Day 15th of Summer
It was a dreary morning when Toan awoke, because his teacher just so happened to be awake with a smile on her face. An evil smile to be exact. He knew she was up to something, that she had planned a devious scheme which involved him and would most certainly bring him a dreadful day. He knew not to push her buttons after the mistake with her flowers, and especially after telling her that she can't make good noodles a few nights back. That was indeed a horrid time for Toan, knowing his teacher had a smile on her face meant an ultimate evil plan was conjured up.
"Toan," She sounded unusually sincere, "Tonight we need some freshly caught fish so today you and I are going fishing." He rolled his eyes and turned to the wall, shutting his eyes to try and head back to his comfy dreamland. "You can by fish in the market...." It was then the expected unexpected happened and his teacher yanked the cover off of him and with bellowing rage pulled him away from the comfortable security of his plushy pillows. "I SAID TODAY WE"RE GOING FISHING!!!!!" With out hesitation he put up his hands, a uneasy smile made it's way into his recovery. "Of course we're going fishing, I imagine that the fish will bite great today and that your cooking will be wonderful!" "THATS WHAT I THOUGHT! Now get ready." She changed from her outrageous anger to a strange happy face within that sentence, it amazed and frightened Toan when he thought up the evil things she could be conjuring.
With reluctance he got his shoes on and the fishing gear his teacher owned ready, he knew he better carry it or otherwise she would be on another temper tantrum. It seemed best to avoid it, it always did to him really. Of course only recently had she started teaching him more things on Illusions than thievery really. Except today.... Today was different, and he wondered what it was that she had planned for him. When they finally left they headed down the market street for the docks, and Toan decided find some answers. "So fishing today? Is this really going to help me become a better thief?" He asked in a low voice as to not share their business around anyone else, but she simply smiled when she gave her reply. "Nooo, but it will help you learn how to survive in the future." She reassured him, but he could see the deviance in her face. The very dark and corruptive nature that hid within her was barely showing, only Toan could tell it was there....because he knew her well enough to tell.
Finally they arrived at the docks before noon came and not many people were around but visitors, tourists and merchants docking in to find themselves in a new unpredictable place. All Toan could think about them was poor fools and then focus on the task before him, his teacher had already set up the fishing equipment. Handing him a rod she showed him what techniques she knew, when to tell a fish was biting, and the perfect way to snatch the fish when he took a snap. It was all interesting, and even more so to see that the fish were being her victims today instead of him. Today was actually going to be a good day....or so he thought. "Don't you think the lake looks nice? Perfect for a good swim..." He looked at her with caution, but could see that she still looked deeply into her fishing. She's too focused to do anything I imagine... "Well it is indeed a beautiful sight for a sinister town, but I for one can't swim." "What?!?" She looked surprised, as if she didn't know already. Wait a minute, did she already know???
"Well then," She dropped her rod over to the side and grabbed him on the sleeve, "GET IN THERE AND LEARN!!!" With her brutal strength she pulled as strong as he could, launching him into the cold wet water below. He tried not to panic as he held in his breathe, kicking to the surface until he could see the sky and his master. He flailed his arms and legs as he splashed for the air, nearly shouting in panic. "DON'T PANIC YOU WORTHLESS BOY, USE YOUR ARMS AND LEGS LIKE THIS!!" She demonstrated as if she were swimming, but it was no good. No matter how much he tried his kicking didn't hold him above the water. "NOT LIKE THAT! NO, YOU'RE DOING ALL WRONG!! UHH, LEARN TO SWIM YOU PATHETIC WORM!!!!" Her monstrous ego of evil madness had finally shown itself, but not entirely to him of course. No doubt she had more waiting for better days to strike at him, but today she obviously wanted to drown him. Which was in fact working. Desperately as his limbs began to fail, he reached up one last time with some hope that someone or something would show mercy and pull him out.
Then he sunk below, seeing a world that was unfamiliar to him. A world dark and full of strange things. Fish and green plants were everywhere around him, but soon though he would join that world below. Until something grabbed a hold of the collar on his shirt, pulling him to the surface and allowing his to gasp for air. He chocked in the process, as his nose and throat burned and his eyes were regaining visibility. He placed his hands on the dock above him, and the familiar figure that was his teacher stood above him. Her rod was in her hands, and the line traced all the way back down to his collar. She had saved him, although it wasn't the way he thought it would be. "Your hopeless." She joked, leaning down to pull the hook off of his collar. He could only give an angry look at her, because he knew that if he said anything she would snap. "Don't look at me that way, your the one who wants to be a infamous thief that everyone will talk about. You want to become that person, you have to learn everything I can teach you." She leaned back up and placed the rod next to the kit, then looked back down at him. "Now that you have your hands somewhere to hold you up, start kicking." He did so without hesitation, moving his legs back and forth in a easy motion.
The water felt calm when his legs moved, it was odd to him too. He wondered what it could be that made her decide this. What was it that made her want to teach him this, obviously she knew he wondered this as well. She didn't wait for the question to come up. "A thief must be a proper escape artist when the time comes, but what happens if that thief can't swim? Or even hold his breathe for so long?" He looked up at her, waiting for the answer as he tried a kicking a different pattern with his legs. "Only death from above or below. Because the thief has to learn how to swim away in dire times or complicated situations, and if he doesn't know how to swim then he'll drown. If he can't stay underwater long enough to get away somehow then he'll be caught and shot down." She pulled off her boots and dived into the water next to him, splashing his face when she popped up to the surface.
"Quite a beautiful world down there, and if your going to explore it then you gotta learn to swim. Now give me your hands." She held out her hands and he took hold of them, waiting for further instructions from the woman before him. "Now the thing you need to learn when it comes to swimming is balance. You have to know that your body and your mind are balanced with each other, you cannot feel frightened by the idea of drowning." She let one hand go and began to swing her arm gently through the water, Toan copied her demonstration. "That's right, move your body gently and trust that you can stay above. If you let the fear kick in your body won't keep going and will shut down." She slowly let go of his other hand which made him nervous at first, but then he felt calm as he was mimicking her movements. He was still afloat too, he hadn't sunk under the water! Not yet at least, for he still had trouble keeping his head above.
"Relax, and keep your breathe in. Only enough so that your relaxed though, too much and then you'll strain yourself." He obeyed, taking in one deep breathe that wasn't too deep. It helped him a bit more, in fact he found it more easier now that his mind was calm. He was able to focus. She smiled a friendly smile this time, as he finally accomplished the basic idea of swimming. "Good, you learn quick." |
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by Toan Onox on July 21st, 2011, 1:07 am 
