Timestamp: Second Day of Summer, 509 AV
Now this...This is not my forte, Kaie thought bitterly through gritted teeth. Her heels had left deep half pipes in the dirt when she had slid back while trying to fight off a greater force. Her efforts ended pathetically and her opponent's attack slid her back far too easily. Yitmah's perfectly edged gladius was thrust roughly against hers in a vicious battle for ground. She struggled against his force so violently that the space between their faces was that of their swords. The thirteen year old Myrian girl exhaled audibly with exhaustion, feet digging deep into the dirt. It was like she was running in place to try to move him away from her. Finally her enemy shoved his weapon into hers brutally with a force she could not compensate. Kaie's body went backwards to fall straight into the mud. Her hands sank straight into the filth, handle included. Specks of mud had splattered up her limbs like someone had shook a paint filled brush at her body. Sitting there in that pile with the sun kissed elder above her, Kaie had never felt so pathetic.
Without missing a beat, the dark haired beast jammed his sword at her. The point stopped just before the base of her throat. Kaie's eyes widened at the sharpness of the weapon so close to her throat. Quickly, though, they turned into narrow slits. It wouldn't be long before her frustration possessed her in a fit of anger. Sure, Yitmah was a seasoned veteran discharged honorably from the army, but Kaie couldn't simply accept failure. This would make the fourth time that the man had her pinned in the filth of the jungle floor. An embarrassment by anyone's standards. Especially when your attacker was little more than a recovered cripple. I will not give in.
With a yell, Kaie swung the mud covered blade from the dirt straight at his hand. The edge was headed for his wrist like she meant to hack it off for daring to threaten her. Perhaps that was her actual motive but with tension so high, one could never tell with her. With an amused grin, Yitmah pulled his hand back before he lost it. There was a sinister twinkle in those black eyes, the kind that made her want to gouge them straight from his skull. Did he really enjoy demotivating her that much?
"Still slow, Girl...GET BACK ON YOUR FEET!" Her instructor cried down at her with a downward slash of his dulled blade. Panic took her over (or was it still that brooding anger?) and just in time did that sword hand rise to contest the blow. Keeping her wrist strong, the sword slammed down upon the blade. Metal on metal screeched and a thunderous clang rang through the training arena. "Redirect!" Yitmah hollered at her as soon as contact was made, his command echoing through the empty area. Kaie obeyed and changed her force to redirect the blade outside her body. The sword obeyed her command and Yitmah's slid to the side, leaving himself exposed. The Myrian girl bit her lip. Hesitation was a killer but now she hadn't a clue what to do. She knew only of unarmed combat and a bit about survival, but swords? She didn't know a damned thing.
Kaie had just gotten over the awkwardness of the weight. The way it pulled her arm down was irritating to an unarmed combat fighter. She had always relied on her light quickness to pull her through conflict. How could she do that when an extra three pounds was added to her dominant hand? Yitmah had scolded her repeatedly from the start. "Hold the petching sword right, Girl. No, no! Be strong like a rock when you grip it. Always strong!" or "For Myri sake could you pretend you listened to a word I said? Your blade is your most trusted comrade. Have faith in him when you swing!" An hour or so later and she finally had the basic knowledge to do battle. Or so she hoped. Yitmah had been kicking her ass all day. His was better in every way. Strong, faster, and more skilled with his weapon. Kaie had nothing but youth on her side. Actually all she had on him was his weak back that was the direct reason for his retirement from service. She was more than disappointed to find that several years later he was far from weak.
A blink was a long pause in combat time, so young Kaie decided to use what she knew. Impulsively, the young Myrian teen drove a kick straight into her teacher's chest. He stepped back maybe once before he rebounded faster than anyone would anticipate an old man was capable of. Promptly, Yitmah swung the flat part of his dulled gladius right into the side of her head. Never had so much pain flooded her being. Not when her father struck her during training. Not when Keikyo managed to slice her once or twice with their own makeshift weapons. This here was real. Kaie's feet moved quicker than a hummingbird's wings, trying desperately not to lose her footing. She failed as expected and dropped like a stone on her side. Not the mud again...
The middle aged man hovered over her frowning deeply. Dark eyes became black holes of disappointment and anger. He pointed the tip of his sword at her face. She knew exactly what he was thinking: Dead. She huffed once before the headache turned from a minor inconvenience to a distracting migraine. He hadn't hit her hard enough to knock her out by any means. Still it was enough to take her off her feet and make her hurt. It was only then that she realized the cruelty her father had spared her of. This is what real training was. Here there was no loving father, no Keritan to plummet his skill level for the sake of her leaning. Oh no. This was a place she would be expected to learn on her feet. Quickly.
"If you expect to knock a big man with a sword over, you must pack a greater punch. Girl," He said to her, crouching beside her head now where she lay in the watery dirt again fuming. He loved to call her that. Girl. Her father had told him all about how badly she wanted to explore the barbarian lands after her blooding. To follow her father to the lands across the sea and spill blood for the Goddess Queen. Yitmah wasn't just insulting her age or skill level. He was attacking her dignity and her womanhood. He made her feel unworthy to fulfill her pilgrimage. Nothing could boil her blood more. He was right though. Yitmah was a hulking man at forty one years old. He was a monster compared to her. She hadn't the leg power to do damage and he had shown her that her ignorance would've cost her her life.
"You're bigger than me," She managed to say quietly through clenched teeth.
"Big. Small. It does not matter. The blade is simply an extension of your arm. Get up," Yitmah commanded with an indifferent shrug. He pushed his hands against his knees and popped back to a standing position. After his third step back, Kaie could finally feel able to return to her feet. That's not to say the disciplinary swat hadn't still left her powerfully impressioned with a headache. Soul full of nothing far below loathing for her teacher, Kaie returned to her feet as well in a ready stance. Just as she expected the sword came but this time Yitmah didn't call an order. Instead he took the offensive. With moves so quick she would've missed them had she blinked, he redirected her blade five times as well as she had his earlier. Then instead of driving with a kick or a punch, he simply moved in. Sword at a tilt outside his body as a result of his previous action, Yitmah simply stepped directly at her side. The gladius moved with him. Kaie looked down to see the dulled edge against her neck. She could only imagine what he had done to others with this same move. Surely when he moved in he savagely cut their throat and then continued on his way. Onto the next.
Now this...This is not my forte, Kaie thought bitterly through gritted teeth. Her heels had left deep half pipes in the dirt when she had slid back while trying to fight off a greater force. Her efforts ended pathetically and her opponent's attack slid her back far too easily. Yitmah's perfectly edged gladius was thrust roughly against hers in a vicious battle for ground. She struggled against his force so violently that the space between their faces was that of their swords. The thirteen year old Myrian girl exhaled audibly with exhaustion, feet digging deep into the dirt. It was like she was running in place to try to move him away from her. Finally her enemy shoved his weapon into hers brutally with a force she could not compensate. Kaie's body went backwards to fall straight into the mud. Her hands sank straight into the filth, handle included. Specks of mud had splattered up her limbs like someone had shook a paint filled brush at her body. Sitting there in that pile with the sun kissed elder above her, Kaie had never felt so pathetic.
Without missing a beat, the dark haired beast jammed his sword at her. The point stopped just before the base of her throat. Kaie's eyes widened at the sharpness of the weapon so close to her throat. Quickly, though, they turned into narrow slits. It wouldn't be long before her frustration possessed her in a fit of anger. Sure, Yitmah was a seasoned veteran discharged honorably from the army, but Kaie couldn't simply accept failure. This would make the fourth time that the man had her pinned in the filth of the jungle floor. An embarrassment by anyone's standards. Especially when your attacker was little more than a recovered cripple. I will not give in.
With a yell, Kaie swung the mud covered blade from the dirt straight at his hand. The edge was headed for his wrist like she meant to hack it off for daring to threaten her. Perhaps that was her actual motive but with tension so high, one could never tell with her. With an amused grin, Yitmah pulled his hand back before he lost it. There was a sinister twinkle in those black eyes, the kind that made her want to gouge them straight from his skull. Did he really enjoy demotivating her that much?
"Still slow, Girl...GET BACK ON YOUR FEET!" Her instructor cried down at her with a downward slash of his dulled blade. Panic took her over (or was it still that brooding anger?) and just in time did that sword hand rise to contest the blow. Keeping her wrist strong, the sword slammed down upon the blade. Metal on metal screeched and a thunderous clang rang through the training arena. "Redirect!" Yitmah hollered at her as soon as contact was made, his command echoing through the empty area. Kaie obeyed and changed her force to redirect the blade outside her body. The sword obeyed her command and Yitmah's slid to the side, leaving himself exposed. The Myrian girl bit her lip. Hesitation was a killer but now she hadn't a clue what to do. She knew only of unarmed combat and a bit about survival, but swords? She didn't know a damned thing.
Kaie had just gotten over the awkwardness of the weight. The way it pulled her arm down was irritating to an unarmed combat fighter. She had always relied on her light quickness to pull her through conflict. How could she do that when an extra three pounds was added to her dominant hand? Yitmah had scolded her repeatedly from the start. "Hold the petching sword right, Girl. No, no! Be strong like a rock when you grip it. Always strong!" or "For Myri sake could you pretend you listened to a word I said? Your blade is your most trusted comrade. Have faith in him when you swing!" An hour or so later and she finally had the basic knowledge to do battle. Or so she hoped. Yitmah had been kicking her ass all day. His was better in every way. Strong, faster, and more skilled with his weapon. Kaie had nothing but youth on her side. Actually all she had on him was his weak back that was the direct reason for his retirement from service. She was more than disappointed to find that several years later he was far from weak.
A blink was a long pause in combat time, so young Kaie decided to use what she knew. Impulsively, the young Myrian teen drove a kick straight into her teacher's chest. He stepped back maybe once before he rebounded faster than anyone would anticipate an old man was capable of. Promptly, Yitmah swung the flat part of his dulled gladius right into the side of her head. Never had so much pain flooded her being. Not when her father struck her during training. Not when Keikyo managed to slice her once or twice with their own makeshift weapons. This here was real. Kaie's feet moved quicker than a hummingbird's wings, trying desperately not to lose her footing. She failed as expected and dropped like a stone on her side. Not the mud again...
The middle aged man hovered over her frowning deeply. Dark eyes became black holes of disappointment and anger. He pointed the tip of his sword at her face. She knew exactly what he was thinking: Dead. She huffed once before the headache turned from a minor inconvenience to a distracting migraine. He hadn't hit her hard enough to knock her out by any means. Still it was enough to take her off her feet and make her hurt. It was only then that she realized the cruelty her father had spared her of. This is what real training was. Here there was no loving father, no Keritan to plummet his skill level for the sake of her leaning. Oh no. This was a place she would be expected to learn on her feet. Quickly.
"If you expect to knock a big man with a sword over, you must pack a greater punch. Girl," He said to her, crouching beside her head now where she lay in the watery dirt again fuming. He loved to call her that. Girl. Her father had told him all about how badly she wanted to explore the barbarian lands after her blooding. To follow her father to the lands across the sea and spill blood for the Goddess Queen. Yitmah wasn't just insulting her age or skill level. He was attacking her dignity and her womanhood. He made her feel unworthy to fulfill her pilgrimage. Nothing could boil her blood more. He was right though. Yitmah was a hulking man at forty one years old. He was a monster compared to her. She hadn't the leg power to do damage and he had shown her that her ignorance would've cost her her life.
"You're bigger than me," She managed to say quietly through clenched teeth.
"Big. Small. It does not matter. The blade is simply an extension of your arm. Get up," Yitmah commanded with an indifferent shrug. He pushed his hands against his knees and popped back to a standing position. After his third step back, Kaie could finally feel able to return to her feet. That's not to say the disciplinary swat hadn't still left her powerfully impressioned with a headache. Soul full of nothing far below loathing for her teacher, Kaie returned to her feet as well in a ready stance. Just as she expected the sword came but this time Yitmah didn't call an order. Instead he took the offensive. With moves so quick she would've missed them had she blinked, he redirected her blade five times as well as she had his earlier. Then instead of driving with a kick or a punch, he simply moved in. Sword at a tilt outside his body as a result of his previous action, Yitmah simply stepped directly at her side. The gladius moved with him. Kaie looked down to see the dulled edge against her neck. She could only imagine what he had done to others with this same move. Surely when he moved in he savagely cut their throat and then continued on his way. Onto the next.
