[Flashback]Unexpected Learning(Hex)

[Hatot]

62nd Day of Fall, 509 A.V.

The days were growing colder and shorter still, with snow threatening to fall during some of the nights. Fall was in the last third of it’s time before the waters would begin to freeze and the winds would carry a bit of cold to them. Time passed fluidly, however, during his stay there, teaching Hex and learning from her as well. His shoulder, on top of that, was quickly healing. Between Hex’s normal healing abilities and the divine ability granted by her Goddess, Hatot now had more normal range of motion. He still had to keep his movements somewhat slower and soft, but it wouldn’t be long before he was back to full strength.

Hatot had practiced his morning ritual already, haven woken up well before the grace of Syna’s light had began ticking the land, lending way to more vibrant color and thinning shadows. He stood beside the practice doll Hex had been beating on for the time he had brought it, examining the strike points, the wear and tear that was building up. She advanced quickly, as quickly as any student Hatot had studied beside. Soon, she wouldn’t need him instructing her any longer. Still, practicing against a motionless doll and fighting a living opponent were two different things.

She would need an opponent. Someone to spar against. It couldn’t be Hatot, however. Despite the fact that he had issues with his own strikes right now, in the fact that they often became involuntary, if she did manage to land a hit on him, her skill and strength were enough that it would cause pain. Possibly pain enough that Radris would have finally found a way to slip out and take control. If that were to happen, it wouldn’t matter how skilled or strong Hex was, her only hope would have been to run, as far and as fast as she could, without looking back, and hope that the devil chasing her wouldn’t come within arm’s length.

Of course, they could have always went out and stalked the grasslands in search of something for her to practice on. A Glassbeak would pose to great of a risk for her, even with Hatot standing beside her. The last one they encountered was a young adolescent, and it still managed to significantly injure Hatot before it was brought down. Bandits or Slavers were a possibility, but even a small few of them still managed to hold some skill, and Hatot wanted to be sure of her reaction time.

In the end, Hatot decided to keep her against the practice doll for now, but with a slight modification as he crouched down, attaching one end a long pole to the wrist joint of the doll tightly. This poles extended out past the doll itself by about three feet. Once both of them were attached, it would allow someone from behind to grasp the poles themselves and manipulate the movement of the practice doll’s arms to a certain extent. It was still stationary, and wouldn’t provide the full experience, but it would put her a step further in the right direction when it came to facing a live opponent. Especially one that was intent on doing her harm.

[Hex]

Hex nodded at the sight of the dummy arm and pole that enabled it to become slightly more life like. The moving arm resembled that of an attacker, either wielding a weapon and slashing at her wildly, or punching in her direction. The new dynamic of practice made Hex slightly wary, she would need to adjust mentally - this new arm had a mind of its own. Hex approached the doll with caution, her posture straight but loose as she leaned forward to test her opponent. Like an illusion of the arm swinging towards her left side, she read the aura of Hatot’s movement with the pole - his intent to strike. It was an automatic reflex to her and as soon as she saw the direction it was coming she swayed to the side away from it and ducked her whole body. Coming up from under the arm she performed the Spear’s Thrust and grabbed the wrist of the doll with her right hand while propelling two fingers on her left hand into the armpit region, digging them in and twisting to dislocate the shoulder. This style of fighting and sensing the auras continued at an easier pace than she had anticipated. It was becoming too easy in fact and she halted the practice to dig into her bag, from which she pulled out a pair of long linen bandages. The two ends were tied at the back of her head and she hit the bundle of fabric over her eyes. Her vision wasn’t totally gone but enough so that she could just barely make out the outline of the target doll before her. “Again” she growled, taking a stance with her legs wide and her arms loose but solid. This time she faked a strike towards the doll, making the arm jut out to strike back. She could see the blue aura in a way she didn’t see anything else. It glowed in her mind, illuminating the shape of the arm and the intensity of the strike with a swirling set of fangs and claw-like tendrils. They reached out to grab her but Hex followed the pattern of the movement, and used the technique of the Drifting Willow to dodge, duck and then spring up to the outside of the arm. She used the Hammer’s Impact to slam the palm of her hand into the elbow and dig the other hand into the flesh of the arm, scraping with her nails until two broke and fell from the tips of her fingers. Arrogance swelled within her but she was soon punished for slowing down in distraction; the arm came around again and planted its blunt end into her cheek, sending her stumbling back until she landed hard onto her knees. Rocks and sand scraped against her flesh, stinging her and spotting the surface of her knees with tiny speckles of blood and dirt. Her hands shook at her sides as she stopped to catch her breath, the fabric over her eyes soaked up sweat that poured down her forehead and she had to tie her hair away from her face to keep it from sticking to her skin. She rose again and Hatot’s aura flickered faintly ahead of her, drawing her in towards the target dummy once more. This time the arm came from below just as Hex had her right side turned towards it. It caught her in the gut as she didn’t read the auras in time, and then sailed up and socked her in the jaw, forcing her to topple backwards. Instinctively she grabbed at the arm and clung to it as it was pulled back, and she flew forward with it before being shaken off and thrown to the grassland floor again. At the feet of the dummy Hex shot out her leg and kicked at its groin. It wasn’t a particularly skillful move but it would have hurt nonetheless if it were a real opponent. She used the kick to tumble backwards and rise to her feet; using her momentum to catch the arm as it swung to hit her, following the flow of the arm across the dummy’s chest and jumping up to bring the wrist of the arm around and down. If it had been a real arm the pain would have been excruciating; the arm being twisted against its movable joint to break bone and tear ligaments. Hex was not capable of a lot of strength but what Hatot had taught her allowed her to understand the body’s limits and techniques that could break those barriers of flesh.

[Hatot]

Hatot’s eyes narrowed as pain swelled up in his leg and arm once again, previous healings he though had been better began to reopen over the days of physical exertion as sweat began to pour down the front of his brow at the pain his quick movements made. It was still important for her to learn, especially when it came to reaction. He had started her off in learning to avoid attacks, swinging at her with a wooden lakan for bells until she was bruised, bloodied and exhausted before she had grasped the idea of moving her body to avoid strikes. Then he taught her to strike herself, showing various beginning moves and targets along the body they would be aimed at. She practiced them until they were memorized and struck perfectly on a motionless practice doll. The training, couple with the sand bowl exercises she did, continuously strengthened her fingers, wrists and forearms until such impacts would hinder her little, if at all, in terms of discomfort in making the strike. By now, her strikes would likely be felt through leather armor if an opponent wore such.

Now came a more difficult part of the training, combining the two aspects together. Most often in a fight, one would defend, and then return an attack. Hopefully that returned attack would come quickly and strongly enough that an opponent wouldn’t be able to defend against it themselves. With the style Hex was learning, she would have to combine the two, finding a way to attack while defending at the same time. She would evade while thrusting her hand at the attack limb or pressure point available based on how she avoided. Most people didn’t realize, especially when first starting out, how difficult it could be to focus on both offense and defense at the same time. They would often think to defend, avoiding any possible injury to themselves, and then think about attacking. Most often, it was a conditioned response of the body’s “Fight or Flight” reflex. Hex was learning this first hand with the strikes she took from the blunted end of the training dolls limb, which had the same density, if not more, as a human fist would.

So Hatot continued with such, manipulating the training doll’s limbs to strike in hopes to beat the conditioned response out of her, and to push her to better movements. He would stand sideways behind the training doll, quickly switching between the two poles according to where he saw an opening in Hex’s defense. Despite his injuries, his one arm still moved remarkably fast, as it would snatch out at a pole and manipulate the arm in practically a blink of an eye. Hex’s Auristics may have helped her in her reaction time, but no matter how much the eye could see, it was pointless if the body couldn’t react in time. He even noticed the effect that Auristics were beginning to have on Hex as he movements became more sluggish, slower. Hatot knew first hand the magic of the eyes was quite draining physically, and using it in a battle would mean that one would need to finish the fight quickly.

Fortunately for Hex, Hatot’s injuries took their toll on him faster than her Auristics did on her. Before much longer, Hatot felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, as if something had torn as his face winced for a moment in pain. He limped back a couple of paces, holding up his arm for a moment. “Rest.” he said as much for him as he did himself. “Catch your breath as I wait for the pain to die down.”

[Hex]

A final punch resounded through Hex’s chest after she heard Hatot call off the training for a bit. Her chest heaved and she stumbled backwards from the doll, sweat permeating the fabric around her eyes and steaming her skin. She tore it off and threw it to the side, letting it hang off of a swaying grass stalk. Rest. Hex planted herself into a seated position on the ground, shivering when the wind cooled her sweat slicked skin. She pulled her bag to her side and dug in it, retrieving the waterskin and downing a gulp to hydrate her mouth. The sunshine fell around them and the grass whistled to them. Hex gazed up at the white clouds over head and took a long slow deep breath, raising her arms above her head and twisting them around each other until her palms touched, stretching out her shoulder muscles. On the exhale she lowered her arms and let her tense shoulders fall with them, stretching the muscles of her neck as she pressed her chin against her chest. Instinctively, when Hex wanted to rest but not sleep, she entered a meditative state. The training was very hard on her nerves, and she took every opportunity in between to slow her heart rate and flush out the adrenaline she used to push herself physically. Breathe in, breathe out. She closed her eyes laid down in the grass. She consciously went about relaxing every part of her body, from the tips of her ears and facial muscles, to the toes of her feet. It was difficult at first to loosen the tension from her practice, but it was important to start fresh. The clarity that meditation afforded was a valuable skill to utilize in battle. If you could stay calm, your limbs would get the appropriate amount of blood to help you move.

[Hatot]

Hatot took a slow deep breath, letting his eyes close for a moment, letting the throbbing of his wounds slow. “Give me a few chimes and we will be able to resume.” Hatot said softly, letting his breaths slow even more until they were becoming softer and slower.

His hand came to rest along his lap, his head lowering some as his senses of the outside world began to drift away. Like Hex had, he to began to enter a meditative state, but not for the purposes of Auristics this time. No, this time was just a more simple purpose, as he tried to block his mind from the pain, pushing it aside so he could endure until it would settle away from his body on it’s own. It didn’t leave much for him to do in terms of activity at that point, but overall he couldn’t produce much activity anyways with pain hindering his efforts. Pushing past the pain wasn’t something he could do easily at this point, that was something Radris was more known for, and Hatot wanted to keep him buried as much as he could.

So his mind drifted to serene thoughts, of his vision of the great waterfall of his home once again, as the Bluevein River took it’s great dive, crashing into a basin below. It was his center, the place he would always focus on when he meditated, for as long as he could remember. It was the place where he would come into his closest contact with Radris, as he screamed and hollered, rattling his cage in eternal defiance of his subjectivity of imprisonment. His voice of objection would always be ignored by Hatot, for as long as he could endure.

What seemed like chimes in his meditative world would come close to a bell in the real world itself as Hatot’s eyes suddenly opened, the pain in his shoulder and leg faded to a simple dull throb now. As Hatot stared down to his student, he began to realize that she would have to be tested soon, and it would have to be under his terms. If she wasn’t ready, he could do nothing in his current state to lend any serious benefit should a challenge come from surprise. While she took some hits in practice today, he was seeing that she was adjusting quickly, almost as quick as any Akalak student in Riverfall. He just wondered how she would deal with the emotional aspect of facing a live opponent, instead of just a doll who didn’t scream or shout at her, who wouldn’t tell her the vile things that it intended to do to her. It was yet just another test that life would throw at everyone sooner or later.

Hatot slowly stood up, grunting slightly before he reached down to the one of the poles, grasping it lightly. “Okay, I am ready to continue when you are.” Hatot then said, rolling his head slightly before looking to Hex. “Try not to rely too much on Auristics, however. While it’s beneficial to a certain extent, you’ll need to rely on your instincts and experience as well, especially during times where you can’t use it, or it will be dangerous for you to use.”

[Hex]

Hex stared at the target doll running through the mistakes she made earlier that afternoon. She dropped her dependency on her auristics, setting aside the ability for the time being. She admitted to herself that she used it as often as she could, and even though she used it in conjunction with her motion detecting Chaktawe ability, it was something she simply should not rely on. After a moment of thinking to herself and clearing away the urge to use her auristics, she took a deep breath and approached the doll. The arms came her way almost immediately and she ducked as they swung out to clock her in the head. Upon crouching after she ducked, her fists shot out repeatedly to pelt the target in the crotch and then in the knee caps. Immediately following the action she swept up to the doll’s right side and caught the arm that attempted to hit her as she rose to her feet. Her knee bolted up as the arm was pulled down and she crashed the elbow joint over her leg but only put enough effort in it to practice the move - otherwise she may have injured herself trying to break the wooden pole. It took practice not to instinctively use her auristics, but with time she quieted the urge. For the most part she kept her motion detection at a minimum but since it did not take up djed and was a natural part of her perception, she allowed it to guide her through certain movements. It prevented her from getting struck several times and her awareness was high through the practice session. A jab was delivered to her shoulder and she stumbled back onto her right heel before twisting the right arm to lock it and block a strike from the left arm that attempted to wail at her. A second, third, fourth punch came her way and she held onto the right arm, swinging out to the doll’s side before propelling her arm up in an upper cut and jamming her fingers into the underside of the doll’s jaw. The stake in the ground spun as Hatot and Hex danced about the doll, mimicking her opponent’s effort to continuously try to face her. The heavy stake ground bits of dirt up from the hole until it began to teeter and eventually was thrown onto its side from their efforts. Hex let out a breathless laugh and popped her foot into the doll’s face. Another two bells had passed and Hex reached down for the water, taking a sip to moisten the inside of her mouth.

[Hatot]

Hatot’s brow creased into a frown as he continued to maneuver the practice dolls arms. The pain had faded over his time of meditation, but it came back again, this time more quickly. His own instincts in sparring and training took over for a time, however, blocking out the pain as he continued to push himself, continued to throw everything the practice doll’s limited range of motion could afford to give Hex during the training.

Two bells of it, would simply be too much. As the doll was suddenly knocked free from the ground, Hatot felt a small pop happen in his wound, and a searing pain rise up in his shoulder. He dropped to his knee, breathing in heavily as Hex too her momentary pose of triumph, placing her foot on the dolls head. “Give me a moment of rest again.“ Hatot said, motioning to Hex to do the same. For the moment, it looked as though Hatot was again just catching his breath, attempting to meditate the pain he felt away, but as Hex turned away to grab her water, his face contorted in pain as he reached up for a moment to grab at his wound.

“It hurts.” Hatot’s mind echoed from within.

“Of course it does, that’s because you’re a fragile little daisy, standing in the path of a tornado.” Radris’ voice suddenly echoed from within Hatot’s mind, causing Hatot’s eyes to widen in surprise. “You never could hack the pain, it’s why you always ran away from it, leaving me to cope. So fade away you little blue girl, I’ll take it from here.”

“No, I can’t. What you’ll do..” Hatot suddenly echoed back.

“Could be something bad. Guess you’ll just have to find out from within, where you won’t have to deal with the pain.” Radris echoed, almost in a mischievous voice. “That’s what you want, don’t you? To not feel the pain?”

Hatot could then feel his own grasp over his body slipping away, blue lids of skin sliding over the golden iris’ of his eyes as his head lowered. “I…. I can’t…” Hatot echoed, his voice almost seeming softer, more complacent in his own head. His hand twitched slightly as it clutched his wound, causing another jolt of pain to fire over the entire left half of his body, he realized the movement was not done him.

“Sure you can. It’s easy, just let go. You can do it.” Radris echoed, and Hatot could almost feel him smiling from within him. “Come on, you know you want to.”

Then silence passed, as the Akalak form remained motionless. The whole mental exchange between the soul brothers took only a matter of two breaths within the real world time, and as those eyelids of the Akalak once again opened, his head raising slowly, hues of red burned in the iris’ of his eyes. A smirk had appeared, indicating Hatot was no longer in control. Radris had once again risen.

A smile spread slowly across Radris’ face, his figure slowly rising as he looked to Hex. A slow twist of his head was given as joints in his neck popped. He bent over slowly, grasping the post the doll was attached to, picking it up with his good hand as he raised it over his head. Slow, limped steps then were taken towards Hex as she drank from her waterskin, her back turned to him. When he was close enough, Hatot drew the post back slightly, before hurling it forward with all of his strength. It flew through the air, slamming into the ground violently just in front of Hex as she felt the gust of air brushing along the skin of her legs from its impact with the ground.

As Hex quickly spun around to seek answers to what had caused such, her answered stood there with a broad, evil smile, his face hovering inches from her own as those red hues stared fiercely into her eyes. “Looks like you broke your training tool, girlie.” Radris said, that raspy voice echoing into her ear. “How about we go for more “hands on” training now instead?”

Radris’ hand then suddenly shot out, and grasped Hex by her shoulder. His fingers began pressing down into the skin along her back, his thumb pressing into her shoulder joint. At first it was just slight pressure, like a grab given to ensure she couldn’t suddenly run away. But the pressure increased, slowly, and slight twinges of pain began to rise in her shoulder, almost as if the her very shoulder was slowly being pulled free of it’s socket that kept it there. “What you got for me girlie!?” Radris suddenly screamed, his tone almost perverse and sadistic, practically egging her on to fight back. “Don’t disappoint me now! We’re just getting started!”

[Hex]

The air around Hex shifted dramatically and she sensed what felt like the raging aura of a cataclysmic fire, its roiling waves of heat crashing upon her body with the pressure of a white squall. The water skin dropped to her feet as she stood in the burning presence of Radris. His mouth etched a smirk into the lines of his face and his sultry gaze shook the pit of her stomach, crumbling every possible wall or reserve that Hex had built to protect herself from him. His fingers clamped onto her skin then and she writhed in pain, piercing the air between them with her cries. Her torso curled in reaction, much like her confidence as he bore down on her with his words. Instinctively Hex yanked at her restraint. Her hand flew up to grasp the side of his wrist. He was incredibly strong and the pain that overcame her numbed the entire side of her body. She fought to stay conscious at first, but his words pulled her like she were attached to him with strings. In a movement that surprised even Hex, she shot the heel of her free hand up towards Radris’s chin. If she could snap his head back or hit the front of his throat, she might be able to stun him long enough to get away.

[Hatot]

Radris’ smile deepened as he saw her surprise, her fear. He quirked a brow as she almost began to quiver under his grasp, a slight cry of pain escaping her lips, but a look of excitement began to appear when she began to resist. Her shoulder jerked back, trying to break free of his grasp to no avail. “You’ll have to do better than that.” Radris said, almost menacingly, to Hex as he squeezed just a little tighter then.

“Stop Radris! Stop right now!“ Hatot’s voice echoed inside of his head.

“Butt out you little blue pansy, it’s my turn now.“ Radris echoed back to Hatot before noticing Hex’s hand shooting up to his wrist, grasping it as she continued to try and wrench free. “You are quick, but still, you have to do better than even that. Show me what you can do woman, or else this is just going to get worse.”

Radris’ gaze then suddenly caught the flicker of movement, it came from below. His hand released the vice like grip she had over his leg, moving with little resistance as her grip along his wrist was almost shoved off with the movement. A subtle smack of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the air as Hex suddenly found her ankle within Radris’ grasp, and a look a disappointment on his face. “Are you shyking me? Really?” Radris almost yelled as he began to step forward, Hex’s ankle still in his grasp, causing her to begin hopping along one foot. “You’re trying to kick a nearly eight foot tall Akalak with your five foot nothing frame in the face? You’re in the wrong stance for that dumbass, and even if you weren’t you’d need a hop off the ground to make an effective connection.”

Radris’ grasp grew tighter for a moment, causing a twinge of pain, but no injury before he suddenly shoved her forward, trying to force her hindered balance to cause her to fall on her back. “I thought Hatot was teaching you to go after vulnerable spots for attack?” Radris’ almost barked. “Start fighting like someone not bound by fear! I’ll be making your tits my plaything next!”

Radris then began to limp forward, rolling his injured shoulder with a subtle grunt, his expression turning to that of someone stalking their prey. There were so many dangerous things that one could encounter in the grasslands, and of all those things, Radris likely didn’t cause a blip on many people’s scale. However, most were wholly unaware of Radris overall. Hex, was not. She knew his rage, and knew that he was likely not one to hold anything back, despite that rage of his being directed in a more focused mind. He was out, and now Hex was a victim to his lessons, not Hatot’s.

[Hex]

Radris would do anything to get inside her head, to break down her strength. Hex trembled with fear as he roared in her face, pestering her with hurtful words and scorching her skin with his heat. Her failure of a kick resulted in her ankle being ceased up and her body forced backwards. When the fall was inevitable, Hex yanked the restrained leg towards her torso and at the same time used the leverage to launch her other foot outwards until the bone of her heel struck at the tender skin of his leg wound. Being small had its advantages, it allowed her to get in between his limbs more easily. The hand that held her ankle was drawn up to her chest and she slammed her finger tips into several spots along the wrist and thumb, twisting and pinching the skin underneath her sharp nails.