Immortal Cyan
The Cyan Neko
YSS Kaiyō II
Dojo
After completing the first parts of her training and lifting routine, Hanna entered the dojo dressed more like an athlete than a martial artist. Although her sports bra and volleyball shorts were standard Star Army issue attire, the uniform choice reflected her status as a novice swordswoman and martial artist. Once she arrived in front of the storage cabinets, Hanna reached into her cabinet, taking two curved practice swords out of her bag. Tonight, she would begin training in the Twin Dragon sword style with William.
Hanna gave the swords a few test swings through the air, visibly nervous about the lessons. Although she felt uncertain about having to take tutelage from a civilian martial artist, Hanna’s newfound humility and willingness to learn overshadowed all of her emotional anxiety.
After taking her tennis shoes and socks off and stepping onto the mat, Hanna looked towards William with an ambivalent expression crossing her features.
“I’m ready for training, sensei.”
William was dressed as he always was, with his sleeveless vest and a small kikyo flower pinned to it. One like the princess had given to him. He stood across from Hanna, his hands placed behind his back. He seemed much more confident than he had when she found him alone on the observation deck.
“Then it is time to begin, Minarai.” He replied, adding the last part in Yamatatigo which meant apprentice. He stepped forward. “First off, get into a ready stance.” He said, watching her expectantly.
What is a ready stance?
Hanna’s expression shifted as she processed the order. Although she was unfamiliar with the ready stances of the Twin Dragon form, the cyan Neko did her best imitation of one.
Placing her feet shoulder-width apart, Hanna stretched her arms out before raising her left sword in a defensive position and her right sword in a striking position.
William hid his smile with an effort at the face she made. The test was to see how much she knew instinctively. She was off in a few areas, but had the general concept correct. “Close Hanna-San. Very close.” William praised. He walked stepped in front of her and demonstrated. He did placed his feet shoulder width apart, but placed his dominant foot a few inches forward. His knees bent slightly, and he leaned his body slightly forward.
“This is your ready stance. From here you can are able to strike, defend, or dodge.” He explained, standing up. “The Twin Dragon style is a hard form to master. It provides endless offensive and defensive capability, however defense is tricky. In a duel, you don’t want to try and block a blade out right, you need to either parry the strike or get out of the way.” He explained. “However, we will get more into that after we master the basics.” He added.
Hanna reset her stance, moving her right foot a few inches forward, bending her knees, and leaning forward slightly. She then moved her left sword to a more offensive position, straightening the angle of her left wrist that she would have more leverage to attack.
After she was done shifting her form, Hanna looked up at William with a nervous glint in her eyes.
William gave his student a reassuring smile. “Good, Hanna-San. That’s right.” he complimented.
“Thank you, sensei.”, Hanna replied as she gave William a small bow.
William was surprised by the gesture, but took it in stride and returned the bow. “I have a feeling you will be a quick study.” He commented. “Come, get in your stance and we can start with basic strikes.”
Hanna nodded and shifted back into her stance, slightly bouncing back and forth on her heels while looking towards William, anticipating that she would have to follow his moves.
William got into a stance as well and walked her through the basics. Step by step, strike by strike. Each move was repeated whenever Hanna made a mistake, but he never raised his voice or became angry. He simply stopped and corrected her, before continuing as if nothing had happened.
Initially, Hanna’s strikes were slow and robotic. She had previously downloaded some of the Twin Dragon form from a martial arts manual. However, it would take her more practice to develop the fluid reactivity of a trained martial artist and Twin Dragon swordsmaster.
As the drills progressed, Hanna entered a rhythm. She became slightly annoyed at herself and to an extent, William, whenever he corrected her form. Each time she made a mistake and had to be corrected, Hanna felt that it broke her focus. However, she did her best to swallow these emotions and quickly attempted to readjust her form or technique in line with William’s guidance. Hanna was trying her best to be a coachable student.
William seemed to sense the frustration, and simply smiled as they worked. After about half an hour of this, the Nepleslian raised a hand. “Let’s take a breather.” He said, motioning to rest for a minute.
Despite William’s charming smile, a frown flashed across Hanna’s features when William called for a rest. In an awkward move to suppress her expression, Hanna gave William a small bow before turning around and walking to the storage cabinets for her water bottle. After taking a few swigs, Hanna returned to the mat and sat down next to William.
“When will we spar?”, Hanna in a somewhat impatient, although sweet voice.
William looked over to Hanna. “We can spar whenever you want to… However, the fundamentals are your foundation. With no foundation, you will be much more likely to fail.” He replied, taking a drink of his own water.
Hanna looked into William’s eyes as he spoke, giving an understanding nod before she standing up from the bench and stepping onto the mat.
“Then...I guess we have to build the foundation first, sensei.”, Hanna replied. “What constitutes...a solid foundation in the Twin Dragon form?”, Hanna asked as she paced back and forth in front of William.
He stood once more and watched as she paced. “A solid foundation needs the proper stances, proper form, and the like.” He replied. “I have showed you the bare bones so far. It’s a start but there is much more to learn.” He added.
“Then...I’m ready to...build the rest of the foundation.”, Hanna replied while running her hand along her swords. “Ready when you are, sensei.”, finished the cyan Neko.
William nodded approvingly. “Alright. Basic stance once more.” He moved and stood in front of her, getting into the stance as well. He slowly began adding more moves onto the earlier ones he had showed Hanna earlier.
After shifting into her stance, Hanna began to follow William’s movements with a careful eye towards his form. She did her best to replicate everything from the position of his shoulders to the movements of his hips. Once again, her first movements were slow and robotic, but grew in fluidity as she performed more strikes.
“Good!” William praised. “Again, without my guidance this time.” He said standing off to the side. “Put it all together.”
Hanna nodded quietly and shifted into her initial stance, holding it for a few seconds before she began the routine. She got through some of the more technical maneuvers by closing her eyes, but still seemed to struggle on her fluidity.
Once she had completed the routine and was in her final position, Hanna stood up tall, and gave William a small bow.
William nodded with approval, and bowed in return. “Good Hanna-San.” He said smiling softly. “Now, let’s put into practice.” He moved across from her once more. “Strike me and today’s lesson will be over. It won’t be easy though…” He said dropping into a low ready stance.
Hanna nodded and backpedaled slightly before dropping into her stance, giving William a slight nod to indicate that she was ready.
William nodded in return and waited patiently for Hanna to strike.
Lowering her position, Hanna sprinted at William. She performed an on-the-run doubled bladed fake maneuver towards his legs, visibly committing her hips to the movement in order to sell the feint. The movement was a modification of the drills they had practiced earlier, but Hanna hoped that it would be convincing enough to shake up his defense. In a flash of movement, Hanna’s hips shifted position, aiming a one-bladed strike at the side of Williams torso.
William smirked as the blow came for him. He moved to dodge, but Hanna’s attack nearly got him. He slipped the strike and back flipped away from her. As he landed he spun and lowered his stance again. “A good try, but you will have to do better than that.” He said awaiting the next strike.
Hanna jumped back into her attack motion before William finished speaking. Utilizing her Nekovalkyrja athleticism, Hanna aimed a high arcing attack at William’s shoulder, her body flying into reach before she aimed a strike at his legs as she landed on the mat.
He laughed as Hanna began her attack, catching him talking. “Good!” He said as he again attempted to slip the strike once more. The attack got even close that time, William just barely escaping the tips of her swords. “Keep going! You’re doing well!” He encouraged as he slid away once more.
Hanna suppressed an angry yell, her emotions coming out in a semi-audible hissing sound as she commited to her next attack. She did not like being laughed at, especially in a fight such as this one.
Hanna’s next strikes were savage in their ferocity, yet they had a semi-practiced fluidity behind them that gave her movements the grace of a trained Nekovalkyrja swordswoman. Her first attack was a overt two-bladed strike. Hanna, intentionally clashed her left blade with William’s sword, bouncing it off to create leverage for a follow up strike.
William dropped to his knee and threw his blades up to stop the strike. He seemed to smile at Hanna’s strikes, slowly getting even better than the last. “Good Hanna-San. Once more!”
Hanna leaped backwards, hovering for less than a quarter second, creating a brief period of separation between herself and her opponent before her left blade arced at William’s torso while her right one committed to a strike on his upper chest level. Now that William was lower to the ground, it was easier for the short Neko to aim strikes at his torso and chest.
William gritted his teeth as he attempted to block the strikes. He had not time to roll away… “This is gonna hurt…” He thought as he moved his blades up. His first blade stopped the strike to his torso, but her second strike landed on his chest. He was knocked backwards and he hit the ground hard. His eyes went wide as his breath was forced out of his lungs.
He tapped the ground, signaling the fight was over since he couldn’t pass any air through his vocal cords.
As the air disappeared from William’s lungs, the anger disappeared from Hanna’s heart as she dropped her swords and knelt down next to William. She instantly recognized the injury from the last fight she had with William. Although a small part of her wanted to relish in her victory and to taunt her fallen opponent, she also realized that William had helped her, in spite of her foul moods and tantrums.
Speaking in a calm and sisterly voice, Hanna looked William in his deep blue eyes and said five words:
“Spread out and breath, William.”
The Nepleslian nodded slowly and spread out his arms to try open his chest. He took several deep, shuddering breaths trying force the air in. “Th...thank you…” He said softly, just barely getting the words out.
Hanna nodded, crossing her legs and sitting down next to William while he regained his breath. Once he seemed to be okay, Hanna stood up and outstretched her hand without a word spoken, offering to help him get up from the mat.
William reached up and grabbed Hanna’s hand, slowly getting to his feet. Once he was up he nodded to her and gave a soft smile. “Thank you Hanna. You did very well today.” He said now that he had air back in his chest.
“Thank you, sensei. Shall we meet again tomorrow?”, replied Hanna with a smile crossing her lips.
“Of course.” He replied. He moved and stowed his kendo blades, then stopped and looked back to Hanna.
After picking up her swords, Hanna turned and gave William a brief bow. As she rose from the bow, she looked into William’s eyes and spoke once again.
“Thank you again, sensei. I appreciate your patience with my...tantrums and...ingratitude.”
William bowed back and smiled. Then he chuckled slightly and stepped forward, wrapping Hanna in a quick hug. “Don’t mention it.” He said stepping back again. “It was fun to teach you.”
The Neko smiled and hugged William back, her head nestled somewhat awkwardly in his arm on account of her significantly shorter stature. After the hug, Hanna looked into William’s eyes and waved, before turning for the exit.
“Hanna-San, would you like to go grab something from the mess hall?” He asked moving to catch up with her.
“Yes...sen...I mean...William!”, responded Hanna in a cheerful voice. “I am quite hungry myself!”, she finished with a giggle, as she grabbed William’s hand with a sisterly affection and led him towards the mess hall.
William smiled and held Hanna’s hand as they took off towards the mess hall.
Dojo
After completing the first parts of her training and lifting routine, Hanna entered the dojo dressed more like an athlete than a martial artist. Although her sports bra and volleyball shorts were standard Star Army issue attire, the uniform choice reflected her status as a novice swordswoman and martial artist. Once she arrived in front of the storage cabinets, Hanna reached into her cabinet, taking two curved practice swords out of her bag. Tonight, she would begin training in the Twin Dragon sword style with William.
Hanna gave the swords a few test swings through the air, visibly nervous about the lessons. Although she felt uncertain about having to take tutelage from a civilian martial artist, Hanna’s newfound humility and willingness to learn overshadowed all of her emotional anxiety.
After taking her tennis shoes and socks off and stepping onto the mat, Hanna looked towards William with an ambivalent expression crossing her features.
“I’m ready for training, sensei.”
William was dressed as he always was, with his sleeveless vest and a small kikyo flower pinned to it. One like the princess had given to him. He stood across from Hanna, his hands placed behind his back. He seemed much more confident than he had when she found him alone on the observation deck.
“Then it is time to begin, Minarai.” He replied, adding the last part in Yamatatigo which meant apprentice. He stepped forward. “First off, get into a ready stance.” He said, watching her expectantly.
What is a ready stance?
Hanna’s expression shifted as she processed the order. Although she was unfamiliar with the ready stances of the Twin Dragon form, the cyan Neko did her best imitation of one.
Placing her feet shoulder-width apart, Hanna stretched her arms out before raising her left sword in a defensive position and her right sword in a striking position.
William hid his smile with an effort at the face she made. The test was to see how much she knew instinctively. She was off in a few areas, but had the general concept correct. “Close Hanna-San. Very close.” William praised. He walked stepped in front of her and demonstrated. He did placed his feet shoulder width apart, but placed his dominant foot a few inches forward. His knees bent slightly, and he leaned his body slightly forward.
“This is your ready stance. From here you can are able to strike, defend, or dodge.” He explained, standing up. “The Twin Dragon style is a hard form to master. It provides endless offensive and defensive capability, however defense is tricky. In a duel, you don’t want to try and block a blade out right, you need to either parry the strike or get out of the way.” He explained. “However, we will get more into that after we master the basics.” He added.
Hanna reset her stance, moving her right foot a few inches forward, bending her knees, and leaning forward slightly. She then moved her left sword to a more offensive position, straightening the angle of her left wrist that she would have more leverage to attack.
After she was done shifting her form, Hanna looked up at William with a nervous glint in her eyes.
William gave his student a reassuring smile. “Good, Hanna-San. That’s right.” he complimented.
“Thank you, sensei.”, Hanna replied as she gave William a small bow.
William was surprised by the gesture, but took it in stride and returned the bow. “I have a feeling you will be a quick study.” He commented. “Come, get in your stance and we can start with basic strikes.”
Hanna nodded and shifted back into her stance, slightly bouncing back and forth on her heels while looking towards William, anticipating that she would have to follow his moves.
William got into a stance as well and walked her through the basics. Step by step, strike by strike. Each move was repeated whenever Hanna made a mistake, but he never raised his voice or became angry. He simply stopped and corrected her, before continuing as if nothing had happened.
Initially, Hanna’s strikes were slow and robotic. She had previously downloaded some of the Twin Dragon form from a martial arts manual. However, it would take her more practice to develop the fluid reactivity of a trained martial artist and Twin Dragon swordsmaster.
As the drills progressed, Hanna entered a rhythm. She became slightly annoyed at herself and to an extent, William, whenever he corrected her form. Each time she made a mistake and had to be corrected, Hanna felt that it broke her focus. However, she did her best to swallow these emotions and quickly attempted to readjust her form or technique in line with William’s guidance. Hanna was trying her best to be a coachable student.
William seemed to sense the frustration, and simply smiled as they worked. After about half an hour of this, the Nepleslian raised a hand. “Let’s take a breather.” He said, motioning to rest for a minute.
Despite William’s charming smile, a frown flashed across Hanna’s features when William called for a rest. In an awkward move to suppress her expression, Hanna gave William a small bow before turning around and walking to the storage cabinets for her water bottle. After taking a few swigs, Hanna returned to the mat and sat down next to William.
“When will we spar?”, Hanna in a somewhat impatient, although sweet voice.
William looked over to Hanna. “We can spar whenever you want to… However, the fundamentals are your foundation. With no foundation, you will be much more likely to fail.” He replied, taking a drink of his own water.
Hanna looked into William’s eyes as he spoke, giving an understanding nod before she standing up from the bench and stepping onto the mat.
“Then...I guess we have to build the foundation first, sensei.”, Hanna replied. “What constitutes...a solid foundation in the Twin Dragon form?”, Hanna asked as she paced back and forth in front of William.
He stood once more and watched as she paced. “A solid foundation needs the proper stances, proper form, and the like.” He replied. “I have showed you the bare bones so far. It’s a start but there is much more to learn.” He added.
“Then...I’m ready to...build the rest of the foundation.”, Hanna replied while running her hand along her swords. “Ready when you are, sensei.”, finished the cyan Neko.
William nodded approvingly. “Alright. Basic stance once more.” He moved and stood in front of her, getting into the stance as well. He slowly began adding more moves onto the earlier ones he had showed Hanna earlier.
After shifting into her stance, Hanna began to follow William’s movements with a careful eye towards his form. She did her best to replicate everything from the position of his shoulders to the movements of his hips. Once again, her first movements were slow and robotic, but grew in fluidity as she performed more strikes.
“Good!” William praised. “Again, without my guidance this time.” He said standing off to the side. “Put it all together.”
Hanna nodded quietly and shifted into her initial stance, holding it for a few seconds before she began the routine. She got through some of the more technical maneuvers by closing her eyes, but still seemed to struggle on her fluidity.
Once she had completed the routine and was in her final position, Hanna stood up tall, and gave William a small bow.
William nodded with approval, and bowed in return. “Good Hanna-San.” He said smiling softly. “Now, let’s put into practice.” He moved across from her once more. “Strike me and today’s lesson will be over. It won’t be easy though…” He said dropping into a low ready stance.
Hanna nodded and backpedaled slightly before dropping into her stance, giving William a slight nod to indicate that she was ready.
William nodded in return and waited patiently for Hanna to strike.
Lowering her position, Hanna sprinted at William. She performed an on-the-run doubled bladed fake maneuver towards his legs, visibly committing her hips to the movement in order to sell the feint. The movement was a modification of the drills they had practiced earlier, but Hanna hoped that it would be convincing enough to shake up his defense. In a flash of movement, Hanna’s hips shifted position, aiming a one-bladed strike at the side of Williams torso.
William smirked as the blow came for him. He moved to dodge, but Hanna’s attack nearly got him. He slipped the strike and back flipped away from her. As he landed he spun and lowered his stance again. “A good try, but you will have to do better than that.” He said awaiting the next strike.
Hanna jumped back into her attack motion before William finished speaking. Utilizing her Nekovalkyrja athleticism, Hanna aimed a high arcing attack at William’s shoulder, her body flying into reach before she aimed a strike at his legs as she landed on the mat.
He laughed as Hanna began her attack, catching him talking. “Good!” He said as he again attempted to slip the strike once more. The attack got even close that time, William just barely escaping the tips of her swords. “Keep going! You’re doing well!” He encouraged as he slid away once more.
Hanna suppressed an angry yell, her emotions coming out in a semi-audible hissing sound as she commited to her next attack. She did not like being laughed at, especially in a fight such as this one.
Hanna’s next strikes were savage in their ferocity, yet they had a semi-practiced fluidity behind them that gave her movements the grace of a trained Nekovalkyrja swordswoman. Her first attack was a overt two-bladed strike. Hanna, intentionally clashed her left blade with William’s sword, bouncing it off to create leverage for a follow up strike.
William dropped to his knee and threw his blades up to stop the strike. He seemed to smile at Hanna’s strikes, slowly getting even better than the last. “Good Hanna-San. Once more!”
Hanna leaped backwards, hovering for less than a quarter second, creating a brief period of separation between herself and her opponent before her left blade arced at William’s torso while her right one committed to a strike on his upper chest level. Now that William was lower to the ground, it was easier for the short Neko to aim strikes at his torso and chest.
William gritted his teeth as he attempted to block the strikes. He had not time to roll away… “This is gonna hurt…” He thought as he moved his blades up. His first blade stopped the strike to his torso, but her second strike landed on his chest. He was knocked backwards and he hit the ground hard. His eyes went wide as his breath was forced out of his lungs.
He tapped the ground, signaling the fight was over since he couldn’t pass any air through his vocal cords.
As the air disappeared from William’s lungs, the anger disappeared from Hanna’s heart as she dropped her swords and knelt down next to William. She instantly recognized the injury from the last fight she had with William. Although a small part of her wanted to relish in her victory and to taunt her fallen opponent, she also realized that William had helped her, in spite of her foul moods and tantrums.
Speaking in a calm and sisterly voice, Hanna looked William in his deep blue eyes and said five words:
“Spread out and breath, William.”
The Nepleslian nodded slowly and spread out his arms to try open his chest. He took several deep, shuddering breaths trying force the air in. “Th...thank you…” He said softly, just barely getting the words out.
Hanna nodded, crossing her legs and sitting down next to William while he regained his breath. Once he seemed to be okay, Hanna stood up and outstretched her hand without a word spoken, offering to help him get up from the mat.
William reached up and grabbed Hanna’s hand, slowly getting to his feet. Once he was up he nodded to her and gave a soft smile. “Thank you Hanna. You did very well today.” He said now that he had air back in his chest.
“Thank you, sensei. Shall we meet again tomorrow?”, replied Hanna with a smile crossing her lips.
“Of course.” He replied. He moved and stowed his kendo blades, then stopped and looked back to Hanna.
After picking up her swords, Hanna turned and gave William a brief bow. As she rose from the bow, she looked into William’s eyes and spoke once again.
“Thank you again, sensei. I appreciate your patience with my...tantrums and...ingratitude.”
William bowed back and smiled. Then he chuckled slightly and stepped forward, wrapping Hanna in a quick hug. “Don’t mention it.” He said stepping back again. “It was fun to teach you.”
The Neko smiled and hugged William back, her head nestled somewhat awkwardly in his arm on account of her significantly shorter stature. After the hug, Hanna looked into William’s eyes and waved, before turning for the exit.
“Hanna-San, would you like to go grab something from the mess hall?” He asked moving to catch up with her.
“Yes...sen...I mean...William!”, responded Hanna in a cheerful voice. “I am quite hungry myself!”, she finished with a giggle, as she grabbed William’s hand with a sisterly affection and led him towards the mess hall.
William smiled and held Hanna’s hand as they took off towards the mess hall.
