[Mkguild] First Steps (3/?)

[Nathan Pfaunmiller]

And here's another part.  There's even a bit of a reveal I've been
building up to for a while.  Comments and critiques on the same are
appreciated.

-LurkingWolf

______________________

	Lois spent most of the day setting up for his first day of training
with Paula.  He considered many different ways of introducing her to
the basic concepts that she would need to know, and was able to
immediately throw out strength training.  He decided that she would be
getting well more than enough of that with her training in the early
part of the day.  At first, anyway, he would be able to focus more on
honing her instincts, quieting whatever fears she had, and training
her reflexes until they were razor sharp.

	If last night’s demonstration had shown him anything, he had high
hopes that her reflexes would not be much of a problem.  What little
trouble might appear all stemmed from the way she reacted when a
reflex was triggered.  If he could get her to react appropriately in a
wide variety of situations, she would already be well on her way to
mastering the concepts he could teach her.

	Perhaps the one thing that could be a problem was her confidence.  It
was clear that the Curse had dealt a blow to what confidence she
possessed, and she had continually second guessed herself throughout
their short conversation together the evening before.  He might have
to spend a good amount of time on that before they were done.

	The question that truly bothered him was more personal.  He had come
to the Keep in search of a way to bury his past, to forget about who
he had been in his younger years, and to start a new life, however
short, in the one place he felt comfortable calling home.  Patrols did
not interfere with this plan; they were a completely valid way to use
his talents, and they would provide him enough coin to live from day
to day easily.  Taking on a student was an entirely different matter.
His style of combat was mostly self-built, and every inch of it, even
the things he had been taught by others, had been designed for
assassination.  If Paula joined Metamor’s army using Lois’ set of
tricks, she would be classified and thought of as an assassin, whether
she was often used that way or not.  Doubtless, Andwyn would seek her
out not long after she proved herself, giving her an opportunity to
use such a skill set in the more shadowy political affairs of the
Keep.  Even if everyone simply thought of her as a skilled fighter, it
would not take long for an intelligent young woman to realize where
she could find the most money using her skills.

	It grated on Lois, but the idea of leaving her to fend for herself at
this time grated on him more.  Who knew what became of other young
women, pulled out from what they thought their calling was and finding
themselves in an entirely new and threatening environment?  She could
take care of herself against one careless thief, but there were worse
people lurking in the dark that would be able to overpower her
regardless of her reflexes.  With tender family relations making her
home life miserable, she would be even more susceptible to such
attacks when she sought escape from her father.

	Lois had to do something about it.  No one said it had to be
training, but it seemed like the best idea all around.  Give her the
skills to deliver strikes that would strain men twice her size, and
the threats of the world would grow far less.  At the same time, it
would prepare her for the looming day when she would be assigned to a
patrol.  It was simply the best choice.

	Lois now waited beside the small eatery that they had attended the
night before.  The sky was already darkening, and a few streaks of
color were visible in the west as the sun retreated over the horizon.
Lois considered this briefly.  He had never felt a particular interest
in art, but the ability of the world to produce its own beauty had
always interested him.  It amused him, in fact, how the modern artist
sought out symmetry as the essence of beauty, when the most beautiful
things in the wild tended to be the uneven crags of a mountain, or a
wide vale, stretched out with hillocks and rivers joined in defiance
of the idea of beauty that so many humans seemed to hold.  Whether
Lois truly appreciated the beauty of it, he enjoyed any such defiance
of the norm.

	Paula finally did show.  It seemed that she had done him the kindness
of attending the baths before meeting him now, as he hair was only
just dry enough to keep from dripping as she walked.  She had a bit of
a limp; most likely it was simply soreness in her muscles, and nothing
too major, but he hoped she would not let it get in their way this
evening.  She walked briskly regardless; that much pleased Lois well
enough.  She had some enthusiasm for now.  Hopefully the feeling of
accomplishment would outweigh the feeling of exhaustion as they moved
along, and she would continue to show that same enthusiasm as they
continued.  She had remembered the meeting place he had designated,
and so she was standing at the corner of the street where the thief
had made an attempt on her purse before she turned and saw Lois.  He
motioned for her to join him, locking step with her as she joined him
and walking towards his choice of venues with her in tow.

	“How are you feeling this evening?” he asked.  He could see a few
stars on the far horizon, although the sky was still slate gray in the
setting sun.

	“Well enough,” she replied.  There was some exhaustion there, but
more determination.  “Master DeMule worked us somewhat harder than
usual today.  The majority of us will be joining patrol come spring.
Rather, those of us who are so far unassigned.”

	“The others changed earlier, correct?”

	“Most of my fellows have been Cursed for a year, some more.  I am the
last of my friends to change.”

	“I’d say that makes it harder on you,” Lois noted.  “You had longer
to become familiar with yourself, long enough perhaps to choose your
way in life.”

	She managed to chuckle bitterly.  “I was never particularly suited
for the life my father decided I should live.  As a boy I was somewhat
stronger, and I could keep the muscle I gained far more easily.  As a
girl…”

	“A young woman,” Lois corrected.  Referring to herself as either boy
or girl was well enough on its own, but the way she said it made it
clear that she was cutting herself down in her mind.  He could not
allow her to continue to question herself if the training was to
succeed.

	Paula looked at him for a few moments as they turned from the alley
onto a wider road, leading back in the direction of the upper Keep.
She opened her mouth as though to counter, but simply shook her head.
She had not accepted it yet, but she did not reject it either.  It was
a good start, anyway.

	“Regardless, it is far more difficult to build lasting strength in
this form,” she finished.

	Lois nodded.  “Strength will come as you continue to work.
Regardless of your father’s feelings, that is why I would have wanted
you to continue your training with Master DeMule.  It may not help
your skills with a two-handed blade much, but it may help you grow
stronger.  We will work on strength together in the future, but a head
start is always appreciated.”

	She nodded, although Lois gathered from her face that she did not
give his statement much credit.  He wouldn’t push it; she would learn
the validity of his statement by experience.

	The rest of the trip was passed in silence, until Lois had finally
led her to a small room in the upper Keep, only a pair of turns and a
set of stairs from the main gate.

	“I discovered this place last night as I was thinking about how I
wanted to train you,” Lois explained.  He looked off to one side,
revealing why they could still see despite the total lacks of torches
or lanterns.  The wall was not so much a wall as it was one giant door
to a balcony, hanging off from the upper keep so that they could see
out into the lower Keep, all the way down to the gates at the far end.
 The buildings were built too far away from the upper keep to be
reached from here, but the view was nice all the same.

	“I always perform better in the open air, but a room this high up
also afford the convenience of some privacy.  People may be able to
see us from down below, but I find it unlikely that anyone without
mage sight could identify us without giving themselves away.”  He
pulled off his coat, and then the leather armor he had taken to
wearing on a daily basis years ago, which also served as a repository
for most of the tools of his trade during his youth.  It was an
unnecessary hindrance now, and so Lois removed it in favor of a light
linen shirt underneath.

	Paula followed his lead, dropping all of the things that she didn’t
need until she was also in light clothing.  Lois raised an eyebrow.

	“I had thought you would need a little thicker clothing; I would if
it wasn’t for my fur.”

	“I’ve lived in the Keep all my life,” she countered.  “A little cold
has never hurt me, and I expect that we’ll be doing some work that
should help keep me warm.  Even so, I will probably feel worse once
I’m on patrol; the wrong armor is a deathtrap if you get caught in a
rain storm in this weather, and I doubt I will be able to afford the
right armor.”

	“DeMule speaking?”

	“My father,” she corrected.  It was the first time she had done so
with a smile.  More progress.

	“All right, let’s get underway, then.”  Lois led her through a
stretching routine.  They would be unlikely to extensively use half of
the muscles that he was having her prepare.  Later on, though, this
sort of stretching would be the only thing between a graceful run over
the rooftops of the lower Keep, and a messy mistake that could cost
her months of training.

	Paula surprised Lois with her discipline.  Most of the stretches she
executed without asking what he meant, and she picked up on the others
with relative ease.  Even those which required some measure of
physical strength went well, and she showed remarkable skill in
stretches that tested her flexibility.

	She seemed a bit winded after the stretches, but no less determined.
She was skilled enough that it shouldn’t have bothered her; the
morning’s training was taxing her still.  Fortunately, he did not
intend to physically exhaust her anymore.

	“All right, take a moment to rest.  I’ll explain what we’ll be doing
next.”  Lois walked over to his armor and pulled out a small bag.  The
appearance of the bag and the sound it made when he pulled it out gave
him away.  Paula raised an eyebrow.

	“Marbles?” she asked.

	“They will serve my purpose as well as anything else,” he replied.
“I was trained using rocks, and the person who chose them wasn’t picky
about how rough they were.  My hands never looked very good
afterwards.”

	Paula said nothing as she watched Lois open the bag wide enough so
that he could reach in with both hands at once.  This feat did produce
a comment, however.  “How did you manage to keep a bag like that
hidden on your person without it showing?”

	“Part of my job has always been keeping things hidden,” he explained.
 “The armor makes me look larger than I am altogether, so having one
spot thinner than the others allows me to hide things without them
producing a suspicious lump.  Now, I’m sure you want to know what
they’re here for.”  Her only response was a nod.  “All right; I saw
your reflexes last night, and I was impressed, but I want to see how
you handle a lot of things coming at you at once.  I’ll be throwing
marbles at your upper body; I want you to catch them before they hit
you, dropping each after you have a good grip on it, and never having
more than one in either hand.  You will need to do this from a combat
stance; in addition to testing your reflexes, it will test how well
you respond to the position of the marbles.  You should catch each
marble with the hand that you would use in blocking a blow to the same
place.”

	Paula nodded.  “That’s comfortingly simply,” she muttered.

	Lois smiled.  “We’ll see.”

	She took up her chance, and Lois took a few moments to adjust it.
Her original stance was technically correct, but more suited for a
physical fighter.  She would be best suited by a more flexible combat
stance, and so he positioned her accordingly.

	“Are you ready?” he asked.

	“Whenever you are,” she responded.  Good; she was looking at the
marbles, not at him.

	He began slowly, one at a time.  Once or twice she used the wrong
hand, and he briefly corrected her.  To his surprise, she never made
the same mistake twice, and was soon able to wait between each of the
throws because of how quickly she reacted.  He began using two hands,
and she slipped up more often, but no marble hit the floor before
touching a hand.  He had to do more correcting, but she continued on
without frustration, and with astonishingly few mistakes.

	“All right, rest,” he finally said.  He took a marble in his hand and
turned around, looking out towards the lower Keep.  She was good,
better than anyone he had seen, except for one man that had trained
with him in his early years.  But that man had an unfair advantage.
Rather, an inborn advantage that no one else in their group had
possessed.  That few in the world otherwise possessed.

	Lois looked at Paula.  She was looking through her things, checking
on one thing or another.  She stood up, still looking at whatever she
held in her hand, facing away from Lois.  Lois looked at the marble in
his hand, then back at her.  He took a quick breath, throwing it at a
moderate pace towards he back.

	She flinched while it was still a foot from her back, her right hand
snapping around to where the marble would have hit her, catching it
flawlessly before she even turned around.  She looked at the marble,
then back to Lois.  He was smiling, handpaw still pointed at her back.

	“I knew it,” he said breathlessly.

	She looked at him.  “What?  How… How did I do that?”

	“You’re prescient!”

	Paula looked at him, clearly not understanding.  “I don’t know what
you’re talking about; what does that mean?”

	“It’s the reason your reflexes are so good.  It’s the reason you felt
the thief tugging your purse before he touched it.  It’s the reason
you could catch something thrown at your back without ever looking at
it.  I met a man once who had your abilities; without even thinking
about it, he could feel, see, even smell things nearly a second before
they happened.  You literally know what could happen in the near
future.  Given enough time, you can even change what could have
happened.  Like beating the thief before he touched you.”

	“Why didn’t I find out about this before?” she asked.

	“I’m not sure.  Where combat is concerned, it’s likely because having
a heavy sword slows your reactions down.  Otherwise, it could just
seem normal to you.  When you caught the thief, you attributed it to
him being careless, even though he hadn’t touched your purse yet.
Your mind simply comes up with reasons for why you react as quickly as
you do.”

	Paula nodded slowly.  “So, what now?”

	“Now, we move on to other things.  I will still work on your
reflexes; with normal reflexes I would be satisfied right now.  With
you, I want perfection.  Every marble caught, using the right hand
every time.  It’s not vital now, however.  We’ll work on it as we go
on.  For now, let’s see what else you can do…”

!DSPAM:4f2f5186168311804284693!