Hmm... not sure if anyone would want to read this, but if so, here's my take on what really happened when Caraick and Teshia first met. I've been writing out little bits of their past and well... this happened.
It was not uncommon for the girl to lose her temper. Cycles under the Dome had probably taught every person with the misfortune to meet her of that. But what was uncommon was the effect this particular menki seemed to have on the frequency of such a loss. Currently, she sprawled flat of her back, her axe lying some 20 feet away, and a very smug curve to his lips. She pushed herself up, brushed the escaping tendrils of hair back from her forehead and scowled.
"Again?" He asked her in an almost cheeky tone, his tail flicking lazily behind him as he turned the dagger over in his paw. Caraick looked down at his newest student. Even the Goddess herself probably couldn't tell why he'd decided to teach her. He certainly couldn't give a reason as he looked down at the scruffy looking harridan. His bright blue eyes sparkled as he took in her frustration, and he chuckled softly to himself. At least she had spirit.
She grumbled, and got stiffly to her feet. This was only the third… or thirtieth… time she'd been forced to pick herself up tonight. They'd been practicing for hours, and she'd yet to even come close to disarming him. Teshia rested her hands on her lower back, and stretched once, her spine popping as it arched and she limped over to retrieve her axe. She looked down at the battered weapon, a dozen new nicks in the handle from his daggers, and what looked decidedly like a chip out of the recent sharpened blade. She groaned and crouched to pick it up.
Far closer than she expected, the menki leaned over her shoulder and chuckled softly "Giving up?" She narrowed her eyes and grumbled, fingertips inching slowly to the handle. The moment she touched the worn wood, she spun and lashed out with the blade. It might not have been considered honorable to try and sneak an attack on one's opponent, but frustration and annoyance had left her with few options. Either way, it did no good, as the menki laughed and rolled backwards out of the range of the weapon.
"I'll take that as a no." He grinned widely, canines flashing as he crouched and tossed his dagger from one paw to the other. She inched closer, her grip tight on the axe handle. "One day, you over-confident hairball…" He took her insult in stride, whiskers twitching in mild amusement. "One day, what? You'll actually manage to hit me?" She made a choked sound, eyes flashing in anger and lunged forwards, drawing the axe back and slashing it backhandedly towards him. Caraick snickered softly, parrying the blow easily. The parry, and her excess effort sent her spinning. The menki stepped in, tapping her shoulder lightly with the flat of his dagger and tugging on one of the braids she wore in her hair. She shrieked in indignation and turned back, slicing upwards with her axe in a continual arc, only to have it jarred to a halt by his dagger held in one steady paw.
Honey eyes flashed and glared, meeting the calm gaze of electric blue ones. She tried to pull her axe free, but he slid his dagger along the length of the handle, hooking it behind the doubled blade and preventing her from moving it. He spoke calmly, voice deep and steady. "You waste too much energy. Focus, and never turn your back."
Teshia nodded, expression grim. In some respects, she couldn't believe she was letting this man teach her anything. They had not known each other long, and their first meeting had been anything but pleasant. Crawling in dark sewers in search of a possessed man and the Nolthrir maiden who'd chased after him; Tesh and her husband at the time, Eelin, had been distracted dispatching a kran who set to protect the man. They'd barely noticed the inky furred Clamod who slipped down the ladders, but they'd certainly noted the arrows slicing through the air, and the argument that followed between the Nolthrir and the menki. While not all the words stuck in Teshia's memory, a certain promise to turn that lovely fur into a throw rug was certainly burned in both their memories.
Neither had made any pretense of being fond of the other, yet it was the menki who came to her aid when both her marriage and her guild lay in shambles. There were few she could claim as friend now, and while she wasn't sure she could put that title to the Clamod before her, she knew there was no malice behind his constant defeats.
She jerked back, wrist twisting to disentangle the weapons. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her lips parted, tongue barely flicking out to moisten her lower lip, before the barest of smirks curved the corner up. The menki watched her with a mix of amusement and that confidence that comes from being able to read an opponent better than they can even their own self.
Trying to play on that confidence, Teshia slowly slipped her second axe from it's loop. It wasn't usual for her to pull two weapons, namely as neither one of them thought her skilled enough to manage to keep from hurting herself, much less accomplish the defeat of an enemy. She let the weight of the axe slide it through her grasp, until her fingers tightened around the worn wood, and she spun it once in her hand, testing the balance. Her right hand was her off hand, but she was learning to overcome that.
With a bit of a feral grin, Teshia stepped forwards, speeding up to close the distance and swung the axe in her left down in a wide arc, slashing down from over the menki's head. Unfortunately, the heavier weight and lesser skill made it all to easy for Caraick to slide his dagger under the axe and block the swing before it made it to his shoulder. Rather than be disturbed, Teshia merely grinned wider, spinning suddenly backwards, pivoting around to bring the axe in her right hand around in a backhanded slash.
There was a bit of a twinkle in Caraick's electric blue eyes, and one brow arched slightly. It wasn't a bad maneuver, in fact, on another opponent who wasn't expecting her desperation, it might've even worked. He smiled, almost proudly as he stepped flush against the Ylian's back, too close to her for the blades of the axe to reach him, and certainly in a perfect position to slide his foot against the back of hers. One small push, and the already overbalanced girl landed flat on her back with a gasp and cough.
A split second later, and the menki knelt atop her, knees pinning her to the ground, dagger blade held loosely at her neck. She groaned, letting the axes fall to the ground, and rubbed gingerly at the back of her head.
"Ow…" She looked away, paying the dagger no mind and blinking back the first traces of frustration that threatened to well in her eyes.
Caraick frowned slightly. In a flash, the dagger was safely sheathed, and he reached out to rub his paw gently over the beginnings of a bump. She looked away still further, expression almost comical as she tried not to cry. It was one thing to lose, another thing entirely to show weakness to one's teacher. It simply wasn't done. "M'fine… " She muttered, her full lower lip beginning to poke out just a bit in a pout.
He chuckled, ruffling her braids a bit, letting his paw slide away until he caught the end of one braid in his fingertips and tugged it gently. "It was a good move. Creative, and using multiple attacks is always good. Next time… just remember to tuck your chin when you fall."
She glowered a bit, her frustration flaring into anger, and she swatted at his paw. "You don't have to rub it in." Current positioning declared well enough to both of them who the better fighter was, but Teshia always was a master at misreading people's intentions. He rolled his eyes and rocked back a bit to look down at her. "I'm not. Your learning quickly, and you improvise. Also a very good thing. Just be patient. Use your head, then your axes."
She nodded, petulance lingering in her gaze. The menki stayed sitting on her belly, forcing her to turn her face to meet his gaze. When she did, he smiled faintly; not his usual mocking one, but not so soft as to be taken as pity. She started to reply to him, but the words seemed to hide from her, and she merely lay beneath him, lips parted, gaze locked on his.
He looked at her, a faintly curious tilt to his head, and whatever thoughts passed through his mind, they remained carefully hidden from the Ylian. Something passed over her face, a shadow of sorts, where she realized in that moment, that she very much so respected this man. A niggling whisper in the back of her mind questioned whether "respect" was the correct word to be used, but she quickly smothered it. He was her teacher, he was honorable, and engaged… and she was newly divorced. Surely it was respect and only respect that responded on even the most primitive level at having this menki prove his ability and strength time and again.
He waved his paw in front of her face "You still with me, Tesh?"
That brought her back to her senses, and she swatted at his paw, trying to cover anything he might've noticed in her pausing. "Just thinking of how you'd look flat on your back, menki."
He smirked. "Keep practicing, and maybe one day you'll find out." He pushed back and up to his feet, holding out a paw to help her up. Her fingertips fairly burned as they rested against his, and she slowly raised her gaze to his. This… would be interesting.
