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 Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 5:39 pm
 It'd been a while since Zweix had seen her mother.
Granted, not that Sechs had ever been the motherly type, but even so, it had been a while, and much had changed, namely, the daughter herself. She was grown, now, and though she'd been on her own for some time prior, it was only now that things had begun to click. Since then, she'd realized her skills in empathy, and come to learn how to use them with some effectiveness, and traded off her awkwardness for a newfound lightness of foot, something she hadn't experienced in her life.
However, a series of vertical scars lightly running down her torso remained, and with them a hidden fear that she could no longer contain. She had to fight them the only way she knew how: she had to learn how to fight.
Of course, past recollections of her former training sessions left her seriously reconsidering, as she made light, calculated steps through the woods her mother had been known to train in. Nevertheless, she knew deep down that it was the best for her: in all honesty, she missed her father, and she wanted to see him. But she needed to know how to protect herself in case...things progressed again. So, here she was, wandering the woods with no particular place to go.
...Now what?
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 2:39 pm
"You need to learn to walk more quietly," said Sechs, smirking at her daughter from her perch in a tree. She'd been testing the limits of this four-legged form lately and discovered it to be rather good for climbing. And jumping. She leaped from the limb and landed in front of the younger kitsu. She reached out with a gloved paw and ruffled Zweix's hair, a strangely affectionate gesture for the ordinarily composed cyborg.
Sechs hadn't seen her daughter, or any of her children besides Nexis, for quite a while, and she was surprised to see how much Zweix had changed from the awkward kit she remembered. But, then again, she'd heard about the accident with Xelon - unfortunately bad timing, really - and trauma had a way of toughening beings up. And it was certainly true that, of the four kits from that litter, Zweix looked the most like her mother.
"Every living creature in this forest for miles can hear you," continued Sechs. "It's not the way of a proper warrior."
She studied the smaller female briefly, establishing just how much Zweix had changed. Her nobody side was apparent. Sechs recognized the clothing as hallmarks of it. And those scars... Well, nothing like battle scars to give you a tough reputation.
"How've you been?" she asked awkwardly, cuffing Zweix's ear. Tough love, tough love.
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 7:32 pm
Zweix nearly jumped out of her fur upon hearing her mother's voice, though it was to be expected: she honestly hadn't sensed her there, and it was a bit of a surprise. Her eyes squinted shut when Sechs lifted out a paw, expecting a blow for her blunder, but instead received a childish ruffling of her hair. At first, Zweix was confused, but through her empath's bond, she felt an affection she had never known her mother held for her.
It certainly would have changed the way she'd thought as a kit.
So, knowing this, she took the cuff to the ear in stride, and smiled, looking at her mother with her good eye. "I've been around, on my own for a while, but well for the most part. I saw Grandma the other day."
Her expression then became more stern, and again, her tails swished behind her in apprehension, nervous of how she was going to approach her next few words. "That's not what I'm here for, though." She eyed her mother's weapon, then stepped forward.
"I want to learn Panzer Kunst now. I...think I'm ready. I wasn't before."
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 7:42 pm
Sechs cracked a grin, though her shark-like smile made it a bit fearsome. "You want to learn now?" she asked. And she'd thought she was done with this bunch of kits! Nexis had finally been eradicated from her house, Derix and Verix had been plotting the apocalypse for lord knew how long, and now Zweix finally wanted to be training.
She narrowed her eye suspiciously at her daughter. "You never had any interest in fighting before," she said. Squinting, however, made the scars even more apparent, and Sechs understood.
"You want me to teach you Panzer Kunst so you can fight your father," she stated flatly. She frowned.
"I'll teach you to fight," she said, "But I won't teach you to kill."
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 7:57 pm
"I never had any coordination before, either," Zweix noted in reply, her spirits rising as she realized that things may actually go her way, that she could learn how to fight. However, her mother's next statement brought her back to earth again, and she sheepishly looked down in a rather childish way, nodding wordlessly. The further statement, however, struck a chord that she didn't want to hear.
"I don't want to kill him!" She exclaimed, suddenly looking her mother in the eye with a desperate, almost frightened expression. "I just...I need to know, if I see him again, that--well--" She lifted a paw to reveal the scars. "This doesn't happen again."
"I want to see him again, Mom. I miss Dad. But I can't go in there like I am now. I'm...too scared to see him again." Once again, her expression hardened. "I need to fight. I have to."
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Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 8:11 pm
Sechs listened, her face remaining impartial, and then she said, somewhat cryptically, "The strongest warrior never has to fight."
She turned and started up the path. She took a few steps before looking back at Zweix. "Are you coming or not?" she demanded, and kept walking towards the clearing up ahead. It was the same one as the first lesson had taken place in, ages and ages ago.
Was this... parenting? Sechs didn't know it.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 7:53 pm
At her mother's prompting, Zweix bounded up from behind, an added spring in her step to keep up. She had to do her best, she had to be perfect, and she was determined to get things right this time. It was too important for mistakes.
Nevertheless, the younger kit's pace slowed as she reached the familiar clearing, and she had to shake off an old anxiety that had somehow left a mark on the place. Hers, clearly, from before. Tails swishing in apprehension, she followed her mother in silence, her ears folded back, and waited for the lesson to begin.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 3:04 pm
Sechs, still not showing any emotion, planted herself in the center of the clearing, a teacher staring down a new student. Her toes drummed the ground and then dug into it. She... was she smirking?
Something was definitely up.
Zweix had failed even the most basic lessons in their initial training, Sechs remembered. She would have to start at the beginning.
"Try to knock me off balance," she challenged.
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:43 pm
Oh. This one again.
It figured. After all, Zweix had failed even the most basic lessons in her initial training. Nevertheless, she had to bite back an exasperated sigh as she saw her mother get into position. This exercise was just going to prove to Zweix how little she knew, and how pathetic she was, and how worthless her efforts were, but she supposed she had to get through the mental beatdown if she was going to learn any physical beatdown.
So, with a stare attempting rivalry with her mother's, she stepped forward, her paws hitting the ground with a slow, deliberate pace. There had to be a weakness in the stance, there just had to be one: it didn't help that she was literally planted in the ground. Going for what she figured would be the general weak area, Zweix sprang into a run, preparing to barrel her teacher over with a hit to the shoulder.
She knew Sechs had something up her sleeve, but why not give it the old college try?
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:50 pm
Sechs sprang from her position into a leap, neatly avoiding her daughter, and then turned on the spot to pin the younger kitsu to the ground. She stared her down for a moment - lesson learned - before letting her up. She had seen enough, analyzed the style, and drawn a conclusion.
"You lack confidence in your own abilities," she stated. "You don't trust yourself and so you hesitate. Hesitation gives your opponent time to move, time to think."
She stood again in a ready stance. "A bewildered opponent is a defeated opponent. If you are bewildered, you have already lost. Catch me off-guard."
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Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:05 pm
Zweix huffed in indignation: she really should have that one coming. Getting to her feet again, she shook the dirt from her fur, then rubbed her nose with a paw as she heard her mother's statement, almost like a diagnosis, then flicked at her hair, fidgeting awkwardly. In the meanwhile, she tried to think of ways to catch her mother off-guard.
Again, she walked closer, then built up speed for an attack similar to her last. At the last minute, though, she slammed down on the ground with her front paws, and used the remaining momentum to swing her back paws around for a sweep. It wasn't much, but it was the best she could think of.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:33 am
Sechs was caught off-guard for a second, but managed to hop out of the way at the last second. Zweix's leg just barely glanced off her leg. A split second slower and she would have taken the hit.
"Good," she said, grinning like a shark. "Spontaneity is an excellent trait."
And then, as if to demonstrate, she leapt off the ground into a flip and dove at Zweix.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:13 pm
Approval.
Had Zweix really heard approval?
Before she had time to comprehend what had just occured, her teacher changed to the offensive, and she felt the excitement building around the moment as her muscles tensed, waiting for the right moment to dodge. She hesitated a bit too long, though, and as her mother came down, Zweix felt her weight crash into her sides, bringing her down. So, to remedy that, she did the most spontaneous thing she could thing of: she grabbed on to whatever part of her enemy that she could with paws and teeth, and went into a barrel roll.
Again, not much, but if the ride was half as disorienting for Sechs as it was for Zweix, then it would be worth it.
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