Gunhand4171
The Gunman
As the crew of the Kaiyo went about their day, many could hear the loud thumping of music coming from the ship's gym. As the song came to an end, another Aethersperm song began to blare from the speaker on the floor. If someone were to poke their head in, they would see an 8 foot tall, shirtless ID-SOL hanging from the ceiling. As the next song began to play, the man began the next set of reps. He picked up the large dumbells from the floor and began to pull himself upwards. He did that over and over again, intune to the song.
For William, the voice of his drill sergeant rang in his ears. "Come on boy! Get that ass in gear! I know you can do more than that!" He found himself mumbling to himself. "Yes sarge." As the song's tempo picked up so did the amount of reps he did.
Having finished with the maintenance of her Mindy, she found that she had time on her hands and then after Boss told her where William was, she decided to go seek him out. As she had mentioned wanting to learn sword techniques now that she had an Aether Katana, she wanted to learn more so that she could do more things with it, and to be a better combatant.
So with her Aether Katana at her hip, she made her way to the gym where she began hearing music and then she watched him move. She found herself impressed with the newly bigger version of their old crewmate. She didn’t want to interrupt so she waited an watched him until it seemed like he was finished.
As Kiyo had arrived outside the door to the gym, William cracked an eye and looked over to her. As his eye met her's he smiled slightly and fell from the ceiling. His hands reached out and caught himself then finally righted himself. "Hey Kiyo, so you need some sword lessons I take it?" He asked as he sent a mental command to the boombox to shut it off.
He ran a hand through his hair and and took a deep breath. "Mind if I see it?" He asked, holding out a hand.
Close by the boom box turned off but no one was there, she assumed he had done so, who knows what he was capable of now. “Yup! I was thinking I should get some since I now have an Aether Katana.” She said lifting it out of its Sheath letting him see it. “unfortunately I’ve made it strict on who can wield it, so unless you're immune to electric shocks it should be fine for you”
William blinked for a second, then withdrew his hand quickly. It probaby wouldn't kill him, but it wouldn't be a pleasnt feeling either. For now it was best to just go ahead and teach. "Understood. I need to change and get my own equipment. I'll meet you in the Dojo." he said sliding his tunic over his muscled frame.
Kiyo nodded her head and sheathed her weapon before making her way to the Dojo silently as a smile crept on her face. She did catch a glimpse of someone and she waved.
Wulf had been alone in the dojo for abit. Though he was no expert in hand to hand he still went through the motions of the set Star Army Close Quarters Combat. With a wooden fake gun in hand he went through several motions mentally calling each move. Despite having spent a life time learning this to any watching they would see almost a moment delay in each step, a habit of his for watching the corners of his sight. Though this meant his situational awareness kept up he always meaned he usually failed in mock matches with his crew mates.
Smiling as he saw some one enter the dojo he paused and bowed to the front of dojo. Returning the wave back to his partner “Kiyo thought you were still doing maintenance?”.
Kiyo smiled at her man, and she approached him before planting a kiss on his cheek before stepping back. “I finished a few minutes ago, my girl is fueled clean and ready to wreak havoc like her little sister Valkyr. I met William earlier, and he’s actually coming to the Dojo too, to teach me sword techniques, your welcome to join us too since you were here.”
As the two spoke, the aforementioned ID-SOL strode into the room. Although instead of wearing his usual training clothes, he wore a Golem Assualt Armored suit. The only thing missing was the helmet. On his back were two rather long swords. On closer inspection they were both a long nodachi style swords. Lastly, on his hip was a Kusarigama that was given to him after he had completed his training.
He looked at the pair and bowed. "Hello Wulf, long time no see." He said, a friendly smile coming to his face.
Wulf smiled receiving the kiss but before he could return the gesture he saw William enter the room. Still adjusting to the now IDSOL his memory crossed referenced why it looked familiar. Clicking as he replied “William too long though it's still werid seeing your new height, also Nepleslia armor i'm surprised they let you bring it here”. He smiled though mentally he was inspecting everything.
Kiyo turned as she heard movement behind her, and she felt her eyes widened as she saw him in his armor. “Whoa, you look awesome!” she said out loud, as the young girl’s excitement grew within her at the thought of her training. He did look amazing n is armor, but she preferred her own Mindy. She did suspect that it was an ID-SOL only armor and likely wouldn’t work for her.
Her eyes trained throughout his armor her eyes catch the glimpse of his weapons. Her ears picked up the conversation the two were having.
William smirked. "Perks of being an exchange officer. I was able to requisition a few things before I left." He replied to Wulf. "And I know. It took me quite a while to get used to the new body." He added.
He then looked down to Kiyo and smiled warmly. "Thank you. I like training in my Golem armor because it is the armor I will be using outside of a PA." He explained. "I need to get used to fighting in it. I should use the helmet too, but I didn't feel like messing with it."
He then crossed his arms. "Now then, we have quite a bit of training to do. Kiyo, how about you show me how much you already know." He said, motioning to the middle of the room.
Wulf pulled away to allow some space between the two fighters. Putting down the wooden gun “Well in that case i'll ref and watch how this goes”. A he looked between the two he sometimes remembered being a classic human had his down sides as he compared those two. In a straight fight he knew if it came down to it he wouldn't win but then again ranger never fought fair. Though he was glad it would never come to that and he watched with interest how this training would go.
As Kiyo turned completely to face William, her facial expression went from calm to nothing as she usually did when in combat. Silverlight was lifted up, the Aether energy flared at the edges, creating a halo around it. She moved forward and made her moves it was clear though the sword attacks, she was making were basic, and not at all what Samurai learned during their training. The blue-skinned Neko made jabs and horizontal swipes, and she lifted her sword back, to try a rapid-firing jab, but she hadn’t quite learned balance and she fell forward.
William watched as she began her movments. As he thought, she had a basic grasp on sword play. However, there was plenty of room for improvment. He grinned maliciously as she began to lose her balance. In one swift motion, he kicked out a foot and smacked her leg with just enough force to knock her down.
His arms crossed and he looked down at her. "First things first. We need to fix your stance. Otherwise you'd be dead right now." He said offering her a hand. It was harsh, yes. But it was how he had been taught, and it would be how he would teach.
Wulf watched the bout started with Kiyo coming right out of the gate with her moves. Seeing she had traditonally prefered offense moves he still admired her sword play. Though he did catch her off balance and what he saw next made him winch.
Watching Kiyo get kicked and despite him knowning it was training he still didn't help his gut. Though he could already tell William trained like how he him self was brought up. He made him wonder if this was also his upbringing the newly minted ID-sol.
Kiyo began to lose her balance, but what happened next surprised her, and she felt the kick and herself falling down onto the material beneath her. Silverlight fell out of her hand and penetrated the metal with the ebbing Aether that was no longer activating since her hand wasn’t on it. That was rather humiliating, but she remained expressionless as she accepted his hand and began getting up from the floor, her hand soon grasped her hilt and she lifted it up. “Hai” she agreed, perhaps stance would be a good idea.
"Good." William said, as he hoisted Kiyo to her feet. He then took a few steps back and drew one of his swords. Taking it in both hands he spread his feet and lowered his body into a proper fighting stance. "Watch me." He ordered.
He then went through several steps then, each movment flowing into the next. Though each movment was methodical, it was also fluid from one cut to the next. It was not a tool, but an extension of his body. It seemed as if the blade belonged in his hands. At the end of the movment he slid the blade back into it's scabbard onto his back with one smooth motion.
"A solid base is the foundation of swordsmanship. Without it, no matter how well you hold the blade, it will do you no good." He stated calmly. "Do as I do." he commanded, then slowly showed her how to position her feet, then how to lower her center of gravity.
Watching Kiyo get back up he then watched what happened next. Watching the swordsmen move he was reminded how he felt when he was with his rifle. Weapons always had to be part of you, a natural extension and the more in tune with you the quicker the response. Watching it he also had some troube following some of the blade work, his unaugmented eyes losing sight of it though he wondered if Kiyo kept up.
Turning to her he saw her eyes move more sharply. It seemed that she never lost the movement like her name shake would say. As he watched Willam return his weapon he watched the foot work. Nodding as it seems familiar to him so maybe he wasn't so lost.
Kiyo stepped back to allow him some space to do his thing, her eyes watching him like some bird of prey ready to strike or in his case ready to learn. While it probably would be faster to download the techniques this would be fine, she can earn this way just as easily. Her eyes saw every movement made, her mind processed, committed to memory. Storing for later use, whether through a sparring match or through true combat.
She watched and unlike her human love, the speed in which the bigger man had moved wasn’t so fast that she lost track of him. She saw everything every movement, and how his sword was not simply a tool like hers had been but an extension of his arm.
Her ears picked up William's words, and she understood having watched him move that what he was saying was correct. Her eyes continued to watch and immediately she mimicked him, her feet began moving into position, as his own was, and her center of gravity was lowered too.
"Nicely done, now to test it." He placed a hand on her shoulder and began to push against her. It was to help show how it was much harder to knock her down now. With a final push he smiled as she stood firm. "Well done. Now show me how that sword works. Make it a part of your body, not just a tool."
He took several steps back, then took the Kusarigama from his hip and slid a protective guard over the blade thus making it safe to use to spar. He took the scythe in one hand and began to twirl the weighted chain in the other. "Let's see what you got..." He said with a smirk.
Glad to see more instruction he watched kiyo process it. Smiling he saw she was ready for the next bout. Silently he wanted to cheer loudly for her to win but knew it wasn't going to be easy. Seeing William assume position he waited for the next clash of blades.
Kiyo heard him say that it was time to test it, and for a moment she wasn’t sure how he would until he had placed his hand on her shoulder. It was huge and warm, but she held on, not letting him push her down. At his next statement, her eyes began glowing, as if to show she was remembering how he’d done it and then with Wulf watching she began making her attack.
She remembered what he’d said about making the weapon a part of her, and she remembered what he’d said during a previous training session about telegraphing her movement. She didn’t do that this time around since she carefully trained herself not to.
The Aether Kata moved like it was her arm, not an extra tool, and as she moved in for a strike, it almost seemed like it bent like an arm would as she used a trick. Had she not been in combat mode, she’d have wondered if the two men were proud of her.
William twirled the chain as she charged at him. If he were his old self, he would have tried to jump out of the way. But his new, massive frame made slightly difficult. Yet he stilled had some new tricks up his sleeve.
The trick was making his size work for him.
He slammed a massive foot down onto the floor and released the chain, letting weight fly directly into Kiyo path. Then with a slight flick of his wrist he drove the weight down, causing it to change direction. It bounced off the floor and came at Kiyo from a new angle. When the weight hit the ground it caused a resounding 'THUD' giving a hint of just how heavy the weight and chain actually were.
Wulf looked amazed watching kiyo move. The movement was different and he could tell it was more fluid. Though the blocks from William was also impressive espically with what came next. Seeing William use his weight to shift the angle of attack was smart and he could only look on hoping the Neko would block. As he watched he was glad not to be in that ring.
Kiyo watched calmly as the weapon came at her. Someone else might react in fear with the attack coming, but Kiyo was as calm as water, the thud and the change in direction was noted, and her Katana moved up to block the path of the attack, but she knew that the chain might wrap around so she began lowering to the ground as she rolled, hoping it dodged and sensed the loud Thud which told her how heavy he was now.
Since she wasn’t pissed off, the full power of her Katana wasn’t unleashed and thus it likely couldn’t destroy the weapon, which is good because she would feel guilty.
The ID-SOL smiled to himself as he charged at her. She didn't try to block with her sword, which was good. He she had he could have wrapped his chain around the blade and rip it from her hands.
He pulled back hard on the chain causing it to fly back to him. Catching the weight, he spun and released the scythe from his hand. It swung in a long, wide arch. With the chain at its full length, William had effectively tripled his reach. The chains and blade whistled through the air as the came flying towards Kiyo.
Keeping her moving would test just how well she could keep her balance under pressure.
Watching the the flash and clang of battle stirred in his heart. Instinct spoke to engage or be awestruck though it was hard to say. Seeing the chain wing around he took note of it and from what he could tell was it reach. He knew this was not easy to master but yet William made it look at easy. As he watched it still prefered his short sword or pistol but he could admire its reach.
Kiyo watched him make his chain return to him and as it had she wondered how heavy it truly was, and whether it was nothing for William. Her eyes saw the Scythe and she took a gamble that this time when she blocked the blade, it wouldn’t wrap around her Katana. Or at least cause the weapon to become unstable, as she moved in quickly towards him, but keeping herself attentive to new attacks.
William hadn't expected Kiyo to lean into the attack. As the Scythe clashed with her sword, Kiyo could feel the weight behind the weapon as it finally made contact with her. However she was still able to block the weapon, causing it to stop swing. William yanked back on the weapon and pulled the scythe back into his hand once more. "Good! Keep moving!" He ordered as the hand that was holding the weighted chain let go all together. Instead the hand shot out, palm first, towards his opponets midsection in a flash of speed.
Watching the Scythe dig in close he watched as Kiyo changed up the angle of attack. Seeing her move forward his heart pounding as he watched them move. Though not able to see it all he saw Williams body motion change after his shout of praise. Seeing the mid section shot he didn't know if Kiyo could block or instead of would take the hit. He wanted to warn her but knew that to do so much distract his partner instead he could watch at this beings breed for war what would happen.
Her block to the Scythe had succeeded, but she knew it wasn’t over yet. Her ears twitched picking up on the sounds that the fist was making as it passed through the air towards her. Her eye moved and soon she caught sight of it. She knew that if she used her weapon, there was potential for him to get hurt, she also knew if she didn’t she might get hurt, instead, she chose to do something crazy.
She jumped up, bypassing the fist and then ran up his arm until she got to his face and there her Aether Katana was close to his neck but nowhere near close that the Aether enhanced edge would do damage. “how was that?’ she asked.
And like that it was over. William blinked once, then twice more.He could feel the heat washing off the blade and smacking him in the face. He then slowly reached up. "Good job." He then gentely grabbed Kiyo by the scruff of her neck and genetly lowered her to the floor.
"You're a quick learner." He added as he coiled the Kusarigama back on his hip. He cracked his neck one way, then the other, before sighing. "I still need to work out my kinks." he sighed.
Wulf couldn't help but let out a triumphed “YAY KIYO!”. Then pausing in slight embrassment “Sorry just got excited for a moment”. Letting a smile happen though slight flush in his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his skull. “You did well too William” he said with less enthusiasm his energy slightly drained.
Kiyo felt his large hand reach up and then the pressure at the scruff of her neck like a feline pet of his. Though she could have hovered but too late now that she found herself standing on the floor. She grinned at Wulf at his outburst, and then looked back to William again as he spoke again complimenting her quick learning. “hehe I am a Nekovalkyrja after all.” she said, moving closer to Wulf, and placing her hands behind her and assuming the at ease position.
“I agree, I mean that’s a new body, so there might still be some things to work on, but yeah you did well too William.” She said with a smile on her face.
William stood up straight after putting Kiyo back down. He held back a snort when Wulf cheered for Kiyo's victory. As the two stood next to each other, he accessed his mindware and replayed the last part of the fight in his mind. All he could think was... 'Damn it...' He let himself get cocky.
He didn't outwardly show anything. His face remained blank for a few seconds before he replied. "Thanks. In any case you have picked up most of what I could teach. Maybe Rei can show you more later on." He said, his hands moving to rest on his hips.
Wulf smiled and went up to both of them. Looking at each "Both did well though I don't think I can keep up with either of you". Looking at there weapons "I'm glad I wont have to face you on the battle field otherwise I might not make it close up".
Kiyo turned to look at Wulf as he complimented them both and mentioned he couldn’t keep up with them. She tried not to smile when he mentioned how glad he was that they were on his side because he probably wouldn’t make it. Her head, then turned to William when he mentioned that Rei could perhaps show her more later on and she nodded her head. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to ask her. “She told him, smiling happily as she allowed her normal self to regain control.
William's eyes shifted over to Wulf as well when he made his comment. "Agreed, but don't cut yourself short either. I was once just like you after all, and you have just as much to offer as we do." He said, the corner of his lip pulling in smile. The ID-SOL also seemed to calm as well. The adrenaline and aggression both quickly subsiding. William's shoulders visibly relaxed, as did his posture.
Wolf smiled the ranger in him still spoke “Thanks I appreciate that”. Hearing the comment about he was like him once there was part of him still preferring to stay as he was even if he had some weakness. Keeping the smile on his face “Also no worries I never sell my self too short, since I want to stay unmodified just means I have to be creative in how I deal with things”. Patting William on the back “ Besides as you know Rangers never fight fair if they can help it”.
Kiyo smiled as she listened to her lover speaking to William and their responses. He was right Wulf shouldn’t sell himself short, that’s one of the reasons why she loved him after all, he was amazing, brave and had honor within himself. She smiled at Wulf’s response” True hehe” she replied to him.
William let out a belowing laugh. "We have similar saying in the Corp." He said, gesturing to the NSMC patch on his shoulder. "If you're opponett is dead, then they can't bitch." His enhanced eyes glanced between the 2 once more. "My brothers and I did get quite a bit of trouble in boot for trying to beat each other with whatever dirty trick we could pull. They taught me quite a bit in that regard."
Wulf followed and watched his patch. Remembering his life time he'll admit he was always up for learning more. Keeping his grin which seemed almost mischievous “Ah they encouraged us in training to do it, as long as no one got too hurt”. Then wondering what he could learn “Maybe we can give each other pointers before our next mission”.
The Neko’s ears twitched at the laughter and she discovered there was a similar saying in his corps as well. She nodded her head” indeed, that seems right’ she said before they began speaking once more and she found herself surprised, it seemed to her that their specific military allowed them to get into shenanigans. “Seems like you two had some fun during training,” she said to the two of them, and then began hovering before going into a sitting position while hovering. “I’d love to hear more sometime myself,” she told them.
The ID-SOL nodded to both of them. "Sure, I'd be happy too." He said, looking up in contimplation. "There was the time that me and my squad accidently set the local bar on fire. Though I don't remember much of that night. Only what our drill sergeant told us after words. We had hell to pay for that..." He shuddered at the thought. "We had to clean so many latriens and do so PT our body's felt like they were on fire." He shook his head. "Moral of the story, don't let a bunch of brand new ID-SOLs go to a bar by themselves."
Wulf looked abit stunned. He remembered when he was in the infantry of some of the bar antics they got into but accidentally setting fire to a bar ? That never heard of. Pausing abit before answer “I've never heard of accidentally doing that but I may I guess I've never been a Id-sol”.. Thinking of his own antics “I mean the stuff we did was mostly to mess with the other regiments, I mean one time they gave us a laxative so we had to get them back”. What seemed unussual for the ranger “So we gave it right back in there food while on a joint class exercise”. Remembering the panic looked of 30 rangers “Also we took all the toiletries so there was also some awkwardness after”.
Kiyo’s eyes widened in shocked surprise and awe at what she had just heard. Setting fire to a bar. She was glad to know that it was accidental, but she began to think that ID-SOLs were crazy as recruits. Wulf was next to regale them some crazy story and once more she found her eyes widened. She made a mental note to ask her sister about any crazy story of her time during training. “You two were nuts.” she says, shaking her head. She thought she should add to the story so far of her own time. “there were two times during my time in training where things unexpectedly happened, the first time, after I left the take, we were supposed t get our supplies, and then go to our next assignment, only I didn’t get dressed and walked al he way there, without clothes on, I uh kinda forgot to get dressed.”
William smirked. "Oh yes, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. There was the other time that somebody tried to do something just like that." He said poinitng to Wulf. "And let's just say that by the time we had finished with him, he was hanging from the base's flag pole by his skivvies." He said grinning, a glint of pride in his eyes.
Wulf looked at both and kiyo's story made abit more sense of a personal earlier moment they had. As he pondered “wait dear so you didn't even have volumetrics on either?”. Trying not to think about it he heard Williams next bit “The pole held?”
Kiyo shook her head n the negative, to Wulf’s question, she knew Saya would have a reaction to that, but she’d been distracted by the new sights she’d seen and hadn’t thought of it. She found herself distracted by what William was saying next, and she found herself in both awe and shock. “The Pole held?’ she asked at the same time as Wulf, which caused her to grin at him in response. “Would accidentally blowing up the training Sergeant’s house be on the same level as you two?”
William nodded. "The pole head. They didn't make that mistake again. The Sarge pretended he was pissed off, but we could tell he was proud. We got extra rations that day." He cracked his knuckles. At the suggestion of blowing up the Sarge's house, the big ID-SOL shuddered. "That is a big negative. That man was so scary. Like I would fight the entire platoon than piss that man off." He replied.
Wulf could only just blink at Kiyo's comment. “How do you accidently blow up the Sergeant's house or live?”. He was just flabbergasted at that message and just couldn't mentally process it.
She nodded in understanding as William spoke of the Pole head topic, but then in all the short time she has lived, she has never ever seen an ID-SOL shudder, and that told her exactly how scary a Training Sarge was supposed to be. It would appear that accidentally blowing up his house was not at the same level, based on their reaction it was a little higher. She knew she probably had to explain what happened, though she hoped it wouldn’t get back that it had been she.
“I was in my Mindy, probably the second time for training, and I’d accidentally miss judged its strength capability, and “ here she looked down nervous about their reactions and whether Wulf would still love her. “My arm hit these spheres shaped objects used in training, and a whole bunch flew up, because of the force of the hit, and in power armor its really strong, and in the direction that they were flying, because the house was kinda on an elevated ground, it hit the house and utterly destroyed it. With the impact of a small bomb.” She said before remembering that Wulf asked how she survived “oh, my older sister took the blame for it, and forced my other batch sisters to agree that she was the one, and not I.” She said rubbing the back of her head. “I mentioned her to you before, that’s the one that had been stuck on Hanako when it fell.”
"Damnnation..." William replied. "Yeah that definitely puts plenty if my stories to shame." He added. William true did fear his sarge. Thought of blowing house up brought genuine fear and sent a shiver down his spine.
Wulf was stunned by the whole tale. Nothing he could say could even compare to this. As he listened intently to the whole story. The last part though pulled abit at him “Well she was a amazing person from all you've told me”. Kinda of at a lost for words he looked at the ground for a moment “Really lucked out with your batch sisters there Kiyo”.
Kiyo’s ears twitched at the response of her comrades' guilt filled her at the thought of putting William’s stories to shame, and she heard Wulf’s response, about how she lucked out, and how her sister was an amazing person. Her right hand lifted towards Wulf, hoping to grab his hand gently seeking comfort” yeah, she was” she said in response.
William nodded again. "For sure. It sounds like you had a good squad." He agreed. "Why don't we continue this else where. I need to get out this armor." He suggested. "Y'all head to the mess while I change in to my uniform." He added.
For William, the voice of his drill sergeant rang in his ears. "Come on boy! Get that ass in gear! I know you can do more than that!" He found himself mumbling to himself. "Yes sarge." As the song's tempo picked up so did the amount of reps he did.
Having finished with the maintenance of her Mindy, she found that she had time on her hands and then after Boss told her where William was, she decided to go seek him out. As she had mentioned wanting to learn sword techniques now that she had an Aether Katana, she wanted to learn more so that she could do more things with it, and to be a better combatant.
So with her Aether Katana at her hip, she made her way to the gym where she began hearing music and then she watched him move. She found herself impressed with the newly bigger version of their old crewmate. She didn’t want to interrupt so she waited an watched him until it seemed like he was finished.
As Kiyo had arrived outside the door to the gym, William cracked an eye and looked over to her. As his eye met her's he smiled slightly and fell from the ceiling. His hands reached out and caught himself then finally righted himself. "Hey Kiyo, so you need some sword lessons I take it?" He asked as he sent a mental command to the boombox to shut it off.
He ran a hand through his hair and and took a deep breath. "Mind if I see it?" He asked, holding out a hand.
Close by the boom box turned off but no one was there, she assumed he had done so, who knows what he was capable of now. “Yup! I was thinking I should get some since I now have an Aether Katana.” She said lifting it out of its Sheath letting him see it. “unfortunately I’ve made it strict on who can wield it, so unless you're immune to electric shocks it should be fine for you”
William blinked for a second, then withdrew his hand quickly. It probaby wouldn't kill him, but it wouldn't be a pleasnt feeling either. For now it was best to just go ahead and teach. "Understood. I need to change and get my own equipment. I'll meet you in the Dojo." he said sliding his tunic over his muscled frame.
Kiyo nodded her head and sheathed her weapon before making her way to the Dojo silently as a smile crept on her face. She did catch a glimpse of someone and she waved.
Wulf had been alone in the dojo for abit. Though he was no expert in hand to hand he still went through the motions of the set Star Army Close Quarters Combat. With a wooden fake gun in hand he went through several motions mentally calling each move. Despite having spent a life time learning this to any watching they would see almost a moment delay in each step, a habit of his for watching the corners of his sight. Though this meant his situational awareness kept up he always meaned he usually failed in mock matches with his crew mates.
Smiling as he saw some one enter the dojo he paused and bowed to the front of dojo. Returning the wave back to his partner “Kiyo thought you were still doing maintenance?”.
Kiyo smiled at her man, and she approached him before planting a kiss on his cheek before stepping back. “I finished a few minutes ago, my girl is fueled clean and ready to wreak havoc like her little sister Valkyr. I met William earlier, and he’s actually coming to the Dojo too, to teach me sword techniques, your welcome to join us too since you were here.”
As the two spoke, the aforementioned ID-SOL strode into the room. Although instead of wearing his usual training clothes, he wore a Golem Assualt Armored suit. The only thing missing was the helmet. On his back were two rather long swords. On closer inspection they were both a long nodachi style swords. Lastly, on his hip was a Kusarigama that was given to him after he had completed his training.
He looked at the pair and bowed. "Hello Wulf, long time no see." He said, a friendly smile coming to his face.
Wulf smiled receiving the kiss but before he could return the gesture he saw William enter the room. Still adjusting to the now IDSOL his memory crossed referenced why it looked familiar. Clicking as he replied “William too long though it's still werid seeing your new height, also Nepleslia armor i'm surprised they let you bring it here”. He smiled though mentally he was inspecting everything.
Kiyo turned as she heard movement behind her, and she felt her eyes widened as she saw him in his armor. “Whoa, you look awesome!” she said out loud, as the young girl’s excitement grew within her at the thought of her training. He did look amazing n is armor, but she preferred her own Mindy. She did suspect that it was an ID-SOL only armor and likely wouldn’t work for her.
Her eyes trained throughout his armor her eyes catch the glimpse of his weapons. Her ears picked up the conversation the two were having.
William smirked. "Perks of being an exchange officer. I was able to requisition a few things before I left." He replied to Wulf. "And I know. It took me quite a while to get used to the new body." He added.
He then looked down to Kiyo and smiled warmly. "Thank you. I like training in my Golem armor because it is the armor I will be using outside of a PA." He explained. "I need to get used to fighting in it. I should use the helmet too, but I didn't feel like messing with it."
He then crossed his arms. "Now then, we have quite a bit of training to do. Kiyo, how about you show me how much you already know." He said, motioning to the middle of the room.
Wulf pulled away to allow some space between the two fighters. Putting down the wooden gun “Well in that case i'll ref and watch how this goes”. A he looked between the two he sometimes remembered being a classic human had his down sides as he compared those two. In a straight fight he knew if it came down to it he wouldn't win but then again ranger never fought fair. Though he was glad it would never come to that and he watched with interest how this training would go.
As Kiyo turned completely to face William, her facial expression went from calm to nothing as she usually did when in combat. Silverlight was lifted up, the Aether energy flared at the edges, creating a halo around it. She moved forward and made her moves it was clear though the sword attacks, she was making were basic, and not at all what Samurai learned during their training. The blue-skinned Neko made jabs and horizontal swipes, and she lifted her sword back, to try a rapid-firing jab, but she hadn’t quite learned balance and she fell forward.
William watched as she began her movments. As he thought, she had a basic grasp on sword play. However, there was plenty of room for improvment. He grinned maliciously as she began to lose her balance. In one swift motion, he kicked out a foot and smacked her leg with just enough force to knock her down.
His arms crossed and he looked down at her. "First things first. We need to fix your stance. Otherwise you'd be dead right now." He said offering her a hand. It was harsh, yes. But it was how he had been taught, and it would be how he would teach.
Wulf watched the bout started with Kiyo coming right out of the gate with her moves. Seeing she had traditonally prefered offense moves he still admired her sword play. Though he did catch her off balance and what he saw next made him winch.
Watching Kiyo get kicked and despite him knowning it was training he still didn't help his gut. Though he could already tell William trained like how he him self was brought up. He made him wonder if this was also his upbringing the newly minted ID-sol.
Kiyo began to lose her balance, but what happened next surprised her, and she felt the kick and herself falling down onto the material beneath her. Silverlight fell out of her hand and penetrated the metal with the ebbing Aether that was no longer activating since her hand wasn’t on it. That was rather humiliating, but she remained expressionless as she accepted his hand and began getting up from the floor, her hand soon grasped her hilt and she lifted it up. “Hai” she agreed, perhaps stance would be a good idea.
"Good." William said, as he hoisted Kiyo to her feet. He then took a few steps back and drew one of his swords. Taking it in both hands he spread his feet and lowered his body into a proper fighting stance. "Watch me." He ordered.
He then went through several steps then, each movment flowing into the next. Though each movment was methodical, it was also fluid from one cut to the next. It was not a tool, but an extension of his body. It seemed as if the blade belonged in his hands. At the end of the movment he slid the blade back into it's scabbard onto his back with one smooth motion.
"A solid base is the foundation of swordsmanship. Without it, no matter how well you hold the blade, it will do you no good." He stated calmly. "Do as I do." he commanded, then slowly showed her how to position her feet, then how to lower her center of gravity.
Watching Kiyo get back up he then watched what happened next. Watching the swordsmen move he was reminded how he felt when he was with his rifle. Weapons always had to be part of you, a natural extension and the more in tune with you the quicker the response. Watching it he also had some troube following some of the blade work, his unaugmented eyes losing sight of it though he wondered if Kiyo kept up.
Turning to her he saw her eyes move more sharply. It seemed that she never lost the movement like her name shake would say. As he watched Willam return his weapon he watched the foot work. Nodding as it seems familiar to him so maybe he wasn't so lost.
Kiyo stepped back to allow him some space to do his thing, her eyes watching him like some bird of prey ready to strike or in his case ready to learn. While it probably would be faster to download the techniques this would be fine, she can earn this way just as easily. Her eyes saw every movement made, her mind processed, committed to memory. Storing for later use, whether through a sparring match or through true combat.
She watched and unlike her human love, the speed in which the bigger man had moved wasn’t so fast that she lost track of him. She saw everything every movement, and how his sword was not simply a tool like hers had been but an extension of his arm.
Her ears picked up William's words, and she understood having watched him move that what he was saying was correct. Her eyes continued to watch and immediately she mimicked him, her feet began moving into position, as his own was, and her center of gravity was lowered too.
"Nicely done, now to test it." He placed a hand on her shoulder and began to push against her. It was to help show how it was much harder to knock her down now. With a final push he smiled as she stood firm. "Well done. Now show me how that sword works. Make it a part of your body, not just a tool."
He took several steps back, then took the Kusarigama from his hip and slid a protective guard over the blade thus making it safe to use to spar. He took the scythe in one hand and began to twirl the weighted chain in the other. "Let's see what you got..." He said with a smirk.
Glad to see more instruction he watched kiyo process it. Smiling he saw she was ready for the next bout. Silently he wanted to cheer loudly for her to win but knew it wasn't going to be easy. Seeing William assume position he waited for the next clash of blades.
Kiyo heard him say that it was time to test it, and for a moment she wasn’t sure how he would until he had placed his hand on her shoulder. It was huge and warm, but she held on, not letting him push her down. At his next statement, her eyes began glowing, as if to show she was remembering how he’d done it and then with Wulf watching she began making her attack.
She remembered what he’d said about making the weapon a part of her, and she remembered what he’d said during a previous training session about telegraphing her movement. She didn’t do that this time around since she carefully trained herself not to.
The Aether Kata moved like it was her arm, not an extra tool, and as she moved in for a strike, it almost seemed like it bent like an arm would as she used a trick. Had she not been in combat mode, she’d have wondered if the two men were proud of her.
William twirled the chain as she charged at him. If he were his old self, he would have tried to jump out of the way. But his new, massive frame made slightly difficult. Yet he stilled had some new tricks up his sleeve.
The trick was making his size work for him.
He slammed a massive foot down onto the floor and released the chain, letting weight fly directly into Kiyo path. Then with a slight flick of his wrist he drove the weight down, causing it to change direction. It bounced off the floor and came at Kiyo from a new angle. When the weight hit the ground it caused a resounding 'THUD' giving a hint of just how heavy the weight and chain actually were.
Wulf looked amazed watching kiyo move. The movement was different and he could tell it was more fluid. Though the blocks from William was also impressive espically with what came next. Seeing William use his weight to shift the angle of attack was smart and he could only look on hoping the Neko would block. As he watched he was glad not to be in that ring.
Kiyo watched calmly as the weapon came at her. Someone else might react in fear with the attack coming, but Kiyo was as calm as water, the thud and the change in direction was noted, and her Katana moved up to block the path of the attack, but she knew that the chain might wrap around so she began lowering to the ground as she rolled, hoping it dodged and sensed the loud Thud which told her how heavy he was now.
Since she wasn’t pissed off, the full power of her Katana wasn’t unleashed and thus it likely couldn’t destroy the weapon, which is good because she would feel guilty.
The ID-SOL smiled to himself as he charged at her. She didn't try to block with her sword, which was good. He she had he could have wrapped his chain around the blade and rip it from her hands.
He pulled back hard on the chain causing it to fly back to him. Catching the weight, he spun and released the scythe from his hand. It swung in a long, wide arch. With the chain at its full length, William had effectively tripled his reach. The chains and blade whistled through the air as the came flying towards Kiyo.
Keeping her moving would test just how well she could keep her balance under pressure.
Watching the the flash and clang of battle stirred in his heart. Instinct spoke to engage or be awestruck though it was hard to say. Seeing the chain wing around he took note of it and from what he could tell was it reach. He knew this was not easy to master but yet William made it look at easy. As he watched it still prefered his short sword or pistol but he could admire its reach.
Kiyo watched him make his chain return to him and as it had she wondered how heavy it truly was, and whether it was nothing for William. Her eyes saw the Scythe and she took a gamble that this time when she blocked the blade, it wouldn’t wrap around her Katana. Or at least cause the weapon to become unstable, as she moved in quickly towards him, but keeping herself attentive to new attacks.
William hadn't expected Kiyo to lean into the attack. As the Scythe clashed with her sword, Kiyo could feel the weight behind the weapon as it finally made contact with her. However she was still able to block the weapon, causing it to stop swing. William yanked back on the weapon and pulled the scythe back into his hand once more. "Good! Keep moving!" He ordered as the hand that was holding the weighted chain let go all together. Instead the hand shot out, palm first, towards his opponets midsection in a flash of speed.
Watching the Scythe dig in close he watched as Kiyo changed up the angle of attack. Seeing her move forward his heart pounding as he watched them move. Though not able to see it all he saw Williams body motion change after his shout of praise. Seeing the mid section shot he didn't know if Kiyo could block or instead of would take the hit. He wanted to warn her but knew that to do so much distract his partner instead he could watch at this beings breed for war what would happen.
Her block to the Scythe had succeeded, but she knew it wasn’t over yet. Her ears twitched picking up on the sounds that the fist was making as it passed through the air towards her. Her eye moved and soon she caught sight of it. She knew that if she used her weapon, there was potential for him to get hurt, she also knew if she didn’t she might get hurt, instead, she chose to do something crazy.
She jumped up, bypassing the fist and then ran up his arm until she got to his face and there her Aether Katana was close to his neck but nowhere near close that the Aether enhanced edge would do damage. “how was that?’ she asked.
And like that it was over. William blinked once, then twice more.He could feel the heat washing off the blade and smacking him in the face. He then slowly reached up. "Good job." He then gentely grabbed Kiyo by the scruff of her neck and genetly lowered her to the floor.
"You're a quick learner." He added as he coiled the Kusarigama back on his hip. He cracked his neck one way, then the other, before sighing. "I still need to work out my kinks." he sighed.
Wulf couldn't help but let out a triumphed “YAY KIYO!”. Then pausing in slight embrassment “Sorry just got excited for a moment”. Letting a smile happen though slight flush in his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his skull. “You did well too William” he said with less enthusiasm his energy slightly drained.
Kiyo felt his large hand reach up and then the pressure at the scruff of her neck like a feline pet of his. Though she could have hovered but too late now that she found herself standing on the floor. She grinned at Wulf at his outburst, and then looked back to William again as he spoke again complimenting her quick learning. “hehe I am a Nekovalkyrja after all.” she said, moving closer to Wulf, and placing her hands behind her and assuming the at ease position.
“I agree, I mean that’s a new body, so there might still be some things to work on, but yeah you did well too William.” She said with a smile on her face.
William stood up straight after putting Kiyo back down. He held back a snort when Wulf cheered for Kiyo's victory. As the two stood next to each other, he accessed his mindware and replayed the last part of the fight in his mind. All he could think was... 'Damn it...' He let himself get cocky.
He didn't outwardly show anything. His face remained blank for a few seconds before he replied. "Thanks. In any case you have picked up most of what I could teach. Maybe Rei can show you more later on." He said, his hands moving to rest on his hips.
Wulf smiled and went up to both of them. Looking at each "Both did well though I don't think I can keep up with either of you". Looking at there weapons "I'm glad I wont have to face you on the battle field otherwise I might not make it close up".
Kiyo turned to look at Wulf as he complimented them both and mentioned he couldn’t keep up with them. She tried not to smile when he mentioned how glad he was that they were on his side because he probably wouldn’t make it. Her head, then turned to William when he mentioned that Rei could perhaps show her more later on and she nodded her head. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to ask her. “She told him, smiling happily as she allowed her normal self to regain control.
William's eyes shifted over to Wulf as well when he made his comment. "Agreed, but don't cut yourself short either. I was once just like you after all, and you have just as much to offer as we do." He said, the corner of his lip pulling in smile. The ID-SOL also seemed to calm as well. The adrenaline and aggression both quickly subsiding. William's shoulders visibly relaxed, as did his posture.
Wolf smiled the ranger in him still spoke “Thanks I appreciate that”. Hearing the comment about he was like him once there was part of him still preferring to stay as he was even if he had some weakness. Keeping the smile on his face “Also no worries I never sell my self too short, since I want to stay unmodified just means I have to be creative in how I deal with things”. Patting William on the back “ Besides as you know Rangers never fight fair if they can help it”.
Kiyo smiled as she listened to her lover speaking to William and their responses. He was right Wulf shouldn’t sell himself short, that’s one of the reasons why she loved him after all, he was amazing, brave and had honor within himself. She smiled at Wulf’s response” True hehe” she replied to him.
William let out a belowing laugh. "We have similar saying in the Corp." He said, gesturing to the NSMC patch on his shoulder. "If you're opponett is dead, then they can't bitch." His enhanced eyes glanced between the 2 once more. "My brothers and I did get quite a bit of trouble in boot for trying to beat each other with whatever dirty trick we could pull. They taught me quite a bit in that regard."
Wulf followed and watched his patch. Remembering his life time he'll admit he was always up for learning more. Keeping his grin which seemed almost mischievous “Ah they encouraged us in training to do it, as long as no one got too hurt”. Then wondering what he could learn “Maybe we can give each other pointers before our next mission”.
The Neko’s ears twitched at the laughter and she discovered there was a similar saying in his corps as well. She nodded her head” indeed, that seems right’ she said before they began speaking once more and she found herself surprised, it seemed to her that their specific military allowed them to get into shenanigans. “Seems like you two had some fun during training,” she said to the two of them, and then began hovering before going into a sitting position while hovering. “I’d love to hear more sometime myself,” she told them.
The ID-SOL nodded to both of them. "Sure, I'd be happy too." He said, looking up in contimplation. "There was the time that me and my squad accidently set the local bar on fire. Though I don't remember much of that night. Only what our drill sergeant told us after words. We had hell to pay for that..." He shuddered at the thought. "We had to clean so many latriens and do so PT our body's felt like they were on fire." He shook his head. "Moral of the story, don't let a bunch of brand new ID-SOLs go to a bar by themselves."
Wulf looked abit stunned. He remembered when he was in the infantry of some of the bar antics they got into but accidentally setting fire to a bar ? That never heard of. Pausing abit before answer “I've never heard of accidentally doing that but I may I guess I've never been a Id-sol”.. Thinking of his own antics “I mean the stuff we did was mostly to mess with the other regiments, I mean one time they gave us a laxative so we had to get them back”. What seemed unussual for the ranger “So we gave it right back in there food while on a joint class exercise”. Remembering the panic looked of 30 rangers “Also we took all the toiletries so there was also some awkwardness after”.
Kiyo’s eyes widened in shocked surprise and awe at what she had just heard. Setting fire to a bar. She was glad to know that it was accidental, but she began to think that ID-SOLs were crazy as recruits. Wulf was next to regale them some crazy story and once more she found her eyes widened. She made a mental note to ask her sister about any crazy story of her time during training. “You two were nuts.” she says, shaking her head. She thought she should add to the story so far of her own time. “there were two times during my time in training where things unexpectedly happened, the first time, after I left the take, we were supposed t get our supplies, and then go to our next assignment, only I didn’t get dressed and walked al he way there, without clothes on, I uh kinda forgot to get dressed.”
William smirked. "Oh yes, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. There was the other time that somebody tried to do something just like that." He said poinitng to Wulf. "And let's just say that by the time we had finished with him, he was hanging from the base's flag pole by his skivvies." He said grinning, a glint of pride in his eyes.
Wulf looked at both and kiyo's story made abit more sense of a personal earlier moment they had. As he pondered “wait dear so you didn't even have volumetrics on either?”. Trying not to think about it he heard Williams next bit “The pole held?”
Kiyo shook her head n the negative, to Wulf’s question, she knew Saya would have a reaction to that, but she’d been distracted by the new sights she’d seen and hadn’t thought of it. She found herself distracted by what William was saying next, and she found herself in both awe and shock. “The Pole held?’ she asked at the same time as Wulf, which caused her to grin at him in response. “Would accidentally blowing up the training Sergeant’s house be on the same level as you two?”
William nodded. "The pole head. They didn't make that mistake again. The Sarge pretended he was pissed off, but we could tell he was proud. We got extra rations that day." He cracked his knuckles. At the suggestion of blowing up the Sarge's house, the big ID-SOL shuddered. "That is a big negative. That man was so scary. Like I would fight the entire platoon than piss that man off." He replied.
Wulf could only just blink at Kiyo's comment. “How do you accidently blow up the Sergeant's house or live?”. He was just flabbergasted at that message and just couldn't mentally process it.
She nodded in understanding as William spoke of the Pole head topic, but then in all the short time she has lived, she has never ever seen an ID-SOL shudder, and that told her exactly how scary a Training Sarge was supposed to be. It would appear that accidentally blowing up his house was not at the same level, based on their reaction it was a little higher. She knew she probably had to explain what happened, though she hoped it wouldn’t get back that it had been she.
“I was in my Mindy, probably the second time for training, and I’d accidentally miss judged its strength capability, and “ here she looked down nervous about their reactions and whether Wulf would still love her. “My arm hit these spheres shaped objects used in training, and a whole bunch flew up, because of the force of the hit, and in power armor its really strong, and in the direction that they were flying, because the house was kinda on an elevated ground, it hit the house and utterly destroyed it. With the impact of a small bomb.” She said before remembering that Wulf asked how she survived “oh, my older sister took the blame for it, and forced my other batch sisters to agree that she was the one, and not I.” She said rubbing the back of her head. “I mentioned her to you before, that’s the one that had been stuck on Hanako when it fell.”
"Damnnation..." William replied. "Yeah that definitely puts plenty if my stories to shame." He added. William true did fear his sarge. Thought of blowing house up brought genuine fear and sent a shiver down his spine.
Wulf was stunned by the whole tale. Nothing he could say could even compare to this. As he listened intently to the whole story. The last part though pulled abit at him “Well she was a amazing person from all you've told me”. Kinda of at a lost for words he looked at the ground for a moment “Really lucked out with your batch sisters there Kiyo”.
Kiyo’s ears twitched at the response of her comrades' guilt filled her at the thought of putting William’s stories to shame, and she heard Wulf’s response, about how she lucked out, and how her sister was an amazing person. Her right hand lifted towards Wulf, hoping to grab his hand gently seeking comfort” yeah, she was” she said in response.
William nodded again. "For sure. It sounds like you had a good squad." He agreed. "Why don't we continue this else where. I need to get out this armor." He suggested. "Y'all head to the mess while I change in to my uniform." He added.
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