Summer 8 116
Maeria's face was too meticulously smoothed, resembling a serene river on a calm day. Her practice sword gripped so hard her knuckles were white. "Alright, so begin in a kneeling position and follow your instincts from there, shall we?"
Caelum fell to his knees and turned to face Maeria. He could almost taste her desire to do him harm. He couldn't help but smile. She swung down towards him, her wrath unspoken, her simple act evoking an immense amount of anger. As he yesterday, Caelum drove up from the ground to meet the overhead slash to his left side. As it approached him, he drew his practice sword and gritted his teeth, bracing himself for the thunderous impact that would shake his bones. He didn't like when this kind of thing happened but what could he do? He had to learn and the only way to learn was to make mistakes. Painful mistakes that would shake him to his core and force change.
Though not as easily as he'd done yesterday, Caelum's fully drawn practice sword took the blow on the wooden edge as Maeria's slash came down. Caelum quickly angled his practice sword so that Maeria's sword slid off its surface and onto the ground, sending chips of wood flicking to the ground from his practice sword. He swung his practice sword over his head and started to bring it down in a smooth, arching stroke that would rap Maeria on the shoulder, feeling no need to exert too much effort in the next phase.
Maeria anticipated him this time. Instead of letting her entire weight fall off, she used both hands to grab her practice sword and swung it diagonally, like a baseball bat, aiming for Caelum's head. Caelum helplessly felt the momentum of his draw accelerate his practice sword towards its target, turning what should have been a simple demonstration into a deadly, endeavor. However, a careless glance towards the impending attack broke his confidence, and he threw himself flat to avoid breaking his jaw. Maeria's practice sword was pressed into the soft flesh of his neck as soon as he regained consciousness, her predatory delight flashing in her eyes as she secured her prey.
"Enough already!" After hesitating for a moment, Maeria gave in to the teacher's call from above. She turned her back and moved into the crowd of students, who parted in front of her like water, until she came to a stop and turned around to face the dais once more.
"You recognize Caelum's error?" The instructor, with his back to the fallen Caelum, said quietly to the class, "He lacks conviction." Tears of shame burned in Caelum's eyes, but he got up solemnly and walked slowly to the doorway. He wanted to be alone. He knew he was getting better but sometimes people could be so cruel. He was different from the others – he was a goddamn dragon inside and he felt like it disadvantaged him sometimes.
The sun was hidden for the time being as it rose far above the town's residents, causing the sky to be tinted with mottled grays and hazy oranges. With his eyes closed and his chin pressed against his chest, Caelum stood in the great main hall of the dojo. He was shaken by his failure and subsequent defeat at the hands of his rival. "I'm not strong. Too feeble. Mindless," he told himself. It was an admission rather than an accusation.
He had strong, if not perfect, form, and the teacher was likely aware that his technique was not the reason for his defeat, so there was no reason for him to lose. Overconfidence, he became aware of
Even though the training for the day wasn't scheduled to end for several hours, his pride was still hurt, and he was unable to bring himself to give up.
Caelum found himself falling into a kneeling stance, as if in response, just as he had done yesterday and countless other times. He was aware by now that his knees were covered in scabs and bruises from all the times they had to kiss the hard floor, but they were resilient enough to withstand it. As he left the dojo, his right hand gripped the practice sword he had carried around. He observed every bump and imperfection on its wooden surface, perceiving them as symbols of his accomplishments. A wave of rage pushed him to move, and he did.
With such passion that he didn't think even a master could have stood before his wrath, his hands flew with mechanical familiarity, pulling the practice sword free of its sheath. Even as the deflection of an imaginary blow echoed in his mind's eye, he changed from a defensive to an attacking stance so fast that the sound of his practice sword's tip slicing through the air was audible, followed by an overhead slash that broke the stillness. The attack eased into a deft sheathing back into his sheath, before slowing down.
"Is that the attitude of someone who genuinely aspires to become a sword master?" From the shadows, a voice called. Caelum only glanced sideways before sighing. The teacher was becoming more perceptive by the day, and even though he doubted that anyone would have waited for him to be in this exact spot and there was no way he would be able to see who stood within the shadows.
"Demonstrate to me the intensity of your desire and the strength of your moral convictions!" He drew his practice sword and strode toward Caelum.
Caelum was smiling glumly inside. It always seemed to culminate in a confrontation with those who thought of themselves as his superiors. He leaned into his stance, waiting for the teacher to attack, thinking, "this is good, I have a chance prove to that they are wrong."
He was only alerted to the impending first slash that was going to strike his neck by the sound of the whistling air, but he pretended to be calm as he ducked under it. Caelum leaped a short distance into the air, never really breaking stance even as he landed and dropped to a knee in front of the teacher, feeling an overwhelming ease even as the first slash blended into a second sweeping cut that meant to take him from his feet. With an immense heave, the teacher had already lifted his practice sword above his head.
However, the bubble of cool composure protected him from the feelings that hovered around the periphery of his consciousness. Fear, rage, doubt, pride, and above all, resoluteness. As he drove upward, his socked toes pressed into the earth. When his practice sword flashed from his sheath and collided with his instructor's, it felt bittersweet to feel his quadriceps strain to their limit. Time slowed for a brief moment as the teacher and student recoiled, but then they both started the countermovement simultaneously.
Caelum's arm whirled with amazing speed and his practice sword blurred as it slashed downward onto his Instructor's left shoulder, tearing through the black outfit in the process. With his practice sword still dangling at his right side and his left side twisted back from the blow, the teacher stood there with a satisfied look on his face. At last, the man raised himself to his full height, and Caelum held his position in case the teacher had any more surprises in store for him.
The class got together again a few hours later. Maeria merely shot him a short, withering glance before stiffly turning her head away from him. Her upper lip curled with resentment as she focused her attention on everything unrelated to him. Caelum never noticed any of it. His face was as full of emotion as a stone, but his eyes gleamed with a fresh light. After demonstrating to himself that he could overcome his own mistakes, he felt unbreakable.
From somewhere inside the dojo, the teacher emerged, oddly tardy and grinning one of his cunning, painful grins. "I'll get right to the point. We're going to spend today's class dancing!" He gave a happy cheer. Everyone blinked, looking perplexed. "Come on, choose a companion, would you?"
With the exception of Maeria and Caelum, the small group promptly paired up in pairs, taking their instructor's serious demeanor as a sign. Maeria protested a second before Caelum did, but any argument against another of his insane training exercises was quickly silenced by the teacher's gloomy expression. This had to be that, surely. The teacher gave a satisfied nod as Maeria shuffled grumpily to Caelum's side, trying especially hard not to look him in the eyes as she pouted.
"Some consider fighting like a dance since both need impeccable balance and footwork - two things every swordplay master must understand yes?"
The pairs moved closer to one another without making any noise, their shoulders nearly touching, as they awaited the teacher's directions. The slight pressure of Maeria's presence pressed against Caelum's side, and he resisted the urge to shudder. It was also not one of revolt; worse, as he tried in vain to prevent nonsense from clouding his judgment, he could feel heat rising in his cheeks.
"All right, so? After placing your hand around your partner's waist, proceed as follows" he said as he started demonstrating how the dance was supposed to go.
"Start now!"
Like everyone else, Caelum put his practice sword to one side so it wouldn't get in the way of the routine. Much to his dismay, he found that he liked the way that felt when he slipped his hand around Maeria's slender waist. More heat rose to his cheeks, but this time, when he glanced in his partner's direction with a questioning look, he noticed that her face had turned red and that she had put an arm across the back of his neck.
Caelum started the steps the teacher had described, determined to succeed. He mentally repeated, "Shuffle forward, Shuffle forward," hoping that his feet would follow his brain's instructions. Just as he was ready to spin, he discovered that his feet had tangled with Maeria, sending them both tumbling to the ground with a thump. He was first filled with embarrassment, but blame-worthy rage quickly replaced the embarrassment, directing it towards Maeria.
"It was your fault," Caelum growled as he struggled to stand and made a point of declining to assist Maeria in standing up for herself. The girl shot up like a sprout, bringing her face inches from Caelum's, shaking in a fit of rage before slapping her hand roughly around the back of Caelum's neck.
Reexamining the findings, Caelum discovered that the motions were simpler to execute fluidly if he maintained his balance while making the quick motion. Furthermore, he understood that Maeria had not been entirely to blame for the first mistake. Rather, the fault lay with each of them for failing to keep their reserved ranges of motion when encircled by the other's space. It was easier for the other person to keep their balance and move quickly through the dance when they both occupied less space during each shuffle or spin.
Before the teacher finally declared the session to be over, everyone's limbs were burning because it was still a challenging procedure. Maeria leaned her back against his side, clutching at her feet in agony as Caelum fell to a knee. They stayed in that position for the duration of the teacher's evaluation of each group's performance, and they did not move from it soon after, finding solace in the physical resistance offered by one another. It prevented them from toppling over, and it was pleasant.
Then they were tearing each other apart again, growling like alleyway cats at the reality of what they were doing. Too exhausted to do more than exchange looks, they stood up and bided their time until one of them went out before the other did. Caelum eventually made it through the doorway first, but even after he was out of sight, he couldn't shake the feeling that Maeria was keeping an eye on him.
