trans_9 | One more reason to keep on going

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One more reason to keep on going

Irma was gone. Matt was gone. Just about everyone from their universe seemed to have been podded, and Kaya decided, in the wake of this, that she should still make sure the classrooms were kept clean. The place she was staying, Will's room with all of the gymnastics, had been clean after Kaya ad attempted a fairly rigorous workout. She had made sure that Matt's wares were stocked, the common room swept and cleaned, so that when the other came around, they would have a nice place to sit and talk.

First there was Cornelia's room, with all of its earth nation goodness and flowers, making sure that the architecture was carefully polished and everything watered so nothing was neglected. She couldn't help passing by this room and thinking of Toph.

Then she moved onto Hay Lin's room, which never failed to remind her of Aang with all of its wind implements, very much something an airbender would have loved: she would have to make sure to tell both Aang and Nima about it if they had the chance to visit. It always seemed so big and grand and open to her, as she thought the element air should anyhow.

Tarnee's room, while once making her wary with its affiliation for fire, was gotten over once you stepped inside: it was kept in balance with all of the books and the globes that were a representation of energy everywhere. She always loved coming here to expand her mind a bit, and it was a perfect reflection of an intellectual girl Kaya never had the pleasure of meeting.

And then, of course, there was Irma's room. She knew there was an obvious bias here, stepping into the room that reflected her best, with all of its watery element and the ability to swim in and out of the water that surrounded the room. She was cleaning here a little, and then could not help herself: she discarded her clothing, wrapped only in her underclothes and jumped in, allowing the underwater environment to envelop her. Perhaps her favorite thing about this place was how she could still breathe underwater.

She was so entranced, she did not notice anyone coming in.

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"Are you saying you want to spar," Kaya asked, half teasing. "If so, you ought to just right out and say it you know, it would be rude not to. I've got no problems demonstrating my skill."

"Now that's hardly the only way to show proficiency," he said. "I'll take whatever you're most willing to give! I just want to see the full extent of your form."

After a second, he smirked. "Martial arts form."

"In that, I'd be more than happy to show you," Kaya said, "But you might want to be specific. My bending is also my martial arts, and I've also learned a bit more than that, from other teachers.

"What would you like to see me do?"

"Well, I can tell easily you're in good shape without having to see much more of your... form," he said, slyly, "so no need to demonstrate that. How about some basic forms to start?"

The greatest key to understand someone's skill was, in his opinion, control and efficiency. How precisely one moved; how much excess movement one had.

Basic forms? She could demonstrate that easily enough. Kaya went through the motions, displaying for him what was essentially the equivalent of Tai Chi with a twist: she moved readily, and anyone watching could see the movement could change from defense to offense if needed. But she moved steadily, flowing, much like her element. Anyone who had ever watched her waterbend could describe it as something of a dance in its way: she with the water, keeping it about, coaxing it around her like a mist.

And then, a shift later, he could see the desert in her stance: this was a different form of martial art, quick, tight to the air, more taut. This was what the Bene Gesserit had instructed her in: flowing movement with direction, with purpose. One could see how Sokka would have initially objected to it when he saw his sister practicing: it was almost akin to firebending.

'One' wasn't Morgan. Growing too used to an accustomed style was simply asking to be defeated by someone whose attacks and defenses were suited to overcoming it. Anyone could be good in one thing; real skill came when you became good enough at many things to synthesize.

Still, he couldn't find more fault in her demonstration than he could in one of his own, so he nodded in approval as he watched.

Kaya finally stopped after several minutes, giving him a polite bow. No matter how informal their interaction and their talks, she respected him as a teacher, and wanted to show him what she was made of.

"What did you think?"

He returned the bow almost before he realized what he was doing. That had him smiling again; it was a reminder that even if his own master was lost, to destruction or to the pods, she still lived on in her teachings.

"Your physical ability is every bit as good as I expected, and your skill with those styles are clearly top-notch!"

"Thank you very much," Kaya said politely. "It's not like I can just turn off the whole student teacher thing though: I intend to impress you even more, just give me time."

She smiled. "Thank you: I strive to show new teachers the things my other teachers taught me. They may not be here anymore, but I still want to make them proud."

"Believe me, I understand that."

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he walked a slow circle around her, looking at her. "You're at a level where your style needs to evolve. I'm guessing those two different ones have names?"

She smiled. "Good."

At the prompt, she nodded. "Yes. The first was my actual style of fighting, waterbending, using the push and pull, mostly a defensive style, but still strong. The other style: that was something I learned from my teacher on the ship. That demands quicker movement, is an offensive style. That style is something I learned from women of the desert."

"That just means that it's time you stopped fighting with a style, and started learning your style, if you see what I mean.

"Or at least, that's my opinion," he said after a thoughtful moment. It wasn't HIS place to go around blithely overriding the opinions of other trainers, especially ones who might have spent much more time with her.

"I'm getting there," Kaya said. "But it takes time to adapt fighting styles to suit another, especially when they're so different. It has helped though: I can move much quicker than I used to, and can perform moves at a rate I never could before."

For now, she would see how much more she could learn from others.

"It's more than just adapting. It's, and I'm sure you already do this to a certain extent, fusing everything you know together. Taking the two styles you know and building a blend out of them that's uniquely yours, and no one else's, if you see what I'm saying."

He waved a hand absently, smiling. "I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm overeager."

"Like I said, its not the easiest thing in the world! The thought has definitely occurred to me a few times, but they are both very distinctive styles: one is very slow and defensive, the other quick and offensive. It might take awhile."

She laughed. "Well, that's what you're here for, Morgan! You'll probably be able to help me get a better grasp at that."

"Oh yes, fairly easily." He was already plotting out plans and courses of action in his head, running through various scenarios. And having the time of his life building these castles in the sky. "I'd certainly love to try."

"I'll be up for anything!" Kaya said, visibly excited. "I'm always ready to take on new teacher: I've already had several of them, each with their own way of training! It's just a shame so many of them were podded before I could really learn more from them."

"That's a good thing inasamuch as it's good to get numerous different perspectives and styles observed! But it's a bad thing as far as developing long-term teacher-student rapport." Of course, the nature of their circumstances made such a thing hard anyway. "Well, I can't make promises, but I'll do my best by you."

"That's all I can ask," Kaya said, giving him a polite bow. "And yes, most of the studying I've been doing has been interrupted: I've lost two excellent Bene Gesserit women, who taught me my desert fighting training. I lost the woman who taught me my beginning of swordplay."

She sighed. "But I'll do my best to learn what I can."

"I can do swords, if it helps," he said, touching the hilt that showed over his shoulder with one hand. Not that he expected her preference in weapons to be a hand-and-a-half sword, but he could use other ones as well.

Kaya smiled. "I'd appreciate it. I still have my kata's that my last teacher have me: sadly, I'm missing my teacher and my partner. I'd love to kill two birds with one stone!"

"There aren't many songs you could sing to me that'd tempt me more," he teased. "You got it."

He held out a hand to seal the deal, with a grin. He'd been doing enough of that lately to be more than satisfied with the turns his time on the ship had taken.

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One more reason to keep on going

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