tampered | (no subject)

Making sure her daggers were in their rightful places and grabbing hold of her sword - even though her handmade sword-carrying pouch served that purpose quite well - Rin walked past building twelve in quick strides. She was eagerly looking forward to training with Gatts; his understanding attitude when she'd mentioned being bad at fighting had impressed her. All in all, he seemed like a good man.

Then, a voice called her name rather loudly.

Letting her eyes sway about the surroundings and eyeing the passersby, she quickly spotted a strong and solemn looking man with a very big sword. Her eyes widened for a moment and she stopped in her tracks, but she quickly caught herself and ran up to him on light feet.

"Excuse me... are you Gatts-san?"

Gatts turned his head to take in the much smaller girl. She didn't seem like much of a fighter, just like she had said. Well, it was better to be humble, than overconfident.

"Good," he said, extending a hand to her, "You're correct. You ready to go?"

Rin was slightly torn between nodding and looking at his extended hand. What was she supposed to do, take it? Tentatively, she reached out with her own hand and laid it in his much bigger one. Then, she looked at his face again, her features taking on a determined look.

"Yes, I'm ready."

He gave three quick pumps of her arm and nodded, "Great. Let's move. Stay close and follow me."

Gatts went off at a medium pace through the forest, moving through a well-worn path he had created through usage. In the distance all around them, eyes could be seen glowing at them from the darkness. Noises came from all around, with no apparent creatures to attach them to.

"Don't get off the path," he simply said, ignoring the noises.

His pumping of her arm left her bewildered, but she shoved doubts aside. Different conventions were to be expected in a place like this.

She followed him on the path, soon taking notice of the beings that apparently loomed all about them. Fear crept up to her, washed over her, and she shivered when she heard one particularly loud howl. Then, however, she straightened and blocked the feelings away.

"I won't", she said, no quiver in her voice.

They reached the camp area with no incidents, the eyes slowly disappearing as the campfire grew closer. All about them were tree stumps, the trunks cleaned sliced through.

"I've cleared the camp area earlier. It's not perfect, but most of the creatures have learned not to come over," he said, pointing to several grim totems, composed of the skinned carcasses of large beasts he had killed. They approached the stumps closest to the campfire and Gatts sat, bading her to use another.

"So, show me all the weapons you have."

She was taken aback once more, experiencing a slight shock at the gruesome picture before her. Once again, though, she shook it off quickly and sat on the tree stump on which Gatts motioned for her to take seat.

She nodded at his request and then proceeded to take her sword, Kutoneshirika, out of its holder and lay it down on the ground before her. After that, she pushed one of her sleeved up and showed him the knives she had tied around it.

"I have about twenty of those on me."

Gatts picked of the sword, holding it before the fire as he inspected it. He seemed interested by it, holding a keen eye to it's features.

"It's definitely foreign to any sort of sword I've seen. Even the edge of the blade is forged differently than any I've seen."

He ran a thumb along the edge and drew it back quickly, a small drop of blood coming from it, "Sharp too. Very sharp. Brittle though. This kind of blade won't go through steel."

He placed it back down in front of her and plucked one of her kunai.

"I take it that most of your attackers don't use armor and leave their vital points very open when they attack?"

She kept her eyes firlmy trained no Gatts as he inspected her weapons, taking note of his commentary. Honestly, she hadn't thought Kutoneshirika was still that sharp... but all the better.

Her answer was blunt and to the point.

"The one I wish to kill wears no armor, no." That was, after all, the sole purpose she had taken up swordmanship.

He leaned back and cracked his neck, then handed the kunai back.

"So you picked up a sword just to settle a grudge? I guess if ya' want too..." he trailed off, "But I've always thought it's better to have some training before going on a quest for revenge, rather the just run out with a sword and no training. Whatever works for you, I guess."

Gatts retrieved a long plank used for construction and hung it on a standing tree.

"That's about man-sized. Throw the kunai."

Rin took her kunai back and tucket it neatly away unter her kimono. She looked at him earnestly.

"I've been training for two years. I'm not delusional enough to believe I could achieve anything without acquiring the proper abilities first. I'm serious about this."

Then she got up to follow Gatts' instructions. Standing in some distance in front of the tree and the plank, she took a deep breath before quickly drawing her kunai and throwing them at once.

When she'd let go of her kunai, she quickly resumed her previous stance to observe where they flew. A few hit, but most of them missed, some flying rather far off the tree. Her aim hadn't improved at all.

"...That won't do at all. Not only did most of the shots miss, they'd have to be vital strikes to do any damage."

He plucked a large throwing dagger from his bandolero and held it up, cocking his arm.

"This," he said, throwing a bulls-eye on what would have been the target's head, "Is what you should use. Better for quality shots, than quantity. A larger projectile has more weight behind it. A shot like that will go right through flesh and bone."

Rin watched in awe at Gatts' precision. Part of her was indignant that she apparently could learn things from him Manji hadn't been able to teach her. Still, the desire to learn was greater.

She went up to the tree and pulled the dagger out. Then, she turned around to face Gatts.

"May I try it?"

"Certainly," he said, laying his bandolier out on the stump, "Have it at."

He stepped back and allowed her to try.

Rin nodded, and after that, she once again took up her position a few meters from the target. This time, she tried to aim well, keeping the target in sight, bending her arm behind her head, and then throwing.

The dagger barely missed the tree and landed in the grass. Rin couldn't help her face falling slightly.

"Pick up another," he said, noticing her expression, "If you've got time to feel sorry for missing, you've got time to pick up another. The enemy won't care about what shots you miss, he'll only care about the ones that hit him."

He picked on up as well, showing her form, "Cock your arm back more. These aren't your knives. You need more power to move the extra weight. There's a rythym to it, relax and time it with your breaths. Exhale as you throw."

Rin skipped possible sulking in order to watch Gatts' movements closely, along with listening to his explanations. She picked up another dagger and tried to follow his instructions the best she could.

Before throwing it, she took a moment, weighing the weapon in her hand, trying to get a feel for it. When she thought herself familiarized enough, she attempted throwing.

As the blade got stuck in the tree's bark, she couldn't help letting a small sound of joy escape her lips. Eagerly, she went to pick up another of the daggers.

Gatts couldn't help a small grin crossing his face. It was definitely an improvement. He watched with approval as she picked another up.

"Much better. Just keep going like that," he said, going over to the knapsack by his sleeping area. He fetched a small sword.

"When you're done with that, I'll test your sword-play."

Rin quickly paused to nod approvingly at him. With the sword, she'd practiced. Last time that had taken place, she'd been able to cut a falling twig into six pieces. Only two away from her father's record, and she knew her father had been a good swordsman - even though probably not qualified for Ittô-ryû, all differences aside.

She threw once again. This time, the dagger missed, showing how much she still had to learn. Her face fell once again, but she quickly picked the weapon back up, only to throw once again - and hit the bark once more.

"You have to practice every day to get any regularity in your strikes," he said, giving a few practice swings, "But no amount of training compares to that which you get fighting against another person. A lot of people forget technique when someone attacks them."

He glanced at her again.

"But you're showing improvement."

Solemnly she looked at him, nodding to show she understood again. She proceeded to pick up her sword.

"Then let's try fighting man-to-man -- err, woman."

She unsheathed Kutoneshirika and took stance, careful to remember what Manji had already taught her.

He took his own stance, sword hanging at his side.

"Attack me."

Steeling herself, Rin abandoned most thoughts and focused on charging at Gatts until she reached him, then drawing up her sword toward him.

Gatts side-stepped the blow and put his leg out, trying to trip her.

Taken aback, Rin tripped over Gatts' leg, but caught herself before falling and swung around, attacking him once more.

He blocked the shot, bringing the sword up against her blow.

"Good. Keep it up," he said, taking a slow swing at her legs, "Come on."

Since his swing at her legs was slowed down, Rin was able to parry it quite easily. She was happy to be successful, but she couldn't lose concentration now.

She aimed another blow at Gatts' side.

He deflected the shot, turning with it and letting her pass by him.

"Don't put so much strength into a glancing blow, you leave yourself open if you overshoot."

He dropped low and aimed a sudden leg sweep at her feet.

This time, Rin was startled and stumbled clumsily backwards, only to land on her bottom.

"Oh... ah, sorry!" As quickly as she could, she fumbled to get back up and into a fighting stance.

"I'll heed your advice." With that, she swung her sword in his direction once more, this time trying to put less strength into it.

He parried the blade up over and head and held it there, craning his neck down to speak to her.

"When you put too little power in, your enemy can easily turn aside your blow," he said, stepping back and lowering his sword, "That's enough sword-work for right now."

When he'd finished speaking, Rin lowered her blade and turned around, looking for the sheath. When she'd found it, she carefully slid the blade in, shortly admiring the carvings.

Taking the liberty to sit back down on one of the stumps, Rin eyed Gatts. "Anything else you would like to see?"

"Sure. A little something for your head. Let's say I was going to use that blade," he pointed to the large Dragonslayer laying near the man. It as easily taller than she was, "Now look around. A good part of battle is using the terrain. Fighting a large opponent is better when you limit his ability. Where is it best to fight me if I have that kind of blade?"

Rin looked at the huge blade, slightly taken aback. It looked like it could slay a man with one swing - and really, doing that was probably no problem with that thing. On second though, however, she noticed its wide range.

"I would try getting very close to you. The blade has a very wide range, so I could have a better chance fighting you when I am at the center of its range. It looks like it's not very good to operate with in short-distance fights."

"True, but the problem is closing the distance," he said, pointing to the trees, "The trees outside this clearing would block my stroke, or relegate me to vertical strikes. Terrain control is important. Lure the enemy to somewhere that he can't fully utilize his power. Dense foliage makes large movements difficult."

Rin listened carefully, then nodded in understanding. "I can see that, yes. Thank you."

"Anyway," he said, standing, "It's good for an assessment. Good job."

He patted her head and hefted his gear again.

"I'll lead you back, since it's pretty dark out."

A bit perplexed at being petted on the head, Rin frowned slightly for a moment. She was grateful about his offer to lead her back, though - she was not keen on going through that forest alone. Thus, she sprang up from her seat, placing her sword back in its strap, and prepared to follow him.

Gatts set out with her close in tow, to lead her back through the city.