"Others will fear me you say. I would like that. I don't think it fits in with the prim and proper persona but I like it even more because of it." I tell her honestly.

"Haha you are just too fun. Ah here we are." she says and leads me into a weapon shop. As soon as we come in a young man, early twenties I believe, makes his way over to us.

"Is this your newest pet?” he asks Alice as we approach.

Alice delivers an ice-cold glare so strong I can feel the chill even standing off to the side.

“I mean pet project, of course that is what I meant. Hahaha, Alice?" he asks her.

"You know it. So find her a good weapon, okay? I'll treat you to a small meal if I like what you pick out for her."

"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to bribe me to do my job Alice. I am not like other shop owners. I care about the people that come in here. I want to keep them alive so that they are always buying better weapons from me."

"Haha. Eric's store is the best one around. You know you are going to get good items from such a good businessman. And I mean good. Not slimy."

"It is an honor that one such as you thinks so." says the man named Eric.

"Yeah, yeah. We can flirt later. Get her some weapons now please." she says and bats her eyelashes at Eric.

"I do believe that when it is over food as you offered it becomes a date and is no longer flirting. Jeeze, any reason that she is wearing the cloak?"

"Fashion statement. You don't need to be able to see her to get her weapons, do you?"

"Hmm. I suppose not, as long as I am able to watch her hold and wield them. What weapons are you interested in little miss?"

"I am here to find a war fan please." I say.

"A war fan huh?” he pauses in thought for a moment. “I don't sell a lot of those. And because I don't sell a lot of them I’m afraid I don’t have much of a selection, but I tell you what I will give you a discount to make up for the lack of options. Just your first ones though. Full price after that. Got it?"

"Yes, I believe that I understand quite well." I tell him. He had a business to run so it was in his best interest to treat his customers well, and also to show off his wares.

"Do you have a particular weapons maker in mind?"

"No. I do not know very much about weapon makers so I shall have to rely upon you and your judgement at this time." I tell him, hoping that I was not making myself seem too ignorant and too easy to take advantage of.

"Okay. I value your honesty actually, though don’t be too honest with other merchants. And it is a relief that you do not have a particular maker in mind. Too many people become fixated on the thought of having weapons and armor made by so and so and they ignore cheaper items that are sometimes superior despite the cost."

"I am rather relieved then that I shall not end up being one of those people." I tell him honestly.

"Me too. Alright. I need to see your form, your hands, the length or your stride. I will have you make some motions alright. I need you to be able to wield your weapon after all and not flail helplessly."

As he said, Eric had me doing a series of movements. Jump, walk, crouch down. Extend arm, pretend that I am throwing something. He honestly could have thrown something in that was a joke and I would have no way of knowing.

"Okay, okay." he says as he jots down some notes.

I would be curious about what he is writing, but I would not know what any of it means anyway. After making some notes he steps into the back of his shop. He pulls out a step stool and pulls down a few items from the top of a shelf.

"You keep the fans all the way back there? Is that not inconvenient?"

"I meant it when I said that people really don't buy these. I hope that you aren't having me get these down for a lark." he said seriously.

"Oh no, not at all. Fans are what I have the highest proficiency in."

"That is really uncommon. You don't really know how to use fans all that well, do you Alice?"

"I know how to use them well enough. My mentor used fans. She was rather disappointed that I had no skill with them. I learned all the movements none the less. Which makes me better than many others. I even gained some proficiency with them out of sheer stubbornness."

"I believe it no one more stubborn than our dear Alice." Eric grabs a few items after eyeing them, picking up a few, then setting them down.

He walks them over to the counter and sets them down. They were stunning. I knew fans and these were fans. If I were not in a weapon shop then I would not believe that these were war fans. They were more beautiful than some of the fans that I had learned to dance with. More beautiful even then some of the ones that we had hanging as decorative pieces.

"Hmm." Alice says and looks them over. She opens and closes them all. "I am going to have you handle these one at a time. You will flick it open and make a few movements. If you have any knowledge of fans then do a movement that you know."

I nod and hold out my hand for the first one. It had a white ivory handle. I flick the fan open in one quick motion. I then crouch down and do a slow spin while holding the fan out. I gracefully hop up and do the first few steps in one of the fan dances that I had been performing at teatime.

Eric lets out a slow whistle “well I’ll be. That is not exactly the reason I was expecting you to have proficiency, but I won’t pry. It is impressive nonetheless.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Here is the next. Same movements please so that we can compare."

Alice had me do the same thing with four different fans. At first I wasn't completely sure of why, but after a few motions I realized. It was much the same as during the proficiency test, there was something about dungeon forged weapons that made them significantly different. Small things, such as grip or size, could make it a truly unwieldly weapon and made me feel almost clumsy while holding them.

"Same thing, but with your left hand this time."

I complied.

"Okay. Now a fan in each hand." she said. I looked at her, really looked to make sure that she wasn't just toying with me. She wasn't. She was completely serious. Her and Eric were both watching my movements very closely. Monitoring to see how I held myself. Was I off balance? What hand was the strongest. Which fans were the best shape and weight for the way that my body moves.

I went through as many combinations as they could come up with.

"These two?" Alice asked Eric.

"Yes, I agree. Those two."

The two that they chose were not meant to be sold as a pair, which was something that I appreciated. Afterall I was planning on wielding only one at a time and it would be a shame if they were a matching pair as it would limit my versatility in combat.

One had a white ivory handle, and the other an ebony one. The one with the ivory handle fanned out to have a dark blue background with white and light blue flowers. The one with the ebony handle opened to having a white background with cherry blossoms. I had to have that one. I had to.

"How much?" I asked him.

"Buy the more expensive one and I'll throw in the second free of charge. Hmm, not free of charge. I want to see a full fan dance with you using both of them.”

"Agreed." I say readily. I would do the fan dance of the falling flowers.

I pay for the fans, it was no surprise that the ebony one was the expensive one, but I did not care. I then ask him to come with us to the Small Sharp Weapons field so that I would have a better space in which to dance. He agreed and put the closed sign on his shop door.

When we arrive at the field I take a moment to focus, it had been awhile since I had done this particular dance. Once I believe I have recalled the complete choreography I open the fans and move into the first step.

Part of the way through the dance I see something move out of the corner of my eye. It was something small and sharp. Without hesitation I flick open my new fans and move to block it. The dance of falling flowers wasn’t meant for defense so I switch and do a few steps in the fan dance of flames. It caused the projectile to be flung away from me and against the distant running walls.

"What was that?" I ask, and we all move over to look at it. It wasn't a rock like I thought at first, but was instead a dart, a small one that would be shot out of a blowgun.

"How odd." I say, not comprehending. Had someone simply missed their target? I do not know anywhere with targets for people to practice blowing these at though.

"Clever use of your new weapon." Cat says, leaping off of the hanging platform that he had been sunbathing on. "Is it poisoned?" he asked.

Eric carefully picks up the dart for us to inspect. I had no idea how to tell if it was poisoned or not but Eric was the expert so I wait for his analysis.

"Do you believe that someone intended to hit me with that?" I ask. "It seems so small. What damage could this have done me?" I inquire, a chill moving down my spine.

"If it is poisoned, a substantial if not lethal amount, but I won't know until I can have Polly look it over." Eric replies.

"Polly?"

"Polly the Potions and Poisons instructor."

"Oh." I say, rather ineloquently. I did not know how else to respond. Yesterday Rex hit me with that dungeon weapon, and today someone was blowing darts where I am having lessons. That is such a strange coincidence.

"Are we safe to continue?" I ask.

"Yes. Their dart missed and now we are aware of them. They will not want to do anything to draw more attention to themselves. I believe that you are safe for today." Eric says. "I am going to take this back to the shop with me for now. I'll reach out to Polly after the shop closes tonight."

"Thanks Eric." Alice says.

"Indeed. I am most grateful."

"Before I go though. Would you mind finishing that dance?"

I nod and do the fan dance for him. I have a feeling he wasn't watching just because the fans are pretty though. It seems that he is also making sure that the fans truly are the right fit. At the end of the dance he claps, playing the part of a good spectator. I give a small bow.

"Is there a place where you perform?" he asks, in jest I do believe.

"Well actually there is. On weekdays I lead teatime at the Paws and Claws Inn and Tavern."

"I will have to come visit some time. Until then." he says, and waves as he walks off.

"Are we really safe Alice?" I ask.

"Now that we are aware someone is out there, they would have to be truly foolish to make a move as I will certainly catch them. But we have a few more hours to go. Let's see those daggers of yours."

I take them out and she sees the way that I move with just the daggers and then with a combination. I felt fine with any of the combinations but if I had to choose I would say a blade in my left hand and a fan in my right.

"Good. Now that we know what you will be fighting with, let's see how you will be fighting."

She spent the rest of our time together drilling footing into me.

"Just as your feet are the base of your body, your footwork is the base of your fighting."

"Understood."

Over and over we drilled. So much so that I do believe that I shall be running these drills in my sleep. It felt good though. Something real. It felt as though I was moving closer to learning how to fight.

"And that's all for today!" Alice says cheerfully.

I allowed myself to flop onto my back on the ground. I did not care if I got dirty. I was already dirty. And sweaty. And I am sure that I did not smell like flower scented water either. And it was good. The tired was good, the sore was good, the smell... Was unfortunate.

"Haha looks like you really gave your all huh. Come on, I will bring you to a beast-kin bath house. Cat, go find Kay. I will bring Amaya home once we are clean."

"Are you not going to invite me as well? That is quite rude, but as you will." Cat said and strolled off.

I hope that Cat wasn't hurt. I did not mind co-ed bathing with people that I knew. However, I was uncertain as to Alice's disposition so I did not call Cat back and have him come with us. Although seeing that cute little body going off on his own felt sad somehow.

"Don't worry about him. Let the boys bond. I want to get to know you a little better, away from walls and weapon."

I suppose that last part really did need to be added. I did not know very much about my mentor. It would be nice to get to know her a little, oww. It felt like something stung me in the side, probably just sore... muscles...

My body collapses to the ground before I know what is happening. The last thing I hear before going unconscious is, "Cat! Get help!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We hit her. And we will aim for him next. We thought it might be a bit too much if we target them both in the same day."

"Good job. And good thinking having them see the first shot. Having blocked it clearly put them at ease."

Rex was pleased with how Jestin and Fowley were handling the request. At first, he was disappointed they hired someone else to execute it, but it was best to have a professional take care of it.

“So what poison was that anyway?"

"Rookie's Bain." Rex smiles gleeful that his plan was working.

"Oh wow. Insidious.”

“And you are sure this isn’t traceable, you know the consequences for even possessing that poison.”

"Of course not. We aren’t stupid."

"I hope you aren’t proven wrong."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ami? Ami!" I hear from somewhere above me. "Amaya, please say that you are okay."

"You sound like Cat, but I carry Cat, not the other way around." I say, barely coherent. It felt as though fire was running through my veins instead of blood. I tell myself that it isn't proper to scream, but I may not be able to maintain propriety.

"Today is an exception. I'll even comment very little about how bad you smell. Which isn't that bad. You smell more like dirt."

As a human Cat seemed to be rather tall. Maybe 6'4"? He had bright green eyes that maintained their cat-like shape. Ah, at least he still has his cat ears. I want to reach up and pet them, but I can't seem to be able to lift my arms. Why can't I lift my arms.

"Cat. What happened to me. Why is my blood on fire." I say, the pain coursing down my cheeks in the form of tears.

"What happened?" He asks me.

"My side hurt, then everything went black and now my heart pumps fire and not blood. I don't feel good. It's getting hard to keep my eyes open. I have no energy. Why don't I have any energy. Why does it hurt. Cat, why does it hurt?" I ask him. He pulls me to him and gives me a little squeeze. I think it was supposed to be comforting. It is. It is a little comforting. I close my eyes and let Cat carry me home.