Solo Beginnings

[Taurina]

Morning of the 25th of Spring 518

Taurina was not a soldier. She was not a warrior or even a subpar defender of herself, let alone anyone else. She had lived among warriors. The diamond clan was well known for their abilities with weapons and fists. Yet, somehow, she had escaped their influence when living among them. She had not learned how to put her arms up in a way that would protect her. Had not learned how to throw a punch that might buy her or another time to get away. The fact that she had lived a year among them and not learned even an ounce of such things was shameful, really. Pitiful.

The Ethaefal knew she should have been more attentive. Should have wanted to make herself learn. The lack came from living amongst men who she knew would always be there for her. Who would always protect her. That dark night buried within last spring should have taught her better. Should have revealed to her the error of her ways. But she had been so consumed by the pain she had caused. So needing to mend the weary heart that she had not heeded the lesson those events tried to teach her. Foolish.

Now things were different, so very different. She was in a land full of warriors, but none of them were her family. None of them would give notice to her disappearing or to harm coming to her. That was likely a bit of an exaggeration, but the point remained that she did not have many ties here. None beyond her employer, the one she now deemed to be her drunken mistake, and the handful of others she had met while here. And, of course, Alekxandra. She was the strongest tie of them all, arguably the only important one. The only one Taurina was unwilling to severe.

Many things had been learned the day before. Many things exposed as emotions spilled over, drifting from relief to anger and back again. Things had not been cleared, not fully. Taurina had avoided bringing up the things that caused her blood to boil. The vow her bondmate had stepped into without -in her opinion- any thought or questioning. She did not wish to be angry with Alek. Did not wish to scare her away. That was why she had let the topic drop and focused on other matters. More important ones. Such as fulfilling her promise to take care of the wolf. Protect her.

It was that thought alone that had brought Taurina to the doors of the Tuvya Sasaran. No longer could she stand back and let others protect her. No longer could she lean on the strength and abilities of Azmere or Lodai. It was time to stand on her own two feet, become the protector rather than the protected. Azmere had told her that she was strong. That she was stronger than she knew. Now was the time to prove him right, and she was determined not to give up until she had. She was going to make him proud, it did not matter that he was not alive to witness it.

A scarred hand reached for the smooth handle of the sliding door, the symbol painted over it bold and bright as Syna’s light reflected off of it. Taurina sucked in a breath and then she nodded, sure she was doing this. Sure that it was the right thing to do. The door was pushed aside easily with just a slight tug required to coax it. The Drykas stepped in, the grunts of various Akalaks young and old filling her ears as they tumbled and play fought against their brethren.

The caramel gaze did a sweep of the large room before her. She studied the wooden floor, the various sprawling mats, and the chairs that remained stationary at one end of the room. There were not so many here that the place was overcrowded, but enough trained that the Ethaefal would not be alone to witness her fumblings. A twinge of nervousness hit her with that thought. She did not like the idea of being watched, of being judged.

‘Needed. For Alek.. for your bondmate. For yourself, you never know. For Azmere, be who he saw you to be.’

Words swam in the woman’s head. Eyes closed for a moment’s time, a breath sucked in before it was allowed a slow release. Hands bunched into fists before slacking at her sides. A nod pulled her chin up than down, that molten gaze opening to find an Akalak standing before her. She blinked, a half a step taken back. She did not raise her arms, however, did not do anything but stare. The male smiled at her.

“Welcome,” he spoke with a voice crafted from warmth and calm thunder, “what is it that you seek?”

Taurina did not answer at first. Taking in the sheer size of the male before her, his cobalt skin shimmering with a sheen of sweat and his dark eyes shining with a helpful patience. Like all of his kind, he made the Ethaefal feel tiny standing there in front of him. How insignificant she was against all of them. Yet, yet, she did not wish to remain so. Would not remain so.

“To learn…” Taurina breathed, caramel eyes full of determination meeting that dark gaze, “to be better.”

The Akalak’s lips tilted upwards, a smile that reached his eyes breaking across his face. A nod followed, a hand stretching forward and beckoning her to come with him.

“Come. We must discuss first, but you have come to the right place. I believe you may just find what you are looking for.”

She did not need to be convinced more than that to follow. Did not require more in order to trust, not with this. So she slipped off the tired boots she wore and left them side by side on a mat filled with others, leaving them as she joined the Akalak for discussions about what exactly it was that she wished to learn and how she might achieve it.

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'

[Taurina]

“You need to build up your strength.” A demand spoken in a firm but kind voice as a hand was offered down to the Drykas who had landed hard on the ground.

Taurina looked up at him with something like anger or hurt flaring in her eyes before it faded to make room for understanding. She nodded and took that offered hand, allowing him to pull her up in one solid move. There was strength to him and it might have seemed obvious just looking at him, but it was more than just the size of him. It was the way his muscles flexed in his arm as he hoisted her to her feet, the way his hand wrapped around hers, the way he was immovable as he stood and never seemed to waver. So sure of all his moves, so knowing of his body, so aware of everything around him.

“Flexibility too, build it.” An order as he released her. “You have no balance.”

That was the understatement of the season. Taurina forced her gaze up to his dark eyes and gave a slow nod. It was an effort not to look ashamed. An effort not to get angry. He had pushed her to the ground multiple times now just trying to get her to take a stance at least halfway solid. The point had been made. She was weak. It did not take much to get her to break and fall to the ground. It did not take much to make her legs bend and her stance sway.

It was funny really, because she had thought herself at least good at that. She had spent a year out on the sea of grass working among her people, toning her body through labor if nothing else. The balance it took to ride a horse, the strength it took to control Starfire, was nothing easy. But this was different. Taurina was having to learn that it took something different. A special kind of discipline over herself that she had not yet learned. That she was going to learn because she was going to succeed. Failure was not an option.

‘For Alek, to protect her. For yourself, to not need anyone else. For Azmere, to be who he saw you to be.’

Taurina blew out a huff of breath and nodded again, to herself or to the Akalak, it did not matter. She got her feet under her shoulder width apart, knees bent just slightly, shoulders up and the muscles in her core made taut. A breath was taken, a double check that her back was straight and her core flat silently preformed. A triple check. It was hard to remember to breath out and then in again when the mind was so narrowly focused on everything else.

“Arms up, watch my moves and protect yourself,” The Akalak instructed.

The Drykas nodded and heeded the instructions, raising arms to be ready. Earlier he had taught her that keeping her hands up was important at all times. That way she would be ready to block when a strike came against her. He had told her to use the flat side of her forearm and deflect the hits outward so as to protect her body. She did not want to invite an opponent to come closer to her but do everything she could to push them away from her.

There was nothing fearless in the way the little woman covered her arms over her face as the male much larger in stature than any she had grown used to being around moved against her. Instead of pushing back, she caved inward and close which brought him nearer her rather than force him away. He pushed with a force that lasted until she was back down to the ground, holding her there for a long tick before releasing her and pulling away.

“I told you to push, not cave,” he reminded, something irritated in his voice despite his seemingly endless patience, “try again. Try staying on your feet this time.”

The woman groaned, rubbing her palms over her face. It was not hard to imagine why she was on the floor again but she hated herself for it. For the weakness it showed. She was suppose to be better than this. Stronger, a faster learner. At least less scared. It was not like the instructor wished to harm her, his job was to teach her. He could not do that if all she did was fail and give up. Taurina groaned and shook her head before pressing palms into the mat and rising to her feet without his help this time. She took her stance and readied her arms.

“Alright,” was all she said and he was soon coming after her with the smooth stroke of a simple hit aimed at her chest.

She saw it before it struck true, but she had an inkling that was only because he was moving slower for her benefit, and moved her arms so they stacked one on top of the other across her chest. The side of his hand was hard against her bone as it hit. The weight of it caused her knees to bend and strength to waver, but she held true and did not fall. Instead she pushed against him until her knees were no longer bent and her body rocked forward with the effort given. The Akalak’s lips twisted in a blue smile.

“Good,” he said as he released and the lack of counterweight caused Taurina to stumble forward onto her knees, “same time tomorrow."

Taurina pressed her palms into the mat as she panted and smiled despite her displeasure over being on the floor again. She had actually done that at least halfway right. Sure, she was not strong or well balanced and did not know anything about how to use his own weight against him or any of that and he had not been really trying to fight her, but she had not completely sucked that last time. That meant something.

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'

[Taurina]

Morning of the 26th of Spring 518

“What is your name?” Taurina’s voice was curious though breathy as she struggled to keep up with the Akalak who had agreed to teach her.

“Unimportant,” the male spoke unhindered, barely a sweat broken across his brow despite the run down the beach.

“You know mine, I should know yours,” Taurina countered, lungs aching.

The male just shrugged. The Drykas sucked down a burning breath and glared up at the dark eyed male as she released it, her feet continuing their pursuit down the uneven sand. He just looked down at her with a wry smirk playing on his lips that caused her to slow and allowed him to pull further in front of her. Wait… Taurina was slow to realize the jest and when she did anger fueled her sloppy sprint down the packed sand till she caught up to him. A scarred hand reached out and grabbed hold of his bicep that was more than double the size of her grip and pulled back, slowing them both to a stop.

“Better. Pace your breathing, deeper inhales and longer exhales,” the male simply instructed as Taurina released him.

The Ethaefal bent at the waist, clutching her chest as she breathed heavy over the sand. Her heart was pumping wildly in her chest that heaved as she sucked in breath after breath. She did not pay the male or his instruction much heed as she fought for an ounce of normalcy. He left her alone to catch her breath, wandering down the beach and playing in the waves. A caramel gaze rose to watch him as a series of coughs ripped through her throat. When it was over she found herself able to stand straight again, able to breath somewhat normally again.

The pair had been at it all morning. Bodybuilding for he had insisted her too weak. Sit ups, pull ups, push ups, lunges; all the things that made her muscles ache and her lungs burn. They had not touched any weights, him insisting she was not ready for such things yet. Just as he seemed to insist she was not ready for his name yet. She had asked multiple times, but he had always denied her. Dangling it before her like one dangled sugar cubes in front of Starfire just because he knew she wanted it. Because he knew she would have it out of him. Curiosity demanded it. He was making her work for it.

“We going to do any actual training today?” Taurina asked as she came up to stand beside him ankle deep in the water, “just curious.”

Her voice remained breathy, her breath continuously heavy and her body feeling leaden, but she was alright. She would be alright. The run had been the easiest of all the things they had done this morning, strangely. Though she was unused to running over salt water packed sand that gave way and became uneven when bearing weight with just her bare feet, she had run in Endrykas. It had been the one thing she had done semi-successfully when she had set out to become better, stronger, the first time. Though, it seemed as though she had never learned to breathe right. This burn in her chest was familiar even if it was worse.

“You will see.” was all the Akalak said. “Patience is key.”

Taurina rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, allowing her gaze to drift over to the blue waves of the ocean before them. It was beautiful, somehow, here. Peaceful. Far from the city and all the worries and cares within it. Different from the peace of the plains though. The waters held a different sort of wildness to them. Something that was unknown and foreign to the Ethaefal who had never enjoyed spending much time in salt water. She let out a content sigh, muscles relaxing as she let the mess of life fade into an unnoticed blur in the back of her mind. She could have stood there for bells…

Her body hit the shallow sea, hair and clothes soaked, before she even knew she was falling.

“Hey!” Taurina barked, twisting viciously and pulling a fist back in the process, “What the petch was that for?!”

“What are you going to do about it?” the Akalak challenged, lowering himself to crouch next to her still half submerged body.

Taurina frowned up at him before she ran that fist through the water and flicked upwards, spraying him nicely before she huffed a breath that caused nostrils to flair. He just ran a large hand down his face, wiping his eyes clean.

“Childish. Get up.” An order as he stood to his feet.

A deep frown set in her brow, Taurina pushed palms into the sand and forced herself upwards until she was standing. Soaked and angry the little Drykas was unimpressive next to her Akalak instructor who just stared down at her. There was no anger in his face. No emotion really at all besides maybe patience. There was some lesson in this, the Eth guessed. She did not know what, but something. By the way he was making her wait she guessed that she was soon going to learn what it was.

“You need to always be on your guard,” the male spoke after several long ticks of just silent staring, “never relax so fully that you are completely unaware of what is going on around you. You should have been able to sense me behind you and either pivoted out of range or tried to block the strike. Do not rely on sight alone. It can and will fail you.”

Taurina was quiet as the words soaked in. Slowly, so slowly, she nodded her head. He was right. Nothing else to it.

“Teach me,” was all the Ethaefal said in response.

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'

[Taurina]

“What are you doing with your hands?”

“Um…” Taurina looked down at her hands and then back up to the disapprovingly look of her instructor, “up?”

A stance was taken with feet buried in the sand, knees slightly bent, back straight and -now- arms up ready to block his strikes. The male’s lips where pressed into a thin line as he nodded, seeming satisfied that she had at least gotten there eventually even if it had taken a nudge to remind her of what she had learned the day before.

“Good. Remember what I taught you yesterday?” he questioned her, shifting his weight and preparing a strike.

Taurina watched him, her gaze lingering on his readying hands. She remembered much about the day before, but more than anything she remembered how she had spent more time on the ground rather than standing up. That had not been especially pleasant. She was determined to at least stay on her feet more today. A feat she had already managed to be failing at accomplishing.

“Hands always up. Always ready to block,” the woman answered.

The Akalak nodded. “Good.”

The strike he threw was simple and clean, similar if not the same as the only one she had successfully been able to block the day before. Taurina did not know one strike from another and only knew they were different by how he shifted his body. It did not matter to her yet. All that mattered was blocking whatever came her way and not falling over. This hit she caught with the edge of her right forearm near her elbow. The weight of him rocked her back, balance lost but caught by the opposite hand pressed into the sand behind her before her body touched the ground. He ground out a low rumble sort of like a growl and shoved another ounce of strength behind his blow. She was sent into the sand before he pulled away and stalked two steps back.

“Again. Till you do not fall.”

Taurina grumbled a series of unintelligent words as she pushed up back onto her feet and brushed the sand off her bottom. A sigh was huffed out, the uselessness of complaining being obvious so she swallowed her words. All of them. Hands up, back straight, core tight, knees bent, eyes on her opponent. No more falling.

Sand was sprayed in every direction as that plan failed again and again. Taurina was reminded of why she was not in love with the beach as sand got in places sand should not be despite the clothes she wore. The Akalak instructor was slow with her, patient, but unmerciful when she failed. Which was frequent. It was only two blows that she blocked completely. The rest were all half missteps and lack of balance that either sent her into the sand or near enough it that he pushed her into it. His reasoning for that was not given.

“Three times in a row before we move on,” he demanded of her after she blocked him successfully a third time and shoved him off her, “that is one.”

Taurina was dripping with sweat, spitting it to the ground as it gathered in her mouth and blinking frequently as it blinded her eyes. She could not smell anything but salt water and her own stench. A part of her hated this with a burning passion. Another part knew it was necessary. And still another part reminded her that she had asked for this. Again and again she had asked for this. Stood firm in her determination not to give up. Not to fail again. So she wiped her hand across her brow and used her soaked shirt to wipe at her eyes in an attempt to clean them before she readied herself.

The next two blows came in rapid succession. The first was prepared for and the Ethaefal saw it coming, blocking it with arms crossed across her chest and catching it where bone met bone. She shoved forward to push him away and it worked, he backed away. Only to reset and come at her with a strike she did not expect. Instead of coming straight for her, this one came from the left and curved inward. The Drykas shrieked as she ducked her head and rose her arms to cross over and above her head in a sort of shield. The blow landed hard, rocking the woman to the side. Her right ankle barked in pain as she buried her foot in the sand and pushed against his force.

The Drykas wavered, coming close to a fall, and trembled with the effort it took to stay standing. Her muscles were all crying out for relief, her body exhausted with all energy reserves depleted. Still, she remained standing. She rose her gaze full of fire to meet his of steel and gathered all her remaining strength together into a single push to shove him away.

Taurina was not stronger or bigger than the Akalak, she did not have more energy than him, but he let her have her way. He let her push him away and stepped back as she did. He just watched her with those calm dark eyes as her body rocked and fell backwards into the sand in exhaustion rather than because of a failed block. He nodded.

“Good. Get some rest. We work on more tomorrow.”

Taurina just breathed heavy with elbows on knees and nodded slow, just watching as he walked down the beach. She believed that was a sweat he had worked up sliding down his back. It could have just been due to Syna’s gaze or because of the length of their session, but the Drykas liked to think it was her fault. That she had caused him to work at least a little bit. Somehow, it was a satisfying thought.

Common | Pavi | 'Thoughts'