“Arm yourself!” TsuYa commanded, something in the depths of his eyes glittering.
“Go for the eyes, Lucci!!” SoYa cupped his hands around his mouth giving a grinning call out over the practice ring.
It was quite the unusual thing to see… Zemi Dreigiau stripped down to a set of oversized pants and a tank-shirt with his usually wild hair pulled back out of his eyes in a fighter’s knot, in imitation of Father’s. The Arweinydd held a padded practice sword in one fist, though at the rate that he and Lucci had been exchanging blows, Zemi had hardly even needed the weapon.
“Lucci-boy, tighten your grip on that blade! Straighten your arm when you thrust! Do it like you mean it — you aren’t gonna hurt me none, so don’t fret,” Zemi encouraged with a wide grin.
Dancing about on the balls of his feet, the Dreigiau was rarely at the point of being in danger. And Lucci’s own practice sword hardly came near him.
He’s holding back…
SoYa could tell that there was a good deal of reluctance in the way that Lucci swung the practice sword. Not that the boy didn’t want to learn the art of swordsmanship. Just that he seemed really hesitant to strike out against Zemi, even if it was in training.
“Come on Lucci! Stick it to him! You can do it!!” AsaHi shouted leaning over the padded railing of the training grounds.
It was a large, circular area built of wood covered in cloth to ease the fall of anyone who might get shoved up against the railing. The ground was a scuffled patch of soft close-cropped grass, ready and willing to cushion the fallen student and make their rise back to sparring all the more easy.
No doubt, Father had a hand in making this place.
Zemi gave the girl an arched-eyebrow. “Heeey… who’s side are you on?”
Seeing his opening, Lucci gave a quick little thrust, marking Zemi’s side with the blackened tip of the training blade. As the Dreigiau turned to observe himself with a bit of amused surprise, the boy darted back with a wide, playful grin.
“Now, Lucci… that wasn’t very sporting of you?” Zemi teased warmly, a soft chuckle rising from his throat.
“I don’t think the bad guys are going to worry too much about what’s going to be sporting or not?” SoYa grinned at the boy’s antics.
“That’s true enough,” Zemi nodded with a wrinkle of his nose. Moving into a low crouch, he once again returned to his agile battle-pose. “Come on, Lucci… You must be serious with me if you want to really learn how to fight out there?”
The boy nodded and let out a heated breath, wiping his brow on the back of his hand. He wore a padded practice jerkin and a cap that seemed a size to small on his head. His form was slender and wan, like one who had grown taller faster than his muscle mass could keep up with. Despite that, Lucci had a good bit of strength to him when he really did put it behind his thrusts.
Still… he’s not learning very fast. And we don’t have a lot of time to be teaching him how to defend himself before the battle comes.
It wasn’t a big help that this was Zemi’s first time trying to train someone in the ways of swordsmanship. Not that Zemi was a bad teacher… but it was obvious that his own battle skills heavily relied upon the power and special ability he held as an Arweinydd. The training session had been a rather disheveled attempt at putting a practice sword in Lucci’s hand and letting him swing it around with little discipline.
It’s really too bad that Father wouldn’t help… Father used to be known for training the best warriors in the shortest amount of time back in Nefol.
Again, SoYa watched as Lucci came for the Dreigiau, only to be met with dodges, feints and a series of blocks. But there seemed to be little in the way of anything learned. In fact, if anything, it seemed to be training the boy in the art of sloppy blade-swinging in hopes that a hit could actually be struck.
Eventually, the boy hunched over, breathing heavily in attempt to catch his breath. Zemi eyed him and leaned his own padded weapon against the railing.
“Well, it looks like you could use a bit of a break. I’ve got a couple of things I need to be working on now… but we’ll pick this up again later once you’ve had some rest. Okay?” the Arweinydd tilted his head, observing.
Lucci just nodded in return, still fighting to find his breath. So Ya could see that determination was written on his brow. But so was frustration.
Zemi means well, but I’m not sure this approach is working the way it should.
Undaunted, as usual, Zemi just gave a huge, fanged grin. Ruffling AsaHi’s hair as he walked by, he hoisted himself easily out of the training ring.
“Ew… don’t touch me with those hands. You need a shower, Zemi,” the girl teased, pulling away from him.
Zemi paused for a moment, as if considering the possibility of his kind owning an odor of a bodily sort. Then he shook his head, “Nice try, Sunshine. But Arweinydd don’t sweat.”
“So you think!”
“We don’t?” the Dreigiau argued.
“It’s just like they always say, Zemi,” SoYa waved a finger at him. “You can’t smell yourself, you know? Only the people around you notice it.”
“Really…?” he paused, a glimmer of slight concern crossing his face.
“That’s right!” AsaHi teased more. “Don’t tell me you’re not even wearing deodorant?”
“What’s… that..?” Zemi squinted at her.
Both SoYa and AsaHi groaned. Then they buckled in on themselves in laughter at the stricken face of the Arweinydd.
Lucci grinned a bit, “Even I know what that is?”
“Someone needs to educate you in the ways of Earthian hygiene, Zemi!” AsaHi gave him a wince.
“Guess who just offered to do it?” Zemi arched an eyebrow at AsaHi with a droll expression on his face.
“Whaaaat? Me?” she protested.
“You will show me this deodorant-thing?”
“Well… I…?” AsaHi turned to blink at SoYa with a what-should-I-do look.
SoYa was still laughing, however. One hand waved the girl off on her new-found plight, the other wiped at his eyes as he attempted to catch his breath. With no other option given, AsaHi found herself toted away towards the waiting compound and the upcoming explanation of personal hygiene products.
Lucci strode over to lean against the fence not far from SoYa. He gave a tired look, one that expressed his understanding of the lack of focus his current training was being conducted under. And part of him seemed to be looking to the Athrylith for some sort of answer.
“What are you doing? You think you’re finished in there?”
Both SoYa and Lucci turned towards the sound of the voice, blinking in surprise. TsuYa strode out towards the training ring, dressed down in a dark blue padded sparring outfit, tailored especially to his form. One easy leap had him over the railing, picking up Zemi’s discarded training sword with a sharp frown.
SoYa felt something within his stomach do an absolute nose dive.
He doesn’t really think he’s going to go in there and lay into Lucci… does he?
“Tsu, what are you doing?” SoYa tried to keep the alarm out of his voice.
“Just helping…?”
Lucci backed up further until he stood with is back pinned to the nearest railing, as if there was nothing more than thoughts of escape on his mind. One hand grasped for the practice sword as TsuYa’s intimidation began its grim work.
He’s just a boy, Tsu…
His brother always seemed to enjoy putting the fear of his abilities into those who were weaker than himself, even back in the students of Nefol. But just lately, there was something about his nature that commanded real fear. And even SoYa could feel it.
If you thrash him here, he may never want to pick up a weapon again.
TsuYa flourished his training blade in a few smooth sweeps of his arm, crouching and closing in on the frightened boy. A predatory grin touched his lips as he urged, “Come on, kid. Show me what you got.”
The boy shook his head vehemently.
“What… you won’t get in trouble if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Still, Lucci shook his head, fear reflecting in his silver eyes.
“You’re really such a coward?” he chided, eyes never leaving the boy’s face. “What a shame. I wanted to see what it would be like to fight a Sygnus.”
“Tsu… stop it. This isn’t funny,” SoYa swallowed, half inclined to hop the rail. He knew that neither Father nor TsuYa were too fond of the boy Sygnus… and all too often did his brother act in behalf of that which he didn’t like. Usually dangerously.
“Arm yourself!” TsuYa commanded, something in the depths of his eyes glittering.
Lucci straightened a bit. His silver eyes shot to the side as his fingers closed around the grip of the little practice blade. The tip of the weapon quivered as the boy lifted it in a defensive position.
“Lucci… don’t! TsuYa is a trained warrior!” SoYa’s fingers gripped the edge of the railing. The inside of his mouth was dry with anticipation, wondering what it would come to… what he would have to do… to stop real injury from occurring.
“Alright kid. Give it to me,” a smug expression slid over TsuYa’s face.
Lucci crept closer, adjusting and readjusting the position between his fingers. His eyes were on TsuYa’s sword, feet moving awkwardly and with no trace of confidence.
The boy’s swing was slow and predictable. TsuYa’s own sword met with it in mid air. Just a light twist of the wrist – he made it look so easy – and Lucci’s sword had been dislodged from his fingers, flying off across the grass. His silver eyes gaped at his empty hands for a second before the point of TsuYa’s sword leveled at his chest.
Tsu..!
“What do you call that?” TsuYa muttered. “That was really… really… really pathetic, kid.”
A breathless squeak broke from Lucci’s lips.
“Go get your sword and try it again,” he commanded, lowering his practice weapon.
SoYa arched an eyebrow, surprised by his brother’s tone of instruction. Even Lucci glanced up in astonishment, silver eyes questioning if he had heard the order right.
“Well?” TsuYa leaned back on one heel. “If you can’t even pick up a practice sword and take a swing at me in here… how are you expecting to go out there with a real weapon and fight the enemy?”
“But…” Lucci swallowed, trying to express his uncertainty. “I don’t understand.”
Neither do I… Tsu, what are you up to?
“Look… don’t push your luck,” the warrior grimaced, turning his face away for a moment. There was a planted sort of disgruntlement there… the fake kind that SoYa had learned to see through years ago. “If anything happens to you in battle, Suzume will cry. And I don’t want to deal with it the next time I see her. Understand?”
The boy nodded slowly, trying to hide the tiny bit of the astonished smile that threatened to cross his face. He seemed to know just as well as SoYa that one didn’t question the unexpected kindnesses that TsuYa offered.
Instead, Lucci silently walked over to retrieve his sword from the grass.
Never thought about that… Zemi may not be a good teacher because he’s never had to fight for his life (with swords.) Lucci– so far, or so I assume– doesn’t have that kind of invulnerability.
Tsu’s always had that uncertainty about him… whether he’s being a jerk or doing the best he can. Or somehow combining the two. Though I’m sure it’s not good for Lucci’s nerves, I know Tsu will make a fighter out of him, if it’s at all possible.
On a random note– I liked seeing Zemi and AsaHi interact again, especially with SoYa present. Things seem very friendly and casual between the three of them… I know Zemi’s going to stand by his word, but I still wonder what they think of this.
Bweh heh heh… I’m everywhere, now.
Nothing much to say, I’ll admit, but I really enjoy how you write TsuMe. Especially seeing how he ends up in Shimmer (ponytail and all XD ) it’s filling in all the gaps.
The difference between the attitudes of Zemi and Tsu are fascinating, espescially seeing how they play out in teaching styles. Like in a lot of things so far (as far as I can tell) Zemi’s partly just trying out something new, because he enjoys it even if he’s not all that good.
Tsu, on the other hand, is having to fight himself to do something he’s not only apparently fairly good at, but also at least doesn’t mind doing.
…
Okay, maybe I did have something to say after all. My fingers ran away with me.
I think both you and KJ got it down right. Zemi’s really NOT good at teaching weaponry… because when’s the last time he really feared for his own life in battle? Why do you think he assigned Kudako to train Zento as a warrior?
On the contrast, Zemi is a great teacher of magic because it’s all through his essence and his understanding of the way energies in the world works is very very deep.
Tsu… has his own reasons for what he’s doing. It surprised me that he chose to do this, honestly. I was writing this chapter at the end of NaNo last year and really didn’t know where I was going to end it. All of a sudden, Tsu comes prancing out in his sparring outfit… and there you have it. But it was a really good thing because it’s made way for a number of plot lines and scenarios for the rest of Book 4 that I wrote this year. Tsu really does get more of a spotlight in future chapters.
And as Ven mentioned, he’s becoming more and more like TsuMe as time goes on. Or at least… I’m working to bridge it and make it understandable why TsuMe is the way he is.
Thanks for your comments everyone! :hug:
Proofing:
“The boy nodded and let out a heated breath, wiping his brow on the back of his hand. He wore a padded practice jerkin and a cap that seemed a size to(o, double “o” for indicating an excess or deficiency of something?) small on his head.”
Done. Dialogue really seems to fly past me when I’m proofing. I’ll probably come back to this page again later just in case.
Back. I’ve been absorbed in a couple other things for the past few days but I’ll get back to work here. I did say that I was going to come back here because I feared I had missed a few things after only picking up on the one problem last time (see above comment).
Mainly, there are a lot of questionable question marks. I think you might as well keep most of them, mainly because I do kind of like them. They give a sense of uncertainty, about statements (even when they are not actually questions). At the same time I suggest you take a double look at them.
Now. ““Tsu, what are you doing?” SoYa tried to keep the alarm out of his voice.
“Just helping…?””
I am assuming that it is Tsu saying “Just helping…?” I, personally, am not so sure about Tsu’s answer. It seems too uncertain (with the question mark anyway) for the way Tsu has entered. He seems confident, direct, and knows what he is doing. And despite the fairly reassuring answer Tsu gives, SoYa still continues to panic. The “Just Helping…?” seems out of place. I don’t know what I suggest replacing it with. Maybe Tsu would just ignore SoYa? I simply suggest a more ambiguous response to the question.
“He knew that neither Father nor TsuYa were too fond of the boy Sygnus… and all too often did his brother act in behalf of that which he didn’t like. (This sentence confuses me. “act in behalf…” I don’t know what you mean, changing the “in” to an “on the” or something might help, but even then…). Usually dangerously.”
“He seemed to know just as well as SoYa that one didn’t question the unexpected kindnesses that TsuYa offered.” -I’m not sure, but something seems awkward about the “one didn’t etc” part.
There. Much more there now! Next!