((For Jelani))

[1stmacleod]

After his last time in the Nexus, Connor's looking a little worse for wear again. After a brief respite, he's back to sleeping badly. Sometimes he dreams he can see a himself in happy family gatherings, but he's always standing outside the window, in the cold or worse. He usually wakes himself beating his fists against dream-glass.

He really doesn't have anywhere else to go, though, except here and back to his own world. So he lurks. He's found one of the edge places, where Nexus dissolves into a patch of wilderness. So he sits, and gives the crowds a brooding stare, watching from the outside yet again.

Comments

[jelani.livejournal.com]

It's a nice day in the Nexus today, a day for just bumming around and enjoy things. And, a day for shopping. Anything can be found in the Nexus, but the best things are often found off the beaten track. Not far away from where Connor sits there's a shop that somehow manages to look dusty even from the outside. It's one of those places where you can find things you wouldn't even think of.

Out from this shop steps the young halfbreed, with a long bundle on her shoulder, something long and thin wrapped up in cloth. She's toned down the biker chick-look today, in favor for sneakers and tanktop. Her jeans are no less ripped than last time, but at least they're a looser and more comfortable fit. She stands outside the shop long enough to light up a cancer stick. But just when she's about to wander off, she looks around and spots Connor sitting by his own. She lights up in a smile and waves, and - of course - comes walking up to him without a thought that maybe he wants to be alone.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor lives in sneakers and jeans and t-shirts, and of course the long threadbare coat. It's not the coat he's attached to so much as the katana that's hidden inside it. His peripheral vision catches her leaving the shop, and then she waves...

He's not sure if he wants to see anyone right now or not, but he doesn't bother to get up. His voice is as raspy as ever, and cracks slightly. "Those are bad for your health." He doesn't expect her to listen. Connor lived through an era when a lot of people smoked, him included, so he's got no real objection.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

"There's very few things that are bad fer my health. Stuff like bombs, mostly. Bombs hurt." Regenerating ability from both parents? No, she's not at all worried about stuff like cancer.

"So, I know ya said practice swords first, and I did get one. But..." She crouches down and sets the bundle across her knees. "What ya think about these?" She unwraps the package and reveals one African and one Chinese sword. Neither sword looks particularly new, but are both well-balanced and in good shape.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor's never had to worry about cancer, either, but he looks pretty ill these days despite the immortal healing.

The swords distract him a little, and he settles forward in a crouch, looking them over. He gives her a glance for permission, before picking both up each in turn, holding them, weighing them, making a few slow strokes through the air. He gives them the thorough looking over of a professional. Connor prefers his katana, but he started out with a claymore, and he's practiced with a wide variety.
"I'd have to see you play with them, but the African one is going to be lighter and give you more speed. This other one," He taps the Chinese saber, "Will add power to your swing, but it's heavier."

[jelani.livejournal.com]

She nods, having gone into serious mood despite her nearly childish joy of having gotten a pair of 'sharpies'. She can squeal over them later in the privacy of her home, but right now the swords are getting evaluated.

"Yeah, I'll have to see me play with 'em too, before I decide which one ta go with. Hey, are ya busy at the moment?"

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"Not... really, no." He sounds a little hesitant, because he was just sitting here being antisocial, but playing with swords could be exactly the distraction he needs. Connor's not looking at all well today, in fact, but he's still holding the African sword, stroking the heavy pommel thoughtfully.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

She doesn't mind him hanging on to the African sword - a flyssa, she was told it's called - for the time being.

"'Cause I ain't busy either, an' maybe we could get th' first lesson goin'. I got a shinai ta practice with, hope that'll do. It's back home, but I can go get it in a flash."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor probably knew that already, because he knows even more about swords than his mun does.

"Yeah, okay." He offers the flyssa back, carefully, although she might as well just leave them both there if she's going to be right back.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

She wraps the swords up carefully, but she does leave them with Connor while she PINs home to fetch the shinai. She's back er a minute, the bamboo sword leaning against her shoulder.

"So, teach. How are we gonna do this?"

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

He's on his feet when she gets back, stretching just a little and rolling the kinks out of his neck and shoulders. "If you've only got one of those, maybe I'd better be the one using it..." Because he'd rather he was the one getting hurt, if it comes to that. He holds out a hand for the shinai.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

"Unless ya plan on choppin' of limbs, I'm fine. Trust me. I ain't as frail as I look." And she doesn't look frail at all. "I got caught in an explosion once, an' not even that killed me." Though it nearly did kill her. Would have, if she hadn't gotten a lot of help after that.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"...I'll try to avoid that." He looks a little amused, but he's not quite sure if he believes her or not. "Try not to take off any of mine? I don't know if I can regenerate from that." He backs up a little, smoothly drawing a katana out of his coat. It's ancient, and a work of art, with a snarling dragon head at the end of the tsuka. "So we're starting from square one, here?" He still looks a little unwell, but he's slipping into teacher mode, and having something to do has energized him some.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

"I've been fighting fer most of my life, but never with a sword. So, square one it is, I guess." She rolls her shoulders a bit spins the shinai in a lazy circle once, twice, and then settles in a stance. Legs a bit apart, one foot in front of the other, knees slightly bent. "Alright then. Lead on."

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"There's no point me teaching you the parts of fighting you already know." He shrugs. Connor won't cheat and use a gun in a duel, but he's got nothing against using his fists, knees, even his head. Throwing dirt in your enemy's eyes is a trick that will never get old.

"Not bad." He eyes her stance, and the katana drops to nudge the back of one knee, while he circles. He's using the back of the blade, as if it were a pointer, and he corrects her grip a little before taking up a similar stance beside her, instead of facing her. "Never forget your feet, your balance. It doesn't matter how good you can swing a sword if your opponent can knock you on your ass." The slang sounds a little strange mixed with his European accent.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

Her grin is gone now, and she looks determined. Focused. She adjusts her stance and grip as he instructs, and tries to stay relaxed and ready. There's only other that has ever taught her anything about fighting, and that had never been very pedagogical. More like 'the better you do the less it will hurt'. It had always hurt a lot, but she had learned. Oh yes, she learned.

She's a bit glad that he's not facing her. With him wielding a katana, she would not be able to block his strikes with a shinai. Better get another one for the next lesson, she muses before pushing all thoughts about later aside. Now is now, and now is for learning. Balance, focus, center...

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor is a firm believer in the school of hard knocks, and he'll give her some later, but he also believes she should be given the tools to adequately defend herself, first. "Copy, and be aware of all parts of your body." He begins to move her slowly through sword kata, flowing from one pose to the next and holding each to give her time to mimic it. He goes through a chain of a dozen poses, and repeats the cycle until he can see she's memorized most of them, before he begins to nudge and critique her form in each one. He's a very quiet, calm teacher. He's patient, but he gives neither compliments nor insults. For now. It's also obvious he's been through all this before, more than once.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

Her form is actually quite good, at least for being a beginner. Some of the things he's saying she's already used to. Balance. Not overextending. But that's not to say that there aren't things to correct, her being from Lobo's school of

'kill yer enemy any way ya can, preferably in some painful an' bloody way an' don't fuss too much about the fraggin' details'

and all.

This strikes Jelani as peaceful. Compliments she doesn't need, and insults she's used to. That Connor stays neutral, and that his instructions are clear and a matter of fact helps the young halfbreed disconnect from the world around them. Right now she's acutely aware and focused on her own body, and on Connor's instructions. Had she stopped and think, she might have found that she needs this.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Maybe they both needed this. Connor's been rattling around aimlessly for too long, but teaching is something he's done plenty of, yet of all the professions he told her he'd had, it's not one he'd ever think to list.

He makes her go through the kata until her body starts to remember the poses better than her mind does, making minute corrections and letting her go through the poses faster, until it may all reach the point of boring. It might be meditative for a while, but there are limits to how much repetition anybody can take.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

Yes, it does get boring, after a while. At first it's relaxing, and yes, meditative. But when her mind knows it, and her body knows it, her mind starts to wander. As her thoughts drifts to other things, the mistakes starts showing up. Her grip slips up higher once, a swing became too long, a foot in the wrong place... She scolds herself silently, inside her head, and grits her teeth.

I'm gonna get this right!

But frustration only adds to her mistakes. She's not willing to quit, no never that; she'll keep on until Connor says it's enough.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

"You're slipping." He notes quietly, and then he turns and steps in a whirl and suddenly she'd better get the move right because there's a katana swinging her way. He's actually using the back of the blade, but she may not notice that in the first instant when he goes from teacher at her side to attacker.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

Split seconds can stretch into an eternity. Her eyes widen, adrenalin surges. She crouches, one knee nearly touching the ground. One of her hands slips out over the "blade", on the back of it for support and her other hand grips the handle firmly as she brings the bamboo sword up to meet hard cold steel. If Connor hadn't used the back of the blade, it would have easily cut through the bamboo and bit into her arm, and she realizes that. "Shit." A low growl.

But at least she has good reflexes.

Crouch low as she is she decides to try to give as good as she gets, and tries to swipe Connor's legs out from under him with a sweeping kick. While the girl lacks experience in swordfighting, it becomes very clear that she is

fast

.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

If she'd had a real blade of her own, she would have probably done just as well, so he's not concerned about that.

He's already guessed she's the kind who fights dirty, so he's on his guard already. Most of the immortals Connor fights are older, and a lot of them are stronger. He died at nineteen and it's put limits on his body, so he'll never be a muscle man, but he's got youth on his side too. Speed is his greatest strength, in any fight. That and the stubborn determination of a terrier.

Connor leaps back in a low crouch, moving just out of reach. He doesn't give her any praise, but he does smile approvingly.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

Jelani slips back a step, adding additional distance between then. She returns that smile, even if she's not fully satisfied with her reaction, but the smile is soon replaced by a look of focus and determination.

She starts to slowly circle him, trying to treat this as any other fight, to analyze her opponent and look for an opening. It's a split-second decision when she thinks she's found done, and she moves in to strike. Connor did etch the kata into both her head and muscle-memory, at least for the time being, but translating that into an actual fight is easier said than done. And that makes her movements a bit hesitant.

[1stmacleod.livejournal.com]

Connor wasn't expecting flawless execution, not yet. He's only just taught her about a dozen poses, and there's plenty more of them to learn. This is just a starting ground.

Light and quick, his feet move and he keeps his eye on her as she circles, bot for the moment he's content to play defense. As much of his attention is on her form as is on keeping himself protected from her next attack. She doesn't have the problems with balance that he did when he first started out. At the time, he had almost no experience at all, instead of a career of bounty hunting.

When she strikes he whirls away, so that she's left striking at a point in the air beside him, and he pushes the shinai away from himself out of reflex, giving another silent nod. The attack meets his approval, even if he didn't hold still to get hit by it.

[jelani.livejournal.com]

The speed with which she darts away when Connor dodges and deflects her shinai is a clear sign that she was expecting a counterattack. And that in itself is a sign of the type of training she's received in the past. Some people wouldn't call it training; they would call in punishment.

She goes back to circling, but not for long before she goes back in, first feigning to the left and then an upwards strike to the right.