip to continue up and around your head until the cracker is in full view. Snap your wrist outwards, and point the handle back to the front, keeping your palm facing up. The whip will sail over your head and crack in front of you.” He advised.

Tazrae was slowly picking it up. She nodded, stepped aside, and twirled into the motion, bringing the whip to a crack right in front and above her. Her grin was instantaneous. “That wasn’t hard at all!” She said with a feral intensity. Stepping back from him, she moved through the moves she knew, adding the overhead and moving through the patterns. She started with the cattleman’s crack and ended with the overhead crack. Then she piggybacked an Overhead Reverse onto the motion and stood quietly, and coiled her whip as she did so… Her smile was bright.

[Tazrae]

“Now…. add in the same rotation motion as the overhead crack, but crack it behind you lofted.” The trainer stated, seeing if she could do it without a demonstration.

Taz stepped forward, and swung her whip up over her head in the same motion she used for the Overhead Crack. She let the whip whirl a few times, then at the same point she was taught to execute an overhead crack, she continued in the rotation of her wrist until it had turned to fully face the rear. The handle of her whip was level with the ground - as it should be – and she waited for the exact right time…. for the whip to pass in front of her. Once it did, she was ready and snapped her wrist back, making the whip crack behind her.

Then she felt the handle slip out of her grip. “Shit!” She cussed, watching the whip spin out of control and go flying away. Her trainer ducked it neatly. She set off after it, scooping it up and turning around. “Sorry about that.” She apologized. The golden-eyed man lifted an eyebrow and shrugged.

“Do it again.” He said firmly.

Taz nodded, wiped her sweaty palm on the leg of her pants, and tried it again. She sent the whip swirling up around her in an overhead crack, but at the last moment snapped her wrist back in the opposite way and tracked the whip behind her just as it should have been. Losing confidence, she was slower this time, but she repeated the maneuver multiple times. When he was satisfied, she had it, he gestured for her to stop and walked over. His own whip was still in his hand and gave her one more crack to practice.

Taz almost asked for a halt. She was winded and all the flourishing between new moves was starting to wear her out. She got tired these days, carrying the babies, but she wanted to learn as much as the trainer was willing to teach.

“Okay, a couple more small moves and we’ll call it a day.” He said, picking out her dropping energy. “We’ll do a Backward Flick and a Backward Flick Sidearm. The first one is simple. It’s a lot like a Backward Flick. However, you start with the whip played out in front, arm extended outwards with your palm facing down. The whip handle should be in a straight line with the thong. Just simply pull the whip backward, and as your hand passes your leg, snap your wrist backward. The crack will happen behind you. The same start happens with the backward flick sidearm. Arm and wrist in the same position. Palm down. Draw the whip backward in a straight line, still keeping the handle in a straight line with the thong, and at the end of your reach, snap your wrist so the handle points towards your imaginary target. With the art statues around, your aim should get better since you won’t have to imagine enemies.” He said, this time flicking the whip to the side instead of straight backward.

[Tazrae]

Tazrae nodded. She moved forward and began practicing each move that simply had tiny variabilities to them. It was satisfying, making the bullwhip dance in the direction she wanted it to go. It was also a bit heady to see that she could hit things behind her that she spotted out of the corner of her eye and didn’t actually have to turn and face.

The golden-eyed trainer was pleased that his charge was putting moves together and combining them on her own. But he quickly stepped in, caught her thong, and stopped her experimentation. “Many of those combos you are trying are named and purposed. Let me explain them to you so that you aren’t just randomly throwing moves together until you are fully trained. The first one we can experiment with is the first two of your basic moves. When you combine the Cattlemen’s Crack with a Reverse Cattleman’s Crack you get what we call a slow figure eight. It’s a really good process to move your arms through, changing from your dominant hand to your submissive hand to build arm muscles up.” He said, releasing her thong and walking backward to a safe distance.

Then, he brought his whip up, performed an obvious Cattleman’s Crack, then followed through with swinging the whip behind himself instead of halting it. Then once it was behind him, he did a Reverse Cattleman, and kept the whip moving, cracking first in the front and then in the back, both actions seamless.

“This is the slow figure eight. It’s slowed because you crack both front and back, taking opportunities to take out targets, complete with follow-throughs. Slow figure eights can be done endlessly. It’s a methodical slower action, but you can speed it up by modifying it into a fast figure eight. To accomplish a fast figure eight, first, crack a Cattleman’s Crack, then just as your whip cracks, pull your hand backward and turn your wrist upward. The handle will point backward and the whip will crack behind you. It's about twice as fast as a slow figure eight because your whip cracks and is headed back toward your front immediately. That lends you time to do another cattleman’s crack and keep the fast figure eight going.” He said, demonstrating the action.

When he finally halted his whip, he made a gesture for her to give it a try.

Tazrae picked up her bullwhip, awkwardly moved to give them safe space apart, and then began first with the slow figure eight and then eliminating the follow through the move into a fast figure eight. It was simple, as the golden-eyed trainer had explained, to work the two combos into one motion, and then switch it up to faster and slower depending on how she curated her follow-throughs.

The training wasn’t hard, not at this point, but it was taxing and made her understand how little her muscles were equipped for it. Keeping a figure-eight going, let alone changing directions with it, was straining and she was soon panting and gasping, but more than satisfied having worked off so much excess energy. She wasn’t surprised when the trainer called it a day. At his insistence, she went back to her suite, took a long hot bath, and napped the afternoon away like she had worked all morning slaving for The Protea. It felt like another life… another time. She didn’t know that Tazrae anymore, though she missed her horribly.

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