[Training] part of the moving whole

if you don't terrify people a little then what's the point

Deimos had already begun to move along the targets, prying the daggers out of the effigies, floating them towards Alys on contorted Air magic so that she could start collecting them. He watched the proud glance from the corner of her eye and smirked, content that she’d found satisfaction in the makeshift round, unaware that he about to make it all the more difficult.

Returning and surveying their work, he snagged at another in his palm, eyes back upon her, not having expected the inquiry. “We were given weapons at a young age,” he answered automatically; for it was true. The Moonlit Tides’ children were expected to be adept at swimming, learning, and maiming; tried and true traditions for those living within a world hellbent on war and bloodshed at any given opportunity. “But I practice with all of them,” he admitted, with no air of complacency.

Stretching, he extended his fingers. “For instance, would you like a more challenging aspect?”

DEIMOS

and i'm still waiting for a life that never was

Alys was the polar opposite in that she had grown up with complacency all around her. She'd never been taught to wield more than words and numbers, her family comprised of merchants with little experience in the fighting arts. This, then, was a challenge for the seer, but one that she welcomed. It set her apart from the family she'd left behind, and with that came a certain contentment. They had never understood her, and so distancing herself from them by embracing that which they had never tried was just one more way to stand apart.

As daggers floated back on the wind, Alys plucked them from the air with her telekinesis, setting them aside with a gentle precision. When she'd left home, she'd never have imagined herself where she was now, and the thought made her grin. So, too, did ehr smile widen at the offer for something more challenging. If Deimos thought she was up for it, then she'd tackle the challenge eagerly, and she nodded. "Sure," she said. "Just tell me what to do."

Alys

if you don't terrify people a little then what's the point

Deimos’ father had been all ammunition and bluster, a man of charisma, boasts, and pledges, ensuring his children took to blades, daggers, and hearts when they could walk and follow him across landscapes. His mother, on the other hand, readily ensured her brood were not to be fools, nor easily outwitted, outfitting them with books and scholarly minds and wily deceptions as they traipsed across those sandy plains. Days in Isilme, nor Helovia, had never been dull; full of machinations and strategies, of plans and plots, of foiled motions and failures, of triumphs and conquests. And perhaps this was why he was always somewhat restless – a mind driven to work and peel away layers.

So those in his charge wouldn’t be lax in his presence either – and as she accepted the notions of an impending challenge, he grinned; very boyish, incredibly juvenile, and the only warning she’d receive.

Within half a moment, the targets reassembled into moving parts and pieces, beginning to whirl and twirl in various directions, erratic and sporadic, not unlike prey caught, cornered, and trapped. “Hitting something still is all well and good,” and a start, “but not many enemies wait for you to strike them. Try a moving one.” She’d have multitudes of opportunities as they glided by her, each at a different pace.

DEIMOS

and i'm still waiting for a life that never was

The young woman eyed the targets warily as they whirred to life, spinning and whirling not unlike cornered prey. Whatever she'd envisioned when Deimos had recommended a challenge, this wasn't quite it. This seemed like a massive leap from where she'd started as opposed to a step up, and she looked between her friend and the dummies with disbelief clear on her face.

Still, she wasn't one to shy away from a challenge, so she huffed something under her breath about overzealous warriors and selected a dagger, lifting it into the air over her shoulder with her magic. From there, she fixed her gaze on one of the targets, a slower one to start, focusing her energy and intention on the bulk of its chest. Then she gave a mental flick and the dagger sailed past, following her intention to bury itself in the mannequin's arm. Not where she was aiming, but at least she hadn't missed.

Alys

if you don't terrify people a little then what's the point

He merely grinned at her stunned expression, all the more amused. She might’ve thought it a massive leap, but in situations calling for movement and action, she wouldn’t be able to stand around, hoping, waiting, for an opportunity to come her way. Sometimes they had to make their own, which was why the Sword, and his hordes of constituents, labored and practiced every day – so it became muscle memory, so it became a pattern, a choreographed notion.

Watching, twisting and turning the effigies, he was satisfied when her dagger grazed and blistered into an arm. “Good.” A wound was a wound at this stage, and he permitted the dummy to move as if it were struggling, slowed by the efforts of the knife twisted into its skin. “Try another one.” She could go for the same and truly mar, or some lingering nearby – several were overhead, diving swiftly, or listless, almost distracted.

DEIMOS

and i'm still waiting for a life that never was

Maybe Deimos wouldn't be able to stand around waiting for an opportunity - he was too big and brawny for that - but maybe Alys could use stealth to her advantage, what with her short stature and her illusions. She certainly thought that was a possibility, anyway, and one that wouldn't have her flinging knives at wildly moving targets. Still, she managed to hit one in the arm, and it even slowed, as though her maiming had truly wounded it.

But it felt like going for the same one was too easy, and she looked around at other options as she readied the next dagger. Some trundled along slowly, others swooped and dove from overhead, but she selected one that moved at a middling speed in a relatively straight line along the ground. When she was sure of her mark, she gave the mental flick of magic that sent the knife soaring - again, to hit off center, but to hit her target.

Alys

if you don't terrify people a little then what's the point

Surveying, he examined the decisions and choices made within the moment. He would’ve gone for the one already wounded and marred, in case it came back to haunt him again, for it hadn’t been a devastating blow, but a slowing one. Those iterations could return, scrape away a laceration when another was distracted. But Alys seemed to be calculating something different, and he measured those countenances as she bid her opportunities and took her moments at another target.

The knife sliced and hit somewhere amidst the knee, inevitably slowing this one down too. He allowed it a descending arc, somewhere faltering, stumbling, and bumbling along, even more comical with the dagger sticking out of it and the stuffing unraveling. So he’d take the instant to educate, deep rumble pervading along the scene. “You now have two wounded. What is your next choice?” Open and remaining – either to go for those still swirling and twirling around, or the already marred, disfigured, and struck individuals.

Though now, purposefully, he had the first begin to loom closer to her.

DEIMOS

and i'm still waiting for a life that never was

Well, shit.

In true Deimos fashion, the lesson got harder, and Alys glanced from target to target, trying to decide what to do. The enemy she'd wounded first crept closer, drawing her attention, and with a snap of her fingers she brought a new dagger to bear on it. A mental flick and the knife was sailing true - straight into the dummy's eye. Or, well, close enough, anyway.

The second enemy bumbled along, seemingly more injured than the first, but just to be safe, Alys selected another dagger and sent it soaring towards the effigy, in case Deimos decided to have it crawl her way. It was growing easier to throw her knives with practice, and this one struck the enemy as well, though not quite so close to her mark as she'd have hoped. Still, she looked at Deimos and raised a brow. "Better?"

Alys

if you don't terrify people a little then what's the point

It wouldn’t be a proper lesson with Deimos if the instruction didn’t become gradually, or suddenly, more difficult. He believed in challenges rather than complacency, experiences that sharpened and honed the mind as well as the body, the soul, the aches in muscles worth the opportunities for learning and skills. Better to experience it here, in the safety and confines of the training grounds, then elsewhere, desperate and fending for their lives.

These things would be remembered – as she hurled another knife into the dummy’s eye, and it fell, sudden, sure, and true, incapable of marring her further. “Yes,” he confirmed with a roguish grin, though his stare flickered over to the second, as the rest thundered and meandered around. It didn’t have near as sharp nor as true aim; dagger colliding with its shoulder. “Now take it down.”

DEIMOS

and i'm still waiting for a life that never was

Regardless of the level of difficulty, Alys could only be grateful to Deimos. He had taken her under his wing when she had nowhere to go and no one to turn to, and he had continued to aid and train her in the seasons since. Each lesson with him was an improvement upon the last, full to the brim of learning opportunity. She was stronger since she'd begun training with him, both physically and magically, and she had greater stamina than she could ever remember having had before. So, too, had her mind shifted and grown, expanding her capabilities far beyond that of a young woman from the Grounds.

So, yes - she would take the lessons and remember them well, if only because it was Deimos that offered them. As the second target meandered around, Alys placed her aim squarely at its head and loosed her dagger. The knife stabbed into the effigy's temple, and she set back on her heels with a pleased expression on her face. Though she hoped she'd never have to use these skills in actual combat, at least she knew that she could hold her own, if she was ever put to the test.

Alys

if you don't terrify people a little then what's the point

While one could dream they’d never have to use these skills, Deimos knew better. Caido had its own system of checks, balances, and monsters, complete with either the human substance or the animal variety. Too many warnings had passed through their ears to not believe something else approached, leered, and loomed, and the Sword wouldn’t let a day go by without striving to ensure his people could hold their own when the time came. Preparations, defenses, and guards were eternally bound to his senses, and while he couldn’t shelter them all, he’d damn well try to unfurl the meaning behind each and every lesson.

So if Alys took them, and grew stronger, brighter, braver – that’d be enough.

The daggers flew once more, landed precariously into the target’s forehead. Deimos’s eyes widened, subtle but amused, as it toppled and fell with another dramatic plunge. “Well done,” he orchestrated, before setting the rest of them aflame, bright and blistering pockets of wood, fabric, and stuffing unraveled and alight in miniature infernos. They would’ve required replacing anyway. Some soldiers grumbled in the distance, knowing the inevitable was coming in having to create more.

But he turned back to her, unbothered by the infernal sparks and ash beginning to settle. “I think that has been enough for now, unless there was anything else you wanted to work on.”

DEIMOS

and i'm still waiting for a life that never was

Her dagger hit the target with a dull thunk, and Alys grinned up at Deimos, pleased with the praise she'd received. She was not, however, prepared for the myriad dummies to go up in smoke and ash, and she jumped as the one nearest her sparked and flamed. She looked at Deimos wryly. It was almost as though he feared he'd become predictable, and just had to do the unexpected to keep everyone on their toes. Still, she had to admit that it was a quicker way to clean up than to gather them individually.

Alys locked her fingers together and stretched her arms over her head. It was a strange sensation, throwing daggers without throwing them. She felt like she should be sore, but nary a muscle was out of place. "No, thank you. This was very helpful. I have some errands to run, but I'll see you later." And with that, Alys bid her friend a fond farewell and departed the barracks.

-FIN-

Alys