More random Exalted tat...
Kalti finished preparing the deer that Tobi had caught in last night's hunt with a burst of energy that a month ago would have been unheard of. It had now become commonplace when he was nearing the end of his chores for the day, though.
He rushed to clean himself and then slowed down as he dried his hands with the thoroughness of someone conducting a well-practiced ritual. He paused again, and measured his breath, then walked, slowly, methodically, to his room and picked up the bag containing his latest project and his spear. Walking to the town gates, he caught himself picking up his pace several times and had to force himself to slow down. He knew that Yasal would not be ready to leave his post for some time yet and that getting there too early would only leave him frustrated.
Stopping when he got to the bench near the gate, he knew that he would be able to see the second that Yasal judged his day was over and that practice could begin without encroaching on his partner's duties. He had learnt days ago that if Yasal felt pressured into leaving, he would stretch the last of his tasks out for what felt like hours.
Kalti reached down into the sack he had carried with him and took out the shield he was working on. It wasn't complete yet, but it gave him something to do as he waited for his sparring partner. He had finished the basic structure of the buckler, but still had work to do in making it ready so that he could comfortably wield it with his spear. He waited for Yasal to judge his day complete by carefully sanding down the edges of the buckler, ensuring that there was no place for a blade to snag on. When Yasal shut the door to the small gate house he worked from, Kalti quickly packed his tools away and got up from the bench.
Yasal joined him, smiling at the pile of wood shavings at Kalti's feet. "It's good to see you spending your time on something productive." Kalti merely nodded in response, his eagerness apparent in the speed he has risen from the bench.
Little was said as they walked to the grounds they had been using to spar on for the last week. They had both decided that Rowan and Orin's old campsite wasn't the right place to practice, so instead they walked a little further from the village of Aso and found a clearing near a stream.
Kalti and Yasal both quietly put their bags to one side and began the stretches that Rowan had taught them to perform before beginning work on their katas.
Once they had limbered up, they began the simplest of the katas they had been taught, looping through the Northern Ice Blossom Posture to the Western Shield Posture. They were both still mechanical in their movements, the kata a series of stances and strikes rather than the flowing dance it should be when performed by one who had grown up a student of Crimson Pentacle Blade Style.
Kalti was still finding it hard to balance the shield he had crafted with the spear that he had made under Rowan's watchful eye, but he knew that with only a few more days' practice he would have its use mastered. He decided that for the sparring practice he would discard it and simply fight with his spear.
Yasal and Kalti turned to face each other, bowing respectfully as they had been taught. They then assumed the stances they had come to rely on to show their readiness to fight and waited for the other to be the first to break the tension building between them and strike.
As usual, Kalti was the first to lunge for his opponent, and with that the shadow play of strike and parry, thrust and counter attack began. "Your counter strike is wrong - you hold the spear too tightly." Yasal said breathlessly while they continued their bout.
"It's not - it's how she taught me do it. It's just because you keep on saying we can't fight for real! Pulling the blow ruins the stance." Kalti thrust with more strength to emphasise his point.
Yasal took a step back and assumed the posture to bring the sparring to an end. "We've discussed this before." Yasal said, a stern tone in his voice. "Not until you have better control."
Kalti held his spear out in challenge. "Only because you know I'd beat you."
Yasal was not one to be so easily provoked, but he considered the conversation he had had with Camira, Kalti's mother. She knew that training carried risks with it and had made him promise that he would not let Kalti's ego run unchecked. Perhaps this was a lesson he needed.
"Very well. Show me what you've learnt." Yasal raised his spear to meet Kalti's.
The dance began as it had in their practice; feint and counter feint, blow and parry. Then Yasal saw a chance to strike and catch Kalti on the hand, a blow which would not wound him - but which would make him drop his spear as his hand was slapped by the flat of his attacker's spear tip.
Yasal thrust.
Kalti had not misjudged his words; pulling the blow did slow his reaction. He saw what Yasal was trying to do and easily managed to knock his weapon to the side, the butt of his spear coming round swiftly to connect with Yasal's chin. The old guardsman realising too late his mistake, unable to get out of the way. Kalti's blow connected. Yasal crumpled.
Yasal came round some minutes later, as Kalti splashed his face with water from the stream. He wondered quite how he was going to keep the boy's ego in check - in this short while Kalti had learnt to fight with more skill than he had in all his years of drill and practice.
"I told you." Kalti said with a confident smile as he reached down to help Yasal back to his feet.