Kedyn reached out towards his toes and grunted as his muscles stretched in his right leg. The slash was itching tremendously though it was healing quicker than his other gashes had. Looking around the Citadel one could have never guessed that there had been a battle near here, a battle where they had fought shadows of themselves.

 

But underneath the smiles, the greetings there was the strain that came after the battle. The Field of the Fallen had grown once gain.

 

But right now Kedyn's only thoughts were on the student that was coming to meet him. Rurak, an archer, was returning for another lesson in hand to hand. Kedyn could remember the man, he had taught him quiet a lot and had liked the man. And although he would rather have been spending the day with Miria, there weren't many that he would enjoy as much as Rurak. Besides, he loved hand to hand.

 

Kedyn

It was starting to become a little more common lately. He was late again for the lesson. Apparently with the added responsibility of command came a lot less time for other activities. Finally he managed to slip away from some of his less pressing responsibilites and headed over to the training fields where kedyn was waiting for him.

 

They'd spent a long time together, and had trained in a variety of activities with the man, and while Rurak wasn't sure they could quite be described as friends yet, but there was certainly an amicable relationship between the two. The band scout was a tricky one, and Rurak knew he could learn quite a bit from the man. Shucking his cloak and weapons as he walked up, he laid them up against a bench as he approached. He'd gotten the basics of hand to hand from other band members, but now it was time to go beyond that.

 

"Hello there, napping on the job again I see? Can't see as I blame you though. Seems there's more and yet less to do at the same time the higher up you get in the chain of command" Rurak said with a smile. "So you ready to drub me sensless?!"

Kedyn chuckled to himself, knowing all to well how true Rurak's words were. He had been a sergeant for much longer than the archer. Though drubbing him senseless would have to wait until tommorow, tonight Kedyn had something rather interesting planned for Rurak.

 

"I certainly am, though it's going to have to wait. We'll get started immediately. Next few strikes you need to know. First one is rather easy since their is no formal way to do it. You're elbow is perhaps one of the stongest hand techniques you can do becuase you can get a lot more force being it than a punch, and it has less of a chance to break than a punch. Elbows strike to nose, side of the head, stomach, any sensitive area. The other, is striking with the fingertips which is probobly the most difficult you can do, because if you screw you're fingers will break. These stike to the throat, the joining of the ribs mostly, or under the arm."

 

Kedyn motioned to a dummy behind him. "Now I want to practice these two, as well as the one's you learned in your first lesson for a while and then we'll move on to tonights task. And it may well end up taking the rest of the day to complete."

 

Kedyn sat back and watched Rurak practice, making small corrections here and there but overall satisfied by what Rurak had learned so far.

 

A small wicked smile took Kedyn's face after he called for Rurak to stop. "As you know footwork is everything in fighting, hand to hand is no different. And a woman can be the ultimate judge of your footwork while you are...dancing. So my task for you today, is to find a dance partner and meet me here. We'll go to one the taverns in the city, and we'll see how you are doing with your footwork. If your partner is not impressed by your dancing, you'll have to find another until you find someone who is. Which may or may take all night. I love dancing, so it matters not to me."

 

 

Kedyn

Working with a dummy was kind of easy, at least the dummy couldn't reach out and smack him upside the head when he screwed up like when Rurak was training against 'the punching bag' The new moves were just in his style too. Rurak had been hoping for a little bit of a 'dirtier' side to hand to hand. The elbows made sense, but the fingers were another matter. Rurak knew just how vulnerable fingers could be, and if he broke them, he wouldn't be able to shoot for a long time, so he took his care when executing those moves. He also worked through the old moves that he had been taught, and while the motions weren't exactly fluid yet, they were a sight better than when he had been first learning. Finally, sweating from the exertion and panting slightly, Rurak was finished with the morning's workout.

 

As Kedyn outlined the next plan, Rurak paled a little at the thought. He never really had to worry about footwork. An archer just planted his feet and fired, nothing fancy about it. Of course, he had worked with his quarterstaff, but there wasn't an excessive amount of footwork needed there. Besides, he had been told that he had all the grace of a trolloc when it came to dancing, and of course, finding someone to dance with meant finding a band member to come dance with him. The thought itself made him pale, but he bucked himself up and found someone to come with him. He never thought he'd have to worry about finery, but luckily he had a lot of backpay piled up so he went into the town and made himself respectable before they were to go out for a night on the town.

Kedyn smiled as Rurak and his partner for the night came walking towards him. He stood from teh wall he was leaning against and stepped foreward to meet them. "Miss." Kedyn nodded to the woman and recieved a smile in return. "Rurak. Well, everything seems to be ready then. Let's go."

 

Kedyn led the pair away andot k them to an all to familier inn. He stepped through the door and was greeted with a loud shout. He turned and gave Mari a small hug, recieving a light peck on the cheek. "Now I haven't seen you in a while. What are you here for."

 

Kedyn took a half step back and gestured to the pair behind him. "I'm here teaching a few people the finer arts of dancing. Would you like to help?" Mari smiled and ran off. The tavern bustled as tables were pushed away. He stepped into the clearing as a flute began to play from the corner, and Mari stepped across from him. He looked over at Rurak and nodded. "Remember, she has so enjoy herself." With a small smile Kedyn began to dance with Mari across the floor. Miria is going to kill me if she finds this out.

 

 

Kedyn

Rurak followed along rather sheepishly. He had never really gotten on with women that well. Truth be told, he had been so wrapped up in soldiering and brooding, that he hadn't really gotten out all that much. He was loosening up now though. He had the occasional drink now and again with the soldiers in the taverns which he had never really done before. And now, here he was, escorting a beautiful lady onto the dance floor. It had been a long time since he had last been out on the floor dancing. Almost another lifetime really. He had been much younger then, still in the prime and spirit of youth turning to man.

 

Unfortunately for Rurak, the dance started out with a quite lively tune, and with his years of inactivity, he couldn't keep up nearly half as well as he used to be able to. He could see glimpses of Kedyn every now and then between the steps and the Scout seemed to always have a knowing smile, or a mocking grin on. In all actuality, his partner had to practically lead him through the steps for the first while before they started coming back to them. Luckily he had picked someone who would be able to put up with his lack of dancing skill. He had made sure to warn her that he hadn't danced in a long while, and though she seemed to think he was being modest, she promised to deal with it.

 

As the night wore on, the old skills began to come back to him, but he was still quite rusty. They finally stopped for a breather after a few minutes, and watched Kedyn come over. "So are you enjoying yourself?" Rurak asked. "Oh..I don't know. I suppose it is a bit fun, but you really haven't gotten the hang of this yet!" Rurak gave Kedyn a suspicious glance, but the scout was a picture of innocence, but still, he could have sworn from the wording of his partner's answer that Kedyn had somehow managed to tell her about the point of their session, and probably told her to make him work for it.

Kedyn was undoubtable having a much better time, both in spirits and in skill, than Rurak was. From the occasional glance the man was like most oter soldiers, gifted with a weapon in his hands and not so good with a women in his arms. Kedyn on the other hand, felt better dancing with a woman than with steel.

 

Mari was proving an apt partner as well, and Kedyn found that this training session was perhaps one of his favorites he had ever done. "Oh..I don't know. I suppose it is a bit fun, but you really haven't gotten the hang of this yet!" Kedyn looked innocently at Rurak and spun Mari a few steps closer to Rurak.

 

"We need to continue then. Try again Rurak." Kedyn spun Mari out of his arms and pulled Rurak's dance partner away to let the archer try someone else out. It would do him some good.

 

 

Kedyn

Grumbling to himself, Rurak quickly changed his attitude and flashed what he hoped was a winning smile as he asked another young lady to dance. Luckily for him, he'd now had a few dances to work off the rust of lack of dancing and accquited himself quite well in the next few songs. Of course, the faster songs still left him stumbling a bit to keep up, and though if his partner noticed, she was at least considerate enough to not say anything to embarass him. Finally, he had gotten a little too tired from all the dancing and had to take a break, and his partner was immediately snatched up by someone else. He could tell that by now his skill was really improving, and except from some of the more complicated moves in the songs, he was holding his own on the dance floor. Of course, that wouldn't be enough to satisfy Kedyn, so he rested for a few minutes before, surprisingly enough, another young lady came up and asked him out onto the floor.

 

Kedyn was typically out of sight, but again, Rurak was getting the feeling that the scout was manipulating him and these young ladies as well. He sprang to his feet in spite of himself though and headed out onto the floor once more. This time, he made every one of the steps perfectly for four or five of the dances, and when both of them were too tired to dance any more, they had a seat, and he could see Kedyn approaching him from across the floor. Rurak quickly tossed up a silent prayer that he had managed to impress his partner.

Kedyn could not help a small sense of self importance as he moved from partner to partner. Civilian and soldeir alike, though Mari seemed to sneak in constantly. She was an old friend and Kedyn was thankful at least that that was it, from his expiriences with love it made women extremely jealous.

 

But he could not help the smile from both the enjoyment of the evening and the small comments here and there that sent women to the dance floor with Rurak. Manipulative? Maybe, but everyone was enjoying it. He felt especially good when a medic whirled from his arms to ask Rurak to the floor. Most had gravitated towards him and waited to be asked, but both he and Rurak were getting better it seemed.

 

Kedyn smiled and gave Mari a light peck on the cheek as the music faded from another song. She winked back at him and went back to work among the patrons. He half walked half danced over to where Rurak and his new medic partner were standing.

 

Kedyn snuck in beside Rurak and cleared his throat loudly. "Sorry to interrupt but I must know milady, was Rurak here good enough that you would dance with him again." The woman blushed softly with a sly smile at Rurak and said that she would, and Kedyn nodded.

 

Kedyn turned his head so that only Rurak would hear. "You have suceeded and it seems you have gotten pretty good to be atracting admireres. Tommorow at the same time and place as this morning and we will finish the lesson."

 

And with that Kedyn moved back to the floor and found another partner, vowing that he would be the last off the floor tonight. There were no cares while dancing, and the battles and death around him as a soldier all faded away.

 

Kedyn yawned lazily and tried to keep his eyes open. He had not gotten much sleep the night before, he had been at the inn most of the night only leaving after he had helped Mari kick the last stragglers out. He had stoppped once to see if Miria was still awake but to no avail and then had retired for the few hours of sleep he could manage.

 

Rurak appeared shortly after he and Kedyn got to work almost immediately. "Today is the more painful of lessons in hand to hand so I'm sorry in advance. Their are certain points on the body that simply pressing will cause more pain than any strike and that will be what we go over today."

 

"The first is here between your middle and index knuckles." Kedyn took Rurak's hand in his and placed his thumb on the spot. "And you press the wrist back past where it should be able to bend it does," Kedyn let the jolt from the pressure explain what should happen. "Now as long as I have this grip you can't do anything. You try and move I apply some pressure and you stop moving."

 

"The next is under your arm right about here, just press upwards sharply with two fingers and the effects will be immediate. Their are two on the back of the neck on either side of your spine, here and here." Kedyn's thumb and middle finger pressed down slighlty on the two points. "The last for now is under the collar bone. If you hook a finger under the bone and pull at it, well it doesn't feel very good." Kedyn let his hands fall from the last demonstration. "And now since you are most likely thinking about revenge go ahead and see if you can find them on me."

 

 

Kedyn

OOC: sorry for not posting on this for a while, I left for 2 years, but I figure I'll finish this up.

 

IC: Hastily running his hands through his hair, Rurak trudged down to the place where Kedyn would be finally teaching him about the hand to hand part of his training. Hehad no clue what the last night had been about...if he could have guessed, he would have said that Kedyn was just trying to tire him out for today's training to make it harder. If so, he had succeeded very well.

 

He tried to concentrate on what Kedyn was telling him about all the different moves, but he was just too bone tired to really focus...that is, until Kedyn started moving body parts in directions that they weren't meant to go. The sharp jolts of pain quickly woke him up. The first one, Rurak wouldn't have tried to move even if he wanted to, but the scout didn't let up on the pressure immediately. Then there was a strange one under the arm. Why the heck would a strike under the arm do anything? Then, Rurak's arm went numb, and he realized that he didn't always have to know the why to know that it wasn't pleasant. The back of the neck made sense, after all, he had seen plenty of people immmobilized from blows to the back of the neck along the spine.

 

Suddenly it was Rurak's turn to apply the moves and he realized he hadn't applied himself as well to remembering them as he should have. "I'm not about  to go out seeking revene right know Kedyn, I know you've probably got something else up your sleeve for later, and I'd not have you mad at me."

 

When he went for the hand he got slapped upside the head because he didn't have the grip right. It took a couple of tries, but pain is a harsh yet effective teacher. The arm one came faster, mainly because it had intrigued him so much. Though it still took a bit of poking around to find the right spot. The spine one took a little while too, but Rurak was smart enough not to try too hard on those pressure points. He'd be in for it later.

 

Massaging the side of his head from the blows, Rurak settled back to wait. "So what's next up on the agenda Kedyn?"