tampered | (no subject)

(no subject)

When; June 02, afternoon
Rating; PG-13
Characters; Gatts

beast_at_bay and Rin Asano

revenge_ethics
Summary; Gatts decides to assess Rin's abilities for training.
Log;

Gatts waited patiently at the edge of the forest, with his arms crossed. He hoped she was on time. One thing a warrior needed was timing, so lagging behind wasn't an option. She had a five minute window, but after that he had to go into the forest. Night would be falling soon.

"Oi, Rin!" he called out, "You out here?"

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"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.

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