[Askoga]: 89.Novels.Kode.Chapter 5

The next morning when I awoke I got up and hurriedly dressed, then opened my door. I walked down the hall and peered into the meeting room. Savera was already awake, and she was twirling one silver feather in her fingers. She looked up and smiled, unsurprised to see me.
“Good morning, Askoga.” She greeted me in her usual manner, bowing her head slightly. “How did you sleep? Well, I hope?”
I nodded, smiling, “I slept very well, thank you. And how was your rest? I hope you didn’t stay up too late last night.”
“Ah, no, not too late. Actually, I fell asleep only a few minutes after you left the room. The law-keepers probably won’t be here for another few days, and it’s safe to go and practice. Just remember to be armed at all times and travel in small groups. I’ll go to the clearing to practice with you today.”
I nodded and went off to wake the others. Soon all ten of us were gathered in the meeting room and eating breakfast. Lot and Jopel ate with me. Jopel had curious brown eyes and wavy brown hair, which he had tied back carefully at the nape of his neck. Now that he’d cleaned it and brushed it out he looked much nicer. His face was still thin, but it was obvious that with regular good food and healthy exercise this man’s face would be square. I quickly learned that he was the one of his group that smiled easiest. In his company it was hard to feel down. However, I also found that he was very bad at keeping secrets, whether he was drunk or not.
As soon as breakfast was done I stood, wiping my hands on my trousers. “Alright, everyone. Today we’ll split into three groups. I want all of you to carry your fashokes with you, and watch carefully. In one week I want each of you to be able to at least navigate your way out of town. This morning we’re going to go to the washing hole. You’ll soon learn this is our routine. I require that all of my people be clean. However, today we won’t be washing clothes. That merely slows us down.”
I then organized them into three groups. With me I had Jopel, Xendat, and Greba. Lot went with Falsde and Kosh. Savera had in her care Pachok and Ploz. I sent Lot out first with her two, then, after waiting five minutes, I sent Savera. Finally I went with my three.
Once we were all there, I noticed that Savera and Lot had already gone to the spring up the hill. The men and I quickly cleaned ourselves, and then sat on the rocks drying. Once we were all dressed I whistled shrilly. Savera and Lot came out from behind the rocks and we all headed towards the clearing.
Once we were there I got them all paired up with the same partners as before. This time Kosh didn’t complain about being with Lot. He dutifully began the practice. Lot glanced at me boredly while they tossed the fashoke back and forth. I gestured for her to pay attention to her partner. I turned back to Savera, flicking open my own weapon. I was surprised to find another one flying towards me, but I reflexively caught it. I looked at Savera, surprised.
“Two?” I know my voice was unsteady. My stomach was jumping around inside. I’d never before tried practicing with two, though I knew I couldn’t have had a better teacher.
Savera smiled, which only made me more nervous, “It’s not as hard as you think. Just concentrate on it. Now, imagine you’re in the middle of a fight. I will take care of your fashokna.” She always pluralized fashoke in her own language, since that is where the word came from originally.
I did as she bade me, slipping naturally into a fighting stance. From my right I heard Savera say, “Hold out your right hand, with your left close to your body. This is a combination of a defensive and offensive position.” I did so. “Okay, now there’s a man coming towards you from the front and one from the left. The one on the left just threw a knife at you. Block it, but also attack the one in front of you. No, don’t tense up, relax and let your instincts and the spells in the fashokna guide you.”
We continued like this for at least one shadow-length, which is about a half-hour. I’d lost control of the fans several times within only the first few minutes, but by the time we were done I was losing control a lot less often.
Finally the blessed words came, “Okay, Askoga, well done. Time for a short break. You need to work with your students some more.” I was sweating hard as I folded up the fashokes and put one of them away.
My students were still throwing their fans, some looking distinctly bored. I well knew how boring that could become very quickly. I proceeded to walk around them, examining each person critically. Savera walked in the opposite direction, and both of us corrected stances, or gave advice. Then, giving no warning, I threw my fashoke into the circle, knocking one of the fans out of it’s original course, and straight to Lot. Again, this was because she’d had an extra day of practice.
Surprised, she made a sound of protest, but she caught it. She looked at me, her blue eyes angry again. I nodded, ignoring the anger in her features, and she threw her own fan, then looked around, and threw the other to the person who was supposed to get it in the first place. They continued tossing the fashokes back and forth, then I saw Savera’s staff knock another one out of it’s path. This one flew directly to Falsde. Immediately, he caught it, and flicked it back to the person it was supposed to go to, not once breaking his rhythm. I made a mental note of this, and went back to circling around my students.
By the end of that day, Savera and I had diverted enough of the flying fans that each person had a chance to catch a stray one at least once. Of the eight of them, only three caught the diverted fashokes. Lot, Falsde, and Koshin. Kosh, however, nearly dropped his.
That evening, we returned to the base, where we supped, and departed each for our separate rooms. I was weary as the dead, myself, and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The next morning went much like the previous. At breakfast I sat with Falsde this time, and began to get to know him. He was a silent, observing type, with short-cropped brown hair, which looked like it would curl into large ringlets if allowed to grow long.
At practice that day, we worked the circle exercise for several shadow-lengths. By noon, each person was, with varying degrees of consistency and surety, able to catch a diverted fashoke. They were all also very tired of this practice. I let them take a break for lunch, while Savera worked with me. I sweated as hard as I had the day before, concentrating on each throw. Too often, I would get a tap from Savera’s staff where I would have been attacked, and by the end my hands hurt from catching the weapons. Finally, I stopped, and turned to the others.
“Alright, everyone! It’s time for you to learn something new. I want each of you to get into your own space. Make it a circle about four or five yards wide, with you at the center.” They each did, all of them in possession of their own fashokes.
“Now, I want you to imagine—and I do mean that—that you are in the center of battle. Okay, now, go into a fighting stance, with your fashoke held close to your body, guarding your chest, your feet shoulder-width apart, with one slightly in front of the other, and your knees bent slightly. This is our defensive stance. There’s a warrior coming towards you from forward right. He’s holding a sword, and he’s charging. I want you to aim for his neck or chest. As soon as your weapon hits him call it back.”
I watched as the fans went flying, and Savera and I diverted the ones that got out of control. We followed this simple dance for a shadow-length, and I noticed that most of them were sweating as hard as I had been. They all got better as we continued. At the end of a shadow-length I told them to take a break. They looked relieved, and all of them, with the exception of Lot, sat down where they stood. Lot walked to a log before she sat down, wiping her forehead.
I turned to Savera, knowing exactly what was coming. I flicked open my weapons and fell into the stance. Savera smiled, and then I was lost in the open-minded state that the experiences fashoke user falls into when preparing to learn. She started me off by coming over behind me and raising one hand above my head. Suddenly I got a vivid image of a battle in my head. I grimly battled, following the dance pattern of the image. I knew that Savera would expect me to remember the pattern, so I let my mind absorb every single image.
The dance played twice before I fell into the pattern completely, and then I let it continue twice more. Finally I stopped and looked around for Savera. I was fascinated to find that she was working not so far off. I noticed almost immediately that she was following the same dance that I had been, and that she was nearly done. I smiled as I watched her. She moved far faster than I had, though.
When Savera finished she folded her fashokes and straightened, then bowed. When she opened her eyes she smiled politely at everyone. Her blue eyes landed on me and she said softly, “I watched you go through it twice, and then I decided you didn’t need my help anymore, so I started doing the dance myself. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Well, I didn’t hurt myself, so I don’t mind in the least,” I laughed. I turned to the others, “What Wizop and I just did is what we call a dance. It’s a set series of movements, paired with a set image. However, depending on the person and their technique the image is different. Therefore, it must either be first set into the fashoke, which is not advised for a warrior, but is perfect for a showy person; or it must be put directly into the person’s head. I cannot do that, so I will have to let Wizop. You will take turns. Who wants to go first?”
Lot went first, as I expected, and after her things went smoothly. I stood back and watched while each of them did the dance. Some of them did fairly well, some not so well. All of them did better than they would have had they not practiced first. After everyone had run through it twice, I gave them a break, and Savera turned to me. She was weary, but I knew that the dance would help with that.
I closed my eyes and sank into the stance, then opened my eyes again and began the dance. I was unsurprised to find Savera neatly blocking each of my movements, or intercepting them. The pattern of the dance flowed through me, and I was quickly learning to do it with few mistakes. After another shadow-length we stopped and set the others to work. We both supervised them for a while, and then sank into our own dances.
By the time we stopped that day everyone was very tired. I let them rest for a little while, but then we had to go. It was getting late. I sent off Lot’s group, then Savera’s. Just like before. When we got back to the inn we ate quickly, then everyone trooped off to bed. I, myself, was tired. I hadn’t gotten that much of a workout in a long time. Learning dances was mentally exhausting. I said good-night to Savera, then went straight to my room.