Promise #15 The Kitsune are the clan’s patron spirit

“Release!”

Shizu let out a sigh of relief and lowered the blade. She couldn't say how long she had held the position. Her arms no longer ached when she lowered them. She didn't even need to sit anymore to focus on holding the blade in her hands. Months of training put her body under enough strain that she knew how to focus on her performance. The darkness became a friend to her. Without the light, the kitsune were merely voices of the crowds. She could traverse the halls when she wasn’t training, and understand their way of life and enjoy meals without staring up at a fox.

She listened for the kitsune's soft footsteps and moved her head in time with his location. "Master Kitsune." She waited for him to grunt in response. "You said I was close to completing my training. I’ve mastered holding a blade like you said and memorized the promises by moving all of the stones." Shizu held her wrist. "I would like to go forward with the next phase!" She puffed her chest in pride at her decision to stand tall.

The kitsune stepped in front of Shizu and let out a low growl. "Are you sure you're ready, child?" His tails brushed against her arms.

Shizu nodded.

A sharp sting hit her shoulder. Shizu let out a hiss of pain, but it wasn’t enough for her to react anymore. Another strike on the back of her leg and she fell to one knee. He struck her lower back and she bent backward, reaching for the pain. He hit again, this one aimed at her hands until she recoiled.

Each strike was only seconds apart from the other. None worse or easier than the last. The thin slices burned like a fire erupting from deep within her own body.

"Enough!" he yelled.

The barrage of attacks ceased. Shizu still lay on the ground, now shaking from the pain. Her breath came in fast and shallow gasps. All she could focus on was not going unconscious. Focus on her goal. Don’t let the kitsune win. She removed any thought beyond surviving.

"Do not assume you know what's best for your training." He took a step away from her. "Stand, Shizu."

Shizu grunted and put pressure back on her knees. There were scrapes covering her legs. Dirt and pebbles lodged themselves into her skin. She took a deep breath and hobbled up, barely maintaining her balance as she moved her weight into her heels. Small flickers of flames danced around the edges of the room, casting shadows against the walls. She covered her face to block out some of the light. Small white dots coated the back of her eyelids. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, she peered through her fingers. None of the other kitsune were lining the walls as before.

Opposite her stood a tall man wearing red hakama pants that flowed like flames licking at his legs and a haori shirt that covered his upper torso. He narrowed his gaze, but Shizu could feel the anger in them piercing her. The shadow behind him was that of a kitsune. The shadow’s multiple tails swished from side to side like a cat watching its prey before the strike.

He charged at Shizu. His clothing flapping in the air behind him. He pulled out a blade that was around two forearms in length. Far too short to be a true sword, but long enough to not be a dagger. He sliced the air in front of her.

“What are you doing?” he cried out.

Shizu stumbled over her feet to get away from the onslaught of attacks. He swiped again in a horizontal slash. The change in her center of gravity sent her falling onto her butt. The kitsune halted his attack. His face contorted into a snarl as he glared at her.

Shizu didn't know how to answer. He was trying to hit her and all she could do was dodge. She had no opening to attack him. He glanced at the ground. Shizu followed his gaze. The weak candlelight flickered on a dagger. Different than the ones before. The others possessed a straight hilt with leather wrappings. This one was flattened and dull with a large ring on the pommel. It wouldn’t do enough to hurt him, but it was better than nothing.

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“The blade is an extension of your arm. Both a weapon and protection. Pick it up!" he barked.

She scrambled to pick it up. Her fingers were loose but steadfast. The point aimed at the ceiling and a little forward. All as he had instructed her to do when holding it for so many hours. He smacked it out of her hand.

"Pick it up."

She picked the dagger and once more he smacked it out of her hands with ease. They continued multiple times until his swipe didn't work. Her grip tightened just as his hand hit her own. She moved her pinky into the small circle at the end of the handle so the blade spun then returned to her grip.

The kitsune smiled and nodded in approval. He put the short sword back inside his clothes. "As I said. It is an extension of your own arm. You lose your blade, you lose your life. Learn to maintain the grip and learn to keep your life."

“Promise number two,” Shizu responded.

He held a dagger in the air. His left foot pushed back a bit to balance his body and held the dagger in the air to mirror her own stance. "This position is meant to let you feel the weight of the blade and become used to it." He twirled the blade in his hands. "However, don't expect to do anything beyond stabbing with this." He flicked his wrist, sending the dagger through the air to his left. Before the blade reached the wall and flames, smoke engulfed it and transformed into a tall figure made of straw. "Practice stabbing. Then, we will continue."

Shizu opened her mouth in surprise. She knew the kitsune could transform themselves, but seeing him change a blade into this was something she had never imagined. "Master, you said I shouldn't assume when I'm ready—"

"I did. Don't assume when you're not ready either. Only I decide when you take a new path."

Shizu bowed and walked to the straw figure. She just needed to stab the straw. Looking at the straw man made her nervous. In the light of the fires, the face contorted into that of a man's that screamed for help. For a moment, it looked to have blinked down at her. She yelped and jumped back. Her shadow passed over the straw man and once more it turned lifeless. She reached for the body. The cloth was scratchy from the straw poking out of it. Nothing of a human corpse inside at all. Just a very real straw man.

She shook her head, dispersing the thought, and thrust the dagger into the center of the straw body. The puncture felt far more solid than she had imagined, and she drew the blade out. Dark liquid coated her blade and she dropped it in surprise. Her hands shook as the realization of what she did flood over her.

Shizu looked back up at the straw man who was replaced by a corpse hanging limp on the wooden post. Straw spilled out of the man's clothes, removing the illusion.

Shizu turned to run from the dead man and bumped into the kitsune. He sneered down at her. "What are you doing?"

"The...The straw man! He's—"

"Dead? Why wouldn't he be? I said practice your thrusts and stabs. A simple clump of straw would only make you used to stabbing straw. Stabbing a body, even one that has grown cold from death's grasp will be a far better of an experience. You need to be numb, or at least take pleasure, in the act itself." He strode around Shizu and lifted the dead man's chin. "Do you know him?" He raised a brow as if waiting for her to answer with the full truth that she didn’t have. “He was a fisherman once based on what the others told me.” He lifted the corpse’s chin. “Nothing important to us, but what of you?”

Shizu shook her head. "No, master. He is no one to me."

"Then he shall remain no one to you. Continue your training."